NMFS Final vote today !

[Frank Bradfield]

If your not keeping up your new regs are being set today. Final chance for public to speak. From what I read Crabtree and his boys are going to get a 4 month Grouper closure Jan 15th - Apr 15th. Plus 3 fish aggregate bag limit , only 1 gag. Charter boats will have the same regs. Sucks for the charter guys. Best case is the fisherman give enough grief to make it hurt a little less than this. Something bad is going down today either way !

[GAJOEY]

This is a sure bet to put several charter captians out of buisness.I can't see how they can keep running with limits like this as well as the price of fuel.The average person is not going to want to go on a charter trip with limits like this ..it is not worth it at all. Not enough bang for your buck ..Most people only get to go offshore once or twice a year and the cost is about $250 to $300 and Most people usually stay the night add on another $150 to $200 and $100 for gas = $600.. 3 groupers 5 snappers a 5 triggers and a Mahi Mahi = 14 fish \ $600 = $42.50 a fish Deal or No Deal.

[Frank Bradfield]

Hope you didn't like grouper fishing ! The vote is in. New regulations to come unless it gets overturned. 3 month closure and 3 bag limit, only 1 gag. This is the biggest bunch of BS i've ever heard in my life !

[ak man]

I don't understand, if you can only keep one red, and now, 1 gag, how do you come up with a 3 fish total per man?? Or is that 3 total grouper per boat?? What month are the closures?? This is all serious BS

[Frank Bradfield]

Their allowing 2 reds , 1 gag. Closed season Jan 15 thru Apr 15th. Final drafts will be done up thru April, could take effect as early as Dec. 08. Senator Nelsons office will be getting 1000's of emails and letters. Hopefully someone can step in. Still wont effect state waters from what i understand. I'll be looking for more places 9 miles and in. On the brighter side, not much, I read where they are going to leave the AJ limit alone. 1 per man but increase the size limit to 30". ( yippie )

[CATCH 22]

Is it 3 per man or boat?

[GAJOEY]

I'll be looking for more places 9 miles and in. ( yippie )

As will most other fishermen I would think ....You offshore fishermen out there,I have one honest question? Are the grouper stocks in this much danger of being overfished? Can you go at any given time and catch grouper in good numbers. Have you seen a decline in grouper catches in recent years? I do not go offshore often because I can't afford it,but everytime I have been we have caught fish ..not the limit every time by any means but always caught a nice mess of fish.it would be nice to hear from offshore fishermen if the grouper stocks are that bad or not.

[Frank Bradfield]

3 per man.. combo.. but only 1 gag.. I know in the big bend area gags are plentiful. I see them every time I dive. Small ones cover most reefs. No shortage I can see..

[grouperdawg]

I fish closer to PC offshore, usually just west of swansons to maybe 30 - 40 miles west of swansons. It has always fluctuated, but everytime I go out we still catch plenty of aggregate grouper. I have seen an increase in red & decrease in gag over the last 5 years. When they implemented the 1 red per person it seemed all you could catch were reds. I have caught plenty of scamp, they seem plentiful as well. Offshore, I do not see as many snapper, but inshore they are everywhere. It also depends on the spot, one spot may be loaded with just snapper & another may be loaded with grouper. I have also seen an increase in flipper, and they are grabbing the fish more often on the way up then they used to. They used to wait until you threw it overboard, now they just grab it and haul on the way up. I have heard long liners are having it tough & are moving further west. But they are trying to catch thousands of pounds of fish, the few hundred guys or what ever that have the same tac as the millions who recreational fish.

[DF 1860DLX]

I'll be looking for more places 9 miles and in.

Unfortunately the state has already said it will adopt the federal regs. So it looks like Grouper fishing in general is screwed.

[RD]

I'll be looking for more places 9 miles and in. ( yippie )

As will most other fishermen I would think ....You offshore fishermen out there,I have one honest question? Are the grouper stocks in this much danger of being overfished? Can you go at any given time and catch grouper in good numbers. Have you seen a decline in grouper catches in recent years? I do not go offshore often because I can't afford it,but everytime I have been we have caught fish ..not the limit every time by any means but always caught a nice mess of fish.it would be nice to hear from offshore fishermen if the grouper stocks are that bad or not.

Unfortunately we have a group that have been trying to get rid of all commercial fishermen and have recruited the recreational fishermen for manpower and money to do it with.For years they have hammered in the fact that commercial fishermen have over fished everything,sold y'all with propaganda that we have wiped out all the fish.Now we all have to pay the price. The amended Magnuson Act requires that any fishery that is declared "over fished" has to be recovered by 2010.
The grouper you are seeing out there now are no different than all the redfish we were seeing back in the mid to late 80s when they were telling us the fishery had collapsed.

[dolphinatic]

If you believe that there is a shortage of grouper in the gulf, you probably also believe in man-made global warming
We've been fishing some of the same spots for years (recreational), and there are just as many fish on them today as there was 10-15 years ago.

As for the new proposed regs, you know the saying....... the best explanation is usually the simplest..."FOLLOW THE $$$$$$."