Effective December 3
The NOAA Fisheries Service has implemented Amendment 17A to the Snapper Grouper Fishery Management Plan, extending the indefinite closure of the red snapper fishery off North Carolina and several other South Atlantic states.
The final rule for Amendment 17A was approved by the Secretary of Commerce on October 27, 2010 and published in the Federal Register on Dec. 3, to become effective immediately.
As published in the Federal Register on December 3, 2010, the final rule for Amendment 17A includes the following provisions:
• Prohibits all harvest and possession of red snapper in federal waters of the South Atlantic and in state waters for vessels holding federal snapper-grouper permits;
• Creates a closed area off southern Georgia and northern Florida where fishing for all snapper-grouper species would be prohibited, except when using spear-fishing gear or black sea bass pots to fish for species other than red snapper.
• Requires the use of circle hooks made from material other than stainless steel in the snapper-grouper fishery in federal waters north of 28˚ latitude, after March 3, 2011, and:
• Requires a program to monitor red snapper.
Participants in this fishery should note that the date for implementing the bottom closure has been delayed until June 1, 2011. This is to allow the SAFMC time to review and consider the results of a new red snapper stock assessment completed in late October 2010.
“These assessment results are consistent with what the fishermen are reporting,” said Roy Crabtree, southeast regional administrator for NOAA Fisheries Service. “We are delaying implementation of the area closure because we believe it is important for the council to be given the time they need to respond to these findings.”
Even though the red snapper population is in better condition than previously estimated, the assessment still shows too many red snapper are removed from the population too quickly, with most of the remaining population consisting of smaller, younger fish that produce fewer eggs than older fish. This rule is intended to provide the necessary protection required under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.
This chapter in the saga of South Atlantic red snapper began in 2008 when the South Atlantic Fisheries Management Council (SAFMC) was notified that red snapper in the South Atlantic were overfished and undergoing overfishing. This meant the population had been reduced to too small a number, and fish are being taken from the population too quickly.
The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, one of the primary laws governing U.S. fisheries, required the SAFMC to develop a plan to end overfishing. While an Interim Rule was issued in Dec. 2009 to temporarily stop the overfishing, the SAFMC developed Amendment 17A to address overfishing of red snapper in the South Atlantic.
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