PaulD
Banned
Sorry I was late on the information trigger with this guys but I hope some fisherman show up and tell CRD to do better research and leave our trout, redfish, flounder, and tripletail fishery alone! Notice in the article 2 points. 1.) It definately sounds like Spud wants to tighten up limits base on his comment about stock counts being off due to S.C. and Florida being included with ours. I mean, the snapper closer info was known to be bad and he supported shuting it down cause it was in his favor.
2.) they DO NOT want offshore closures discussed.
DNR TO HOST MEETING FOR SALTWATER ANGLERS
BRUNSWICK (December 4, 2009) – Interested in redfish, speckled seatrout, Spanish mackerel, spot or weakfish
(summer trout)? If so, please plan to attend a meeting at Holton's Restaurant in Midway, Georgia at 6:30 pm on
Monday, December 14, 2009. Staff from the Coastal Resources Division (CRD) of the Georgia Department of
Natural Resources (DNR) will present information about recent activities of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries
Commission (ASMFC) and how those activities will affect management of the aforementioned fish species in
Georgia. Staff will also present a report on the results of the Peach State Reds Initiative.
At the November 2009 annual ASMFC meeting, Addendum IV to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for
Weakfish was approved in response to a recent peer-reviewed stock assessment that shows Atlantic Coast populations
are at extremely low levels. Georgia has no directed commercial fishery for weakfish and recreational anglers rarely
target the species. In 2008, the estimated harvest of weakfish in Georgia was just under 6,000 fish. However, in an
effort to support the coast-wide recovery of weakfish, Georgia is required to change the weakfish maximum daily
creel/possession limit from six fish to one fish. The creel/possession limit is set in law so it will take action by the
Georgia legislature to make this change.
Also during the November meeting, the ASMFC South Atlantic State-Federal Fisheries Management Board approved
the Public Information Document (PID) for an Omnibus Amendment to the Interstate Fishery Management Plans
for Spanish Mackerel, Spot and Spotted Seatrout. The PID and subsequent amendment are being developed to
update the three management plans to include compliance measures and other standards since all three plans are
voluntary in nature and lack standards that were developed in response to the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative
Management Act. This action, if approved, will not result in any changes to state fishing regulations for these three
species in the foreseeable future. The PID can be obtained via the ASMFC website at www.asmfc.org under Breaking
News.
The Atlantic Coast red drum population is divided into a North Region (NC and north) and a Southern Region (SC,
GA and FL-East Coast) for interstate management purposes. During 2009, a peer-reviewed stock assessment of
Atlantic Coast red drum was conducted through the Southeast Data Assessment and Review (SEDAR) process.
Several scientists from CRD participated in this stock assessment. The results were presented to ASMFC in
November.
The stock assessment model was considered to be informative only about the relative, not absolute, trends in
immature red drum abundance and harvest for the Southern Region. Therefore, only general conclusions about
trends in stock status could be provided. Despite these limitations, the stock assessment team and independent
reviewers concluded that sufficient numbers of young fish are surviving to move offshore and join the adult
spawning population, indicating that overfishing is likely not occurring. However, they advised that given the
uncertainty of the results, management measures not be liberalized. Given these findings, the ASMFC did not
initiate any changes to the management program at this time.
Spud Woodward, Coastal Resources Division director commented, “The results of the recent Atlantic Coast red
drum stock assessment leave Georgia in an interesting position. We have scientific advice that says we are not
overfishing in the Southern Region, but we also know that the stock assessment used as the basis for this advice was
greatly influenced by inputs from South Carolina and Florida, both of which have more restrictive management
than Georgia. We hope that anglers will share their thoughts and ideas about the status of our red drum population
so we can take appropriate action going forward.”
One tool used for managing red drum in some Southeastern states is the release of hatchery-reared fish. Should
Georgia being doing likewise? Over the past 5 years, the Coastal Resources Division has completed the Peach State
Reds Initiative – a research project to help determine if redfish stocking can be a cost-effective and ecologically
sound fishery management tool for Georgia. Through the Peach State Reds Initiative, over one million red drum
fingerlings were released in the Wassaw estuary. An overview of this project and the results will be presented at the
December 14th meeting.
