NOAA Fisheries approved new criteria to inform Gulf of Mexico reef fish and red drum management, changing Amendments 48 and 5 for the respective fishery management plans.

Earlier this year NOAA Fisheries requested comments on new criteria used to inform Gulf of Mexico reef fish and red drum management. On March 2022, announcing the request, the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council recommended these criteria changes for two amendments, Amendment 48 to the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Reef Fish Resources of the Gulf of Mexico and Amendment 5 to the FMP for the Red Drum Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico (Amendments 48/5).

According to NOAA Fisheries, “Amendment 48 to the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Reef Fish Resources of the Gulf of Mexico and Amendment 5 to the FMP for the Red Drum Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico (Amendments 48/5) were developed to establish or modify maximum sustainable yield (MSY) proxies, overfishing and overfished determination criteria called maximum fishing mortality thresholds (MFMTs), and minimum stock size thresholds (MSSTs), respectively, and optimum yield (OY) for some reef fish species and red drum.”   

Plans and regulations are reviewed annually 

The agency adds that “Status determination criteria are the MSY, MFMT, and MSST and are measurable and objective values or proxies that are used to determine if overfishing has occurred, or if the stock or stock complex is overfished. Overfishing means too many fish are being harvested from a population and overfished means that the population is too low.” Follow the link to download a Status Determination Criteria Infographic published by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council.

Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Plans provide the basis for management of fishery resources in the Gulf of Mexico’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). A plan, or amendment to a plan, regulates the amount of fish that are harvested in order to maintain the best interest of the people of the United States. Implemented plans and regulations are reviewed annually and may be updated or modified after public review to accommodate changing conditions and needs.

The comment period for the recent notice of availability was open until May 9, 2022, and now the new criteria for the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish and Red Drum management is announced. This amendment modifies status determination criteria for reef fish species with undefined criteria and for red drum. Here is a summary of criteria changes as published by NOAA Fisheries:

• The amendments change maximum sustainable yield values or proxies used to determine if overfishing has occurred, or if the stock or stock complex is overfished.
• Overfishing means too many fish are being harvested from a population.
• Overfished means that the population is too low.
• Gulf of Mexico reef fish stocks and stock complexes affected by this action are: cubera snapper, lane snapper, mutton snapper, yellowtail snapper, hogfish, black grouper, goliath grouper, shallow-water grouper complex, deep-water grouper complex, tilefish complex, jacks complex, and mid-water snapper complex. 

Follow the link to download the document and read the final rule on Amendments 48/5 that affect Reef Fish and Red Drum Fisheries of the Gulf of Mexico.