August 18, 2020 — The following was released by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council:
The next meeting of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council is scheduled for September 14-17, 2020. The meeting was originally scheduled to take place in Charleston, South Carolina. Due to ongoing concerns about COVID-19 and public safety, the Council meeting will be held via webinar.
The meeting will be available via webinar each day as it occurs. Registration is required and can be completed in advance by visiting the Council’s website at: https://safmc.net/september-2020-council-meeting-details/.
A formal public comment session will be held on Wednesday, September 16th beginning at 4:00 PM. Meeting materials and an online comment form will be available beginning August 28, 2020 through the website.
Agenda Highlights:
- Dolphin Wahoo – The Council will consider approving Dolphin Wahoo Amendment 12 for Secretarial review. The amendment would add Bullet Mackerel and Frigate Mackerel to the Dolphin Wahoo Fishery Management Plan.
- Work continues on draft Amendment 10 to the Dolphin Wahoo Fishery Management Plan to address revisions to recreational data and catch level recommendations, redefine Optimum Yield for the dolphin fishery, modify accountability measures, modify recreational bag limits for Dolphin, and consider other revisions to the Dolphin and Wahoo fisheries. The Dolphin Wahoo Committee will receive a presentation on recent Dolphin research.
- Emergency Actions – The Council will receive an update from NOAA Fisheries on earlier requests for emergency action to increase the recreational bag limit for Atlantic King Mackerel and increase commercial trip limits for Vermilion Snapper. The Council will consider any additional actions relative to COVID-19 impacts.
- Snapper Grouper – The Snapper Grouper Committee will begin considering management options to end overfishing of Red Porgy and revise the rebuilding plan based on the latest stock assessment. The Committee will also review the 2020 Red Snapper season and address modernization of the Wreckfish ITQ (Individual Transferable Quota) program.
Additional Information:
Information on the September 2020 meeting and other meetings of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council is available from the Council’s website at: https://safmc.net/safmc-meetings/council-meetings/. For questions, please contact: Kim Iverson, Public Information Officer at kim.iverson@safmc.net or by phone at 843/302-8440.