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By daybreak
Published: February 25, 2009
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The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council will convene its Law Enforcement Advisory Panel (LEAP) at 1:30 p.m., Tuesday, March 17, 2009 at the Royal Sonesta Hotel, 300 Bourbon Street, New Orleans, Louisiana. The Panel will discuss and review an emergency rule to reduce sea turtle interactions with reef fish longline gear. The rule proposes to close the bottom longline fishery in waters less than 50 fathoms for the entire eastern Gulf of Mexico and will become effective immediately upon implementation. In addition, once the 2009 deep water grouper quota is met, reef fish bottom longline gear will be prohibited in the federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico for the remainder of 2009.
According to a 2006-2007 NOAA Fisheries Service report, the number of threatened loggerhead sea turtles that have been caught in the bottom longline fishery has exceeded authorized levels, and the Endangered Species Act requires the Council to take immediate action to reduce sea turtle takes. The proposed temporary emergency rule will reduce the fishing impacts on this threatened species until the Gulf Council can further develop Amendment 31 to its Reef Fish Fishery Management Plan which will address the issue in the long term. The LEAP will also review the preliminary draft of Reef Fish Amendment 31.
Finally, the LEAP will receive a report of the status of recently completed management actions and scheduled activities and possibly provide reports on individual state and federal law enforcement activities.
The LEAP consists of principal law enforcement officers in each of the Gulf States, as well as the NMFS, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Coast Guard, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s General Counsel for law enforcement.
For a copy of the agenda and related materials please call the Council office at 813-348-1630. Although other issues not on the agenda may come before the panel for discussion, in accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, those issues may not be the subject of formal panel action during this meeting. Panel action will be restricted to those issues specifically identified in the agenda listed as available by this notice.
This meeting is open to the public and is physically accessible to people with disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other auxiliary aids should be directed to Tina O’Hern five working days prior to the meeting.
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Published: February 25, 2009
Print
EmailThe Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council will convene its Law Enforcement Advisory Panel (LEAP) at 1:30 p.m., Tuesday, March 17, 2009 at the Royal Sonesta Hotel, 300 Bourbon Street, New Orleans, Louisiana. The Panel will discuss and review an emergency rule to reduce sea turtle interactions with reef fish longline gear. The rule proposes to close the bottom longline fishery in waters less than 50 fathoms for the entire eastern Gulf of Mexico and will become effective immediately upon implementation. In addition, once the 2009 deep water grouper quota is met, reef fish bottom longline gear will be prohibited in the federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico for the remainder of 2009.
According to a 2006-2007 NOAA Fisheries Service report, the number of threatened loggerhead sea turtles that have been caught in the bottom longline fishery has exceeded authorized levels, and the Endangered Species Act requires the Council to take immediate action to reduce sea turtle takes. The proposed temporary emergency rule will reduce the fishing impacts on this threatened species until the Gulf Council can further develop Amendment 31 to its Reef Fish Fishery Management Plan which will address the issue in the long term. The LEAP will also review the preliminary draft of Reef Fish Amendment 31.
Finally, the LEAP will receive a report of the status of recently completed management actions and scheduled activities and possibly provide reports on individual state and federal law enforcement activities.
The LEAP consists of principal law enforcement officers in each of the Gulf States, as well as the NMFS, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Coast Guard, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s General Counsel for law enforcement.
For a copy of the agenda and related materials please call the Council office at 813-348-1630. Although other issues not on the agenda may come before the panel for discussion, in accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, those issues may not be the subject of formal panel action during this meeting. Panel action will be restricted to those issues specifically identified in the agenda listed as available by this notice.
This meeting is open to the public and is physically accessible to people with disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other auxiliary aids should be directed to Tina O’Hern five working days prior to the meeting.
Submit Article