Reef Fishes - 2012

Stock status - Concern - Of the 60 species in the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (SAFMC) management unit, several species are overfished. The overfished stocks include red porgy, red snapper, snowy grouper, speckled hind, red grouper, and Warsaw grouper. Several management actions have been developed by the SAFMC to reduce effort in the fishery to ensure that stocks in the fishery management complex are not experiencing overfishing.
 
Average Commercial Landings and Value 2002 2011 – 2,687,130 lbs./$5,174,777 (Including black sea bass)

2011 Commercial Landings and Value – 2,046,943 lbs./$5,143,177

Average Recreational Landings 2002-2011 – 4,126,244 lbs., 2011 – 2,161,350 lbs.

Average Number of Award Citations 2002 2011/ 2011 only –Amberjack (50 lbs.) (146/83), Grouper (20 lbs.) (84/82), Jack Crevalle (20 lbs.) (21/2), Porgy (4 lbs.) (19/11), Sheepshead (10 lbs.) (66/107), Red snapper (10 lbs.) (34/0), and Triggerfish (7 lbs.) (18/23)

Status of Fisheries Management Plan (FMP)  — In North Carolina, reef fishes are currently included in the Interjurisdictional FMP, which defers to South Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s Snapper Grouper FMP. Amendment 17 A and B were adopted in December 2011. These amendments established prohibition of harvest for red snapper, requirement of circle hooks off North Carolina, and annual catch limits (ACLs) and accountability measures (AMs) for nine species assessed as overfishing. This included a deepwater closure (240 ft. seaward) to protect Warsaw grouper and speckled hind. This deepwater closure was removed in May 2012 through Regulatory Amendment 11. The ACLs and AMs developed in Amendment 17 B to end overfishing for species in the snapper grouper fishery management unit are requirements of the reauthorized Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.

Research and Data Needs  — Develop juvenile and adult indices, assess survival rates, conduct population assessment, expand age and growth studies, determine migration patterns.

Current Regulations – Variable- See www.safmc.net or http://portal.ncdenr.org/web/mf/ websites for updated information. State and federal: greater amberjack 28 inches Fork Length (FL) (recreational) and 36 inches FL (commercial); black and gag groupers-24 inches Total Length (TL); red, scamp, yellowfin, and yellowmouth groupers 20 inches TL; red porgy-14 inches TL; vermilion, silk, and blackfin snappers 12 inches TL; red snapper no possession. Federal only: hogfish (not pigfish) 12 inches FL; dog, gray, cubera, mahogany, queen, schoolmaster, yellowtail and vermilion snappers 12 inches TL; and mutton snapper 16 inches TL..

Harvest Season – Open year round except: wreckfish have a spawning closure from January 15 April 15, shallow water grouper and red porgy have a January-April closure, and greater amberjack have an April commercial closure (no sale) with a season and quota beginning May 1, vermilion snapper have a recreational closure November 1-March 31. Quotas have been developed for several species and temporary closures may occur. See the SAFMC ( www.safmc.net ) or NCDMF (http://portal.ncdenr.org/web/mf/) websites for more details.

Size and Age at Maturity -  variable

Historical and Current Maximum Age -  variable

Juvenile Abundance Index -  none available

Habits and Habitats – Reef fish occur on hard or "live" bottom on the outer continental shelf.

For more information, email Chip Collier at Chip.Collier@ncdenr.net or call 800-248-4536 or 910-796-7215.