Local angler shares thoughts on how to improve short fishing seasons in Gulf of Mexico
Captain Jason Sherrill has spent most of his life fishing in the Gulf of Mexico. In that time, he’s accumulated quite the catalog of fishing spots.
“I’ve been doing this for over 25 years and have a lifetime of waypoints. I’ve put in a lot of time finding and documenting spots,” explained Sherrill, who grew up in Sarasota and went to Sarasota High School. “My last time offshore, I pulled a file from 20 years ago and decided to hit that.”
On that trip, Sherrill didn’t run very deep, stopping in only 35 feet of water. There his crew caught what he estimated was over 60 keeper-sized gag grouper. But with current regulations, those fish were released to fight another day.
“If I’m gag fishing during the season, I’m not stopping in shallow water. I like to catch 30s, 40s, maybe a 50,” said Sherrill, referring to the weight class of fish. “This year I didn’t even get a chance to really do that. I went once and the bite was off. We did alright but heard everyone else did horrible fishing in 415 to 460 feet of water.”
A record short gag grouper this year started Sept. 1 and closed on Sept. 15. This past week, NOAA released their MRIP (Marine Recreational Information Program) survey. The estimate was that 1,052,289 pounds of gag grouper were harvested by the recreational sector in this time frame in the Gulf of Mexico. Many anglers questioned this data as that period was less than desirable to fish.
“Wow! I nearly sank my boat going out! Totally on me going out in the mess!” said angler Heath on social media in response to the report. “But that’s what they are doing to us! Went diving last week and the gags was everywhere!”
Sherrill, who has fished commercially, recreationally and charters clients as well, said poor data collecting on the recreational side is adding to much of the issues and frustration currently being experienced with short seasons.
“Here’s the problem. Rec guys are blaming commercial guys, commercial guys are blaming rec guys and there is a lot of flawed data. There are only 232 commercial boats left from Key West to Galveston. Right now the commercial side guys are only given a certain amount of quota, be it for red snapper, gag grouper, amberjack. And that lasts all year,” Sherrill explained.
“There are three main stakeholders who set the bar and there aren’t any mom-and-pop shops anymore who a commercial guy may go supply fish to,” Sherrill added. “Everyone hated the VMS (Vessel Monitoring System) for charter guys, but it held them accountable for the amount of fish they were taking home. That’s the most accurate data the state received for catches.”
Moving forward, Sherrill intends to join the advisory panel along with fellow captain and fisherman Ed Walker. While he believes the gag grouper and other fisheries are healthy, his idea would be to change how current seasons work for the species.
“I’d recommend one fish per person with a season opposite when they are spawning. I’ve never understood seasons during spawn, which for gag grouper is usually the full moon in October through the full moon in December. I’d suggest tighter laws during summertime on spearing gag grouper.”
“In order to get better data recreational anglers, should also need to report their catches. Maybe an app when you are on your way back to the dock you have to input what you caught, size and other data. That would help to remove all these guesses currently being done which is frustrating all sectors.”
Another species under much scrutiny is red grouper, which will come open Jan. 1. Red grouper limits remain unchanged with a 20-inch minimum and two per person.
Shallow water grouper like red, scamp and black grouper will have a deepwater closure in February and March beyond 20 fathoms. Gag grouper has yet to be determined for 2025.