Proposed Rule2021-19620
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Amendment 7 to the Atlantic Bluefish Fishery Management Plan
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
September 13, 2021
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
NMFS proposes to approve and implement measures included in Amendment 7 to the Atlantic Bluefish Fishery Management Plan, as submitted by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council. This amendment would revise the goals and objectives of the fishery management plan, reallocate quota between the commercial and recreational fisheries, reallocate commercial quota among the states, implement a rebuilding plan using a constant fishing mortality strategy, revise the sector quota transfer, and revise how management uncertainty is applied during the specifications process. Amendment 7 is intended to use the best information available to update the Bluefish Fishery Management Plan, by responding to changes in stock health and distribution, while recognizing economic need and reliance throughout the management area.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 174 (Monday, September 13, 2021)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 174 (Monday, September 13, 2021)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 50866-50870]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-19620]
[[Page 50866]]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 210907-0178]
RIN 0648-BK64
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Amendment 7 to the
Atlantic Bluefish Fishery Management Plan
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Proposed rule; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: NMFS proposes to approve and implement measures included in
Amendment 7 to the Atlantic Bluefish Fishery Management Plan, as
submitted by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council. This
amendment would revise the goals and objectives of the fishery
management plan, reallocate quota between the commercial and
recreational fisheries, reallocate commercial quota among the states,
implement a rebuilding plan using a constant fishing mortality
strategy, revise the sector quota transfer, and revise how management
uncertainty is applied during the specifications process. Amendment 7
is intended to use the best information available to update the
Bluefish Fishery Management Plan, by responding to changes in stock
health and distribution, while recognizing economic need and reliance
throughout the management area.
DATES: Comments must be received by October 13, 2021.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on this document, identified by
NOAA-NMFS-2021-0071, by the following method:
Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public comments via
the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal.
1. Go to <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>, and enter ``NOAA-NMFS-2021-
0071'' in the Search box;
2. Click the ``Comment'' icon, complete the required fields; and
3. Enter or attach your comments.
Instructions: Comments sent by any other method, to any other
address or individual, or received after the end of the comment period,
may not be considered by NMFS. All comments received are part of the
public record and will generally be posted for public viewing on
<a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a> without change. All personal identifying
information (e.g., name, address, etc.), confidential business
information, or otherwise sensitive information submitted voluntarily
by the sender will be publicly accessible. NMFS will accept anonymous
comments (enter ``N/A'' in the required fields if you wish to remain
anonymous).
The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council prepared an
environmental assessment (EA) for this action that describes the
proposed measures and other considered alternatives. The EA also
provides a thorough analysis of the biological, economic, and social
impacts of the proposed measures and other considered alternatives.
Copies of Amendment 7, including the EA, the Regulatory Impact Review,
and the Regulatory Flexibility Act analysis prepared in support of this
action, are available upon request from: Dr. Christopher M. Moore,
Executive Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, Suite 201,
800 North State Street, Dover, DE 19901. These documents are also
accessible via the internet at <a href="https://www.mafmc.org/supporting-documents">https://www.mafmc.org/supporting-documents</a>.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cynthia Ferrio, Fishery Policy
Analyst, (978) 281-9180.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) and the
Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (Commission) cooperatively
manage bluefish from Maine to Florida under the Atlantic Bluefish
Fishery Management Plan (FMP). This joint Bluefish FMP was adopted over
30 years ago in 1990. Since that time, the only substantial changes to
management measures were made through Amendment 1 to the FMP in 2000,
which established most measures and regulations still managing the
fishery today, based on fishery data from 1981-1989. The Council and
Commission initiated Amendment 7 to the FMP as a joint action in
December 2017 to respond to changes in the bluefish fishery that have
occurred over the past 30-40 years, while the FMP has remained largely
unaltered. When first initiated, Amendment 7 was intended to address a
comprehensive range of management issues, from the goals and objectives
of the FMP to the allocation and transfer of quota between the
commercial and recreational sectors.
In August 2019, an operational stock assessment determined that
bluefish is overfished but not subject to overfishing. Following this
determination, the Council and Commission's Bluefish Management Board
added development of a rebuilding plan to Amendment 7. The Council was
notified of the overfished stock status determination in November 2019;
therefore, this amendment must be implemented by the end of November
2021 to ensure that the rebuilding plan is compliant with the timing
requirements of section 304(e)(3) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). This timing
will also allow the other changes proposed in Amendment 7 to be
effective for the 2022 fishing year, beginning on January 1, 2022.
