1. Dr. John Dindo, Dauphin Island Sea Lab
Red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus) research at Dauphin Island Sea Lab
Dr. John Dindo, Dauphin Island Sea Lab

2. OUTLINE PART I: Red snapper and a history of the fishery
PART II: Habitat creation and restoration
PART III: Red snapper population assessment

3. Overview of Red Snapper Fishery

5. History of the Red Snapper Fishery
U.S. Landings of Red Snapper in U.S. Waters
1880
1890
1900
1910
1920
1930
1940
1950
1960
1970
1980
1990
2000
Commercial Landings (lbs)
East
West
Beginning of oil exploration in western gulf
big drop as fleet spends more effort off Campeche
move to Campeche complete
increasing local catch by “boats” (vessels <5 tons)
Great Depression
World War II
Boat building boom
2007 New Snapper Regulations???
Clay E. Porch, Stephen C. Turner, and Michael J. Schirripa The commercial landings of red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico from 1872 to SEDAR7-AW-22 (data ).
John R. Poffenberger and Stephen C. Turner Documentation on the preparation of the database for the red snapper stock assessment SEDAR workshop. SEDAR7-AW-17rev. (data )

7. Alabama’s Artificial Reef SystemMS FL LA
Total Area = 3,108 km2
Corp of Engineers pre-permitted since 1987
Estimated over 20,000
structures deployed since 1958

8. Hugh Swingle Area
MRD Reefs consist of Liberty ships, tanks, barges, toppled rigs, and concrete bridge rubble
Recreational fisherman can deploy “private” reefs with pre-approved materials
USA deploys and maintains concrete aggregate research modules within Hugh Swingle
Courtesy ALMRD

9. Habitat Creation & Restoration
Builds on 10 year tagging program: existing reefs installed 1998
Primary study units: ~ 18 ”private” reef complexes (reef balls, grouper ghettos)
Additional artificial reefs sampled: 12 public reefs (tanks, ships, barges, bridge rubble)
Artificial Reef Study Design
Our Artificial Reef Study is a Tagging program extended for more than a decade
Our Existing Reefs were deployed in 1998
Artificial Reefs –(we deploy and maintain) 18 reef complexes (2-3 reefs) composed of 2 reef types:
Concrete Reef Balls = “Pigfish Palace”
Concrete Pyramids = “Grouper Ghettos”
These reefs complexes are supposedly “private” and are supposed to function as a non-fishing treatment.
However, fishermen do eventually discover them over time and are more likely a “lightly” – fished treatment.
TO compare our catch rates to “fully-fished” treatments we also sample 8 well-known
Public Artificial Reefs – These reefs consist of Army Tanks, ships, barges, and
Dismantled Concrete Bridges

10. Abundant Target Species
Red Snapper
Grey Triggerfish
Red Grouper
Vermilion Snapper
Gag Grouper
Scamp

11. Sampling Methods 8 stations fished 30 min each
Fishing effort: 10 anglers with bottom & sow rigs
Size measurements (FL/TL)
Target fishes are tagged & released, & condition index is recorded
Recapture information gathered from fishermen
On each monthly sampling trip we randomly select Approximately 8 Fishing Stations (from both our Private Artificial Reefs
and Public Artificial Reefs) And fish them 30 minutes each
Average of 10 volunteer fishermen. Fishing effort is divided evenly among J, C, (bottom rigs) and
J Sow and C Sow (which are fished slightly higher in the water column and use a larger hook to sample larger fishes)
All Target Fishes (Reef fishes – Triggers, Red Snapper, Snap-Group Complex) are captured, measured and
tagged (with Floy tag and with our return and reward information on it) and then released immediately back into the water

12. Fishers’ Recoveries Net movement from NCG to east, southeast
slide courtesy of Will Patterson
Net movement from NCG to east, southeast
Little observed movement to west

13. ROV Work

15. Red snapper population assessment
Multi-gear sampling program designed to address critical data needs for future stock assessment
Side scan sonar
Bottom trawl
ROV
Vertical longline
Bottom longline

16. Red snapper size by gear type

17. Red snapper CPUE by month (2010)

18. Acknowledgements
Captains Mike and Skipper Theirry and the crew of the boats “Lady Ann” and “Escape”
Tech Support, boat time, fishing volunteers and graduate students