Rule2024-16111
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; 2024-2026 Specifications for the Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Fishery Management Plan
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Published
July 23, 2024
Effective
August 22, 2024
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
NMFS approves and implements the 2024-2026 specifications for the Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Fishery Management Plan, as recommended by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council. This final rule sets the 2024 Illex and longfin squid specifications, and projects the 2025 Illex and 2025-2026 longfin squid specifications. This rule also reaffirms the 2024 butterfish and Atlantic chub mackerel specifications and the previously published projected 2025 chub mackerel specifications. These specifications establish allowable harvest levels that will prevent overfishing, consistent with the most recent scientific information.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 141 (Tuesday, July 23, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 141 (Tuesday, July 23, 2024)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 59678-59681]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-16111]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 240717-0198]
RIN 0648-BM79
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; 2024-2026
Specifications for the Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish 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 the 2024-2026 specifications for
the Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Fishery Management Plan, as
recommended by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council. This final
rule sets the 2024 Illex and longfin squid specifications, and projects
the 2025 Illex and 2025-2026 longfin squid specifications. This rule
also reaffirms the 2024 butterfish and Atlantic chub mackerel
specifications and the previously published projected 2025 chub
mackerel specifications. These specifications establish allowable
harvest levels that will prevent overfishing, consistent with the most
recent scientific information.
DATES: Effective August 22, 2024.
ADDRESSES: A Supplemental Information Report (SIR) was prepared for
these specifications. Copies of the SIR and other relevant
environmental documentation 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.
The SIR is also accessible via the internet at <a href="https://www.mafmc.org/supporting-documents">https://www.mafmc.org/supporting-documents</a>.
Copies of the small entity compliance guide are available from
Michael Pentony, Regional Administrator, NMFS, Greater Atlantic
Regional Fisheries Office, 55 Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA
01930-2298, or available on the internet at <a href="https://www.greateratlantic.fisheries.noaa.gov">https://www.greateratlantic.fisheries.noaa.gov</a>.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Maria Fenton, Fishery Policy Analyst,
(978) 281-9196.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
General Background
The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) manages
Atlantic mackerel, Illex squid, longfin squid, butterfish, and Atlantic
chub mackerel under the Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Fishery
Management Plan (FMP). The regulations implementing the FMP at 50 CFR
part 648, subpart B, require the Council's Mackerel, Squid, and
Butterfish Monitoring Committee to develop specification
recommendations for each species based upon the acceptable biological
catch (ABC) advice of the Council's Scientific and Statistical
Committee (SSC). The ABC is the level of catch that accounts for
scientific uncertainty in the estimate of the stock's defined
overfishing limit (OFL). Specifications are the combined suite of
commercial and recreational catch levels and management measures
necessary to prevent such catch levels from being exceeded. Mackerel,
Squid, and Butterfish FMP regulations require the specification of
annual catch limits (ACL) and accountability measure (AM) provisions
for butterfish and chub mackerel. Both squid species are exempt from
the ACL/AM requirements because they have a life cycle of less than 1
year. In addition, the regulations require the specification of
domestic annual harvest (DAH), the butterfish mortality cap in the
longfin squid fishery, and initial optimum yield (IOY) for both squid
species. As part of this process, the Council sets specifications for
up to 3 years. These specifications are reviewed annually and may be
revised by the Council based on updated information.
On July 27, 2023 (88 FR 48389), NMFS published a final rule in the
Federal Register implementing 2023 specifications for the chub
mackerel, butterfish, longfin squid, and Illex squid fisheries. This
included projected 2024 butterfish specifications and projected 2024-
2025 chub mackerel specifications. The Council's SSC met in March, May,
and July 2023 to consider the 2024 longfin squid, Illex squid, chub
mackerel, and butterfish specifications based upon the latest
information. At those meetings, the SSC concluded that no adjustments
to these species' ABCs were warranted. The Council finalized its
recommendations for the 2024 Illex and longfin squid specifications and
projected 2025 Illex and 2025-2026 longfin squid specifications during
its April and August 2023 meetings. The Council reaffirmed the 2024
butterfish and 2024 and projected 2025 Atlantic chub mackerel
specifications during its June 2023 meeting. During its December 2023
meeting, the Council also finalized recommendations for the 2024 and
projected 2025 Atlantic mackerel specifications; however, those
specifications were recently finalized through a separate final rule
due to additional timing concerns (89 FR 25820, April 12, 2024).
