Recreational Anglers Have Endured Enough!

Originally written - 4/14/02

As part of a mandatory effort to stop overfishing and restore depleted red grouper stocks in the Gulf, the Council is proposing regulations to reduce both commercial and recreational take of red grouper by 45%. For the commercial side, the Council is proposing to prohibit longlining in waters less than 50 fathoms deep. For the recreational side, the Council recently selected a four month closure (August through November) on red and gag grouper as their preferred alternative. There is simply no legitimate reason to impose any additional gag grouper restrictions on recreational fishermen. The damage to red grouper stocks has been caused by the fleet of commercial longline boats. 

Gulf gag grouper stocks are not overfished. 

It is completely inappropriate to close gag grouper, a major recreational fishery, to address a suggested release mortality issue in the red grouper recreational fishery which is only a minor component of the overfishing problem in red grouper. In recent years, 87% of the red grouper landings were commercial, only 13% were recreational. Release mortality from recreational fishers is already factored into the red and gag grouper management measures. Furthermore, unlike commercial longlining, the overwhelming majority of recreational grouper fishing occurs in water less than 80 feet deep where release mortality is low. The gulf red grouper stocks have been hammered into an overfished condition by the commercial longline fleet, not by recreational fishermen catching gag grouper. 

The Gulf Council needs to focus on the real problem in the red grouper fishery, the commercial longline fleet. After the overwhelming bias shown by past council actions, throwing in a four month gag closure as part of the red grouper recovery plan is simply a punitive action against Florida's recreational fishers. 

Please contact the Gulf Council NOW and oppose the four month gag grouper closure on recreational fishers. Gulf of Mexico Federal Fishery Management Council Phone (813) 228-2815 Fax (813) 225-7015 Email gulfcouncil@gulfcouncil.org 


Capt. Charlie Walker

The following is an article written by Capt. Steven Holmes, Outdoor Editor of Florida Outdoor Magazine on the same subject:

Gulf gag and red grouper restrictions
By Steven Holmes Outdoors Editor

As part of a mandatory effort to stop over fishing and restore depleted red grouper stocks in the Gulf, the Gulf of Mexico Federal Fishery Management Council is proposing regulations to reduce both commercial and recreational take of red grouper by 45%. For the commercial side, the Gulf Council is proposing to prohibit long lining in waters less than 50 fathoms (300 feet) deep. For the recreational side, the Council recently selected a four-month closure (August through November) on red and gag grouper as their preferred alternative.
The problem lies in that fact that the Gulf of Mexico Federal Fishery Management Council is reacting to a serious problem instead of managing the Gulf waters as they are suppose to in the first place. The south's ever-growing population has placed high demands on the commercial fishing industry to provide more and more grouper for the dinner table. This is not to mention the increased demand placed on our oceans' natural resources from tourists who also want a nice tasty grouper for dinner. 
The typical recreational angler is not the problem, but uncontrolled commercial long liners over the past few decades are. The Gulf Council proposal to prohibit long lining in waters less than 50 fathoms deep is a step in the right direction, but who is going to enforce such rules? And who is going to fund such a massive undertaking for enforcement on the high seas? Marine enforcement officers cannot tell how deep the water was when a fish arrives at a fish market. The only way to enforce such a law would be to have patrol boats and planes patrolling the waters looking for violations. This would be like placing a speed limit on the interstate and no Florida Highway Patrol officers to enforce it. The result would be that everyone would drive at whatever speed they felt comfortable and the same would be said for commercial long liners because these proposed commercial limits are unenforceable.
The next thing to look at is there is simply no legitimate reason to impose any additional gag grouper restrictions on recreational fishermen. Recreational angling is a major part in the lives of those who live on Gulf coast waters and billions of dollars each year is spent on boats and tackle by families who fish these waters.
The gulf coast charter fishing industry would be hit so hard that it would leave 90 percent of them out of business. Florida's number one major industry is tourism, and one of the main reasons tourists visit Florida is fishing. The Gulf Council needs to take another look at the "Billions" of dollars Florida as well as other Gulf coast states receive annually from tourism and how much a Gulf closure of the charter fleet would affect those dollars. 
What we need to do is put restrictions on those who have caused the problem in the first place. The damage to red grouper stocks has been caused by unchecked commercial long liners. Sure there are current rules, but the only way to truly enforce commercial harvesting is to close the harvest for the number of months necessary each year to preserve the population of gag grouper, red grouper, and snapper. This can be easily enforced by law enforcement officials right at the dock. Thus, no need for boats and planes to patrol the skies for enforcement.

The Gulf of Mexico Federal Fishery Management Council's proposal to close recreational fishing for grouper altogether is because they don't think a recreational angler can tell the difference between a red groper and a gag grouper. The problem with this thinking is recreational fisherman are only a minor component of the over fishing problem in red grouper.
This commercially influenced thinking by the Gulf Council must be stopped. Lobbyists from the commercial long lining industry are having too much influence on the councils' ability to effectively manage our marine resources. If you recall, it took an overwhelming vote by Florida's voters to stop gill-netters before they completely wiped out our inshore species. We need to take this same hard look at commercial long liners before they wipe out our offshore waters' populations of reef dwellers.
In recent years, 87% of the red grouper landings were commercial, only 13% were recreational. Release mortality from recreational fishermen is already factored into the red and gag grouper management measures. Furthermore, unlike commercial long lining, the overwhelming majority of recreational grouper fishing occurs in water less than 80 feet deep where release mortality is low. This again brings us back to the fact that the gulf red grouper stocks have been over-fished by the commercial long line fleet, not recreational fishermen.
The Gulf of Mexico Federal Fishery Management Council needs to focus on the real problem at hand and overlook the political influence the commercial industry is placing on them and managing our fishery by imposing serious long line restrictions. 
The bias shown by past council rulings favoring recreational closures to manage the stock is not working, and closing the Gulf to recreational angling for four months on red and gage groups as part of the grouper recovery plan is simply an unfair bias against Florida's recreational fishermen.

The only way to stop this is for us the recreational anglers to contact the Gulf of Mexico Federal Fishery Management Council and oppose the four-month gag grouper closure on recreational fishers, and demand that they place stricter regulations on the long line industry before it is too late.
Gulf of Mexico Federal Fishery Management Council 
Phone (813) 228-2815
Fax (813) 225-7015 
Email gulfcouncil@gulfcouncil.org