Jpage01

Friends-

As some of you know I have been working with the Central Florida Offshore Anglers and several other clubs and organization for some time to fight fisheries closures by the South Atlantic Fisheries Management Council (NOAA) that we feel have been based on inadequate data. The SAFMC has now on the East coast from the Carolinas to Key West) closed Vermillion Snapper from December-March, Grouper from January to April, has an interim 180 day closure on Red Snapper that began January 4 with a option to extend for another 180 days and has a proposal for a total closure of snapper for an undetermined amount of time which some say may be 20 years or more. In addition to this there is a proposal to stop all bottom fishing because of the potential that a snapper may be killed as by catch and they are looking at closing other fisheries from mahi-mahi to amberjack to seabass and more.

I have fished and dived in the Florida East coast areas since 1973, off off Daytona, Port Canaveral and Sebastian Inlets. I maintain a first hand knowledge of the health of the fishery and to be honest- where it was in decline 20 years ago, the restrictions for minimum size and catch have worked to point we are now almost overrun with Red Snapper off our coast.
I contest the data being presented that shows the fishery to be in decline as being significantly flawed and being honest, if I felt that the fishery was in trouble as we did many years ago, I would advocate the current new restrictions., which are having a catastrophic economical snowball effect in the State of Florida, from tourism dollars, to tackle and bait shops to charter Captains along with a degradation in the historical way of life for all involved.
But the biggest impact will be to our way of life as citizens of this country and what I support is our right to be able to go out and fish, have a good time and eat what we catch in a reasonable recreational component.
WHAT can you do to help:
Go to this website- read the information and sign the electronic petition. We are asking them to rescind the current closures and fix the science that is used to make these decisions.
http://petition.deep-blue-sea.org
FORWARD this mail to everyone that you know and ask them to do the same. Open the attachment- print it and share with others.
I appreciate your taking the time to read this, making an informed decision to sign the petition and passing it along to others that feel the same way.



Jeff Page Vice President
Central Florida Offshore Anglers

Sprockets

Jeff - post this on the Sportfishing forum too.

FYI - we exchanged cards at the last CFOA meeting.

__________________
2003 Sea Pro 220 CC
2003 Yamaha 200 HPDI
2009 Ace Dual Axle Trailer

Now for sale - http://www.thehulltruth.com/boats-sa...i-cent-fl.html

Frank_l

"they are looking at closing other fisheries from mahi-mahi to amberjack to seabass and more.''

Jeff,

This is frightening stuff. Has legislation and some junk science been done to remove this species as well?

__________________
Ponce Inlet
Contender 31 Open

mnelson

Red Snapper numbers according to SEDAR 15 ???

1/30/10
To: South Atlantic Council/Scientific Review Panel for Red Snapper



According to SEDAR 15 the rebuilding target for the red snapper biomass is approximately 36 million pounds (18 million pounds of mature females or SSB). According to the SSC at this level the red snapper population would be able to create enough offspring to sustain a level of fishing that was similar to what we had before the closure. To understand how we reached the 3% of historical biomass that we are at now according to SEDAR we need to look at a 20 year period from 1946 to 1966.

According to SEDAR 15 in 1946 the red snapper stock was near 61 million pounds (30.5 million SSB) well above what is needed to sustain today’s fishing levels. During the two decades after WW II, fishing pressure was very small by today’s standards. The average annual catch for commercial and recreational fishermen combined was less than 830,000 pounds per year according to SEDAR 15. This represents a maximum of 2.7% of SSB each year starting in 1946. This was with no size limits or full retention (almost zero discards)
At that level of fishing the stock was not overfished and actually was underutilized as far as MSY is concerned. That means that the stock was large enough to replenish what was being taken out of it each year and then some. During those two decades fishermen had very little affect on the size of the red snapper stock according to SEDAR 15 catch data.

This is not the case at all in SEDAR 15 historic biomass computer model.

