When we asked you, the recreational angler, for a $7.50 increase on your license fee to fund a creel survey, we told you it would go directly toward something that would make your fishing life better.
And as the data rolls in from the 2014 recreational red snapper season, we’re pleased to announce that the numbers back up that we were right.
Thanks to our LA Creel survey, with biologists on the dock every day, sampling catch and surveying anglers for all species, we provide more precise landings estimates than MRIP – the data collection method used by NOAA Fisheries.
With LA Creel, recreational landings estimates are available just two weeks after these data are collected. For MRIP, data aren’t released for months after red snapper season closes.
These real-time LA Creel data allow managers to flexibly and appropriately manage the fishing season as the Secretary of LDWF has authority to adjust regulations within 72 hours if necessary.
And we’re happy to say that’s exactly what happened in 2014.
Here’s a breakdown of the numbers.
Gulf-wide, during the paltry nine-day 2014 federal red snapper season implemented by NOAA Fisheries, MRIP found that recreational fishermen landed 3,866,531 pounds of red snapper – 28 percent below the recreational quota of 5.39 million pounds.
Because the data – mainly from MRIP – was released months after red snapper season closed, NOAA Fisheries was unable to monitor landings in real-time during the season, and recreational fishermen lost out on the opportunity to harvest more than 1.5 million pounds of red snapper last year.
That figure again reinforces that NOAA Fisheries consistently fails to adequately monitor the recreational red snapper fishery. From 2007 to 2013 (excluding 2010 when the fishery was closed due to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill) Gulf-wide recreational harvests exceeded quotas every year – sometimes by as much as 80 or 90 percent. The failure in 2014 may have been in the other direction, but it was still a failure, nonetheless.
Now compare MRIP’s Gulf-wide failures to LA Creel’s state-water successes in 2014.
Because of the quick data turnaround, LDWF Secretary Robert Barham was able to extend the state red snapper season by hundreds of days and still remain within our historic and projected share of the total Gulf recreational red snapper quota.
And it’s not just good news for the fishermen. Louisiana businesses like marinas and bait shops that rely on fishermen actually being able to fish also benefited from this newfound flexibility.
Responsible management of the recreational red snapper fishery requires precise, real-time data. That’s something we’re getting from LA Creel, but it’s quite frankly not what MRIP was designed to do – causing Gulf-wide recreational fishermen to lose out.
Through LA Creel, flexible, responsive management such as extending the season to allow fishermen to harvest the full quota or closing the season to prevent overharvests is possible.
Since Louisiana’s 2015 state-water red snapper season opened in March, LDWF has continued to monitor the state’s recreational red snapper landings through LA Creel and is prepared to modify the season as needed to provide our anglers another successful year of red snapper fishing, conserve this valuable resource and help keep our coastal communities thriving.
LDWF is also currently working with NOAA Fisheries to recognize the validity of LA Creel and establish it as a replacement for MRIP. This process will pave the way for other Gulf states to adopt their own recreational data collection programs, improve data collection for this fishery and hopefully bring the Gulf states one step closer toward regional, state-based management of the recreational red snapper fishery.
