LITTLE RIVER, S.C. (WBTW)- NOAA has issued an advisory that the commercial harvest of Atlantic dolphin from Maine through the east coast of Florida will close through next year.
The agency issued the notice to fisherman On Wednesday June 19, 2015 that harvesting would be closed, effective 12:01 a.m. (local time), June 24, 2015. The bulletin indicated commercial harvest will reopen at 12:01 a.m. (local time) on January 1, 2016 due to reports that landings are approaching the 2015 catch limit for the commercial sector.
But this afternoon, due to the overwhelmingly large response from fisherman, NOAA will temporarily re-open dolphin harvesting until next week.
The reason behind the decision is to allow for fisherman return to port without having to discard dolphin but local fisherman are still concerned.
“My initial reaction as here we go with another fishery closure not even halfway through the year yet. It’s only six months into the year and they’re telling us we’ve already caught our quota for the year,” Captain Keith Logan.
Logan says he’s surprised that area fisherman is even close to the limit. Executives with NOAA say dealers have to submit a weekly report and the monitor those reports to determine when a species is reaching its catch limit. This is the first time since a dolphin catch limit was established in 2011 that the limit has been reached.
“So the impact is going to be huge. So for six months we’re not going to have any income for the Mahi side to supplement our other fish that we can catch that we can have limits on and also in return that means your local restaurants will not be serving fresh Mahi to their customers,” Logan said.
For business owners like Tim Kettner who owns Crab Catchers on the Little River Waterfront, the decision will also impact his bottom line.
“I’m going to lose a substantial amount of business. I’ve had people come in here from out-of-state or wherever it doesn’t matter. They’re coming into my restaurant. If they don’t have the fresh catch whether it be Mahi or Sea Bass or whatever species they’re going to be very disappointed.”
Kettner opened the business 19 years ago and promised the seafood he would serve would only be fresh and local.
“I won’t serve fish. I won’t be able to serve fish because I will not import the species. After 19 years I just won’t.”
During the closure harvest or possession of dolphin is limited to the recreational bag and possession limits, sale and purchase of dolphin is prohibited, the closure applies in both state and federal waters for vessels with a federal commercial permit.
NOAA says the closure is necessary to protect the dolphin-wahoo fishery because the commercial annual catch limit will be reached.
The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council has developed a fishery management plan amendment that would increase the commercial sector’s dolphin allocation from 7.54% to 10%, and the resulting catch limit from 1,157,001 pounds whole weight to 1,534,485 pounds whole weight. If the amendment is approved and landings are below the catch limit, the commercial sector will be reopened later this year.