Final 2024 and Projected 2025 Illex Squid Specifications
The final 2024 and projected 2025 Illex squid specifications are
identical to what was in place in 2023, in alignment with the Council's
recommendation (table 1). NMFS and the Council will review the Illex
squid specifications during future annual specifications processes
following data updates each spring. The 2025 specifications projected
here could change based on new information.
[[Page 59679]]
Table 1--Final 2024 and Projected 2025 Illex Squid Specifications
[mt]
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2025
Specification 2024 (projected)
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OFL........................................................................... Unknown Unknown
ABC........................................................................... 40,000 40,000
Commercial Discard Set-Aside.................................................. 1,369 (3.42%) 1,369 (3.42%)
Initial optimum yield (IOY)................................................... 38,631 38,631
Domestic annual harvest (DAH)/domestic annual processing (DAP)................ 38,631 38,631
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Final 2024 and Projected 2025-2026 Longfin Squid Specifications
The final 2024 and projected 2025-2026 longfin squid specifications
are nearly identical to what was in place in 2023, in alignment with
the Council's recommendation. The only change is a slight increase in
the longfin squid discard rate (from 2 percent to 2.16 percent). The
background for this change is discussed in the proposed rule to
implement these specifications (89 FR 28713, April 19, 2024), and
therefore is not repeated here. The longfin squid IOY, DAH, and DAP are
calculated by deducting a discard set-aside, calculated using the
discard rate, from the ABC. The 0.16-percent increase in the discard
rate results in a 0.17-percent decrease in the commercial quota (table
2). NMFS and the Council will review the longfin squid specifications
during future annual specifications processes following data updates
each spring. The 2025-2026 specifications projected here could change
based on new information.
Table 2--Final 2024 and Projected 2025-2026 Longfin Squid Specifications
[mt]
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2025-2026
Specification 2024 (projected)
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OFL........................................................................... Unknown Unknown
ABC........................................................................... 23,400 23,400
Commercial Discard Set-Aside.................................................. 506.3 (2.16%) 506.3 (2.16%)
IOY........................................................................... 22,893.7 22,893.7
DAH/DAP....................................................................... 22,893.7 22,893.7
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The percentage of the longfin squid quota allocated to each
trimester during 2024-2026 remains unchanged from what was in place in
2023 (table 3).
Table 3--2024-2026 Longfin Squid Quota Trimester Allocations
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Trimester Percent Metric tons
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I (Jan-Apr)................................................................... 43 9,844.3
II (May-Aug).................................................................. 17 3,891.9
III (Sep-Dec)................................................................. 40 9,157.5
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Total..................................................................... 100 22,893.7
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Reaffirmation of 2024 Butterfish Specifications
As part of the final rule implementing 2023-2025 specifications for
the Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish FMP (88 FR 48389, July 27, 2023),
NMFS projected 2024 butterfish specifications that would decrease the
ABC and available quota by 12.7 percent relative to 2023. Even with
this reduction, the projected 2024 butterfish quota was still above
recent catch levels. This final rule reaffirms the previously projected
2024 butterfish specifications, in alignment with the Council's
recommendation, as no new information suggests a need to change.
Table 4--Reaffirmed 2024 Butterfish Specifications
[mt]
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Specification 2024
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OFL..................................................... 16,096
ABC/ACL................................................. 15,764
Annual Catch Target (ACT)............................... 14,976
Assumed Discards........................................ 1,248
Total Discard Set-Aside (All Sources)................... 5,132
Butterfish Cap in Longfin Fishery....................... 3,884
DAH..................................................... 9,844
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[[Page 59680]]
The percentage of the butterfish mortality cap allocated to the
longfin squid fishery during each trimester in 2024 remains unchanged
from what was in place during 2023 (table 5).