Final alternatives for Amendment 7 set forth in a Public Hearing
Document were approved at the joint meeting of the Council and
Commission's Bluefish Management Board in February 2021, and public
hearings on those alternatives were held throughout the spring. On June
8, 2021, the Council and Board took final action to approve Amendment
7, with the intent that the measures would be effective for the 2022
fishing year in January.
A Notification of Availability (NOA) for Amendment 7 was published
in the Federal Register on September 1, 2021 (86 FR 48968). The
Magnuson-Stevens Act allows NMFS as the implementing agency to approve,
partially approve, or disapprove measures recommended by the Council in
a regulatory amendment based on whether the measures are consistent
with the FMP, the Magnuson-Stevens Act and its National Standards, and
other applicable law. As such, NMFS is soliciting public comments in
response to the NOA, and the proposed measures described below, on
whether they are consistent with the Bluefish FMP, the Magnuson-Stevens
Act, and other applicable law. The comment period on the NOA ends on
November 1, 2021. All public comments submitted by this date, whether
specifically directed to the NOA or this proposed rule, will be
considered in our decision to approve, partially approve, or disapprove
Amendment 7. Comments on this proposed rule that are received before
the end of this rule's comment period (see DATES) will be considered in
the decision to implement measures proposed by the Council. Comments
received after the end of the NOA comment period will not be considered
for this action.
Proposed Measures
This action proposes to implement Amendment 7 to the Bluefish FMP,
as approved by the Council and Commission. The purpose of this action
[[Page 50867]]
is to implement a rebuilding plan for bluefish, as required by the
Magnuson-Stevens Act, and to update the FMP using the best scientific
information available; responding to changes in the overall fishery
over time.
FMP Goals and Objectives
The FMP's existing goals and objectives were adopted in 1991 with
the original FMP, and have remained unchanged since that time.
Amendment 7 would revise these goals and objectives to better reflect
the current fishery. While the FMP currently only has one overarching
goal and a few general objectives, the proposed revisions contain
multiple goals linked to more specific objectives to better guide
management. The following proposed revisions were developed with
extensive input from the public.
<bullet> Goal 1: Conserve the bluefish resource through stakeholder
engagement to maintain sustainable recreational fishing and commercial
harvest.
[cir] Objective 1.1: Achieve and maintain a sustainable spawning
stock biomass and rate of fishing mortality.
[cir] Objective 1.2: Promote practices that reduce release
mortality within the recreational and commercial fishery.
[cir] Objective 1.3: Maintain effective coordination between the
National Marine Fisheries Service, Council, Commission, and member
states by promoting compliance and to support the development and
implementation of management measures.
[cir] Objective 1.4: Promote compliance and effective enforcement
of regulations.
[cir] Objective 1.5: Promote science, monitoring, and data
collection that support and enhance effective ecosystem-based
management of the bluefish resource.
<bullet> Goal 2: Provide fair and equitable access to the fishery
across all user groups throughout the management unit.
[cir] Objective 2.1: Ensure the implementation of management
measures provides fair and equitable access to the resource across all
user groups within the management unit.
[cir] Objective 2.2: Consider the economic and social needs and
priorities of all groups that access the bluefish resource in the
development of new management measures.
[cir] Objective 2.3: Maintain effective coordination with
stakeholder groups to ensure optimization of economic and social
benefits.
Quota Reallocation Between the Commercial and Recreational Fishery
Sectors
The existing FMP allocated quota between the commercial and
recreational fishery sectors based on landings data from 1981-1989.
This action proposes to re-allocate quota between the sectors to better
represent recent trends in the fishery. Amendment 7 would allocate 14
percent of the annual catch limit (ACL) to the commercial fishery, and
86 percent to the recreational fishery, representing a 3-percentage
point shift from the existing 17/83 split. These revised sector
allocations are based on updated catch data from 1981-2018, and
landings data from 2014-2018 and 2009-2018, as all three time series
resulted in the same allocation.
