Snapper Study Shows Many More Than Expected

A study to gauge the population of red snapper along the entire Gulf Coast indicates many more of the fish than previously estimated, Alabama Newscenter reports. The three-year-long The Great Red Snapper Count led by the Harte Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi (and contributed to by the University of South Alabama and other universities) showed a snapper population exceeding 110 million – three times the number federal officials had estimated. Along the Alabama and Mississippi coasts, the number is at 10 million. The authors describe red snapper as “perhaps the most economically valuable and culturally relevant fishery in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.” Alabama elected officials praised the results, which could be used to adjust the way state and federal agencies manage the snapper fishery.