the propblem without limits,is there is a commercial market for sheepshead if not in this state, it is in others.- with no limits,the commercial guys could come here this late winter and spring and take all the fish they can catch or spear which would really impact the fishery in a bad way.
in my opinion,
there should be a 13" min size, person limit of 10 and a boat limit of 20 fish.
Assessments of sheepshead indicate that they were fished near their maximum yield-per
recruit in 1994, but fishing mortality has since declined in response to several management
initiatives (Muller and Murphy 1994; Murphy et al. 1997; Murphy and MacDonald 2000;
Munyandorero et al. 2006). Fishery management actions in the mid 1990s that led to a drop in
total landings of sheepshead and a change in the size of fish landed included restrictions to the
use of entangling nets, restricted species designation for sheepshead, the 12-inch FL minimumsize limit, a 10-fish bag limit (changed to 15 fish), and a 50-fish commercial possession limit.
The associated decline in fishing mortality and shift in age-specific vulnerability to the fishery
has been enough to allow for the increase in the spawning stock of sheepshead in Florida. In
response to the drop in fishing mortality, the transitional spawning potential ratios on both coasts
have risen steadily since 1996. The estimated transitional SPR has increased from 40% in 1995
to above 60% after 2001 on the Atlantic coast and from 25% over the period 1989-1997 to 30%
in 2004 on the gulf coast (Munyandorero et al. 2006). This increase in spawning stock is enough
that recruitment failure for either the Atlantic coast or gulf coast stocks is highly unlikely. In fact,
it appears that the stock could still maintain its production of recruits and provide more yield if
fishing mortality were allowed to increase somewhat above 2004 levels
http://myfwc.com/media/195567/sheepshead.pdf
Our tradition is that of the first man who sneaked away to the creek when the tribe did not really need fish.
you should have come to the public forum to hear about South Carolina sheepshead, not Florida sheepshead…
The Morris Island Lighthouse www.savethelight.org
Have large family and no boat so have to leave daily catch in freezer until enough to cook up. Even with that being said I agree with Bonzo on the limits.
I wish I could have gone. Most of the data is online and what isn’t I get directly from DNR . I posted the florida data as an example of a management practice that appears to be working.
The long-term trend in the recreational catch of sheepshead in SC has generally reflected their trend in abundance. Catches declined during the 1990s, but have undergone cyclic increases since then. Most of the sheepshead caught by anglers are harvested, probably because they provide good quality flesh and currently have no size restrictions.
http://www.dnr.sc.gov/marine/species/graphs/sheepsheadAbund.html
If by their own admission the fish is abundant then why cut the creel limit in half. It just seems like a radical move. Just implementing a size limit alone would increase the biomass and a 25% reduction in take would be something that most people could live with. To have a commercial bag limi be the same as a rec limit just does’nt make sense on an abundant species. I am for 12 inch min 15 rec 50 commercial.
Our tradition is that of the first man who sneaked away to the creek when the tribe did not really need fish.
quote:
Originally posted by watermonIf by their own admission the fish is abundant then why cut the creel limit in half.
</font id=“quote”></blockquote id=“quote”>because according to the data they showed Tues night the populations are in very slight decline and a reduction in bag limit to 10 fish will not affect 90+% of people who catch sheepshead anyway…
The Morris Island Lighthouse www.savethelight.org