Commercial Quota Reallocation Among the States
The coastwide commercial quota for bluefish is allocated annually
to each state within the management unit from Maine to Florida based on
a percentage determined in the FMP. As with the sector allocation
percentages, the existing state-by-state commercial quota allocations
have not been updated since their implementation as a part of Amendment
1 (65 FR 45844; July 26, 2000), and are based on landings data from
1981-1989. Amendment 7 would revise the state-by-state quota
allocations based on a recent, representative 10 years of landings data
(2009-2018) for the commercial fishery to better capture how the stock
and fishing activity have shifted over the years. The proposed
allocations also include a 0.1-percent minimum default allocation to
ensure that no state in the management unit is excluded from the
commercial fishery entirely. To allow industry and state managers to
adjust more easily to these changes in commercial quota allocation,
this action proposes to phase in the changes over a period of seven
years. The percent shift in allocation for each state would be divided
evenly over the phase-in period, so each state would only experience 1/
7th of the change in allocation each year through 2028.
Rebuilding Plan
The 2019 operational stock assessment determined that bluefish is
overfished but not subject to overfishing. Amendment 7 would implement
a rebuilding plan that uses a constant fishing mortality model (F =
0.154) to rebuild the stock in seven years. This rebuilding plan was
selected because it allows for least disruption to industry and
minimizes negative socio-economic impacts while still rebuilding within
the 10-year period required by the Magnuson-Stevens Act. However,
because this model projects acceptable biological catch (ABC) values
during rebuilding that are higher than those generated by the Council's
risk policy (5-year rebuilding alternative), an exemption to the FMP's
``most restrictive ABC'' requirement needs to be included with this
amendment. This would allow the Council's Scientific and Statistical
Committee to recommend higher ABCs than the risk policy would typically
generate during a rebuilding plan as long as they are consistent with
the rebuilding plan, and the plan is projected to rebuild within the
necessary time period. This proposed rebuilding plan has been developed
to begin in 2022, and would be reviewed and revised as necessary every
two years, as required by section 304(e)(7) of the Magnuson-Stevens
Act.
Sector Quota Transfer
Currently, the FMP allows a quota transfer from the recreational
sector to the commercial sector up to a maximum final commercial quota
of 10.5 million lb (4,763 mt) per year if the recreational fishery is
not expected to attain the full recreational harvest limit in that
given year. This action proposes to revise the measures regarding this
sector transfer to allow quota to be transferred in either direction
(from commercial to recreational or vice versa). This amendment would
also revise the maximum transfer to be up to 10 percent of the
acceptable biological catch, allowing the size of the transfer to scale
with the current biomass of the stock. A restriction would also be
added to disallow sector transfers when the bluefish stock is
overfished or subject to overfishing.
Management Uncertainty in the Specifications Process
This amendment would revise how management uncertainty can be
accounted for during the specifications process. In the current FMP,
the fishery-level ACL may be reduced by a buffer to account for sources
of management uncertainty before quota is allocated to the commercial
and recreational fishery sectors. This action proposes to revise the
specifications process so that the management uncertainty buffer is
applied separately within each sector. This targeted approach would
provide more management flexibility, and allow for the identification
of sources of management uncertainty that are specific to one sector
and are not present in the other.
[[Page 50868]]
Classification
Pursuant to section 304(b)(1)(A) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the
NMFS Assistant Administrator has determined that this proposed rule is
consistent with the Atlantic Bluefish FMP, other provisions of the
Magnuson-Stevens Act, and other applicable law, subject to further
consideration after public comment.
The Council reviewed the proposed regulations for this action and
deemed them necessary and appropriate to implement consistent with
section 303(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
This proposed rule has been determined to be not significant for
purposes of Executive Order 12866.
This proposed rule contains no information collection requirements
under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
The Mid-Atlantic Council prepared an EA for this action that
analyzes the impacts of the measures contained in this proposed rule.
This EA includes an initial regulatory flexibility analysis (IRFA), as
required by section 603 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), which
is supplemented by information contained in the preamble of this
proposed rule. The IRFA describes the economic impact that this
proposed rule, if adopted, would have on small business entities, as
well as the comparative possible impacts of the other alternatives
considered. A copy of the detailed RFA analysis is available from the
Council (see ADDRESSES). A summary of the Amendment 7 IRFA analysis
follows.
