APPENDIX III APEPNDIX IIT 
The fish are caught in State, Federal, and international 
waters, through which the fish stocks move. Therefore, 
research necessary for management should be coordinated under 
the State-Federal Fisheries Management Program and an inter- 
national regional fisheries organization, such as the Western 
Central Atlantic Fisheries Commission. 
STATUS OF RHE, FeESHERY, 
Current Harvest 
The 1974 commercial catch totaled 18.3 million pounds, 
valued at $9.5 million dollars. This fishery in 1972 ranked 
seventh in volume and fifth in value among the Gulf States 
fisheries. 
The trend in U.S. landings of snapper and grouper has 
been declining since 1965. Annual commercial landings of 
snapper and grouper combined reached a peak of 25.8 million 
pounds in 1965, followed by a gradual decrease to 17.6 million 
pounds in 1973. From 1965 to 1973, snapper landings declined 
from 15.9 to 11.0 million pounds and grouper landings de- 
clined from 9.9 to 6.6 million pounds. 
The commercial landings of snapper and grouper are 
greatest in Florida, which accounted for 59 percent of the 
Snapper and 89 percent of the grouper landed in 1973. On 
the South Atlantic coast of the United States, the annual 
Snapper catch has been constant at about 2 million pounds 
and the grouper averages about 1 million pounds annually. 
In the shelf area off west Florida, the Cuban bottom 
longline fleet in 1973 caught an estimated 5 million pounds. 
The following table shows the U.S. Gulf States commer- 
cial catch for selected years. 
Snapper Grouper Total 
Year Pounds Value Pounds Value Pounds Value 
> (thousands ) —A 
1950 1,943 Spool 6,839 S 629 14,787 $2,480 
1955 OZ Su 2 She 5,569 568 S820 By, 42 
1960 11,996 3,039 6,859 774 18,855 383} 
1965 15-8362 4,550 9,950 ee OMEZ. Drone Soo 
1970 eye 422 By Owl: 8,637 SiS 20,059 6,644 
1971 ae s02 5,334 8,081 > 55 19,383 6,889 
EOF 2 Li, SoS 6,097 8} 5 @7al 2 OS 19,426 8,134 
EOS O22 6,561 6,620 1,896 POA 2 Saw, 
oY 
