Tag Archives: South Atlantic Fishery Management Council.
Proposed Snowy Grouper Management Measures Will Harm the Stock and Commercial Fishermen — Help Us Fight
Last fall the [SAFMC] South Atlantic Fishery Management Council approved Amendment 51 to the South Atlantic Snapper/Grouper FMP. Now the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is considering whether or not to sign it into law. Amendment 51 would modify snowy grouper management measures for the worse. It will continue to allow recreational sector over-harvesting, increase recreational dead discards, harm the stock, and deal another devastating blow to commercial fishermen in the South Atlantic. Our commercial fisheries are under attack with a 43% reduction of ACL and Amendment 51 is just the latest salvo with more to come. Now is our chance to stand up for conservation and commercial fishermen. >click to read< 10:45
Florida Keys spiny lobster industry hit by housing crisis, labor shortage
Living where you work in Florida is a real problem for thousands of state residents, and it’s causing problems across industries. Harvesting spiny lobster, also known as the rock lobster, is bigger in the Keys than in most places, but folks can’t get crews to fully staff their boats. “Keys housing is too expensive for crew members to typically live, so they’re having to commute from places like Homestead, Florida, all the way out to the Keys. The fishermen really talked a lot about how important it is to have knowledgeable crew on these boats to make sure you’re avoiding citations.” A silver lining on the labor issue is that while older fishers are getting out of the fishery, experts are seeing more younger fishers coming in. >click to read< 14:20
NOAA rejects Trump-era expansion of rock shrimp fishing on Oculina Bank
In a surprise and unusual move last week, NOAA Fisheries rejected the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s request to allow this type of commercial fishing in 22 square miles of the area, where it has been prohibited since 2014. The ruling will keep about 19 permitted rock shrimpers, mostly from the Port Canaveral area, from working in a region believed to be habitat for the delicacy. Rock shrimp, known for their unique flavor, sell in Brevard County seafood markets for $29 a pound. Conservationists celebrated the decision, but the matter isn’t settled yet. >click to read< 08:04
Spiny lobster season kicks off amid an unexplained population drop
The Caribbean spiny lobster commercial fishery in Florida average more than 5 million pounds per year,,, Valued at more than $40 million, the spiny lobster fishery is the second most lucrative commercial fishery in the state, behind shrimp.,, Since the 1990s, the population of the Caribbean spiny lobster has decreased 20%, which matters, not only to fisheries and spiny lobsters, but also to the entire food chain of Florida’s waters. “They’re a main food item for every other organism in the Florida Keys. Everything wants to eat little lobsters from snapper, grouper, even some herons. Matthews said while the American lobster is a “mean, nasty animal” not afraid to “fight to the death,” the Caribbean spiny lobsters are just the opposite. “They love to be in groups. They defend each other, and they are very social animals. >click to read< 12:04
South Atlantic Fishery Management Council Meeting September 16 – 20, 2019 in Charleston, SC
The public is invited to attend the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council to be held in Charleston, SC, Town & Country Inn, 2008 Savannah Highway, Charleston, SC 29407. >click here< for Agenda details. >click here< for Webinar Registration: >Click here< To visit the SAFMC >click here< 16:03
South Atlantic Fishery Management Council meeting June 10 – 14, 2019 in Stuart, FL
The public is invited to attend the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council to be held June 10 – 14, 2019 at Hutchinson Island Marriott,
555 NE Ocean Boulevard, Stuart, FL 34996. Complete Agenda >click here< for details. For Webinar Registration: >Click here< To visit the SAFMC >click here<15:30
“I have never seen sharks like we have now!” – Fishermen say sharks continue to dog efforts
Fishery regulations do not change quickly, but over recent years, commercial fishermen have expressed frustration with the perceived impunity of the actions of sharks in federal waters from North Carolina south to Florida, and the desire to do something about it to protect their ability to do their jobs to the best extent possible. That continued Wednesday during the public comment hour at the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council meeting on Jekyll Island. >click to read<10:36
South Atlantic Fishery Management Council meeting in Kitty Hawk, December 3-7, 2018
The public is invited to attend the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council to be held at the Hilton Garden Inn/Outer Banks, 5353 N. Virginia Dare Trail, Kitty Hawk, NC 27949. Complete Agenda >click here< for details Webinar Registration: >Listen Live, Click here< To visit the SAFMC >click here<12:53
‘Pirate’ fishing charters make money with no license. A recent attempt to stop them failed
