A Florida Democrat teamed up with a North Carolina Republican demanding answers for why the federal government has shrunk red snapper season.
Last week, U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Fla., who is running for the U.S. Senate in 2016, joined U.S. Rep. Walter Jones, R-NC, a favorite of libertarian Republicans, in writing Roy Crabtree, the regional administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), wanting to know why red snapper season had been closed in the South Atlantic this year.
Pointing to NOAA figures that the 2014 season was "nearly three times the estimate for a full fishing year in 2013; and similar to the average annual catch estimate for the period 1992 to 2009 when fishing occurred year-round," the congressmen had questions.
Jones posed some of his questions last month including “why the agency has waited six years to update its last stock assessment on the species, a stock assessment that was highly controversial from the start" and “what the agency has done to address the widely known flaws in both the quantity and quality of the data on this species." The North Carolina Republican also insisted “the agency’s Southeast Science Center has apparently rebuffed fishermen’s efforts to conduct fisheries dependent and independent research to augment poor data in the South Atlantic red snapper stock assessment.”
Taking aim at the National Marine Fisheries Service’s (NMFS) decision to close the region for red snapper fishing, Jones insisted its data was flawed.
“The NMFS decision to keep the South Atlantic red snapper fishery closed for 2015 is a textbook example of the shortcomings of federal fisheries management at the current time,” Jones said when he wrote Crabtree. “Everyone acknowledges the data is poor, and has been for quite some time. But rather than taking steps to improve it years ago, either in-house or through cooperative research, little was done. And who suffers? Not the agency, but the fishermen who pay the taxes to support the agency. It’s unacceptable, and the agency needs to provide some answers on how they’re going to make it right.”
Jones and Murphy also slammed the federal government for not having a stock assessment on red snapper in the South Atlantic since 2010.
Leaders from the fishing industry praised Jones and Murphy on Thursday.
"Congressmen Walter Jones Jr. and Patrick Murphy have been steadfast in their efforts to protect fisheries in Florida, North Carolina, and the entire Southeast for all users,” said Bob Jones,the executive director of the Southeastern Fisheries Association. “They have worked to make certain the seafood industry is treated with respect and equity, and we are proud to support their efforts here."
"We are very pleased that Congressmen Jones and Murphy wrote the letter to Dr. Crabtree," said Jerry Schill, the president of the North Carolina Fisheries Association, on Thursday. "While their words address a huge concern with the red snapper fishery, it highlights the much larger issue of science in all of fisheries management. Industry knows the importance of basing fishery management decisions on science; however, with the lack of confidence in regulatory agencies to provide adequate science, including stock assessments, we are constantly faced with draconian measures due to these uncertainties. The negative effects are on fishermen and their communities. The cause, however, lies with the failure of the regulators to do their part, which is to provide adequate science and stock assessments."
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
