Georgia Archives - Page 10 of 10

South Atlantic Fishery Managment Council Solicits Public Input on Proposed Measures for Atlantic Cobia and Mutton Snapper Plus Options for Allocation of Dolphin and Yellowtail Snapper

July 21, 2016 — The following was released by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

Federal fishery managers are currently soliciting public input on proposed measures that may affect fishermen fishing in federal waters ranging from 3 to 200 miles offshore along the Atlantic coast. A series of public hearings and scoping meetings are scheduled for August including in-person hearings from Virginia Beach to Key West and online webinars. Written comments are also being accepted until August 19, 2016.

Regulation changes are proposed for Atlantic cobia, a species commonly targeted by recreational fishermen as it migrates northward in the late spring and early summer. The Atlantic cobia stock is managed by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council in cooperation with the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council from Georgia to New York in federal waters. The recreational fishery for Atlantic cobia was closed in federal waters on June 20, 2016. Recreational landings in 2015 exceeded the annual catch limit and accountability measures currently in place were implemented for the following year, resulting in a shorter season. Management measures are being considered to lengthen the recreational season beginning in 2017 and help ensure consistent and stable fishing opportunities.

Changes are also proposed for mutton snapper regulations in South Atlantic federal waters following a recent stock assessment and concerns about fishing pressure during the spring spawning season. The harvest of mutton snapper occurs primarily off the coast of southern Florida. The fish gather in large numbers to spawn during the full moon each spring, making them highly susceptible to fishing efforts. Proposed management measures would reduce fishing pressure during the spawning season and provide further protection to the stock. The Council is coordinating with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission to develop compatible regulations.

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council is also considering options for modifying allocations between commercial and recreational sectors for dolphin (mahi mahi) and yellowtail snapper. The options are being considered based on public input for the need to ensure the longest fishing season for both sectors.

Read the full release at the SAFMC

Crawling to Recovery: Loggerhead sea turtles reach a nesting milestone

July 18, 2016 — BRUNSWICK, Ga. — It’s been a record nesting season for Georgia’s loggerhead sea turtles, which last week reached a milestone in efforts to help the threatened species recover.

With 2,810 nests on Georgia barrier islands, the turtles edged past a key goal while also setting a record high since comprehensive nesting counts began in 1989.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries plan for goals for the region including Georgia and the Carolinas is a 2 percent annual nesting increase for a 50-year period. Before this season, Georgia’s 3 percent annual increase rate had the state on pace to hit its goal of 2,800 nests in 2020.

“We’ve had a number of increasing nesting years in a row, but this is kind of a big year for us,” Mark Dodd, coordinator for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Sea Turtle Program, said in a phone interview. “It’s been a long history of conservation in Georgia that culminated in this 2,800 nests number, so it’s pretty exciting for us.”

Georgia’s main nesting sea turtle, loggerheads weigh as much as 400 pounds. Female turtles crawl onto beaches from late spring into August to lay eggs in nests dug on the dry-sand beach, DNR officials say. Hatchlings begin emerging this month, crawling to the surf to begin their lives at sea.

Read the full story at the Albany Herald

NOAA Fishery Bulletin: NOAA Fisheries Seeks Public Comment on a Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Hogfish in Federal Waters of the South Atlantic Region

June 20, 2016 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries is seeking public comment on a draft environmental impact statement for Amendment 37 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region (Amendment 37).

NOAA Fisheries is proposing to manage hogfish in the South Atlantic as two populations: Georgia through North Carolina and Florida Keys/East Florida. A population assessment determined that the Florida Keys/East Florida population is undergoing overfishing and is overfished and, therefore, in need of a rebuilding plan. The overfishing and overfished status of the Georgia/North Carolina population is unknown.

The draft environmental impact statement for Amendment 37 analyzes a range of alternatives for actions, which include:

Modifying the management unit for hogfish.
Establishing a rebuilding plan for the Florida Keys/East Florida population to increase hogfish biomass to sustainable levels.
Specifying commercial and recreational annual catch limits and accountability measures for the Georgia/North Carolina and Florida Keys/East Florida populations of hogfish.
Modifying or establishing fishing regulations for both populations of hogfish, including minimum size limits, commercial trip limits, recreational bag limits, and a recreational fishing season.

