Advisory panels provide grassroots input; Cobia Stock ID Workshop; Scientists convene in May
April 3, 2018 — NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. — The following was released by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council:
Fishermen and others interested in federal fishery management issues will want to mark their calendars for upcoming meetings that may affect fishing for snapper, grouper, black sea bass, mackerel, cobia, rock shrimp, and golden crab as well as policies affecting essential fish habitat and ecosystem-based management. The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council will hold several advisory panel meetings as well as a meeting of the Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) in the coming weeks. A workshop to address stock boundaries for cobia is also scheduled as part of a benchmark stock assessment for cobia.
The Council’s advisory panel members, representing recreational fishermen, charter captains, commercial fishermen, seafood dealers and others knowledgeable about fisheries issues, provide grassroots input into the fishery management process. The Council’s SSC is responsible for reviewing the scientific basis of Council management plans and actions and developing fishing level recommendations in accordance with national fisheries guidelines. Members of the SSC include stock assessment scientists, economists, biologists, sociologists, and others knowledgeable about fisheries in the South Atlantic.
Additional information about the meetings listed below, including meeting agendas, overviews, and briefing book materials will be available online (see details below). Members of the public are invited to attend all meetings. The advisory panel meetings and the SSC meeting will also be accessible online via webinar as they occur. Webinar registration is required and details are posted on the meeting pages of the website.
SEDAR Cobia Stock ID Workshop
April 10-12, 2018
Meeting Location: Town and Country Inn, 2008 Savannah Highway, Charleston, SC 29407
The Southeast Data, Assessment, and Review (SEDAR) benchmark stock assessment for cobia is scheduled to start in 2018. It will be a multi-step process consisting of a series of workshops and webinars. Cobia stock identification will be resolved through a multi-step process prior to the Data Workshop scheduled as part of the SEDAR 58 stock assessment. The Cobia Stock ID Workshop is the first step in this process. Participants in the Stock ID Workshop include data collectors, database managers, stock assessment scientists, fishermen, environmentalists and non-government organizations, and staff from state and federal agencies.
Workshop participants will review all available, relevant information on cobia stock structure including genetic studies, growth patterns, movement and migration, existing stock definitions, and oceanographic and habitat characteristics and make recommendations on biological stock structure and the assessment unit stock or stocks to be addressed through the SEDAR 58 assessment. They will also document the rationale behind their recommendations. Additional information is available at: http://sedarweb.org/sedar-58.
Read the full list of meetings at the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council