“We got a reprieve in December when the NMFS abandoned the closure as an interim rule,” said Islamorada charter captain Bill Kelly, “but the [proposed permanent rule] is exactly the same.”

The January-through-April closure for most types of shallow-water grouper in federal Atlantic waters is contained in Amendment 16 to the Snapper-Grouper Fishery Management Plan administered under the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council.

A comment period on the draft plan ends Feb. 23.

“After all the comments are collected, staff will review them before publishing the final rule,” said Kim Iverson, spokeswoman for the South Atlantic Council. “Then a new round of public hearings will be held.”

The grouper closure, which the feds say is needed to protect spawning fish, seemed like it would take effect Jan. 1, 2009, after an emergency rule was endorsed by the South Atlantic Council.

But when various delays threatened to reduce the length of the closure, the closure was dropped for 2009.

In announcing there would be no 2009 closure, NMFS regional administrator Roy Crabtree said the permanent rule could be adopted “by late spring or early summer,” setting the stage for a closure starting in January 2010.

“I’m cautiously optimistic that won’t happen,” Kelly said. “My personal thought is even if additional protections are warranted for the shallow-water grouper, it’s doubtful that it would be as severe as a four-month closure across the board for black grouper, red grouper and gag grouper.”

State fishery biologists are taking the lead in a new stock assessment for red and black grouper, expected to be released next January.

Kelly, who will serve on the study’s advisory panel, said it makes little sense to adopt permanent rules this year when more complete species population studies will be available early in 2010.

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council is moving to ease rules on grouper, he said. “The dividing line [from South Atlantic waters] would be the yellow line down the middle of U.S. 1,” he said. “How can we have such drastically different stock assessments?”

A grouper closure this year would have devastated the sportfishing industry in the Keys, Kelly said.

“Look at the fire at Cheeca Lodge, which was responsible for hundreds of bluewater and backcountry fishing trips,” he said.

Draft rules under Amendment 16 are available online at the National Marine Fisheries Service Web site, Sero.NMFS.NOAA.gov.

Source: http://www.keysnet.com/fishing/story/61566.html

A final decision on a pending ban on grouper fishing is not expected before early December — but a Key West charter captain said the chances of relief seem bleak.

Andy Griffiths, who spoke directly with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez on a conference call earlier this month, said a letter received from the secretary’s office this week ominously refers to reports that define black grouper and red grouper as “undergoing overfishing.”

“I can’t interpret this as saying anything positive,” Griffiths said. “It looks like they are trying to justify the science.”

Federal officials told other people following the issue that no final decision has been made, and likely will not be until after the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council meets in early December in Wilmington, N.C.

The South Atlantic Council has already endorsed the four-month closure, but has the opportunity to review it during the Nov. 30-Dec. 5 meeting.

The federal council voted for the emergency closure in Atlantic Ocean waters, covering waters beyond the state’s three-mile territorial waters. The closure on red grouper, black grouper and gag grouper covers an area from Key West to North Carolina.

Unless Gutierrez takes action to amend or block the decision, the closure takes effect Jan. 1 and runs through April.

“This will have dire economic consequences for 600 charter fishing captains and crewmen in Monroe County, in addition to effects on all the related businesses like hotels, restaurants and tackle shops,” said Islamorada charter captain Bill Kelly.

Passed as an emergency interim rule to protect the overfished gag grouper population — a species seldom found in Keys waters — the rule also bans harvesting locally popular species red and black grouper during the four-month closure.

Federal fishery managers say red and black can be included because the most recent scientific information on the species indicates they are “undergoing overfishing.”

Recreational anglers on private boats will be able to fish state waters within the three-mile limit.

However, the rule will apply to federally licensed charterboats even in state water.

Keys opponents of the closure say the science on red and black grouper science is inadequate to justify the action that will affect the Keys at the height of the tourist season.

“It’s a damn shame,” said Griffiths, among the most vocal opponents of the Keys closure. “All we were asking them to do was wait for the good science, which they’ll have next year.”

“They’re using a present-day term — undergoing overfishing — taken from a 1999 report,” Griffiths said. “If we had been overfishing grouper for the last 10 years, there wouldn’t be any left.”

Source: http://www.keysnet.com/fishing/story/37738.html