The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council voted this week to approve a slight increase in the Gulf of Mexico red snapper 2021 annual catch limit, but requested its scientific review committee to revisit its catch level recommendations that largely ignored the groundbreaking results of the Great Red Snapper Count (GRSC). Despite the GRSC finding that Gulf red snapper are three times more abundant than previously estimated, the Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) opted to not include any of the…

The U.S. Senate passed without objection H.R. 5126, Direct Enhancement of Snapper Conservation and the Economy through Novel Devices Act of 2020 (DESCEND Act). The bipartisan bill requires recreational (including charter boats) and commercial fishermen to have on board a venting tool or descending device that is rigged and ready for use while fishing for reef fish in Gulf of Mexico federal waters. The recreational fishing and boating community strongly supports the DESCEND Act, which was coauthored in the Senate…