Gazebo Gazette
Mississippi Department of Marine Resources (MDMR) announced that the recreational fishing season for Red Snapper closed in Mississippi on Friday, Aug. 17, at 11:59 p.m.
Preliminary estimates from the Tails ‘n Scales reporting system indicate the annual catch target for the private recreational fishery is projected to be reached by the weekend.
The MDMR has the authority to reopen the recreational Red Snapper fishery if finalized landings indicate additional harvest would remain within the quota allowed under the Federal Exempted Fishing Permit.
Additionally, MDMR officials mentioned that the recreational fishing season for Gray Triggerfish (Balistes capriscus) close in Mississippi territorial waters at 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 16, 2018.
MDMR will hold a public hearing at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 5, regarding a proposed fish net ban within one mile around Cat Island. The hearing will be held in the auditorium of the Bolton Building, 1141 Bayview Ave., Biloxi.
At its July meeting, the Commission on Marine Resources approved a Notice of Intent to update, modify and change listed sections of Title 22 Part 5. A complete copy of Title 22 Part 5 and the proposed changes is available at www.dmr.ms.gov.
According to the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, these clotures are because the 2018 recreational annual catch target is 217,100 pounds. Data indicate that recreational harvest of gray triggerfish has met the annual catch target.
In accordance with the regulations, NOAA Fisheries must close a fishery when the annual catch target has been met. This closure is needed to prevent overfishing of this species. Overfishing is defined as the annual catch rate being too high. As a result, recreational harvest will close in federal waters of the Gulf at 12:01 a.m. (local time) on August 17, 2018, and will remain closed through the end of the year.
Finally, MDMR will host a photo contest, and the winners will be used in the agency’s 2019 calendar. The deadline to submit entries is Friday, Sept. 28. Submitted photos should depict an aspect of the marine resources available on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, including recreational and commercial fishing, Coastal Preserves, marine plant and animal life, marsh areas, boating and Mississippi seafood. Since the photos will be used in a high quality reproduction, submitted images must be a high resolution JPEG or .jpg file, 3 MB or greater in size, 300 dpi and a horizontal format.
Entries should be digital and emailed to publicaffairs@dmr.ms.gov by 5 p.m. Sept. 28, along with the photographer’s first and last name, phone number, brief description or title of the photo, where it was taken and photos numbered (if submitting more than one photo). Photos previously submitted for the agency’s calendar are not eligible. All entries will become the property of Mississippi Department of Marine Resources and may be used in other promotions.
