This is a publication of the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council pursuant to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Award No. NA07FC0015.

NEWS RELEASE
RELEASE: AS APPROPRIATE
CONTACT: WAYNE E. SWINGLE

PUBLIC HEARINGS SCHEDULED FOR A STONE CRAB AMENDMENT

Tampa, Florida - September 22, 2000 - The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council) has scheduled public hearings for Stone Crab Amendment 7. The Amendment proposes to create a federal trap certificate program for the commercial stone crab fishery in federal waters off Florida. This program will be similar to the trap certificate program adopted by the state of Florida.

A summary of the proposed federal program is as follows:

• Recognizes the state license and tags for use in the EEZ, but not require them.
• Persons who could not obtain or chose not to obtain, the state license could apply for a federal vessel permit.
• The same qualifying criteria would apply, i.e., 300 pounds of claws landed in one of the six fishing seasons 1993/1994 through 1998/1999. May 15, 1999 is end of the qualifying period.
• Persons would have 90 days to apply after the effective date of implementation of the final rule.
• Persons qualifying would be issued a trap certificate and federal trap tags based on their landings divided by 5 pounds which is the annual harvest level that would occur when the number of traps is reduced to the optimum level of 600,000 traps.
• Federal vessel permits, trap certificates, and tags would be non-transferrable.
• It is anticipated that the cost of the federal trap tags would be higher than the cost of the state trap tags, i.e., $1.10 vs $0.50.
• Inclusion of a federal appeals process.

The hearings will be held from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m. at the following locations and dates:

The Council will hear public testimony on this amendment on November 15 at its meeting in Biloxi, Mississippi before taking final action. Written comments will be accepted if received at the Council office by November 3, 2000.

The meetings are open to the public and is physically accessible to people with disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other auxiliary aids should be directed to the Council office by October 9, 2000.

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council is 1 of 8 regional fishery management councils that were established by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976. The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council prepares fishery management plans that are designed to manage fishery resources in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

This news release, and other Council news releases, can be viewed at the Council’s web site, http://www.gulfcouncil.org. In addition, Council press releases may be received via e-mail by sending a blank e-mail message to pressreleases@gulfcouncil.org with SUBSCRIBE as the subject.

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