Description of the Reasons Why Action by the Agency Is Being
Considered, and the Statement of the Objectives of, and Legal Basis
for, This Proposed Rule
This action is taken under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens
Act and regulations at 50 CFR part 648. This action proposes a range of
management measures for the Atlantic bluefish fishery. A complete
description of the action, why it is being considered, and its legal
basis, are contained in the EA (see ADDRESSES) and in this rule's
preamble, and are not repeated here.
Description and Estimate of the Number of Small Entities to Which This
Proposed Rule Would Apply
This proposed rule affects those small entities engaged in
commercial fishing operations in the Atlantic bluefish fishery (those
with commercial bluefish permits), and those with Federal party/charter
recreational permits for bluefish. Private recreational anglers are not
considered ``entities'' under the RFA, thus economic impacts on private
anglers are not considered here. For the purposes of the RFA analysis,
the ownership entities (or firms), not the individual vessels, are
considered to be the regulated entities. Ownership entities are defined
as those entities or firms with common ownership personnel as listed on
the permit application. Because of this, some vessels with bluefish
permits may be considered to be part of the same firm because they may
have the same owners. To identify these small and large firms, vessel
ownership data from the permit database were grouped according to
common owners and sorted by size. In terms of RFA, a business primarily
engaged in commercial fishing is classified as a small business if it
has combined annual receipts not in excess of $11 million, for all its
affiliated operations worldwide. A business primarily engaged in for-
hire (party/charter) fishing is classified as small business if it has
combined annual receipts not in excess of $8 million.
The current ownership data set used in this analysis is based on
calendar years 2018-2020 (the most recent and complete data available).
According to the vessel ownership database, 526 commercial fishing
affiliate firms landed bluefish during the 2018-2020 period, with 521
of those entities categorized as small businesses, and 5 categorized as
large businesses. The three-year average (2018-2020) combined gross
receipts (all species combined) for all small entities only was
$197,251,017 and the average bluefish receipts was $899,490; this
indicates that bluefish revenues contributed approximately 0.46 percent
of the total gross receipts for these small entities.
For the recreational for-hire (party/charter) fishery, 361 for-hire
affiliate firms reported revenue from recreational fishing for various
species from 2018-2020. All 361 of those firms are categorized as small
businesses. It is not possible to derive what proportion of the overall
revenues for these for-hire firms came from fishing activities for an
individual species. Nevertheless, given the popularity of bluefish as a
recreational species in the Mid-Atlantic and New England, it is likely
that revenues generated from bluefish may be somewhat important for
many of these firms at certain times of the year. The 3-year average
(2018-2020) combined gross receipts (all for-hire fishing activity
combined) for these small entities was $49,916,903, ranging from less
than $10,000 for 105 entities (lowest value $46) to over $1,000,000 for
8 entities (highest value $3.6 million).
Description of the Projected Reporting, Recordkeeping, and Other
Compliance Requirements of This Proposed Rule
There are no new reporting, recordkeeping, or other compliance
requirements contained in this proposed rule, or any of the
alternatives considered for this action.
Federal Rules Which May Duplicate, Overlap, or Conflict With This
Proposed Rule
NMFS is not aware of any relevant Federal rules that may duplicate,
overlap, or conflict with this proposed rule.
Description of Significant Alternatives to the Proposed Action Which
Accomplish the Stated Objectives of Applicable Statutes and Which
Minimize Any Significant Economic Impact on Small Entities
The proposed amendment would implement several measures that could
potentially impact small businesses in both the commercial and
recreational sectors of the bluefish fishery; most notably the
reallocation of quota among the sectors and states, the rebuilding
plan, and the revision of sector transfer of quota. While the revised
FMP goals and objectives and the sector-specific accounting of
management uncertainty during the specifications process could have an
indirect economic impact on businesses, these alternatives are largely
administrative and not discussed here. On average, bluefish revenues
contributed approximately 0.46 percent to the total gross receipts for
the small businesses and 0.02 percent for the large businesses. Due to
the slightly higher dependence on bluefish for the small businesses
compared to the large businesses, the small businesses may feel the
effects of this action to a greater extent than the large businesses.
Even so, the small businesses did not rely on bluefish for a
substantial amount of their annual income either; although when
considered individually, some businesses may be more dependent on this
species than others.
