February 18, 2020 — The following was released by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council:
Briefing book materials are now available for the next meeting of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council scheduled for March 2-6, 2020 at the Westin Jekyll Island, 110 Ocean Way, Jekyll Island, GA, 31527. The meeting week begins on Monday at 1:30 p.m. with a series of committee meetings and concludes with a meeting of the Full Council on Thursday afternoon and Friday. Briefing book materials for each committee meeting as well as a meeting of the Full Council are now available.
A formal public comment session will be held on Wednesday, March 4th beginning at 4:00 PM. An online comment form for agenda items is also now available. The meeting is available via webinar as it occurs. Registration is required and can be completed in advance for each meeting day. Meeting information, including briefing book materials with committee agendas and overviews, the online comment form, links to webinar registration, and more is available at: https://safmc.net/march-2020-council-meeting-details/.
Agenda Highlights:
- FL Keys National Marine Sanctuary – The Council will receive updates from meetings held in Florida in early 2020 about proposed regulation changes in the Sanctuary. Based on those updates and subsequent discussions, the Council will provide recommendations to the Sanctuary.
- Dolphin Wahoo – The Council is considering management options to add bullet and frigate mackerel to the Dolphin Wahoo Fishery Management Plan as Ecosystem Component Species. The Dolphin Wahoo Committee will continue discussions and provide recommendations.
- Coastal Migratory Pelagics – The Mackerel Cobia Committee will continue to discuss CMP Framework Amendment 9 affecting the Spanish mackerel commercial trip limit in the Northern Zone, reviewing public hearing comments and providing recommendations to the Council. The Council will consider the amendment for approval for formal Secretarial Review.
- Shrimp – The Shrimp Committee will review measures in Shrimp Amendment 11 addressing shrimp vessel transit provisions during cold-weather events, consider public hearing comments received in January of this year, and provide recommendations to the Council. The Council will consider the amendment for formal Secretarial review.
- Allocations – The Council will discuss the history of sector allocations in the South Atlantic and will begin to consider steps for moving forward with these challenging decisions.