Saving Seafood

SAFMC to Address Transit Provisions for Shrimp Fishery

January 13, 2020 — The following was released by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

At the request of penaeid shrimp fishermen, the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council is considering measures to modify current transit provisions for cold-weather closed areas. The Council will hold a joint meeting of its advisory panels as well as public hearings to get input on proposed changes.

Joint Advisory Panel Meeting

  • Deepwater Shrimp, Law Enforcement, and Shrimp Advisory Panels (via webinar)
  • Friday, January 17, 2020 at 10:00 a.m.
  • Details, including a meeting agenda with a link to webinar registration, briefing book materials, and an online comment form is available at: https://safmc.net/safmc-meetings/current-advisory-panel-meetings/.

Public Hearings

  • Amendment 11 to the Shrimp Fishery Management Plan (via webinar)
  • Wednesday, February 5, 2020
  • Thursday, February 6, 2020
  • Hearings begin at 6:00 p.m. Additional details, including a public hearing summary document and overview will be posted online as they become available at: https://safmc.net/safmc-meetings/public-hearings-scoping-meetings/. Links for the webinar registration are now available.

The Council created the cold-weather closures and associated transit provisions to protect over-wintering white shrimp if the abundance of white shrimp decreases by 80% or water temperatures dip below 48 degrees Fahrenheit for at least one week. The current provisions, implemented in 1994, require that trawl gear be stowed below deck when transiting the closed areas. Fishermen have expressed concerns that changes to vessel design over the years make it more difficult to store the gear.

Council members will review recommendations from its advisory panels and input from the public hearings before considering final approval of Shrimp Amendment 11 during their March 2-6, 2020 meeting in Jekyll Island, GA.

ASMFC Approves Atlantic Cobia Amendment 1

August 9th, 2019 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission approved Amendment 1 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Atlantic Migratory Group Cobia (Atlantic cobia). Amendment 1 establishes management measures that transition the FMP from complementary management with the South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Councils to sole management by the Commission. Amendment 1 to the FMP was initiated in anticipation of the Councils’ Regulatory Amendment 31 to the Coastal Migratory Pelagics (CMP) FMP, which was approved earlier this year and removed Atlantic cobia from the Councils’ oversight.

Amendment 1 changes several portions of the Commission’s FMP that were previously dependent on the CMP FMP and institutes a long-term strategy for managing in the absence of a federal plan. Several of these changes establish processes for the Commission to carry out management responsibilities previously performed by the South Atlantic Council, including the setting of harvest quotas and sector allocations, defining stock status criteria and recommending management measures to be implemented by NOAA Fisheries in federal waters. Additionally, Amendment 1 transitions responsibilities of monitoring and closing (if necessary) commercial harvest to the Commission.

Moving forward, the Commission will recommend to NOAA Fisheries that fishing in federal waters be regulated according to the state of landing. If a vessel has licenses for multiple states with open seasons, they must follow the most restrictive license’s regulations. If a vessel has licenses for multiple states, only one of which has an open season, they may fish under the regulations of the open state. Regulations resulting from this recommendation would only apply in federal waters. Fishermen would still be required to follow state possession or landing limits in state waters.

Amendment 1 establishes a harvest specification process, which allows the Board to specify a limited set of management measures for up to 3 years. One of the measures that may be set through this process is a coastwide harvest quota. However, until the first specification process occurs, after completion of the ongoing stock in 2020, the current coastwide quota (670,000 pounds) remains in effect.

The Amendment also changes the units used to measure and evaluate the recreational fishery from pounds numbers of fish. To accommodate this change, the recreational harvest quota in pounds (620,000) is converted to numbers (22,142 fish) and allocated among the states, resulting in the following state recreational harvest targets:

· Virginia: 8,724 fish
· North Carolina: 8,436 fish
· South Carolina: 2,679 fish
· Georgia: 2,081 fish
· 1% De Minimis Set Aside: 222 fish

States still may set their own seasons and vessel limits to achieve their respective targets.

Finally, Amendment 1 establishes a de minimis status for the commercial sector that exempts states with small commercial harvests from in-season monitoring requirements. States are required to implement measures of Amendment 1 by July 1, 2020. Amendment 1 will be available on the Commission’s website, http://www.asmfc.org/species/cobia, by the end of August.

For more information, please contact Dr. Michael Schmidtke, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at mschmidtke@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.

SAFMC Meeting March 4-8, 2019 in Jekyll Island, GA

February 19, 2019 — The following was released by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

Briefing book materials are now available for the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s March 4-8, 2019 meeting at the Westin Jekyll Island, 110 Ocean Way, Jekyll Island, Georgia. The meeting week begins with a series of committee meetings and concludes with a meeting of the Full Council.

The briefing book materials, including agendas, overviews, and discussion documents, are now available from the Council’s website.

Agenda Highlights:

  • Red Snapper – The Snapper Grouper Committee is expected to receive an update from NOAA Fisheries on the status of the 2019 red snapper season.
  • Species Movement Northward – An Atlantic coast-wide discussion will take place during the Habitat Committee meeting. Members of the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, New England Fishery Management Council, and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission will participate.
  • Sea Turtle Release Gear – The Council is scheduled to approve Snapper Grouper Amendment 42, allowing commercial and for-hire fishermen additional choices for turtle release gear.
  • Best Fishing Practices and Use of Powerhead Gear – The Snapper Grouper Committee will continue to discuss proposed requirements for the use of descending devices, venting tools, and circle hooks, as well as changes to restrictions on powerhead gear.
  • Dolphin Wahoo – The committee will continue to discuss management options for both dolphin and wahoo to include in draft Amendment 10 to the Dolphin Wahoo Fishery Management Plan.
  • Allocations – The Council will meet as a Committee of the Whole to begin discussions of allocations between recreational and commercial sectors. In addition, the Committee of the Whole will also discuss the ABC Control Rule Amendment and an amendment to address Recreational Accountability Measures.

Additional Information:

Wednesday, March 6th 4:00 PM
The Council will hold a formal public comment session as part of the meeting week.

Online Public Comment

Members of the public may also provide written comments on agenda items via the Council’s Online Comment Form. Comments may also be viewed online as they are posted. Additional details are available from March meeting page.

Meeting via Webinar – Listen to the meeting and view presentations via webinar each day as the meeting occurs. Registration required. Click the links below to register for each day:

Read the Latest SAFMC Update Newsletter; Reminder: March Council Meeting

February 24, 2017 — The following was released by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

Council members and staff traveled from Hatteras, NC to Key West, FL in January and February to solicit public input on management issues affecting some of the 55 species within the snapper grouper management unit that includes snappers, grouper, porgies, jacks, tilefish, and grunts. A total of 241 people attended the public hearing/scoping meetings with additional input solicited through webinars and via the Council’s online comment forms.

Public scoping comments were solicited on options for red snapper and recreational reporting through Snapper Grouper Amendment 43 and two Vision Blueprint Regulatory Amendments with options for recreational and commercial sectors as outlined through the Council’s 2016-2020 Vision Blueprint. Scoping is the first stage of the process to amend a fishery management plan after an issue has been identified and allows the public to comment before the Council decides whether or not to move forward with an amendment. During the scoping process, the Council asked for input on a number of questions.

Read the full newsletter here