For more information, please see the frequently asked questions section at:

http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/sustainable_fisheries/s_atl/sg/2015/am37/index.html

Request for Comments

The comment period on this draft environmental impact statement ends on August 1, 2016. You may obtain electronic copies of the draft amendment and environmental impact statement from the NOAA Fisheries Web site at http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/sustainable_fisheries/s_atl/sg/2015/am37/index.htmlor the e-Rulemaking Portal (see Addresses section).

Addresses

You may submit comments on this document, identified by NOAA-NMFS-2016-0068, by either of the following methods:

ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION: Submit all electronic public comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal.

Go to www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2016-0068.
Click the “Comment Now!” icon, complete the required fields.
Enter or attach your comments.

MAIL: Submit written comments to Nikhil Mehta, Southeast Regional Office, NMFS, 263 13th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701.

INSTRUCTIONS: Comments sent by any other method, to any other address or individual, or received after the end of the comment period, may not be considered by NOAA Fisheries.

All comments received are a part of the public record and will generally be posted for public viewing on http://www.regulations.gov without change. All personal identifying information (e.g., name, address, etc.), confidential business information, or otherwise sensitive information submitted voluntarily by the sender will be publicly accessible. NOAA Fisheries will accept anonymous comments (enter “N/A” in the required fields if you wish to remain anonymous).

Virginia Defies Federal Mandate That Restricts Cobia Fishing Season

May 27, 2016 — This past Tuesday, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission voted 5-4 to keep the Commonwealth’s cobia season open until August 30th of this year. The debate lasted well over four hours. The National Marine Fisheries Service issued a South Atlantic Marine Fishery Council order that would have closed the cobia fishery starting June 20th spanning from Georgia to New York. As a response, this order didn’t sit well with Virginia anglers and others serviced by the fishing industry in the state.

Here is the deal the commission reached regarding the cobia fishery in Virginia:

The Commission did raise the size limit from 37 to 40 inches, kept a one-fish per person possession limit, instituted a two-fish daily vessel limit, allowing only one of those fish to be more than 50 inches, for all vessels including for-hire (charter and head boats). The Commission also voted prohibited the gaffing of cobia by recreational anglers. In addition, the Commission decided to close the fishery on August 30 and will begin a reporting system for recreational anglers to report their cobia catches to the agency. The Commission had been requested by the National Marine Fisheries Service to close the recreational cobia fishery on June 20 because federal data showed the Georgia-New York allowable recreational catch of cobia was greatly exceeded in 2015 and Virginia alone caught the entire coastal quota.

Read the full story at Wide Open Spaces

Obama Reverses Course on Drilling Off Southeast Coast

March 14, 2016 — The Obama administration is expected to withdraw its plan to permit oil and gas drilling off the southeast Atlantic coast, yielding to an outpouring of opposition from coastal communities from Virginia to Georgia but dashing the hopes and expectations of many of those states’ top leaders.

The announcement by the Interior Department, which is seen as surprising, could come as soon as Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the decision who was not authorized to speak on the record because the plan had not been publicly disclosed.

The decision represents a reversal of President Obama’s previous offshore drilling plans, and comes as he is trying to build an ambitious environmental legacy. It could also inject the issue into the 2016 presidential campaigns, as Republican candidates vow to expand drilling.

In January 2015, Mr. Obama drew the wrath of environmentalists and high praise from the oil industry and Southeastern governors after the Interior Department put forth a proposal that would have opened much of the southeastern Atlantic coast to offshore drilling for the first time.

The proposal came after governors, state legislators and senators from Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia all expressed support for the drilling. Lawmakers in the state capitals saw new drilling as creating jobs and bolstering state revenue.

