The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council will meet in Saint Petersburg, Florida at the Hilton Bayfront Hotel. During this meeting, the Council will receive their
Council Committee assignments for the year. The Council will also present the Law Enforcement Officer of The Year award for 2023 to Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation
Commission’s Northwest Offshore Patrol Vessel Team.
Here is the full meeting agenda, meeting materials, and webinar registration.
Public testimony will be held on Wednesday, November 6th from 1:45 – 5:00 PM EST. As always, both in-person and virtual testimony are welcome. If you’re planning to participate online, don’t forget to register to provide comment thatday from 8:45 AM – 12:45 PM.
The following is a quick description of some of the issues the Council plans to address:
Wahoo
The Council will hear a presentation on its consideration of including wahoo into federal management in the Gulf of Mexico. The Council will review the biology, landings, and state regulations for wahoo and consider the federal guidance for determining whether a species is appropriate for federal management.
Shallow Water Grouper
The Council will review draft options for Reef Fish Amendment 58A, which considers modifying management measures for the shallow-water and deep-water grouper complexes. The shallow-water grouper complex is comprised of scamp, yellowmouth grouper, black grouper, and yellowfin grouper, and is currently managed with a single annual catch limit. The complex can no longer be managed in this way because a stock assessment (SEDAR 68) and catch recommendations were completed for scamp and yellowmouth grouper separate from the remaining species. Catch limit recommendations for scamp and yellowmouth grouper represent a considerable decrease in allowable harvest, while catch limit recommendations for black and yellowfin grouper remain unchanged.
Deep Water Grouper
The Council will work on Draft Amendment 58B. The deep-water grouper complex is comprised of warsaw grouper, snowy grouper, yellowedge grouper, and speckled hind, and is currently managed with a single annual catch limit. The Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) reviewed the most recent stock assessment on yellowedge grouper (SEDAR 85) and updated catch limit recommendations. The SSC also updated catch limit recommendations for the other three species in the deep-water grouper complex using new recreational landings data collected through the Marine Recreational Information Program’s Fishing Effort Survey (MRIP-FES). New catch limit recommendations for the deep-water grouper complex represent a decrease in allowable harvest.
For-Hire Reporting
The Council will continue to work on a draft amendment that considers developing a new for-hire electronic data collection program. During this meeting, the Council will consider options for trip validation, which aims to reduce uncertainty of for-hire catch estimates without causing undue burden on the industry.
Commercial Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) Program
The Council will discuss the vision statement for the IFQ programs and continue to work on Reef Fish Amendment 60 which considers distribution of shares held by NOAA, reclaimed from inactive accounts and non-compliant accounts, annual allocations from future quota increases.