Archive – Public Hearings & Scoping Meetings – August 2016

Archives - August 2016 - Public Hearing & Scoping Meeting 

See Public Hearing & Scoping Meeting Archives here.

Meeting Schedule - Meeting Dates and Locations 

Below is the schedule for Q&A webinars with Council staff and the schedule of public hearing and scoping meetings. All meetings (including webinars) will be held from 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM.

Q&A webinars provide the public opportunity to watch a presentation on each amendment and ask Council staff questions prior to the public hearing meetings. Public hearing and scoping meetings provide the public opportunity to talk with local Council representatives and provide formal comment on the record about each amendment. 

The Council will also accept written comments. See below for instructions on submitting written comments. 

Amendment Overview:

Scoping - 

Jt. Dolphin Wahoo Amendment 10/Snapper Grouper Amendment 44 (dolphin and yellowtail snapper) - Potential actions that will be scoped include:

• Common pool allocation
• Reserve category 
• Temporary allocation shift 
• Temporary allocation shift (similar to bluefish)
• Combined Annual Catch Limit
• Permanent allocation shift for dolphin
• Permanent allocation shift for yellowtail snapper
• Allocation by gear type (longline and hook and line) for the commercial sector in the dolphin fishery.

These proposed management measures would affect the dolphin fishery along the entire Atlantic coast.

Public Hearing - 

Snapper Grouper Amendment 41 (mutton snapper- Includes actions to, 

• Modify the Annual Catch Limit (ACL),
• Reduce the current bag limit,
• Establish commercial trip limits, and
• Increase the current minimum size limit.

Coastal Migratory Pelagic Framework Amendment 4 (Atlantic cobia) - Actions in the amendment include

• reducing the recreational bag limit with a preferred alternative to reduce the daily bag limit from 2 per person/day to 1 fish per person/day
• establishing a recreational vessel limit with a preferred alternative of a vessel limit of 3 fish/per day,
• modifying the recreational fishing year with a preferred alternative for the year to begin May 1st,
• increasing the recreational minimum siz limit,
• modifying the current accountability measure, and
• changes to the commercial trip limit.

 These proposed measures would impact management of Atlantic cobia, which extends from the FL/GA border northward to NY.

Meeting Materials: Amendment Documents & Presentations

Amendment materials will be posted on July 18, 2016. 

Note: View all of the video presentations at the SAFMC YouTube channel! Look at the August 2016 Public Hearing Amendments playlist and choose which presentation to watch. 

NEW! Read our new interactive Story Maps for each amendment to see images, graphics, video, and details of what is being proposed and why. Links below.

Submitting Written Public Comment

Written comments may be submitted by mail, fax or by using the online public comment form. The comment period will open on July 18, 2016 once amendment materials are posted to the website.

Deadline for Submitting Written Comments: All written comments are due by 5 PM on August 19, 2016.

• Comments by mail: Send comments to Gregg Waugh, Executive Director, SAFMC, 4055 Faber Place Drive, Suite 201, N. Charleston, SC  29405
• Comments by fax: Send to 843/769-4520
• Comments using the online public comment form: Use the comment form links below to submit comments on each amendment. All comments submitted will be automatically posted to the website and accessible for the public to view.