Rule2022-27661
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Bluefish Fishery; 2023 Specifications
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
December 21, 2022
Effective
January 1, 2023
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
NMFS issues final specifications for the 2023 Atlantic bluefish fishery, as recommended by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. This action is necessary to establish allowable harvest levels for the stock to prevent overfishing and promote rebuilding, while enabling optimum yield, using the best scientific information available.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 244 (Wednesday, December 21, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 244 (Wednesday, December 21, 2022)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 78011-78013]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-27661]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 221215-0272; RTID 0648-XC422]
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Bluefish
Fishery; 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 2023 Atlantic
bluefish fishery, as recommended by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management
Council and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. This
action is necessary to establish allowable harvest levels for the stock
to prevent overfishing and promote rebuilding, while enabling optimum
yield, using the best scientific information available.
DATES: Effective on January 1, 2023.
ADDRESSES: The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council prepared a
Supplemental Information Report (SIR) for these specifications that
describes the action, and any changes from the original environmental
assessment (EA) and analyses for 2023 specifications action. Copies of
the SIR, original EA, 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 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 and the Atlantic States
Marine Fisheries Commission jointly manage the Atlantic Bluefish
Fishery Management Plan (FMP). The FMP requires the specification of
annual regulatory limits including: 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 other management
measures, for up to 3 years at a time. This action implements adjusted
bluefish specifications for the 2023 fishing year, based on the most
recent data and Council and Commission recommendations.
Catch limits for the 2023 bluefish fishery were previously
projected in a multi-year specifications action (87 FR 5739, February
2, 2022), based on a 2021 assessment update and Amendment 7 to the
Bluefish FMP (86 FR 66977, November 24, 2021). Those 2023
specifications would increase the commercial quota 21 percent and the
RHL 59 percent from 2022 limits. No changes were necessary to the
majority of those projected specifications; however, there was a
recreational catch overage of 5.59 million lb (2,536 mt) in
[[Page 78012]]
2021 that is required to be paid back pound-for-pound through
accountability measures (AM) in 2023, and updated data indicated that
the initial projection of recreational discards was too low. To account
for this new information, the 2023 RHL has been adjusted from the
projected 22.14 million lb (10,044 mt) to 14.11 million lb (6,400 mt),
which is an increase of 1.6 percent from 2022, rather than 59 percent.
No changes were recommended to recreational management measures because
the adjusted RHL is only slightly higher than the 2022 RHL, and there
was no compelling reason to change existing measures.
The proposed rule for this action published in the Federal Register
on November 15, 2022 (87 FR 68434), and comments were accepted through
November 30, 2022. NMFS received five comments from the public, and no
changes were made to the final rule because 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
2023 bluefish catch specifications, as outlined in the proposed rule
(Table 1). These final specifications increase the coastwide commercial
quota by 21 percent, as previously projected, and the RHL by 1.6
percent, rather than 59 percent as originally projected.
Table 1--Final Adjusted 2023 Bluefish Specifications *
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Million lb Metric tons
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Overfishing Limit....................... 45.17 20,490
ABC..................................... 30.62 13,890
Commercial ACL = Commercial ACT......... 4.29 1,945
Recreational ACL = Recreational ACT..... 26.34 11,945
Recreational AM......................... 5.59 2,536
Recreational Discards................... 6.64 3,012
Commercial Quota........................ 4.29 1,945
RHL..................................... 14.11 6,400
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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 coastwide commercial quota is allocated among the coastal
states from Maine to Florida based on percent shares specified in the
FMP, and the phased-in changes to these share allocations specified in
Amendment 7 to the FMP (86 FR 66977, November 24, 2021). The 2023 state
bluefish quota allocations (Table 2) are unchanged from what was
previously projected, as there are no adjustments to the commercial
sector. In addition, no states exceeded their allocated quota in 2021
or 2022; therefore, no AMs for the commercial fishery are required for
the 2023 fishing year.
Table 2--2023 Bluefish State Commercial Quota Allocations
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State Percent share Quota (lb) Quota (kg)
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Maine........................................................... 0.51 21,807 9,892
New Hampshire................................................... 0.36 15,331 6,954
Massachusetts................................................... 7.69 329,578 149,494
Rhode Island.................................................... 7.61 326,165 147,946
Connecticut..................................................... 1.22 52,094 23,629
New York........................................................ 13.06 560,031 254,026
New Jersey...................................................... 14.54 623,295 282,722
Delaware........................................................ 1.48 63,572 28,836
Maryland........................................................ 2.69 115,409 52,349
Virginia........................................................ 10.16 435,625 197,596
North Carolina.................................................. 32.05 1,374,077 623,271
South Carolina.................................................. 0.05 2,344 1,063
Georgia......................................................... 0.04 1,544 700
Florida......................................................... 8.55 366,585 166,280
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Total....................................................... 100.01 4,287,109 1,944,600
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As previously mentioned, this action makes no changes to
recreational management measures, including the recreational daily bag
limit of three fish per person for private anglers and five fish per
person for for-hire (charter/party) vessels.
Comments and Responses
The public comment period for the proposed rule ended on November
15, 2022, and NMFS received five comments from the public. No changes
were made to final rule as a result of these comments.
Comment 1: Three comments expressed similar opposition to the
current recreational bag limits for bluefish; specifically that private
anglers are held to a limit of three fish per person, while party/
charter boats are allowed five fish per person.
Response: This action does not change or affect the bluefish
recreational management measures, including bag limits. That said, the
issue of recreational bag limits was discussed at length following the
overfished
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determination of the stock in 2019, and in the development of
specifications for fishing years 2020 and 2021. There is a possibility
that these limits will be revisited for the 2024 fishing year following
the next assessment, but no changes are considered in this
specifications action for 2023.
Comment 2: Another commenter noted that any additional restriction
of the recreational bluefish fishery is unnecessary and would cause
economic burden.
Response: NMFS understands the concern expressed for the
recreational sector; however, this action does not add any restrictions
to the bluefish fishery. Even though the RHL is increasing less than
previously projected, it is still increasing 1.6 percent from 2022.
Comment 3: The final commenter simply voiced support for the action
and encouraged implementation as soon as possible.
Response: NMFS agrees and is implementing this rule in a timely
manner.
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, 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 bluefish fishing year on
January 1, 2023. This action establishes the final specifications
(i.e., catch limits) for the 2023 bluefish fishery. 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 increased
quota allocations both to fishery sectors, and commercially among the
states. State agencies also use commercially-allocated quotas to set
annual state management measures, so the longer these specifications
are delayed, the longer it will take for some states to implement their
respective regulations. Additionally, because catch limits are
increasing, a further delay into the new fishing year could also cause
potential economic harm to the fishery through lost opportunity to fish
under the higher limits.
Furthermore, regulated parties do not require any additional time
to come into compliance with this rule, and thus, a 30-day delay before
the final rule becomes effective does not provide any benefit. 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 2023 fishing year. Fishery stakeholders have also
been involved in the development of this action and are anticipating
this rule. 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)(3).
This final rule is not subject to 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: December 15, 2022.
Andrew James Strelcheck,
Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-27661 Filed 12-20-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on December 21, 2022.
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