Table 5--2024 Allocation of the Butterfish Mortality Cap Among Longfin Squid Trimesters
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Trimester Percent Metric tons
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I (Jan-Apr)................................................................... 43 1,670
II (May-Aug).................................................................. 17 660
III (Sep-Dec)................................................................. 40 1,554
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Total..................................................................... 100 3,844
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Reaffirmation of 2024 and Projected 2025 Atlantic Chub Mackerel
Specifications
Amendment 21 to the FMP implemented chub mackerel specifications
for the 2020-2022 fishing years (85 FR 47103, August 4, 2020). The
Council reevaluated these specifications during its June 2022 meeting
and decided to make no adjustments for the 2023-2025 fishing years. The
Council reevaluated these specifications again during its June 2023
meeting and decided to make no adjustments for the 2024 fishing year.
This final rule reaffirms the previously projected 2024 specifications,
and projects the 2025 chub mackerel specifications, in alignment with
the Council's recommendation (table 6). No new information suggests a
need to change the specifications for 2024. The 2025 specifications
projected here could change based on new information.
Table 6--Reaffirmed 2024 and Projected 2025 Chub Mackerel Specifications
[mt]
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2025
Specification 2024 (projected)
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ABC........................................................................... 2,300 2,300
ACL........................................................................... 2,262 2,262
ACT........................................................................... 2,171 2,171
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Total Allowable Landings.................................................. 2,041 2,041
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Proposed Rule Comments
We published a proposed rule for the 2024-2026 specifications on
April 19, 2024 (89 FR 28713), and the public comment period ended on
May 20, 2024. We did not receive any public comments on the proposed
rule.
Changes From the Proposed Rule
There are no changes being made to the proposed specifications.
However, this final rule contains several corrections and an additional
table that did not appear in the proposed rule.
The 2024 Illex squid specifications shown in table 3 in the
proposed rule are correct. However, the proposed rule text incorrectly
stated that the discard rate used to calculate the Illex squid discard
set-aside in 2024 is lower than rate that was used in 2023, resulting
in a lower 2024 commercial discard set-aside and a higher commercial
quota. The recommended 2024 specifications (including the discard rate,
the discard set-aside, and the commercial quota) are identical to what
was in place in 2023. This final rule clarifies that there are no
changes in the 2024 Illex squid specifications relative to 2023.
The 2024-2026 longfin squid quota trimester allocations shown as
percentages (column 2) in table 2 in the proposed rule are correct.
However, the allocations shown as metric tons (column 3) in table 2 are
incorrect. Those tonnages were calculated based on the 2023 commercial
quota (22,932 mt) instead of the 2024 commercial quota (22,893.7 mt).
Table 3 in this final rule corrects these calculations.
The proposed rule did not contain a table showing the 2024
allocation of the butterfish mortality cap among longfin squid
trimesters. Table 5 was added to this final rule to provide that
information along with the rest of the specifications.
Classification
NMFS is issuing this rule pursuant to section 305(d) of the
Magnuson-Stevens Act. Consistent with Magnuson-Stevens Act section
305(d), this action is necessary to carry out the Mackerel, Squid, and
Butterfish FMP in accordance with the FMP's implementing regulations.
The NMFS Assistant Administrator has determined that this final rule is
consistent with the Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish FMP, other
provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and other applicable law.
This final rule has been determined to be not significant for
purposes of Executive Order (E.O.) 12866.
This final rule does not contain policies with federalism or
``takings'' implication, as those terms are defined in E.O. 13132 and
E.O. 12630, respectively.
This final rule does not contain any changes to collection-of-
information requirements subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act. The
existing collection of information requirements would continue to apply
under OMB Control Number: 0648-0229, Greater Atlantic Region Dealer
Purchase Reports.
The Chief Counsel for Regulation of the Department of Commerce
certified to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business
Administration (SBA) 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. As a result, a final regulatory
flexibility analysis was not required and none was prepared.
[[Page 59681]]
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 648
Fisheries, Fishing, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
Dated: July 17, 2024.
Samuel D. Rauch, III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-16111 Filed 7-22-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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