About the Program
What is the Issue with Red Snapper?
Red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus) is an economically valuable and ecologically important reef fish.
Red Snapper Flyer
The latest population assessment (SEFSC update to SEDAR73) for South Atlantic red snapper determined the population is undergoing overfishing, not overfished, but not yet rebuilt.
Regulations aimed at rebuilding the Atlantic red snapper stock have not yet met the necessary requirements to declare the stock no longer undergoing overfishing primarily due to recreational discards, which causes challenges for natural resources managers, as well as commercial and recreational fishers.
A new red snapper stock assessment is underway (SEDAR 90), which may take into account the results of the South Atlantic Red Snapper Research Program and other new information about the red snapper stock. Fishery stock assessments are statistical models used to estimate fish population size and how it is affected by fishing.
Pending no delays, the final assessment will be produced November 2026. See the schedule of events for more details.
Economics of the Fishery
The average annual recreational economic value of red snapper is estimated at over $275 million.
Economic Details
What is the South Atlantic Red Snapper Research Program?
The program was developed in response to the need for a deeper understanding of the population, distribution, and density of red snapper. To lead the development of the program, the South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium submitted a proposal to NOAA National Sea Grant and the National Marine Fisheries Service on behalf of the four regional Sea Grant programs, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.
Guided by an advisory group composed of regional Sea Grant directors and extension staff, state and national fisheries researchers and fishermen, a request for proposals was developed to conduct the needed research. The selected proposal, submitted by Dr. Will Patterson, Professor of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences at the University of Florida, was identified as best aligned with the research request. Dr. Patterson regularly provides research updates and consults closely with the advisory group.
Dr. Patterson’s project brings together scientists from the University of Florida, NC State University, Texas A&M Corpus Christi, the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Georgia Department of Natural Resources and the National Marine Fisheries Service.
The research aims to generate an independent estimate of the number of red snapper aged two years and older throughout the range from North Carolina to Florida. It also seeks to estimate the abundance of red snapper in areas that have not been previously surveyed. To do this, the team is using both traditional sampling methods and innovative techniques.
This project will increase scientific knowledge of red snapper populations across the South Atlantic to better inform future stock assessments and fisheries management.
Maps of the Study Area
Sites surveyed with a remotely operated vehicle in 2021 (green) and 2022 (yellow).
Reef sites sampled with camera-trap gear by the SERFS survey in 2022.
What is the Research Team Studying?
The research team will produce an independent estimate (separate from the SEDAR stock assessment) of the population size of red snapper age 2 years and older from North Carolina to Florida.
The estimates will be produced using two separate approaches:
- Genetic close-kin mark recapture (CKMR).
- Bayesian integrated modeling to estimate red snapper population size from the Southeast Reef Fish Survey (SERFS) trap-camera and remotely operated vehicle (ROV) sampling.
The research team will also assess the occurrence and estimate the density of red snapper in areas that have not been surveyed (known as unknown and unconsolidated habitats), including areas outside the current SERFS sampling frame.
The research team will work cooperatively with for-hire recreational and commercial fishers for this portion of sampling efforts to accomplish research goals.
A camera trap used in the survey and a red snapper. Photo courtesy of Southeast Reef Fish Survey.
Additional Research Goals
- Conduct simulation analysis to estimate the efficacy and sample sizes needed to estimate the magnitude of US South Atlantic red snapper fishery discards via conventional or genetic tagging.
- Conduct 3D telemetry experiments off North Carolina and Florida to estimate discarding within telemetry arrays and produce more robust estimates of the effective sampling area (ESA) of camera-traps deployed to estimate red snapper population size.