Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 052699E]

Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of public meeting.

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SUMMARY: The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council will convene a

public meeting to receive public input on possible changes to its

proposed ``Regulatory Amendment to the Reef Fish Fishery Management

Plan to Set 1999 Gag/Black Grouper Management Measures.''

DATES: This meeting will begin at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, June 23, 1999

and continue into the afternoon as necessary.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Oakland Terrace Clubhouse,

1900 West 11th Street, Panama City, FL.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Steven Atran, Population Dynamics

Statistician, Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, 3018 U.S.

Highway 301 North, Suite 1000, Tampa, FL 33619; telephone: 813-228-

2815.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In March 1999, the Council voted to submit

the regulatory amendment to NMFS with a proposal to create a 423

nautical square mile area off the Gulf coast of Florida that would be

closed year-round to all reef fish fishing. The purpose of this

proposal was to protect spawning aggregations of gag and to protect a

portion of the male gag population, which stays offshore year-round and

has declined in proportion to the female gag population in recent

years. The regulatory amendment also proposed to provide increased

protection for juvenile gag by raising the minimum size limit for gag

and black grouper from the current 20 inches total length (TL) to 24

inches TL, which is the size at 50 percent female maturity for gag. The

new minimum size limit for the commercial fishery would take effect

immediately upon implementation, while the minimum size limit for the

recreational fishery would be increased to 22 inches TL initially,

followed by a 1-inch per year increase until the minimum size limit

reached 24 inches TL. True black grouper, which mature at an even

larger size (33 inches TL), were included in the proposal to avoid

confusion that could occur due to the name ``black grouper'' being used

for both species. These proposals received strong criticism from

commercial and charterboat fishermen, who were concerned that the

measures would severely and unnecessarily restrict their access to the

gag and black grouper resource. In addition, a minority report

submitted to NMFS by the five Council members who voted against the

proposed regulatory amendment expressed the opinion that the amendment

violated several of the National Standards in the Magnuson-Stevens

Fishery Conservation and Management Act as well as the Regulatory

Flexibility Act. As a result of the public reaction and the minority

report, the Council voted at its May 10-13, 1999 meeting to reconsider

the regulatory amendment during its next meeting in Key West on July

12-15, 1999, and to hold a public workshop prior to the July Council

meeting in Panama City to consider management alternatives. All

management alternatives in the regulatory amendment will be

reconsidered, including those for which the Council originally proposed

status quo. Those alternatives include not only the closed area and

size limit proposals, but also the total allowable catch (TAC), closed

seasons, recreational bag limits, and commercial trip limits.

NMFS, in its ``October 1998 Report to Congress on the Status of

Fisheries of the United States,'' identified gag in the Gulf of Mexico

as a stock that, while not currently overfished, is approaching an

overfished condition. Under the provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens

Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the Council is required to

take action to prevent overfishing from occurring for stocks identified

by NMFS as approaching an overfished condition. The most recent gag

stock assessment concluded that gag are being fished at a rate

corresponding to between 18 and 23 percent static spawning potential

ratio (SPR), or about at the existing overfishing criteria of 20

percent SPR. However, while this level of SPR is sufficient to maintain

the stock, the Sustainable Fisheries Act of 1996 requires that

overfishing criteria be set at a level that allows a fishery the

capacity to produce the maximum sustainable yield on a continuing

basis. Consequently, the Council has proposed a new overfishing

criteria of 30 percent static SPR for gag to comply with this

requirement. While this new SPR level will eventually produce higher

yields, it requires an initial reduction in gag harvest in 1999 to

between 1.33 and 2.49 million pounds. This requires a reduction of 32

to 39 percent from the average gag harvest levels from 1990-98, which

have ranged from 3.29 to 5.56 million pounds per year.

Copies of the ``Regulatory Amendment to The Reef Fish Fishery

Management Plan to Set 1999 Gag/Black Grouper Management Measures'' and

the minority report can be obtained by calling 813-228-2815. They can

also be downloaded in Adobe Acrobat format from the Council's web site:

http://www.gulfcouncil.org.

Although other issues not on the agenda may come before the

workshop for discussion, in accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens

Fishery Conservation and Management Act, those issues may not be the

subject of formal action during this meeting. Action will be restricted

to those issues specifically identified by this notice.

Special Accommodations

This meeting is physically accessible to people with disabilities.

Requests for sign language interpretation or other auxiliary aids

should be directed to Anne Alford at the Council (see ADDRESSES) by

June 16, 1999.

Dated: May 27, 1999.

Bruce C. Morehead,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine

Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 99-14074 Filed 6-2-99; 8:45 am]

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