SOUTH ATLANTIC FISHERY MANAGEMENT COUNCIL SNAPPER GROUPER COMMITTEE Bahia Mar Doubletree by Hilton Fort Lauderdale, Florida June 12-13, 2018 SUMMARY MINUTES Snapper Grouper Committee Members Jessica McCawley, Chair Mel Bell, Vice-Chair Anna Beckwith Zack Bowen Chester Brewer Mark Brown Chris Conklin Dr. Roy Crabtree Dr. Michelle Duval Tim Griner Ben Hartig Doug Haymans Charlie Phillips Tony DiLernia Dewey Hemilright Council Staff Gregg Waugh John Carmichael Dr. Brian Cheuvront Myra Brouwer Kimberly Cole Dr. Chip Collier Mike Collins Dr. Mike Errigo John Hadley Kim Iverson Roger Pugliese Cameron Rhodes Amber Von Harten Christina Wiegand Observers and Participants Monica Smit-Brunello Dale Diaz Dewey Hemilright Erika Burgess Dr. Jack McGovern Dr. Erik Williams Dr. George Sedberry Karla Gore Frank Heils Mary Vera Dr. Clay Porch David Moss Shep Grimes Nik Mehta Dr. Jessica Stephen Steve Murphey Dr. Marcel Reichert Dr. Luiz Barbieri Karen Raine Tracey Dunn Stacey Weinstock Lt. Warren Fair Brendan Runde Rick DeVictor Other observers and participants attached. Snapper Grouper Committee June 12-13, 2018 Fort Lauderdale, FL The Snapper Grouper Committee of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council convened at the Bahia Mar Doubletree by Hilton, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Tuesday morning, June 12, 2018, and was called to order by Chairman Jessica McCawley. MS. MCCAWLEY: Let me start by reading the members of the committee. It’s myself, Mel Bell, Anna Beckwith, Zack Bowen, Chester Brewer, Mark Brown, Chris Conklin, Roy Crabtree, Tim Griner, Ben Hartig, Doug Haymans, our Coast Guard rep, Charlie Phillips, and Mid-Atlantic liaison Tony DiLernia, and we have Dewey as well, I believe, down there. DR. DUVAL: A point of order, Madam Chairman. I am also a member of the committee. MS. MCCAWLEY: Yes, thank you. You weren’t on the list. It was somehow left off the agenda, but, yes, and, thanks, Michelle. All right, and so the first order of business is Approval of the Agenda. Are there any additions or modifications to the agenda? Any objections to approval of the agenda? Seeing none, the agenda stands approved. The next order of business is Approval of the March Minutes. Any changes or modifications for the March minutes? Any objection to approval of the March minutes? Seeing none, the minutes stand approved. The next order of business is the Status of the Commercial and Recreational Catches Versus Quotas for Species Under ACLs, and I’m not sure who exactly is giving us that. Is it Rick? Okay. Thanks. MR. DEVICTOR: Good morning, Madam Chair. Yes, I will go through the commercial landings, as I normally do, for snapper grouper species, and then Dr. Stephen will come up here and give a presentation on recreational landings. This is Tab 8, Attachment 1a in your briefing materials for the Snapper Grouper Committee, and what was in your briefing material were commercial landings through May 14, and what is shown on your screen there are more updated landings, and these are through June 4. I will go through some of the species, and you can also see, on the right-hand side, the right-hand column, you can see where the 2017 final landings are, and you can also compare to where we were to the same time last year, June 5, 2017. Starting off with black sea bass, we are at 25 percent of the current ACL. Around the same time last year, we were at 30 percent. Blueline tilefish, we are currently about halfway to the ACL, or we’re over halfway to the ACL, 54 percent. Around the same time last year, it was 75 percent, and we closed down on July 18 of last year for blueline tilefish. Golden tilefish, we show the hook-and-line component and the longline component and the interim rule values, of course, that are in place now, and you will be talking about Regulatory Amendment 28 to put in the ACLs after the interim rule expires. For the hook-and-line component, we are at 77 percent of the interim rule quota, and, for the longline component, we closed down on March 25. Moving down to gray triggerfish, that’s a split season, and we are closing down tomorrow, June 13, and we sent out a Fishery Bulletin for that, announcing that commercial closure. Last year, it did not close in the first season. It ended up at 88 percent. Jacks are at 50 percent. Last year, 57 2 Snapper Grouper Committee June 12-13, 2018 Fort Lauderdale, FL percent was where we were at. Red grouper, you sent us Abbreviated Framework 1, and that lowered the ACL for red grouper to 61,160 for that. Red snapper, you can see the proposed