Hearings Planned on Marine Protected Areas - Hearings Planned on Marine Protected Areas The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council is planning a series of public hearings in September regarding Amendment 14 to the Snapper Grouper Fishery Management Pla

Hearings Planned on Marine Protected Areas

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council is planning a series of public hearings in September regarding Amendment 14 to the Snapper Grouper Fishery Management Plan. Amendment 14 would establish a series of 8 marine protected areas (MPAs) in Federal waters off the South Atlantic to protect a portion of the population and habitat of long-lived, slow-growing, deepwater snapper and grouper species from directed fishing pressure. These species include snowy grouper, misty grouper, speckled hind, yellowedge grouper, warsaw grouper, golden tilefish, and blueline tilefish.

Fishing for and possessing snapper/grouper species would be prohibited in the designated areas, but fishermen would be allowed to troll for pelagic species such as tuna, mackerel, and billfish. Amendment 14 includes alternatives for the use of Vessel Monitoring Systems as an enforcement tool. Additionally, the Council intends to work closely with NOAA Fisheries' Highly Migratory Species Division to prohibit the use of bottom longlines by shark fishermen in the proposed MPAs.