MURRELLS INLET, S.C. (WBTW) — Grand Strand captains are speaking out against what they say is a mismanagement of the red snapper species.
We told you last month , the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, opened recreational red snapper fishing for one day on July 12, but most captains say they couldn’t go because the weather was too rough.
NOAA Fisheries told News13 last month it was looking into its authority to re-open the fishery. It came back and said not only does their southeast regional administrator not have the authority, but no one in the entire organization does when it comes to unexpected bad weather. It says it’s because of “absent additional rulemaking.”
“You know, it’s America’s leading science agency and we’re running into scientific issues and the biggest mismanagement of a species that we’ve ever seen,” Gettys Brannon, CEO and president of the South Carolina Fishing and Boating Alliance said.
Background
NOAA, who regulates the red snapper population, says the species is overfished so it decided in 2010 to implement a 35-year plan to rebuild it. It says this past year was the first time since then, that it opened for one day of recreational fishing.