The South Atlantic Bite
Newsworthy Notes – May 8th, 2025
Council Meeting June 9-13, 2025
Cape Canaveral, Florida
Members of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council will meet the week of June 9-13, 2025 at the Radisson Resort at the Port, 8701 Astronaut Blvd., Cape Canaveral, Florida. The meeting is open to the public and available via webinar as it occurs.
The meeting week will begin at 8:30 a.m. on Monday, June 9th with a meeting of the Council’s Snapper Grouper Commercial Subcommittee focusing on issues specific to the commercial fishery. The Council will also hold meetings of its Mackerel Cobia Committee, Snapper Grouper Committee, and a joint meeting of the Habitat & Ecosystem Committee and Shrimp Committee. The full Council will also meet during the week to address federal fisheries issues.
Meeting materials, including agendas, overviews, and presentations will be posted to the Council’s website two weeks prior to the meeting. Webinar registration will also be available.
Public Comment
The Council will hold a formal public comment session on Wednesday, June 11th, beginning at 4:00 p.m. The comment session allows for in-person and remote (via webinar) verbal public comment. Additional information will be available from the website two weeks prior to the meeting. An online comment form will also be available once the meeting briefing materials are posted.
SAFMC Seminar Series:
Trends in Dolphinfish Lengths Caught in the Southeast Recreational Fishery
Tuesday, May 13, 2025 | 1 pm – 2:30 pm | Webinar Registration
The Council’s Seminar Series continues this month with a focus on research conducted on the dolphin fishery. Dolphinfish are managed in federal waters by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council along the entire Atlantic coast and they are an important species for both recreational and commercial fishermen.
In this seminar, the presenters will describe trends in the sizes of Dolphinfish caught in the U.S. South Atlantic region. In one analysis, five sportfishing tournaments in the area held over several decades were investigated to understand temporal changes in the lengths of both male and female Dolphinfish. These trends will be compared with catch rates of trophy-sized (greater than 35 pounds) Dolphinfish reported to the NC Division of Marine Fisheries. The results of the study could be informative to managers of this important species in the region.
Sea Grant Release Rodeo Now Underway
The annual shallow water grouper season kicks off May 1st and this year so does Sea Grant’s South Atlantic Release Rodeo! From May 1 to July 31, the Sea Grant Release Rodeo gives fishermen across the South Atlantic the chance to win Sea Grant giveaways by sharing information about the fish they release.
Whether you’re a commercial, for-hire, or recreational fisherman, you can earn entries into Sea Grant giveaways by submitting information on your released Red Snapper and shallow water grouper to the SAFMC Release citizen science project.
The SAFMC Release project partners with South Atlantic fishermen to collect information on released fish—information that’s often hard to gather through traditional sampling methods. Using the free SciFish app, anglers can share their firsthand observations of the fish they release—like fish length, depth caught, and use of descending devices—to the project.
During the South Atlantic Release Rodeo, each submission to SAFMC Release that includes a photo of your released Red Snapper or shallow water grouper earns you an entry into Sea Grant giveaways, with extra entries available for photo submissions that can be used for length verification.
The South Atlantic Release Rodeo is an easy, free way to share your valuable knowledge about the snapper grouper fishery while earning a chance to win Sea Grant giveaways.
Learn more and get started by visiting the South Atlantic Release Rodeo webpage or contact Greyson Webb, Sea Grant’s Reef Fish Extension Fellow, at greyson.webb@safmc.net with any questions.
Lowcounty Shrimp Collaborative
Understanding patterns of shrimp abundance and how they relate to changes in environmental conditions
When you think of the lowcountry of South Carolina and Georgia, shrimp boats are likely to come to mind. Fresh, local shrimp are a staple to the area. To better understand how shrimp populations are being impacted by changing environmental conditions, researchers, students, resource managers, and extension specialists teamed up to form the Lowcountry Shrimp Collaborative. Between 2021 and 2025, a multidisciplinary team has been working to analyze historical environmental data and collect new data from study sites within the region’s three National Estuarine Research Reserve boundaries.This is the first time such a comprehensive effort solely focused on shrimp has taken place and the results are now available.
A new StoryMap from the Lowcountry Shrimp Collaborative beautifully explores some of the researcher’s findings while also weaving in input from the commercial shrimpers who make a living on the water. The StoryMap also provides helpful information about the three species of shrimp available in the area, their life history, and the importance of environmental factors.Information obtained through this project will be critical to the future management of this multi-million dollar fishery.
Additional information on the project is also available online in a recent webinar presented by Dr. Robert Dunn and several of the team’s researchers.
Additional Snippets:
Rampant Fraud: Industry Report Claims Large Percentage of Wilmington Restaurants Market Foreign Shrimp as U.S. Wild-caught
Wilmington’s seafood promises a taste of the Carolina’s coast, but many restaurants aren’t delivering on that claim. What’s often advertised as local shrimp is actually imported, leaving customers unaware they’re being deceived. A recent investigation found that 77% of Wilmington-area restaurants surveyed are fraudulently mislabeling shrimp. See this recent article from the Cape Fear Beacon to learn more about the study, a list of restaurants that passed the test, and what you can do to help ensure you are getting local seafood on your dinner plate.
Reminder! Recreational Seasons Set for Snowy Grouper and Gag
NOAA Fisheries has announced the recreational seasons for both Snowy Grouper and Gag in South Atlantic federal waters for 2025. The recreational season for Snowy Grouper will open on May 1 and close on June 9, 2025. The length of this year’s season is reduced as recreational landings of Snowy Grouper in 2024 exceeded the recreational catch limit. The 2025 recreational fishing season for Gag will open on May 1 and end at 12:01 p.m. on June 26, 2025.
Mark Your Calendar
Keep track of meetings scheduled by the Council from the Meetings page of the website and register for meeting webinars as information becomes available. Register early and receive email reminders as the meeting date(s) approach!