Rule2021-25649
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
November 24, 2021
Effective
January 1, 2022
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
NMFS approves and implements measures included in Amendment 7 to the Atlantic Bluefish Fishery Management Plan, as submitted by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council. This amendment revises the goals and objectives of the fishery management plan, reallocates quota between the commercial and recreational fisheries, reallocates commercial quota among the states, implements a rebuilding plan, revises the sector quota transfer process, and revises how management uncertainty is applied during the specifications process. Amendment 7 is intended to use the best scientific information available and respond 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 224 (Wednesday, November 24, 2021)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 224 (Wednesday, November 24, 2021)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 66977-66981]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-25649]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 211118-0239]
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: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: NMFS approves and implements measures included in Amendment 7
to the Atlantic Bluefish Fishery Management Plan, as submitted by the
Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council. This amendment revises the
goals and objectives of the fishery management plan, reallocates quota
between the commercial and recreational fisheries, reallocates
commercial quota among the states, implements a rebuilding plan,
revises the sector quota transfer process, and revises how management
uncertainty is applied during the specifications process. Amendment 7
is intended to use the best scientific information available and
respond to changes in stock health and distribution, while recognizing
economic need and reliance throughout the management area.
DATES: Effective January 1, 2022.
ADDRESSES: The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council prepared an
environmental assessment (EA) for Amendment 7 to the Atlantic Bluefish
Fishery Management Plan that describes the action and other considered
alternatives. The EA provides a thorough analysis of the biological,
economic, and social impacts of the measures implemented by this rule
and the other alternatives considered, a Regulatory Impact Review, and
economic analysis. Copies of Amendment 7, including the EA, the
Regulatory Flexibility Act analyses, and other supporting documents for
this action, are available upon request from Dr. Christopher M. Moore,
Executive Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, Suite 201,
800 N 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 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 currently managing the
fishery, 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 several decades while the FMP has remained
largely unaltered. When first initiated, Amendment 7 was intended to
address a comprehensive range of management issues, from updating the
goals and objectives of the FMP to the allocation and transfer of quota
between the commercial and recreational sectors.
Following the 2019 operational stock assessment's determination of
the bluefish stock as overfished, the Council and the Commission's
Bluefish Management Board (Board) added a rebuilding plan to the list
of measures in Amendment 7. On June 8, 2021, the Council and Board took
final action to adopt Amendment 7 in its entirety, with the intent that
the measures would be effective and be used to set specifications for
the 2022 fishing year, beginning on January 1, 2022.
NMFS published a Notification of Availability (NOA) for Amendment 7
in the Federal Register on September 1, 2021 (86 FR 48968), with a
comment period ending on November 1, 2021. NMFS published a proposed
rule for this action in the Federal Register on September 13, 2021 (86
FR 50866), with a comment period ending on October 13, 2021. See the
Comments and Responses section for additional detail. The Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (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. After considering public comment on both the NOA and
proposed rule, NMFS approved Amendment 7 in its entirety on November
12, 2021. This rule implements the management measures of Amendment 7.
Approved Measures
The purpose of this action 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 to respond to
changes in the fishery over time. NMFS approved all measures proposed
in Amendment 7, as approved by the Council and Commission. This action
implements Amendment 7 to the Bluefish FMP, as described below. For a
more detailed description of each measure, see the Federal Register
notice on the proposed rule prepared for this action.
FMP Goals and Objectives
Amendment 7 revises the bluefish goals and objectives that were
adopted in 1991 to better reflect the current fishery. The following
revisions were developed with extensive input from the public to better
guide management of the bluefish fishery.
<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.
[[Page 66978]]
[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
This action allocates 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 prior split (17
percent commercial and 83 percent recreational). The initial sector
allocations were based on landings data from 1981-1989, and these
revised sector allocations are based on updated landings data from
2009-2018. Catch data from 1981-2018, and landings data from 2014-2018,
also resulted in the same allocation percentages.
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. Amendment 7 revises these
commercial quota allocations among the states 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 time. These revised 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. This action will
also phase in the changes in quota allocation over a period of seven
years, beginning in 2022.
