Gulf Council Update
The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council held its final meeting of 2017 in Biloxi recently.
LCBA would like to thank captains Kevin Beach, Zach Lewis, Colin Byrd, Jordan Ellis, Wade Wells, Justin Fayard, John Coulon, Steve Tomeny and Daryl Carpenter for crossing state lines, attending the meeting and speaking at the public testimony portion of it.
Their comments are greatly appreciated and necessary to ensure our captains receive the best policy possible from the Council.
Below is a breakdown of what the Council discussed in Biloxi that affects our fleet.
Amberjack Season to Open Aug-Oct and May
By a unanimous vote, amberjack season will now begin Aug. 1 and run through Oct 31. If catch assessments show that the yearly quota has not been met, the season will re-open for the following May.
Previously, amberjack season began Jan. 1, and many vessels from the eastern Gulf swallowed up all or most of the amberjack quota before western Gulf weather allowed our vessels to get out there.
This new amberjack season will begin Aug. 1, 2018.
The Council decision was made as a compromise so that the vast majority of the Gulf’s fleet that relies on a fall amberjack season (and didn’t get one the last two years due to eastern Gulf spring overharvest) will be guaranteed to get one, and the portion of the Gulf’s fleet that relies on a spring season will likely get one.
This decision does not mean that amberjack season has to be closed until August, however. A 2018 spring amberjack season is possible, so we’ll look out for that possibility at the next Council meeting, which will be held in New Orleans Jan. 29 through Feb. 1.
State Management Plans Continue to Slowly Progress
Potential state management of red snapper out to 200 nautical miles continues to make its way through the Council process.
The “Louisiana Plan” remains further along than the respective plans for the other four Gulf States.
It is unclear whether all five state plans must move forward in unison, however the majority of the Council is refraining from moving forward on the documents until several questions receive clear answers. We hope Council staff will provide these answers by the next Gulf Council meeting in New Orleans.
LDWF has stated repeatedly that its goal is to have state management approved and in hand by the beginning of the 2019 fishing season, and we applaud the Department for its efforts in doing everything in can within the constraints of the Council process to make this happen.
Amendment 41 Survives but may be on Life Support
It is important to note that although the vast majority of our captains are against Amendment 41 and would prefer state management, we must stay on top of Amendment 41 and fight for the best version of it in case it becomes the chosen management system for our captains.
Amendment 41 is an effort to bring catch shares of red snapper, amberjack and triggerfish and possibly gag and red grouper to the Gulf’s charter-for-hire fleet. This system would assign a certain percentage of the Gulf’s allotment of the selected species to a captain or a captain’s permit yearly, and captains would likely be able to buy, sell and trade their respective allotments. For some large operations, “owning” a higher percentage of species than your peers could increase the value of your permit. For all, however, this system will take many fishing days away from you even though you would be able to fish whenever you wanted during the calendar year.
Despite rumors that Amendment 41 might get tabled in Biloxi, it continued to move forward. It has a long way to go, and the odds appear against it passing the Council process or referendum (vote of Gulf charter captains).
Those odds got far greater when it was revealed that for Amendment 41 to be implemented, the members of the program (charter captains) must pay a cost recovery fee. There is a 3 percent fee for a similar program in the commercial sector. It is unclear if the charter fee would be 3 percent, and from what the percentage would be siphoned.
There’s lots of questions still to be answered here, but what’s clear is that charter captains would have to pay what amounts to a tax to be able to fish fewer days per year. Tough sell.
Additionally, a hardship discussion in case a captain must miss fishing time for health or other reasons got little steam and was not added to the document.
In many ways (including some far too complicated to concisely breakdown here), the Amendment 41 document in its current form benefits a few large operations in the Gulf while leaving landmines for the rest of us.
And the rest of us are starting to notice.
No Requirement for Descending Devices and Venting Tools
An effort to require descending devices or venting tools on board all vessels possessing reef fish has been halted.
Instead, Council staff will develop an outreach program to teach captains how to use these devices properly and potentially convince captains to possess them.
Many of you possess venting tools already, as they used to be required by the Council.
