Catch Info:

• Method:
  Hooks and Lines
• Gear:
  Handlines

View details of SeafoodWatch Catch Methods

Description:

American red snapper are the highest quality and are most desired due to the bright red skin and semi-firm, sweet tasting meat. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, American red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus) is only fish that should be marketed as "red snapper".

American red snapper are found throughout the western Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico, including North, Central and northern South America. In the U.S. they are most common in the Gulf of Mexico and the south Atlantic region. They are rarely found north of North Carolina.

In the U.S., both the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico red snapper populations have been severely overfished. The Atlantic population is only 3% of the target size and is completely closed to harvest for the time being. The Gulf of Mexico population, harvested under a rebuilding plan, is now at 18% of the target size and is predicted to achieve a complete recovery by 2032. The primary gear used to harvest red snapper is hook and line and has little impact on the seafloor, though a small portion of the Gulf of Mexico catch is from bottom longlines, which can have a more substantial impact. These gears can catch sea turtles, especially longlines, but fishermen must abide by the careful handling and release protocols to minimize inury to sea turtles.

True American Red Snapper from the Gulf of Mexico, usually domestically caught, occasionally from Mexico.

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