Last week, the Gulf of Mexico Federal Fishery Management Council (Gulf Council) revised regulations to protect Gulf gag grouper because gags have been designated as a fish stock that is approaching an overfished state. Stock assessments and other information estimate that these fish will become overfished within two years. The designation requires the Gulf Council to take action, within one year, to devise rules to prevent overfishing from occurring. "However, the Gulf Council once again failed to protect gag spawning aggregations from excessive commercial take," said CCA Florida Executive Director Ted Forsgren. "And, once again, they are placing much greater percentage reductions on recreational anglers."

In 1990, the Gulf Council adopted major regulations to protect gag and red grouper including an increase in minimum size from twelve to twenty inches, a five-fish recreational bag limit, and a combined red/gag grouper quota on commercial fishers. "The 1990 regulations caused a huge 54% reduction on recreational gag catch and no reduction in commercial take," said Forsgren. "The eight inch increase in minimum size had a very substantial impact on recreational anglers and no impact on commercial fishers."

The Gulf Council has again voted for another major increase in minimum size from 20 to 24 inches on all fishers, a one-month (February 15 to March 15) commercial closure, and a 200 square-mile area closure to all fishing. Statistics indicate that the size limit increase will have a major impact on anglers and would reduce recreational take by 30 to 36%; whereas, the size increase and commercial closures would reduce commercial take by only 16%. In addition, most of the commercial industry reduction supposedly comes from the one month closure. However, CCA Florida says that a one month closure will not reduce commercial landings, particularly when grouper gather in spawning aggregations for three or more months.

"One month is simply not long enough to prevent the commercial industry from shifting its effort to either side of the closure period which completely eliminates the benefits of the closure," said Forsgren.

During the Gulf Council debate over a one-month versus three-month commercial closure, Florida member Alex Jernigan asked for any Gulf Council member or National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) staff to identify any past one-month commercial closure in any fishery plan which reduced commercial landings. No one could. However, a South Atlantic Federal Fishery Management Council member in attendance noted that when the South Atlantic Council closed one of the three amberjack spawning months (April) to commercial harvest, the commercial landings actually went up the following year.

The Gulf Council debate also brought out the issue of fairness in the take reductions on the recreational and commercial sectors.

"The previous regulations dramatically reduced recreational landings by 54%, while commercial industry landings did not decline at all," said Forsgren. "But a majority of the Gulf Council and the NMFS staff gave absolutely no consideration to that fact in the new reductions."

At one point in the debate, Bill Hogarth, the new NMFS Southeastern Regional Director, was asked to comment on the fairness of a proposal which would have closed commercial take for three months, instead of one, and increased the size limit to 24 inches on both groups. He stated that the three month closure proposal would be "fair and equitable" because it would reduce take on both groups by 30%. Hogarth later voted for only a one-month commercial closure.

The Gulf Council also voted to prohibit fishing year-round in approximately 200 square miles offshore to try to protect spawning male grouper. However, less than 2% of reported commercial catches occur in the selected area. In addition, Forsgren noted, "There is not now, nor is there likely to be in the future, enough state or federal fisheries enforcement resources to effectively enforce a closed area more than 100 miles offshore."

CCA Florida indicated that the state of Florida has a serious disadvantage in representation on the Gulf Council. Florida has 47% of the coastline on the Gulf of Mexico; Mississippi and Alabama together have 6%. Florida has 24% of the Gulf commercial fisheries economic value; Mississippi and Alabama have a total of 11%. Florida has 58% of the total dollar value of saltwater recreational fisheries; Mississippi and Alabama together have 7%. However, Mississippi and Alabama have 38% of the Gulf Council members and Florida has only 25%.

The inequity of representation is even more apparent in the management of gag grouper. There is no dispute that gag grouper is overwhelmingly a Florida fishery. Since 1990, Florida fishery landings have accounted for 97% of the recreational landings and 94% of the commercial landings in the Gulf of Mexico. "Three of the four Florida Gulf Council members strongly supported the three-month commercial closure during the spawning aggregation period," said Forsgren. "However, their votes were completely negated by all six Mississippi and Alabama members who don't even have a gag grouper fishery off of their states."

Gulf grouper management issues have not been resolved; however, because a new stock assessment on red grouper indicates that red grouper are in worse condition than gag. In addition, Forsgren stated that the recent actions by the Gulf Council still do not provide any effective measures to control excessive commercial take on spawning aggregations of gag grouper. So the Gulf Council will have to readdress gag and red grouper management again in the near future.

"The bottom line on the recent Gulf Council action is the same old story," said CCA Florida's Forsgren. "The commercial industry gets the mine and the resource and recreational anglers get the shaft."