CCA calls for halt on gag grouper rules

Errors in stock assessment cast doubt on need for total recreational closure

Coastal Conservation Association is calling on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to halt implementation of a temporary rule closing the recreational gag grouper fishery in federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico until significant errors discovered in the stock assessment have been corrected. The six-month closure, announced by NOAA this week, is set to go into effect January 1, 2011.

“The stock assessment on which this rule is based has been shown to have errors, by an order of magnitude, in the amount of commercial discards, and additional errors in estimates of recreational discards,” said Chester Brewer, chairman CCA’s National Government Relations Committee. “A revision of the assessment is already in the works, so the entire picture for the outlook of gag grouper could change just in the next few weeks. There is no need to cause this kind of uproar when managers know there are errors in the science. It only adds to the general feeling of distrust between NOAA and the recreational angling community.”

In addition to the uncertainty in the stock assessment, recreational anglers are also frustrated that the proposed rule closes the recreational fishery entirely, yet allows the commercial sector to land 100,000 pounds of gag grouper. The commercial quota is to allow “the retention of some accidentally caught gag that would otherwise be discarded dead at sea.”

“In the recent history of this particular fishery, federal managers have run roughshod over the interests of recreational anglers, and a total closure of gags based on known faulty science while allowing commercial boats to keep 100,000 pounds is just an another unnecessary slap in the face,” said Brewer.

In January of 2009, CCA released an economic study by Gentner Consulting Group showing that the maximum economic value of the Gulf grouper fishery would be achieved by allocating 100 percent of the fishery to the recreational sector. However, at its meeting in February 2009, the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council chose to ignore the study and opted instead to proceed with an Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) program for Gulf grouper that proposed to permanently lock a significant portion of that fishery into the commercial sector forever. In September of 2009, CCA sued the federal government in federal district court over the Gulf grouper catch share program. The suit is still under consideration by the federal district court in Fort Myers, Florida.

“We have many challenges in federal fisheries, and the long-term solution for many of them is for NOAA to take a serious look at reallocating fisheries based on factors like economics and changing demographics,” said Brewer. “In the short term, however, NOAA can demonstrate a willingness to be reasonable and at least wait for the errors in the assessment to be corrected before deciding on a course of action for this fishery.”

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CCA is the largest marine resource conservation group of its kind in the nation. With almost 100,000 members in 17 state chapters, CCA has been active in state, national and international fisheries management issues since 1977. Visit www.JoinCCA.org for more information.

Tags: gag grouper, Gulf grouper
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Gag grouper rules leave anglers at a loss

Another federal fishery illustrates need for shift in allocation, management philosophy

HOUSTON, TX – Recreational anglers will find themselves in a familiar situation in another federal fishery when an interim rule set to go into effect in January will completely close the Gulf recreational fishery for gag grouper, yet still allow commercial boats to land and sell gags.

While the need to reduce the overall catch of gag grouper appears necessary in light of recent science revealing gags as severely overfished, the regulations raise the question that if a public resource is so reduced the public is seriously limited in its access to it, should managers remove it entirely from commercial markets and reserve the sparse availability for the public at large?

“This is another situation where federal managers are accommodating the commercial sector while totally closing out the recreational sector. It reinforces the need for managers to take a serious look not only at the allocations of these fisheries, but also at the philosophy that is used to manage them,” said Wiley Horton of the CCA Gulf Fisheries Committee. “After decades of commercial over-exploitation of ducks, geese and trout, state and federal agencies finally realized that the public is better served if those wildlife resources are managed purely as a public resource. It is high time we started looking at our marine resources the same way.”

The rule on gag is particularly irksome to recreational anglers familiar with the recent history of grouper management in the Gulf. In January of 2009, CCA released an economic study by Gentner Consulting Group showing that the maximum economic value of the Gulf grouper fishery would be achieved by allocating 100 percent of the fishery to the recreational sector. However, at its meeting in February 2009, the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council chose to ignore the study and opted instead to proceed with an Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) program for Gulf grouper that proposed to permanently lock a significant portion of that fishery into the commercial sector forever. In September of 2009, CCA sued the federal government in federal district court over the Gulf grouper catch share program. The suit is still under consideration by the federal district court in Fort Myers, Florida.

“We have many challenges in federal fisheries, and most of them are connected to the need to take a serious look at reallocating fisheries based on factors like economics and changing demographics,” said Russell Nelson, CCA Gulf Fisheries consultant. “CCA has long called on federal fisheries managers to embrace the conservation ethic that has governed terrestrial resources since the 19^th century and apply it to marine resource management. The Gulf grouper fishery would be an excellent place to start.”

Tags: gag grouper, grouper, Gulf fisheries
Posted in CCA Gulf of Mexico | No Comments »