Is reducing discarded amberjack a way to help the fishing industry? My opinion.

I’ve been lucky to work in the seafood industry since 1965. It’s an honorable and proud profession that has a rich history in Mississippi and across the Gulf for iconic species such as shrimp, red snapper, amberjack, cobia, grouper, and so many others.

Just in my lifetime, our fisheries have been on a roller coaster – seasons of concern and seasons of prosperity. What I’m seeing right now has me concerned. Frequently, fishermen are telling me the same thing – many of our fish stocks are in not in good shape. Stock assessments for gag grouper, red grouper, and amberjack show these fish are in deep trouble. Fishermen I know are beginning to see fewer red snapper on popular fishing reefs.

Let’s look more at greater amberjack. The stock is overfished – meaning population levels are lower than they should be – and is undergoing overfishing – meaning we are taking too many fish out of the water for the population to sustain itself. This is nothing new. Greater amberjack have been overfished and undergoing over fishing for 30 years.

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Gulf Council) is responsible for creating regulations for fisheries in federal waters (3-200 nautical miles from Mississippi’s shore). They’ve made many changes to try and rebuild this fishery to no avail. Right now, we are staring down quotas being cut by roughly 80%. To date, nothing has worked. Why?

Part of the answer appears to be discards. Some discards are unavoidable due to size limits, while some occur because fishermen want to keep the biggest fish while staying within the bag limit (also known as high-grading). National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the Gulf States have expended a lot of effort on new ways to collect data on recreational landings. Not only are we learning the recreational sector has caught more fish than we previously thought, the magnitude of fish thrown overboard by that sector is mind boggling. In 2018 alone, commercial and recreational fishermen collectively discarded 318,000 amberjack– 309,000 were discarded by the recreational sector. That’s 97%. This isn’t the fault of an individual angler, but when there are millions of them, their collective impact can be significant.

Furthermore, the Gulf Council that is meeting in Biloxi this week is also considering reallocating amberjack quota – taking fish away from commercial fishermen who rely on them for a living and giving more to the recreational sector. And many of those fish are thrown over the rail dead. NMFS’ own analysis shows that increasing the recreational allocation reduces everyone’s access to this fishery. How is that right or what’s best?

It’s clear that we need some creative thinking. The current tools in the management toolbox aren’t working.

To me, a path that makes sense is to reduce the quota, don’t change the sector allocations (27% commercial/73% recreational), and explore ways to reduce discards. Earlier this month, the Reef Fish Advisory Panel, a group of men and women with on-the-water experience, recommended the Gulf Council do just that. They also suggested the Gulf Council explore full retention for amberjack – meaning nothing would be thrown overboard.

There is still a lot to be worked out around that idea, but it’s novel worth exploring. It could solve several problems – eliminate discards, and thereby eliminate dead fish floating away from the boat, allow more large (and reproductively valuable) fish to stay in the water, and finally get this fishery back on the right track. By doing so, we may finally see amberjack come back and everyone will have an opportunity to enjoy this fish, either on the water or in a restaurant.

Jane Black-Lee, of Agricola, MS, is the regional manager of Caleb Haley & Co LLC