Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

During the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council meeting being held in Charleston, South Carolina, NOAA Fisheries’ southeast regional administrator Andy Strelcheck told South Atlantic Council members the agency is preparing a secretarial amendment to end overfishing of red snapper.

A secretarial amendment is an amendment to a fishery management plan that is prepared by NOAA Fisheries on behalf of the secretary of commerce. This secretarial amendment would amend the Fishery Management Plan for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region.

The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act provides the secretary authority to act if a council fails to develop and submit to the secretary, after a reasonable period of time, needed conservation and management measures for a species.

The secretarial amendment is similar to other fishery management plan amendments, except NOAA Fisheries and not the South Atlantic Council prepares the amendment. NOAA Fisheries then provides the amendment to the council (and the broader public) for consideration and comment.

The secretarial amendment and supporting analyses will evaluate a range of alternative options for setting and managing red snapper catches at levels that end overfishing (slow the rate of red snapper being removed from the population) and support rebuilding this red snapper population. At this time, management alternatives are in development. We will soon be requesting input through a public scoping process. As the secretarial amendment is developed, actions and alternatives will be shared with the public and South Atlantic Council for comment and input.

NOAA intends to use this opportunity to explore management strategies that may increase fishing opportunities for landing red snapper by reducing the amount of fish released dead.

READ ABOUT MORE NEWS HERE.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE COASTLAND TIMES TODAY!