South Atlantic Fishery Management Council Mulls Over Changes to Dolphin Allocation
The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (SAFMC) is considering new management options to Amendment 10 on the Dolphin Wahoo Fishery Management Plan. The amendment offers an opportunity to modify the management strategy for dolphin that would ensure healthy population levels. Central to protecting dolphin is the restriction of pelagic longline gear by not authorizing the fishery an allocation.
Overfishing of dolphin becomes a concern if pelagic longline gear continues landing the popular species. Longline fishing, should it persist, would negatively impact not only recreational fishing, but also other associated species and related businesses. In Florida, over half a million recreational trips were made to target dolphin within one year, which generated economic returns to businesses, jobs and to the state.
Before the SAFMC is faced with overfished stocks and economicly depressed businesses, some equity in fishing opportunities and allocations is needed now.
The recreational fishing community is calling for the SAFMC to adopt a gear-based allocation strategy for dolphin that prohibits pelagic longline gear from receiving an allocation, a crucial measure that anglers by and large believe should be approved in Amendment 10.