Rule2022-01996
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Bluefish Fishery; 2022 and Projected 2023 Specifications
Primary source
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Published
February 2, 2022
Effective
February 2, 2022
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
NMFS issues final specifications for the 2022 Atlantic bluefish fishery, and projected specifications for 2023, as recommended by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council. This action is necessary to establish allowable harvest levels to prevent overfishing while enabling optimum yield, using the best scientific information available. This rule also informs the public of the final fishery specifications for the 2022 fishing year.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 22 (Wednesday, February 2, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 22 (Wednesday, February 2, 2022)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 5739-5741]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-01996]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 220126-0034; RTID 0648-XX073]
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Bluefish
Fishery; 2022 and Projected 2023 Specifications
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: NMFS issues final specifications for the 2022 Atlantic
bluefish fishery, and projected specifications for 2023, as recommended
by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council. This action is
necessary to establish allowable harvest levels to prevent overfishing
while enabling optimum yield, using the best scientific information
available. This rule also informs the public of the final fishery
specifications for the 2022 fishing year.
DATES: Effective February 2, 2022.
ADDRESSES: The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council prepared an
environmental assessment (EA) for these specifications that describes
the action and other considered alternatives. The EA provides an
analysis of the biological, economic, and social impacts of the
preferred measures and other considered alternatives. Copies of these
specifications, including the EA, Regulatory Flexibility Act Analyses,
and other supporting documents for the 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 and the Atlantic States
Marine Fisheries Commission jointly manage the Atlantic Bluefish
Fishery Management Plan (FMP). The FMP requires the specification of an
acceptable biological catch (ABC), commercial and recreational annual
catch limits (ACL), commercial and recreational annual catch targets
(ACT), a commercial quota, a recreational harvest limit (RHL), and any
other management measures, for up to 3 years at a time. This action
implements bluefish specifications for the 2022 fishing year, and
projects specifications for 2023, based on Council and Commission
recommendations.
These specifications incorporate several revised measures from
Amendment 7 to the FMP (86 FR 66977; November 24, 2021), including the
rebuilding plan for the stock, and phased-in reallocation of commercial
[[Page 5740]]
quota among the states in the management unit. There was also an
overage of the fishery ACL caused by recreational catch in 2020, which
will be accounted for through a pound-for-pound payback from the 2022
recreational ACT according to the accountability measures (AM) defined
in the FMP (50 CFR 648.163(d)(1)). There is no sector transfer in these
specifications because the stock is overfished. This action contains no
changes to the recreational management measures because the expected
recreational landings under the existing measures are likely to fully
achieve the RHL.
The proposed rule for this action published in the Federal Register
on December 2, 2021 (86 FR 68456), and comments were accepted through
December 17, 2021. NMFS received two comments from the public, and no
changes were made to the final rule as a result of those comments (see
Comments and Responses for additional detail). Additional background
information regarding the development of these specifications was
provided in the proposed rule and is not repeated here.
Final Specifications
This action implements the Council and Commission's recommended
2022 and projected 2023 bluefish catch specifications, as outlined in
the proposed rule. These specifications increase the 2022 fishery ABC
by about 55 percent, and raise the 2022 commercial quota and RHL by 28
percent and 67 percent, respectively (Table 1).
Table 1--Comparison of 2021, 2022, and 2023 Bluefish Specifications *
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2021 2022 2023
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Million Metric Million Metric Million Metric
lb tons lb tons lb tons
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Overfishing Limit................................... 32.98 17,228 40.56 18,399 45.17 20,490
ABC = Fishery ACL................................... 16.28 7,385 25.26 11,460 30.62 13,890
Commercial ACL = Commercial ACT..................... 2.77 1,255 3.54 1,604 4.29 1,945
Recreational ACL = Recreational ACT................. 13.51 6,130 21.73 9,856 26.34 11,945
Recreational Accountability Measures................ 0 0 3.65 1,656 0 0
Commercial Total Allowable Landings (TAL)........... 2.77 1,255 3.54 1,604 4.29 1,945
Recreational TAL.................................... 8.34 3,785 13.89 6,298 22.14 10,044
Sector Transfer..................................... 0 0 0 0 0 0
Commercial Quota.................................... 2.77 1,255 3.54 1,604 4.29 1,945
RHL................................................. 8.34 3,785 13.89 6,298 22.14 10,044
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* Specifications are derived from the ABC in metric tons (mt). When values are converted to millions of pounds
the numbers may slightly shift due to rounding. The conversion factor used is 1 mt = 2,204.6226 lb.
The final commercial quota is allocated among the states from Maine
to Florida based on percent shares specified in the FMP; however,
Amendment 7 reallocated those percent shares, to be phased in over 7
years. Table 2 provides the commercial state allocations for 2022 and
2023 based on the final coastwide commercial quotas for each year, and
the applicable reallocated changes to the percent shares specified in
Amendment 7. No states exceeded their allocated quota in 2020, or are
projected to do so in 2021; therefore, no accountability measures for
the commercial fishery are required for the 2022 fishing year.
