NOAA Rules and the South Atlantic--What Area Are They Referring To?

Recently we have been inundated with new rules eminating from NOAA regarding restrictions on fishing in southern Atlantic Ocean waters. Which begs the question: what precise geographic area are they referring to? I've tried to provide a concrete answer below. Note that the governing fisheries management body for waters off Hatteras is the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council. They write the detailed rules for waters under their management...that we in turn must comply with. First, a map of the area for you to refer to as I point things out.



Items of interest:

- The border between Virginia and North Carolina, extending 200 miles eastward to the edge of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), constitutes the northern boundary of the South Atlantic Fisheries Management Council (SAFMC). North of this line, the Mid-Atlantic Fisheries Management Council (MAFMC) sets the rules.

- The border of the EEZ defines the entire eastern boundary of the SAFMC area.

- The southern boundary resides southwest of Key West, the Gulf of Mexico Fisheries Management Council (GMFMC) setting rules for the Gulf of Mexico proper.


Here is the offical language for the SAFMC boundaries.

- The northern boundary begins at the seaward boundary between the States of Virginia and North Carolina (36 degress, 31 minutes, 00.8 seconds North latitude) and proceeds due east to the point of intersection with the outward boundary of the EEZ as specified in the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

- The southern boundary coincides with the line of demarcation between the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, which begins at the intersection of the outer boundary of the EEZ, as specified in the Magnuson-Stevens Act, at 83 degress, 00 minutes West latitude, and proceeds northward along that meridian to 24 degrees, 35 minutes North latitude (near the Dry Tortugas Islands), thence eastward along that parallel, through Rebecca Shoal and the Quicksand Shoal, to the Marquesas Keys, and then through the Florida Keys to the mainland at the eastern end of Florida Bay, the line so running that the narrow waters within the Dry Tortugas Islands, the Marquesas Keys and the Florida Keys, and between the Florida Keys and the mainland, are within the Gulf of Mexico.