Yesterday, NOAA and the National Marine Fisheries Service announced via the Federal Register the implementation of Amendment 5 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Dolphin and Wahoo Fishery Off the Atlantic States.

Amendment 5 revises the annual catch limit for commercial harvesting of dolphin and wahoo. The final rule will permit an increase from 1,065,524 pounds of dolphin to 1,157,001 pounds; for recreational anglers the total harvest will increase from 13,530,692 pounds to 14,187,845 pounds. However, the recreational increase is deemed negligible to the stock, thus individual limits will not be altered.

Wahoo limits will increase for commercial fishermen from 64,147 pounds to 70,542 pounds. For recreational anglers the total harvest limit will increase from 1,427,638 pounds to 1,724,418 pounds, but, as with dolphin, the individual take limits will not be increased.

Amendment 5 also includes new accountability measures and a pay-back clause should harvesting exceed the limits. Such measures would allow for shortened seasons or reduced catch allocations if the total annual catch limit is exceeded. The pay-back is also flexible to account for tolerable excessive catches if scientific data deems the excess within parameters of updated information.

Amendment 5 provides for modification to catch limits and season lengths for both commercial and recreational harvest should updated data  reveal a need for alteration.

FISH ON!

 

Dolphin, fish, Fishing, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, Wahoo

By Sid

---

---