Why did the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council) and NOAA Fisheries Service implement a quota for the Gulf of Mexico recreational greater amberjack fishery?
Changes to federal regulations in 2006 required regional fishery management councils to develop annual catch limits (ACLs) for each of their managed fisheries, and establish a mechanism for specifying a harvest level that prevents overfishing, including measures to ensure accountability. An ACL is the level of annual catch of a population that if met or exceeded triggers accountability measures, such as a seasonal closure or quota closure. In 2008, the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council amended their Reef Fish Fishery Management Plan and established a quota as their ACL for the recreational greater amberjack fishery because the population was undergoing overfishing and only five years remained to rebuild the population to sustainable levels. The Council also reduced the commercial quota at that time and set the quota equal to the commercial ACL.
