Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Bluefish Fishery; 2014 Atlantic Bluefish Specifications, 35293-35295 [2014-14419]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 119 (Friday, June 20, 2014)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 35293-35295]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-14419]



[[Page 35293]]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 140214138-4482-02]
RIN 0648-XD139


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Bluefish 
Fishery; 2014 Atlantic Bluefish Specifications

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Final rule.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: NMFS issues final specifications for the 2014 Atlantic 
bluefish fishery, including annual catch limits, total allowable 
landings, commercial quotas and recreational harvest limits, and a 
recreational possession limit. This action establishes the allowable 
2014 harvest levels and other management measures to achieve the target 
fishing mortality rate, consistent with the Atlantic Bluefish Fishery 
Management Plan and the recommendations of the Mid-Atlantic Fishery 
Management Council.

DATES: The final specifications for the 2014 Atlantic bluefish fishery 
are effective July 21, 2014, through December 31, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the specifications document, including the 
supplemental Environmental Assessment and Initial Regulatory 
Flexibility Analysis (EA/IRFA) and other supporting documents for the 
specifications, are available from Dr. Christopher M. Moore, Executive 
Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, Suite 201, 800 N. 
State Street, Dover, DE 19901. The specifications document is also 
accessible via the Internet at: https://www.nero.noaa.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Carly Bari, Fishery Management 
Specialist, (978) 281-9224.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    The Atlantic bluefish fishery is managed cooperatively by the Mid-
Atlantic Fishery Management Council and the Atlantic States Marine 
Fisheries Commission. The management unit for bluefish specified in the 
Atlantic Bluefish Fishery Management Plan (FMP) is U.S. waters of the 
western Atlantic Ocean. Regulations implementing the FMP appear at 50 
CFR part 648, subparts A and J. The regulations requiring annual 
specifications are found at Sec.  648.162.
    The FMP requires the Council to recommend to NMFS, on an annual 
basis, an annual catch limit (ACL), annual catch target (ACT), and 
total allowable landings (TAL) that will control fishing mortality (F). 
The Council may also recommend a research set-aside (RSA) quota, which 
is deducted from the bluefish TALs (after any applicable transfer) in 
an amount proportional to the percentage of the overall TAL as 
allocated to the commercial and recreational sectors.
    Pursuant to Sec.  648.162, the annual review process for bluefish 
requires that the Council's Bluefish Monitoring Committee and 
Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) review and make 
recommendations based on the best available data. Based on the 
recommendations of the Monitoring Committee and SSC, the Council makes 
a recommendation to the NMFS Greater Atlantic Regional Administrator. 
Because this FMP is a joint plan, the Commission also meets during the 
annual specification process to adopt complementary measures.
    The Council's recommendations must include supporting documentation 
concerning the environmental, economic, and social impacts of the 
recommendations. NMFS is responsible for reviewing these 
recommendations to ensure that they achieve the FMP objectives, and may 
modify them if they do not. NMFS then publishes proposed specifications 
based on the recommendations in the Federal Register, and after 
considering public comment, NMFS publishes final specifications in the 
Federal Register. A proposed rule for this action published in the 
Federal Register on April 11, 2014 (79 FR 20161), and comments were 
accepted through April 28, 2014.

Final 2014 Specifications

    A description of the process used to estimate bluefish stock status 
and fishing mortality, as well as the process for deriving the ACL and 
associated quotas and harvest limits, is provided in the proposed rule 
and in the bluefish regulations at Sec. Sec.  648.160 through 648.162 
and is not repeated here. The stock is not overfished or experiencing 
overfishing, and the catch limits described below reflect the best 
available scientific information on bluefish. The final 2014 bluefish 
ABC, ACL, and ACT are specified at 24.432 million lb (11,082 mt).
    The ACT is initially allocated between the recreational fishery (83 
percent = 20.278 million lb (9,198 mt)) and the commercial fishery (17 
percent = 4.153 million lb (1,884 mt)). After deducting an estimate of 
recreational discards (commercial discards are considered negligible), 
the recreational TAL is 16.927 million lb (7,678 mt) and the commercial 
TAL is 4.153 million lb (1,884 mt).
    However, the FMP specifies that, if 17 percent of the ACT is less 
than 10.5 million lb, and the recreational fishery is not projected to 
land its harvest limit for the upcoming year, the commercial fishery 
may be allocated up to 10.5 million lb as its quota, provided that the 
combination of the projected recreational landings and the commercial 
quota does not exceed the ACT. The recreational harvest limit (RHL) 
would then be adjusted downward so that the ACT would be unchanged. The 
Council projected an estimated recreational harvest for 2014 of 13.179 
million lb (5,978 mt). As such, the Council's proposed transfer of 
3.340 million lb (1,515 mt) from the recreational sector to the 
commercial sector can be approved. This transfer results in an adjusted 
commercial quota of 7.494 million lb (3,399 mt), and an adjusted RHL of 
13.587 million lb (6,163 mt).

Final 2014 RSA, Commercial Quota, and RHL

    Two projects that will utilize bluefish RSA were approved by NOAA's 
Grants Management Division. A total RSA quota of 99,000 lb (45 mt) was 
approved for use by these projects during 2014. Proportional 
adjustments of this amount to the commercial and recreational 
allocations result in a final commercial quota of 7.458 million lb 
(3,383 mt) and a final RHL of 13.523 million lb (6,134 mt).

Final Recreational Possession Limit

    The current recreational possession limit of up to 15 fish per 
person is maintained to achieve the RHL for 2014.

Final State Commercial Allocations

    The final state commercial quotas for 2014 are shown in Table 1, 
based on the percentages specified in the FMP.

