2017-2018 South Atlantic Recreational Landings

The Southeast Fisheries Science Center has provided the following preliminary landings estimates for species in the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s area of jurisdiction subject to annual catch limits (ACLs).

Southeast

This page was updated on: 2/28/19

For a list of seasonal closures, please visit South Atlantic Seasons and Closures
For trip and bag limits, please visit the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council
For the most current federal regulations, please visit: Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) part 622 - Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic
For recent landings for the 2018-2019 fishing years, please visit 2018-2019 Preliminary South Atlantic Commercial Landings
For historical landings for fishing years prior to 2018 or 2017-2018, please visit Historical landings for the South Atlantic

Landings* for Fishing Year: January 1 - December 31, 2017

*by Two-month Wave

Species Complex	Jan-Feb	Mar-Apr	May-Jun	Jul-Aug	Sep-Oct	Nov-Dec	Total Reported	Annual Catch Limit	Units	Dataset	Percent of ACL	Current Status
Atlantic spadefish	28	194	14,961	111,611	9,449	58	136,301	661,926	ww	MRIP	21	CLOSED
Bar Jack	37	34	94	9,116	8	467	9,756	49,021	ww	MRIP	20	CLOSED
Black grouper^a	67	183	10,833	9,031	52,135	14,205	86,454	165,750	ww	MRFSS	52	CLOSED
Blueline Tilefish^a	2,797	39,846	43,662	56,349	2,072	9,233	153,959	87,277	ww	MRIP	176	CLOSED
Cobia NY to GA*	0	0	311,255	151,626	16,471	0	479,352	620,000	as reported	MRIP	77	CLOSED 1/24/2017
Deepwater complex^b	4,406	829	2,955	9,265	1,973	1,246	20,674	38,628	ww	MRIP	54	CLOSED
Dolphin	37,260	430,073	1,613,687	1,221,903	483,231	94,183	3,830,337	########	ww	MRIP	28	CLOSED
Gag^a	0	41,726	13,195	13,281	35,118	10,797	114,117	331,902	gw	MRIP	34	CLOSED
Golden tilefish	372	409	9	879	77	0	1,746	3,019	numbers	MRFSS	58	CLOSED
Gray triggerfish	25,367	55,965	113,318	142,161	76,783	35,402	448,996	404,675	ww	MRIP	111	CLOSED
Grunts^c	78,904	59,275	58,495	104,371	36,130	59,246	396,421	618,122	ww	MRIP	64	CLOSED
Hogfish NC-GA	0	2	0	3	4	571	580	988	numbers	MRIP	59	CLOSED 8/24/2017
Hogfish FLK-EFL	3,137	10,224	4,574	12,721	443	4	31,104	15,689	numbers	MRIP	198	CLOSED
Jacks^d	6,551	24,630	65,881	121,328	12,635	18,342	249,367	267,799	ww	MRIP	93	CLOSED
Mutton snapper	110,422	214,347	63,424	48,096	17,608	40,669	494,566	768,857	ww	MRFSS	64	CLOSED
Porgies^a,e	8,680	12,231	11,899	20,632	6,456	9,773	70,671	106,914	ww	MRIP	66	CLOSED
Red Grouper^a	274	2,064	41,399	14,270	6,138	32,285	96,430	436,800	ww	MRFSS	22	CLOSED
Red Porgy^a	1,240	10,042	22,469	38,357	3,416	3,049	78,573	164,000	ww	MRIP	48	CLOSED
Scamp^a	258	331	9,694	76,417	7,010	2,486	96,196	116,369	ww	MRIP	83	CLOSED
Shallow water grouper^a,f	8	5	2,504	1,647	1,163	1,213	6,540	48,648	ww	MRIP	13	CLOSED
Snappers^g	137,209	150,984	98,158	525,469	39,325	64,493	1,015,638	1,169,308	ww	MRIP	87	CLOSED
Snowy Grouper^a	59	0	674	784	317	0	1,834	4,819	numbers	MRIP	38	CLOSED
Vermilion snapper	14,422	39,590	91,914	83,824	52,945	36,549	319,244	406,080	ww	MRIP	79	CLOSED
Wahoo	85,382	132,647	26,510	329,063	289,568	109,192	972,362	1,724,418	ww	MRIP	56	CLOSED
Wreckfish^a	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	20,710	WW	MRIP	0	CLOSED
Red Snapper**	3	0	1,171	281	4,428	8,387	14,270	29,656	numbers	MRFSS	48	See FB17-061* and FB17-071 for more information
Goliath grouper	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	0	ww	MRFSS	x	PROHIBITED
Nassau grouper	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	0	gw	MRFSS	x	PROHIBITED
Speckled hind	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	0	ww	MRFSS	x	PROHIBITED
Warsaw grouper	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	0	ww	MRFSS	x	PROHIBITED

Definitions: ww: pounds whole weight; gw: pounds gutted weight; numbers: number of fish

Recreational Dataset: The datasets used to monitor the recreational ACLs for some stocks were changed from MRFSS to the MRIP. The dataset to monitor the other stocks will be changed to MRIP in future amendments. Landings include MRIP or MRIP converted to MRFSS and headboat landings.

