Tuesday, June 30, 2009

It is official. Federal fishery managers have approved a four-month ban on several species of shallow-water groupers.

The much-debated ban has stirred controversy because it corresponds with the busy time for Florida charter boat operators.

The closure, which covers black and red grouper, will affect both commercial fishermen and recreational anglers from North Carolina to Florida from January through April, the main grouper spawning season. Fishermen will not be fined for incidentally catching groupers, but will be if they try to keep them.

Announcement of the ban was placed in the Federal Register on Monday and will become law in 30 days.

Keys fishermen requested amnesty from the seasonal closure in exchange for reduced bag limits, but federal fishery managers rejected the proposal. Closure dates come at the height of tourist season in the Florida Keys, where charter fishing is a mainstay in a tourism-based economy.

The economic impact of the closure caused the National Marine Fisheries Service to delay implementing the seasonal ban until this year. The ban was set to be approved in winter, after the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council approved it in September. The council was awaiting approval from the National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Department of Commerce, which now have given their blessing.

The rule, which could extend for years, is intended to end overfishing of gag grouper and vermilion snapper, and to protect all shallow-water grouper species during their spawning season.

Longtime Lower Keys charter boat operator Capt. Andy Griffiths, who owns a fleet of sportfishing boats on Stock Island, called the rule "draconian" and inconsistent with other federal fishing laws.

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council recently imposed a rule that prohibits grouper fishing in February and March, Griffiths said. That council is responsible for federal waters on the Gulf of Mexico side of the Keys. Griffiths and other fishermen say the rule will be an enforcement nightmare in the Keys.

"So if I am on one side of the Seven Mile Bridge, I can't fish for grouper for two months -- but on the other side I can't fish for four months. It doesn't make sense," Griffiths said.

Griffiths and Upper Keys sportfishing Capt. Bill Kelly questioned the data used to support the ban, and argued the federal government and the councils should wait until studies of red and black grouper stocks currently under way are complete. The studies are expected to be completed sometime in 2010. The last study of black grouper was in 2001, Griffiths said.

The 2001 study indicated black grouper were not overfished, but experience overfishing, Jack McGovern, a National Marine Fisheries Service marine biologist.

The term overfished indicates a fish species is losing a significant amount of its population. Overfishing details how quickly the fish are being removed by fishermen, McGovern said.

tohara@keysnews.com