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SUBJECT: # 35338: Grouper fishermen beware -- read this and try not to barf your breakfast (proposed regs for a three month closed season during the best time of the year and a bag limit of 1)!
Submitted by Grouperdave from FLORIDA on 7/2/01 1:07:00 PM
There are some bad, bad, things brewing for recreational grouper fishing inthe gulf of mexico. How about a closed season from March 1-May 31. Or how about a bag limit of one fish! It's possible and it's all in this report at this link: http://bigbendfishing.net/docs/Amendment_18_public_hearing_draft.pdf (you need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view this). Get ready to fight or grab the KY and bend over cause we are about to get reamed!!!!!!!
- 7/2/01 2:45:00 PM
Submitted by
grouper sandwich (128.186.154.240) from FLORIDA says This has been going for a while now
They had a public meeting in Panama City a few weeks ago on this issue. I've been trying to warn people about this for months and no one would listen. I even brought it up at the last meeting of North Florida Gulf Fishing Club (NFGFC) and it only recieved a lukewarm response. Fire off a letter and let them know how you feel. I've already sent mine as have numerous anglers that I know. Oh, an don't expect CCA to go to bat for us on this one. I've emailed them on this twice with zero response. CCA is just out to get your money and NOTHING else.grouper sandwich
- 7/2/01 8:40:00 PM
Submitted by
Derrick (152.163.201.181) from FLORIDA says How do we fight it?
Who should we write and how long till something happens?
- 7/3/01 8:20:00 AM
Submitted by
Grouperdave (207.156.9.1) from FLORIDA says Sandwich (or anybody!), what's the status of this?
Hey Grouper Sandwich, do you know the status on this? The title page says it is a NOAA document. Is it really NMFS or Gulf Council? I thought the way these regs worked is that the commercial fishermen who influence the Gulf Council create new regs to shaft the recs and then NMFS rubber stamps it. How is NOAA getting into the act? And how far along are they? Also, where and when will the next meeting be so we can mobilize? Thanks!
- 7/3/01 12:24:00 PM
Submitted by
grouper sandwich (128.186.154.240) from FLORIDA says NMFS and the Gulf Council are NOAA
Federal fishieries regulations fall under NOAA, so NOAA is the MAN. From what I understand, they have delayed the final vote until August because they have requested updated data on the affect of longlines in the eastern gulf. Us recs are going to get some additional restrictiosn, but I don't think that it will be as drastic as some of the proposals that are in Amendment 18. What really gets me though is the statement that they make in there about the problem being commercial exploitation and how it can be corrected by regulating the commercial industry alone. They then go on to say that in order to keep "historical" catch ratios in line, they have to reduce the recreational sector the same as they do the commercials. WHAT?Anyway, expect a reduction in the grouper bag, along with some sort of closed season (I'm guessing one month "March"). I have seen no evidence that size limits are going up. This amendment is a red grouper issue, but they intend to reduce the catch of ALL grouper in the gulf by stateing that reducing red grouper alone will put additional pressure on black and gag grouper. Get ready folks, the squeeze is on. Had we accepted two fish at 24"'s, we wouldn't have to deal with this now. Now they are going to make us pay.
grouper sandwich
- 7/3/01 2:55:00 PM
Submitted by
Grouperdave (207.156.9.1) from FLORIDA says Where's the RFA?CCA?
People sure say great things about the RFA, but here's another case where it appears they haven't done a thing. It's amazing the RFA and the CCA don't issue position statements on this type of activity. Or have they?
- 7/3/01 3:26:00 PM
Submitted by
Grouperdave (207.156.9.1) from FLORIDA says Grouper Sandwich -- no way on 24
GS, I really have to disagree on that 24" comment. If we get shafted with a bag of two fish I'd much rather have it be at 22" than 24". I might even give up a month closed season if they don't go up on the size. I've been keeping track since last June, and about 35% of potential keeper grouper I've caught have been between 20-22". Since January 1 I've been throwing them back. This percentage seems valid based on my discussions with other fishermen about their catches. Just think how bad it would be if the minimum size was 24". As for the bag, NMFS knows it's a joke and that very few fishermen come close to it. It says that in the report. They kept it at five for appearance sake only so they could justify raising the size. They couldn't justify raising the size and reducing the bag, especially when just their size proposals were persecuting the recs at the benefit of the comms. So now they are coming back and doing an "end run" on us, which they would have done regardless of the size increase.
- 7/3/01 3:41:00 PM
Submitted by
Grouperdave (207.156.9.1) from FLORIDA says Not too late to fight -- we must mobilize to write NMFS.
Remember last year when the Gulf Commercial Fishing Council, oops, I mean Gulf Council recommended the 24" size limit. Well, NMFS people read the proposal and saw that it penalized recs more than comms and left the size at 22". This is one case where NMFS did the right thing (thank you!). I know of at least 350 letters of protest that were written to NMFS from various organizations and clubs about the increase, so perhaps they made a difference. I'm pretty sure the council's proposal will have to be signed off on by NMFS so when the proposal is made we can again mount a letter writing campaign to point out unfair allocation of this resource. I think there's still time to fight. Where's the RFA?! CCA?!
- 7/5/01 8:58:00 AM
Submitted by
Deke (205.188.197.41) from . says One Fish Limit
We already have a ridiculous rule like this in New Jersey for blackfish (tautog).....two different seasons, one fish limit, etc. Our elected officials need to be unelected!!!!
- 7/5/01 10:15:00 AM
Submitted by
Grouperdave (207.156.9.1) from . says It's sad that more people don't answer posts like this
Sandwich -- I think it's really sad that only a few of us posted responses on this issue. Something like this should get under the skin of every rec fisherman, even if they don't fish for grouper. The fact I put a post up here and got such a lukewarm response points out two things. One, the reason the comms and tree huggers are able to force unreasonable limits on us is because we aren't organized and don't support each other; and two, the power of the internet is truly being wasted because that is the media that will eventually allow us to hopefully prevail. Let's hope we can get organized before we're excluded from catching everything but catfish!
