Shem Creek - A seafood-lover's paradise!

Anglers here in South Carolina may think otherwise, but when compared to other coastal states, we’re pretty much run-of-the-mill.

The number of fish caught and kept obviously changes from year to year, but over the past decade, fishing totals have remained pretty level.

Looking at NOAA’s data below, it’s amazing New York has more fishermen on Coney Island, Sheepshead Bay, or wherever they’re fishing from, than we do here in South Carolina, but thanks to the Magnuson-Stevens Act, efforts have been put in place to ensure there will always be plenty of fish for us to while our time away with – something South Carolina anglers have no problem doing!

Each sector provides about $30 billion in economic benefit to the nation, of which only $595 million could be attributed to saltwater fishing here in South Carolina.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that a few anglers don’t make up for a lot of residents, but that’s not what this graph is illustrating.

Of course, this data reflects better economic times here in America since it’s from 2006, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see lower numbers in NOAA’s next release.

NOAA has been hard at work making sure fisheries are in compliance with the Fishery Conservation and Management Act requiring we end overfishing by 2010.

As a result, 7 fish stocks were removed from the overfishing list in 2007. Approximately 40 stocks are still experiencing overfishing according to NOAA, but the NOAA Fisheries Service and the fishery management councils are in the process of ending overfishing for all of these as well.

NOAA’s action provides guidance on how to comply with new annual catch limit (ACL) and accountability measure (AM) requirements for ending overfishing of those fisheries managed by Federal fishery management plans. Changes to the Act are effective February 17, 2009.

Meanwhile, here’s a one-minute video on overfishing:

“The commercial seafood industry and recreational saltwater fishing provide our nation food, jobs and other incredible benefits…” – Jim Balsiger, acting A.A. for NOAA Fisheries Service.

Finally, here are some common acronyms used in the fishery business:

ABC	Allowable Biological Catch
ACCSP	Atlantic Coast Cooperative Statistics Program
ACL	Annual Catch Limit
AM	Accountability Measure
ACT	Annual Catch Target
AP	Advisory Panel
ASMFC	Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission
BRD	Bycatch Reduction Device
EEZ	Exclusive Economic Zone
EFH	Essential Fish Habitat
EFH/HAPC	Essential Fish Habitat / Habitat Area of Particular Concern
FMP	Fishery Management Plan
HMS	Highly Migratory Species
ITQ	Individual Transferable Quota
LAPP	Limited Access Privilege Program
MSY	Maximum Sustainable Yield
MRFSS	Marine Recreational Fishing Statistics Survey
NMFS	National Marine Fisheries Service
OY	Optimum Yield
SEDAR	Southeast Data, Assessment and Review (stock assessment process)
SSC	Scientific & Statistical Committee
SFA	Sustainable Fisheries Act
TAC	Total Allowable Catch
VMS	Vessel Monitoring System
Courtesy:	South Atlantic Fishery Management Council

btw: I couldn’t find which 7 species were removed from the overfishing list for the life of me! If you find out, please let me know. TIA!