Amendment 51 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Reef Fish Resources of the Gulf of Mexico

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council has approved Amendment 51 for review and implementation by the Secretary of Commerce. The purpose of this action is to establish status determination criteria for gray snapper, including an estimate of the maximum sustainable yield (MSY) proxy, minimum stock size threshold, and optimum yield for the Gulf of Mexico gray snapper stock, consistent with the National Standard 1 guidelines and the subject fishery management plan. In addition, the action would modify the gray snapper annual catch limit (ACL) consistent with a recent stock assessment and the preferred MSY proxy, which uses the fishing mortality rate corresponding to 26% spawning potential ratio. The revised ACL would be 2.24 million pounds whole weight (mp ww) in 2020 and 2.23 mp ww for 2021 and subsequent years.