The Law That's Saving American Fisheries - Ocean Conservancy

III. Turning the corner on overfishing
Red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico have rebounded in the past five years because of measures that
have helped to end overfishing.
Ned DeLOACH
The red snapper fishery has a long history
in the Gulf of Mexico. Commercial fishing,
which began in the middle of the 19th
century, and recreational fishing, which started in the
1950s, contributed to a steady decline in red snapper
abundance. In addition, shrimp trawls took millions
of juvenile red snapper as bycatch. The population
was assessed as overfished in 1988, and catch
limits were set in 1990. These limits were exceeded
regularly, however, and bycatch reduction devices
did not lower the amount of red snapper killed by
shrimpers as much as anticipated.
Rebuilding deadlines were postponed, and fishing
limits were set higher than scientists recommended.
By 2006, the population of mature red snapper was
estimated to be less than 3 percent of historical
levels. The next year, a federal court ruled that
fishery managers were using flawed logic, not
science, and ordered changes. Five years later, these
new rules not only ended overfishing of Gulf red
snapper, but they also led to a steady increase in
allowable catch.
As the Southeast continues to grapple with the
legacy of chronic overfishing on many of its
important species, red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico
serves as a testament to the effectiveness of setting
and sticking with firm limits.
14 It’s a Keeper