South Atlantic Snapper Grouper SAFE REPORT October 12, 2012 1 DRAFT 1. Snapper Grouper Management Unit ........................................................................................ 1 2. Fisheries Overview .................................................................................................................. 5 3. Management Overview ............................................................................................................ 7 3.1. Management History ........................................................................................................ 7 3.2. Current Objectives ............................................................................................................ 9 3.3. Fishing years .................................................................................................................... 9 3.4. Management Specifications ............................................................................................. 9 3.5. Regulations ..................................................................................................................... 23 3.6. Management Program Evaluation .................................................................................. 24 4. Stock Status ........................................................................................................................... 30 4.1. Status of the Stocks ........................................................................................................ 30 4.2. Assessments ................................................................................................................... 31 5. Fishery sampling.................................................................................................................... 32 6. Social and Economic information ......................................................................................... 34 7. Individual Species and Species Complex Information .......................................................... 39 7.1. Atlantic Spadefish .......................................................................................................... 42 7.2. Black Grouper ................................................................................................................ 43 7.3. Black Sea Bass ............................................................................................................... 44 7.4. Blue Runner .................................................................................................................... 49 7.5. Gag Grouper ................................................................................................................... 50 7.6. Golden Tilefish ............................................................................................................... 53 7.7. Gray Triggerfish ............................................................................................................. 56 7.8. Greater Amberjack ......................................................................................................... 57 7.9. Hogfish ........................................................................................................................... 59 7.10. Mutton Snapper .......................................................................................................... 60 7.11. Red Grouper ............................................................................................................... 61 7.12. Red Porgy ................................................................................................................... 64 7.13. Red Snapper ................................................................................................................ 67 7.14. Scamp ......................................................................................................................... 69 7.15. Snowy Grouper ........................................................................................................... 72 7.16. Speckled Hind............................................................................................................. 75 7.17. Vermilion Snapper ...................................................................................................... 77 7.18. Yellowtail Snapper ..................................................................................................... 79 7.19. Deepwater Grouper and Tilefish Complex ................................................................. 80 DRAFT 7.20. Jacks Complex ............................................................................................................ 82 7.21. Snappers Complex ...................................................................................................... 83 7.22. Grunts Complex .......................................................................................................... 84 7.23. Shallow Water Complex ............................................................................................. 86 7.24. Porgy Complex ........................................................................................................... 87 DRAFT List of Tables Table 1. Species in the Snapper Grouper FMP. ............................................................................. 2 Table 2. Snapper Grouper Species Ecosystem Attributes .............................................................. 3 Table 3. Summary of Snapper Grouper FMP major regulatory amendments (RA) and plan amendments (A). .............................................................................................................. 7 Table 4. OFL, ABC, and 2011 Landings Comparison. ................................................................ 10 Table 5. Commercial and recreational ACLs for snapper-grouper species in the fishery management unit. ........................................................................................................... 13 Table 6. Table 4-46 from Comprehensive ACL Amendment. Black grouper landings and discard projections (lbs whole weight) for 2011-2015. (Source: OFL projections table A3.3.4.17 of the final SEDAR 19 stock assessment report and ABC projections, R. Muller, FL F ................................................................................................................... 14 Table 7. Table 4-48 from Comprehensive ACL Amendment. ABCs (lbs whole weight) for South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico by year using jurisdiction allocations specified in the preferred alternative. The ABC for the South Atlantic in 2012 is 245,595 lbs ww. ..... 14 Table 8. Table 4-51 from the Comprehensive ACL Amendment. Commercial and recreational ACLs by year based on commercial (36.88%) and recreational (63.12%) allocations specified in the preferred alternative. ............................................................................. 15 Table 9. Table 4-63 from the Comprehensive ACL Amendment. OFL and ABC Recommendations from Gulf Council’s SSC. ............................................................... 15 Table 10. Table 4-64 from the Comprehensive ACL Amendment. Mutton snapper ABC (landed catch pounds ww) in Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic based on jurisdictional allocation alternatives. ................................................................................................... 15 Table 11. Table 4-65 from the Comprehensive ACL Amendment. Mutton snapper values (lbs whole weight) for OFL, ABC, ACL (commercial and recreational sectors combined), commercial ACL, recreational ACL, and recreational ACT based on preferred alternative of ABC = ...................................................................................................... 16 Table 12. Table 4-60a from the Comprehensive ACL Amendment. Values for ABC (lbs whole weight) for South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico using jurisdiction allocations specified in Alternatives 4 based on recommended ABC of 2,898,500 lbs whole weight for Gulf of Mex ............................................................................................................................ 16 Table 13. Table 4-60b from the Comprehensive ACL Amendment. Values for ACL (lbs whole weight; commercial and recreational sectors combined), commercial ACL, recreational, and recreational ACT based on preferred alternative of ABC = 2,173,875 lbs whole weight fo ........................................................................................................................ 17 Table 14. Snapper grouper commercial permits and snapper grouper dealer permits by county and state. ........................................................................................................................ 35 Table 15. Federal snapper grouper charter permits in the South Atlantic region. ........................ 37 DRAFT List of Figures Figure 1. Jurisdictional boundaries of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council ............. 1 Figure 2. Total Snapper Grouper FMP Landings by Sector, 1986-2011. ...................................... 5 Figure 3. Summary of TIP sampling intensity for otoliths, lengths, and trips. ............................. 33 Figure 4. Total economic value of South Atlantic Snapper Grouper commercial landings by state 1986-2011. .................................................................................................................................... 34 Figure 5. The top eleven South Atlantic communities ranked by Pounds and Value Regional Quotient (RQ) of