Dr. “Skip” Lazauski

It seems we like to give fish names with a color in it.

A popular fish along the northern Gulf Coast is the vermilion snapper (rhomboplites aurorubens). It also goes by a couple of nicknames in the Gulf including beeliner and BB. It doesn’t matter what you call it the vermilion is still a quality reef fish.

Vermilion snapper along with triggerfish, amberjack and red snappers are all directly associated with Alabama’s offshore artificial reef complex and natural bottom.

Old oilrigs, military tanks and ships have been towed to these areas and sunk. This hard substrate provided by unwanted material creates reef ecosystems, which supports a food chain from the microscopic to top predators like the snappers.

The vermilion is easy to tell apart from the other snappers especially the red snapper. It is a deep red color, hence the name, with narrow yellow streaks running over the length of its body below the lateral line. It can occasionally tend toward a pinkish cast, depending on what it has been eating.

Like all snappers the vermilion has a small patch of teeth on the roof of its mouth and no scales from the mouth back to the eyes. The eyes are set high on its head so it always seems to be looking up. The vermilion is a small fish, rarely getting over two pounds. It can spawn in its first year of life and lives for only about six years.

The vermilion is found offshore in association with natural or artificial reefs. It ranges from North Carolina down through the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean to Brazil. The vermilion seems to prefer hanging above a reef rather than directly on it like red snapper.

Because of this habit if bait is lowered slowly you’re likely to end up with vermilion on the line. Many anglers once considered them pests, which got the way of catching red snapper. Now they are the go-to-fish for charter boat captains when the red snapper aren’t biting.

Vermilion feed on small marine organisms and will go for cut bait and small fish. Even though it’s not allowed by law some anglers use vermilion as bait, following the paradigm: Big Bait = Big Fish.

The vermilion is both a commercial and recreationally caught fish. According to the NMFS commercial fishery statistics, from 1990 to 2000, 22,350,804 pounds of vermilion snapper were landed in the Gulf worth $38,689,700. For the same time period Alabama’s commercial landings were 140,615 pounds worth $246,157.

Florida had the highest landings of 12,512,886 pounds worth $21,126,310. Louisiana was second with 6,601,806 pounds at $11,721,189.

Recent studies of reef fish populations have shown that vermilion growth and reproduction have changed over time.

These changes such as smaller average size for a given age, changes in the sex ratio and maturing are younger ages are associated with increasing fishing pressure.

Fishing pressure on vermilion has increased greatly from the late 1970s, and a recent stock assessment by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council indicated that vermilion snapper were over-fished.

Think Global – Act Local!

Dr. “Skip” Lazauski can be seen on the television show “Eco-Bites”, which airs on Mediacom’s channel 14 and Smartel’s channel 4. To reach Dr. Lazauski for questions and comments, send e-mail to IchiOrca@yahoo.com. For more information, see his Web site, drskiponline.com.