Red Snapper Commercial Season

FYI commercial season opens 12/5…nothing for the recreational guys. Unreal.

The commercial season is very restricted. What we should be seeking is a re-opening of the MPA’s that have been closed for so many years. They could rotate them

Not enough money greasing pockets from the recreational guys. I haven’t been but from what some are catching there is no shortage of ARS.

Just curious, but what would it take to get a commercial license?

quote:
Originally posted by natureboy

The commercial season is very restricted. What we should be seeking is a re-opening of the MPA’s that have been closed for so many years. They could rotate them


Thought they were open. Every time I pass one there are boats bottomfishing them, mainly commercial boats.

quote:
Originally posted by Fred67

Not enough money greasing pockets from the recreational guys. I haven’t been but from what some are catching there is no shortage of ARS.

Just curious, but what would it take to get a commercial license?


I haven’t checked in at least 5 years, but back then, you needed around 35K-40K. They are on a 2 for 1 moratorium. In other words, you would have to find TWO existing holders of commercial grouper\snapper, purchase BOTH of them, and then trade those in for your new license. Once you get that, renewal follows the normal process which is like $25 per year.

5 years ago, there were only about 450+ licenses left in the South Atlantic and only a subset of those were actually active.

Before everyone get’s worked up, the commercial quota is 75 lbs PER DAY on a 10 day season. The annual TAC (for the “fleet”) is 124,815 lbs which is calculated to be 12,854 fish.

quote:
Originally posted by skinneej
quote:
Originally posted by Fred67

Not enough money greasing pockets from the recreational guys. I haven’t been but from what some are catching there is no shortage of ARS.

Just curious, but what would it take to get a commercial license?


I haven’t checked in at least 5 years, but back then, you needed around 35K-40K. They are on a 2 for 1 moratorium. In other words, you would have to find TWO existing holders of commercial grouper\snapper, purchase BOTH of them, and then trade those in for your new license. Once you get that, renewal follows the normal process which is like $25 per year.

5 years ago, there were only about 450+ licenses left in the South Atlantic and only a subset of those were actually active.

Before everyone get’s worked up, the commercial quota is 75 lbs PER DAY on a 10 day season. The annual TAC (for the “fleet”) is 124,815 lbs which is calculated to be 12,854 fish.


Thanks for that info. Never realized it was that expensive. Sounds a lot like the old tobacco allotments.

quote:
Originally posted by Fred67

Thanks for that info. Never realized it was that expensive. Sounds a lot like the old tobacco allotments.


Yes, that cost is really the cost of buying it from someone else. The only portion of $ that actually goes to the government is the $35 application fee.
quote:
Originally posted by skinneej
quote:
Originally posted by Fred67

Not enough money greasing pockets from the recreational guys. I haven’t been but from what some are catching there is no shortage of ARS.

Just curious, but what would it take to get a commercial license?


I haven’t checked in at least 5 years, but back then, you needed around 35K-40K. They are on a 2 for 1 moratorium. In other words, you would have to find TWO existing holders of commercial grouper\snapper, purchase BOTH of them, and then trade those in for your new license. Once you get that, renewal follows the normal process which is like $25 per year.

5 years ago, there were only about 450+ licenses left in the South Atlantic and only a subset of those were actually active.

Before everyone get’s worked up, the commercial quota is 75 lbs PER DAY on a 10 day season. The annual TAC (for the “fleet”) is 124,815 lbs which is calculated to be 12,854 fish.


the going price for 2 commercial tickets today is in the 60 to 70 k range. First trips will not be profitablej
quote:
Originally posted by natureboy

the going price for 2 commercial tickets today is in the 60 to 70 k range. First trips will not be profitablej


Doh! I had thought about doing it when it was in the 30K range. That might have been a good investment! But then all the talk about the ITQ stuff scared me off. I figured that they would look at the log books at some point and do some sort of conversion from the "unlimited" permits to the ITQ system.

natureboy, I know that you know what I am referring to here, but for those that don’t, this would likely mean that Boat X with historical records of 10K pounds of “grouper” (example) per year would eventually get 10K in quota, where Boat Y with 3K pounds of “grouper” per year would get 3K. So, if you purchased permits from an inactive fishing vessel, then your quota would reflect that, and you would essentially be buying a dud…

Thus, if they ever do decide to switch over to the ITQ system, I would consider buying quota units instead.

quote:
Originally posted by skinneej
quote:
Originally posted by natureboy

the going price for 2 commercial tickets today is in the 60 to 70 k range. First trips will not be profitablej


Doh! I had thought about doing it when it was in the 30K range. That might have been a good investment! But then all the talk about the ITQ stuff scared me off. I figured that they would look at the log books at some point and do some sort of conversion from the "unlimited" permits to the ITQ system.

natureboy, I know that you know what I am referring to here, but for those that don’t, this would likely mean that Boat X with historical records of 10K pounds of “grouper” (example) per year would eventually get 10K in quota, where Boat Y with 3K pounds of “grouper” per year would get 3K. So, if you purchased permits from an inactive fishing vessel, then your quota would reflect that, and you would essentially be buying a dud…

Thus, if they ever do decide to switch over to the ITQ system, I would consider buying quota units instead.


the big push on the council is for catch shares, and for hire licensing limited entry with VMS for every vessel with a rod & reel along with trip reporting.