The National Marine Fisheries Service has decided not to implement an interim spawning season closure approved by the South Atlantic Marine Fisheries Council, the regulating body for states along the Southeast coast, including South Carolina. Roy Crabtree, the service’s regional director, informed that the decision was a matter of timing; the service couldn’t put the ruling in place in time.
According to Crabtree the decision was taken after writing council chairman Duane Harris because they were getting calls from the public wanting to know if they could fish. It is said that the decision also opened Snapper Grouper Amendment 16 — a wide-ranging measure to add further restrictions on grouper fishing — to two more rounds of public comment before the final rules are published this spring. It is observed that the amendment is one of several working through federal agencies as they follow a Congressional mandate to end overfishing of offshore species that researchers say are being depleted.
Coastal Conservation Association of South Carolina member Mike Able, who owns Haddrell’s Point Tackle & Supply, said he supports closing the fisheries if the science supports the need. But the timing of this year’s closing was bad, with the recession already crippling the local fishing industry.
