# Gag Grouper closure - The gulf Council passes discriminatory rule



## eamakatu (May 2, 2004)

Gag
The Council approved a request that NOAA Fisheries Service publish an interim rule that will *prohibit the recreational harvest of gag beginning January 1, 2011, with a 100,000-pound commercial quota. *The commercial quota was established to allow fishermen targeting other species to retain some bycatch of gag. A reopening is dependent upon a reassessment that will soon be underway and available for Council review during its February 2011 Council meeting in Gulfport, Mississippi. The Council will decide at that time whether it is necessary to request an extension of the interim rule or a new revised interim rule that would allow for some recreational harvest of gag.

The interim rule also suspends the red grouper multi-use individual fishing quota shares, in order to prevent a possible overrun of the gag annual catch limit. Without the suspension, it is likely the commercial gag annual catch target and annual catch limit would be exceeded, triggering accountability measures on the commercial sector.

Gag is one of the four species under the management of the Gulf Council that is overfished, and the Council is developing an amendment to the Reef Fish Fishery Management Plan – Reef Fish Amendment 32 - to end overfishing and rebuild the stock within ten years. But because that amendment is not scheduled for implementation until mid-late 2011, an interim rule is necessary to minimize regulatory discards and reduce overfishing of gag.


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## Paymaster (Jan 22, 2009)

What a crock!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## eamakatu (May 2, 2004)

"The Council approved a request that NOAA Fisheries Service publish an interim rule that will prohibit the recreational harvest of gag beginning January 1, 2011, with a 100,000-pound commercial quota. The commercial quota was established to allow fishermen targeting other species to retain some bycatch of gag."

The Council voted for a 100,000 pound commercial quota but then they say it is "bycatch."

"The commercial quota was established to allow (commercial) targeting other species to retain some bycatch of gag."

The Council did this being fully aware that this will lead to commercial abuse of the so called commercial 100,000 pounds of quota for gags.

When the season starts out and if there is a 100,000 pound commercial gag quota all any commercial fisherman has to do is stop in a legal area and specifically target gags and take thousands of pounds of gags off a spot all the while the recreational fisherman can not have any quota of gags and must throw all gag grouper back into the water.

All the commercial has to say is that they are/were targeting another legal to target species and they can hammer any gag spot for gags until the quota is met. So much for the part of the rule that says "targeting other species to retain some quota of gag." That is a joke.

The Council has intentionally discriminated against the recreational fishermen, by creating a loophole in their gag rule proposal that commercial fishermen can drive a loaded with gag truck through while the recreational fishermen gets no gags.


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## eamakatu (May 2, 2004)

I have suspended all fishing related purchases until the Gulf Council stops threatening to close Gag grouper fishing in the Gulf in 2011. I encourage everyone to join the boycott.


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