1 
National Marine 
Fisheries Service 
NOAA 
Fishery Bulletin 
<%• established in 1881 
Spencer F. Baird 
First U S Commissioner 
of Fisheries and founder 
of Fishery Bulletin 
Compression and relaxation of fishing effort in 
response to changes in length of fishing season for 
red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus) in the northern 
Gulf of Mexico 
1 Department of Marine Sciences 
University of South Alabama and 
Dauphin Island Sea Lab 
101 Bienville Boulevard 
Dauphin Island, Alabama 36528 
2 Marine Resources Division 
Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources 
P.O Drawer 458 
Gulf Shores, Alabama 36547 
Abstract —A standard method used 
by fisheries managers to decrease 
catch and effort is to shorten the 
length of a fishery; however, data on 
recreational angler response to this 
simple approach are surprisingly 
lacking. We assessed the effect of 
variable season length on daily fish¬ 
ing effort, measured by using num¬ 
bers of boat launches per day, an¬ 
glers per boat, and anglers per day 
from video observations, in the rec¬ 
reational sector of the federal fishery 
for red snapper (Lutjanus campecha¬ 
nus) in coastal Alabama. From 2012 
through 2017, season length fluctu¬ 
ated from 3 to 40 d. Daily effort, 
measured by using mean number of 
boat launches per day (coefficient of 
multiple determination [7? 2 ]=0.58) 
and mean number of anglers per day 
(7? 2 =0.67), increased linearly with 
season shortening, indicating ef¬ 
fort compression. In 2017, 2 seasons 
were allowed: an early season (3 d) 
and an unanticipated late season (39 
d). Daily effort decreased during the 
late season, indicating that effort 
can also be relaxed if anglers an¬ 
ticipate longer seasons. Model fit for 
mean number of anglers per day im¬ 
proved with the addition of a daily 
wind factor (i? 2 =0.94). The results of 
this study indicate that responses of 
anglers to changing fishing seasons 
are dynamic. 
Manuscript submitted 5 May 2018. 
Manuscript accepted 24 October 2018. 
Fish. Bull. 117:1-7 (2019). 
Online publication date: 16 November 2018. 
doi: 10.7755/FB.117.1.1 
The views and opinions expressed or 
implied in this article are those of the 
author (or authors) and do not necessarily 
reflect the position of the National 
Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA. 
Sean P. Powers (contact author) 1 
Kevin Anson 2 
Email address for contact author: spowers@disl.org 
Fisheries managers have several op¬ 
tions to reduce effort and decrease 
catch in a fishery. Among the most 
popular of these options is limitation 
of the length of the fishing season. 
Shortening the length of a fishing 
season is assumed to reduce catch 
because effort is reduced; however, 
the response of anglers may not be 
proportional to the reduction in sea¬ 
son length (Powers and Anson, 2016). 
The advent of derby-style fisheries 
(in which anglers race to take their 
catch and fish at an ever increas¬ 
ing rate; Chu, 2009) resulted in part 
from the reduction in season length 
in several commercial fisheries. Such 
a race to fish compromises angler 
safety. The adoption of individual 
fishing quotas has eliminated many 
derby-style fisheries in the commer¬ 
cial sector and has resulted in in¬ 
creased economic yields and greater 
angler safety (Costello et al., 2008; 
Chu, 2009). In a marine recreation¬ 
al fishery, Powers and Anson (2016) 
documented effort compression (i.e., 
increases in per unit effort in re¬ 
sponse to decreasing season length); 
however, that study did not address 
whether effort compression was re¬ 
versible. In the study described in 
this paper, we used the unique con¬ 
ditions of the federal seasons of the 
recreational fishery for red snapper 
(Lutjanus campechanus) in 2017, in¬ 
cluding both the short season (3 d) 
and the long season (39 d), to not 
only further examine effort compres¬ 
sion in response to shortened seasons 
but also to determine if relaxation in 
effort can be measured in response to 
extended season lengths. 
The management of the fishery for 
red snapper in the northern Gulf of 
Mexico is highly controversial (Strel- 
check and Hood, 2007; Cowan et al., 
2011). After decades of overfishing, 
the stock in the Gulf of Mexico is 
currently classified as not experienc¬ 
ing overfishing and recently was de¬ 
clared no longer overfished (SEDAR, 
2013, 2018). This stock is expected to 
be fully rebuilt at a spawning poten¬ 
tial ratio of 26% in 2032. The fishery 
is composed of both commercial and 
recreational sectors, which share the 
overall quota on a 51% to 49% split. 
