According to NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service it has determined the 2008/2009 commercial quota of 1,040,625 pounds of king mackerel from this zone will be reached by this date. It is said that this action will closed the Gulf group king mackerel commercial fishery from the Flagler/Volusia County line to the Miami-Dade/Monroe County line in Florida.
It is told that from April 1, the boundary between Atlantic and Gulf groups of king mackerel shifts south and west to the Monroe/Collier County boundary on the Florida west coast. From April 1 through October 31, fish harvested along east coast of Florida, including all of Monroe County, are considered to be Atlantic group king mackerel.
NOAA informed that this closure complies with regulations implemented under the Fishery Management Plan for Coastal Migratory Pelagic Resources of the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic and is necessary to protect the Gulf group king mackerel resource. During the closure period, no person aboard a vessel for which a commercial permit for king mackerel has been issued may fish for or retain Gulf group king mackerel in or from federal waters of the closed subzone.
A person aboard a vessel that has a valid charter/headboat permit for coastal migratory pelagic fish and a commercial king mackerel permit may continue to retain king mackerel in or from the closed subzone under the 2-fish daily bag limit, provided the vessel is operating as a charter vessel or headboat. During the closure, no king mackerel caught in the closed subzone may be purchased, bartered, traded, or sold. This includes recreational and tournament-caught fish.
