In addition to the traditional management tools  commonly used to manage fisheries, such as size and bag limits, commercial trip limits and  seasonal closures,  the Council utilizes special management areas as part of its management strategy.  These specifically designated areas provide opportunities to limit gear usage and gain increased knowledge about species protection.  The Council is currently considering using a series of marine protected areas throughout the South Atlantic to protect and rebuild deepwater snapper/grouper species.

Deepwater Marine Protected Areas (MPAs)

The Council  has been considering the use of MPAs since the early 1990s.  After a lengthy deliberative process the Council concluded in 2000 to move forward with using MPAs as a management tool to aid in the recovery of overfished stocks and to ensure the persistence of healthy fish stocks, fisheries and habitats.

The snapper/grouper species complex is uniquely difficult to manage.  In this multi-species fishery, many fish that are prohibited from harvest are still being caught and killed.  Even when released alive, fishing mortality can still be high.  Complicated life histories and tendencies for some species to form spawning aggregations also make these fish more susceptible to being overfished.  Deepwater snapper/grouper species such as speckled hind, golden tilefish, snowy grouper and Warsaw grouper are especially vulnerable.  The Council concluded the most important criteria for considering MPAs at this time is the protection of these deepwater species.

Eight deepwater sites are currently under consideration for MPA designation in the South Atlantic region.  These sites have been compiled after nearly two years of public meetings, input from numerous advisory panel members and committee review.  Because the majority of these sites are designed to protect deepwater species, the Council will only prohibit bottom fishing while allowing fishermen to troll for pelagics such as tuna, mackerel, dolphin and billfish.  The public will continue to play a major role in the decisions concerning the use of MPAs.

For detailed information regarding these proposed MPAs, including downloadable maps, Click here

Coral Habitat Areas of Particular Concern (C-HAPCs)

The Oculina Bank HAPC and Experimental Closed Area

The shelf-edge Oculina coral reef, located off the central east coast of Florida, is unique among coral reefs and exists nowhere else on earth. The area takes its name after the slow-growing ivory-tree coral, Oculina varicosa, which forms massive thickets supporting dense and diverse communities of finfish and invertebrates over a 90-mile strip of reefs.

In 1984, the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council established the 92-square-mile Oculina Bank Habitat Area of Particular Concern (HAPC) in order to protect the fragile coral. The Oculina HAPC was designed to protect the area from damage caused by bottom-tending fishing gear including bottom trawls, bottom longlines, dredges, and fish traps. Subsequent management measures provided further protection to the Oculina HAPC by prohibiting anchoring, trawling for rock shrimp and by requiring the use of vessel monitoring systems (VMS) on rock shrimp vessels. Expanded in 2000, the HAPC now encompasses 300-square-miles.

In 1994, the original 92-square-mile HAPC was declared the Oculina Experimental Closed Area and was closed to fishing for snapper/grouper species for a period of 10 years to allow for scientific studies in a closed area. Designation of an area where deepwater species such as snowy grouper, golden tilefish, speckled hind, and warsaw grouper can grow and reproduce without being subjected to fishing mortality provides a unique opportunity for study. The Council has taken action to extend the closure indefinitely with periodic review for further protection and research. Click here for a map of the Oculina Bank HAPC and Experimental Closed Area. For more information visit our Oculina Bank pages.

View the Quarterly Reports of Law Enforcement Activity in the Oculina Bank

Proposed Deepwater Coral HAPCs

In response to recent research revealing the importance and uniqueness of deepwater coral habitats in the South Atlantic, coupled with new reports prepared for the Council by J. Reed and S. Ross, the Council decided to propose HAPC designation to four deepwater coral areas to extend them a higher level of protection.  Action to establish the HAPC designation will be taken through the Comprehensive Fishery Ecosystem Plan Amendment.  To read brief descriptions of each deepwater coral area, view short videos and download a map go to Proposed Deepwater Coral (Lophelia) HAPCs.

Special Management Zones (SMZs)

Since 1983, the Council has allowed the designation of SMZs as an incentive to create artificial reefs and fish attraction devices to increase the numbers of fish in an area and/or create fishing opportunities that would not otherwise exist.

Designation of an area as a SMZ allows for gear restrictions in the area to prevent overexploitation.  Many of these areas have been established through cooperation with fishing organizations and local governments and serve as a means to promote localized conservation and positive fishing experiences.  A total of 51 SMZs have been designated off South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. To download a copy of the existing SMZ boundaries and applicable restrictions, click here.

Essential Fish Habitat-Habitat Areas of Particular Concern (EFH-HAPCs)

A requirement for FMPs is to include maps that display the geographic locations of EFH or the geographic boundaries within which EFH is found. Also FMPs should include maps of Habitat Areas of Particular Concern (HAPCs). HAPCs are subsets of EFH which are rare, particularly susceptible to human-induced degradation, especially ecologically important, or located in an environmentally stressed area. Click here for a pdf table of the Council's EFH-HAPCs.

Rock Shrimp VMS

In 2002, through implementation of Amendment 5 to the Shrimp FMP, the Council took steps towards improving enforcement of existing fishery management regulations, particularly in regard to illegal fishing in the Oculina Bank HAPC, by requiring the use of Vessel Monitoring Systems (VMS) by any vessel fishing with a limited access rock shrimp permit in the South Atlantic.  In so doing, the Council determined that there would be corresponding benefits in terms of protecting Oculina coral, habitat, and juvenile rock shrimp and enhancing the potential for increased biological productivity.

Marine Sanctuaries

Gray's Reef NMS

Florida Keys NMS

State Zone Areas

Georgia

Florida

North Carolina

South Carolina

Non-Fishing Zones

No Access Cape Canaveral

MMS Leases