

FAQs for Amendment 40 to the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Fishery Management Plan regarding sector separation - April 2014
Amendment 40 establishes a separate federally permitted for-hire and private angling component within the Gulf of Mexico (Gulf) recreational sector fishing for red snapper.
It allocates the red snapper recreational quota into a federally permitted for-hire subquota and a private angling sub-quota.
It establishes separate red snapper annual catch targets and season closure provisions for the federal for-hire and private angling components.
It sunsets the federal for-hire and private angling components and associated management measures after three years.
The rule is final and becomes effective May 22, in time for the 2015 federal recreational fishing season, which starts June 1.
It sunsets after three years.
The federal for-hire component is comprised of all for-hire operators with a valid or renewable federal reef fish charter vessel/headboat permit.
Harvesting red snapper in the federal for-hire component would be done by anglers using federal for-hire vessels. The captain and crew of these vessels are not allowed to retain a red snapper bag limit. Definitions Annual catch target is the acceptable level of landings that provide a buffer, if needed, for management uncertainty. Accountability measures are actions taken if the annual catch limit or quota is exceeded.
The private angling component is comprised of private recreational anglers and other for-hire operators who do not have a federal reef fish charter vessel/headboat permit.
The Council recommended this action to NOAA Fisheries
The Council looked at landings from past years for each component.
They selected an alternative that used a historical time series of landings from 1986-2013 and combined it with a more current time series from 2006-2013.
The resulting allocation was 42.3% of the recreational quota and annual catch target going to the federal for-hire component and 57.7% of the quota and annual catch target going to the private angling component.
This approach has been used by the Council for setting the allocations for other species (e.g., the jurisdictional apportionment of black grouper and yellowtail snapper resources between the Gulf and South Atlantic Fishery Management Councils).
The length of the federal for-hire and private angling seasons will be announced before June 1, 2015, in a final rule that increases the recreational quota.
The season length for the different components will differ from each other.
Federally permitted reef fish for-hire vessel operators can only allow their customers to harvest red snapper in state waters when the federal season is open and cannot take advantage of extended state fishing seasons.
Unlike the federal for-hire component, private anglers and state-permitted for-hire operators can continue to harvest red snapper in state waters during extended state fishing seasons.
The federal season for the private angling component would be reduced to account for fish caught in state waters during the extended state seasons.
If federal and state seasons were compatible, the federal private angling component’s season would be longer in federal waters.
At this time, it is unknown how long the federal for-hire and private angling seasons will last under the proposed measures.
Preliminary projections indicate the private angling component’s season in federal waters between 7 and 11 days and the federal for-hire season between 40 and 46 days.
Season lengths cannot be projected until the final rule to increase the 2015-2017 commercial and recreational quotas is published.
For both components, the season begins on June 1.
The season length will be projected from each component’s annual catch target. What happens if one component exceeds its catch limit and the other one does not?
As long as the total recreational quota (the sum of the federal for-hire and private angling sub-quotas) is not exceeded, nothing will happen.
If the total recreational red snapper quota is exceeded, an overage adjustment will be applied for the following fishing year.
The overage adjustment, a type of accountability measure, will deduct the amount of the overage from the following year’s total recreational quota unless scientific information allows for a different amount.
Both the federal for-hire and private angler component sub-quotas would then be calculated based on the adjusted recreational quota.
If, in any fishing year, one component exceeds its quota to a point that the total recreational quota had been met or exceeded, and the other component was still fishing under its projected season, both components would be closed immediately as a result of Section 407(d) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.
No. The Council continues to work on Amendment 39 to the Reef Fish Fishery Management Plan.
Amendment 39 evaluates different ways the states can regionally manage red snapper in both state and federal waters.
Amendment 39 is more commonly called “Regional Management.”
No. Commercial red snapper fishing is managed under a separate quota and under an individual fishing quota program.
You may obtain electronic copies of Amendment 40 and the final rule from the NOAA Fisheries Web site: http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/sustainable_fisheries/gulf_fisheries/reef_fish/2013/am4 0/index.html
Information on recreational red snapper accountability measures can be found at: http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/sustainable_fisheries/gulf_fisheries/reef_fish/2014/rs_a m_framework/index.html.
Information on the framework action to modify the quotas for red snapper in the Gulf (2015-2017+) can be found at: http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/sustainable_fisheries/gulf_fisheries/reef_fish/2015/rs_fr amework_quota/index.html
An overview on red snapper recreational management in the Gulf of Mexico can be found at: http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/sustainable_fisheries/gulf_fisheries/red_snapper/index. html
Annual catch target is the acceptable level of landings that provide a buffer, if needed, for management uncertainty.
Accountability measures are actions taken if the annual catch limit or quota is exceeded.