The mighty red grouper is getting harder and harder to keep, if not to catch.

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council is currently developing an amendment that will affect gag and red grouper in the Gulf. Expect dates for those public hearings to come around the end of March, says Charlene Ponce of the Council. We’ll post those dates here as soon as they are announced.

For information and updates on meetings held by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, go to www.gulfcouncil.org.

Supporting documents for the meeting: sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/sf/grouper/grouper_forum.htm

Gulf of Mexico federal waters:

>Possible recreational grouper season closure—Jan.-April, maybe longer—under study No fishing for any shallow-water grouper during that period >Bag limit could drop to one (1) gag per angler >Size limits may change >Commercial quotas, and allocation, also up for review >New marine reserves may come on line >Good news is red grouper limits may loosen some

Learn everything about these issues in the draft public hearing document, which you can obtain by calling the Council at (813) 348-1630; email gulfcouncil@gulfcouncil.org.

>>The Gulf Council wants to know how you feel about the gag and red grouper fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico—population trends, remarks on limits, potential impacts of season closures or other measures. Call your buddies and car-pool to one of following public hearings. They begin at 6 p.m. at the following locations:

March 13 Edgewater Conference Center 11212 Front Beach Blvd. Panama City, FL

March 19 Radisson Hotel 12600 Roosevelt St. Petersburg, FL

March 20 Comfort Inn 3860 Tollgate Blvd. Naples, FL 34114

Outside Florida:

March 10 Hilton Airport 901 Airline Dr. Kenner, LA

March 11 University Southern MS Caylor Auditorium 703 East Beach Dr. Ocean Springs, MS

March 11 Holiday Inn 5002 Seawall Blvd. Galveston, TX

Mar. 12 Plantation Suites 1909 St. Hwy 361 Port Aransas, TX

March 12 Erie Meyer Civic Center 10300 2nd St. Gulf Shores, AL

>> If you can't make one of these meetings, you may comment on issues by emailing the Gulf Council members at: Amendment30B@gulfcouncil.org, or fax: (813) 348-1711. Comments should be received no later than April 3. A final public hearing will be held during the regularly scheduled Council meeting in April.

To contact your Florida voting members on the Gulf Council directly:

William Teehan (representing FWC) 850-487-0554 phone 850-487-4847 fax william.teehan@myFWC.com

William Daughdrill (recreational) 850-814-5468 phone 850-769-1674 fax

Robert Gill (commercial) 352-795-1916 phone 352-795-4355 fax bgillbgill@embarqmail.com

Julie Morris (general/other) 941-487-4527 ph. 941-487-4201 fax morris@ncf.edu

South Atlantic Council:

>Possible Jan.-April closure on all shallow-water grouper fishing for federal waters of Florida >Bag limit may drop to one gag grouper per angler >Other measures being considered

March 3-7, the South Atlantic Council Meeting is in Jekyll Island, Georgia. Snapper/Grouper Committee meets Tuesday afternoon, and again Wednesday morning. Information is available at www.safmc.net, or call (843) 571-4366. Stay tuned to www.safmc.net for more details on probable changes, and how you may comment.

There will be public hearings along the east coast of Florida during the first two weeks of May. We’ll know the schedule following this week’s Council meeting in Jekyll Island. Stay tuned to www.floridasportsman.com.

From FS, July, 2007:

Fickle Weather
Gulf Council in a position to ease red grouper restrictions.

“Isn’t it funny that the people in charge of managing our fisheries work for the agency in charge of predicting our weather?”

The comment drew chuckles at a recent Grouper Forum in St. Petersburg, but when the humor faded, a troubling truth lingered--grouper management under the National Marine Fisheries Service (or NMFS, a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) often seems right on par with meteorological guesswork.

The most recent change in the wind (see Timeline) is a 2007 stock assessment showing red grouper above maximum sustainable yield biomass threshold and slightly above optimum yield target level. The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, under NMFS, says this reflects a rebuilding plan implemented in 2004, as well as a strong recruitment year class in 2000. Thus, the Council is now proposing an increase in red grouper Total Allowable Catch.

