Reef Fish Regulatory Amendments

• A March 1991 regulatory amendment reduced the red snapper TAC from 5.0 million pounds to 4.0 million pounds to be allocated with a commercial quota of 2.04 million pounds and a 7-fish recreational daily bag limit (1.96 million pound allocation) beginning in 1991. This amendment also contained a proposal by the Council to effect a 50 percent reduction of red snapper bycatch in 1994 by the offshore EEZ shrimp trawler fleet, to occur through the mandatory use of finfish excluder devices on shrimp trawls, reductions in fishing effort, area or season closures of the shrimp fishery, or a combination of these actions.
  

  This combination of measures was projected to achieve a 20 percent SPR by the year 2007. The 2.04 million pound quota was reached on August 24, 1991, and the red snapper fishery was closed to further commercial harvest in the EEZ for the remainder of the year. In 1992, the commercial red snapper quota remained at 2.04 million pounds; however, extremely heavy harvest rates resulted in the quota eing filled in just 53 days, and the commercial red snapper fishery was closed on February 22, 1992.

• A July 1991 regulatory amendment, including EA and RIR, implemented November 12, 1991, provided a one-time increase in the 1991 quota for shallow-water groupers from 9.2 million pounds to 9.9² million pounds. This action was taken to provide the commercial fishery an opportunity to harvest 0.7 million pounds that went unharvested in 1990 due to an early closure of the fishery in 1990. NMFS had projected the 9.2 million-pound quota to be reached on November 7, 1990, but subsequent data showed that the actual harvest was 8.5 million pounds.

• A November 1991 regulatory amendment, including EA RIR and IRFA, implemented June 22, 1992, raised the 1992 commercial quota for shallow-water groupers to 9.8 million pounds (using the corrected gutted-to-whole weight conversion factor of 1.05, see footnote 1), after a red grouper stock assessment indicated that the red grouper SPR was substantially above the Council's minimum target of 20 percent, and the Council concluded that the increased quota would not materially impinge on the long-term viability of at least the red grouper stock.

• An October 1992 regulatory amendment raised the 1993 red snapper TAC from 4.0 million pounds to 6.0 million pounds to be allocated with a commercial quota of 3.06 million pounds and a recreational allocation of 2.94 millions pounds (to be implemented by a 7-fish recreational daily bag limit). The amendment also changed the target year to achieve a 20 percent red snapper SPR from 2007 to 2009, based on the Plan provision that the rebuilding period may be for a time span not exceeding 1.5 times the potential generation time of the stock and an estimated red snapper generation time of 13 years (Goodyear 1992).

• An October 1993 regulatory amendment, including EA RIR and RFA, implemented January 1, 1994, set the opening date of the 1994 commercial red snapper fishery as February 10, 1994, and restricted commercial vessels to landing no more than one trip limit per day. The shallow-water grouper regulations were also evaluated but no change was made. The shallow-water grouper TAC, which previously had only been specified as a commercial quota, was specified as a total harvest of 15.1 million pounds (with 9.8 million pounds allocated to the commercial quota) and 20-inch TL size limit for gag, red, Nassau, yellowfin and black grouper.

• An October 1994 regulatory amendment retained the 6 million pound red snapper TAC and commercial trip limits and set the opening date of the 1995 commercial red snapper fishery as February 24, 1995; however, because the recreational sector exceeded its 2.94 million pound red snapper allocation each year since 1992, this regulatory amendment reduced the daily bag limit from 7 fish to 5 fish, and increased the minimum size limit for recreational fishing from 14 inches to 15 inches a year ahead of the scheduled automatic increase.

• A regulatory amendment to set the 1996 red snapper TAC, dated December 1995, raised the red snapper TAC from 6 million pounds to 9.12 million pounds, with 4.65 million pounds allocated to the recreational sector. Recreational size and bag limits remained at 5 fish and 15 inches total length. The recovery target date to achieve 20 percent SPR was extended to the year 2019, based on new biological information that red snapper live longer and have a longer generation time than previously believed. A March 1996 addendum to the regulatory amendment split the 1996 and 1997 commercial red snapper quotas into two seasons each, with the first season opening on February 1 with a 3.06 million pound quota, and the second season opening on September 15 with the remainder of the annual quota.

