Fishery Management Plan for the Red Drum Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico.

This Fishery Management Plan for the Red Drum Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico (FMP) of the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Gulf Council) follows an (emergency) Plan that was prepared by the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) under authority of the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson Act). Section 304(c) of that Act authorizes the Secretary to prepare and implement a fishery management plan, with respect to any fishery needing management and conservation, if the appropriate regional fishery management council fails to develop and submit a plan to the Secretary for such fishery within a reasonable period of time. A Plan was needed for increased demand for red drum (redfish) and subsequent development of the fisheries and possible depletion of redfish stock. Redfish, is one of the most important fishery resources in the Gulf of Mexico. Juvenile, sub-adult and adult red drum inhabit estuaries and nearshore state waters while adult stocks are also found offshore in the EEZ.
The principal objectives of this FMP are to prevent overfishing and manage the red drum fishery as a unit stock throughout the Gulf of Mexico in a fair and equitable manner benefiting recreational and commercial fishermen and consumers. A properly managed red drum fishery can provide the recreational fishing community with sustained quality fishing and the consumer, through the commercial fishing industry, with red drum for food. To achieve these objectives, it is recognized that the two levels of government must cooperate to achieve optimum harvest levels (OY) as defined by the Magnuson. Spawning stock biomass sufficient to accommodate harvest in state waters must be maintained and state efforts to ensure adequate escapement of juveniles into offshore waters must be supported.
The FMP established the following measures: establishment of a fishing (solar) year; a procedure is outlined for determining the allowable harvest in the EEZ on an annual basis (including projection of an acceptable biological catch (ABC) range); allowance of bycatch of redfish for shrimp fishers (subject to state law) and an incidental catch for commercial vessels in the non-directed fishery; owners or operators of vessels that fish in the directed and non-directed fishery, and spotter aircraft pilots must comply with specific reporting requirements and are required to maintain logbooks, if selected to do so by NMFS; transfer of red drum at sea to other vessels is prohibited; establishment of a bag limit of one red drum per person per trip caught recreationally in the EEZ and landed subject to state laws; state laws which prohibit the landing or sale of purse seine caught fish (or other gear) are superseded to allow for the marketing of incidentally caught red drum lawfully harvested in the EEZ.
All Gulf states are actively involved in management of red drum in state waters. Bag and size limits have been imposed as have restrictions on fishing gear. Nonetheless, several special recommendations are offered to states to improve the management of the species throughout its range in the U.S. waters of the Gulf of Mexico. These include recommendations to establish uniform recreational size limits and bag limits throughout the Gulf of Mexico to the maximum extent practicable, for cooperative research, and to further efforts to conserve red drum habitat (especially wetlands).