Dear Captain Nelson:
Thank you for your e-mail to Secretary Locke and Dr. Lubchenco regarding
an extension to the red snapper interim rule. A 2008 Southeast Data
Assessment and Review (SEDAR) assessment indicates the amount of red
snapper in the population is too low (overfished) and red snapper are
being removed from the population too quickly (overfishing). At its
June 2008 meeting, the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s
(Council) Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) determined the
results of the red snapper assessment are based upon the best available
science. When a determination is made that a stock is experiencing
overfishing and is overfished, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation
and Management Act requires NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service
(NMFS) and the Council to develop a plan to end overfishing and rebuild
the stock.
In March 2009, the Council requested that NMFS implement an interim rule
to address overfishing of red snapper with a directed harvest
prohibition while a long-term management strategy is developed in
Amendment 17A to the Fishery Management Plan for the Snapper-Grouper
Fishery of the South Atlantic Region. The requested interim rule
published in the Federal Register on December 4, 2009, and temporarily
reduced overfishing by prohibiting red snapper harvest, possession, and
sale from January 4, 2010, through June 2, 2010. The interim rule has
been extended for an additional 186 days and will expire December 5,
2010. The Council took final action on Amendment 17A in June 2010, and
voted to submit the amendment for Secretarial review. If approved and
implemented through rulemaking, the area closure could be effective by
the end of the year. Therefore, extending the interim rule would
prevent a lapse in the harvest prohibition and prevent directed fishing
on a stock that is determined to be significantly depleted.
A new SEDAR benchmark assessment is being conducted for red snapper with
a webinar scheduled for August 6, 2010, and a review workshop scheduled
for October 12–14, 2010. We will forward all of your comments regarding
the previous red snapper assessment to the SEDAR Program Manager, Mr.
John Carmichael (John.Carmichael@safmc.net), for consideration in the
new red snapper assessment. SEDAR welcomes all comments on ongoing
assessments and makes them available to workshop panels. Comments also
are published within the appropriate workshop report. The new red
snapper assessment will be completed in October 2010, reviewed by the
SSC in November 2010, and presented to the Council in December 2010.
NMFS is committed to working with the Council to respond to the new
assessment findings with any needed management adjustments as quickly as
possible.
With regard to your comments on the need for fishery-independent data in
the South Atlantic, the Marine Resources Monitoring Assessment and
Prediction (MARMAP) Program has used standard gear types to monitor the
abundance of snapper-grouper species in the South Atlantic for over 35
years. Catch per unit information from the survey has been employed in
many assessments for very important commercial and recreational species
such as vermilion snapper, black sea bass, red porgy, golden tilefish,
and others. Furthermore, information from the MARMAP program has been
instrumental in understanding the life history of many South Atlantic
snapper-grouper species, including aspects of their age, growth, and
reproduction. However, not all snapper-grouper species are available to
the standard gear types used by MARMAP, and NMFS agrees there is need
for better data, including a more comprehensive fish stock monitoring
program. Amendment 17A includes an action to require a
fishery-independent monitoring program to track progress of red
snapper. The Southeast Fisheries Science Center is evaluating aspects
of a new fishery-independent monitoring program, which would include a
greater number of gear types and a broader geographic range than
currently utilized by MARMAP. Enhancing fishery-independent monitoring
programs, as well as increasing stock assessment capacity in the
Southeast Region, are among the agency’s highest priorities.
I appreciate your interest in management of snapper-grouper species and
I encourage you to become involved in the SEDAR process.
Sincerely,
Eric C. Schwaab
Assistant Administrator
for Fisheries
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