SAFMC Meeting Update

Saltwater Offshore Discussion
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Last weeks South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (SAFMC) meeting offered some welcome relief for fish, fishermen, and consumers while some attacks on our individual liberty, God-given freedom, and Constitutional Rights continued. I listened to parts of the meetings live webinar and stayed in contact with the council members representing North Carolina. Here is a brief summary of the highlights and low points.

The council increased our Vermilion Snapper (VS) quota by over 200,000 pounds based on an updated stock assessment that shows the stock is not overfished or undergoing overfishing. That increase in quota allowed the five month recreational VS closure to be removed. The assessments down side is that it looks like this is the maximum quota the council will ever allow and they even plan to reduce it by about 100,000 pounds over the next few years for some unexplained reason.

Public comments helped convince council members to begin the process of properly managing commercial quotas for VS, Black Sea Bass, and Gag Grouper with appropriate possession limits that will help avoid prolonged closures and reduce Regulatory Discards. The council is also looking at aligning opening dates for multiple species so almost everything is legal to keep at the same time to reduce Regulatory Discards. These two common sense solutions will help fishermen feed many more people as we are no longer forced to discard tons of seafood during multiple extended closures.

Public comments played a key role in convincing the council to allow for-hire crews on charter boats to keep their bag limit of snapper/grouper species for personal consumption. The council is listening to us on some issues while appearing to close their eyes, ears, hearts, and minds to comments on other issues they seem hell-bent on advancing. There is a level of support for or opposition to ANY issue that can convince our public servants to do what we ask of them. Some issues just require more concerned citizens to get involved than others.

The counc

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O.K…so SAFMC is saying here are a few extra VS for now but we want more MPA’s where the fishing is best and you must ride around with a GPS monitor on your boat??? How did we ever get to this point??

We must make sure our politicians who support this crap…never…ever get re-elected…

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Very good summary BlueFly. The “evils of bureaucracy” got us to this point. Bureaucrats are willing to collectively do the kinds of harmful things they would never dream of doing individually and seem to feel absolved of any personal responsibility for their actions. Congress sets up billion dollar bureaucracies like NMFS to help us. They give unelected bureaucrats the power to write laws with the threat of force behind them. Our elected public servants give us just enough lip service to make it appear they care. Both the elected and unelected public servants swear an oath to uphold and defend our Constitution. VMS is a blatant violation of our Fourth Amendment Rights. Any bureaucrat who votes for VMS or politician who passively supports it with their silence does not deserve to hold any public position.

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I have a new bill on the way that prohibits DNR and any other state agnecy from using remote monitoring systems such as Drones or VMS to monitor our offshore vessels. I tried to get it in as an amendment on the budget, but the leadership objected because it might have slowed the budget process down. Think Rand Paul’s latest fillabuster on Drones. I anticipate this (bill) being the better way anyway, as it will last, whereas a budget provisio only lasts a year. I’ll keep everyone updated on this as well.

Stephen Goldfinch
“Sleep When You’re Dead!”

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yellabird, what is the bill number?

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I think you are well on your way to being the most active freshman legislator in SC history.

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Mr Goldfinch, your battles are appreciated and hopefully will help the fishing industry regain part of its contribution to the SC economy. The SAFMC is an out of control agency that is operating with an adjenda that is obvious. When I was a child, My uncle that taught me to fish and hunt encouraged me to respect the game laws because they were in place to protect the fish & game. Today we are learning that the laws(regs) are actually in place to appease certain enviro & political groups. Hard to respect laws like these! Tell me Sir, Have you encountered resistance from the enviro lobby – the well funded PEW or ED? If not , I’m sure its coming. How can we best deal with this? Further, like Sells, I am very unhappy with seafood retailers store fronts and restaurants that mis label seafood and sell asian catfish (swai or Basa) and label it “grouper” . I know of one seafood store that sells tons of swai for $14 + labeling it as grouper. Every day this store front thaws hundreds of lbs of swai fillets and “packs for travel” and sells the low grade fish to unsuspecting tourists with a 400% mark up.

I must admit that I probably didnt help things when I voted for Haley. I heard a bunch of Republicans speak about her being good in bed in the Primary.

www.no-miss.com

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Nookie sucks. I will be shocked if she is re elected. The funny thing is all the people outside SC swoon all over her like she is all that.

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just when you think it can’t get any worse… It is really going to suck when they make an example out of a rec fisherman that strayed into an MPA! The Enviro agenda is out of control on the council. There has to be a way to remove the people with an obvious agenda. Nikki has got to go… She put Cupcake back on the board. To keep Black Sea Bass closed is a crime! Your and my rights to harvest an overly abundant fish should not be infringed upon. A 15" and 20 per day rec limit would not even put a dent in the population. We also need to be separated from Fl in the zone. You all know how I feel about the council. I hope Cupka catches the clap!

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NMFS = No More Fishing Season

“Back home we got a taxidermy man. He gonna have a heart attack when he see what I brung him”

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Gents,
The VMS/Drone Bill is still in negotiations and drafting. I’ll let you know when it is assigned a number. Also, the Truth in Seafood Act is also still in negotiations and drafting. You’ll be the first to know when that hits the speaker’s desk.

