‘RED SNAPPER BLUES' Local musician takes on regulators with song (VIDEO)

What used to be the area’s most celebrated fish has some folks singing the blues.

As a matter of fact, local musician Scott Miller has written a song entitled “Red Snapper Blues.”

In the last three or four years, local fishermen have had to deal with a dwindling red snapper season imposed by the feds. The National Marine Fisheries has said the red snapper fishery is overfished and needs time to rebuild — thus a shorter season.

Last year, area fishermen had to deal with a 48-day red snapper season.

“I’m an avid fisherman and diver, and I spend every available weekend on the water,” said the 51-year-old Miller. “So I can see first hand how large the snapper population has become. It’s kind of crazy … I’ve never seen so many large red snapper and people are catching them in the most oddball manners because there are so many of them.”

Miller talked of trolling for wahoo and tuna with diving plugs and catching red snapper instead.

Miller, who is part of the musical group Caribbean Camouflage along with his brother Keith Scott, came up with the idea about two months ago to write a song about the predicament of the snapper fishery.

 “I came up with the title of the song first ‘Red Snapper Blues,’ ” he said. “It was kind of catchy.”

Then after going on a dive and finding himself surrounded by hundreds of huge snapper while trying to target other fish, he decided to get serious about writing the song.

“I came home and sat down on the couch and picked up the guitar and said OK … Red Snapper Blues,” he said.

First he wrote out a few things about the negative impact the red snapper closure has had on the local economy and particularly the charter fleet and captains.

“I started thinking of word associations and remarkably … the song came together in about 20 minutes,” he said.

“I just kept thinking in my mind they are wrong; they are not hurting here. Maybe on the East Coast fishery, but here in the Gulf of Mexico? It’s crazy,” he said.

The words for the chorus came together really quick.

“And they’re wrong, man they’re wrong. The snapper are here, they are not gone.”

After that, “The verses just kind of rolled right out,” he said. In the verses, he tells how the closure of red snapper has affected the families and their livelihoods.

“At Christmas, I remember reading how some of the local fishing families were coming down and getting canned goods. I thought that’s really sad that they are struggling to support themselves in what they want to do … because of the restrictions,” Miller said.

“I’m not against government restrictions and fishery management,” Miller said. “We need that. In a lot of cases I’ve seen where it has been helpful. But they seem to be slow to change and say OK we’ve been successful. It literally takes an act of Congress to change these regulations.”

Miller has played his song for a few family and friends.

“I haven’t actually done it publicly yet,” he said, though he has posted it to YouTube.

“I’ve played if for some my fisherman friends, and they like it. The feedback has been good. Everyone likes the lyrics in the song. It’s kind of funny, some of my friends are labeling me a snapper activist. I never knew I was a radical, but maybe I am,” he jokingly said.

He also isn’t in a rush to license the song.

“I don’t want to be selfish with it. I want to share this with any musician out there that would like to use it … if it helps to draw attention to the cause and show support for our main industry,” Scott said.

He wants the song to draw attention to all fishermen, charter fleet and businesses.

“Nothing would please me more than to see other local musicians playing the song,” he said. “Let’s get these snapper regulations released … let’s go fishing … let these guys make some money.”