Angler Groups Fight for Amberjack

[FishingLTJ]

Angler Groups Fight for Amberjack


Gulf Council proposal further reduces recreational catches, while increasing commercial limits.

The timeline started off well enough for amberjack fishermen. In 1990, amberjack catches were divided 84 percent for recreational anglers, 16 percent for commercial interests. But by 1997, recreational anglers were down to a 1-fish limit, compared to the past 3-fish limit. Meanwhile, commercial fishermen doubled their share of the fishery, taking 32 percent of the amberjack harvest even though their official allocation hadn’t changed.

Now, the Gulf of Mexico Fisheries Management Council has to enact a new management strategy because of continued overfishing of amberjack in the Gulf—even after a 2003 rebuilding plan was implemented. The goal is to reduce the harvest by 33 percent.


Among the alternatives from Reef Amendment 30A, the Gulf Council selected Alternative 3, which would set 29 percent of the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) as commercial, and 71 percent as recreational—a sizeable drop for recreational anglers even on top of our 1-fish limit. In fact, that would be the largest recreational allocation reduction ever enacted by the Gulf Council. As CCA Florida aptly put it, the federal council’s actions punish recreational anglers for supporting conservation measures, and reward the commercial industry for yearly exceeding their allocation.