Arlington, VA – The Commission’s Sciaenids Management Board initiated Draft Addendum II to Amendment 2 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Red Drum. The Draft Addendum will consider a number of changes to the management programs for the southern (South Carolina to Florida) and northern (New Jersey to North Carolina) stocks of red drum in response to the findings of the 2024 Red Drum Benchmark Stock Assessment and Peer Review Report.
The Draft Addendum will consider modifying Amendment 2 reference points for the southern stock as well as the process to set management measures to achieve the reference points. The recent assessment found the red drum southern stock to be overfished and experiencing overfishing. These proposed modifications to Amendment 2 will allow the southern stock states to propose changes to their current red drum management measures to achieve the new reference points. Although the northern stock is not overfished, nor experiencing overfishing, the Board expressed concern with an increasing trend in fishing mortality observed in the northern stock. As a result, the Draft Addendum will propose changes to the states’ recreational bag limits and slot limits for the northern stock, as well as provide the northern stock states the opportunity to align their differing regulations, particularly in the Chesapeake Bay.
The Board will consider approval of Draft Addendum II for public comment in August, with public hearings held in the late summer/early fall. For more information, please contact Tracey Bauer, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at tbauer@asmfc.org or 703.842.0723.