After two years of a 1-fish bag limit and season closures on red grouper, recreational anglers have asked the Council to relax limits in light of the fishery’s improved condition. Red grouper is a popular, good-eating species commonly caught in waters between 30 and 90 feet deep. Some say it's the bread-and-butter of offshore fishing out of St. Petersburg, Sarasota, Fort Myers and other ports on Florida's west coast.

Ted Forsgren, Executive Director of CCA Florida, said it's vital the Council compare the economic value of Recreationally and commercially caught red grouper. It's likely such a study would reveal a small commercial grouper fleet (150 boats or so) contributes little to local economies, whereas recreational anglers and tourists spend millions annually on boats, marina slips, fuel, bait, tackle and the hospitality industry.

Currently, 81 percent of the red grouper allocation goes to the commercial sector.

“If you had a reasonable adjustment in the allocation," explained Forsgren, "you might be able to get the recreational bag limit increased to two fish per person without taking any more of the resource.

“It’s not just that we’re saying ‘we want more of the red grouper allocation,’ we’re saying ‘It’s worth more to the state in economic value,’” he added.

In an apparent attempt to mend bridges, the Council held its recent Grouper Forum to promote communication between management agencies and constituents. Resonating through the Forum was the feds’ admission that they lack sufficient data for many of their management tasks. Audience members asked for explanations of how responsible management decisions can be made without the needed data.

“It’s obvious to all of us that we have a lot of work to do,” said NMFS Regional Administrator Roy Crabtree. “The data is getting better and the science is getting better. We will keep working on this, but we are making progress. The Magnuson Act is a tough act and it just got a lot tougher with the reauthorization .The catch limits we’re going to have to implement are for some very data-poor species."

The question now is, will the agency give ear to what recreational anglers are saying? Or will the Forum be just another ploy to placate stakeholders, tantamount to the old workplace suggestion box--good for show, but that’s about it?
--David A. Brown

Timeline Gulf Red Grouper Management

Pre-1984: No limits, other than 1976 Magnuson-Stevens Act, which limits foreign nations from fishing within 200 miles of U.S. coast.

1985: Fish traps, roller trawls, powerheads prohibited inshore

1986: 18" min size, Florida waters

1990: Recreational: 20" min., bag 5. Commercial 20" min., 9.2 million pounds (MP) annual quota, incl. red, gag, other; no longlines, traps inshore 20 fathoms.

1992: Commercial: quota raised to 9.8 MP

1994: Commercial: industry requests smaller min. size, from 20" to 18"; NMFS rejects

1997: Council votes phase out fish traps by 2007

1999: Commercial: sale red, gag, black grouper prohibited Feb. 15-Mar. 15

2002: Council votes ban longlines less than 50 fathoms; rejected after well-timed assessment shows stocks in better condition than thought.

2004: Year of "The Spike"--Council claims. Recreational: catch mysteriously exceeds allotment by 130 percent, during same year when 4 major hurricanes criss-cross Florida. Recreational: red grouper Total Allowable Catch TAC, set at 1.25 MP. Commercial: red grouper quota 5.31 MP

2005: Year of "No Spike"--Recreational: landings back to normal. Recreational:. bag drops to 1 per person; season closes Nov. and Dec. (initially for all grouper, then only reds, per court order). Commercial: trip limit: 10,000 lbs

2006: Recreational: bag: 1 fish; season closed Feb. 15-Mar. 15 for all shallow-water groupers. Commercial: trip limit 6,000 pounds

2007: Fish traps prohibited

What's next?

Total Allowable Catch, Recreational and commercial combined 2005: 6.56 MP, 2006: 7.23 MP, 2011: 7.33 MP

How will the increase in Total Allowable Catch be divided? What will be the outcome of the trap phaseout? Will the Council revisit longline gear restrictions?