1946 28 million pounds of mature female red snapper (SSB)

1966 6.8 million pounds of mature female red snapper (SSB)

Difference 21.2 million pounds of mature female red snapper (SSB)

This is a 75% decline in the red snapper spawning biomass in those two decades with 2.7% fishing mortality from the original spawning biomass. That means that approximately forty-two million pounds are missing from the computer model for the years 1966 to 2006 that should have been included minus natural mortality.

SEDAR 15 ESTIMATED BIOMASS SEDAR 15- Total Catch 1946-1966 Percent

1946- 61 million pounds 1946 – 369,000 pounds .6%(1.2% of SSB)

1966- 16 million pounds 1966 – 830,000 pounds 5% (10% of SSB)

At no time during these twenty years was fishing mortality above 10% of the spawning biomass for any of the years, even using the bogus 1966 numbers from SEDAR 15. The range for fishing mortality was 1.2% to 10% each year for twenty years. This is well below the necessary level to maintain the stock close to the 1946 level. But there was a 75% decline in the red snapper stock according to the SEDAR 15 computer model.




Before the upcoming re-assessment please find out the answers to these very important questions:

• • 1. Where did the 40 million pounds of red snapper go?
    2. How did the spawning stock biomass drop 75% from 1946 to 1966 with only 1.2% to 10% fishing mortality?
    3. Is SEDAR going to change the model so that it reflects reality?
    4. Did anyone on the review panel actually read SEDAR 15?
    5. How did this get past peer review?
    6. HOW DID THIS GET PAST PEER REVIEW?

• Biomass numbers – SEDAR 15 SAR 1 Section III page 56
• Commercial Catch Numbers- SAR 1 Section II pages 36-37
• Recreational/Headboat Numbers – SAR 1 Section II page 73

*Note- Recreational data before 1962 was calculated by taking the average percentage of the recreational to commercial ratio and reversing it from 1962 back to 1946 using available commercial data.

Sorry, there has been a correction to the above numbers. Here it is.

To: South Atlantic Council
In an earlier email I included info about the SSB being reduced by 75% from 1946-1966. This was calculated using biomass numbers and making a rough estimate. I was then shown the actual SSB totals from SEDAR 15 and the SSB was reduced by 45% from 1946-1966. I apologize for the mistake, however this is still a loss of 13.5 million pounds of SSB during this time period, a significant reduction.
The SSC and SEDAR 15 recommendation is to rebuild the SSB to approxiamtely 17 million pounds so that fishermen can catch 2.3 million pounds per year (Page 9 Review Workshop Report).
If this is the case then how did the SSB of 28 million pounds get reduced by 45% from 1946 to 1966 with fishermen catching less than half of today's proposed 2.3 million pounds annually. In fact the best fishing year during those two decades fishermen caught less than 1 million pounds according to SEDAR 15. Yet the original 28 million pounds of SSB gets reduced by 45%.
This just does not make sense. We rebuild the stock to 17 million to catch 2.3 million per year and that is sustainable. The stock was at 28 million and fishermen caught less than 1 million pounds annually but that decimated the stock by 45%.
Does this make sense to anyone else? How did we decimate 28 million pounds of SSB by catching less than one million pounds per year with almost zero discards?

Jpage01

Bottom lline is we have pew foundation pushing big bucks all over the place trying to shut down all fishing. This is just the begining. The data is flawed and the SAFMC is hiding behind it is the best avaiable data. This will continue until we all get involved and take a stand. Pew had 30 thousand signatures from all over the us. Most of which have never been in Florida. We are trying to do the same please take 5 min and sign this petition.

Rough Rider

Done Jpage

__________________
"....that of those men who have overturned the liberties of republics, the greatest number have begun their career by paying an obsequious court to the people; commencing demagogues, and ending tyrants."

Jpage01

Btt

mnelson

Google "ahab's journal", and listen to Barney Frank's interveiw with a radio show. I know he's a dem but good stuff, it gives some hope. We need to press on!!

RebelBoxer

When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty. Thomas Jefferson