Table 2--2022 and 2023 Bluefish State Commercial Quota Allocations
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2022 2023
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State Percent Percent
share Quota (lb) Quota (kg) share Quota (lb) Quota (kg)
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Maine................................... 0.59 20,819 9,443 0.51 21,807 9,892
New Hampshire........................... 0.39 13,655 6,194 0.36 15,331 6,954
Massachusetts........................... 7.20 254,748 115,552 7.69 329,578 149,494
Rhode Island............................ 7.21 254,956 115,646 7.61 326,165 147,946
Connecticut............................. 1.24 43,885 19,906 1.22 52,094 23,629
New York................................ 11.72 414,693 188,102 13.06 560,031 254,026
New Jersey.............................. 14.68 519,158 235,486 14.54 623,295 282,722
Delaware................................ 1.68 59,442 26,962 1.48 63,572 28,836
Maryland................................ 2.85 100,698 45,676 2.69 115,409 52,349
Virginia................................ 11.02 389,802 176,811 10.16 435,625 197,596
North Carolina.......................... 32.06 1,133,855 514,308 32.05 1,374,077 623,271
South Carolina.......................... 0.04 1,590 721 0.05 2,344 1,063
Georgia................................. 0.02 805 365 0.04 1,544 700
Florida................................. 9.31 329,137 149,294 8.55 366,585 166,280
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Total............................... 100.00 3,537,096 1,604,400 100.01 4,287,109 1,944,600
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As previously mentioned, this action makes no changes to the
recreational management measures, as the expected recreational landings
of 13.58 million pounds (6,160 metric tons) under the existing measures
are likely to achieve the proposed RHL. The specifications for 2023 are
projected based on the available data and the second year of the
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rebuilding plan model. However, there is a research track stock
assessment scheduled for bluefish in 2022. The Council will review the
projected 2023 specifications in light of any new information,
including this assessment, to determine if changes need to be made
prior to their implementation. NMFS will publish a notification prior
to the 2023 fishing year to confirm these limits as projected or
propose any necessary changes.
Comments and Responses
The public comment period for the proposed rule ended on December
17, 2021, and NMFS received two comments from the public. One commenter
stated that beach replenishment efforts are destroying coastal habitats
and disrupting the coastal food chain, and this is negatively affecting
the bluefish stock and biomass numbers; especially inshore where most
of the recreational fishery occurs. This action affects the annual
catch limits and quotas in the bluefish fishery. Environmental impacts
and habitat conditions are analyzed in the EA for this action. The
second commenter supported the action, and is in favor of overall
increased quotas for the bluefish fishery. They commented that Florida
should receive a higher percentage of the commercial quota, but support
these specifications overall. State commercial quota allocations were
the subject of a recent amendment to the Bluefish FMP, and changes to
these allocations are beyond the scope of this specifications action.
No changes to the proposed specifications were made as a result of
these comments.
Changes From the Proposed Rule
There are no substantive changes from the proposed rule.
Classification
Pursuant to section 304(b)(3) of the Magnuson Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), the NMFS
Assistant Administrator, Greater Atlantic Region, has determined that
these final specifications are necessary for the conservation and
management of the Atlantic bluefish fishery, and that they are
consistent with the Atlantic Bluefish FMP, the Magnuson-Stevens Act,
and other applicable law.
The Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA, also finds good
cause under 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3) to waive the 30-day delay in effective
date for this rule to ensure that the final specifications are in place
as close as practicable to the start of the 2022 bluefish fishing year,
which began on January 1, 2022. A delay in effectiveness well beyond
the start of this fishing year would be contrary to the public interest
as it could create confusion in the bluefish industry, and compromise
the effectiveness of the new measures to reallocate commercial quota
among the states. Because the commercial quota is increasing, a delay
too long into the new fishing year could also cause potential economic
harm to the commercial bluefish fishery through lost opportunity to
fish under the higher limits.
Furthermore, this rule is being issued at the earliest possible
date. These specifications include several changes that were
implemented by Amendment 7 to the Bluefish FMP, and were delayed until
after the final rule for the amendment published on November 24, 2021
(86 FR 66977). The proposed rule for these specifications published on
December 2, 2021, with a 15-day comment period ending December 17,
2021. Because of these administrative delays, this final rule will not
be effective for the January 1 start of the fishing year; however, a
30-day delay in effectiveness would postpone implementation of final
2022 specifications well into the fishing year, which is contrary to
the public interest. State agencies also use commercially-allocated
quotas to set annual state management measures. The longer these
specifications are delayed, the longer it will take for some states to
implement their respective regulations.
Finally, regulated parties do not require any additional time to
come into compliance with this rule, and thus, a 30-day delay would not
benefit the regulated community in this regard. Unlike actions that
require an adjustment period, bluefish fishery participants will not
have to purchase new equipment or otherwise expend time or money to
comply with these management measures. Rather, complying with this
final rule simply means adhering to the new catch limits set for the
fishing year. Fishery stakeholders have also been involved in the
development of this action and are anticipating this rule. Therefore,
NMFS finds good cause not to delay this final rule's effectiveness,
consistent with 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3).
For these reasons, NMFS finds that a 30-day delay in effectiveness
would be contrary to the public interest, and therefore, waives the
requirement consistent with 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(1) and (3). As a result,
there is good cause to implement this action on February 2, 2022.
This final rule is exempt from review under Executive Order 12866
because the action contains no implementing regulations.
The Chief Counsel for Regulation of the Department of Commerce
certified to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business
Administration during the proposed rule stage that this action would
not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small
entities. The factual basis for the certification was published in the
proposed rule and is not repeated here. No comments were received
regarding this certification and the initial certification remains
unchanged. As a result, a final regulatory flexibility analysis is not
required and none was prepared.
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.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: January 26, 2022.
Samuel D. Rauch, III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-01996 Filed 2-1-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on February 2, 2022.
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