NOTES:

(a) There is a seasonal regulation in place; For a list of seasonal closures and harvest limitations, please visit South Atlantic Seasonal Closures and Harvest Limitations

(b) Deepwater Complex: yellowedge grouper, silk snapper, misty grouper, queen snapper, sand tilefish, blackfin snapper

(d) Jacks: Almaco jack, banded rudderfish, lesser amberjack

(e) Porgies: Jolthead, knobbed, saucereye, whitebone, scup

(f) Shallow Water Grouper: Red hind, rock hind, coney, graysby, yellowfin grouper, yellowmouth grouper

(g) Snappers: Gray, lane, cubera

*Cobia (Georgia to New York is closed for 2017, starting January 24. Please see FB17-004 for more information.

**Red snapper recreational sector reopened for harvest in South Atlantic federal waters at 12:01 a.m. (local time) on December 8, 2017, and closed 12:01 a.m. (local time) on December 11, 2017. During the three-day reopening, the recreational bag limit for red snapper was one fish per person per day with no minimum size limit. See FB17-071 for more information.

Preliminary 2017-2018 Landings* for Fishing Year: Varies (See Table)

*by Two-month Wave

Species Complex	Season	Mar-Apr	May-Jun	Jul-Aug	Sep-Oct	Nov-Dec	Jan-Feb	Total Reported	Annual Catch Limit	Units	Dataset	Percent of ACL	Current Status
Greater Amberjack	Mar 1 - Feb 28**	624,606	295,794	194,489	35,334	62,598	4,060	1,216,881	1,167,837	ww	MRFSS	104%	CLOSED 10/31/2017
King Mackerel	Mar 1 - Feb 28	283,705	476,610	799,701	143,724	232,284	23,369	1,959,393	9,900,000	ww	MRIP	20%	CLOSED
Spanish Mackerel	Mar 1 - Feb 28	49,210	228,484	223,472	119,234	106,221	244	726,865	2,727,000	ww	MRIP	27%	CLOSED

Species Complex

Season

Mar-Apr

May-Jun

Jul-Aug

Sep-Oct

Nov-Dec

Jan-Feb

Total Reported

Annual Catch Limit

Units

Dataset

Percent of ACL

Current Status

Greater Amberjack

Mar 1 - Feb 28**

624,606

295,794

194,489

35,334

62,598

4,060

1,216,881

1,167,837

MRFSS

104%

CLOSED

10/31/2017

King Mackerel

Mar 1 - Feb 28

283,705

476,610

799,701

143,724

232,284

23,369

1,959,393

9,900,000

MRIP

20%

CLOSED

Spanish Mackerel

Mar 1 - Feb 28

49,210

228,484

223,472

119,234

106,221

244

726,865

2,727,000

MRIP

27%

CLOSED

Species Complex	Season	Apr	May-Jun	Jul-Aug	Sep-Oct	Nov-Dec	Jan-Feb	Mar	Total Reported	Annual Catch Limit	Units	Dataset	Percent of ACL	Current Status
Black Sea Bass	Apr 1 - Mar 31**	37,512	80,136	52,760	38,341	19,854	6,309	13,423	248,335	1,001,177	ww	MRIP	25%	CLOSED

Species Complex	Season	August	Sep-Oct	Nov-Dec	Jan-Feb	Mar-Apr	May-Jun	Jul	Total Reported	Annual Catch Limit	Units	Dataset	Percent of ACL	Current Status
Yellowtail Snapper	Aug 1-Jul 31	48,017	64,843	86,566	64,037	110,315	75,210	58,880	507,867	1,440,990	ww	MRFSS	35%	CLOSED

*All Units are in pounds whole weight (ww). All landings include both MRFSS/MRIP and Headboat landings.

**Fishing seasons were modified in Regulatory Amendment 14 for black sea bass and greater amberjack. The fishing season for Yellowtail snapper was modified in Regulatory Amendment 25, which took effect on August 12, 2016.

Source: Southeast Fisheries Science Center, Quota Monitoring Program, Miami, Florida.

For additional information contact Mary Vara at 727-824-5305.

Return to the Southeast Region Annual Catch Limit Monitoring page

Last updated by Southeast Regional Office on 03/01/2019