Southern Charm
Charters
Capt. Charles Walker
6240 105th Terrace North
Pinellas Park, FL 33782
Telephone: 727-546-7257
E-mail: captchas@flfish.com
http://www.floridasaltwater.com
12/15/00
Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council
The Commons At Rivergate
3018 U.S. Highway 301 North, Suite 1000
Tampa, FL 33619-2266
Subject: Shrimp vessel and operator permitting
Dear Council Members,
Almost all commercial vessel operators are now required to be
licensed by the USCG. All commercial fishing operators are
required to hold usually several state and federal licenses
and/or permits that can be sanctioned or revoked when laws are
broken. Charter operators must carry many of these licenses as
well.
I request that you require the commercial shrimp vessels and
operators to carry licenses and/or permits that would allow
placing the same restrictions on them as on other commercial
operators, should they be caught outside the law.
Respectfully,
Capt. Charles Walker
_________________________________________________________________________________
Southern Charm Charters
Capt. Charles Walker
6240 105th Terrace North Pinellas Park, FL 33782
Telephone: 727-546-7257
E-mail: captchas@flfish.com
http://www.floridasaltwater.com
12/15/00
Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council
The Commons At Rivergate
3018 U.S. Highway 301 North, Suite 1000
Tampa, FL 33619-2266
Subject: TAC for red grouper in the Gulf of Mexico
Dear Council Members,
For years the NMFS has avoided the issue of grouper depletion in
the Gulf. The recreational size limits have been raised regularly
and the bag limit reduced to five fish while the commercial quota
has been raised regularly to its' now ridiculously high level. To
my knowledge, the commercial quota has never been reached in the
Gulf of Mexico. Undersized red grouper are caught, according to
the longline industry spokesmen, by the millions of pounds each
year and "thrown back" dead.
I request that you lower the commercial quota of red grouper
Gulfwide by at least 10% below the best of the last five years'
landings in order to allow the grouper stocks to hopefully begin
rebuilding. It would also in the best interest of the red grouper
stocks if you required all red grouper to be landed, regardless
of size, rather than be killed and not utilized in the market.
Respectfully,
Capt. Charles Walker