Gulf Menhaden Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico a Regional Management Plan
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The Gulf Menhaden Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico A Regional Management Plan Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission 2015 Revision March 2015 Number 240 Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission Commissioners and Proxies ALABAMA N. Gunter Guy Jr., Commissioner Senator R.L. “Bret” Allain, II Alabama Department of Conservation State of Louisiana and Natural Resources District 21 64 North Union Street 600 Main Street, Suite 1 Montgomery, AL 36130-1901 Franklin, LA 70538 Proxy: Chris Blankenship, Director Campo “Camp” Matens ADCNR, Marine Resources Division 4554 Emory Avenue P.O. Drawer 458 Baton Rouge, LA 70808 Gulf Shores, AL 36547 MISSISSIPPI Representative Steve McMillan Jamie Miller, Executive Director P.O. Box 337 Mississippi Department of Marine Resources Bay Minette, AL 36507 1141 Bayview Avenue Biloxi, MS 39530 Chris Nelson Proxy: Bon Secour Fisheries, Inc. Kelly Lucas, Chief Scientific Officer P.O. Box 60 Mississippi Department of Marine Resources Bon Secour, AL 36511 1141 Bayview Avenue Biloxi, MS 39530 FLORIDA Nick Wiley, Executive Director Senator Brice Wiggins Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission 1501 Roswell St 620 South Meridian Street Pascagoula, MS 39581 Tallahassee, FL 32399-1600 Proxy: Joe Gill, Jr. Dan Ellinor Joe Gill Consulting, LLC FWC Division of Marine Fisheries P.O. Box 535 620 South Meridian Street Ocean Springs, MS 39566-0535 Tallahassee, FL 32399-1600 TEXAS Senator Thad Altman Carter Smith, Executive Director State Senator, District 24 Texas Parks and Wildlife Department 6767 North Wickham Road, Suite 211 4200 Smith School Road Melbourne, FL 32940 Austin, TX 78744 Proxy Michael Hansen Lance Robinson, Deputy Division Director 393 Cooperwood Road Coastal Fisheries Division Crawfordville, FL 32327 Texas Parks and Wildlife Department 4200 Smith School Road LOUISIANA Austin, TX 78744 Robert Barham, Secretary Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Troy Bello Williamson, II P.O. Box 98000 P.O. 967 Baton Rouge, LA 70898-9000 Corpus Christi, TX 78403 Proxy: Randy Pausina, Assistant Secretary for Fisheries Texas Legislative Representative - TBD Louisiana Dept. of Wildlife and Fisheries P.O. Box 98000 Baton Rouge, LA 70898-9000 THE MENHADEN FISHERY OF THE GULF OF MEXICO, UNITED STATES: A Regional Management Plan 2015 Revision edited by Steven J. VanderKooy and Joseph W. Smith published by Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission 2404 Government Street Ocean Springs, Mississippi 39564 March 2015 Number 240 A publication of the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission pursuant to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Award Number NA10NMF4070006. This publication is funded by a grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The views expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of NOAA or any of its sub-agencies. i State-Federal Fisheries Management Committee Menhaden Advisory Committee Ron Lukens, Senior Fisheries Biologist Matt Hill Omega Protein Inc. Mississippi Department of Marine 27716 NW 182nd Avenue Resources High Springs, FL 32643 1141 Bayview Avenue Biloxi, MS 39530 W. Borden Wallace Daybrook Fisheries, Inc. John Mareska P.O. Box 128 Alabama Department of Conservation Empire, LA 70050 and Natural Resources/Marine Resources Division Rick Schillaci P.O. Box 189 Menhaden Advisory Council for the Gulf Dauphin Island, AL 36528 of Mexico 5659 Elder Perry Road Behzad Mahmoudi and Joseph O’Hop Moss Point, MS 39562 Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Jerry Mambretti Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute Texas Parks and Wildlife Department 100 Eighth Avenue, SE 601 Channelview Drive St. Petersburg, FL 33701 Port Arthur, TX 77640 Joseph W. Smith Harry Blanchet NOAA Fisheries Louisiana Department of Wildlife and NOAA Beaufort Laboratory Fisheries 101 Pivers Island Road P.O. Box 98000 Beaufort, NC 28516 Baton Rouge, LA 70898-9000 Staff David M. Donaldson Executive Director Steven J. VanderKooy Debora K. McIntyre Program Coordinator IJF Staff Assistant ii Abbreviations and Symbols ADCNR/MRD Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources/Marine Resources Division BRD bycatch reduction device ̊C degrees Celsius DO dissolved oxygen EEZ exclusive economic zone FFWCC/FMRI Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission/Florida Marine Research Institute FMP fishery management plan ft feet g gram GMFMC Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council GSMFC Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission hr(s) hour(s) ha hectare IJF interjurisdictional fisheries kg kilogram km kilometer lbs pounds LDWF Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries m meter mm millimeters