• A March 1997 regulatory amendment changed the opening date of the second 1997 commercial red snapper season from September 15 to September 2 at noon and closed the season on September 15 at non; thereafter the commercial season was opened from noon of the first day to non of the fifteenth day of each month until the 1997 quota was reached. it also complied with the new Magnuson-Stevens Act requirement that recreational red snapper be managed under a quota system by authorizing the NMFS Regional Administrator to close the recreational fishery in the EEZ at such time as projected to be necessary to prevent the recreational sector from exceeding its allocation. Subsequent to implementation of a recreational red snapper quota, the recreational red snapper fishery filled its 1997 quota of 4.47 million pounds, and was closed on November 27, 1997 for the remainder of the calendar year.

• A November 1997 regulatory amendment canceled a planned increase in the red snapper minimum size limit to 16 inches that had been implemented through Amendment 5, and retained the 15-inch minimum size limit.

• A January 1998 regulatory amendment proposed maintaining the status quo red snapper TAC of 9.12 million pounds, but set a zero bag limit for the captain and crew of for-hire recreational vessels in order to extend the recreational red snapper quota season. The NMFS provisionally approved the TAC, releasing 6 million pounds, with release of all or part of the remaining 3.12 million pounds to be contingent upon the capability of shrimp trawl bycatch reduction devices (BRDs) to achieve better than a 50 percent reduction in juvenile red snapper shrimp trawl mortality. The zero bag limit for captain and crew of for-hire recreational vessels was not implemented. Following an observer monitoring program of shrimp trawl BRDs conducted during the Summer of 1998, NMFS concluded that BRDs would be able to achieve the reduction in juvenile red snapper mortality needed for the red snapper recovery program to succeed, ad the 3.12 million pounds of TAC held in reserve was released on September 1, 1998.

• A December 1998 regulatory amendment proposed to maintain the status quo red snapper TAC of 9.12 million pounds; reduce the recreational bag limit for red snapper to 4 fish for recreational fishermen and zero fish for captain and crew of for-hire vessels; set the opening date of the recreational red snapper fishing season to March 1; reduce the minimum size limit for red snapper to 14 inches total length for both the commercial and recreational fisheries; and change the opening criteria for the second commercial red snapper fishing season from the first 15 days to the first 10 days of each month beginning September 1, until the suballocation is met or the season closes on December 31.
  

  This regulatory amendment follows up the same set of proposals requested under an emergency action, of which NMFS approved only the proposal for a 4-fish bag limit. An interim rule implemented by NMFS in January 1999 reduced the recreational bag limit for red snapper from 5 to 4 fish per person and retained the 15-inch minimum size limit for both the commercial and recreational fishing season to commence in January 1999.

• An August 1999 regulatory amendment, including EA RIR and IRFA, implemented June 19, 2000, increased the commercial size limit for gag from 20 to 24 inches TL, increased the recreational size limit for gag from 20 to 22 inches TL, prohibited commercial sale of gag, black, and red grouper each year from February 15 to March 15 (during the peak of gag spawning season), and established two marine reserves on areas suitable for gag and other reef fish spawning aggregations sites that are closed year-round to fishing for all species under the Council’s jurisdiction. The two sites cover 219 square nautical miles near the 40-fathom contour, off west central Florida. An additional proposal to continue increasing the recreational minimum size limit for gag and black grouper by one inch per year until it reached 24 inches TL was rejected by NOAA Fisheries because it was felt that it would have a disproportionate impact on the recreational fishery vs. the commercial fishery.

• A February 2000 regulatory amendment, currently under review by NMFS, proposes to maintain the status quo red snapper TAC of 9.12 million pounds for the next two years, pending an annual review of the assessment; increase the red snapper recreational minimum size limit from 15 inches to 16 inches total length; set the red snapper recreational bag limit at 4 fish; reinstate the red snapper recreational bag limit for captain and crew of recreational for-hire vessels; set the recreational red snapper season to be April 15 through October 31, subject to revision by the Regional Administrator to accommodate reinstating the bag limit for captain and crew, set the commercial red snapper Spring season to open on February 1 and be open from noon on the 1st until noon on the 10th of each month until the Spring sub-quota is reached; set the commercial red snapper Fall season to open on October 1 and be open from noon on the 1st to noon on the 10th of each month until the remaining commercial quota is reached,; retain the red snapper commercial minimum size limit at status quo 15 inches total length; and allocate the red snapper commercial season sub-quota at 2/3 of the commercial quota, with the Fall season sub-quota as the remaining commercial quota.