Proposed Rule2022-16511
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Mid-Atlantic Blueline Tilefish Fishery; 2022 and Projected 2023 and 2024 Specifications
Primary source
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Published
August 2, 2022
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
NMFS proposes specifications for the 2022 blueline tilefish fishery north of the North Carolina/Virginia border and projected specifications for 2023 and 2024. The proposed action is necessary to establish allowable harvest levels and other management measures to prevent overfishing while allowing optimum yield, consistent with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and the Tilefish Fishery Management Plan. It is also intended to inform the public of these proposed specifications for the 2022 fishing year and projected specifications for 2023 and 2024.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 147 (Tuesday, August 2, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 147 (Tuesday, August 2, 2022)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 47181-47182]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-16511]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 220726-0164; RTID 0648-XB952]
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Mid-Atlantic
Blueline Tilefish Fishery; 2022 and Projected 2023 and 2024
Specifications
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 specifications for the 2022 blueline tilefish
fishery north of the North Carolina/Virginia border and projected
specifications for 2023 and 2024. The proposed action is necessary to
establish allowable harvest levels and other management measures to
prevent overfishing while allowing optimum yield, consistent with the
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and the
Tilefish Fishery Management Plan. It is also intended to inform the
public of these proposed specifications for the 2022 fishing year and
projected specifications for 2023 and 2024.
DATES: Comments must be received on August 17, 2022.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on this document, identified by
NOAA-NMFS-2022-0071, by any of the following methods:
<bullet> Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public
comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> and enter NOAA-NMFS-2022-0071 in the Search box.
Click on the ``Comment'' icon, complete the required fields, and 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 a 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).
Copies of the Supplemental Information Report (SIR) prepared for
this action, and other supporting documents for these proposed
specifications, are available from Dr. Christopher M. Moore, Executive
Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, 800 North State
Street, Suite 201, Dover, DE 19901. These documents are also accessible
via the internet at <a href="http://www.mafmc.org">http://www.mafmc.org</a>.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Laura Hansen, Fishery Management
Specialist, (978) 281-9225.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The blueline tilefish fishery north of the North Carolina/Virginia
border is managed by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council under
the Tilefish Fishery Management Plan (FMP), which outlines the
Council's process for establishing annual specifications. Blueline
tilefish south of the North Carolina/Virginia border are managed by the
South Atlantic Fishery Management Council under the Snapper Grouper
FMP.
The Tilefish FMP requires the Mid-Atlantic Council to recommend
acceptable biological catch (ABC), annual catch limit (ACL), annual
catch target (ACT), total allowable landings (TAL), and other
management measures for the commercial and recreational sectors of the
fishery, for up to three years at a time. The Council's Scientific and
Statistical Committee (SSC) provides an ABC recommendation to the
Council to derive these catch limits. The Council makes recommendations
to NMFS that cannot exceed the recommendation of its SSC. The Council's
recommendations must include supporting documentation concerning the
environmental, economic, and social impacts of the recommendations. We
are responsible for reviewing these recommendations to ensure that they
achieve the FMP objectives and are consistent with all applicable laws.
Following review, NMFS publishes the final specifications in the
Federal Register.
In 2017, a benchmark assessment of the blueline tilefish population
along the entire East Coast was conducted through the Southeast Data,
Assessment, and Review process (SEDAR 50). Due to data limitations, the
coast-wide population was modeled separately north and south of Cape
Hatteras, NC. To assist in developing a recommendation for acceptable
biological catch (ABC), the Mid- and South Atlantic Councils'
Scientific and Statistical Committees (SSC), as well as staff from the
Northeast and Southeast Fisheries Science Centers, formed a joint
subcommittee to examine available information for the region north of
Cape Hatteras, and to develop separate catch advice for each Councils'
jurisdiction.