“Anglers have a valuable and unique perspective on the status of our fish populations, and we strive to provide them
with opportunities to share this perspective. However, at this meeting, we want to focus on interstate fishery
management issues related to red drum, spotted seatrout, and other species and not federal fishery topics like red
snapper,” commented Woodward.
2.) they DO NOT want offshore closures discussed.
DNR TO HOST MEETING FOR SALTWATER ANGLERS
BRUNSWICK (December 4, 2009) – Interested in redfish, speckled seatrout, Spanish mackerel, spot or weakfish
(summer trout)? If so, please plan to attend a meeting at Holton's Restaurant in Midway, Georgia at 6:30 pm on
Monday, December 14, 2009. Staff from the Coastal Resources Division (CRD) of the Georgia Department of
Natural Resources (DNR) will present information about recent activities of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries
Commission (ASMFC) and how those activities will affect management of the aforementioned fish species in
Georgia. Staff will also present a report on the results of the Peach State Reds Initiative.
At the November 2009 annual ASMFC meeting, Addendum IV to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for
Weakfish was approved in response to a recent peer-reviewed stock assessment that shows Atlantic Coast populations
are at extremely low levels. Georgia has no directed commercial fishery for weakfish and recreational anglers rarely
target the species. In 2008, the estimated harvest of weakfish in Georgia was just under 6,000 fish. However, in an
effort to support the coast-wide recovery of weakfish, Georgia is required to change the weakfish maximum daily
creel/possession limit from six fish to one fish. The creel/possession limit is set in law so it will take action by the
Georgia legislature to make this change.
Also during the November meeting, the ASMFC South Atlantic State-Federal Fisheries Management Board approved
the Public Information Document (PID) for an Omnibus Amendment to the Interstate Fishery Management Plans
for Spanish Mackerel, Spot and Spotted Seatrout. The PID and subsequent amendment are being developed to
update the three management plans to include compliance measures and other standards since all three plans are
voluntary in nature and lack standards that were developed in response to the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative
Management Act. This action, if approved, will not result in any changes to state fishing regulations for these three
species in the foreseeable future. The PID can be obtained via the ASMFC website at www.asmfc.org under Breaking
News.
The Atlantic Coast red drum population is divided into a North Region (NC and north) and a Southern Region (SC,
GA and FL-East Coast) for interstate management purposes. During 2009, a peer-reviewed stock assessment of
Atlantic Coast red drum was conducted through the Southeast Data Assessment and Review (SEDAR) process.
Several scientists from CRD participated in this stock assessment. The results were presented to ASMFC in
November.
The stock assessment model was considered to be informative only about the relative, not absolute, trends in
immature red drum abundance and harvest for the Southern Region. Therefore, only general conclusions about
trends in stock status could be provided. Despite these limitations, the stock assessment team and independent
reviewers concluded that sufficient numbers of young fish are surviving to move offshore and join the adult
spawning population, indicating that overfishing is likely not occurring. However, they advised that given the
uncertainty of the results, management measures not be liberalized. Given these findings, the ASMFC did not
initiate any changes to the management program at this time.
Spud Woodward, Coastal Resources Division director commented, “The results of the recent Atlantic Coast red
drum stock assessment leave Georgia in an interesting position. We have scientific advice that says we are not
overfishing in the Southern Region, but we also know that the stock assessment used as the basis for this advice was
greatly influenced by inputs from South Carolina and Florida, both of which have more restrictive management
than Georgia. We hope that anglers will share their thoughts and ideas about the status of our red drum population
so we can take appropriate action going forward.”
One tool used for managing red drum in some Southeastern states is the release of hatchery-reared fish. Should
Georgia being doing likewise? Over the past 5 years, the Coastal Resources Division has completed the Peach State
Reds Initiative – a research project to help determine if redfish stocking can be a cost-effective and ecologically
sound fishery management tool for Georgia. Through the Peach State Reds Initiative, over one million red drum
fingerlings were released in the Wassaw estuary. An overview of this project and the results will be presented at the
December 14th meeting.
“Anglers have a valuable and unique perspective on the status of our fish populations, and we strive to provide them
with opportunities to share this perspective. However, at this meeting, we want to focus on interstate fishery
management issues related to red drum, spotted seatrout, and other species and not federal fishery topics like red
snapper,” commented Woodward.
