85R10868 RMA-D
By: Hinojosa S.C.R. No. 36
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
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 U.S. 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 U.S. 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 50 percent of the fishery is already held by private
businesses, while another 20 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 them; and
WHEREAS, By creating a prohibitive environment for anglers
and ethical issues among user groups and stakeholders, the U.S.
government has proved itself incapable of properly managing red
snapper fishing in the Gulf of Mexico, and all five states along the
Gulf Coast have increasingly needed to implement regulations and
seasons that are not consistent with the federal management plan;
and
WHEREAS, Numerous studies, including some funded by NOAA
Fisheries, 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; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the 85th Legislature of the State of Texas
hereby encourage Congress to pass legislation or adopt policies
allowing Texas to manage the Gulf of Mexico red snapper fishery out
to 200 nautical miles; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to
the president of the Senate and to the speaker of the House of
Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the
members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that
this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a
memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.