Southeast Fishery Bulletin
National Marine Fisheries Service, Southeast Regional Office, 263 13th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, Florida 33701
FOR INFORMATION CONTACT: June 19, 2015 727-824-5305, FAX 727-824-5308 FB15-042
Commercial Harvest of Atlantic Dolphin Will Close on June 24, 2015
The commercial harvest of Atlantic dolphin from Maine through the east coast of Florida will be closed, effective 12:01 a.m. (local time), June 24, 2015. Commercial harvest will reopen at 12:01 a.m. (local time) on January 1, 2016. Reports indicate that landings are approaching the 2015 catch limit for the commercial sector.
The operator of a vessel with a federal commercial permit for dolphin-wahoo that is landing dolphin for sale must have landed and bartered, traded, or sold such dolphin prior to 12:01 a.m. (local time), June 24, 2015. The prohibition on sale does not apply to sale or purchase of dolphin that were harvested, landed ashore, and sold prior to 12:01 a.m. (local time), June 24, 2015, and held in cold storage by a dealer or processor. During the closure:
#61623; Harvest or possession of dolphin is limited to the recreational bag and possession limits. #61623; Sale and purchase of dolphin is prohibited.
#61623; The closure applies in both state and federal waters.
This closure is necessary to protect the dolphin-wahoo fishery.
They should make the 693028482 charters boats in NC VA and Maryland stop keeping 60 20in fish a day as well also then.
Crazy thing is that poor weather kept much of the fleet in. These clowns don’t know what has been caught.
I’ve never read much about the commercial dolphin fleet. Are they going out for days or a week at a time and several hundred miles offshore or just cruising up/down the stream trying to stay with the schools? Do they long line? Is poaching a problem with dolphin or do most of the commercial guys adhere to the rules, closures, etc? If you’re seeing it at retail for about $15/lb, what are the commercial guys getting?
2014 Key West 203DFS
1987 Landau
There was a long liner working out near the 226 back in April. I was guessing he was after dolphin and wahoo.
Olde Man Charters
The longliners have 2 moons where there is enough fish to set on. Most of them go make their regular swordfish sets offshore and make one or two shallower sets to catch their dolphin. I think the people this hurts most are the green stick guys up north that don’t have time to fool with the schools of p nuts they have up there. They catch a few nice dolphin per trip to go along w the bigeyes and yellowfins they catch and it covers their overhead for the trip.
Most dolphin is by catch from the sword boats. There are a few boats that do target dolphin with long lines and do very well with 15 to 18,000 pounds per trip. Market price on dolphin has stayed in the three dollar mark on Whole fish. I am still scratching my head trying to figure out how they have closed dolphin to harvest for the commercial boats. This is the first time EVER! Looks like the restaurants will be serving Costa Rican and Indonesian
mahi for the rest of the summer.
.
PROUD YANKEE
Oyster Baron
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”
Two things to think about:
- The recreational quota for dolphin is 14.1 million lbs and commercial is 1.1 million lbs.
- SC is only responsible for about 2-3% of the dolphin harvest. Florida and NC claim the lion share.
quote:Sad thing is, it's the same stock that circumnavigates the Atlantic!!!
Originally posted by sellsfishrestaurants will be serving Costa Rican and Indonesian
mahi for the rest of the summer."
Commercial fellas are in luck! Six more days!
NMFS announces the re-opening of the commercial sector for Atlantic dolphin (dolphin) in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off the Atlantic states (Maine through the east coast of Florida) through a temporary rule. The most recent landings for dolphin indicate the commercial annual catch limit (ACL) has not yet been reached. Therefore, NMFS re-opens the commercial sector for dolphin at 4:15 p.m., local time, June 24, 2015, and it will close at 12:01 a.m., local time, June 30, 2015 in the EEZ of the Atlantic. A June 30, 2015, closure will minimize the risk of the commercial ACL being exceeded and provides more sufficient notice to fishermen of the closure.
Do not tell fish stories where the people know you; but particularly, don’t tell them where they know the fish.
- More Maxims of Mark, Johnson, 1927
31’ Contender
“Touche”
250 HPDIs
Looking at last several years commercial mahi landings, it appears the commercial sector went 30% over the 2014 quota. I’m guessing NMFS deducted the 2014 overage from the 2015 quota. However, the 2012 and 2013 landings were only about 60% of the quota. If that’s the situation you would think NMFS would give them a pass on the 2015 quota.
http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/sustainable_fisheries/acl_monitoring/commercial_sa/historical/index.html
Sea Hunt 207CC,Yam F150
Carolina Skiff (old school model)17’ Suz D50
The commercial fishery for dolphin is likely to reopen this fall.
Last December, the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council approved Amendment 8 to the Dolphin-Wahoo plan, which shifted 377,424 lbs. from the recreational to the commercial annual catch limit allocation.
The amendment changed the allocation from 92.46% recreational/7.54% commercial to 90% recreational/10% commercial.
NOAA is in the process of reviewing the amendment for approval. The CFSF has asked NOAA to expedite its review and approval.
Once the amendment is approved, the fishery should reopen with 377,424 lbs. that can be landed.
We’ve also asked for a review of the commercial dolphin landings data to ensure accuracy. At the end of last season (12/31/14), an error was discovered in the landings due to a “coding error” which caused the 2014 commercial ACL to be exceeded by 30 percent.
We want to make sure there are no more “coding errors.”
The 30% overage was not deducted from the 2015 commercial ACL.
Tom Swatzel
Executive Director
Council for Sustainable Fishing
www.Sustainablefishing.org
The missing number that screws the whole thing up is the total bio-mass number. So with that data missing the SAFMC still moves on with restrictions derived from a series of guesses, stretches, and extrapolations. Or in the street vernacular - “starting from bull s**t”. . Dolphin are a world wide commodity in every warm ocean on this earth, and the SAFMC has the arrogance to think they’re saving the resource. Its ridiculous to close the fishery in the only months that the “biomass” is passing close.
quote:
Originally posted by CFSFThe commercial fishery for dolphin is likely to reopen this fall.
Last December, the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council approved Amendment 8 to the Dolphin-Wahoo plan, which shifted 377,424 lbs. from the recreational to the commercial annual catch limit allocation.
The amendment changed the allocation from 92.46% recreational/7.54% commercial to 90% recreational/10% commercial.
NOAA is in the process of reviewing the amendment for approval. The CFSF has asked NOAA to expedite its review and approval.
Once the amendment is approved, the fishery should reopen with 377,424 lbs. that can be landed.
We’ve also asked for a review of the commercial dolphin landings data to ensure accuracy. At the end of last season (12/31/14), an error was discovered in the landings due to a “coding error” which caused the 2014 commercial ACL to be exceeded by 30 percent.
We want to make sure there are no more “coding errors.”
The 30% overage was not deducted from the 2015 commercial ACL.
Tom Swatzel
Executive Director
Council for Sustainable Fishing
www.Sustainablefishing.org
Maybe they can take donations thats not selling i heard of places doing it to sell beer to beat the permit for a weekend event