The Gulf Council will hold a series of public hearings around the Gulf of Mexico to collect public comments on proposed Reef Fish Amendment 39 - Regional Management for Recreational Red Snapper.
The purpose of Regional Management is to take into account variation in the fishery, and to provide regional flexibility in management of the recreational harvest. This would enable areas of the Gulf (states) to modify some management measures to better suit the needs of each region. For example, regions could propose bag limits and season structure for the harvest of its portion of the recreational annual catch limit (ACL).
Once regions are defined, management measures adopted by a region must constrain harvest to within the region's portion of the recreational ACL (quota). Red snapper would remain a federally managed species, and the Council and the National Marine Fisheries Service would continue to oversee management and ensure that the annual recreational quota is not exceeded.
The amendment also considers other alternatives such as whether the Council will delegate some management authority to the regions, or have regions submit conservation equivalency plans; whether the management of separate recreational components would continue; how to define the regions; modifying the federal minimum size limit; whether to allow regions to establish closed areas in federal waters adjacent to their regions; apportioning the recreational ACL among regions; and modifying post-season accountability measures.
For more information, please see our Public Hearing Guide at http://gulfcouncil.org/fishery_management_plans/scoping-thru-implementation.php.
The meeting schedule is as follows:
Mon, October 19, 2015
Courtyard Marriott Gulfport Beachfront
1600 East Beach Blvd.
Gulfport, MS 39501
Mon, October 19, 2015
Hilton Garden Inn
6717 South Padre Island Dr
Corpus Christi, TX 78412
Tues, October 20, 2015
Renaissance Mobile
Riverview Plaza Hotel
64 South Water Street
Mobile AL 36602
Tues, October 20, 2015
Embassy Suites San Antonio
10110 US Highway 281 N
San Antonio, TX 78216
Wed, October 21, 2015
Hampton Inn & Suites
2320 Gulf Freeway South
League City, TX 77573
Thurs, October 22, 2015
Embassy Suites
570 Scenic Gulf Drive
Destin, FL 32550
Tues, October 27, 2015
Hilton St. Petersburg
Carillon Park
950 Lake Carillon Dr.
St. Petersburg, FL 33716
Wed, October 28, 2015
Webinar
Click here to register!
Mon, November 2, 2015
Doubletree
4964 Constitution Avenue
Baton Rouge, LA 70808
225-925-1005
All in-person meetings begin at 6:00 pm local time and end no later than 9:00 pm local time. Webinars begin at 6:00 pm Eastern Time.
