SOUTH ATLANTIC FISHERY MANAGEMENT COUNCIL Regulatory Amendment 25 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Snapper Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region Acceptable Biological Catch & Annual Catch Limit Adjustment and Revision of Management Measures for Blueline Tilefish, Fishing Year and Commercial Accountability Measure Revisions for Yellowtail Snapper, and Recreational Bag Limit Adjustment for Black Sea Bass...To Conserve and Manage
What is being proposed? Regulatory Amendment 25 proposes measures to: Adjust the acceptable biological catch, annual catch limits, optimum yield, and commercial and recreational management measures for the blueline tilefish stock; Change the fishing year and revise accountability measures for yellowtail snapper; and Increase the recreational bag limit for black sea bass.
Navigating the Actions Actions 1, 2, and 3 = Blueline tilefish Action 4 = Black sea bass Actions 5 and 6 = Yellowtail snapper
Blueline Tilefish September 2015: the SSC recommended setting the ABC at the equilibrium yield at 75%F MSY. Equilibrium yield: 224,100 pounds whole weight (lbs ww) Derived from the most recent stock assessment for the blueline tilefish stock (SEDAR 32 2013). ABC recommendation (blueline tilefish): Applies across its range along the entire U.S. east coast.
Blueline Tilefish - What is the Council Considering? Specifying an ABC for the South Atlantic by stepping it down by the appropriate percentage to account for landings north of NC. Changes to the commercial trip limit and recreational bag limit.
Black Sea Bass Regulatory Amendment 9: Reduced the bag limit for black sea bass from 15 fish to 5 fish. September 2013: Recreational ACL increased from 482,620 lbs ww to 1,033,980 lbs ww Stock assessment (SEDAR 25) indicated black sea bass are neither overfished nor undergoing overfishing. Snapper Grouper Advisory Panel: Recommended increase to 7 fish/person/day.
Yellowtail Snapper Yellowtail snapper fishery - centered in South Florida. Commercial fishermen who target yellowtail snapper obtain a higher price per pound for their product during winter months. Fishing year for yellowtail snapper: Calendar year Possible economic hardship if a commercial closure takes place in the latter part of the year
Yellowtail Snapper What is the Council Considering? Change in the start date of the fishing year to sometime in the summer or early fall. How would this help? Reduce the chance that a closure would occur in winter If a closure were to take place, it would happen during late spring/early summer, when yellowtail snapper are spawning.
Yellowtail Snapper Since the fishery for yellowtail snapper is centered in South Florida, there is interest specify fishing levels jointly for the South Atlantic and Gulf. Another option is to modify accountability measures to allow harvest until the total commercial annual catch limit for both areas (SA and Gulf) is met before a closure is triggered.
BLUELINE TILEFISH Action 1. Adjust the Acceptable Biological Catch (ABC), Annual Catch Limit (ACL) and Optimum Yield (OY) for the South Atlantic blueline tilefish stock Alternative 1 (No Action). ACL = OY = 98%(ABC).
Action 1. (cont d) BLUELINE TILEFISH Alternative 2. ACL = OY =98%(stock ABC) NOTE: This alternative uses the current ABC equation implemented through Amendment 32 but applied to the new ABC recommendation Alternative 3. ACL = OY = 96%(stock ABC) (The ratio of landings between the South Atlantic and Greater Atlantic Regions from 2005-2010 is 96%.). Alternative 4. ACL = OY = 93%(stock ABC) (The ratio of landings between the South Atlantic and Greater Atlantic Regions from 2005-2013 is 93%).
Action 1. (cont d) BLUELINE TILEFISH Alternative 5. ACL = OY = 89%(stock ABC) (The ratio of landings between the South Atlantic and Greater Atlantic Regions from 2011-2013 is 89%.). Alternative 6. ACL = OY = 88%(stock ABC) (The ratio of landings between the South Atlantic and Greater Atlantic Regions from 2005-2014 is 88%). Alternative 7. ACL = OY = 78%(stock ABC) (The ratio of landings between the South Atlantic and Greater Atlantic Regions from 2011-2014 is 78%).
BLUELINE TILEFISH Proposed South Atlantic Acceptable Biological Catch, Annual Catch Limits and recreational Annual Catch Target for blueline tilefish Values in pounds whole weight. Sector allocations are 50.07% commercial and 49.93% recreational.
BLUELINE TILEFISH Annual commercial landings (lbs gw) of blueline tilefish, 2005 2014.
BLUELINE TILEFISH Recreational catch of blueline tilefish (numbers of fish), 2010 2014 (all modes and all areas).
BLUELINE TILEFISH Action 2. Revise the commercial trip limit for blueline tilefish Alternative 1 (No Action). Do not revise the commercial trip limit for blueline tilefish of 100 pounds gutted weight (lbs gw). Alternative 2. Increase the commercial trip limit for blueline tilefish to 200 lbs gw. Alternative 3. Increase the commercial trip limit for blueline tilefish to 300 lbs gw.
BLUELINE TILEFISH Number of trips and percentage of trips with blueline tilefish landings in lbs gw, 2010-2014.