Table 1--Comparison of Initial and Revised Commercial Quota Allocations
Among the Atlantic States
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Revised
Old commercial commercial
State quota quota
allocation (in allocation (in
percent) percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Maine................................... 0.67 0.01
New Hampshire........................... 0.41 0.12
Massachusetts........................... 6.72 10.16
Rhode Island............................ 6.81 9.64
Connecticut............................. 1.27 1.00
New York................................ 10.39 19.94
New Jersey.............................. 14.82 13.94
Delaware................................ 1.88 0.40
Maryland................................ 3.00 1.84
Virginia................................ 11.88 5.85
North Carolina.......................... 32.06 32.38
South Carolina.......................... 0.04 0.00
Georgia................................. 0.01 0.00
Florida................................. 10.06 4.75
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rebuilding Plan
The 2019 operational assessment determined that the Atlantic
bluefish stock is overfished but not subject to overfishing. Amendment
7 implements a rebuilding plan using a constant fishing mortality model
(F = 0.154) to rebuild the stock in seven years, beginning in fishing
year 2022. This rebuilding plan was selected because it allows for the
least disruption to industry and minimizes negative socio-economic
impacts, while still rebuilding the stock within the 10-year period
required by the Magnuson-Stevens Act. This rebuilding will be reviewed
and revised as necessary every 2 years, as required by section
304(e)(7) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. Specifications for the 2022
fishing year will be included in a separate rulemaking action and will
be based on this rebuilding plan.
Sector Quota Transfer
This action revises the sector transfer measures within the
Bluefish FMP to allow quota to be transferred in either direction
between the fishery sectors (from commercial to recreational or vice
versa). This amendment also revises the maximum transfer cap to be 10-
percent of the acceptable biological catch, allowing the size of the
transfer to scale with the biomass of the stock. Sector transfers may
not occur when the bluefish stock is overfished or subject to
overfishing.
Management Uncertainty in the Specifications Process
This amendment revises how management uncertainty is accounted for
during the specifications process. Previously, the fishery-level ACL
could be reduced by a buffer to account for sources of management
uncertainty before quota is allocated to the separate commercial and
recreational fishery sectors. This action revises the specifications
process so that quota is allocated to each sector first, and then a
management uncertainty buffer may be applied separately within each
sector. This targeted approach provides more management flexibility,
and allows for the identification of sources of management uncertainty
that are specific to one sector, but may not be present in the other.
Comments and Responses
We received 10 comments during the NOA and proposed rule comment
periods. Three of the comments received were unrelated to the bluefish
fishery and this action and are not addressed further. Of the comments
received that were relevant to this action, there was balanced support
for, and opposition to, this amendment. No changes were made to the
proposed measures in this final rule as a result of these comments.
Comment 1: An anonymous commenter strongly supported this
[[Page 66979]]
action, specifically the rebuilding plan, noting the long-term
biological and economic benefits.
Response 1: NMFS agrees and is approving Amendment 7 in its
entirety, including the rebuilding plan.
Comment 2: Two comments from for-hire recreational head boat
captains expressed distrust in the data used to develop this action.
The commenters stated that the recreational fishery is catching more
bluefish than the commercial gillnet vessels and should be allocated
more quota. Neither commenter believes that overfishing of bluefish is
occurring, and both think that the recreational quotas should be
increased while commercial quotas should be decreased.
Response 2: The best scientific information available was used to
develop this action and calculate the percentages of the quota to be
reallocated to each sector. Additionally, this action used a more
recent time period as the basis for the recreational and commercial
allocations to better reflect the current conditions of the stock and
the fishery. Catch data do indicate that over 85 percent of bluefish
caught on the Atlantic coast are caught by the recreational sector. As
a result, Amendment 7 does increase the amount of annual quota
allocated to the recreational sector and decrease the amount to the
commercial sector in its sector reallocation; to better reflect the
needs of the overall fishery. NMFS agrees that overfishing does not
appear to be occurring at this time.
