Gulf, South Atlantic Fishery Councils Want Florida Keys Spiny Lobster Catch Exempt from MSA Limits
SEAFOODNEWS.COM [The Key West Citizen] by Timothy O' Hara - April 14, 2015
Two federal fishery management councils are moving ahead with requests to exempt one of the Florida Keys most lucrative fisheries from a federally imposed annual catch limit program.
Both the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic fishery management councils have voted to send a letter to the National Marine Fisheries Service to exempt spiny lobster from the annual quota, which is about 7.3 million pounds. The councils' staff is currently drafting the letter, both Gulf and South Atlantic spokeswomen said.
Under the Magnuson-Stevens Act, which guides all federal fishing regulations, nearly all commercially harvested stocks of fish have annual catch limits. The act was last reauthorized by Congress in 2006 and is currently going through another reauthorization...
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