cmdrost
08-19-2009, 10:51 AM
per www.ccalouisiana.com (http://www.ccalouisiana.com):
CCA Discussion Document Ends in Success
Controversial paper accomplished goal by shining light on red snapper management failures
At a Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council meeting this week in Orange Beach, Alabama, CCA Gulf Fisheries Consultant Dr. Russell Nelson elaborated on a controversial discussion document designed to spark debate on the issue of catch share programs and their impact on the recreational Gulf red snapper fishery. His presentation on the Free Market Approach to Gulf Red Snapper demonstrated to both fishery managers and the angling public how unfair the current management system is to anglers and how extreme the impacts could be.
“The intent was to create a platform that ensures recreational anglers are not left out of the debate and out of the fishery,” said Chester Brewer, chairman of CCA’s National Government Relations Committee. “Even though the recommendations will never be implemented, CCA developed this discussion document to force managers to consider the lengths they would have to go to create a level playing field for recreational anglers under the current system. As it stands now, recreational anglers do not have access to 51 percent of the red snapper harvest. A handful of commercial fishers are profiting from the exclusive right to this public resource while hundreds of thousands of recreational anglers are left on the dock with shortened seasons and shrinking bag limits.”
CCA offered the Free Market Approach to Gulf Red Snapper to the Gulf Council in April as a concept document to challenge a failed management paradigm that now threatens recreational participation in the snapper fishery. The document presented a completely out-of-the-box approach to management of red snapper based wholly on a free-market system rather than an unfair sector allocation.
“Recreational anglers shouldn’t be forced to even consider options like buying access to a public resource that has been given away to industrial harvesters, but that’s where the Administration's red snapper catch share program is going to leave us if we don’t create the debate and find a workable alternative,” said Brewer. “The public needs to realize how unfair this situation really is.”
“This discussion document was created to be very broad and very fluid, and clearly it has gotten us to where we are now with this debate. With the creation of the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) Task Force on Catch Shares and the Limited Access Privilege Program Advisory Panel, it is clear this issue is finally starting to get some attention,” said Nelson.
CCA Discussion Document Ends in Success
Controversial paper accomplished goal by shining light on red snapper management failures
At a Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council meeting this week in Orange Beach, Alabama, CCA Gulf Fisheries Consultant Dr. Russell Nelson elaborated on a controversial discussion document designed to spark debate on the issue of catch share programs and their impact on the recreational Gulf red snapper fishery. His presentation on the Free Market Approach to Gulf Red Snapper demonstrated to both fishery managers and the angling public how unfair the current management system is to anglers and how extreme the impacts could be.
“The intent was to create a platform that ensures recreational anglers are not left out of the debate and out of the fishery,” said Chester Brewer, chairman of CCA’s National Government Relations Committee. “Even though the recommendations will never be implemented, CCA developed this discussion document to force managers to consider the lengths they would have to go to create a level playing field for recreational anglers under the current system. As it stands now, recreational anglers do not have access to 51 percent of the red snapper harvest. A handful of commercial fishers are profiting from the exclusive right to this public resource while hundreds of thousands of recreational anglers are left on the dock with shortened seasons and shrinking bag limits.”
CCA offered the Free Market Approach to Gulf Red Snapper to the Gulf Council in April as a concept document to challenge a failed management paradigm that now threatens recreational participation in the snapper fishery. The document presented a completely out-of-the-box approach to management of red snapper based wholly on a free-market system rather than an unfair sector allocation.
“Recreational anglers shouldn’t be forced to even consider options like buying access to a public resource that has been given away to industrial harvesters, but that’s where the Administration's red snapper catch share program is going to leave us if we don’t create the debate and find a workable alternative,” said Brewer. “The public needs to realize how unfair this situation really is.”
“This discussion document was created to be very broad and very fluid, and clearly it has gotten us to where we are now with this debate. With the creation of the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) Task Force on Catch Shares and the Limited Access Privilege Program Advisory Panel, it is clear this issue is finally starting to get some attention,” said Nelson.