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Fish Tales: Council Begins Work On A Comprehensive Grouper Management Plan
Fish Tales: Council Begins Work On A Comprehensive Grouper Management Plan
Fish Tales: Council Begins Work On A Comprehensive Grouper Management Plan
April 2000
Volume 3, Issue 1
FISH TALES
Council Begins Work on a Comprehensive Grouper Management Plan
The Gulf of Mexico Fishery behind this new amendment be implemented) is consid-
Management Council is an all to familiar scene in ered “approaching an over- Inside this issue:
(“Council”) has started work fisheries management today. fished condition” by NMFS.
on an amendment with the As seen in our last edition of There is also a belief by some Measures to Help Gag 2
potential to provide compre- Fish Tales, the National Ma- scientists that inbreeding Still Not Implemented
hensive management of the rine Fisheries Service may be occurring in the spe-
grouper fishery in the Gulf of (“NMFS”) found red grou- cies.
Mexico. This is an excellent per, the most important com- Tortugas Ecological 3
step by the Council, enabling mercial grouper species in Sadly, scientific information Reserve Plan Heads to
Public Hearings
them to effectively manage the Gulf, in poor health. In on other grouper species
grouper as a complex with addition, gag grouper, a spe- such as scamp, red hind and
other reef fish rather than cies for which the Council yellowfin grouper is lacking.
resort to species by species adopted management meas- As a result, no formal assess-
management. ures last July (see the gag ment of the health of these
story on page 2 on why and other species has been Special points of interest:
Unfortunately, the rationale these measures have yet to (Continued on page 4)
• Council eyes a holistic ap-
proach to grouper manage-
ment in the Gulf
King Mackerel Highlights May Council Meeting • Your input will be needed to
ensure an ecological reserve
At its May 2000 Council bile schooling fish found move down to South Florida, is established in the FL keys
meeting in New Orleans the throughout the Gulf. King and then to Mexico in the
• Council to set catch levels
Gulf of Mexico Fishery Man- mackerel migrate seasonally western Gulf in the fall.
agement Council (“Council”) Spawning occurs throughout for king mackerel at the May
will set total allowable catch their range from May to Oc- meeting
(“TAC“) levels for king mack- tober.
erel in federal waters of the • Measures designed to help
Gulf of Mexico for the coming While this fishery is still con- gag grouper have yet to be
year. King mackerel is one of King Mackerel. From the SAFMC web sidered “overfished”, the implemented
five species in the Gulf of health of King mackerel has
Mexico officially considered been improving over time • Learn more about the pro-
“overfished” by the National with water temperature being thanks to actions taken by posed Tortugas ecological
Marine Fisheries Service very important to their move- state and federal regulators. reserve at our workshop in
(“NMFS”). ment. Adult king mackerel However, heavy fishing pres- St. Petersburg, FL
typically migrate to the sure on this species has his-
King mackerel are highly mo- northern Gulf in the spring, (Continued on page 2)
Page 2
King Mackerel….
(Continued from page 1) migratory pelagic management plan last During the month of April, Council scien-
torically impeded rebuilding to a healthy year, the Council proposed a ten year tists, economists, and advisory panels
level. In addition, scientists have rebuilding period for returning king will meet to review the latest scientific
warned that recruitment, the number of mackerel to a level scientists consider information on king mackerel and provide
young fish entering into the population, healthy. The GRN opposed this plan recommendations to the Council on ap-
has been low for the past few years. believing that the Council did not justify propriate catch levels for the 2000/2001
This could have negative future implica- the need for such a long time period fishing season. Once this information is
tions for the health of the stock. when a shorter time frame is possible. available the GRN will inform our mem-
bers and friends as to what action will be
Under the requirements of the Sustain- This plan was disapproved by the NMFS necessary to ensure that catch levels are
able Fisheries Act, the Council must re- in November of last year based on the based on the science and that a rebuild-
build overfished fisheries such as king criteria utilized for ensuring king mackerel ing plan is implemented.
mackerel as soon as possible taking into does indeed reach a healthy level. As a
the account the needs of fishing commu- result, no rebuilding plan is currently in
nities. In its amendment to the coastal place for the fishery.
