Effect of Shrimp Fishing Effort on Juvenile Red Snapper Bycatch in the Gulf of Mexico

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council’s (GMFMC) stock assessment for red snapper Lutjanus campechanus includes the assumption that juvenile (ages 0 and 1) red snapper fishing mortality is directly related to penaeid shrimp fishing effort. Results of regression analyses of juvenile red snapper mortality on shrimp fishery effort estimated from Electronic Logbook (ELB) data in the Western Gulf (Statistical Areas 10-21) at depths between 10 and 30 fathoms suggest that this is a reasonable assumption. Reef Fish Amendment 27/14 of the GMFMC, implemented in February 2008, established a target juvenile red snapper mortality (effort) reduction goal of 74% less than the benchmark years of 2001-2003. In 2008, the effort reduction was 84% and, in 2009, the effort was 77%. Had the target reductions not been met, additional seasonal closures would have been imposed on penaeid shrimp fishery. Evaluation of whether the effort/mortality reduction goal had been met would not have been possible without ELB data. In 2011, the target effort reduction will be reduced to 67% and eventually to 60% by 2032 when the stock will have been rebuilt.