At its March 2018 meeting, the Mid-Atlantic SSC reviewed the output
from the SEDAR 50 benchmark stock assessment as well as additional work
using the Data-Limited Methods Toolkit (DLMTool) and derived an ABC
recommendation using the Mid-Atlantic Council's risk policy. The
resulting ABC was 179,500 lb (81.4 mt) for 2019-2021 for the region
north of Cape Hatteras. The SSC then followed the recommendation of the
Joint Mid- and South Atlantic Blueline Tilefish
[[Page 47182]]
Subcommittee to distribute 56 percent of that ABC to the Mid-Atlantic
Council (north of the VA/NC border) and 44 percent to the South
Atlantic Council. This percentage breakdown is based on the catch
distribution from the 2017 Pilot Blueline Tilefish Longline Survey.
At its March 2021 meeting, the Mid-Atlantic SSC used the 2018
approach to recommend a status quo ABC of 100,520 lb (45.6 mt) for the
2022-2024 fishing years for the region north of Cape Hatteras. The SSC
made this recommendation under consideration of recent fishery
performance, lack of an updated assessment, the need to synchronize the
Mid-Atlantic specifications cycle with a SEDAR assessment scheduled for
2024/2025, and the high degree of uncertainty within the recreational
sector. A summary of the Council's recommended specifications is shown
below in Table 1.
Proposed Specifications
The Council's recommendations are consistent with the SSC's
recommended ABC.
Table 1--Proposed and Projected Blueline Tilefish Specifications
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Proposed 2022 Projected 2023-2024
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ABC--North of NC/VA line.... 100,520 lb (45.6 mt) 100,520 lb (45.6
mt).
Recreational ACL/ACT........ 73,380 (33.3 mt).... 73,380 (33.3 mt).
Commercial ACL/ACT.......... 27,140 lb (12.3 mt). 27,140 lb (12.3 mt).
Recreational TAL............ 71,912 lb (32.6 mt). 71,912 lb (32.6 mt).
Commercial TAL.............. 26,869 lb (12.2 mt). 26,869 lb (12.2 mt).
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There were no other recommended changes to commercial or
recreational management measures. The 2022 fishing year began on
January 1, 2022, and the fishery is operating under a rollover
provision.
Classification
Pursuant to section 304(b)(1)(A) of the Magnuson Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), the NMFS
Assistant Administrator has determined that this proposed rule is
consistent with the Tilefish FMP, other provisions of the Magnuson-
Stevens Act, and other applicable law, subject to further consideration
after public comment.
This proposed rule has been determined to be not significant for
purposes of Executive Order 12866.
The Chief Counsel for Regulation of the Department of Commerce
certified to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business
Administration (SBA) that this proposed rule, if adopted, would not
have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small
entities.
For Regulatory Flexibility Act purposes, NMFS has established a
size standard for small businesses, including their affiliated
operations, whose primary industry is commercial fishing (see 50 CFR
200.2). A business primarily engaged in commercial fishing (NAICS code
11411) is classified as small if it is independently owned and
operated, is not dominant in its field of operation (including its
affiliates), and has combined annual receipts not in excess of $11.0
million for all its affiliated operations worldwide. The determination
as to whether the entity is large or small is based on the average
annual revenue for the three years from 2018 through 2020. Data was
used from 2018 to 2020, not 2021, because 2020 is the most recent full
year of ownership data available. The Small Business Administration has
established size standards for all other major industry sectors in the
U.S., including defining for-hire fishing firms (NAICS code 487210) as
small when their receipts are equal to or less than $8 million.
The measures proposed in this action apply to vessels that hold a
federal permit for blueline tilefish. Some entities own multiple
vessels with tilefish permits. The most recent ownership data indicates
that 1,096 business entities hold at least one permit that the proposed
action potentially regulations. All 1,096 business entities identified
could be directly regulated by this proposed action. Of these, 1,096
entities are commercial entities. Based on 2018-2020 revenues, 1,087 of
the commercial entities are classified as small businesses and 9 are
classified as large businesses. All 222 for-hire entities are
categorized as small businesses.
The specifications are not proposed to change, so there should be
no negative impacts on these small businesses compared to recent
operations, and this action will not have a significant economic impact
on a substantial number of small entities.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: July 28, 2022.
Samuel D. Rauch, III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-16511 Filed 8-1-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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