85R10868 RMA-D     By: Hinojosa S.C.R. No. 36       CONCURRENT RESOLUTION          WHEREAS, In recent years, the Gulf of Mexico has contained   the highest total allowable catch of red snapper in decades, but in   2016, anglers experienced the shortest recreational fishing season   to date, lasting less than two weeks; and          WHEREAS, The U.S. government has overseen the Gulf   recreational red snapper fishery for nearly four decades; today,   federal management systems attempt to regulate red snapper fishing   by the pound with tools specifically designed to manage the   commercial sector, despite the fact that federal data collection   systems are incapable of accounting to such a level of specificity   for recreational harvests; and          WHEREAS, The U.S. government has, moreover, neglected to use   recent data to provide meaningful guidelines and requirements for a   systematic reallocation of federal fisheries; except for minor   adjustments to account for errors in its own data collection   system, the Gulf red snapper fishery allocation is based on highly   suspect data from 1979-1986 and has remained unchanged since 1991;   and          WHEREAS, The federal government is currently promoting a   management strategy to privatize the Gulf red snapper fishery;   approximately 50 percent of the fishery is already held by private   businesses, while another 20 percent has been designated to be   sold; shares of this public resource have also been given away for   free, based on a commercial operator's past catch history; and          WHEREAS, Because of extraordinarily remiss requirements in   its conflict of interest guidelines, the federal fisheries   management system allows commercial operators who already own red   snapper shares or who may be gifted shares to serve on the Gulf of   Mexico Fishery Management Council and to cast votes on issues that   will result in direct financial benefit for them; and          WHEREAS, By creating a prohibitive environment for anglers   and ethical issues among user groups and stakeholders, the U.S.   government has proved itself incapable of properly managing red   snapper fishing in the Gulf of Mexico, and all five states along the   Gulf Coast have increasingly needed to implement regulations and   seasons that are not consistent with the federal management plan;   and          WHEREAS, Numerous studies, including some funded by NOAA   Fisheries, indicate that the greatest economic engine in the Gulf   reef fishery is the recreational angling sector, and federal   control should be relinquished to the Gulf states, which depend   most on this vital public resource; now, therefore, be it          RESOLVED, That the 85th Legislature of the State of Texas   hereby encourage Congress to pass legislation or adopt policies   allowing Texas to manage the Gulf of Mexico red snapper fishery out   to 200 nautical miles; and, be it further          RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official   copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to   the president of the Senate and to the speaker of the House of   Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the   members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that   this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a   memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.