Proposed Rule2023-25222
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Bluefish Fishery; 2024 and Projected 2025 Bluefish Specifications
Primary source
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Published
November 16, 2023
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
NMFS proposes Atlantic bluefish specifications for the 2024 fishing year and projects specifications for fishing year 2025, as recommended by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council. This action is necessary to establish allowable harvest levels for the stock to prevent overfishing and promote rebuilding, using the best scientific information available. This rule also informs the public of the proposed fishery specifications and provides an opportunity for comment on the proposed action.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 220 (Thursday, November 16, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 220 (Thursday, November 16, 2023)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 78715-78717]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-25222]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 231106-0262; RTID 0648-XD357]
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Bluefish
Fishery; 2024 and Projected 2025 Bluefish 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 Atlantic bluefish specifications for the 2024
fishing year and projects specifications for fishing year 2025, as
recommended by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council. This action
is necessary to establish allowable harvest levels for the stock to
prevent overfishing and promote rebuilding, using the best scientific
information available. This rule also informs the public of the
proposed fishery specifications and provides an opportunity for comment
on the proposed action.
DATES: Comments must be received by December 1, 2023.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on this document, identified by
NOAA-NMFS-2023-0126, 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-2023-
0126'' 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="https://www.regulations.gov">https://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). If you are unable to submit your comment through <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>, contact Cynthia Ferrio, Fishery Policy Analyst,
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#db98a2b5afb3b2baf59dbea9a9b2b49bb5b4babaf5bcb4ad"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="fcbf85928894959dd2ba998e8e9593bc92939d9dd29b938a">[email protected]</span></a>.
The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council prepared a draft
environmental assessment (EA) for this action that describes the
proposed measures and other considered alternatives. The EA also
provides an economic analysis, as well as an analysis of the
biological, economic, and social impacts of the proposed measures and
other considered alternatives. Copies of the specifications document,
including the EA, are available on 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 for up to 3 years at a time, 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. This action proposes bluefish specifications
for the 2024 fishing year, and projects specifications for 2025, based
on Council and Commission recommendations.
Recent research track and management track assessments for bluefish
(December 2022 and June 2023, respectively) determined that the stock
is no longer overfished and overfishing is not occurring. However, the
spawning stock biomass has not yet reached its target, so the fishery
remains under its rebuilding plan. These proposed specifications would
decrease the 2024 acceptable biological catch by 43 percent from 2023,
based on recommendations from the Council's Scientific and Statistical
Committee (SSC), results from these assessments, and the rebuilding
plan for the stock.
The Council's Bluefish Monitoring Committee recommended that no
uncertainty buffers be applied to either the commercial or recreational
sector in 2024 or 2025, but did recommend that commercial discards be
accounted for in the specifications process beginning in fishing year
2024. In prior years, commercial discards have been considered
negligible, but with updated assessment information, it is recommended
that discards from both sectors be included. Although the stock is no
longer overfished and therefore transferring quota between recreational
and commercial sectors is no longer prohibited by governing
regulations, no sector quota transfer is recommended because the
fishery is still under a rebuilding plan. The resulting 2024
specifications would decrease the commercial quota by 43 percent, and
the RHL by 15 percent from 2023. At their joint meeting in August 2023,
the Council and the Commission's Bluefish Board reviewed and approved
these specifications as recommended by the SSC and Monitoring
Committee. No changes were recommended to recreational management
measures (i.e., bag limits), as the average recreational harvest since
2021 (11.54 million pounds (lb); 5,234 metric tons (mt)) remains below
the proposed RHL for 2024 (11.96 million lb; 5,425 mt). Status quo
recreational measures are also intended to promote continued stability
and consistency in the fishery while minimizing the risk of an overage
in the recreational sector.
Although catch limits are decreasing, neither sector of the fishery
is expected to be substantially impacted by this action. Harvest in
both sectors has been decreasing in recent years; coastwide commercial
landings have not exceeded 2.2 million lb (998 mt) in the last 3
[[Page 78716]]
years, and recreational harvest averaged 11.54 million lb (5,234 mt),
both lower than the proposed future limits.
