For now, the regulations will stay in effect, and the shrimp industry will use nets with BRDs. The federal government is conducting an extensive scientific study to determine if the BRDs can produce the necessary reduction to ensure the recovery of the red snapper fishery. If they do not, then even more restrictive measures will be put in place for both recreational and commercial red snapper fishermen and shrimp fishermen. The suit also challenged a federal rule setting an annual catch limit for red snapper. In dismissing the suit, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida upheld a National Marine Fisheries Service regulation requiring shrimp trawlers in the Gulf of Mexico west of Cape San Blas, Fla., to pull BRDs to reduce the bycatch of red snapper.
Scientific data show that Gulf red snapper are severely overfished.
The court also upheld the catch limit of 9.12 million pounds of red snapper. CCA was the only recreational fishing group urging the court to uphold the use of BRDs, arguing that without them the red snapper fishery cannot recover. Without BRDs, the only way to recover red snapper would be to close all of the directed red snapper fishery for commercial and recreational fishermen. A lower TAC, the industry reasoned, would bring about improvement in the red snapper fishery and, therefore, alleviate the need for BRDs. Of course, there will still be a few fishermen to supply the dealers, regardless of the price.