The first of a series of public meetings on possible changes to saltwater fishing regulations showed that officials are considering changes that could affect how Alabama fishermen prey on sharks, flounder and red snapper, among others species.

Most possible changes could be considered adjustments. But state officials are also exploring the possibility of setting limits on common snook, a species that has begun to become established in Alabama as average water temperatures have increased. They are also examining possible limits on stingrays and stingrays to protect them from wasteful fishing by bowhunters.

Scott Bannon, director of the Marine Resources Division of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR), along with other marine resources staff, held a session Tuesday evening at the Spanish Community Center Strong. Bannon said the division weighed various concerns and wanted the public’s input on the responses — which in some cases include maintaining the status quo.

Marine Resources will present its findings to a conservation advisory committee in early 2025, Bannon said. This board could recommend changes or further study by late spring.

The species concerned, the concerns and the changes envisaged:

Sheep’s head

Existing limits for sheepshead were set in 2012: 10 fish per person per day, with a minimum fork length of 12 inches. Officials say they have seen a decline in “recreational catch per unit effort” as well as a decline in commercial landings.

A possible change would be to increase the minimum length. While Florida shares Alabama’s 12-inch minimum, Mississippi’s is 14 inches and Texas’s is 15 inches. Louisiana does not regulate sheepshead. However, officials have reason to believe that increasing the minimum size may not improve spawning stock biomass, the term for the total weight of fish mature enough to reproduce. The average length of sheepshead caught by Alabama anglers is 15.5 inches.

Another possible change would be to lower the bag limit, possibly from 10 to eight. Mississippi’s limit is 15, while Florida’s is eight and Texas’s is five. Officials believe this would “allow more fish to be released and potentially increase the overall brood stock and reproductive output.”

Red Drum/Redfish

Location limits are higher in all other Gulf Coast states, starting at a minimum of 18 inches. Louisiana and Florida do not allow fishermen to keep oversized fish.

The possible change under discussion is ending the authorization for oversized rockfish.

common snook

Snook puts regulators and fishermen in an interesting situation. It is not a native species to Alabama, so it is not regulated. However, for over a decade now, people have been fishing for snook in the waters around Perdido Bay. There’s a definite upside to this: The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission describes the common snook as “one of Florida’s most popular coastal fish due to its spectacular fighting ability and merits as a table dish.” .

At first, officials thought the snook were visiting but not wintering in Alabama waters. Now, “they seem to be overwintering,” Anson said. It’s part of a broader trend that warm-water fish are expanding their habitat north as global ocean temperatures rise. This is called “tropicalization” and what might be healthy for some species may be harmful to others. Anson said Alabama conservation officials have spoken to their counterparts in Florida, who have seen snook rising from South Florida and spreading across the Panhandle.

Related: Tropical fish found off Alabama coast as waters warm: ‘They’re everywhere you go’

“Here’s the deal. There are two ways to look at it,” Bannon said. “They’re not from here. There’s no regulation, you can catch ’em all, we can go ahead and get this over with. But most people who get them don’t want that, they want some form of protection. Even though people think we are a “no” agency, our job is to provide access to fishing. So it’s a new fishery, people like it, they should be able to enjoy it. So to have no data and say “no,” I don’t think that really fits our vision of conservation. »

“It’s not a native species, so in theory we could wipe them out and it’s no big deal, it has no impact on the environment,” Bannon said. But it’s also possible that protecting the new snook fishery could help it become a boon to inshore fishing.

The potential action proposed by Marine Resources is a limit of one fish with a minimum total length of 24 inches. That would be less than Florida’s limit of a fish with a total length of 28 to 33 inches.

The audience at Tuesday’s meeting seemed supportive of action to support snook fishing, perhaps even instituting a catch-and-release protocol or tagging program .

Triple tail

Officials say they are aware of concerns about the population tripling and are waiting for more data. While it’s too early to tell, this data could lead them to tighten the existing recreational and commercial limit of three fish per person per day, with a minimum total length of 18 inches. One solution could be to impose a limit per boat as well as an individual limit. “There may be no need for anything,” Bannon said. “This is a question that comes up a lot, so we just wanted to post it so you can give us feedback on what you see on the water.”

Skates and rays

Anson said there are currently no state or federal limits on skates and rays. But he said it is a slow-reproducing class that is under pressure from a new source. “They are a growing target for bowfishing,” Anson said. “For bowfishers, they have charters that go out at night and use lights to shoot them with a bow and arrow.”

The problem, Anson said, is that in some cases hunters target rays simply to collect their tails as trophies, returning injured fish to the water with unknown mortality (rays can regrow their tails, although a tailless ray is presumed to be at a disadvantage in the meantime).

“Stingrays and rays have a role to play, they are scavengers. They’re not shellfish killers,” Bannon said. “When we see piles of them on the shore…I’m going to use the reference to this: Everybody thought it was OK to get on the train and shoot the buffalo, until they couldn’t. more. I don’t want to take away anyone’s business, I’m very pro-business…but for those businesses to stay in business, they need that cash to stay. »

Bannon said that if stingray hunters remove “35 to 70 tails per trip, that’s 35 to 70 very slow-reproducing creatures” that are dead or injured, with a potential long-term impact on the population. “I just don’t think it’s a sustainable practice,” Bannon said. “I absolutely don’t think it’s good management.”

Fishermen at Tuesday’s meeting spoke of the practice with some disdain, with one saying it was like “shooting a deer just to cut off its horns.”

Potential responses could include instituting a low recreational bag limit, such as two fish per person; prohibit fishermen from cutting off the tail or part of the tail; or requiring people using a gig, spear, or bow and arrow to keep all the rays they catch.

Sharks

The Division of Marine Resources is considering a change that would allow very limited commercial shark longline fishing in some state waters. Lines would be limited to 2,400 feet of line and 50 hooks, among other constraints.

Wade

The division is considering the possibility of increasing the commercial gillnet limit from the current 40 fish per vessel to 60 or more. Bannon said this is intended to provide some relief to the small and dwindling population of licensed commercial gillnet users.

Red snapper

Research suggests that “abundance is stable” when it comes to red snapper fishery, so the changes under consideration have more to do with access than limits.

In recent seasons, the state has opened its red snapper season on the Friday before Memorial Day and kept it open on four-day weekends, Friday through Monday, until the catch s are approaching the recreational quota for the year. Stock charts show that the snapper season gets off to a quick start, with lots of boats hitting the water in the first few weeks, then tapers off significantly in late summer and fall.

One change under consideration would be to open the 2025 season seven days a week through June, then move to four-day weekends in July.

Captain and crew

A discussion area is not species specific. Alabama law allows charter captains and crew to maintain a daily bag limit of fish on one trip per day. Marine resource figures appear to show that captains and crews have made relatively little use of this provision. Possible measures include ending the allocation of captain and crew, or maintaining it.

The second meeting in the series will take place from 6-7:30 p.m. on Thursday, November 21 at the Orange Beach Event Center at The Wharf, 4671 Orange Beach Parkway. The third is scheduled for 6-7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, December 3 at the Tillman’s Corner Community Center, 5055 Carol Plantation Road.

According to the meeting announcement, the sessions will be streamed at https://aldcnr.webex.com/meet/scott.bannon.