Pirates, they call them — people taking anglers out for money without the effort or expense of getting properly outfitted and licensed.,,The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council looked at one answer last week — a moratorium, a temporary stop on issuing new charter permits — as a way to regulate the desirable catch of sought-after snapper and grouper fish. It also could cut down the number of illegally operating captains, some council members said. Others, though, said it wouldn’t. The council voted the moratorium down. It might not have been the best answer anyway. The council’s bigger problem remains unanswered: How to get those fish counted by recreational anglers at sea. >click to read<19:19
RESCHEDULED: South Atlantic Fishery Management Council meeting in Charleston, September 30 – October 5, 2018
The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council will postpone its quarterly meeting originally scheduled for September 16 – 21, 2018 in Charleston, SC due to the threat of Hurricane Florence. The rescheduled Council meeting will be held September 30 – October 5, 2018 at the originally planned location: Town and Country Inn at 2008 Savannah Highway, Charleston, SC. Complete Agenda >click here< for details. Webinar Registration: >Listen Live, Click here< To visit the SAFMC >click here<17:47
Council for Sustainable Fishing – SAFMC Efforts to decrease the number of charter and headboats
Charter and headboat operators are now living one of these horror movies as the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council once again moves forward with limiting the number of for-hire snapper-grouper permits, this time through Snapper-Grouper Amendment 47. And now the SAFMC is not just talking about limiting the number of charter and headboats, they are now talking about decreasing the number. This has nothing to do with fishery sustainability. A limited-entry fishery is the first step toward a catch share fishery, one that will set up a “stock market” for permits. >click to read, comment<14:21
“We live and die by stock assessments,” – Fishermen seek more responsive regulations
“We live and die by stock assessments,” said Jimmy Hull, a commercial fisherman from Ormond Beach, Fla. His statement during an informal question-and-answer period held by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council is part of an overall grievance a significant number of fishermen have with the fishery management process — that it’s not responsive to current conditions in fish stocks, and instead responding to conditions months or years earlier. >click to read< 08:46
South Atlantic Fishery Management Council meeting March 5-9, 2018 in Jekyll Island, GA
The public is invited to attend the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council to be held at the Westin Jekyll Island 110 Ocean Way Jekyll Island, GA 31527Complete Agenda >click here< for details Webinar Registration: >Listen Live, Click here< To visit the SAFMC >click here< 12:33
Florida: Fishery agency floats commercial bullynet plan
Since Florida has created new rules on commercial harvest of spiny lobster by bullynetters, a federal marine fishery agency wants to hear thoughts on extending the gear regulations beyond state waters. Staff with the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council will hold online webinars Monday and Tuesday to outline a draft proposal to federal rules that could resolve “inconsistencies between state of Florida spiny-lobster regulations and those in federal waters off the coast of Florida….”click here to read the story 09:41
South Atlantic Fishery Management Council meeting Dec 4-8, 2017 in Atlantic Beach NC
The public is invited to attend the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council to be held at the DoubleTree by Hilton Atlantic Beach Oceanfront 2717 W. Fort Macon Road, Atlantic Beach, NC 28512 Complete (revised) Agenda Click here for details Webinar Registration: Listen Live, Click here To visit the SAFMC click here 11:54
South Atlantic Fishery Management Council meeting in Charleston September 25-29, 2017
The public is invited to attend the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council to be held at the Town & Country Inn, 2008 Savannah Highway, Charleston, S.C. Complete (revised) Agenda Click here for details Webinar Registration: Listen Live, Click here To visit the SAFMC click here 13:59
South Atlantic Red snapper season vote upcoming
The long push to reopen red snapper fishing off the Southeastern coast comes to a head Monday when the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council will vote on one of five alternatives. Folks involved in recreational and charter fishing have advocated that the snapper stock is strong. Savannah charter fisherman Zack Bowen said at the fisheries council meeting on Jekyll Island in March, “The recreational anglers are mad as hell” about the fishery closure and charter operations are losing business because of unavailable snapper. Also, the regional fisheries administrator said at the March meeting that he thinks the population is in its best condition in 40 years. The preferred alternative is No. 4, which sets the commercial limit at 124,815 pounds and recreational limit at 29,656 fish. click here to read the story 09:49
Stop efforts to limit the number of charter and head boats — the first step toward for-hire catch shares!
