When Chris Macaluso of the Teddy Roosevelt Conservation Partnership set out for a red snapper fishing trip, he planned to have fun and capture footage for a TV show. He also wanted to learn how to improve recreational fishing habitat and opportunities in the Gulf and beyond, including survival rates for catch-and-release fish. Macaluso said he learned first-hand the importance of continuing work to conserve the Gulf.
Clearly, red snapper are abundant in the northern Gulf, something all researchers and fishermen alike agreed upon. Still, there is so much uncertainty in the data regarding stock sizes, catch-and-release mortality and actual angler effort that red snapper seasons have become ever shorter over the last several years…Finding the best methods to improve survival rates of fish brought up from the deep and getting more anglers involved can hopefully increase the access recreational anglers have to harvesting more reef fish.
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Photo by: TRCP
