![\"SA](\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/edfish\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/18\/files\/2009\/09\/SA-boat-sm.JPG\")
We know that Southeast fishermen and business owners aren\u2019t happy with the long season closures in place for many popular snapper grouper species, but today marks a victory toward better management that will help move the fishery away from closures. Today the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council voted unanimously to explore a catch share amendment for the snapper grouper fishery.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Managing a fishery under catch shares\u00a0 is an\u00a0opportunity to replace current management that focuses on closures \u2013 which don\u2019t help fish, fishermen or businesses \u2013 with a more rational system that allows for increased flexibility about when and how to fish. Catch shares management also\u00a0helps stocks recover and offers stability to fishing and other local businesses.<\/p>\n
This decision is a chance for both commercial and recreational fishermen to get in the driver\u2019s seat about how their fishing is managed, and start getting their seasons back. Catch shares also help achieve conservation gains very quickly, such as significantly reducing the amount of fish that must be thrown overboard dead due to outdated management rules.<\/p>\n
Several fishermen spoke up at the Council meeting in favor of catch shares.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the midst of these long closures, catch shares could be the fishing industry\u2019s saving grace,\u201d said Phil Conklin, a commercial fisherman out of Murrells Inlet, S.C.\u00a0 \u201cJust look at the Gulf\u2019s red snapper fishermen if you want proof that this can work in the Southeast. We\u2019re in the same situation they were five years ago. Rather than letting our fishing industry continue to go down the drain under these season closures, that many doubt will even help the fish and will certainly hurt fishermen, we should seriously consider catch shares for our fishery.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Council\u2019s decision shows that they\u2019re thinking about the long-term health of the fishery. They should keep this momentum going and work to implement a catch share for the fishery soon. It\u2019s the best way to keep the Southeast\u2019s fishing heritage alive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We know that Southeast fishermen and business owners aren\u2019t happy with the long season closures in place for many popular snapper grouper species, but today marks a victory toward better management that will help move the fishery away from closures. Today the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council voted unanimously to explore a catch share amendment …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1994,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[472,679,470,674],"coauthors":[5151],"class_list":["post-358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-catch-shares","tag-snapper-grouper","tag-south-atlantic","tag-southeast"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n