Abstract

Red snapper, Lutjanus campechanus is a fish species that has been harvested from the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) since the mid-1800s. This fish supports one of the top recreational and commercial offshore fisheries in the area. Their population has been affected by overfishing for many years. Because of that, the federal government has been implementing Gulf-wide basis regulations (including the establishment of quotas, bag limits and season shortenings) to rebuild the stock. The establishment of these management measures unleashed one of the biggest controversies in the fisheries sector in the United States. States accuse the Federal administration of over-regulating these activities affecting the economics and the safety of the fishermen. For this study, secondary data from scientific papers and agencies reports are analyzed for describing the background and the management system for the recreational red snapper fisheries in the GOM. Additionally, data is compared with other top recreational fish species in each Gulf state (Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and, Texas). The purpose of this research is to analyze if the recreational red snapper fisheries in the GOM has been overregulated and to make policy recommendations for future management strategies.

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