Comment 3: A fisheries wholesaler from Florida submitted a comment
expressing concern about the loss of commercial quota to Florida under
this action, as well as a lack of confidence in the Marine Recreational
Information Program (MRIP) data used for the recreational fishery. The
commenter suggested that the proposed state allocations be reconsidered
to account for unforeseen bad weather in recent years, which skewed
landings lower in some states (such as Florida). The commenter also
suggested that MRIP be improved, especially with regard to accounting
for dead discards and the difference between private anglers and
charter/party/head boat catch.
Response 3: The commercial quota reallocation in this action is
based on the best scientific data available, and the percentages
allocated to each state were calculated using landings data from a 10-
year period that should balance out any outlier years due to bad
weather. The new commercial allocations are intended to be the best
representation of where the bluefish stock is shifting, and where the
fishery has been operating in recent years in an effort to minimize the
need for state-to-state transfers. However, those transfers are still
available as a tool to prevent a state overage in years of high
landings. NMFS is also phasing in the implementation of the commercial
quota reallocation over seven years to allow states and industry to
adjust to the changes more easily.
Comment 4: One commenter expressed strong support for the action,
noting specific approval of the rebuilding plan and the increased
regulatory flexibility introduced by Amendment 7. This commenter also
asked what agency regulates the bluefish fishery, and enforces and
manages the commercial fishery quotas; as well as if any regulations
are in place to reduce the damaging effects of gillnets.
Response 4: NMFS agrees and is approving and implementing Amendment
7. By doing this, and as described in the EA and supporting documents,
NMFS is the agency responsible for managing the Federal bluefish
fishery and the measures in this amendment. Further, all of the details
of the gear requirements and fishery impacts are described in the EA
for this action and the Bluefish FMP.
Comment 5: An anonymous college student submitted a comment in
support of Amendment 7. However, the commenter misunderstood the
rebuilding plan measures in this action as a plan to stockpile/restock
rivers and spawning ``bodies of water'' with juvenile bluefish to
increase the coastal populations, which is inaccurate. The comment also
includes a few questions about impacts to habitat and other fish
species.
Response 5: The rebuilding plan included in this action works
toward an improved stock status by managing catch limits and minimizing
fishing mortality of bluefish, not by restocking spawning grounds or
affecting recruitment. All of the questions about impacts of Amendment
7 are clearly addressed and described in the EA for the action.
Comment 6: A commenter from New Jersey wrote that while it is
important to restrict bluefish catch to rebuild the stock, the
recreational possession limit for shore anglers and boat fishermen
should be the same at five fish.
Response 6: This amendment does not address the recreational
management measures, such as bag limits. These measures are reviewed
during the annual specifications process.
Changes From the Proposed Rule
There are no changes to the measures from the proposed rule.
Classification
Pursuant to section 304(b)(3) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the NMFS
Assistant Administrator has determined that Amendment 7 to the Atlantic
Bluefish FMP is necessary for the conservation and management of the
Atlantic bluefish fishery, and that it is consistent with the Magnuson-
Stevens Act and other applicable laws.
The Council reviewed the regulations for this action and deemed
them necessary and appropriate to implement consistent with section
303(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
This final rule has been determined to be not significant for
purposes of Executive Order 12866.
This final rule does not duplicate, conflict, or overlap with any
existing Federal rules.
This action contains no information collection requirements under
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
A final regulatory flexibility analysis (FRFA) was prepared for
this action pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 604(a), and is included in this final
rule. The FRFA incorporates the initial regulatory flexibility analysis
(IRFA), a summary of the significant issues raised by the public
comments in response to the IRFA, NMFS' responses to those comments,
and a summary of the analyses completed to support the action. A public
copy of the EA containing the IRFA is available from the Council (see
ADDRESSES). The preamble to the proposed rule included a detailed
summary of the analyses contained in the IRFA, and that discussion is
not repeated here.
