Apparently the “final rule” regarding shark fishing was no such thing.  It has been adjusted and corrected.

It doesn’t give back much, if anything, of value but it sure does provide an opportunity for a lot of wading, slogging, reading and boggling.  All 57 pages (at three columns per page) of it.

It is here: Corrected Final Rule (pdf)

As far as I can tell, the relevant parts of it, to any S.O.F.A. members who happen to hold directed shark permits anyway, are simply this:

§ 635.24 Commercial retention limits for sharks and swordfish. * * * * *

(a) Sharks.
(1) A person who owns or operates a vessel that has been issued a valid shark research permit under § 635.32(f) and who has a NMFS approved observer on board may retain, possess, or land LCS, including sandbar sharks, in excess of the retention limits in paragraphs (a)(2) through (6) of this section. The amount of LCS that can be landed by such a person will vary as specified on the shark research permit. Only a person who owns or operates a vessel issued a valid shark research permit with a NMFS-approved observer on board may retain, possess, or land sandbar sharks.
(2) From July 24, 2008 through December 31, 2012, a person who owns or operates a vessel that has been issued a directed LAP for sharks and does not have a valid shark research permit, or a person who owns or operates a vessel that has been issued a directed LAP for sharks and that has been issued a valid shark research permit but does not have a NMFS-approved observer on board, may retain, possess, or land no more than 33 non-sandbar LCS per vessel per trip if the fishery is open per § 635.27 and § 635.28. Such persons may not retain, possess, or land sandbar sharks.

There might be something else of interest buried in there somewhere, if someone knows of such a thing and lets us know we will publish it here.  I waded through it all and didn’t get much more out of it, not that caused me any excitement, at least.

Then again, I’m a cynical old bastard who thinks that this, which is copied from the Shark Regulations booklet you can download below…

RETENTION LIMITS
Directed Shark Permits: Retention limits for 2008-2012 for
directed shark permit holders are 33 non-sandbar large
coastal sharks per vessel per trip. There are no retention
limits for pelagic or small coastal sharks.
Incidental Shark Permits: Retention limits for 2008-2012 for
incidental shark permit holders are 3 large coastal sharks
per vessel per trip and 16 pelagic or small coastal sharks (all
species combined) per vessel per trip.

…pretty much sums up how little of value they have actually given us.

The original “Final Rule” as well as some other relevant documents and a “Compliance Guide for Amendment 2″ can be found on this page:  http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfa/hms/breaking_news.htm Look down the page for the June 24th, 2008 entries and they are all there.

The “Compliance Guide” is here also.

Also, a handy dandy printable brochure is available here:  Atlantic Shark Commercial Fishery Regulations