Amendments Under Development - Overview and Public Comments
Using the link below, learn about the proposed actions in each amendment under development by the Council, view the most recent amendment document, see the current timeline for amendment development, and submit comments using the online comment form for each amendment under development.
The Council currently manages eight fisheries. These fisheries include coastal migratory pelagics (mackerel & cobia); coral and live bottom habitat; dolphin and wahoo; golden crab; shrimp; snapper grouper; spiny lobster, and Sargassum. Read each amendment developed under each fishery management plan below.
The Coral, Coral Reef, and Live/Hardbottom Habitat Fishery Management Plan optimizes the benefits generated from the South Atlantic's coral resource while conserving the coral and coral reefs.
The Council's ecosystem-based approach to fisheries management builds on the biological, economic, and social information presented in the Fishery Ecosystem.
This specialized deepwater commercial crab fishery was established in the early 1990s following the prohibition of fish traps in the snapper grouper fishery.
Through a collaborative process among many regional partners, the Council consolidated the best available information on habitat essential to species managed in the South Atlantic region in to a Habitat Plan.
Approved in 2003, the management plan protects Sargassum, a free-floating seaweed found throughout the blue waters of the South Atlantic from extensive commercial harvest.
The commercial shrimp fishery is one of the most economically important in the nation. With the ability to close federal waters to protect spawning white shrimp.
Of the 64 species managed by the Council, 51 are included in the snapper/grouper complex. Because of its mixed-species nature, this fishery is challenging to manage.