To answer your question, yes, there is push-back, but it’s not from who you would think. The enviros haven’t sank their teeth into this yet. Some of our own are at work making sure that commercial and or charter guys with federal permits have preference over recreational guys. The truth of the matter is this: Tom Swatzel from SAFMC and Director Taylor from DNR have both come to the same conclusion…that the sea bass bill will have a minimal, and maybe a net neutral effect on the ACL, and therefore won’t hurt commercial/charter guys with a federal permit. This bill has the potential to give recreational guys 300+ additional fishing days a year. That benefits everyone. Economically it’s a windfall to us all. Please tell all your friends to come to the Sub-committee hearing on Wednesday at 9:00 AM. The hearing will be in Columbia at the Blatt Building located on the State House Grounds in room 410. I need each and every one of you there supporting this bill. Tell your representatives and your senators you want this bill. Call the Agriculture committee 803-734-3022, and sign up to talk in support of the bill. Please. We need your support!

Stephen Goldfinch
“Sleep When You’re Dead!”

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sellsfish, one of the alternatives to VMS I have been offering is to MARK MPAs with data buoys or platforms with video cameras. Fishermen could see the MPA bounderies and only those getting close to or entering an MPA would be monitored. It seems like NMFS should be required to mark a closed area anyway.

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I am kinda thinking no "closed"areas in the first place?

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While some MPA’s are small, The Edisto MPA covers many square miles and would be impossible to cover with cameras. I don’t want to see any more closed areas along our coast. Once they close an area it will NEVER open again. To lose SW bank or G-town hole to recreational fishing is a crime.

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NMFS = No More Fishing Season

“Back home we got a taxidermy man. He gonna have a heart attack when he see what I brung him”

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Just for my clarification the VMS is only going to be for vessels with a federal Commercial Snapper Grouper Permit correct?

Chad
Cobia 256 Express
Pulled by a Dodge Ram 3500

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update concerning some of the actions taken by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council at its meeting in St. Simons Island, GA last week.

Vermilion Snapper

The fishery council unanimously approved increasing the annual catch limit for vermilion snapper beginning this year via Snapper-Grouper Regulatory Amendment 18, which was sent to the Secretary of Commerce for approval.

The recent stock assessment update determined that vermilion are not overfished or experiencing overfishing.

For 2013, the overall ACL will increase by about 30 percent to 1,372,000 lbs. whole weight.

The ACL increase will remove the recreational season closure for vermilion, resulting in a year-round fishery.

This year the six month commercial vermilion quota will be 466,480 lbs. whole or 420,250 lbs. gutted weight.

Black Sea Bass

A stock assessment is underway for black sea bass and will be reviewed, as required, by the Scientific and Statistical Committee next month. The SSC will then make a recommendation to the council concerning the ACL.

It is anticipate that the stock assessment will justify a badly needed increase in the ACL.

The challenge will be to get an ACL increase in place in time to affect the recreational season opening on June 1st. The last recreational season was open for only 96 days, closing on September 4th.

Rather than wait until the next regularly scheduled fishery council meeting in June to vote on an ACL modification, the council agreed to an extraordinary May 13th council meeting via webinar (a first) to quickly move forward a new ACL for Secretary of Commerce approval.

The meeting will be advertised and open to the public as required.

Requirement for Vessel Monitoring Systems

On a 10 to 3 vote, the council approved for public hearings a proposal for all commercially permitted snapper-grouper vessels to be equipped with vessel monitoring systems that would allow federal law enforcement and fishery officials to track vessels at all times.

Voting no were Tom B

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cobia256, Regulatory Amendment 30 would only require VMS on commercial vessels. The council voted to remove the requirement for for-hire vessels in this amendment. They discussed the need for a future amendment requiring ALL vessels fishing in federal waters to have VMS as the snapper/grouper advisory panel recommended. Stopping VMS now would keep it from spreading to other sectors.

sellsfish, I oppose MPAs based on my lack of confidence in the SAFMC and NOAA’s ties with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (ICUN). The end goal of many ICUN members is to close the most productive ocean habitats across the globe. I believe MPAs COULD be good for our fisheries IF limited to a FEW SMALL KEY AREAS and offset with equal areas of new artificial reef habitat. As for marking and monitoring MPAs, there should be buoys or platforms placed in each corner of the MPA if it is too large for one in the center to monitor. The limited MPAs should not be any larger than four markers can monitor.

I will be doing a postcard petition campaign this summer opposing VMS and any new MPAs. This has been an easy and effective way to get thousands of people involved in other fishery issues including the 40 fathom closure that was suspended due in part to hundreds of postcards going to the Sec. of Commerce opposing the Amendment 17A and 17B closures. Is anyone interested in being part of or learning more about the postcard campaign?

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Freefish…I am available to help with your postcard campaign. Any others needing help fighting this nonsense just ask. In the meantime
I have a Gobbler to do some business with…

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Ummmmm, exactly how does closing the MPA to trolling help the warsaws or speckled hinds? How many of you guys have killed one as by catch trolling?

Wet Saw
99 Triton Sea Flight 22
07 Yammie 150

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Thanks BlueFly. I will have the postcards made next month. They will have a picture of a snapper boat at sunset symbolizing our fisheries fading into the sunset. The text opposing VMS and MPAs will be over the sky and water in the photo. The back will have a place for people to sign and add a comment. Some will be addressed to the SAFMC and others will go to members of Congress. There is a provision in the RA 30 that says it will not be implemented if reimbursement funds are not available. Maybe we can get Congress to defund this scam. I am hoping you and many others will commit to getting 20 postcards signed and spring for a page of postcard stamps to make sure they all get sent. I believe a couple of thousand postcards could stop VMS and any new MPAs.

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fastdog, MPAs are a progressive scheme designed to close the most productive areas of our oceans to any fishing. Our public servants have to be careful about how much they push for at any one time. They know we CAN stop them IF eonough of us are impacted and willing to publicly oppose their attacks on our freedom to fish. Federally mandated MPAs in state waters to protect sturgeon will be coming soon if we do not take a stand now.