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WHAT/WHEN:

• Commercial harvest of triggerfish and filefish, including ocean, queen, and sargassum triggerfish; scrawled and whitespotted filefish; and black durgon, in federal waters of Puerto Rico, will close on August 13, 2017, and will reopen at 12:01 a.m. (local time) on January 1, 2018.
   
• Commercial and recreational harvest of spiny lobster in federal waters of Puerto Rico will close on September 7, 2017, and will reopen at 12:01 a.m. (local time) on January 1, 2018.  
   
• Commercial harvest of Snapper Unit 2, including queen and cardinal snapper, in federal waters of Puerto Rico will close on September 15, 2017, and will reopen at 12:01 a.m. (local time) on January 1, 2018.    
   
• Recreational harvest of triggerfish and filefish, including ocean, queen, and sargassum triggerfish; scrawled and whitespotted filefish; and black durgon, in federal waters of Puerto Rico will close on September 18, 2017, and will reopen at 12:01 a.m. (local time) on January 1, 2018.   
   
• Recreational harvest of jacks including horse-eye, black, almaco, bar, and yellow jack; greater amberjack; and blue runner, in federal waters of Puerto Rico will close on September 28, 2017. 
   
• Harvest for the species and species groups and sectors above will reopen at 12:01 a.m. (local time) on October 1, 2017. 
   
• Recreational harvest of parrotfish, including queen, princess, striped, redband, redfin, redtail, and stoplight, in federal waters of Puerto Rico will close on November 4, 2017. Recreational harvest will reopen at 12:01 a.m. (local time) on January 1, 2018. 
   
• NOAA Fisheries also reminds fishers that recreational harvest of wrasses, including hogfish, puddingwife, and Spanish hogfish, in federal waters of Puerto Rico continues to be closed until 12:01 a.m. (local time) on January 1, 2018.

• The annual catch limit for each of these species and species groups in federal waters around Puerto Rico (9-200 nautical miles offshore) was exceeded based on landings data during the 2013-2015 fishing years.
• As a result, accountability measures are applied, reducing the length of the 2017 fishing seasons for triggerfish and filefish, spiny lobster, snappers in Snapper Unit 2, jacks, and parrotfish; harvest of these species and species groups will close in federal waters of Puerto Rico at the dates and times specified above.
• The closures are necessary to protect these fisheries by limiting landings to their respective annual catch limits.

• Recreational Closures: All recreational harvest of species included in each closure is prohibited, and the recreational bag and possession limits for these species groups in or from federal waters of Puerto Rico are zero.
• Commercial Closures: Species included in each closure that are caught in federal waters of Puerto Rico may not be purchased or sold.
• Spiny Lobster Commercial and Recreational Closure: During the closure, spiny lobster in or from Puerto Rico federal waters may not be harvested, possessed, purchased, or sold and the bag and possession limits for recreational harvest are zero.      

 

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Media: Kim Amendola, 727-551-5707

            Allison Garrett, 727-551-5750