NOAA Fisheries has determined the 2012 commercial annual catch limit of 64,147 pounds whole weight will be reached by that date.
The operator of a vessel that has been issued a federal commercial permit for dolphin-wahoo and has wahoo for sale must have landed and bartered, traded, or sold such wahoo prior to 12:01 a.m., local time, 19 December 2012.
During the closure, all harvest and possession of wahoo in or from closed waters is subject to the applicable bag and possession limits, and the sale or purchase of wahoo taken from closed waters is prohibited. In addition, those bag and possession limits, and the prohibition on sale or purchase, apply in state and federal waters of the Atlantic region for a vessel for which a valid federal commercial or charter vessel/headboat permit for South Atlantic dolphin-wahoo has been issued.
The prohibition on sale or purchase does not apply to sale or purchase of wahoo that were harvested, landed ashore, and sold prior to 12:01 a.m., local time, 19 December 2012, and were held in cold storage by a dealer or processor.
Commercial Harvest of Atlantic Wahoo Closing on 19 December
US - The commercial harvest of Atlantic wahoo in the exclusive economic zone from Maine through the east coast of Florida will be closed, effective 12:01 a.m. (local time), 19 December 2012, through the remainder of the 2012 fishing year.
