Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic; Amendment 55

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) submitted Amendment 55 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Snapper- Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic (FMP) for review, approval, and implementation by NMFS. If approved by the Secretary of Commerce, Amendment 55 would remove yellowmouth grouper from the other South Atlantic shallow water grouper complex (other SASWG) and establish a new scamp and yellowmouth grouper complex. Amendment 55 would also establish status determination criteria (SDC), a rebuilding plan, catch levels, sector allocations, sector management measures, and accountability measures (AMs) for the new complex; and establish catch levels for the revised other SASWG complex. The purpose of Amendment 55 is to rebuild the scamp and yellowmouth grouper stock, and achieve optimum yield (OY) while minimizing, to the extent practicable, adverse social and economic effects.