Tuesday, October 24, 2006
New Snowy Grouper and Black Black Sea Bass Regulations
 This past Monday the National Marine Fisheries Service passed new regulations on snowy grouper, golden tilefish, vermilion snapper, red porgy and black sea bass. Amendment 13C to the Fishery Management Plan for the Snapper Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region imposes quotas and individual trip limits on catches and changes the minimum length for many species. Offshore reef populations have been struggling for several years and officials are optimistic that these new regulations can reverse the trend. Highlights of the regulations that impact recreational anglers are listed below for each species, full details on the new regulations are available from the NMFS. Snowy Grouper: •limit possession to one per person per day within the 5-grouper per person per day aggregate recreational bag. Golden Tilefish: •limit possession to one per person per day within the 5-grouper per person per day aggregate recreational bag. Vermilion Snapper: •increase the recreational minimum size limit from 11-inch total length (TL) to 12-inch TL. Black Sea Bass: •establish a recreational allocation that would decrease over three years from 633,000 lbs gw in year 1 to 560,000 lbs gw in year 2, and 409,000 lbs gw in year 3; •increase the recreational size limit from 10-inch TL to 11-inch TL in year 1 and 12-inch TL in year 2; and •reduce the recreational bag limit from 20 to 15 per person per day. Red Porgy: •increase the recreational bag limit from 1 to 3 red porgy per person per day. Archive Link 0 Comments Tell a Friend |
