What does Amendment 13 to the Gulf of Mexico Shrimp Fishery Management Plan do?
Amendment 13 establishes: an endorsement for royal red shrimp to the existing federal shrimp vessel permit (Action 1); defines maximum sustainable yield, optimum yield, overfishing threshold and overfished condition for the royal red and penaeid shrimp stocks of the Gulf of Mexico (Action 2 through 7); establishes standardized bycatch reporting methods (Action 8); requires the completion of a Gulf Shrimp Vessel and Gear Characterization Form (Action 9); establishes a 10-year moratorium on the issuance of commercial shrimp vessel permits capping the number of vessels in the federal fishery (Action 10); and requires reporting and certification of landings during the moratorium (Action 11). When were permits required in the Gulf of Mexico federal shrimp fishery? The commercial shrimp permit in the Gulf of Mexico exclusive economic zone (EEZ) was implemented December 6, 2002. The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council) established December 6, 2003, as the control date since it