Several alternatives were considered for the sector quota
allocations based on different time series of catch and landings data;
however, all of these alternatives resulted in quota shifting from the
commercial sector to the recreational sector by varying degrees. The No
Action alternative would continue to allocate 83-percent of the
fishery-level ACL to the recreational fishery, and 17 percent to the
commercial fishery, while the alternatives considered shift this
distribution by 1, 3, 4, and 6 percentage
[[Page 50869]]
points to the recreational sector, with the preferred alternative being
the 3-point shift. None of these alternatives affect the total ABC or
ACL available to harvest each year, rather how opportunity to do so is
distributed between commercial and recreational entities. The 3-point
shift to the recreational sector is better representative of how the
overall fishery operates, and while it may have a slight negative
impact on commercial businesses, it would comparably benefit
recreational businesses.
Some potential negative impact sector allocation from the prior
proposed measure may be mitigated further by the proposed alternative
to revise the sector transfer. The proposed sector transfer provisions
would allow quota (in an amount up to 10-percent of the ABC) to be
transferred from either sector to the other (from commercial to
recreational or vice versa). This management tool would allow for
supplementation of quota to either sector in a year when the assigned
allocations may not support the business needs of the sector.
Similar to the sector reallocations, several alternatives were
considered for the reallocation of commercial quota to the states,
based on different time series of landings data. Because these
alternatives do not affect the total amount of quota available in the
fishery, but rather how it is distributed geographically, it is
unlikely that they would have a direct economic impact on commercial
businesses as a whole; however, they may have a disproportionate,
indirect impact on some businesses more than others. To mitigate
potential negative effects on entities in states that would experience
the largest degree of change in commercial allocation, the Council and
Board proposed to phase in the allocation changes equally over seven
years. This would make the difference in quota allocation that each
state would experience each year much smaller, and thus minimize the
magnitude of any potential negative effects as a result.
There were three main rebuilding plan strategies considered in this
amendment: (1) A plan using constant harvest model to rebuild the stock
in four years; (2) a plan based on the Council's risk policy to rebuild
the stock in five years; and (3) a plan using a constant fishing
mortality model to rebuild the stock in seven years. A ``No Action''
alternative was not possible because of the Magnuson-Stevens Act
requirement to rebuild an overfished stock. Even though the constant
harvest and risk policy plans would rebuild the stock more quickly, the
constant fishing mortality rebuilding plan was preferred because the
more gradual changes it proposes provides the most economic stability
and least disruption of business operations while still rebuilding the
stock within 10 years.
All alternatives have the potential to impact businesses in the
commercial sector; whereas all alternatives except the commercial quota
allocation to the states may affect recreational businesses, which
comprise the majority of the fishery overall. However, most of the
alternatives in this action affect small businesses indirectly and have
minimal direct economic impacts. For example, they dictate the process
for developing future landings limits, or shift the distribution of
quota/effort, but do not change the overall annual amount. That being
said, public input was solicited and considered throughout the
development of this amendment, and the economic impact on small
businesses was minimized wherever possible. Section 7.4 of the EA
contains a more detailed discussion on the economic impacts of each of
the alternatives considered in this amendment, and the full RFA
analysis can be found in section 8.10.
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 648
Fisheries, Fishing, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
Dated: September 7, 2021.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
For the reasons set out in the preamble, 50 CFR part 648 is
proposed to be amended as follows:
PART 648--FISHERIES OF THE NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES
0
1. The authority citation for part 648 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
0
2. In Sec. 648.21, revise paragraph (c)(1) and add paragraph (c)(3) to
read as follows:
Sec. 648.21 Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council risk policy.
* * * * *
(c) * * *
(1) Unless otherwise allowed in paragraph (c)(2) or (3) of this
section, for instances in which the application of the risk policy
approaches in paragraph (b) of this section using OFL distribution
results in a more restrictive ABC recommendation than the calculation
of ABC derived from the use of F<INF>REBUILD</INF> at the MAFMC-
specified overfishing risk level as outlined in paragraph (a) of this
section, the Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) shall recommend
to the MAFMC the lower of the ABC values.
* * * * *
(3) The SSC may specify higher ABCs for bluefish based on
F<INF>REBUILD</INF>, as outlined in paragraph (a) of this section,
instead of the risk policy approaches in paragraph (b) of this section
in order to implement a rebuilding program that would rebuild this
stock by 2028.