Volume 3, Issue 1 Page 3
Efforts to establish a proposed ecologi- the FKNMS by proposing to prohibit any tend our upcoming workshop on June 3
cal reserve in the Dry Tortugas area of type of fishing in the closed areas. This in St. Petersburg to learn more about the
the Florida Keys continue, with the Gulf draft amendment will be finalized in May, reserve. This workshop, co-sponsored
of Mexico Fishery Management Council be available for public comment, and then by the Center for Marine Conservation,
(“Council”) working to establish fishing subject to final action at the July Council Environmental Defense, World Wildlife
regulations in the portion of this reserve meeting in Key Largo, FL. Fund, and Reefkeeper International will
under its jurisdiction. include discussions on the grouper spe-
At the same time the NOAA, the NPS, cies of the state of Florida, discussions
The proposed reserve is 185 square nau- the Council and the state of Florida will on the importance of seagrasses and cor-
tical miles that is separated into two be conducting joint public hearings to als in the state, a presentation on the pro-
parts– Tortugas North and Tortugas get comment on the overall proposal. posed ecological reserve, the use of ma-
South. The area selected falls within the The Council will consider input provided rine reserves as fishery management
jurisdiction of a number of agencies in- at these meetings as well. tools, and finally a roundtable discussion
cluding the National Park Service on the Tortugas reserve with representa-
(“NPS”), the Florida Keys National Ma- Friends and members of the GRN are tives involved in the process. Most im-
rine Sanctuary Program (“FKNMS”), the urged to become involved at every possi- portantly, speakers at the workshop will
National Marine Fisheries Service (under ble opportunity. The Council in conjunc- help you sort out who is involved in the
“NOAA”), the state of Florida, and the tion with NOAA, the NPS and the state reserve process, how it got started, what
Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management will conduct public hearings at the fol- it will do, and how to stay informed.
Council. This proposed ecological re- lowing locations:
serve provides the opportunity to pro- Please contact the GRN at (504)525-1528
tect a relatively pristine marine area from June 12: Homestead, FL at the Home- or cdgrn@igc.org for further details on
increasing pressures. The area selected stead High School; our workshop and ways to get involved.
for the reserve was chosen by the Tor-
tugas 2000 working group, a diverse June 13: Naples, FL at the Naples Com-
group of stakeholders assembled by the fort Inn;
FKNMS advisory council, in order to
protect the high degree of biodiversity in June 14: St. Petersburg FL at the Univer-
the area, protect critical habitat of many sity of South Florida;
species, and for its value in supplying
fish larvae to other portions of the keys. June 21: Marathon, FL at the Sombrero
Country Club;
The Council, having jurisdiction over
thirteen square nautical miles in Tortugas June 22: Key West, FL at the Key West
North and sixty in Tortugas South, have Holiday Inn; and
been asked by the NMFS and National
Ocean Service to implement fishing regu- July 11: Washington D.C. at the Depart-
lations consistent with the establis hment ment of Commerce building.
of an ecological reserve. As a result, the
Council has drafted a plan for implement- The Council will also be accepting writ-
ing regulations in portions of the eco- ten comments on their proposal up until
logical reserve that are within its jurisdic- their July meeting in Key Largo as well as
tion. At its March meeting in San Anto- public comment at the meeting, most
nio, the Council selected “preferred alter- likely on July 12.
natives”- those measures it is leaning
towards to implement the reserve. Thus If, not surprisingly you are confused by
far, the Council has chosen to concur this whole process and are lost in the sea
with the need for protection identified by of agencies involved, I urge you to at-
Gulf Restoration Network
P.O. 2245
New Orleans , LA 70176
Red
Grou-
per Nassau grouper are found throughout
the Gulf and Caribbean. Like gag, Nas-
sau grouper aggregate for spawning pur-
Gag grouper are the second most important poses. Due to low numbers of Nassau
grouper species to commercial fishermen in grouper in the Gulf, Nassau grouper is
the Gulf. Like red grouper, gag spend their deemed overfished by the NMFS. Ac-
first four to five years nearshore before cordingly, the capture of this species is