This Wednesday, June 13th, the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council will again consider snapper-grouper for-hire limited entry at its meeting in Ponte Vedra, Florida, so it’s important to tell the SAFMC that you oppose limited entry as soon as possible. Please click here today to submit a comment — just a sentence or two will do. Limited entry will set up a “stock market” for permits, setting the stage for charter and head boat catch shares — privatizing access to the fishery –- something that will destroy jobs and hurt fishing communities. click here to read the notice click here to make E-public comment by noon, 6/15/2017 07:32
South Atlantic Fishery Management Council meeting in Ponte Vedra Beach, June 12-16, 2017
The public is invited to attend the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council to be held at the Sawgrass Marriott, 1ooo PGA Tour Boulevard, Ponte Vedra Beach, FL 32082 . Click here for details Webinar Registration: Listen Live, Click here 19:05
Ed Killer: Can a protected fish be a nuisance?
Next week, in a hotel ballroom in Ponte Vedra Beach, there will be a lot of discussion about a controversial fish. Red snapper, a fish protected from harvest in federal waters since 2009, will be one of several species of fish evaluated during the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s quarterly meeting June 12-16. The Snapper Grouper advisory committee will convene Tuesday and Wednesday to discuss a variety of issues about some 80 species of fish they are charged with managing. Chief among the issues will be complaints from fishermen who claim the red snapper has risen to nuisance phase in its population numbers off Florida’s coast.,, But red snapper fishing in Florida is a little like Charles Dickens’ “Tale of Two Cities.” click here to read the article 14:45
A Brunswick County senator’s proposed resolution opposing catch-share fisheries management is drawing praise
In fisheries managed by catch shares, certain fishermen or companies are assigned individual limits for a given species during a season, a strategy the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says allows fishermen to make decisions based on market conditions and avoid hazardous weather conditions. Many North Carolina fishermen have expressed great concern about catch shares reaching their waters and are supporting Senate Bill 370. Sen. Bill Rabon, R-Brunswick, introduced the bill, which would communicate to the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council, NOAA Fisheries and the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission that the Senate opposes catch share management off the N.C. coast. continue reading the story, click here 22:43
Council for Sustainable Fishing – Catch share fishery management in the South Atlantic is dead
Press Release – Thanks to you and many others, catch share fishery management in the South Atlantic is dead – at least for now. Yesterday at the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council public hearing in Jekyll Island, GA it was announced that the pilot snapper-grouper catch share Exempted Fishing Permit application had been withdrawn. This back-door attempt to begin the privatization of our fishery resources by insiders, sitting SAFMC members Charlie Phillips and Chris Conklin and former SAFMC member Jack Cox, all commercial snapper-grouper fleet owners and dealers, met overwhelming opposition from fishermen all across the region. By the time of the well-attended public hearing, there were a total of 616 comments on the catch share EFP through the SAFMC’s online comment form: 600 comments or 97 percent against and just 16 comments or 3 percent for. continue reading the press release here 07:36
NOAA Turns a Blind Eye – How manipulation and corruption are making a mockery of federal fisheries management
This question often comes up in discussions about the federal fisheries management process: Why are people who profit from the harvest and sale of America’s marine resources allowed to sit on management bodies that make regulations governing those resources? It’s a good question. The most contentious issue in the Gulf of Mexico is privatization of the red snapper fishery in which millions of dollars’ worth of a public resource was gifted to select commercial operators to harvest for their own personal profit. Gifted, for free. Yet, someone who owns red snapper shares can sit on the Gulf Council and vote on every aspect of that fishery. And one does. Over the past few years, certain members of the charter/for-hire sector have worked to launch a privatization program in which they, too, could own shares and use red snapper as their own. Yet, on the Gulf Council, people who own charter businesses and stand to directly benefit from the program are never required to recuse themselves from votes on that program. continue reading the article here 08:24
South Atlantic Fishery Management Council may hike overall lobster harvest
