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TestimonyofDr.RobertL.Shipp

CommitteeonNaturalResources

March13,

2013

MynameisBobShipp,andIamaprofessorofMarineSciencesattheUniversityofSouthAlabama.In

additionIhaveserved17yearsontheGulfofMexicoFisheryManagementCouncil,threetimeselected

chairoftheCouncil,andpresentlyserveaschairoftheCouncilsreefFishCommittee.

ThecurrentmanagementofreefspeciesintheGulfofMexicoisfailing.Iamsuggestingashiftinthe

managementauthorityasdescribedbelow.

IaminsupportofincreasingfisherymanagementauthoritytotheGulfstatesbyextendingthestates

authoritytomanagereefspeciesoffinfishoutto20fathoms.Iwilladdressthreefundamentalreasons

whythis

would

be

beneficial.

First,mostreefspecies,andespeciallyredsnapper,inhabittheGulfwaterstodepthsof100fathoms.So

byextendingstateauthorityto20fathomsinnowaythreatensoptimalmanagementofreefspecies.In

fact,theGulfstateshaveexcellenthistoriesofsuccessfulfisherymanagement,anditisintheirbest

economicintereststooptimallymanagethesespecies.Beyond20fathoms,theFisheryManagement

CouncilsandNationalMarineFisheriesServicewouldcontinuetheirauthority.

Second,IrefertothelanguageofNationalStandard1oftheMagnusonAct:preventoverfishingand

achieveoptimalyield.Recentlywehavebeenprimarilyconcernedwiththepreventoverfishing

verbiage,oftentimesignoringachievingoptimalyield.Byallowingindividualstatestomanagereef

fishstocksto20fathomswouldmarkedlyimprovethelikelihoodofachievingoptimalyield.Asan

example,inFloridaspottedseatrout(=speckledtrout)baglimitis4.InLouisianaitis25.Thisisbecause

thehabitatforspottedseatroutinLouisianacansupportastockwiththelargeryield.Asimilarsituation

existsforredsnapper.OfftheAlabamacoast,some17,000artificialreefshavebeenconstructed.Each

holdsatremendousnumberofredsnapper,whichcouldeasilysupportafisherywithafarhigheryield,

anoptimalyield,thanthecurrent28dayseasonwitha2fishbaglimit.

Thirdisamatteroflogic.IwastrainedbytheJesuits,andoneofthefirstrequiredcourseswaslogic.

Withredsnapperpopulationswehaveaconundrumoflogic.Redsnapperstocksareconsidered

overfished.Projectionsofredsnappermaximumsustainableyield(MSY)madeduring thepasttwenty

yearshave

varied

between

about

15

30

million

pounds

annually

for

the

Gulf

of

Mexico.

But

we

have

neverharvestedmorethan10millionpounds,andoftenmuchlessthanthat.Soifastockcanyield15

ormoremillionpoundsannually,buthasneveryieldedanywherenearthatnumber,howcanitbe

overfished?Thereisananswertothisriddle.Thehabitatforredsnapperhasbeenincreased

dramatically.BeforeWorldWarII,therewaslittleornoredsnapperharvestfromthenorthwestern

Gulf,despitenumerousattemptstolocatefisheryproductiveareasthere.Butfromthemid fortieson,

theharvestinthewesternGulfhasincreaseddramatically.Thereason? About4,000petroleum

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platforms,andthousandsofartificialreefs.Currentlymorethansixtypercentofsnapperharvestcomes

fromtheseareaswithartificialhabitat.IntotaltheharvestpotentialofredsnapperintheGulfhas

increased.

Andrelated,thecurrentpracticeofremovingtheseplatformswithexplosiveskillsthousandsofpounds

ofreef

species.

A

recent

video

obtained

by

the

NBC

affiliate

in

Mobile,

revealed

amortality

of

about

10,000poundsofredsnapperatthesurface.Diverstellmethatprobably4to5timesthatmuchis

hiddenbeneath.Farbetterwouldbetodismantlethesestructures,laythemontheirsidesonthe

bottom,asisdoneintherigstoreefsprogram offLouisiana.

SowehavethemostvaluablefinfishfisheryintheGulfofMexiconotbeingharvestedatoptimalyield

andwithitshabitatunderduress.ReauthorizationofMagnusonasdescribedabovewouldrectifythis

dilemma.