The Gulf Council is meeting today through Thursday in Bay St. Louis Mississippi at the Hollywood Casino and the future of the bottom longline fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico is one of the pivotal points to be addressed. There are other very important issues that will be taken up, aquaculture proposals for the Gulf of Mexico and Final decisions on Amendment 29 (IFQs), but none may be of greater importance to all Gulf Fishermen than the Longline vs. Sea Turtle issue. If the bottom longline industry is closed down or severely restricted in their ability to target red grouper, the value of everyone’s future stake in the fishery, IFQ shares or whatever it may be, may be negatively impacted to a huge degree.
Our S.O.F.A. representatives will be in attendance, as will people from GFA and other fishery groups, and we will bring you any news coming from the meetings as soon as we get it. In the meantime, if you are anywhere near Bay St. Louis, MI and can make it there to speak up, it would be a very good idea.