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Overview:
The South Atlantic Council (SAFMC) is responsible for the conservation and management of fish stocks within the federal waters of the South Atlantic including Florida’s East coast. In recent public hearings and publications the SAFMC has announced that they believe the snapper/grouper fisheries are over fished, and are experiencing over fishing. In plain angler terms, they are saying there are too many lines in the water and too few grouper/snapper in the water. As a result, the SAFMC is proposing drastic measures including seasonal closures, reduced bag limits, and fencing entire areas of the ocean from bottom fishing.
Too many lines…
The SAFMC uses commercial landings to determine fishing pressure and a combination of phone surveys and ramp/dock intercepts to determine recreational fishing pressure. There is a general consensus that the commercial landings accurately reflect most of the commercial fishing landings. When it comes to recreational data, there has been a great deal of controversy regarding the data that is collected, and the system (MRFSS) that is used to calculate fishing pressure.
MRFSS Math….
SAFMC claims that recreational fishing pressure has increased 18% from 2006 to 2007. To determine this, they have used less than 3,000 actual intercepts of anglers to calculate fishing pressure and angling success for an estimated 8,317,491 trips in Florida. In addition, the telephone surveys used to measure angler activity have been determined to be highly unreliable because they depend on dialing prefixes to map to specific areas, and with the proliferation of cell phones, this method has become futile. The sample rates and reliability of the data collected by these two systems renders this information almost useless, and in the SAFMC staffers own words, the system is being used in a manner it was never designed for. The best description of the MRFSS system comes from a blue ribbon panel of scientist review of the system that stated, “The designs, sampling strategies, and collection methods of recreational fishing surveys do not provide adequate data for management and policy decisions.”. If you can’t measure, you can’t manage.
Given the data, the MRFSS system, and how it is used, it is doubtful that the SAFMC has an accurate measure or understanding of recreational fishing pressure. Every piece of anecdotal information from charter captains, fishing clubs, marinas, fuel docks, boat manufactures, and every other angler related business we have contacted has said angling offshore in the grouper/snapper areas has decreased 30-50% in the last 2 years. They do not know how many lines are in the water, or how many fish are being taken from the water by recreational anglers. They have been begged in public meetings, emails, and behind the scenes to look at anecdotal data to confirm or challenge their estimates, and so far, have refused.
Too few fish…
The grouper stocks appear stable, and may need a little attention, but the snapper stocks are strong, and getting stronger. The fact that they think they need to limit grouper, and close snapper, shows just how out of touch they are with the condition of the fisheries they manage. The SAFMC has stated that they believe the Red Snapper fishery has been over fished. Most anglers that have fished the East Coast of Florida will tell you there are more Red Snapper off from our coast than there has been in 40 years. This has been a perplexing question for many anglers, and here is the SAFMC’s explanation.
The 50-year-old snapper problem…
It is estimated that Red Snapper have a maximum life expectancy of 50 years. There is great value in having older fish since they produce more eggs. The SAFMC states that they are seeing very few older fish in their samples, and that this is an indication that the fishery is being over fished. The problem here again is in the details, and how the SAFMC collects fish for data.
Red Snapper stop growing at about 20 years. This means a 20 year old fish will lay about the same number of eggs as a 50 year old fish, so when determining the fishing stock, a 50 year old fish is no more valuable than a 20 year old fish, and all fish over 20 should be treated equal. In addition, there is quite a bit of variation in the age/weight characteristics of Red Snapper. A 50-pound fish was aged to be about 21 years old, and 40 year old fish have been as small as 21 pounds. The SAFMC wants to see these 50 year old fish to consider the stock as healthy. Other sources contend that as long as we have 20+ pound fish and 20 year and older fish, the Red Snapper are not to be considered over fished.
So where are these old fish…
There is one other issue with the 50-year-old fish. SAFMC collects fish ear bones from commercial and recreational anglers to determine the fish’s age. They say the majority of the fish that are aged are 1-7 years old, and there are not many older fish. The reason they are not seeing many older fish is because the data is biased by the fact that both the recreational and commercial fisherman tend to target larger aggregations of fish over artificial and natural reefs. They are easier to find, and easier to catch, and tend to be shallower. Red Snapper that are 1-7 years old tend to live in concentrated aggregations in these areas, and are the target of angler determined selective fishing pressure. Once snapper hit 10 years old, they tend to be more solitary and move off to more isolated and deeper areas. This is why they are not seeing many older larger fish.
