Some of the most amazing species on Earth are here under the water.
Take, for example, hogfish, which can convert from female to male when they are about 3 years old.
According to Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) biological scientist Jeff
Unimpeded in nature, this would result in healthy fish populations. In reality, the critters are drastically overfished. That's why the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (SAFMC) and the FWC have been holding community meetings to discuss proposals related to hogfish, mutton snapper, king mackerel, and even reporting requirements for commercial fishermen. Monday night at the Hilton Garden Inn in Dania Beach, a handful of fishermen and fishery reps met to discuss potential rule changes. Other meetings were held elsewhere in the state this week.
Let' s start with the hogfish.
Hogfish in Florida and the Florida Keys are genetically different than hogfish in Georgia and the Carolinas. This segregation will result in different rules for each area. The average hogfish landed in Florida is a mere 1.85 pounds, where the average hogfish up north is 10.6 pounds. Nearly all hogfish are taken by spearfishermen. (Side note: There is currently a move to ban scuba divers from spearfishing.)
In healthy ecosystems, female-to-male conversion and spawning start when the fish are approximately 15 inches. This means that a legal 12-inch hogfish is unlikely to have had an opportunity to replace itself in the ecosystem by reproducing at all, let alone enough to replenish or grow the stock. In areas of high fishing pressure, hogfish can start converting at as small as 11 or 12 inches. This explains the presence of 11- and 12-inch male hogfish frequently seen in the Keys and in South Florida.
Male
Once a super male is taken out of the ecosystem, another female must make the conversion to male, a process that can take several months. Of course, during this time, no spawning is occurring for the harem. By the time the female becomes a super male; she is roughly of legal size limit and again can be targeted by spearfishermen. This vicious cycle likely results in numerous harems going unspawned for seasons at a time, particularly in high pressure areas like South Florida and the Keys.
Proposals to rebuild the
As a long-time vocal proponent of protecting the hogfish, this author has opined on the subject for quite some time and to the frequent dismay of dive buddies. Regardless of the current law, it would seem that responsible spearfishermen would take immediate action to protect the fishery. If we now know that hogfish don’t generally start to spawn before they are 15 inches, why on earth would we ever shoot a hogfish shorter than 15 inches? It would also make sense to limit our shooting of super males, particularly during the November to April spawn. Consider the gauntlet hereby thrown.
Now, let's talk about mutton snapper.
Mutton snapper is considered a single stock throughout the South Atlantic and
Updated stock assessment data from 2013 to 2015 shows that mutton snapper is not currently overfished, but there has been a decrease in adult populations since 2008. So, in an effort to preserve the fishery, the council is proposing to lower the total catch from its current rate of 926,600 pounds to 567,440 pounds. Official documents say, “The current [mutton snapper] commercial annual catch limit (ACL) is 157,743 pounds and the recreational ACL is 768,857 pounds.” This means the commercial allocation is 17.02 percent and the recreational allocation is 82.98 percent. While we’ve all seen photos of commercial docks littered with freshly caught mutton snapper, the reality is that recreational fishermen take far more mutton snapper.
Some of the proposals being considered include creating a closed season that coincides with mutton snapper’s spawning season, which runs April to August with the highest spawn aggregations occurring in May and June. Other proposals include decreasing bag limits either year-round or specifically during spawning season. Proposed new bag limits range from two per person to five per person per day, or two to 12 per vessel per day. Currently, fishermen can take as many as ten per person per day as part of their aggregate snapper limit.
Myra Brouwer,
Alongside Brouwer, Martha
During the official taking of public statements, recreational fisherman Rob Hammer said of the fishery in and around the Dry Tortugas National Park that fishermen in his area “have given up 200 square miles of fishery.” He believed that everyone would need to give up something in order to preserve fish stocks, but he also set forth a proposal to change current rules to allow those fishing in the Tortugas to keep a two-day limit when staying out multiple days, particularly if they had proof of that, such as a receipt for camping at Fort Jefferson. Presently, fishermen can only land with a single day’s limit regardless of how many days they’ve been out.
David Moss, a South Florida native, said he wanted to preserve the resource for his daughter. “Why
Other attendees included well-known industry folks like Carl Liederman of Captain Harry’s Fishing Supply and charter fishermen like Captain Bouncer of Bouncer’s Dusky 33 in Miami Beach, who has been fishing the area for 50 years. He said, “First of all, it’s good that the SAFMC and FWC came together with the fishermen this afternoon. It’s always educational and good to learn about how things are being done and that the concerns of the fishermen are being considered.” Bouncer said he was in favor of reducing the bag limit on mutton snapper and even supported a closure during April to June for the spawn. He was also in favor of another SAFMC proposal that would require charter boat captains to report regularly so that real data could continue to be collected. Brouwer mentioned that an app developed in Rhode Island could make reporting electronically a lot easier as well.
The SAFMC will take public comments
Following these community meetings, SAFMC will review the public input, select preferred alternatives and take final action
Florida fishermen will also be pleased to know that there are new assessments forthcoming for red snapper and for goliath grouper.
Branon Edwards is a PADI-certified divemaster who has been scuba diving in South Florida for more than three decades. He is a real estate broker and freelance writer who lives on a sailboat in Fort Lauderdale.