Around the Gulf . . .

The Gulf of Mexico Fisheries Management Council is considering implementation of a temporary moratorium on the issuance of charter vessel/headboat permits to fish the EEZ for reef fish and coastal migratory pelagics (mackerel) fish in the hopes of developing a more comprehensive effort limitation program for the recreational fishery. The Council will hear additional testimony at the Jan. 19 meeting in Fort Walton Beach, Florida.

The Gulf region was well-represented in the 1999 Walter B. Jones Memorial and NOAA Excellence
Awards for Coastal and Ocean Resource Management.
 Coastal Steward of the Year  Dr. George Crozier, Dauphin Island Sea Lab, AL
 Volunteer of the Year   Les Hodgson, Brownsville, TX
 Non-Governmental Org. of the Year The Galveston Bay Foundation, TX
 Excellence in Business Leadership The Houma-Terrebonne Chamber of Commerce, LA
 Excellence in Local Government Cameron Parish Police Jury, Cameron Parish, LA
For information about the awards and winners, visit www.nos.noaa.gov/jones_award.html.
 

Around the Nation and the World . . .
 

This fall, the California State Lands Commission approved the termination of three state oil and gas leases located off the coast of Santa Barbara County, making these offshore areas part of California's Marine Sanctuary and protecting them from future oil and gas leasing and development. There are 17 leases in state waters still producing oil and gas.

In November, Washington voters defeated Initiative 696, a measure which would have eliminated non-tribal net fishing in state waters by banning 18 types of commercial fishing gear from state waters. Advocates hoped the initiative would support efforts to save wild salmon.

The National Marine Fisheries Service has addressed the requirements of a court order to clarify its plans to protect Steller sea lion populations while allowing the pollock fishery to continue. The NMFS plans to reduce competition between sea lions and the fishery by dispersing the fisheries over time (stretching them out) and space (extending their size) and protecting Stellers around rookeries and major haulouts. See  www.nmfs.gov/prot_res/main/new.html .

Based on biological evidence that wild Atlantic salmon in the United States are in danger of extinction, the Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service have proposed listing the species as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. A bi-agency report concluded that Atlantic salmon stocks indigenous to Gulf of Maine rivers, the last known remaining naturally reproducing populations in the United States, remain at very low levels and face continuing threats including aquaculture, fish disease, habitat modification, and catch-and-release fishing.

University of Mississippi