FAQs

1. What is the function of the Gulf Council?

2. How are members of the Council chosen?                                                The Gulf Council is made up of representatives of all groups who use the Gulf of Mexico’s fishery resources. Voting members include recreational fishermen, commercial fishermen, seafood processors, environmentalists, scientists, consumers, and representatives of each state conservation agency. Members are nominated by the state governors and appointed by the Secretary of Commerce for a term of three years. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is also represented, along with nonvoting government representatives from the U.S. Coast Guard, Fish and Wildlife Services, Department of State, and the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission.

3. What are the considerations involved in a fishery management plan?

4. Who advises the Council on developing fishery management plans?

5. What does a Fishery Management Plan do?

6. Where may one review a proposed Fishery Management Plan for the Gulf of  Mexico?

7. May a fisherman on a vessel with a commercial Reef Fish permit retain the recreational bag limit of a reef fish species when the commercial season or quota is closed?

8. May a recreational fisherman possess more than the daily bag limit if away from the dock for more than one day?

9. May a commercial fisherman retain a bag limit of reef fish as well as the allowed commercial quantity (applies when there is a commercial trip limit such as for red snapper or grouper)?

10. May a recreational fisherman possess both a federal and state bag limit of reef fish?

11. How does the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) process work?

12. What is the intercouncil boundary between the South Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico?