rss
mobile
Feeds
The federal council regulates fishing in the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida, and has placed restrictions on catching popular species such as black sea bass, snowy grouper and red porgy since 1991.
Scientists say the stocks of those fish have not caught up to ideal numbers, and federal law requires the council to rebuild depleted stocks.
To help rebuild healthy populations of those three species, the council last week approved extending catch limits for a decade or longer, depending on the species. As stocks are reassessed, the rebuilding plans could change.
The council's new regulations include the following:
• Red porgy catch limits will change every three years as stocks are reassessed.
• For black sea bass, catch limits will continue for the next 10 years.
• For snowy grouper, a large fish that lives in deeper waters, the council's rebuilding plan would revive the stock slowly over 34 years.
Next month, the council also will consider eliminating the recreational sale of snapper and grouper species, which some commercial fisherman use to supplement their income.
Commercial fishermen don't like the extended restrictions on black sea bass, snowy grouper and red porgy or the potentially new restrictions on snapper and grouper sales. They say those restriction will hurt their business, as well as the market.
Additionally, commercial fishermen want more accountability for recreational fishermen. Recreational fishermen are required to know the rules when they bring in their catch, but commercial fishermen are held to higher standards and must record catch totals in a daily logbook monitored by the federal council.
Kim Iverson, council spokeswoman, said the new regulations are an attempt to provide restrictions on both the commercial and recreational sectors.
Mark Marhefka is a commercial fisherman of snapper and grouper in Charleston and is trying to tap into the Hilton Head Island market. He also serves as chairman of the snapper-grouper advisory panel -- a subcommittee of the federal council.
"The resource in the ocean is a public resource, and all I'm doing is providing the general public a resource they can't tap themselves," Marhefka said.
On the recreational side, Bluffton fisherman Collins Doughtie said black sea bass is a common catch in local waters, and most recreational fishermen abide by the limits.
He agrees with the regulations. Growing up on Hilton Head, he said, he saw commercial fishermen over-fish the area, which has led to depleted stocks.
"Everybody waits until it gets critical and then people wonder what happened to the fish," Doughtie said. "Just think of the migration of people moving to the coastal area and the pressure they are going to bring. There's got to be a little law and order, or otherwise our fisheries are going to disappear."