BLUELINE TILEFISH Expected pounds and trips that could be affected by Action 2 trip limits based on proposed commercial sector ACL alternatives in Action 1.
BLUELINE TILEFISH Action 3. Adjust the Bag Limit for Blueline Tilefish for the Recreational Sector Alternative 1 (No Action). 1 fish/vessel/day May through August (closed rest of year) within the aggregate grouper bag limit. Alternative 2. 1 fish/person/day year-round within the aggregate grouper bag limit. Alternative 3. 1 fish/vessel/day year-round within the aggregate grouper bag limit. Alternative 4. 1 fish/person/day May through August within the aggregate grouper bag limit. Prohibit retention the rest of the year.
CHARTER BOAT: Percent reduction in harvest for the charter boat sector based on average reported catch and MRIP observations from 2010 to 2014 Alt 1 Alt 2 Alt 3 Alt 4 1/vessel by season 1/person 1/vessel 1/person by season Avg 2010-14 92% 48% 88% 88% Avg w/o 2011 94% 53% 89% 89%
PRIVATE SECTOR: Percent reduction in harvest for the private sector based on average reported catch and MRIP observations from 2010 to 2014 Alt 1 Alt 2 Alt 3 Alt 4 1/vessel by season 1/person 1/vessel 1/person by season Avg 2010-14 85% 36%% 67% 71% Avg w/o 2011 81% 36% 66% 63%
HEADBOAT: Percent reduction in harvest for the headboat sector based on average reported catch and Southeast Headboat Survey observations from 2010 to 2014 Alt 1 Alt 2 Alt 3 Alt 4 1/vessel by season 1/person 1/vessel 1/person by season Avg 2010-14 76% 45% 58% 68% Avg w/o 2011 76% 48% 61% 67%
BLACK SEA BASS Action 4. Adjustment to recreational bag limit of black sea bass Alternative 1 (No Action). 5 fish/person/day. Alternative 2. 6 fish Alternative 3. 7 fish Alternative 4. 8 fish Alternative 5. 9 fish Alternative 6. 10 fish
BLACK SEA BASS PRIVATE & CHARTER: Percent of black sea bass landed and discarded on private and charter trips in 2013 and 2014.
BLACK SEA BASS HEADBOAT: Percent of black sea bass landed and discarded on headboat trips in 2013 and 2014.
BLACK SEA BASS Estimated percent of the recreational ACL that would be landed under the proposed bag limit alternatives based on 2013-2014 landings.
YELLOWTAIL SNAPPER Action 5. Modify the fishing year for yellowtail snapper Alternative 1 (No Action). Do not modify the fishing year for yellowtail snapper. The fishing year (commercial and recreational) is the calendar year, January 1 through December 31. Alternative 2. Modify the fishing year for the commercial sector for yellowtail snapper. 2a. June 1 through May 30 2b. July 1 through June 30 2c. August 1 through July 31 2d. September 1 to August 31
YELLOWTAIL SNAPPER Action 5. Modify the fishing year for yellowtail snapper (cont d) Alternative 3. Modify fishing year for the recreational sector for yellowtail snapper. 3a. June 1 through May 30 3b. July 1 through June 30 3c. August 1 through July 31 3d. September 1 to August 31
YELLOWTAIL SNAPPER
YELLOWTAIL SNAPPER Average monthly commercial landings of yellowtail snapper in South Atlantic Region, 2010-2014. Commercial ACL = 1,596,501 lbs ww
YELLOWTAIL SNAPPER Commercial yellowtail snapper landings (lbs ww) under proposed fishing year alternatives. Note for Alternative 1, landings summaries correspond to the first year in the sequence (e.g., 2011-2012 = 2011).
YELLOWTAIL SNAPPER
YELLOWTAIL SNAPPER
YELLOWTAIL SNAPPER Recreational yellowtail snapper landings (lbs ww) under proposed fishing year alternatives. Recreational ACL = 1,440,990 lbs ww
YELLOWTAIL SNAPPER Action 6. Revise Accountability Measures for yellowtail snapper Alternative 1 (No Action). If landing reach ACL: in-season closure and only bag limit can be retained. If landings exceed commercial ACL: payback only if total ACL (commercial + recreational) is exceeded and yellowtail are overfished.
Action 6. Revise Accountability Measures Alternative 2. YELLOWTAIL SNAPPER for yellowtail snapper (cont d) If landings reach or are projected to reach total ACL (SA commercial ACL + Gulf commercial ACL): in-season closure and only bag limit can be retained. If landings exceed commercial ACL: payback only if total ACL is exceeded and yellowtail are overfished.
Timing December 2015 Review public comments, review document, select preferreds, approve for formal review January 2016 Submit to NMFS Summer 2016 Regulations become effective
How Do I Comment? Written comments: Mail (address in sumamry document) Fax (843) 769-4520 Email: Mike.Collins@safmc.net; Subject Line: Reg Am 25 Comments must be received by 5:00 P.M. on November 16, 2015. Questions: Myra Brouwer, Myra.Brouwer@safmc.net or (843) 571-4366
Questions?