January 10, 2023 –A federal court has upheld the National Marine Fisheries Service decision to implement changes to the Gulf of Mexico reef fish management and reallocate more red grouper to the recreational fishing sector.
U.S. District Court Judge Timothy J. Kelly in a Jan. 6 opinion said the agency is acting properly in enacting Amendment 53 to the reef management plan, approved by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council over strenuous objections from the commercial fishing industry.
Amendment 53 was challenged in the District of Columbia federal dcourt by the Galveston, Texas-based Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders Alliance, the A.P. Bell Fish Company, of Cortez, Florida, and the Southern Offshore Fishing Association, a longliner group based in Madeira Beach, Florida.
The Charter Fishermen’s Association joined in by filing an amicus, or “friend of the court” legal brief. While nominally part of the recreational sector, the charter captains said they agreed with commercial fishermen that Amendment 53 could ultimately hurt the red grouper resource and fishery.