Maybe I should of said the ones in Alaska.
Rep Sanford, Sen Tim Scott, and Sen Lindsay Graham are who needs to be contacted to restructure/reorganize the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA) and/or NMFS. When MSA was reauthorized in 2006 is when the “teeth” where added: strict accountability measures, payback on quotas, closures due to Overfishing and Overfished statuses, etc. NMFS counts the fish, determines populations, figures out how many can be removed in a given year, etc etc. Once that number/quota is received from NMFS, SAFMC determines creel limits, seasons, size restrictions, Recreational vs Commercial, etc.
As I posted earlier, if VA and NC would have played by the Federal rules, we would have a Cobia season this summer. Unfortunately they did not. They may still open their State waters this year, and if they do not it does not bode well for 2018.
Finally SAFMC amendment 4 https://safmc.net/amendments-under-development/cmp-framework-amendment-4/ ups the size limit from 33" fork lenght to 36" fork lenght, reduces the daily creel from 2 per person to 1, and implements a boat limit of 6 per boat max. All of these measures combined would mean a much longer Cobia season in general. Unfortunately, Amendment 4, which has been submitted to the Dept of Commerce for signature and implementation, will not be signed any time soon due to the President’s Executive order of “No new Federal regs”. Please call Sanford, Scott, and Graham!
Sea Hunt 207CC,Yam F150
Carolina Skiff (old school model)17’ Suz D50
quote:
Originally posted by Hurricane701SAFMC Meeting …
Tuesday at 6pm January 31.
Crowne Plaza Tanger OutletsPUBLIC MEETING ON RED SNAPPER
SHOW UP AND EXPRESS YOUR CONCERN
-Simon O
HADDRELL’S POINT TACKLE & SUPPLY
Your Complete Sportfishing Center
www.haddrellspoint.com
www.facebook.com/Haddrells.Point
i doubt it, but any chance they do a live stream of these meetings? I’d like to attend but live in columbia.
Some of the meetings are setup as webinars that you can stream live but the scoping meeting for Snapper Grouper Admendment 43 in Murrells Inlet tonight at N. Charleston tomorrow are unfortunately “in person only”.
Some info from their website about what will be discussed at the meetings:
Snapper Grouper Amendment 43 (red snapper and recreational reporting)
The amendment will address some of the issues with the current management of red snapper and recreational reporting. Potential items to consider include:
•Ways to reduce bycatch by closing areas to snapper grouper fishing and/or establishing a season for snapper grouper fishing.
•Ideas for developing and promoting best fishing practices to address barotrauma and reduce bycatch and discard mortality.
•If the dead discards are reduced sufficiently, explore mgmnt measures for commercial and recreational measures during a limited red snapper season.
•Ways to improve the estimate of recreational harvest and discards of snapper grouper species in the private recreational fishery
You can submit any comments you have online here: https://safmc.wufoo.com/forms/snapper-grouper-amendment-43/
Sent letters to both Scott and Graham but I can’t imagine it being something on the top of their list of concerns considering the current political climate. On the bright side perhaps this administrations disdain for scientific truth will lead to dismantling of some of these councils and laws. Just trying to find a ray of ligh in a unbelievably cloudy horizon.
Sure hate to hear this. I use to love the red snapper and the last several years it has been cobia. Makes me want to sell my boat and just get out of it. I just don’t see why they didn’t make it a limit. One per boat or something. Man I love April/May offshore at HHI and have been looking forward to getting back out. So much for 2017.
quote:
Originally posted by valleydawgSure hate to hear this. I use to love the red snapper and the last several years it has been cobia. Makes me want to sell my boat and just get out of it. I just don’t see why they didn’t make it a limit. One per boat or something. Man I love April/May offshore at HHI and have been looking forward to getting back out. So much for 2017.
Has me feeling the same way:imp:! Bunch of BS as usual from these clowns!
NN
quote:
Originally posted by 40inchredsNot all there cobia are of stock genetics.
That’s correct, but getting close to being. Again, don’t confuse the subspecies of Cobia that migrate into the Broad and St Helena Sounds to spawn with the offshore species. IMO, this closure was needed, not the offshore.
Below is a copy/paste from one of the links I posted above.
"The cobia that come into Port Royal Sound every year from late April through June are not just any cobia, they are a specific group whose heritage started in this body of water. And those big cobia you see the sound during this period are ALL females, ALL loaded with eggs and ALL looking to perpetuate the Port Royal Sound group for all time. But because there was no solid data that supported this theory, that group has been decimated to the point that it may never recover.
Two fish per person per day is the law but in a confined area like Port Royal Sound where day in and day out hundreds of boats wail on these fish that have come specifically to make a little cobias, that limit is insane.
The Waddell Mariculture Center tried its best to capture and breed Port Royal cobia, releasing tens of thousands back into the population, but a strange thing happened. Over 83 percent of cobia carcasses that were collected this past year came from Waddell, and on top of that, what fish that were captured for breeding, also came from Waddell and couldn’t be used for breeding. Why? The same reason you can’t marry your sister – in-breeding which would destroy the genetic purity of the unique Port Royal cobia group.
It’s too late to make legal changes to save the Port Royal cobia this year but not if each and every one of you decides to either skip fishing for cobia in Port Royal Sound or practice catch and release."
NN
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