ACL that you put through in Amendment 43 that you sent us, and we’ll talk about that in a moment. Then you can see where we ended up with red snapper, on the right-hand side there, at 71 percent. Of course, that was around a two-month closure that we had at the end of last year. Snowy grouper is at 82 percent. Last year, around the same time, we were at 88 percent, and it closed down on June 22. Moving on to the second page, greater amberjack, and this is a start date of March 1, and we were at 32 percent for that, and, last year, we were at 49 percent. Vermilion snapper, that’s a split season, and the trip limit was reduced, and we were at 86 percent as of June 4, and so there’s a good chance that that could make it through June. Yellowtail snapper is the final species I will go over, and that’s an August 1 start date, and that did close on June 5, because the ACL was reached, and that concludes my report. Thank you. MS. MCCAWLEY: Thank you, and so who is going to give us the recreational catches? DR. STEPHEN: All right, and so I’m going to give the recreational landings for the snapper grouper. Just some notes on the landings before we get into the actual values. The landings are summarized using the MRIP and MRFSS data, depending on how the ACL was calculated for each stock. Our landings estimates were updated to be consistent with ACL monitoring, and they include data through Wave 6 of 2017. The stocks that were monitored with the MRFSS data only have preliminary landings for 2017. We didn’t receive the MRFSS file until late last night, and so we didn’t have a chance to update and look at that, although we are updated for the MRIP landings. They are considered final through 2017. All of our landings include both MRFSS and MRIP as well as headboat landings. Let’s start with 2016 landings, and I want to just point out the stocks that did go over the ACL. We have blueline tilefish at 197 percent, and we closed it on 9/1/2016. Golden tilefish, and that’s in numbers, was at 431 percent, and that closed on 8/27, and hogfish was at 140 percent, and that closed on 11/30. Continuing on with the 2016 landings, the porgies exceeded the ACL at 131 percent, and we closed those down on 9/3. Snowy grouper exceeded the landings at 217 percent, and that closed down on 9/1. Moving on to the 2017 landings, again we had a couple of stocks that exceeded the ACL. Blueline tilefish was at 289 percent, and gray triggerfish was at 111 percent, and the hogfish in the Florida Keys and east Florida region were at 198 percent. Here’s the rest of the 2017, and none of these stocks exceeded the ACL. Then, for those with the split season fishing years, we had greater amberjack that was at 103 percent for the 2015/2016 season, and, for the 2016/2017 fishing years, greater amberjack was at 107 percent. In the 2017/2018, we had greater amberjack at 104 percent, and we closed on 10/31. Now we’re going to go into those slides that show the individual species, and I’m just going to let you guys take a look at it here as I go through it. This is black sea bass landings through the 2016/2017 fishing year, and this is the graphic of the different types of landings based on the charter, headboat, and private angler proportions. The dashed line represents the ACL. This is 3 Snapper Grouper Committee June 12-13, 2018 Fort Lauderdale, FL gag grouper recreational landings through 2017, and, again, the proportions by the different sectors. This is greater amberjack landings through 2017/2018. You can see here that the greater amberjack landings slightly exceeded the ACL for the last three years. This is mutton snapper landings through 2017. This is yellowtail snapper landings. Red porgy landings through 2017. Vermilion snapper landings through 2017. This is snowy grouper landings up through 2017. Here, it is the dots instead of the dashes that represent the ACLs. This is golden tilefish in numbers through 2017. This is scamp landings, and, at this point, I will take any questions, and I can go back to any slide that anyone has interest in seeing again. MS. MCCAWLEY: Or if anybody has any questions for Rick on the commercial landings. We will take questions on both of those. DR. DUVAL: My question is for Jessica on the recreational landings. We exceeded the blueline tilefish recreational ACL by a pretty significant percentage, and, when I look on the monitoring website on the Regional Office homepage, it indicates that, in Wave 2, there were over 150,000 pounds of blueline tilefish landed, and do you know where those landings were coming from? DR.