The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council is keeping fishermen busy this summer with public comment meetings.
Last month, there was a series of hearings/listening stations on the snapper-grouper Vision Project, which includes overwhelmingly opposed measures such as catch shares, electronic monitoring, and more closed fishing areas.
Next week, beginning in South Carolina, the SAFMC is conducting public hearings (close to final action) and scoping (initial stages of development) on four snapper-grouper amendments and will also continue to take comments on the Vision Project.
Here’s the hearing/scoping schedule for next week:
All are 4 to 7 pm.
Monday, August 10:
Hilton Garden Inn, 5265 International Boulevard, N. Charleston, SC 29418
Tuesday, August 11:
Holiday Inn Express, 722 Highway 17, Little River, SC 29566
Wednesday, August 12:
Murrells Inlet Community Center, 4462 Murrells Inlet Road, Murrells Inlet, SC 29576
Click here for the complete schedule and amendment details:
www.safmc.net/meetings/public-hearing-and-scoping-meeting-schedule
Public hearings are being held on these amendments:
Amendment 36 would put in place hundreds of square miles of spawning Special Management Zones from North Carolina through east Florida to Key West, in which bottom fishing would be prohibited.
This despite nearly 700 square miles of existing deep-water Marine Protected Areas in which bottom fishing is prohibited and nearly 24,000 square miles of existing deep-water coral Habitat Areas of Particular Concern in which bottom fishing is substantially restricted by prohibitions on anchoring and bottom longlines. There is no plan in place to evaluate and monitor the effectiveness of these existing closed areas, much less any new areas.
Amendment 16 would bring some relief to the November-April commercial black sea bass pot (trap) fishery closure, which has been forced due to NOAA concerns about possible rig