Game Fish Emergency Plan

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council called on the Secretary of Commerce to implement emergency measures to protect Atlantic dolphin and wahoo from commercial longliners this spring. Reacting to a National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) halt on tuna and swordfish longlining in southeastern waters, the council hoped to forestall a shift to the popular game fish before a formal Fisheries Management Plan could take effect.

The council, which manages fish stocks in federal waters off the southeastern U.S., approved the first comprehensive plan to manage these species last September. Dolphin (the fish, also called mahi mahi, not the marine mammal) and wahoo range widely through the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. For that reason fishery management councils for these regions must approve the plan.

The plan, widely supported by angling and conservation groups, sets various commercial vessel trip limits, recreational and commercial minimum sizes and bag limits for anglers. It also prohibits recreational anglers and charter boats from selling either species without the appropriate state and federal licenses.

Dolphin has always been predominantly a recreational fishery -- historically about 90% of the catch -- but in recent years longliners have targeted the species for the restaurant and retail seafood markets. The Coastal Conservation Association chapters in North and South Carolina, Georgia and Florida submitted a five-point plan for dolphin, which had not had a federal fishery management plan before. The South Atlantic Council adopted most of the CCA recommendations.

"The recreational fishermen were not asking for any more fish," reports Florida angler Edward LeMaster, a recreational fishing representative to the council and Boat U.S. member. "They simply wanted to maintain the historic allocation as predominately a recreational fishery."