2017 Regular Session ENROLLED
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 67
BY SENATOR ALLAIN
A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
To memorialize the Congress of the United States to pass legislation or to adopt policies
allowing Louisiana to manage the Gulf of Mexico red snapper fishery out to two
hundred nautical miles off the coast of Louisiana.
WHEREAS, in recent years, the Gulf of Mexico has contained the highest total
allowable catch of red snapper in decades, but in 2016, anglers experienced the shortest
recreational fishing season to date, lasting less than two weeks; and
WHEREAS, the federal government has overseen the Gulf recreational red snapper
fishery for nearly four decades; today, federal management systems attempt to regulate red
snapper fishing by the pound with tools specifically designed to manage the commercial
sector, despite the fact that federal data collection systems are incapable of accounting to
such a level of specificity for recreational harvests; and
WHEREAS, the federal government has, moreover, neglected to use recent data to
provide meaningful guidelines and requirements for a systematic reallocation of federal
fisheries; except for minor adjustments to account for errors in its own data collection
system, the Gulf red snapper fishery allocation is based on highly suspect data from
1979-1986 and has remained unchanged since 1991; and
WHEREAS, the federal government is currently promoting a management strategy
to privatize the Gulf red snapper fishery; approximately fifty percent of the fishery is already
held by private businesses, while another twenty percent has been designated to be sold;
shares of this public resource have also been given away for free, based on a commercial
operator's past catch history; and
WHEREAS, because of extraordinarily remiss requirements in its conflict of interest
guidelines, the federal fisheries management system allows commercial operators who
already own red snapper shares or who may be gifted shares to serve on the Gulf of Mexico
Fishery Management Council and to cast votes on issues that will result in direct financial
benefit for themselves; and
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WHEREAS, by creating a prohibitive environment for anglers and ethical issues
among user groups and stakeholders, the federal government has proved itself incapable of
properly managing the red snapper fishery in the Gulf of Mexico, and all five states along
the Gulf Coast have increasingly implemented regulations and seasons that are not consistent
with the federal management plan; and
WHEREAS, numerous studies, including some funded by the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service, indicate that the greatest
economic engine in the Gulf reef fishery is the recreational angling sector, and federal
control should be relinquished to the Gulf states, which depend most on this vital public
resource.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana memorializes
the Congress of the United States to pass legislation or adopt policies allowing Louisiana to
manage the Gulf of Mexico red snapper fishery out to two hundred nautical miles off the
coast of Louisiana.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
secretary of the United States Senate and the clerk of the United States House of
Representatives and to each member of the Louisiana delegation to the United States
Congress.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
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