Proposed Specifications
This action proposes the Council's recommendations for 2024 and
projected 2025 bluefish catch specifications, which are consistent with
the SSC and Monitoring Committee recommendations (Table 1). These
proposed specifications would decrease catch limits in 2024 based on
best available information from the recent assessments and the
rebuilding plan, but increases to limits are projected in 2025. A
comparison of the current 2023, proposed 2024, and projected 2025
specifications is summarized below in Table 1. As previously mentioned,
the Council did not recommend any changes to recreational management
measures in these specifications, as the expected recreational landings
under the existing measures are likely to achieve the proposed RHL
without exceeding it. Therefore, all other Federal management measures,
including commercial management measures, recreational season (open all
year) and recreational fish size (none), would also remain unchanged
under this action.
Table 1--Comparison of 2023, Proposed 2024, and Projected 2025 Bluefish Specifications *
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2023 (Current) 2024 (Proposed) 2025 (Projected)
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Million lb Metric tons Million lb Metric tons Million lb Metric tons
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Overfishing Limit....................................... 45.17 20,490 25.87 11,734 27.49 12,467
ABC = Fishery ACL....................................... 30.62 13,890 17.48 7,929 21.83 9,903
Commercial ACL = Commercial ACT......................... 4.29 1,945 2.45 1,110 3.06 1,386
Recreational ACL = Recreational ACT..................... 26.34 11,945 15.03 6,819 18.78 8,517
Commercial Discards..................................... 0 0 0.02 11 0.02 11
Recreational Accountability Measures.................... 5.59 2,536 0 0 0 0
Recreational Discards................................... 6.64 3,012 3.08 1,396 3.08 1,396
Commercial Total Allowable Landings (TAL)............... 4.29 1,945 2.42 1,099 3.03 1,375
Recreational TAL........................................ 14.11 6,400 11.96 5,423 15.70 7,121
Sector Transfer......................................... 0 0 0 0 0 0
Commercial Quota........................................ 4.29 1,945 2.42 1,099 3.03 1,375
RHL..................................................... 14.11 6,400 11.96 5,423 15.70 7,121
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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 shift due to rounding. The
conversion factor used is 1 mt = 2204.6226 lb.
The coastwide commercial quota is allocated to coastal states from
Maine to Florida based on percent shares specified in the FMP. Table 2
provides the proposed commercial state allocations based on the
Council-recommended coastwide commercial quotas for 2024 and 2025, and
the phased-in changes to the percent share allocations to the states
specified in Amendment 7. No states exceeded their allocated quota in
2022, or are projected to do so in 2023; therefore, no accountability
measures for the commercial fishery are required for the 2024 fishing
year based on the data available at this time.
Table 2--Proposed 2024 and Projected 2025 Bluefish State Commercial Quota Allocations
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2024 (Proposed) 2025 (Projected)
State -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Percent share Quota (lb) Quota (kg) Percent share Quota (lb) Quota (kg)
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Maine................................................... 0.43 10,398 4,716 0.35 10,582 4,800
New Hampshire........................................... 0.33 7,983 3,621 0.30 9,123 4,138
Massachusetts........................................... 8.17 198,205 89,904 8.66 262,663 119,142
Rhode Island............................................ 8.01 194,201 88,088 8.41 255,061 115,694
Connecticut............................................. 1.19 28,847 13,085 1.16 35,309 16,016
New York................................................ 14.40 349,264 158,424 15.74 477,518 216,598
New Jersey.............................................. 14.40 349,216 158,402 14.26 432,630 196,238
Delaware................................................ 1.29 31,167 14,137 1.09 32,990 14,964
Maryland................................................ 2.54 61,527 27,908 2.38 72,265 32,779
Virginia................................................ 9.30 225,585 102,324 8.44 256,125 116,176
North Carolina.......................................... 32.05 777,159 352,513 32.04 972,012 440,897
South Carolina.......................................... 0.06 1,562 709 0.07 2,250 1,021
Georgia................................................. 0.05 1,195 542 0.06 1,897 860
Florida................................................. 7.80 189,071 85,761 7.04 213,625 96,899
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Total............................................... 100 2,425,085 1,100,000 100 3,033,561 1,376,000
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The catch limits for 2025 were projected based on the new
assessment data and the fourth year of the rebuilding plan model. The
Council will review the projected 2025 specifications in light of any
new information to determine if changes need to be made prior to their
implementation. We will publish a notice prior to the 2025 fishing year
to confirm these limits as projected or announce any necessary changes.
