Courtland. Are you not reading my snippets above? 
We are on the same page though… These MPA’s have done phenominal work. They have preserved 6 speckled hind and 4 warsaw grouper. WOW!!!
quote:
Originally posted by skinneejCourtland. Are you not reading my snippets above?
I like to hear myself talk… It is just to important to say once.
You could read slower so I can get one first…
Wow. That is terrible. I love fishing the ledge and to close all of it like that would be completely stupid. I would just have to find even deeper numbers to fish and burn more gas.
26 Seahunt
Angler’s Dream
??? Putting off the inevitable???
“Watch what we do, not what we say.” John Mitchell
Sea Hunt Triton 202
Yammy 150
quote:Deeper? There isn't much past the ledge that isn't already under a "virtual" closure. I say "virtual" because you are talking about finding snowies out in 400'. Are you really going to purchase a $1500 electric rod, run 70 miles, so that you can catch your ONE SNOWY PER BOAT? I don't think so...
Originally posted by JordanOnaYakWow. That is terrible. I love fishing the ledge and to close all of it like that would be completely stupid. I would just have to find even deeper numbers to fish and burn more gas.
26 Seahunt
Angler’s Dream
What will happen is that people will crowd up in between the MPA’s on the sliver of bottom we have left and those spots will be decimated. Then, we are really screwed.
I can’t speak for everyone, but in my mind, enough is enough. The gov’t has their hands in waaaaayyyyy to much as I’m sure most on here feel the same. I’m all for respecting and following legitimate rules/regs, but stuff like this certainly doesn’t fall within the realm of legitimacy or even necessity for that matter. It’s the same thing as the BSB restriction until it was recently lifted.
Ya’ll remember the 2M bikers who went to march on DC the other day even though their permit was denied? I’m going anyway (if the seas will calm down enough).
Bowtech Allegiance
Ruger M77 .270
I find it laughable that they call themselves SOUTH ATLANTIC FISHERY MANAGEMENT COUNCIL
MPA EXPERT WORKGROUP. The only experts that ever present data to them are generally ignored it seems. They should be titled SOUTH ATLANTIC FISHERY MANAGEMENT COUNCIL
MPA ASSUMPTIONS WORKGROUP
26 Regulator FS “Miss Ella Pearl”
Update from Tom Swatzel-
The following article was published online today by the Charleston Post & Courier.
The SAFMC Snapper-Grouper Committee did vote to pursue development of MPA site selection options by state for preliminary consideration at the December council meeting. A scoping meeting and public hearing would be held next year, with final action on a MPA amendment scheduled for December 2014.
The committee chose to have MPA site selection based not only on evidence of spawning speckled hind or warsaw grouper, but also on the “occurrence” of the species, which would greatly broaden the number of sites under consideration.
Tom Swatzel
No decision on new offshore bottom fishing limits in the SoutheastBy Bo Petersen
Post & Courier
Federal regulators want more information before deciding whether to put more offshore fishing grounds off-limits in the Southeast.
A committee of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council put off any recommendation whether to expand Marine Protected Areas from 785 square miles to as much as 1,093 miles or more, a move that could have taken away from anglers prime spots on the Continental Shelf such as Georgetown Hole and the Edisto Banks off Charleston.
The committee voted to ask staff for more information, such as how well current MPAs and law enforcement efforts are working. The full board will vote on that recommendation Thursday or Friday, but at least most of the council members sit on the committee.
The decision reflected concerns raised by commercial and recreational anglers that studies had not been done since the current MPAs were implemented in 2009.
No action on the proposed new areas would be expected before a December meeting.
?All options are still on the table,? said Mel Bell, council member and S.C. Department of Natural Resources fisheries office director.
The fight is just now begining. Where the phuck are our lawmakers. .??.Where does Nookie stand on this…?? Its outrageous. …
I am in Charleston for the SAFMC meeting and will be happy to talk to anyone about MPAs or any other fishery issues this weekend. Please call me if you are interested in stopping the closure of traditional fishing grounds and/or seeing our fishery managed properly. 252-269-9817
If they close the areas we should buddy boat a few hundred boats right in the middle of it! and fish the hell out of it!
What we should do is speak to ALL of our elected officials - mayors - law makers - council men - senators – walk the docks and talk to everybody you see about this! Fill the rooms ! cover them up with comments. Ask your tackle shops - boat dealers - to GET INVOLVED!
After reading this I am definitely not going to get any rest tonight.
Those tards on the hill are wrecking everything good about the US.
