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Group meeting about overfishing today
January 24, 2011 12:00 AM
Sue Book
Freedom ENC
NEW BERN – The South Atlantic Fisheries Management Council continues its attempt to find the best way to deal with overfishing of several popular fish species at a meeting in New Bern today.

A public hearing and scoping meeting is scheduled from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Riverfront Hilton to consider catch limits and to help develop details of other proposed measures to manage some important commercial and recreational fisheries.

The Council will continue consideration of the snapper grouper fishery and examine options for implementing trip limits for amberjack, vermilion snapper (beeliners), black sea bass and gag.

According to data from North Carolina Marine Fisheries, “only a handful of snapper grouper species are regularly landed in North Carolina. These are bottom species caught using hook-and-line gear in federal waters off the North Carolina coast.” But the species are important to both recreational and commercial fishing sectors and black sea bass are also caught by some commercial fishermen using traps.

Perhaps the most debated measure under consideration is an amendment for comprehensive annual catch limits for snapper grouper species that are not yet overfished and for which overfishing does not appear to be happening now. This is required by the end of 2011 in the Magnuson-Stevens Reauthorization Act of 2006.

The Council plans to examine a number of methods for managing existing quotas in that fishery, including state-by-state quotas as well as catch shares for licensed fishermen. One action being considered requires a referendum before catch share programs could be implemented in the South Atlantic.

After approving Amendment 17A to manage the snapper grouper fishery at its December meeting in New Bern, the Council will now look at long-term management of red snapper, including a consideration of ideas including seasons, bag limits, quotas or catch shares.

“There is no doubt the fishery is in trouble,” said Eileen Dougherty, senior conservation manager for the Environmental Defense Fund’s Gulf and Southeast Oceans Program.

“We support catch shares,” she said. “By having a percentage allocated to individual fishermen….they have more flexibility compared to the current rules. Another benefit is that as fishermen see the resource recover, they have an investment because their percentage of the catch also grows in volume.”

The most recent details of proposed measures are available at www.safmc.net.



Breakout:

2009 N.C. Commercial Landings

Species Landings (Pounds)



Snowy grouper 32,927

Black sea bass (South of Hatteras) 437,951

Gag 220,925

Red grouper 296,255

Red snapper 10,228

Vermilion snapper (beeliner) 361,923

Triggerfish 215,759

(Chart from N.C. Marine Fisheries)