Dear Friends of Recreational Fishing,
There are many decisions about to be made that may change how the Gulf Recreational Fishery is managed. Because
many of you are interested in the outcome, I am going to send you this ‘summary’ although long to peruse. One is
whether or not to have a Fall Red Snapper Season October 1st through 21st. One would think this is a no-brainer, but some
commercial interests and those pushing for a more limited access recreational fishery are requesting either a shorter than
possible season or no recreational fall season at all. The full document is found here:
http://gulfcouncil.org/docs/amendments/Final%20Red%20Snapper%20Framework%20Action%20Set%202013%20Quotas.pdf
You can comment on this at:
http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/sustainable_fisheries/gulf_fisheries/reef_fish/2013/rs_tac_framework/index.html .
Another decision that is before the Gulf Council if for Regional Management which is described in Amendment 39 at :
http://gulfcouncil.org/docs/amendments/Regional%20Management%20Red%20Snapper.pdf .
These two important decisions are scheduled to be made next Thursday, at the Gulf Council meeting. Your input is very important
to the outcome.
Below is a snap shot of the Actions and preferred alternatives for Regional Management of many local anglers:
Regional Management/Amendment 39
-Action 1-Regional Mgmt
-New Alternative-delay implementation until States/Regions have proper data collection and funding in place to
implement the program
Action 2-Establish Regions for Management
-Preferred Alternative 3: Establish 5 regions representing each Gulf State.
Action 3-Apportioning the Recreational Red Snapper Quota Among Regions
-Alternative 2-D will give FL about 44%; This will be the most contentious among Council members because each
will be wanting the highest number possible for their states.
-Add Alternative 6: Readdress allocation of quota to regions every 3 years.
Action 4-Regional Management Measures
-The preferred Alternatives 2,3, & 4 will give the regions more flexibility.
Action 5-For-Hire Vessels Federal Permit Restrictions
-Preferred Alternative 2-Do not require vessels with Gulf Charter vessel/headboat permits for Gulf reef fish to
comply with the more restrictive of federal recreational red snapper regulations when fishing in the same waters.
(Needs to be specific to provisions in Amendment 30B)
Action 6- Post-Season Accountability Measures Adjusting for Regional Overages
-Preferred Alternative 3: If a region exceeds its apportioned regional quota, then the region’s quota will ‘MAY’ be
reduced in the following year by the amount of the overage. If the total landings from all regions do not exceed
the Gulf-wide recreational quota then the region’s quota will not be reduced.
Option b: Allow 2-year grace period before implementation
Action 7: Establishing Default Regulations
-Preferred Alternative 2: During the suspension of delegation, the recreational harvest of red snapper in the
federal waters off such state would be:
Preferred Option a: Restricted to the default regulations [but do not hold For-hire vessels to the Amendment 30B
provision].
Amendment 30B & Regional Management
In addition to dealing with Regional Management, we have asked our FWC rep on the Council to go forward, re-introducing
the rescinding of Amendment 30B, that restricts the for-hire federal permit holders. We must keep all the recreational anglers
together. If Regional Management is not decided or is voted down, we still have that restriction and need it revoked. If it is not
revoked, and regional mgmt does go through but FL overfishes, the ‘default’ of re-implementing 30b will be done unless we have a
stand alone Amendment.
We also need to rescind the Emergency rule giving the Regional Administrator the power to close a season without the
direction of the Council. That needs to be another Stand-alone amendment.
Both of these can go out to scoping and, if passed, could be in place for 2014, whether regional management is or not. The only
drawback is that it will only apply to Red Snapper. If other species are included, it will take much longer.
Florida Reef Fish Endorsement/Permit:
In order to have more fair regulations, we must have better data collection in the recreational sector. If we do not want catch
shares, sector separation, reduced number of charter boats and less access for private anglers in the fishery, we are going to have to
work together to come up with a good plan. (This would be similar to a Snook stamp or duck stamp).
We have a group of private anglers, charter boat captains, and several recreational fishery organizations working together with a
Biologist and FWC staff to devise a plan that will be fair for all concerned. The stated Goal of this group is….to protect the rights and
privileges to fish recreationally by Florida’s recreational anglers in the Gulf by providing accurate data collection that is sufficient to
substantially improve the fairness of regulations and is financially feasible for all participants while maintaining an open access
fishery. You can get updates on this process by contacting Pam Anderson at pamheartsofhope@aol.com .