Federal fishery managers meeting this week in Georgia hear proposals to raise the annual limit on spiny lobster harvests, the Florida Keys’ most economically important commercial species. The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council meets from Monday through Friday at the Westin resort in Jekyll Island, Ga. Permit limits in the for-hire (charter) sector in the snapper-grouper fishery also are up for discussion. The council is considering raising the annual catch numbers of spiny lobster because fishers contend that the number were based on yearly averages that include some of the worst lobster seasons on record. Twice in recent years, the harvests have exceeded the current catch limit of 7.3 million pounds. A legal sized spiny lobster weighs about 1 pound. During the bad seasons, “the historic low level of landings that were documented for the species [suggested] biological conditions had changed and that spiny lobster populations were at a new low normal,” says council staff summary. “Since landings have been much higher than anticipated, the review panel… determined that conditions for spiny lobster are likely better than they were during the 10-year period of low landings.” continue reading the story here 14:19
South Atlantic Fishery Management Council meeting in Jekyll Island, GA March 6-10, 2017
The public is invited to attend the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council to be held at The Westin Jekyll Island, 110 Ocean Way, Jekyll Island, GA 31527, USA. Click here for details Webinar Registration: Listen Live, Click here 14:00
South Atlantic Catch Share plan will eliminate over 60 percent of the commercial snapper-grouper fishermen
Just a quick reminder that we need your help today to stop the “pilot” commercial snapper-grouper catch share program being proposed by two South Atlantic Fishery Management Council members: Vice Chair Charlie Phillips and Chris Conklin, both commercial snapper-grouper fleet owners and dealers. Incredibly, Chris, in a recent email about this pilot program that was publicly posted on a fishing forum, effectively said he wants to get rid of over 60 percent of commercial snapper-grouper fishermen, who he calls “part timers,” so the big snapper-grouper players will benefit. Most full time career commercial and for-hire fishermen in the South Atlantic make a living by participating in multiple fisheries, so they could be considered part timers in many fisheries. But they are full time career fishermen, of which snapper-grouper is just one vital income source. Read the article here 11:50
Coral plan threatens fishing grounds
The NEFMC is working with the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council and the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council to preserve deep-sea corals from the Canadian border to Virginia. Area lobstermen could lose valuable fishing grounds if a federal proposal to close four areas of Gulf of Maine waters comes to fruition. The New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) has drafted a plan that would close a span of 161 square miles offshore to commercial fishing in an effort to conserve deep-sea coral there. Two of those areas, Mount Desert Rock in Lobster Management Zone B and Outer Schoodic Ridge in Lobster Management Zone A, are preferred fishing grounds for local fishermen when lobster head further offshore in the winter. The other proposed offshore closure areas lie in Jordan Basin and Lindenkohl Knoll to the south. Read the story here 09:34
South Atlantic Fishery Management Council not listening to fishermen
Do you think fishery managers listen to fishermen? After last week’s South Atlantic Fishery Management Council meeting you have to wonder. A proposal to limit the number of charter and head boats that could fish in the South Atlantic was met with overwhelming opposition by fishermen. There were 169 written comments against the proposal and just 3 for it. Click here to see the comments. Yet, the SAFMC didn’t listen to fishermen and kill the proposal. Instead it voted 9 to 3 to develop a “white paper” to continue to explore charter and head boat limited entry options for the snapper-grouper fishery. Read the rest here 14:07
Don’t bite on risky lure of ‘catch shares’
I can’t think of a more appropriate saying to use than “a wolf in sheep’s clothing” to describe the reality of what the Seafood Harvesters of America want to do with our offshore fisheries. The Post and Courier recently published an article and editorial that bought into the sheep’s clothing side. Year-round fishing and better fisheries data are touted. Who could be against that? But there’s a wolf: privatization of our fisheries through a scheme called “catch shares,” where fishermen and corporations are actually given ownership of our fisheries with shares that can be bought or sold like stock on Wall Street. That’s the real reason for the Seafood Harvesters of America’s existence. They’re working hard to ensure commercial fishermen own our fisheries, and in this case it’s our snapper and grouper, starting with a pilot program that could be considered by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council and NOAA Fisheries next year. Read the op-ed here 08:02
South Atlantic Fishery Management Council meeting in Atlantic Beach NC December 5 – 9, 2016
The public is invited to attend the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council to be held in Atlantic Beach NC at the DoubleTree by Hilton Atlantic Beach Oceanfront. Read the Meeting Agenda Click here, Briefing Book – June 2016 Council Meeting Click here Webinar Registration: Listen Live, Click here 15:10