* * * * *
0
3. In Sec. 648.161, revise the section heading and paragraph (a) to
read as follows:
Sec. 648.161 Bluefish Sector ACLs and Annual Catch Targets (ACTs).
(a) Sector ACLs and ACTs. As a part of the bluefish specifications
process, the Bluefish Monitoring Committee shall allocate a specified
percentage of the fishery-level ACL to the commercial and recreational
fishery sectors, and identify and review the relevant sources of
sector-specific management uncertainty to recommend ACTs for each
sector.
(1) Sectors. The sum of the commercial and recreational sector-
specific ACLs shall be less than or equal to the fishery level ACL. A
total of 86 percent of the fishery-level ACL will be allocated to the
recreational fishery. A total of 14 percent of the fishery-level ACL
will be allocated to the commercial fishery.
(2) Management uncertainty. The Bluefish Monitoring Committee shall
recommend any reduction in catch necessary to address management
uncertainty and recommend ACTs for each sector, consistent with
paragraph (a) of this section, after the sector allocation described in
paragraph (a)(1) of this section. The Bluefish Monitoring Committee
recommendations shall identify any sector-specific sources of
management uncertainty affecting the fishery, technical approaches to
mitigating these sources of uncertainty, and any additional relevant
information considered in the ACT recommendation and adjustment
process.
(3) Periodicity. ACTs may be established on an annual basis for up
to 3 years at a time, dependent on whether the SSC provides single or
multiple-year ABC recommendations.
* * * * *
0
4. In Sec. 648.162, revise paragraphs (b), (d), (f), and (g) to read
as follows:
Sec. 648.162 Bluefish specifications.
* * * * *
(b) TAL. The Bluefish Monitoring Committee shall recommend sector-
specific TALs less than or equal to the
[[Page 50870]]
ACTs through the specifications process.
(1) Recreational harvest limit and commercial quota. If research
quota is specified as described in paragraph (g) of this section, the
recreational harvest limit and commercial quota will be based on the
respective sector TALs remaining after the deduction of the applicable
research quota.
(2) Sector quota transfer. During the specifications process, the
Bluefish Monitoring Committee may recommend a transfer of quota from
the commercial fishery to the recreational fishery or from the
recreational fishery to the commercial fishery; based on a review and
comparison of expected landings for each sector and the recreational
harvest limit and commercial quota. The amount of quota transferred
between sectors may not exceed 10-percent of the ABC for that fishing
year. No transfer may occur when the bluefish stock is overfished or
subject to overfishing.
* * * * *
(d) Distribution of annual commercial quota. (1) The annual
commercial quota will be distributed to the states, based upon the
following percentages; state each followed by its allocation in
parentheses: ME (0.1091); NH (0.2154); MA (10.1150); RI (9.6079); CT
(1.0872); NY (19.7582); NJ (13.8454); DE (0.4945); MD (1.9175); VA
(5.8657); NC (32.0278); SC (0.1034); GA (0.1023); and FL (4.7788).
Note: The sum of all state allocations does not add to 100 because of
rounding. This distribution includes a minimum allocation of 0.1 to
every state in the management unit.
(2) The allocation percentages in paragraph (d)(1) of this section
will be phased in over a 7-year period beginning in 2022. The percent
change in allocation from those prior to 2022 for each state is divided
equally by seven, and will be applied incrementally each year until the
final allocations listed in paragraph (d)(1) are in full effect for
fishing year 2028.
* * * * *
(f) Revision of state allocation. Based upon any changes in the
landings data available from the states for the base years 2009-2018,
the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) and the MAFMC
may recommend to the Regional Administrator that the states' shares
specified in paragraph (d)(1) of this section be revised. The MAFMC's
and the ASMFC's recommendation must include supporting documentation,
as appropriate, concerning the environmental and economic impacts of
the recommendation. The Regional Administrator shall review the
recommendation of the ASMFC and the MAFMC. After such review, NMFS will
publish a proposed rule in the Federal Register to implement a revision
in the state shares. After considering public comment, NMFS will
publish a final rule in the Federal Register to implement any warranted
changes in allocation.
(g) Research quota. See Sec. 648.22(g).
[FR Doc. 2021-19620 Filed 9-10-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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