Red snapper tagging program paying off
When Texas anglers catch a red snapper between now and the end of the year, they might be landing more than the most popular reef fish in the Gulf of Mexico and the makings of some wonderful meals. That red snapper could prove a pretty good payday for its captor and provide crucial information in an unprecedented research project aimed at benefiting the fish and the anglers who target them.
As part of a two-year program titled “The Great Red Snapper Count,” fisheries researchers earlier this year captured 4,000 red snapper from offshore waters along the length of the gulf coast, from Key West to Brownsville. They fit those snapper with small streamer tags — bright yellow, thin plastic tubes that resemble a short piece of spaghetti on which is printed an identifying number and a request that the person catching the fish call a contact number printed on the tag.
Also printed on each tag is “Reward $250.” Some of the 4,000 snapper are fit with two tags, upping the reward to $500 for the person reporting the capture of those fish.
The tagged snapper were released where they were caught, in dozens of offshore locations off the coast of the five Gulf states. And, barely two weeks into the recreational snapper fishing season in federal waters off Texas, a little less than 100 anglers have landed tagged snapper, reported their catch and claimed their $250-$500 reward.
“They’re thrilled,” said Dannielle Kulaw, project coordinator for the program, which is based out of Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and the person who answers when anglers call the contact number on the tags. “There hasn’t been one unhappy person. And we’re happy, too.”
Landmark project
This mark/recapture project, the largest such tagging effort attempted involving red snapper, is part of a multifaceted research program effort aimed at estimating the population of red snapper in the United States’ portion of Gulf of Mexico. The effort, funded with a $10 million appropriation from Congress, involves a multidisciplinary team of 21 of the top fisheries scientists from universities and other organizations from all of the Gulf states.
The project, officially funded through AlabamaMississippi Sea Grant, is coordinated through Texas A&M-Corpus Christi’s Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies.
The two-year project, which began in 2017 and is set to continue through this calendar year, includes mapping, identifying and classifying red snapper habitat, using various methods (including remotely operated vehicles with video capabilities and cutting-edge, precise electronic SONAR equipment) to count fish on those habitat types, conducting depletion studies on selected sites to gauge snapper response to harvest rates as well as using the Gulfwide tagging study to gauge harvest rates as well as gain insights into movement of the generally non-migratory snapper.
The tagging portion of the research project got underway this year, with crews along the length of he Gulf Coast catching, tagging and releasing fish ahead of the start of the 2019 recreational red snapper fishing season. For recreational anglers fishing from private boats off Texas, it will be the longest such season they have seen in 12 years.
Earlier this year, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department set the recreational red snapper season in Gulf water under federal jurisdiction to open June 1 and run for 97 days through Sept. 5. Water under state jurisdiction (inside nine nautical miles of the coast) is open for recreational snapper fishing the entire year.
The projected 97-day season is the longest since 2007 and almost two weeks longer than the 82-day season in 2018.
The longer season is the result of a continuation of a cooperative agreement between Gulf states’ fisheries agencies and the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service that allows the states to manage their private-boat red snapper fishery.
Under the agreement, federal officials set the annual Gulfwide catch quota of red snapper at a level managers figure will allow the popular reef fish to continue its recovery from being severely overfished in the 1980s and 1990s. Each state is allocated a portion of that quota, with state fisheries managers allowed to set seasons designed to keep landings by private-boat anglers within that state’s quota.
States are responsible for monitoring landings and closing the season if the quota is reached.
The commercial snapper fishery and the recreational fishery on for-hire vessels such as charter boats continue to be set by federal managers. The 2019 season for anglers fishing for snapper in federal waters off Texas aboard for-hire vessels also opened June 1 and is set to run 62 days through Aug. 1.
Before the change allowing states to manage the recreational snapper fishery, federal mangers set a single season for privateboat recreational anglers targeting red snapper in waters under federal control.
Length of that one-sizefits-all federal recreational snapper season steadily withered, from a yearround fishery in 1996 to as few as nine days in 2014. In 2017, the last year before the shift to state control of snapper seasons, anglers fishing from private vessels in federally controlled waters had a 42-day season.
Information needed
This year’s longer red snapper season comes in part because of an increase in the annual catch limit. Federal officials earlier this year increased the annual red snapper catch limit for recreational fishery to 7.4 million pounds — up from 6.7 million pounds in 2018. The share allocated to private-boat anglers increased from 3.88 million pounds to 4.27 million pounds.
Size and daily bag limits remain the same as last year — two red snapper per person with a 16-inch minimum in federal waters and a four-fish daily limit with a 15-inch minimum in Texas waters.
The long-running controversy over red snapper management, especially shrinking season lengths despite evidence of a significant rebound in the snapper population, is behind the red snapper count project. The program is aimed at giving an independent assessment of the snapper population separate from the stock assessment conducted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the federal agency charged with managing fisheries under federal jurisdiction.
The independent population assessment will give managers new insights into the red snapper population and could lead to changes in the way the fishery is managed, perhaps including less onerous regulations or at least more predictable fishing regulations.
The tagging study, which will help illuminate harvest rates, is a big component of the effort. Information from tag returns gives fisheries managers insights into harvest rates of snapper. It also can yield information about snapper movement — or lack of movement — in the Gulf. This crucial information, combined with other insights provided by other components of the multipart research program, can help managers develop management plans and fishing regulations that allow anglers maximum opportunity to harvest snapper while also allowing the fish to continue building their abundance.
Anglers who land a tagged red snapper are asked to clip the tag from the fish and retain it, even if they release the snapper instead of keeping it, Kulaw said. To receive the monetary reward, anglers are required to report the fish. That reporting information should include the day the fish was caught, the port from which the anglers departed for their day on the water, the length and weight of the fish, and the coordinates (latitude and longitude) where the fish was caught. After calling in the information, the angler is required to return the physical tag to the research team to receive the award.
As of late last week, anglers had reported 85 tagged red snapper, Kulaw said. Many of those fish were taken off Texas, with other reports scattered among other Gulf states. Recreational anglers accounted for the preponderance of tag reports; about 10 percent or so have come from commercial fishers, she said.
The number of tag reports “grows daily,” and almost certainly will increase as other states open their 2019 recreational snapper seasons. (Florida’s snapper season opened June 11.)
A pleasant surprise
Many of the anglers calling to report landing a tagged snapper have expressed surprise that such a project is underway. Tagging programs for offshore species are rare.
“Most people said they were unaware of the tagging program until they caught a tagged fish,” Kulaw said. “Some said they used Google to see if it was a real study.”
Most are thrilled to be a part of the study, she said. And the $250 or $500 reward isn’t the only reason for their enthusiasm.
“They’re getting to be active participants in science to better understand the snapper fishery,” Kulaw said. “Most are very appreciative.”
And almost all of them have fish stories to tell, she adds. One of the best to so far come from anglers reporting tagged snapper came from a father and two sons who had a particularly lucky, and economically rewarding day off the Texas coast earlier this month.
One of the sons landed a tagged red snapper from a spot the trio fished early in the day. That was a big deal. But later that day, at a location 20 miles away from where the tagged snapper was caught, the other son landed a tagged fish.
“It turned out to be a very memorable fishing trip,” Kulaw said.
Reports from anglers landing tagged snapper from Texas waters are likely to increase in coming weeks. Seas off Texas tend to become calmer as July arrives, making offshore fishing more enjoyable, and the week around the Fourth of July holiday traditionally sees some of the highest offshore fishing participation of the summer.
“I expect it’ll get busier, especially with states like Florida opening their snapper season,” Kulaw said.