King Mackerel Fishing Closed 02-06 2011

Southeast Fishery Bulletin
National Marine Fisheries Service, Southeast Regional Office, 263 13

Avenue South, St. Petersburg, Florida 33701-5505

February 4, 2011
Susan Gerhart or Susan.Gerhart@noaa.gov
FB11-012
727/824-5305, FAX 727/824-5308

Closure of the Western Gulf of Mexico Zone:
Commercial King Mackerel Fishing

The western Gulf of Mexico zone is closed to
commercial king mackerel fishing, effective 12:00 noon
(local time) February 11, 2011, through June 30, 2011.
NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service has
determined the 2010/2011 western zone commercial
quota of 1.01 million pounds of king mackerel has been
reached. With this action, commercial king mackerel
fishing is prohibited in federal waters of the Gulf of
Mexico from the U.S./Mexico border to the
Alabama/Florida boundary.
Closure of the western Gulf of Mexico zone to
commercial king mackerel fishing complies with
regulations implemented under the Fishery Management
Plan for Coastal Migratory Pelagic Resources of the
Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic and is necessary to
protect the Gulf group king mackerel resource. In
cooperative actions, Gulf states (Texas, Louisiana,
Mississippi, and Alabama) are expected to close
commercial harvest of king mackerel concurrently in
adjoining state waters.
During the closure period, no person aboard a vessel for
which a commercial permit for king mackerel has been
issued may fish for or retain king mackerel in or from
federal waters of the closed zone.
There is one
exception, however, for a person aboard a charter vessel
or headboat. A person aboard a vessel that has a valid
charter/headboat permit for coastal migratory pelagic
fish and a commercial king mackerel permit may
continue to retain king mackerel in or from the closed
subzone under the two-fish daily bag limit, provided the
vessel is operating as a charter vessel or headboat.
Charter vessels or headboats that hold a commercial king
mackerel permit are considered to be operating as a
charter vessel or headboat when they carry a passenger
who pays a fee or when more than three persons are
aboard, including operator and crew.
During the closure, no king mackerel caught in the
closed zone may be purchased, bartered, traded, or sold.
This includes recreational and tournament-caught fish.
The prohibition of sale, however, does not apply to trade
in king mackerel that were harvested, landed ashore and
bartered, traded, or sold before the closure and held in
cold storage by a dealer or processor.
If you would like to receive these fishery bulletins via e-
mail as soon as they are published, e-mail us at:
SERO.Communications.Comments@noaa.gov.
This bulletin provides only a summary of the
information regarding the existing regulations. Any
discrepancies between this bulletin and the regulations
as published in the Federal Register will be resolved in
favor of the Federal Register.