SAFMC Seminar Series: 15 years of research to inform the management of South Atlantic Red Snapper

The 2010 closure of the Red Snapper fishery in the South Atlantic greatly reduced the utility of fishery dependent data in tracking population trends and monitoring population recovery. In response, the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission initiated a research and monitoring program to augment SouthEast Reef Fish Survey trap-camera efforts by providing alternate fishery independent data sources and addressing knowledge gaps in the region. These efforts were based largely on parallel work conducted in the Gulf of America, which in contrast to the South Atlantic, has a rich suite of fishery independent data sources to support assessment and management needs of Red Snapper and other reef fishes. From the outset, research and monitoring surveys were developed and implemented with close cooperation with stakeholders to integrate their knowledge and experience into these efforts while also fostering buy-in to the science being produced. Beginning as an angler-based tagging study in 2010, this research and monitoring program has evolved from a series of one-off studies into an additional time series of abundance and age composition to track the population trajectory of South Atlantic Red Snapper. In this seminar, the evolution of this program will be reviewed, highlighting key challenges and lessons learned along the way. Although results from this program have improved our understanding of Red Snapper population dynamics in the South Atlantic, many challenges yet remain, and ongoing and future efforts to continue to address important information gaps will also be discussed.