Flounder, Social and Economics, Tilefish, Black Sea Bass
The final Advisory Committee (AC) meeting regarding Amendment 4 to the Southern Flounder Fishery Management Plan (FMP) will be held this week. This amendment has only one action item, whether to shift the flounder allocation one year early to a 50/50 parity for 2025 instead of 60/40 for 2025 and then shift to 50/50 for the 2026 fishing year as was originally outlined in Amendment 3.
If the state truly wants fishermen to have more access to Southern Flounder we need to be looking at how to increase access for both sectors.
Recreational, charter-for-hire, and commercial fishers need to sit down together with DMF and start having some open honest conversations about what is working and what can be improved upon with all aspects of fisheries management, not just Southern flounder.
This will be the last chance to give in person public comment on this issue. Written public comment on this issue can be submitted online or mailed before April 30th.
Finfish AC Meeting
Wednesday April 16th 6:00pm
Central District Office
5285 Highway 70 West
Morehead City, NC 28557
Mail Public Comment to:
Southern Flounder FMP Amendment 4 Comments
P.O. Box 769
Morehead City, NC 28557
Tilefish Advisory Panel Meeting
The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (MAFMC) Tilefish Advisory Panel (AP) meets this week to discuss recent performance of the blueline and golden tilefish commercial and recreational fisheries and develop Fishery Performance Reports. Public comment is not specifically on the agenda but the webinar is open to the public.
Tilefish AC Meeting
Wednesday, April 16th 2:00-4:00pm
Blueline Tilefish Info Document
SAFMC Social and Economic Panel Meeting
The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (SAFMC) Social and Economic Panel meets this week in Charlston, SC to discuss a wide variety of topics. Public comment will be taken at the beginning of the meeting and can also be submitted online. Please see links below for more information.
Social and Economic Panel Meeting
Monday, April 14th 1:30-5:00pm
Tuesday, April 15th 8:30am-12:30pm
SAFMC Scientific and Statistical Committee Meeting
The SAFMC Science and Statistical Committee (SSC) meets this week in Charlston, SC to discuss SEDAR 92: Blueline Tilefish stock assessment for the southern region, SEDAR 76: Black Sea Bass stock assessment update, Dolphinfish Management Strategy Evaluation (MSE) update, as well as other business.
General public comment will be taken at the beginning and end of the meeting. Public comments pertaining to specific agenda items will also be taken after each presentation. Written public comment can also be submitted online at the link below.
This is a busy agenda with a lot of information. Instead of listing links to the SSC documents in this update I encourage all those interested to go to the meeting webpage. The staff at SAFMC does a nice job of making this information easily accessible.
SSC Meeting
Tuesday, April 15th 1:30-5:00pm
Wednesday, April 16th 8:30am-5:00pm
Thursday, April 17th 8:30am-12:00pm
If you have any questions, concerns, or comments please reach out. If you need help finding information or have trouble logging on to any of these meetings please let me know.
Thomas Newman
Fisheries Liaison
Reminder for Pelagic Longline Permit Holders
Vessels operating in the U.S. Atlantic EEZ:
- Regulations implementing terminal gear requirements in the Pelagic Longline Take Reduction Plan (PLTRP) contained in 50 CFR 36(d), became effective January 1, 2025.
● Please ensure that all terminal gear on your vessel has been transitioned to hooks and gangions that meet the above specifications.
- Additional information on the terminal gear requirements can be found in the Final Rule 88 FR 36965.
Vessels operating in the EEZ portion of the Mid-Atlantic Bight (MAB):
- The mainline length restriction has been in effect since July 6, 2023. Details of this modification are contained in 50 CFR 229.36(e).
- Vessels may set no more than one mainline in the water at any one time. The mainline length can not exceed 32 nm in length, and are subject to the following specifications:
- There can be no more than 30 nm of active gear (gear with gangions or hooks attached) deployed along the mainline;
- A single section of active gear cannot exceed 20 nm;
- If vessel owners deploy more than one section of active gear along the mainline, each section of active gear must be separated by a gap of at least 1 nm, with no active gear (no gangions or hooks) attached.
Example configurations of compliant mainline sets
More Information
- For additional information on the regulatory or non-regulatory measures of the PLTRP, please visit the NOAA Fisheries website.
- If you have any questions or would like to speak to someone about the PLTRP, please contact: David Hilton, NMFS SERO Fishery Liaison (252-921-0142).
