In a huge win for the state of Florida and for saltwater anglers, United States District Court Judge John E. Steele has ruled that the National Marine Fisheries Service, in passing an interim rule closing all grouper fishing in the Gulf of Mexico for November and December, acted “arbitrarily, capriciously, [and] in an abuse of discretion...in promulgating the Interim Rule to Reduce the Recreational Harvest of Gulf of Mexico Red Grouper…”

            “This is an important victory for the process of grouper management in the Gulf,” said David Howton, CCA Florida Chairman. “The total closure of all grouper fishing, including species that are not overfished, was completely unnecessary, and would have delivered a sever economic blow to the recreational fishing industry.”

            The ruling invalidates most of the interim rule imposed by NMFS including portions that would have closed all recreational grouper fishing in the Gulf of Mexico for two months beginning November 1, and would have reduced the aggregate bag limit for all grouper species beginning in January from five to three fish per person, only one of which could be a red grouper.

            Under the court’s ruling, recreational fishing for red grouper only will be closed for November and December, but the interim rule closure that applied to all other 16 species of Gulf grouper was rejected. In addition, the aggregate limit for grouper will remain at five fish per person. The red grouper bag limit beginning January will be reduced to one fish per person within the five fish bag limit in federal waters.

            “We felt all along that NMFS acted in violation of federal law in banning recreational fishing for grouper species that were not overfished,” said Ted Forsgren, CCA Florida Executive Director. “We’ve always supported measures to conserve fish species, but in this case NMFS abused their authority.”

            CCA Florida filed the lawsuit in August after NMFS moved ahead with the rule despite overwhelming opposition by hundreds of recreational fishermen, as well as both of Florida’s U.S. Senators and nine members of the Florida U.S. Congressional delegation.

In addition, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) looked at the harvest data and voted unanimously to oppose the NMFS plan. The FWC, which has a long and successful track record of managing fisheries, instead recommended only a reduction in the bag limit for red grouper from two to one until the 2005 harvest figures could be analyzed. When NMFS rejected the FWC’s proposal, the FWC commissioners voted to not adopt the federal interim rule in state waters.

            NMFS plan to close the entire grouper fishery to protect stocks of red grouper was based on a bizarre and unprecedented increase in the “estimated” recreational catch of red grouper during the 2004 season. The validity of the 2004 figures have been questioned because of NMFS claim that landings increased by a whopping 130 percent. Such an increase is unprecedented in the history of red grouper landings since regulations began 14 years ago. There have been dramatic reductions caused by new regulations, but never such an increase. The estimates are even more suspect considering that Florida anglers and fishing activity was impacted by a record four hurricanes that hit the state in 2004.

            “Recreational landings for the first part of this year have fallen dramatically and are more in line with the catches of 2001 through 2003,” said Forsgren. “That information showed that NMFS overacted and should have instead supported the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s recommendation.”