Appeal to U.S. commerce chief falls on deaf ears…
A final decision on a pending ban on grouper fishing is not expected before early December — but a Key West charter captain said the chances of relief seem bleak.
Andy Griffiths, who spoke directly with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez on a conference call earlier this month, said a letter received from the secretary’s office this week ominously refers to reports that define black grouper and red grouper as “undergoing overfishing.”
“I can’t interpret this as saying anything positive,” Griffiths said. “It looks like they are trying to justify the science.”
Federal officials told other people following the issue that no final decision has been made, and likely will not be until after the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council meets in early December in Wilmington, N.C.
The South Atlantic Council has already endorsed the four-month closure, but has the opportunity to review it during the Nov. 30-Dec. 5 meeting.
The federal council voted for the emergency closure in Atlantic Ocean waters, covering waters beyond the state’s three-mile territorial waters. The closure on red grouper, black grouper and gag grouper covers an area from Key West to North Carolina.
Unless Gutierrez takes action to amend or block the decision, the closure takes effect Jan. 1 and runs through April.
“This will have dire economic consequences for 600 charter fishing captains and crewmen in Monroe County, in addition to effects on all the related businesses like hotels, restaurants and tackle shops,” said Islamorada charter captain Bill Kelly.
Passed as an emergency interim rule to protect the overfished gag grouper population — a species seldom found in Keys waters — the rule also bans harvesting locally popular species red and black grouper during the four-month closure.
Federal fishery managers say red and black can be included because the most recent scientific information on the species indicates they are “undergoing overfishing.”
Recreational anglers on private boats will be able to fish state waters within the three-mile limit.
However, the rule will apply to federally licensed charterboats even in state water.
Keys opponents of the closure say the science on red and black grouper science is inadequate to justify the action that will affect the Keys at the height of the tourist season.
“It’s a damn shame,” said Griffiths, among the most vocal opponents of the Keys closure. “All we were asking them to do was wait for the good science, which they’ll have next year.”
“They’re using a present-day term — undergoing overfishing — taken from a 1999 report,” Griffiths said. “If we had been overfishing grouper for the last 10 years, there wouldn’t be any left.”
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