ABCDEFGHIJKLM
1
TimestampFull Nameemail addressCity, State, Zip CodeCheck all that applySubjectComments
2
1/15/2019 9:40:46Testtest@gulfcouncil.orgTampa, FL 33607OtherTESTTesting
3
1/28/2019 13:52:46Eric Brazer
eric@shareholdersalliance.org
NGOhttps://drive.google.com/open?id=1DGfukAQpmq40SMOYcSyJm9AB523TOcnG
4
3/7/2019 8:09:14William R. Wamblefish4living@comcast.netNaplesCommercial FisherI have been commercial fishing for red grouper for over 40 years in SW Florida. In the past 5 years I and other fishermen have seen a decline in grouper landings. Red Snapper stocks have rebounded to the point of total domination in the areas beyond 20 fathoms that I fish in. From the 2450. N Laditude to the 2700. N Laditude. I am now having to pay $4.00 per pound to lease Red Snapper allocation. Everytime there is a boat price increase for snapper, the snapper shareholders raise the price of allocation. I came in from a 6 day trip on 3/4/19. That trip yielded 1700 pounds of red snapper and 800 pounds of red grouper. What does that mean? Nothing by just looking at the numbers. I was not fishing for snappers. I go to my grouper spots and try to catch grouper. As soon as I think theres no grouper there, I leave. I do not stay there and catch the snapper. I fish 4 bandit reels with 2 hooks each. Sometimes I catch 8 to 10 snappers before I think there are no grouper. Once or twice down with the gear can produce 100 or more pounds of snapper. Help the grouper and help the fishermen by making our reduced grouper allocations a multi use that lets us harvest red snapper. Let us make a living. That would also help the one grouper thats left competing for food with 50 red snapper.
5
4/1/2019 10:40:33Eric Brazer
eric@shareholdersalliance.org
NGOhttps://drive.google.com/open?id=1FWjhyQaxCleOmK1aEwY7vzRnMldHqsuD
6
3/11/19Randy Wamblefish4living@comcast.netNaplesCommercial FisherMy name is Randy Wamble, commercial reef fish fisherman of 40 plus years. I want to mention a few observations from a fishermans perspective. We all know the red grouper stock is in decline. (59% decrease 2019 allocation) We all know there is an abundance of red snapper. ( TAC increases of late). The red grouper is endangered at this point in time, yet the grouper fisherman is forced to put more pressure on the stock by tracking down every last one in an attempt to make a pay check. The remaining red grouper are in a losing battle for food with the explosion of the red snapper stock. This may sound like emotionalism on some level but over the past 5 years or more I’m finding more and more red snapper on my grouper spots. It is common now, in depths beyond 20 fathoms, to catch red snapper on 90% or more of the places I stop on for grouper. Most of the time I catch somewhere between 1 and 15 red snapper to catch one red grouper and then I leave. I drive away from biting red snapper. It is too much work to continue weeding through the red snapper in an attempt to catch another grouper. Keeping the red snapper is another challenge. Every time there is an increase in the dockside price for red snapper, the ITQ shareholders that own red snapper raise the price of the allocation. This year we are paying $4. Per pound for red snapper allocation. When trying to negociate price with the owners they respond with “ if fishermen don’t want to pay, we will catch them ourselves”. So, the guy that does all of the work, owns and maintains all of the necessary equipment to harvest the fish makes the least amount of money. We catch red snapper, there is no way around that so we lease allocation (when it is available or if, big if, we can find it) to net $1.50 per pound. I do not know all the pros and cons of this idea but reguardless of what we are bound to by law it might be better for the fish if:

1. Make a percentage of grouper allocations multi use allocations that can be used for red snapper. 2. Designate a percentage of red snapper quota increases to supplement the grouper multi use.
ON my most recent fishing trip, I caught 1697 pounds of red snapper and I caught 810 pounds of red grouper in five fishing days. I was grouper fishing, not red snapper fishing. As the year goes on it gets harder if not impossible to find red snapper allocation for lease and eventually I have to catch and release these red snapper in order to continue putting pressure on the red grouper. If we could at least use our existing grouper mutli use for red snapper it would help us and the grouper. It’s just plain wrong that I have fished offshore G.O.M. all my adult life and have to pay $4. Per pound to harvest a species,( red snapper) very much like the lionfish, that has invaded my back yard to the point that the grass (red grouper) won’t grow. There is too much I and me in this but every grouper fisherman is feeling this. Apologies, I had to put some emotion in this.
Sincerely, Randy
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100