Book Description
"At their December 2010 meeting, the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) approved Regulatory Amendment 10 for review by the Secretary of Commerce by a unanimous vote. The proposed action in Regulatory Amendment 10 is an elimination of a snapper-grouper area closure approved in Amendment 17A to the Fishery Management Plan for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region (Amendment 17A). The actions in Amendment 17A, which include a harvest prohibition for red snapper and a snapper-grouper area closure, were based upon the results of a stock assessment conducted through the Southeast Data Assessment and Review (SEDAR) process completed in 2008 (SEDAR 15). The closure is 4,827 square miles and extends from southern Georgia to northern Florida where harvest and possession of all snapper-grouper species would be prohibited (except where fishing with black sea bass pots or spearfishing gear for species other than red snapper). The closure was scheduled to be implemented on January 3, 2011, but the effective date has been dealyed until June 1, 2011, via an emergency rule"--Cover letter.