February 11, 2015 — The idea of reducing the number of spiny lobster traps as a way to ease fishing pressure on the Florida Keys' most lucrative commercial fishery did not go over well at a meeting of state federal fishery managers Monday in Key West.
Representatives with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and South Atlantic fishery and Gulf of Mexico management councils met because fishermen exceeded the annual spiny lobster catch limit of 7.3 million pounds in the 2013-14 lobster season.
Once an annual catch limit is exceeded, federal and state fishery managers have to convene a panel to assess whether or not corrective action is needed.
The group discussed three possible actions: closing the season early; embarking on a more aggressive trap reduction program; and exempting the spiny lobster fishery from annual quotas.
The proposal that received the most vocal opposition was more aggressively reducing the number of traps.
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