Anglers to face more restrictions on snapper, grouper fishing
BY SUSAN COCKING
scocking@MiamiHerald.com
SUSAN COCKING / MIAMI HERALD STAFF
Captain Billy Delph, left, and Duane Holder catch a mutton snapper off of Key West. Snapper and grouper fishing faces increased restrictions in Florida.
Fishing for snapper and grouper along both the east and west coasts of Florida is about to fall under a lot more restrictions and controversy.
The Secretary of Commerce has approved a 180-day closure of Atlantic federal waters off Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina to all recreational and commercial harvest of red snapper. The restriction is intended to shore up sagging stocks until the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council comes up with a long-term rebuilding plan. The order will be in effect from Jan. 4 until June 2 and could be extended for a longer period. The Recreational Fishing Alliance has filed suit in federal court in Jacksonville to try to stop the closure.
In an even heavier blow to bottom fishers, the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council voted Friday to ask the Secretary to close the entire South Atlantic coast to fishing for several deepwater grouper and snapper species out from a depth of 240 feet. If Commerce approves, fishing for Warsaw; snowy; yellowedge; speckled hind; and misty grouper, along with blueline tilefish; and queen and silk snapper would be prohibited.
Also Friday, the council decided to move forward on a plan to close a large swath of federal waters from just north of Charleston, S.C., to Cape Canaveral to all snapper/grouper fishing. Final action on the proposal is expected at the council's June meeting in Orlando. But before seeking federal approval, the panel wants an updated red snapper stock assessment next fall. Recreational anglers and some scientists have contended that the scientific data being used to justify the red snapper closure is fatally flawed.
Meanwhile, red snapper is reported to be on the road to recovery in the Gulf. Federal fisheries managers said it's the result of adjustments to bag and size limits and the implementation of a catch-share program for commercial fishers in 2007. This bit of good news might lead the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council to increase catch levels when it meets in February.
The Gulf council also is looking at possible time and area closures to shore up sagging stocks of gag and red grouper, while considering a request from commercial fishers to reopen Gulf federal waters to fish traps as a replacement gear for bottom longlines. Florida's Gulf federal waters have been closed to fish traps since 2007. Recreational anglers adamantly are opposed to the return of fish traps anywhere along the Florida coast.
And finally, a shallow-water grouper closure is a done deal in Atlantic federal and state waters off Florida from Jan. 1 through April 30. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, meeting Thursday in Clewiston, voted to go along with federal regulations prohibiting all harvest of gag; black; red; scamp; coney; graysby; yellowfin; yellowmouth; and tiger grouper, and red and rock hind for four months. When the fishery re-opens in May, anglers will face smaller bag limits.
http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/outdoors/story/1379299.html
BY SUSAN COCKING
scocking@MiamiHerald.com
SUSAN COCKING / MIAMI HERALD STAFF
Captain Billy Delph, left, and Duane Holder catch a mutton snapper off of Key West. Snapper and grouper fishing faces increased restrictions in Florida.
Fishing for snapper and grouper along both the east and west coasts of Florida is about to fall under a lot more restrictions and controversy.
The Secretary of Commerce has approved a 180-day closure of Atlantic federal waters off Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina to all recreational and commercial harvest of red snapper. The restriction is intended to shore up sagging stocks until the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council comes up with a long-term rebuilding plan. The order will be in effect from Jan. 4 until June 2 and could be extended for a longer period. The Recreational Fishing Alliance has filed suit in federal court in Jacksonville to try to stop the closure.
In an even heavier blow to bottom fishers, the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council voted Friday to ask the Secretary to close the entire South Atlantic coast to fishing for several deepwater grouper and snapper species out from a depth of 240 feet. If Commerce approves, fishing for Warsaw; snowy; yellowedge; speckled hind; and misty grouper, along with blueline tilefish; and queen and silk snapper would be prohibited.
Also Friday, the council decided to move forward on a plan to close a large swath of federal waters from just north of Charleston, S.C., to Cape Canaveral to all snapper/grouper fishing. Final action on the proposal is expected at the council's June meeting in Orlando. But before seeking federal approval, the panel wants an updated red snapper stock assessment next fall. Recreational anglers and some scientists have contended that the scientific data being used to justify the red snapper closure is fatally flawed.
Meanwhile, red snapper is reported to be on the road to recovery in the Gulf. Federal fisheries managers said it's the result of adjustments to bag and size limits and the implementation of a catch-share program for commercial fishers in 2007. This bit of good news might lead the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council to increase catch levels when it meets in February.
The Gulf council also is looking at possible time and area closures to shore up sagging stocks of gag and red grouper, while considering a request from commercial fishers to reopen Gulf federal waters to fish traps as a replacement gear for bottom longlines. Florida's Gulf federal waters have been closed to fish traps since 2007. Recreational anglers adamantly are opposed to the return of fish traps anywhere along the Florida coast.
And finally, a shallow-water grouper closure is a done deal in Atlantic federal and state waters off Florida from Jan. 1 through April 30. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, meeting Thursday in Clewiston, voted to go along with federal regulations prohibiting all harvest of gag; black; red; scamp; coney; graysby; yellowfin; yellowmouth; and tiger grouper, and red and rock hind for four months. When the fishery re-opens in May, anglers will face smaller bag limits.
http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/outdoors/story/1379299.html