2006 pioneer 197 SF 150 4s
EXACTLY natureboy! I have postcard petitions opposing the closure of traditional fishing grounds like SC’s Georgetown Hole if you or anyone else would like some to give people an EASY way to help us stop these closures. We need to ask our County Commissioners to submit resolutions to the council opposing these closures. We need to ask our state Legislatures to do the same. We need to ask our members of Congress to send letters. We need to coordinate our efforts to apply pressure from as many angles as possible. Last but not least, we need to think about what kind or alternative solutions to protect Warsaw Grouper and Speckled Hind we are willing to support. Are we willing to support the use of decent assist devices to turn 90% mortality rates of released deepwater fish into 90% survival rates? Are we willing to support small areas of artificial reef habitat MPAs that are marked with video camera equipped data buoys or platforms paid for by private industry, NGOs, academia, and fishermen’s fundraisers? Just saying no could very well result in the reinstatement of Amendment 17B’s closure of the entire seafloor seaward of 40 fathoms from Virginia to Key West.
freefish7, I would like to see some evidence that Speckled Hind was as prominent as they say. Supposedly the only evidence that they have is a paper written by Churchill Grimes in 1983 that was an analysis of data collected from 1972-1977. That paper stated that SH was the FOURTH most occurring species encountered in their fish survey (THIRD place was red porgy). I’ve talked to a few fishermen that fished in the 70’s and none of them believe that to be true. Think about that for a second… Think about all of the species that we encounter bottom fishing: vermilion, triggers, black seabass, scamp, gag, red snapper, red porgy, etc. In that list, they said that red porgy was #3, so there were only 2 other species that beat out SH? I find that hard to believe. Yet, this is what they are basing the “need” for a closure on. Are their expectations even realistic? Let’s say that we closed the ENTIRE eastern seaboard for 100 years. Would speckled hind ever become the 4th most occuring species? I highly doubt it. Just from the nature of their slow reproducing, slow breeding, they would have to have some other biological feature that gives them a unique advantage to make that statistically possible, which they don’t…
For Warsaw, there has been a “virtual closure” for years. Most warsaws that I have heard about lately have been encountered while fishing for snowies out in deeper water. How many people fish for snowies now that you can keep ONE per boat? Who is going to run out and buy a $1500 rod and reel to run 70 miles to catch 1 snowy? I doubt that fishery is under much pressure up our way.
Let’s face it, there are WAY MORE factors than just fisherman that determine the occurrence of a fish in nature. It might just be that SH’s and Warsaw do not naturally occur as often as gags, scamps, red grouper, vermilion, etc. because of their unique habitat requirements and\or diet. Take a bluespotted coronet fish for example. How many have you caught on rod and reel? You’ve probably caught as many of th
Anybody going to the public hearing tonight?
Ill be there, hopefully see some people there.
I will be there at the public comment session around 4:30. Please plan on being there and making a comment. Your comment goes on public record which is important. We have had times where the enviros were the only ones on record and the council said, “the people wanted X and we gave them X”. We want to be sure that the people represented are fishermen. Your public comments do make a different in scenarios like this where the council is on the fence about an issue.
I am basically going to speak on a few points:
- We should not do any reconfiguration to the existing MPA’s if it means that the habitat closed to fishing is INCREASED, especially when there have been NO scientific studies to show that the existing MPA’s are helping.
- “Rotating” these MPA’s to match the contour lines of the continental shelf in effect will shut down more areas to fishing even if the actual size of the MPA does not change. Again, there is no scientific evidence to suggest that this is necessary.
- Before manipulating, adding, reconfiguring of any kind, we need to allocate the the appropriate time, resources, and money to study the effects that the “Experimental” 8 MPA’s are currently having. No other discussion about them should be done until that happens.
- Speckled Hind has never been an important fishery in the South Atlantic and thus, any regulations that apply to SH (including MPA’s) should not be considered if they have an economic impact on other fisheries. The council is instructed to MAXIMIZE the recreational and commercial benefits of each fishery. So, shutting down other fisheries activities to regulate an unimportant species actually goes against the charter of the MSA.
I will have a few more points that are a little more difficult, but if you guys can prepare very simple comments which mimic the intent of the ones above, that would go a LONG ways…
I’m planning on going as long as I can get out of the shop.
“Proper Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance”
Grady-Gone back to the G3!
skinneej, I cannot argue with any of your points. I was really glad to see you and scdiver give comments at the meeting. You both did a great job.