So what can the average angler do…
The SAFMC travels to different areas to hold public meetings to hear from you the angler. You have a chance to tell them what you think, what you have seen, and give your opinion on the options they are proposing. They will give you 3 minutes, so be prepared. If you have more to say, put it in writing, and they will include that too. When you get there, make sure you sign up to speak, and they will call your name when it’s your turn. If you can’t get to the meetings, email them your comments, but whatever you do, make sure they hear from you.
Below are the email addresses of the SAFMC council members
georgejgeiger@bellsouth.net 772/388-3183
seageorg@bellsouth.net 912/638-9430
Warner-KramerDM@state.gov 202/647-2883 (ph) 202/736-7350 (fax)
boylesr@dnr.sc.gov 843/953-9304 (ph) 843/953-9159 (f)
Wilson_Laney@fws.gov 919/515-5019 (ph) 919/515-4415 (f)
brian.cheuvront@ncmail.net 252/726-7021 (ext. 105) (ph) 252/762-0254 (f)
roy.crabtree@noaa.gov 727/824-5301 (ph) 727/824-5320 (f)
dkcupka@bellsouth.net 843/795-8591 (hm) 843/870-5495 (cell)
mcurrin1@bellsouth.net 919/881-0049
miridon@ec.rr.com 910/256-3197 (ph) 910/256-3689 (f)
voshea@asmfc.org 202/289-6400 (ph) 202/289-6051 (f)
Brian.A.Sullivan@uscg.mil 305/415-6781 (ph) 305/415-6791 (f)
mark.robson@myfwc.com 850/487-0554 (ph) 850/487-4847 (f)
sshipman@dnr.state.ga.us 912/264-7218 (ph) 912/262-2318 (f)
tom@captdicks.com 843/357-1673 (office)
Ga_shrimp@darientel.net 912/437-6797 (ph) 912/437-3635 (fax)
Florida FWC
Commissioners@MyFWC.com
kenneth.haddad@fwc.state.fl.us
Florida Politicians
Gov. Charlie Crist (R) 850-488-4441
State Legislature Links
Sen. Mel Martinez (R) Fax: 202-224-2237
Sen. Bill Nelson (D) Fax: 202-228-2183
Rep. Jeff Miller (R-1) Fax: 202-225-3414
Rep. F. Allen Boyd (D-2) Fax: 202-225-5615
Rep. Corrine Brown (D-3) Fax: 202-225-2256
Rep. Ander Crenshaw (R-4) Fax: 202-225-2504
Rep. Virginia Brown-Waite (R-5) Fax: 202-226-6559
Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-6) Fax: 202-225-3973
Rep. John Mica (R-7) Fax: 202-226-0821
Rep. Ric Keller (R-8) Fax: 202-225-0999
Rep. Michael Bilirakis (R-9) Fax: 202-225-4085
Rep. Bill Young (R-10) Fax: 202-225-9764
Rep. Kathy Castor (D-11) Fax: 202-225-5652
Rep. Adam Putnam (R-12) Fax: 202-225-0585
Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-13) Fax: 202-226-0828
Rep. Connie Mack (R-14) Fax: 202-225-6820
Rep. Dave Weldon (R-15) Fax: 202-225-3516
Rep. Tim Mahoney (D-16) Fax: 202-225-3132
Rep. Kendrick Meek (D-17) Fax: 202-226-0777
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-18) Fax: 202-225-5620
Rep. Robert Wexler (D-19) Fax: 202-225-5974
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-20) Fax: 202-225-8456
Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-21) Fax: 202-225-8576
Rep. Ron Klein (D-22) Fax: 202-225-8398
Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-23) Fax: 202-225-1171
Rep. Tom Feeney (R-24) Fax: 202-226-6299
Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-25) Fax: 202-226-0346
Secretary of Commerce
CGutierrez@doc.gov 202-482-2000
© Copyright 2003 by Deep-Blue-Sea.org
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