Council Approves Changes for Wreckfish Fishery; Continues Discussions for Black Sea Bass Management and Other Federal Fisheries During June Meeting

Members of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council concluded their week-long meeting in Daytona Beach Shores, Florida after addressing a broad range of federal fishery management issues. The Council approved Amendment 48 to the Snapper Grouper Fishery Management Plan addressing the commercial Wreckfish fishery.

The Wreckfish individual transferable quota (ITQ) program started in 1992 and is the oldest finfish ITQ program in the United States. The program was established after the discovery of a virgin biomass of Wreckfish off the southeast coast, primarily off the coasts of Georgia and South Carolina. Since that time, the deep-water commercial fishery has changed substantially, while the ITQ program has remained the same. Amendment 48, as approved by the Council, will modernize the ITQ program, including moving from paper reports to an electronic reporting system. Additional changes in the amendment will improve program monitoring and enforcement, as well as data collection and management, provide more flexibility for ITQ Shareholders, and implement a cost recovery program as mandated by the Magnuson-Stevens Act. Amendment 48 must be approved by the Secretary of Commerce before measures are implemented.

The Council continued discussing management measures for Black Sea Bass. The Council is responsible for managing the stock in federal waters along the Atlantic coast from Cape Hatteras, NC south along the east coast of Florida. Based on the latest stock assessment conducted through SEDAR 76, the stock is declining in abundance. In addition, the stock assessment shows continued low recruitment, which is the number of new fish entering the population each year.

The number of undersized fish released by the recreational fishery has increased in recent years while total landings have declined. Because Black Sea Bass inhabit offshore reef areas as well as nearshore structure, around half of the estimated discards occur in state waters.

During the Council meeting, NOAA Fisheries announced the implementation of interim measures to reduce annual catch limits for Red Snapper and the 2024 fishing season. The agency released a Fishery Bulletin stating the recreational season will open for a single day, July 12, 2024 with a bag limit of 1 fish per person. The commercial fishery will open on July 8, 2024 with a trip limit of 75 pounds gutted weight and remain open until the annual catch limit is met.

According to NOAA Fisheries, the reduction in catch levels is needed because “the Council has failed to take action to end overfishing of Red Snapper, and also failed to develop catch limits.” Over the past decade or so, Council members have struggled with the management challenges associated with a recovering Red Snapper stock, where the numbers of Red Snapper are increasing each year, while meeting the mandates of the Magnuson Stevens Act. The Council received notification on July 23, 2021 that the Red Snapper stock was experiencing overfishing, primarily due to release mortality in the recreational fishery.

The Council will hold public hearings before its September 2024 meeting on measures proposed for Gag and Black Grouper and on-demand gear for the Black Sea Bass pot fishery. The measures are addressed in Snapper Grouper Regulatory Amendment 36. The public hearings will be held via webinar with additional information provided as it becomes available. During discussion of the amendment, the Council considered public comment and concerns about vessel limits for headboats and the need to consider different regulations for Black Grouper in South Florida. Council members will discuss a comprehensive approach to address the needs of the headboat fishery in December. Changes to black grouper management will be discussed in early 2025.

Discussions continued for actions to require a private angler permit for the Snapper Grouper fishery in federal waters. Council members received input from three of its advisory panels and considered public comment before deciding to postpone further discussion of Snapper Grouper Amendment 46 until its December 2024 meeting. The Council will consider the revisioning of the NOAA Fisheries Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP) and program improvements currently underway at its September 2024 meeting and convene a meeting of its Private Angler Advisory Panel before discussing the amendment again in December.