2020 and 2019-2020 South Atlantic Recreational Landings

The Southeast Fisheries Science Center has provided the following 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: 5/17/2021

SEASONAL CLOSURES: South Atlantic Seasons and Closures
TRIP LIMITS AND BAG LIMITS: South Atlantic Fishery Management Council
FOR THE MOST CURRENT FEDERAL REGULATIONS: Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) part 622 - Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic
FOR OTHER FISHING YEARS:
- 2021 and 2020-2021 fishing years
- 2019 and 2018-2019 fishing years
- Historical Landings: Historical landings for the South Atlantic
FOR ALL LANDINGS: Southeast Region Annual Catch Limit Monitoring

Landings* for Fishing Year: January 1 - December 31, 2020

*by Two-month Wave

MRFSS, MRIP, and Headboat recreational landings available from January 1 through December 31, 2020.
The survey to estimate recreational landings has changed over the years. Details of the changes can be found at: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/topic/recreational-fishing-data
The different recreational surveys are listed in the tables as MRFSS, CHTS, and FES. MRFSS is the Marine Recreational Fishery Statistics Survey.
CHTS is the Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP) Coastal Household Telephone Survey, and FES is the MRIP Fishing Effort Survey.

Species Complex	Jan-Feb	Mar-Apr	May-Jun	Jul-Aug	Sep-Oct	Nov-Dec	Total Reported	Annual Catch Limit	Dataset	Units	Percent of ACL	Current Status
Atlantic spadefish	680	32	31,040	110,188	1,468	310	143,718	661,926	CHTS	ww	22%	CLOSED
Bar Jack	14	0	30	115	16	0	175	49,021	CHTS	ww	0%	CLOSED
Black grouper^a	113	145	19,452	880	18,480	41,570	80,640	165,750	MRFSS	ww	49%	CLOSED
Blueline Tilefish^a	0	1,026	36,312	340,284	0	14,631	392,253	116,820	CHTS	ww	336%	CLOSED
Cobia NY to GA	0	1,828	352,908	165,625	23,895	17	544,273	620,000	CHTS	as reported	88%	CLOSED
Deepwater complex^b	72	550	2,965	3,209	12,523	124	19,443	38,628	CHTS	ww	50%	CLOSED
Dolphin	8,465	220,386	1,405,198	594,737	256,887	67,670	2,553,343	13,810,361	CHTS	ww	18%	CLOSED
Gag^a	0	13	33,400	13,713	2,099	899	50,124	348,194	CHTS	gw	14%	CLOSED
Golden tilefish	1,810	0	921	60	0	103	2,894	2,316	CHTS	numbers	125%	CLOSED
Gray triggerfish	5,664	15,818	117,705	138,897	49,627	30,912	358,623	404,675	CHTS	ww	89%	CLOSED
Grunts^c	31,420	42,916	40,968	73,582	30,484	19,665	239,035	618,122	CHTS	ww	39%	CLOSED
Hogfish NC-GA	0	0	31	12	3	217	263	988	CHTS	numbers	27%	CLOSED
Hogfish FLK-EFL	0	0	14	384	288	2,374	3,060	18,617	CHTS	numbers	16%	CLOSED
Jacks^d	1,937	20,475	52,617	87,516	17,046	13,315	192,906	267,799	CHTS	ww	72%	CLOSED
Mutton snapper	83,155	3,001	10,410	5,638	5,785	18,042	126,031	127,115	CHTS	numbers	99%	CLOSED
Porgies^a,e	7,613	6,733	10,031	16,028	8,783	8,602	57,790	106,914	CHTS	ww	54%	CLOSED
Red Grouper^a,h	1,053	901	40,197	16,142	10,456	33,029	101,778	90,720	CHTS	ww	112%	CLOSED
Red Porgy^a	25	3,685	27,702	10,174	3,363	248	45,197	164,000	CHTS	ww	28%	CLOSED
Scamp^a	143	0	11,485	8,590	1,053	484	21,755	116,369	CHTS	ww	19%	CLOSED
Shallow water grouper^a,f	271	358	7,686	3,326	1,301	424	13,366	48,648	CHTS	ww	27%	CLOSED
Snappers^g	58,313	88,731	57,309	118,193	78,888	42,439	443,873	1,169,308	CHTS	ww	38%	CLOSED
Snowy Grouper^a	0	72	917	320	0	0	1,309	5,315	CHTS	numbers	25%	CLOSED
Vermilion snapper	3,098	29,097	88,313	169,093	36,395	14,237	340,233	406,080	CHTS	ww	84%	CLOSED
Wahoo	1,202	18,308	54,628	177,174	136,412	15,235	402,959	1,724,418	CHTS	ww	23%	CLOSED
Wreckfish^a	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	20,315	CHTS	ww	0%	CLOSED
Red Snapper**	0	0	0	42,772	0	0	42,772	29,656	CHTS	numbers	144%	CLOSED
Goliath grouper	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	0	MRFSS	ww	x	PROHIBITED
Nassau grouper	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	0	MRFSS	gw	x	PROHIBITED
Speckled hind	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	0	MRFSS	ww	x	PROHIBITED
Warsaw grouper	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	0	MRFSS	ww	x	PROHIBITED

Landings* for 2019-2020 Fishing Year: Season 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 29**	323,212	307,645	192,845	2,617	36,563	72,286	935,168	1,167,837	ww	MRFSS	80%	CLOSED
King Mackerel	Mar 1 - Feb 29**	230,473	887,124	1,216,168	139,743	77,830	77,501	2,628,839	8,000,000	As reported	CHTS	33%	CLOSED
Spanish Mackerel	Mar 1 - Feb 29**	155,993	505,372	431,209	133,554	12,575	392,268	1,630,971	2,727,000	As reported	CHTS	60%	CLOSED

Species Complex	Season	August	Sep-Oct	Nov-Dec	Jan-Feb	Mar-Apr	May-Jun	Jul	Total Reported	Annual Catch Limit (ww)	Dataset	Percent of ACL	Current Status
Yellowtail Snapper	Aug 1-Jul 31**	29,637	17,364	63,349	204,885	30,088	112,331	35,078	492,732	1,440,990	MRFSS	34%	CLOSED

Species Complex	Season	Apr	May-Jun	Jul-Aug	Sep-Oct	Nov-Dec	Jan-Feb	Mar	Total Reported	Annual Catch Limit (ww)	Dataset	Percent of ACL	Current Status
Black Sea Bass	Apr 1 - Mar 31**	19,399	59,863	60,791	9,584	9,881	6,222	4,455	170,195	433,200	CHTS	39%	CLOSED

*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.

Definitions

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

Recreational Dataset: All landings are MRIP, except the following species are MRFSS: Black grouper, Red snapper, Goliath grouper, Nassau grouper, Speckled hind, and Warsaw grouper. 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

(h) The red grouper recreational ACL was exceeded but the majority of these landings came north of Key West (Gulf of Mexico region). These Key West red grouper landings were not applied to the South Atlantic ACL and there is no closure at this time.

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 02/16/2022