A Summary of the Significant Issues Raised by the Public in Response to
the IRFA, a Summary of the Agency's Assessment of Such Issues, and a
Statement of Any Changes Made in the Final Rule as a Result of Such
Comments
NMFS did not receive any comments in response to the IRFA or
regulatory flexibility analysis (RFA) process. Refer to the Comments
and Responses section of this rule's preamble for more detail on the
public comments that were received on this action. No changes to the
proposed rule were made as a result of public comments.
Description and Estimate of Number of Small Entities to Which the Rule
Would Apply
This final rule affects those small entities engaged in commercial
fishing operations in the Atlantic bluefish fishery (those with
commercial bluefish
[[Page 66980]]
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 a 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 3-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 Projected Reporting, Recordkeeping, and Other Compliance
Requirements
There are no new reporting, recordkeeping, or other compliance
requirements included in this final rule.
Description of the Steps the Agency Has Taken To Minimize the
Significant Economic Impact on Small Entities Consistent With the
Stated Objectives of Applicable Statutes
As noted in the proposed rule and the IRFA, this amendment
implements 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 the sector
quota transfer measures. The approved measures (preferred alternatives)
for these main issues were chosen and developed with the intent to
minimize negative impacts to small businesses, while still achieving
the overall purpose and need of the action.
In the reallocation of quota between the commercial and
recreational sectors, the 3-percentage point shift to the recreational
sector is more representative of how the overall fishery currently
operates based on the most recent catch data. While this may have a
slight negative impact on commercial businesses, it would comparably
benefit recreational businesses. There were other alternatives
considered for this sector reallocation, but the difference in their
economic impacts were negligible. Revisions to the sector transfer
measures could also further mitigate any potential negative impacts to
small businesses from the sector reallocation. The amendment now allows
quota (in amounts up to 10-percent of the year's acceptable biological
catch) to be transferred from either sector to the other (from
commercial to recreational or vice versa) during the specifications
process. This management tool allows for additional flexibility and
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, the approved measures for the
reallocation of commercial quota among the states is based on a recent
10 years of landings data, and is intended to be a better
representation of how and where bluefish are already harvested to
minimize the need for inseason state transfers. 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, the alternatives may have a
disproportionate, indirect impact on some businesses more than others.
The range of alternatives considered for how to reallocate this quota
among the states did not have a difference in potential impacts when
compared to the preferred alternative. To mitigate potential negative
effects on entities in states that would experience the largest degree
of change in commercial allocation, all changes in allocation are being
phased in equally over seven years; making the difference in quota
allocation that each state experiences each year much smaller (one
seventh of the total), and thus minimizing the immediate magnitude of
any potential negative effects as a result.
In terms of the rebuilding plan, the constant fishing mortality
rebuilding plan was chosen because it contains more gradual changes to
the stock with higher allowed quotas; maximizing economic stability and
minimizing disruption of business operations while still rebuilding the
stock within the necessary 10 years.
Overall, NMFS does not anticipate significant economic impacts on
small entities as a result of implementing the measures of this
amendment. While most measures have the potential to impact small
businesses, these impacts are expected to largely be indirect and to
have minimal direct economic effects. Public input was solicited and
considered throughout the development of this amendment, and the
economic impact on small businesses was minimized wherever possible, as
detailed in the choices noted above.
Section 212 of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness
Act of 1996 states that, for each rule or group of related rules for
which an agency is required to prepare a FRFA, the agency shall publish
one or more guides to assist small entities in complying with the rule,
and shall designate such publications as ``small entity compliance
guides.'' The agency shall explain the actions a small entity is
required to take to comply with a rule or group of rules. As part of
this rulemaking process, a letter to permit holders that also serves as
a small entity compliance guide was prepared and will be sent to all
holders of Federal permits issued for the bluefish fishery. In
addition, copies of this final rule and guide (i.e., permit holder
letter) are
[[Page 66981]]
available from NMFS at the following website: <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/bluefish#management">https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/bluefish#management</a>.
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 648
Fisheries, Fishing, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
Dated: November 19, 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 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 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. 2021-25649 Filed 11-23-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on November 24, 2021.
This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.