ЯП
а
NEWS
and
NOTES
Edited by Jim Wilson
Marine Protected Area in North Carolina’s Future
The South Atlantic Fishery Management
Council (SAFMC) likely will designate
North Carolina’s first Marine Protected Area
(MPA) when it meets in March to adopt
Amendment 14 to the Snapper Grouper
Fisheries Management Plan. The MPA,
one of eight stretching from North Carolina
to the Florida Keys, is being established
МЛР
BY CARLA OSBORNI
There is little difference between the two
MPAs. Alternative l,the preferred alter¬
native, is located closer to the shore and
may contain more hard-bottom habitat.
to protect species of the snapper grouper
complex from directed fishing pressure in
federal waters.
Each of the MPAs is designated as a Type 11,
meaning that fishing for some species will
Snowy Grouper Commercial Limits
Year
Annual Pounds
(gutted weight)
Trip Limit
2006
151,000
275
2007
118,000
175
2008
84,000
100
he allowed. Although commercial and recre¬
ational fishermen can not target any snapper
grouper species, they will be able to troll for
such fish as dolphin, billfish and tuna. North
Carolina’s MPA is located about 55 nautical
miles southeast of Southport and extends along
the continental shelf in waters up to 1,000 feet
deep. It has a rectangular shape and measure
about 10 nautical miles by 15 nau¬
tical miles. (A nautical mile is
approximately 1.15 statute miles.)
The location, known as the Snowy
Grouper Wreck MPA, is known
to hold snow)' grouper, gag, speck¬
led hind and red porgy.
The snapper grouper complex
is comprised of 73 species, includ¬
ing deep-water, slow-growing
species such as snow)' grouper,
misty grouper, speckled hind,
Warsaw grouper, golden tilefish and blueline
tilefish. Some of the species are overfished
and overfishing is continuing; for others,
their status is unknown.
Many snapper grouper are vulnerable to
overfishing for several reasons: 1) they
are long-lived fish, sometimes
reaching 50 years of age; 2) they
are protogynous (they change
from females to males as they grow
older and larger); and 3) they form spawn¬
ing aggregations. Deep-water species also
tend not to survive the trauma of capture.
In 2005, commercial fishermen in North
Carolina landed 579,307 pounds of various
groupers, with the gag (251,645 pounds)
being the most frequently harvested. Recre¬
ational anglers landed 357,475 pounds of
groupers. The recreational harvest is not
broken dow'n by species.
The establishment of the MPAs and har¬
vest quotas mandated by Amendment I3C
are expected to help rebuild snapper grouper
species. The amendment cuts the commercial
catch of snowy grouper from 344,508 pounds
gutted weight for the four states (North Car¬
olina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida)
to 15 1,000 pounds in 2006, 118,000 in 2007
and 84,000 in 2008. Recreational anglers
are restricted to one snowy grouper in a five-
grouper bag limit.
Because commercial fishermen had
already caught the 2006 limit w'hen the rule
became final in October, their season was
closed, bui the recreational season
remained open. North Carolina
has contended that the data
used to formulate
the new' limits —
in federal fisheries
management called
best available data” — is both
flawed and does not give sufficient weight
to the adverse effects the rules will have on
North Carolina fishermen. “The example
1 like to use is if you took a census of North
Carolina’s population, started at Ffatteras
and then stopped at 1-95 because you ran
out of money,” said Louis Daniel, chief biol¬
ogist with the N.C. Division of Marine Fish¬
eries. “What does that tell you about North
Carolina’s population? You wouldn’t have
very accurate information.”
The snapper grouper complex is comprised
of 73 species, including deep-water,
slow-growing species such as snowy grouper,
misty grouper, speckled hind, Warsaw grouper,
golden tilefish and blueline tilefish.
36 DECEMBER 2006 WINC
