NOAA Announces Yet Another Closure–”The Edges”
In what is simply the rubber stamping of a rule we all knew was coming, NOAA has published the “Final Rule” implementing the new regulations closing the area apparently henceforth to be known as “The Edges” from January 1 to April 30th annually.
Touted as another way to protect “gag and other groupers” during spawning, the closure applies to all commercial and recreational fishing. The area, while a popular and productive area for many commercial fishermen targeting gags, is rarely fished by recreational fishermen, meaning the rule is mostly going to affect those commercial fishermen working in the northern end of the Gulf of Mexico who target the higher priced gag grouper.
In fairness, the rule is supported by a few commercial fishermen and in fact is a modification of a plan originally put forth and spoken for by a commercial fishing boat owner. However, in what is possibly coincidence, those fishermen who support the rule as well as the boat owner who proposed it, don’t seem to be fishermen who ever venture far enough offshore to fish the newly closed and historically extremely productive area. Imagine that.
Gag grouper catches have not dropped off and area closures have never been proven to actually work, making this another selective stab in the dark at trying to fix something that most likely is not even broken using unproven methodology that is going to be one more harmful blow to a segment of he commercial fishery NMFS already has on the ropes.
In other words: Business as usual.
