May 4, 2022 — On Monday NOAA published Amendment 53, a new rule in the Federal Register regarding the reef fish fishery of the Gulf of Mexico. The final rule revises the annual catch limits (ACLs) and annual catch targets (ACTs) for both the commercial and recreational sectors, reallocating 20% of the commercial red grouper quota to the recreational sector, a 32% decrease from what would have been allocated without the amendment.
As the final rule notes, red grouper in the Gulf exclusive economic zone (EEZ) are found primarily in the eastern Gulf on offshore hard bottom areas and are managed as a single stock with commercial and recreational ACLs and ACTs. The allocation of the ACL between the commercial and recreational sectors was 76% commercial and 24% recreational. However, the final rule revises the ACLs and ACTs for the Gulf red grouper stock. The current commercial ACL and ACT are 3.16 million lb (1.43 million kg) and 3.00 million lb (1.36 million kg), respectively. Meanwhile, the current recreational ACL and ACT are 1.00 million ln. (0.45 million kg) and 0.92 million lb (0.42 million kg) in Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP) Coastal Household Telephone Survey (CHTS) units, respectively. In MRIP Fishery Effort Survey (FES) units, the current recreational ACL and ACT are estimated to be 2.10 million lb (0.95 million kg) and 1.93 million lb (0.88 million kg), respectively.
“As explained previously, the ABC associated with the preferred allocation is 4.26 million lb (1.93 million kg) and the total ACL is equal to the ABC,” the new rule states. “Applying the allocation selected by the Council in Amendment 53 to the total ACL results in a 2.53 million lb. (1.15 million kg) commercial ACL and a 1.73 million lb (0.78 million kg) recreational ACL in MRIP FES units.”