Vermillion Closure

Saltwater Offshore Discussion
1

Is the season closed on vermillion right now?

2

No. Also note that when you see a “closure”, you need to pay attention to whether they are talking about recreational or commercial since the closures do not match up normally.

Vermilion was changed from a recreational seasonal closure to “open year round” as of September 2013.

3

i think the confusion is because the SCDNR website still says nov1-march 31 they are closed.

4

As a rule of thumb, I hit this link before every bottom fishing trip:

http://safmc.net/sites/default/files/Regulations/pdf/RecRegsSummary%20082613.pdf

I print it out, and make sure that the date is on there either from my printer, or written in ink. Who is going to argue that? If they don’t keep it up to date, that is their problem, but from what I have seen, it’s usually kept up with pretty good.

5
quote:
Originally posted by mhebbard

i think the confusion is because the SCDNR website still says nov1-march 31 they are closed.

They are just the middlemen in that equation for the snapper\grouper species and you may find yourself arguing with an office if you are checked and he is looking at the wrong regs. They are trying to enforce the federal regulations, so unless you know of a specific exception (like black sea bass), then go with the federal regulations (for federally managed species). We aren't Florida who has 2 different regulations for everything, so you should be safe.

There are a couple of gotchas (such as no redfish harvest allowed in federal waters), but for the most part the regulations line up.

6

Not to belabor the point, but the pdf also shows nov1-mar31 and hasnt been updated with the changes from sept… still reads “Recreational harvest prohibited annually November 1 to March 31” -

I swear I am not trying to be argumentative, but for sniper7 here is the announcement : http://safmc.net/announcements/102913-reminder-recreational-harvest-vermilion-snapper-now-remains-open-after-nov-1

7
quote:
Originally posted by mhebbard

Not to belabor the point, but the pdf also shows nov1-mar31 and hasnt been updated with the changes from sept… still reads “Recreational harvest prohibited annually November 1 to March 31” -

I swear I am not trying to be argumentative, but for sniper7 here is the announcement : http://safmc.net/announcements/102913-reminder-recreational-harvest-vermilion-snapper-now-remains-open-after-nov-1

I has been updated in the big grid at the bottom. I think they just missed that one part. But, if you look at the species by species chart at the bottom it definitely says "Open year round, effective September 5, 2013."

That’s a good catch though. I sent email to them asking them to correct it.

8

Don’t know if this has been posted elsewhere but there are also a couple apps out there that contain the regulations. I use SA Fishing Regulations for federal regulations. There is a SCDNR regs app, “Fish SCSW”, as well. Both are supposed to automatically update but SA Fishing is currently crashing for me.

9

Nobody including the DNR probably knows. We took a DNR guy fishing, albeit one from inland and he couldn’t tell a b liner from a red Porgy, and certainly didn’t know about the ARS closure. We threw back two pigs and he couldnt believe we had to do that. He was also amazed by us counting and sorting out the different species given the number of anglers we had. My nephew tries to keep up with them on his I phone…ha ha

10
quote:
Originally posted by Redstripe

Nobody including the DNR probably knows. We took a DNR guy fishing, albeit one from inland and he couldn’t tell a b liner from a red Porgy, and certainly didn’t know about the ARS closure. We threw back two pigs and he couldnt believe we had to do that. He was also amazed by us counting and sorting out the different species given the number of anglers we had. My nephew tries to keep up with them on his I phone…ha ha

Trying to keep up with 4-5 anglers is a job when the fish are biting,way too many rules and sizes,we usually do 2-3 rechecks of the catch each trip…its rediculous .

11

Does anyone think we should ask the council to give back the tons of Vermilion Snapper quota that was allocated to Post Closure Discard Mortality during previous year’s extended commercial and recreational closures?

12

Two points:

  1. The regulations have been corrected on the SAFMC PDF. The previous closure rule should not appear anywhere
  2. The rules are meant to be complicated. The idea is that they want you to beg them for ecosystem based management. That involves them closing off 80% of the ledge and likely having quotas similar to that of the Bahamas (Bahamas: 60lbs of fish or 20 PER BOAT, whichever is the LESSER). So if you think the laws suck right now, wait until they try to hit us with a 60lb BOAT LIMIT which is about 3 nice gags before you head home. Again, BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU ASK FOR because there are several scientists involved in the process that would love to give it to you.

The rules are fine. Really, how many species do you have to worry about?

13

skinneej, you are exactly right about federal fishery laws being complicated for a reason. Massive area closures on traditional fishing grounds and overly restrictive limits based on “fatally flawed data” are the goals for some but not all fishery managers. Do you think we can stop this mismanagement plan? If so, how? If not, why?