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The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council meets next week in Charleston and two items on the agenda are of particular significance to offshore anglers. In Snapper Grouper Fishery Regulatory Amendment 35, NOAA Fisheries is attempting to force massive time and area closures that would result in severe, negative economic and cultural impacts to recreational fishing, boating, and coastal communities in the South Atlantic in order to prevent red snapper mortality even as bycatch. While the red snapper population is now regarded as abundant as it has ever been in modern times, NOAA Fisheries is insisting that more severe restrictions are necessary to rebuild the population to a fully recovered status. According to NOAA Fisheries, that status cannot be bestowed until older fish – 30, 40 and even 50 years old – are present in the population, which means these severe restrictions could be in place for decades.

Coastal Conservation Association has urged caution during the recovery of red snapper from historic lows, but is objecting to the massive closures as completely misguided in the face of a booming red snapper population. Among the many objections to the current proposal:

1. An independent assessment of the red snapper population is now underway – CCA is urging the Council to delay any decisions until the results of that assessment are known and verified. A similar assessment in the Gulf of Mexico produced a completely new understanding of the red snapper population there.
2. Recreational discard data is perhaps the least reliable in the entire management system, relying solely on angler recall and interpretation. New data collection systems – designed and managed by the states – are desperately needed for more timely and accurate estimates.
3. Federal fisheries management must be reformed to address the absurdity of a stock being declared above historic abundance, yet still being classified as overfished and undergoing overfishing, and therefore subject to wildly inappropriate regulations.

The other related item up for discussion next week is Snapper Grouper Amendment 46, which is exploring implementation of a federal reef fish permit. CCA has long supported better data and efforts to define the universe of anglers for improved management. As noted above, there is a critical need for more accurate and timely estimates of the recreational catch and discards. However, NOAA Fisheries track record of recreational management is exceptionally poor.

If a mechanism is needed to improve recreational data in the South Atlantic, CCA is urging South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia to join Florida in creating state-based systems to provide more timely and accurate data for management of the recreational sector. Nothing in NOAA Fisheries management history of the recreational sector indicates a federal permit will produce the desired results or be used entirely as originally intended. Given recent comments from federal managers, CCA is concerned such a permit in federal hands will eventually be proposed to limit entry in the recreational fishery.

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council is meeting Sept. 12-16 at the Town & Country Inn, 2008 Savannah Highway Charleston, South Carolina. The public can make comments to the Council at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 14. The public may also submit online comments HERE.