Read the full story at the New York Times

Directed Sustainable Fisheries, Inc. Distributes Fisheries Mgmt Events Calendar

October 13, 2015 — The following was released by Directed Sustainable Fisheries, Inc:

2015-2016 Fisheries Events Calendar Version 12

Commercial ACL Info http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/sustainable_fisheries/acl_monitoring/commercial_sa/index.html

Recreational ACL Info http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/sustainable_fisheries/acl_monitoring/recreational_sa/index.html

January 01, 2015

National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Highly Migratory Species (HMS) shark quotas open, except Atlantic Large Coastal Shark quota opened July 01, 2015 and Porbeagle shark quota is closed in 2015

http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfa/hms/news/news_list/2014/12/120114_2015_final_shark_specs.html

January 01

South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (SAFMC) Calendar and Closures

http://www.safmc.net/fish-id-and-regs/fishing-season-calendar-closures

January 01

Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (GMFMC) Commercial Regulations Mixing Zones

http://www.gulfcouncil.org/fishing_regulations/CommercialRegulations.pdf See Page 3 (PDF Page 5)

October 13

Written Comments Due on ESA Petitions for Smooth Hammerhead and Bigeye Thresher sharks

https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2015/08/11/2015-19550/endangered-and-threatened-wildlife-90-day-finding-on-a-petition-to-list-the-smooth-hammerhead-shark

https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2015/08/11/2015-19551/endangered-and-threatened-wildlife-90-day-finding-on-a-petition-to-list-the-bigeye-thresher-shark-as

October 14-15

SAFMC Visioning Meeting in Charleston, South Carolina

http://safmc.net/Oct2015_VisioningWorkshop

October 20-22

SAFMC SSC Fall Meeting Date

http://www.safmc.net/Meetings/SSCMeetings

October 29

NMFS SERO Written Comment Due on Dolphin Allocation & Generic Amendment Proposed Rule

https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2015/09/29/2015-24576/fisheries-of-the-caribbean-gulf-of-mexico-and-south-atlantic-snapper-grouper-fishery-and-golden-crab

November 03-04

SAFMC Snapper-Grouper Advisory Panel meeting in North Charleston, South Carolina

http://safmc.net/meetings/current-advisory-panel-meetings

November 04

Written Nominations for HMS Shark SEDAR Pool requested by this date

http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfa/hms/news/news_list/2015/10/100215_sedar_pool_nominations.html

November 17-20

SEDAR 41 Red Snapper/Gray Triggerfish Assessment Workshop in Morehead City, North Carolina

http://sedarweb.org/sedar-41

December 07-11

SAFMC Meeting, Hilton Oceanfront Hotel, 2717 W. Fort Macon Rd, Atlantic Beach NC

http://safmc.net/sites/default/files/meetings/pdf/Council/2015/2015_SAFMC_MeetingDates.pdf

January 01, 2016

Many SAFMC Snapper-Grouper Species Annual Catch Limits (ACLs) Open http://safmc.net/

Most HMS Shark, Swordfish and Tuna Quotas Open http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfa/hms/

January 19-22

SAFMC Citizen Science Workshop in Charleston, South Carolina

http://safmc.net/sites/default/files/meetings/pdf/SSC/2015/10_2015_SSC/A9_SA_CitSci_one-pager_062615.pdf

March 07-11

SAFMC Meeting in Jekyll Island, Georgia

http://www.safmc.net/meetings/council-meetings

March 15-18

SEDAR 41 Review Workshop Red Snapper & Gray Triggerfish in Atlantic Beach, North Carolina http://sedarweb.org/sedar-41

June 13-17

SAFMC Meeting in Cocoa Beach, Florida

http://www.safmc.net/meetings/council-meetings

View a PDF of the DSF events calendar

Atlantic Fishermen Frustrated by New Regulations

July 20, 2015 — The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council is collecting feedback from dozens of fishing areas from Florida up to North Carolina about the snapper-grouper fishery.

At a public hearing at the Murrells Inlet Community Center Monday night, local fishermen spoke out against the proposed regulations.

A number of local commercial and some recreational fishermen said this council’s proposals are like Big Brother on the fishing industry.

They said fishermen should just be left alone to fish.

“We want some controversial items that are opposed by nearly all fishermen removed, like catch shares, which is an effort to privatize the fishery, electronic monitoring of a vessel, and more closed fishing areas,” said Tom Swatzel, a council member with Sustainable Fishing. “We just don’t need those at this time.”

The Vision Project which was initially launched last year by SAFMC was blasted by local fishermen Monday night.

Read the full story at WPDE.com