MS HR68

Recognizes Mississippi's Tails N' Scales Reporting Program as the best scientific information available for monitoring red snapper catch and effort, noting it has been peer-reviewed and certified by NOAA Fisheries as an improvement over existing methods.

Commends the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources for achieving greater than 95% angler compliance with the Tails N' Scales program, which has provided the highest quality recreational red snapper fishing data ever recorded.

Calls on NOAA Fisheries and the Gulf of Mexico Fisheries Management Council to not scale Tails N' Scales data into the Marine Recreational Information Program until all additional information, including the Great Red Snapper Count, is analyzed and incorporated into a new stock assessment.

Urges NOAA Fisheries and the Gulf of Mexico Fisheries Management Council to allow Mississippi to set its own red snapper quota not exceeding recent years' allocations while continuing to use Tails N' Scales for monitoring recreational harvest.

Affirms support for Mississippi anglers' constitutional right to harvest fish under Mississippi Constitution Article 3, Section 12A while using the best available science.