Classification
Pursuant to section 304(b)(1)(A) of the Magnuson Stevens Fishery
Conservation
[[Page 78717]]
and Management Act (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.
NMFS finds that a 15-day comment period for this action provides a
reasonable opportunity for public participation in this action pursuant
to Administrative Procedure Act section 553(c) (5 U.S.C 553(c)), while
also ensuring that the final specifications are in place for the start
of the bluefish fishing year on January 1, 2024. Stakeholder and
industry groups have been involved with the development of this action
and have participated in public meetings throughout the past year. A
prolonged comment period and subsequent potential delay in
implementation past the start of the 2024 fishing year would be
contrary to the public interest, as it could create confusion both in
the bluefish industry around current quotas and with state agencies as
they prepare their annual management measures.
This action is exempt from review under Executive Order 12866
because it 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 that this proposed rule, if adopted, would not have a
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.
The factual basis for this determination is as follows.
The Councils conducted an evaluation of the potential socioeconomic
impacts of the proposed specifications in conjunction with an EA. There
are no proposed regulatory changes in this bluefish action, so none are
considered in the evaluation. The proposed action would decrease the
2024 ABC by 43 percent, the commercial quota by 43 percent, and the
recreational harvest limit by 15 percent from 2023, consistent with the
Mid-Atlantic Council SSC's recommendations, the results of the 2023
management track assessment, and the rebuilding plan for the stock.
This action proposes no changes to recreational management measures
beyond annual catch limits, such as bag limits.
This action would affect entities that participate in commercial
bluefish fishing (those that hold commercial bluefish permits), and
those with Federal for-hire (party/charter) recreational fishing
permits for bluefish. Vessels may hold multiple fishing permits and
some entities own multiple vessels and/or permits. According to the
Northeast Fisheries Science Center commercial ownership database, 479
commercial fishing affiliate firms landed bluefish during the 2020-2022
period (the most recent and complete data available), with 473 of those
commercial entities categorized as small businesses and 6 categorized
as large businesses. Analyses indicate that bluefish revenues
contributed less than two percent of the annual total gross receipts on
average for those small businesses that landed bluefish in those years.
For the recreational for-hire fishery, 412 for-hire affiliate firms
generated revenues from recreational fishing for various species during
2020-2022. All of those business affiliates are categorized as small
businesses, but it is not possible to derive the proportion of overall
revenues for these for-hire firms resulting from fishing activities for
an individual species such as bluefish. 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.
Overall, proposed specifications for 2024 and projected
specifications for 2025 are expected to provide similar fishing
opportunities when compared to the 2023 fishing year. Although catch
limits are decreasing in both the commercial and recreational sectors
under these specifications, this change is not expected to
substantially change overall fishing activity, result in catch overages
or revenue losses to industry, or substantially impact the bluefish
fishery as a whole. Harvest in both sectors has been decreasing in
recent years; coastwide commercial landings have not exceeded 2.2
million lb (998 mt) in the last 3 years, and recreational harvest has
averaged 11.54 million lb (5,234 mt), both lower than the proposed 2024
limits of 2.4 million lb (1,099 mt) and 11.96 million lb (5,425 mt),
respectively. Additionally, this action is expected to provide similar
fishing opportunities in the recreational sector compared to the
previous year, as there are no proposed changes to the management
measures such as recreational bag limits, which are most limiting to
fishery behavior. Finally, state quota allocations are still changing,
as 2024 is the third year of the phased-in quota re-allocation
implemented by Amendment 7 to the Bluefish Fishery Management Plan.
Therefore, regionally, there may be different amounts of commercial
quota available. Often, fishing behavior and short-term landings are
based on market conditions, which are not expected to substantially
change as a result of these specifications. As such, this proposed
action is not expected to have a substantial impact on the way the
fishery operates or the revenue of small entities.
Overall, analyses indicate that the proposed specifications will
not substantially change fishing effort, the risk of overfishing,
prices/revenues, or fishery behavior. Therefore, the Council concluded,
and NMFS agrees, that this action would not have a significant economic
impact on a substantial number of small businesses. As a result, an
initial regulatory flexibility analysis is not required and none has
been prepared.
This action would not establish any new reporting or record-keeping
requirements.
This proposed rule contains no new information collection
requirements under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: November 9, 2023.
Samuel D. Rauch, III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-25222 Filed 11-15-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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