min(s) minute(s) MDMR Mississippi Department of Marine Resources MRFSS Marine Recreational Fisheries Statistical Survey MSY Maximum Sustainable Yield mt metric ton n number NMFS National Marine Fisheries Service ppm parts per million ppt parts per thousand PPI producer price index SD standard deviation SE standard error sec(s) second(s) SL standard length SSB Spawning Stock Biomass S-FFMC State-Federal Fisheries Management Committee TCC Technical Coordinating Committee TED turtle exclusion device TL total length TPWD Texas Parks and Wildlife Department TTF technical task force TTS Texas Territorial Sea TW total weight USDOC United States Department of Commerce USEPA United States Environmental Protection Agency USFWS United States Fish and Wildlife Service USGS United States Geological Survey YOY young-of-the-year iii Preface The Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission (GSMFC) was established by a Compact under Public Law 81-66 approved May 19, 1949. Its charge was to promote the better management and utilization of marine resources in the Gulf of Mexico. The GSMFC is composed of three members from each of the five Gulf States. The head of the marine resource agency of each state is an ex officio member. The second is a member of the legislature. The third is a governor-appointed citizen with knowledge of or interest in marine fisheries. The offices of the chairman and vice chairmen are rotated annually from state to state. The GSMFC is empowered to recommend to the governor and legislature of the respective states action on programs helpful to the management of marine fisheries; however, the states do not relinquish any of their rights or responsibilities in regulating their own fisheries by being members of the Commission. One of the most important functions of the GSMFC is to serve as a forum for the discussion of various problems and needs of marine management authorities, the commercial and recreational industries, researchers, and others. The GSMFC also plays a key role in the implementation of the Interjurisdictional Fisheries (IJF) Act. Paramount to this role are the GSMFC’s activities to develop and maintain regional fishery management plans (FMPs) and profiles for important Gulf species. The menhaden fishery management plan is a cooperative planning effort of the five Gulf States under the IJF Act. Various members of the Menhaden Advisory Committee (MAC) contributed to this effort by drafting and/or reviewing assigned sections. In addition, all members contributed their expertise to discussions that resulted in revisions and led to the final draft of the revised plan. The GSMFC made all necessary arrangements for meetings and workshops to develop the plan. Under contract with the NMFS, the GSMFC funded travel for state agency representatives and consultants other than federal employees. While drafting the FMP, several data confidentiality issues came to the fore. After 1997, the reduction fishery downsized from three companies to only two (Omega Protein Corp. and Daybrook Fisheries, Inc.). With less than three entities in the fishery, the landings and catch/effort data became confidential; simply put, with landings consisting of only two companies, Company A could easily determine Company B’s landings by subtraction. A similar situation has existed in the menhaden bait fishery for a number of years as well. Most federal agencies are required to protect individually identifiable data by a variety of statutes, regulations, or policies. Disclosure restrictions are applied by the agencies to limit the risk of releasing individual information when statistics are disseminated. Confidential data include detailed proprietary information provided by firms and individuals, as well as personal-identifying information and business-identifying information. Confidentiality prevents unfair competitive advantage by the disclosure of sales statistics, marketing plans, profit and loss data, overhead and operating costs, and information on iv financial condition. These rules apply to the Departments of Commerce, Agriculture, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Justice, Labor, Transportation, Treasury, the National Science Foundation, and the Social Security Administration (OMB 2005). NOAA (Department of Commerce) utilizes the ‘rule of three’ in determining confidential status under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA). If there are less than three entities operating in any fishery at a local, state, or regional level, those data derived from those entities must be included in aggregate at a level that will not compromise individual confidentiality. In other words, if one state has confidential landings, it must be combined with the whole region to prevent disclosure. Disclosure of confidential landings data is subject to the civil and criminal penalties. NOAA Administrative Order (NOA) 216-100 is the principal legal guidance