A federal plan to revive the dwindling population of red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico, which has caused controversy for nearly a decade, may come to a head later this month. The fate of the species currently remains tangled in competing business interests, government regulations, debated scientific data, and conservation concerns. According to the US Department of Health, unless the snapper population increases by 20 percent, the species will not survive in the wild. Red snapper was classified as severely overfished by Congress in 1997. Under the Magnuson Stevens Fisheries Management Act of 1996, the Gulf of Mexico Fisheries Management Council is required to restore snapper to a healthy level within 30 years.

The council’s current plan proposes maintaining a limit set in 1998 on how much snapper may be fished each season, while focusing management efforts on reducing the amount of snapper caught in shrimp trawls. The maximum allowable catch is nine million pounds per year, a ceiling conservation groups would like to see lowered to six million.

More than 50 conservation and social advocacy groups belong to The Gulf Coast Restoration Network, including the Bayou Preservation Association. Assistant director for the network Jill Jensen, a fisheries biologist, said the council underestimated the importance of limiting the allowable catch.

"That is the opinion of one federal agency with a very loud voice," Jensen said. "We believe that keeping another three million (reproductive) female snapper in the water will significantly impact the snapper’s chance for survival."

The council’s Stu Kennedy said the plan, though passive in its application, would be effective because it focuses on what he called the real problem, shrimp trawl bycatch. The council estimates that a glut of imported shrimp on the market will force 30 to 50 percent of current commercial Gulf shrimpers out of business. A decrease in trawling, he said, would naturally reduce the amount of bycatch.

The council determined that relying on an anticipated reduction in trawling was preferable to lowering the total allowable catch, which would damage the commercial and recreational snapper industries.

"Even if we reduced the catch to zero, the snapper stock still won’t rebuild in the length of time required by the Magnuson Stevens Act because of shrimp bycatch," Kennedy said.

Jensen argued that representatives of commercial and recreational fisheries who sit on the council were focused on profits rather than biology when it comes to managing red snapper.

"If I make my livelihood off of a product, am I going to recommend setting a limit on that product? That may be a conflict of interest," she said. "In the case of snapper, council members should have done what they have done in some other cases, which is take (an economic) hit for the good of the species."

Bob Zales, who charters a recreational snapper boat in the Gulf said that lowering the catch limit to six million would cost the average fisherman 30 percent of his livelihood. He supported the council’s decision to focus efforts on shrimp bycatch reduction rather than reduce the allowable catch.

"Reducing the catch (by three million) would mean commercial (red snapper) fisheries could only operate four months out of the year. They might as well shut down the business," Zales said.

Zales suggested government regulators should consider other factors that affect water quality such as beach run-off that could impact red snapper.

"There some other issues at play here that some people are ignoring," he said. "They come after (fishermen) because we’re an easy target."

A biologist who consults with the Texas Shrimpers Association, Benny Gallaway, agreed that shrimp bycatch impacts snapper populations, but he said bad data caused the council to overstate the problem.

"Shrimpers, in their heart of hearts, don’t think that the (total allowable catch) is too high; what they want is parity," he said. "Bycatch is a problem, but we have to address it using data that reflect the real world. We have to take protection measures that matter, not ones that look and feel good."

Gallaway referred to the findings of a two-year experiment conducted by independent biologists that tested the government’s methods for collecting data used to assess snapper declines. Electronic log books and on-vessel observers determined the council’s accuracy had been less than 10 percent. This peer review study, published in the National Journal of Fisheries, also found discrepancies in the government’s estimates of the age composition of snapper caught in shrimp trawls. The study found that more than half of what the council assumed were juvenile or adult snapper were actually younger than one year and had a significantly higher mortality rate. This is important, Gallaway said, because reducing bycatch would have limited positive impact on the species if most of those caught were likely to die anyway.

Jensen accused the council of scapegoating shrimpers in the losing effort to save Gulf snapper. For years the shrimping industry has received global attention because of its impact on commercially viable fish such as snapper and well-loved marine animals such as the sea turtle, both of which are frequently caught in shrimp nets.

"People always think of conservation groups as being against fishermen, but for the most part, the fishermen are following the laws; the problem is (the agency is) making the laws that have failed the snapper," she said. "Snappers are in trouble now as a direct result of government mismanagement."

Jensen accused the agency of dragging its feet on snapper restoration because the importance of the fish to Gulf economics is a politically charged issue.

In addition to lowering the total allowable catch, the Restoration Network wants other changes made to the federal snapper revival plan. Currently, the council has made no effort to reduce the bycatch from other kinds of fishing. Conservation groups also advocate stronger regulations on recreational fishing. The council currently does not monitor the number of snapper that die from catch-and-release practices.

Stakeholders will meet in April and August to develop consensus on the council’s snapper assessment. Following the meetings, the management plan will be sent to the National Marine Fisheries Service for implementation.