READ: CCA Texas, FlatsWorthy and numerous committed conservation groups took an important first step in addressing critical concerns with the continued decline of public oyster reefs in a letter to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission.
The recent announcement by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to close the state-water red snapper season on Nov. 15 for the rest of the year is an unfortunate consequence of NOAA Fisheries continued overall oppressive control of the fishery and the dysfunctional relationship the federal agency has fostered with state fisheries managers.
Snapper count should be final nail in NOAA’s inept management of red snapper.
This week, the public and Congress finally heard why nothing seemed to add up in federal management of Gulf red snapper. It turns out that NOAA just doesn’t count snapper very well.
All anglers need to be aware of some recent developments with the management of red snapper. On August 24, 2020 the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) published a temporary rule in the Federal Register: 2020 Red Snapper Private Angling Component Accountability Measure in Federal Waters Off Texas. Just two years after approving a plan to allow the Gulf states to develop their own recreational data collection systems to better manage red snapper and certifying those state programs, NOAA Fisheries intends to force the states to calibrate their data back to the flawed federal data system that caused significant turmoil in the first place.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission moved to adopt changes in southern flounder regulations, making slight modifications to the proposed rule change.
The CCA Texas State Board of Directors voted on Tuesday February 25, 2020 to support Texas Parks and Wildlife’s proposed measures to conserve southern flounder.
Southern Flounder are in trouble.
Gradually, over the last three decades, populations have been in decline and the abundance of flounder across their entire geographic range are at near-record lows. Fishery managers from Texas to North Carolina are grappling with difficult management decisions as previous actions taken by the states have only manufactured temporary results. Click here to read more…
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