Snapper Grouper Fishery Management Plan

Implemented Regulations

• Defined the following terms: Age liable to capture, CPUE, domestic annual harvest (DAH), EIS, Executive order 12291, Fishery Conservation Zone (FCZ), Fishing effort, fishing mortality, fishing pressure, growth overfishing, incidental catch, internal rate of return (IRR), MARMAP, MSY, Maximum yield-per-recruit (YPR), natural mortality, OY, Plan team development, present value, recruitment, recruitment overfishing, regional director, RIR, steering committee, stock, the total allowable level of foreign fishing (TALFF), total length, total mortality, yield per recruit (YPR).
• Defined regulatory lengths: standards length (mouth to peduncle), fork length (you get that one, and total length (mouth to pinched tail if forked).
• Plan objectives: 1. 13 species overfishing so min sizes were implemented on 6 species to control growth overfishing 2. many species south of Cape Canaveral will likely experience growth overfishing shortly so the RA imposed minimum sizes on additional species in the management unit according to evaluation procedures in this FMP. for species where min sizes are not beneficial because the survival of released fish is too low, the council will amend the plan to include time/area closures, quota or other appropriate measures 3. data necessary to quantitatively document growth overfishing is other species or recruitment overfishing are very limited so data collection was authorized to monitor stocks.
• Restrictions on fish traps and prohibitions on poisons, explosives, and spearing goliath grouper were created.