Casting OFF: maritime news

Three "marine protected areas" formed off S.C., five more formed off Southeast states

Federal regulators have outlawed bottom fishing in three distinct deep-water areas off South Carolina.

In a move to protect spawning grounds and nursery habitats of deep-water fish - especially snappers and groupers - the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration established five additional Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) off other Southeastern states.

The final rule, announced Jan. 13, goes into effect Feb. 12 and essentially turns 608 square miles of offshore waters into wilderness sanctuaries for bottom-dwelling fish. Trolling for species such as dolphin and billfish will still be allowed.

The three areas off the coast of South Carolina total 120 square miles. Two of those are 50-square-mile spans, one about 45 miles southeast off Edisto Island and the other 54 miles off Murrells Inlet.

The third is a 20-square-mile area about 50 miles southeast of Charleston that is planned as a memorial reef called the Charleston Deep Reef. A group of Charleston anglers is raising money to buy an old ship to sink there as a memorial for a local fisherman, Tony Smoak, who died in 2008 at 43 years old.

The water depth in these areas ranges from about 150 to 600 feet. Most recreational fishing in waters that deep is trolling for species such as marlin or tuna, found above the bottom.

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council proposed the action to NOAA's Fisheries Service as part of a larger management plan to protect the long-lived and slow-growing snapper-grouper species, said the council's public information officer, Kim Iverson. The marine protected areas will shield deep-water fish species and their habitats from fishing in order to achieve a more natural sex ratio, age and size structure.

In these areas, all fishing for snappers, groupers, tilefishes, grunts, porgies and sea bass is prohibited, but all other types of legal fishing, like trolling for tunas, are allowed. The measure also prohibits commercial shark bottom longline gear.

In addition to the three marine reserves off South Carolina, there is one off North Carolina, one off Georgia and three off Florida. These include the Snowy Grouper Wreck site off Cape Fear in North Carolina and a site off Georgia near the South Carolina line.

"It was a pretty tough decision for those guys to come up with areas they could agree on," Jack McGovern, NOAA Fisheries branch chief, said about the committee of researchers, environmentalists and anglers that pieced together the protected areas.

The ruling is the result of a contentious, four-year process, but it allows the council to comply with a Congressional mandate to end overfishing of offshore species that researchers find are being depleted.

During the first wave of public hearings and comment periods, the plan was heavily opposed, Iverson said. At a public hearing in Charleston in 2006, more than 30 anglers butted heads with environmental advocates. The fishermen expressed concern that the closures signaled a trend that would virtually end bottom fishing offshore, costing millions in tourism and business revenue.

"Basically, the council went out with certain areas drawn on a map and said, 'These are the areas that we're thinking about closing,'" she said. "It was a top-down approach and it didn't work."

This time around, the SAFMC presented all the research - stock assessments, by-catch mortality rates and so on - to anglers at informal gatherings and public meetings, and invited and encouraged public input.

"We let the fishermen tell us what they like, what they don't like, and we really took it into account and went from there," Iverson said. "It was lengthy, but it was open to the public. And it was much better and well-received."

While on the National Marine Fisheries Service desk, the proposed rule received 12 comments, nine of which opposed proposed actions or suggested alternate management measures. Some of the suggestions mirrored what local anglers have had to say about the protected areas.

"I wouldn't say no (to) it," said Chuck Griffin of Mount Pleasant, a former commercial fisherman who now runs a charter boat. Griffin has seen how well fish spawn in protected habitats off Florida, and appreciates the fact that such restrictions can placed on smaller areas rather than vast stretches of ocean.

"I think we can work with it," he said.

MPAs closest to Charleston

NOAA recently established eight marine protected areas (MPAs) in south Atlantic federal waters. The new MPAs range in size from 21 to 150 square nautical miles. The two closest to Charleston are shown here, in relation to the approximate location of popular fishing grounds (fishing areas are not to scale).

MPAs are designed to shield specific deepwater fish species. All fishing for snappers, groupers, tilefishes, grunts, porgies, and sea basses is prohibited in the MPAs. To prevent bycatch of these species, commercial shark bottom longline gear is also prohibited. All other types of legal fishing, such as trolling for tunas and marlins, are allowed.

Bo Petersen of The Post and Courier and Abi Nicholas of Tideline magazine contributed to this article.