Run down from the SAFMC meeting last week in St. Simons Island, Georgia

[Capt. Keith]

Run down from the SAFMC meeting last week in St. Simons Island,
Georgia


The Black Sea Bass current June-May fishing year will remain the same
and specify separate commercial ACLs for June-November and December-
May based on landings from 2006-2009.

Council agreed to pursue geographically split (North Carolina-South
Carolina and Georgia-Florida) Black Sea Bass fishing years beginning
with the 2012-2013 fishing year through a regulatory amendment.

The recommended March-April Black Sea Bass spawning season was
defeated.

The recommended Black Sea Bass reduction in the bag limit from 15 to 5
was approved.

The ACL Amendment received a lot of discussion. Dolphin and wahoo are
in that amendment. The council is leaning towards alternatives that
use ABC control rules that will not require cuts in the current
landings of both species.

The ACL Amendment will not be up for final council approval until
June. In the interim the Dolphin-Wahoo Advisory panel will meet in
Charleston on April 7-8 to review the ACL Amendment actions and to
make their recommendations. Additionally the SSC will meet prior to
June to make further recommendations to council concerning ABC control
rules for unassessed species that are not undergoing overfishing like
dolphin, wahoo, and cobia.

Consideration of the cobia ACL is in Mackerel Amendment 18. Again
council is leaning towards actions that use ABC control rules for
cobia that either would not require cuts or would minimize any
reductions in current landings. The Mackerel Advisory Panel will meet
in Charleston on April 6-7 to develop their recommendations for cobia.

Additionally, public hearings will be held on Mackerel Amendment 18 in
New Bern and Charleston on April 11th and 12th respectively. There are
also other locations in GA and FL.

Council will consider final actions on Amendment 18 in a joint meeting
with the Gulf of Mexico Council in June.

As you know the council voted to terminate any further pursuit of
catch shares except for the wreckfish and golden crab fisheries.

And in the final adoption of Regulatory Amendment 9, council approved
commercial trip limits of 1,500 lbs for both vermilion and amberjack.


The voting will now wait for approval by the U.S. Secretary of
Commerce.