MYRTLE BEACH AREA FISHERMAN FIGHT TO STAY A FLOAT

[Ace1st]

More than 40 area fishermen and their families made a plea to the Horry County Council on Tuesday night for support against the possible closure of about 10,000 square miles of ocean to fishing.

Commercial and recreational fishermen from all over the South Atlantic region have been pushing to gain support from their state, county and city governments before the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council, a regional board that manages federal waters, votes on an initiative to close the fisheries as soon as this June. The Horry County Council passed a resolution opposing closure of any of the 3,500 square miles of ocean off the coast of South Carolina that would be affected by the ban, and although the resolutions are not binding to federal waters, opponents are hoping the support will carry weight when the federal decision is made.


By Randall Hill rhill@thesunnews.com - Capt. Braxton Lewis (left) and Capt. Dan Manos, both commercial and charter fishermen with Little River Fishing Fleet, stand on their boat Tuesday afternoon on the waterfront in Little River, during a break in their fishing trips. During the winter months the two long-time area fishermen are out to sea for seven-day stretches.
Bottom fishing could be banned in fishing grounds off the South Carolina coast if a proposal being considered by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council is eventually put into effect.

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (SAFMC) took preliminary action on Amendment 17-A of the Snapper-Grouper Fishery Management Plan at its meeting last week in Atlantic Beach, N.C. The amendment deals with closing large areas off the Atlantic Coast to all bottom fishing in order to protect stocks of red snapper.

A 2008 stock assessment for red snapper in the South Atlantic region concluded the species is overfished and undergoing overfishing at eight times the sustainable level.

•Fishermen protest law that closes many areas to fishing
Fishermen protest law that closes many areas to fishing
Fishermen, anglers, charter and party boat captains and marine business owners from coast to coast gathered here to demand changes in fisheries law that they say is putting them out of work.

This year and next, endangered coastal fishing grounds in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans are to be closed to allow depleted fish species to recover from overfishing. The closures could be as long as 10 years.

"A lot of coastal communities across the United States have had severe negative economic impacts from the excessive regulations," says Pam Anderson, the operations manager at the Capt. Anderson Marina in Panama City Beach in Florida. "Folks can't carry on."

Fishermen, charter and party boat captains, and marine business owners from coast-to-coast gathered here to demand changes in fisheries law that they say is putting them out of work.

This year and next endangered coastal fishing grounds in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans are to be closed to allow depleted fish species to recover from overfishing. The closures could be as long as 10 years.

"A lot of coastal communities across the United States have had severe negative economic impacts from the excessive regulations," says Pam Anderson, the operations manager at the Capt. Anderson Marina in Panama City Beach in Florida.

Add red snapper to the list of reef species that will be off limits to all fishermen along the Southeast coast early in 2010.

Recreational and commercial fishing for red snapper will be prohibited in federal waters for six months beginning on Jan. 4 through June 2 in accordance to an interim rule requested by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council. The final rule will be published in the Federal Register today.

The interim rule, which covers federal waters in the Atlantic Ocean off North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and the Atlantic coast of Florida, could be extended an additional six months if deemed necessary by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (SAFMC). Federal waters begin at 3 miles offshore in the Atlantic Ocean.

H appy New Year! The beginning of a new decade may not be too happy, however, for anglers who enjoy offshore bottom fishing or rely on it for income from South Carolina to Florida.

The year 2009 was rife with changes, closures and proposals for fisheries laws with a focus on offshore reef species. More are on the way in 2010, with one closure being implemented today.

Following are the details of upcoming changes, or possible changes in 2010, along with closures already in effect:
"I don't know of any bigger issue facing the coastal economy of South Carolina than the issue of having 3,500 miles of fishing area closed off. It's certainly appropriate for local governments to go on record with those state departments of natural resources and the SAFMC with their opposition to those fishing areas being closed off," said Tom Swatzel, a former Georgetown County councilman who was appointed to the management council. "Almost a third of the closed area would be off of our state coast. If the closed area is necessary, ... certainly it is not in South Carolina, where [red snapper] don't live in mass numbers and where they aren't fished heavily."

Swatzel spoke from Georgia, where the management council was meeting this week to talk about the possible closure amendment to the federal Magnuson-Stevens Act and extending a ban on red snapper fishing that is scheduled to end in June. There is also currently a spawning season closure for shallow-water grouper, which will end on April 30.

Holly Binns, manager of the Pew Environment Group's efforts to end overfishing in the Southeast, said the measures have been made necessary by advancements in the fishing industry that have contributed to overfishing of those species along the South Atlantic coast.

"It's nobody's fault, but there are a lot of people who come out to fish and there are new technologies that make it easier to find the fish and easier to catch them in larger quantities. We need to give them a break and give them a chance to recover, so we can sustain the species for generations to come," she said. "The ban was designed to buy the red snapper some critical production time. Recent stock assessments and analysis of [the ear bones]... found there were very few snapper who are older than 5. It's a species that can live to be more than 50 and at 5, they haven't reached their peak productive years."

Those opposed to the ban have criticized the assessment data for being incomplete and not specific to the different coastal areas in the closure frame. Local fisherman also said that only 11 percent of the yearly red snapper catch nationally comes from South Carolina fisheries.

The recommended closures would close the waters from about 90 feet to 240 feet in depth to all fishing because of the chance that the boats will pull up red snapper. For many area fisherman the fish that are caught on the bottom of those depths makes up the majority of their cash crops. Other fish caught at closer depths or in deeper waters are either strictly regulated in terms of the amount a fishing boat can catch or are worth significantly less per pound.

Braxton Lewis and Dan Manos have both been fishing off the coast of South Carolina for more than 30 years. The two, who now work for the Little River Fishing Fleet, split their time between commercial fishing and leading private charters for recreational fishermen.

"These are fathers, sons, brothers and grandfathers who aren't going to be able to provide for their families if the closures happen," said Lewis. "We don't mind the regulations on the [number and size] of the fish, we just want them to give those regulations enough time to work before they do something drastic like close the fisheries."

Manos, whose family has been fishing for several generations in Little River, said the closures are not leaving many options for area fisherman.

"There are a lot of people who are going to be regulated out of their jobs and a lot of people who don't have options for other work. It affects the whole tourist economy from the hotels and the restaurants who buy the fish to the people who sell us bait and ice," he said. "I don't think they've fully considered that economic impact."

The Horry County Council passed the resolution unanimously. Similar resolutions have been adopted or are being considered by Charleston County, the city of Georgetown, the North Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce and the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce among others.

The Georgetown County Council will be discussing a similar resolution next week, said Councilman Jerry Oakley, who spoke at the Horry Council meeting Tuesday. Swatzel said he has anticipates that the S.C. legislature will also pass a resolution of support for the fishermen sometime in the next two weeks.

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