Amendment No. 5 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Stone Crab Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico and the South Atlantic.

This Amendment to the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for stone crab fishery in the U.S. Fishery Conservation Zone (FCZ) of the Gulf of Mexico under the jurisdiction of the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council concerns an ecosystem approach to the fishery and limited access to the fishery. It includes a protocol and procedure (framework measure) under which the Regional Administrator may approve for implementation in the EEZ certain types of rules proposed by the state of Florida after review by the Advisory Panel (AP), Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC), and Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council) (a more flexible, coordinated federal and state management system that minimizes regulatory delay and can rapidly adapt to changes in resource abundance, scientific information and fishing patterns). Amendment 5 also updates the description of the fishery habitat and the factors affecting this habitat. The Council introduces a control date for the commercial fishery; the effect of this is to notify fishermen entering the fishery after this date that they may not be allowed to participate in the fishery if that date is used in a limited access program to limit entry.