[[Page 35294]]



       Table 1--Final Bluefish Commercial State-by-State Allocations for 2014 (including RSA deductions).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                               2014 Commercial   2014 Commercial
                           State                              Percent share      quota (lb)        quota (kg)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ME........................................................            0.6685            49,861            22,616
NH........................................................            0.4145            30,916            14,023
MA........................................................            6.7167           500,970           227,236
RI........................................................            6.8081           507,786           230,328
CT........................................................            1.2663            94,448            42,841
NY........................................................           10.3851           774,579           351,343
NJ........................................................           14.8162         1,105,075           501,254
DE........................................................            1.8782           140,087            63,542
MD........................................................            3.0018           223,891           101,555
VA........................................................           11.8795           886,040           401,901
NC........................................................           32.0608         2,391,274         1,084,664
SC........................................................            0.0352             2,625             1,191
GA........................................................            0.0095               709               321
FL........................................................           10.0597           750,309           340,334
�����������������������������������������������������������
    Total.................................................          100.0001         7,458,570         3,383,149
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Comments and Responses

    The public comment period for the proposed rule ended on April 28, 
2014. One comment was received from an individual on the proposed rule.
    Comment 1: One commenter generally criticized NMFS and the data 
used to set catch limits, but had no clear evidence to support their 
claims.
    Response: Atlantic bluefish are not overfished, nor are they 
subject to overfishing; therefore, there is no scientific basis for 
making changes to the quotas based on this comment. NMFS used the best 
scientific information available and is approving specifications for 
the bluefish fishery that are consistent with the FMP and 
recommendations of the Council.

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 final rule is 
consistent with the Atlantic Bluefish FMP, other provisions of the 
Magnuson-Stevens Act, and other applicable law.
    This final rule is exempt from review under Executive Order 12866.
    This final rule does not duplicate, conflict, or overlap with any 
existing Federal rules.
    The FRFA included in this final rule was prepared pursuant to 5 
U.S.C. 604(a), and incorporates the IRFA and a summary of analyses 
completed to support the action. A public copy of the EA/RIR/IRFA is 
available from the Council (see ADDRESSES).
    The preamble to the proposed rule included a detailed summary of 
the analyses contained in the IRFA, and that discussion is not repeated 
here.

Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

Statement of Objective and Need

    A description of the reasons why this action is being taken, and 
the objectives of and legal basis for this final rule are contained in 
the preambles to the proposed rule and this final rule and are not 
repeated here.

Summary of Significant Issues Raised in Public Comments

    No changes to the proposed rule were required to be made as a 
result of public comment. The comment NMFS received did not raise 
specific issues regarding the economic analyses summarized in the IRFA 
or the economic impacts of the rule more generally. For a summary of 
the comment, and the response, refer to the ``Comments and Responses'' 
section of this preamble.

Description and Estimate of Number of Small Entities to Which the Rule 
Will Apply

    The Small Business Administration defines a small business in the 
commercial harvesting sector as a firm with receipts (gross revenues) 
of up to $5.0 and $19.0 million for shellfish and for finfish business, 
respectively. A small business in the recreational fishery is a firm 
with receipts of up to $7.0 million. The categories of small entities 
likely to be affected by this action include commercial and charter/
party vessel owners holding an active Federal permit for Atlantic 
bluefish, as well as owners of vessels that fish for Atlantic bluefish 
in state waters. All federally permitted vessels fall into the 
definition of small businesses; thus, there would be no 
disproportionate impacts between large and small entities as a result 
of the final rule.
    An active participant in the commercial sector was defined as any 
vessel that reported having landed 1 or more lb (0.45 kg) in the 
Atlantic bluefish fishery in 2011. The Northeast seafood dealer reports 
were used to identify 742 vessels that landed bluefish in states from 
Maine through North Carolina in 2011. However, the Northeast dealer 
database does not provide information about fishery participation in 
South Carolina, Georgia, or Florida. South Atlantic Trip Ticket reports 
were used to identify 768 vessels that landed bluefish in North 
Carolina, and 791 vessels that landed bluefish on Florida's east coast 
in 2011. Some of these vessels were also identified in the Northeast 
dealer data; therefore, double counting is possible. Bluefish landings 
in South Carolina and Georgia were near zero in 2011, representing a 
negligible proportion of the total bluefish landings along the Atlantic 
Coast. Therefore, this analysis assumed that no vessel activity for 
these two states took place in 2011. In recent years, approximately 
2,000 party/charter vessels may have been active in the bluefish 
fishery and/or have caught bluefish.

Description of Projected Reporting, Recordkeeping, and Other Compliance 
Requirements

    No additional reporting, recordkeeping, or other compliance 
requirements are included in this final rule.

Description of the Steps Taken to Minimize Economic Impact on Small 
Entities

    Specification of commercial quota, recreational harvest levels, and 
possession limits is constrained by the conservation objectives set 
forth in the

[[Page 35295]]

FMP and implemented at 50 CFR part 648 under the authority of the 
Magnuson-Stevens Act. The 2014 commercial quota contained in this final 
rule is 18 percent lower than the 2013 quota, but significantly higher 
than actual 2013 bluefish landings. All affected states will receive 
decreases in their individual commercial quota allocation in comparison 
to their respective 2013 individual state allocations. However, the 
magnitude of the decrease varies depending on the state's relative 
percent share in the total commercial quota, as specified in the FMP.
    The 2014 RHL contained in this final rule is approximately 4 
percent lower than the RHL in 2013. The 2014 RHL is greater than the 
total estimated recreational bluefish harvest for 2014, and therefore 
it does not constrain recreational bluefish harvest below a level that 
the fishery is anticipated to achieve. The possession limit for 
bluefish will remain at 15 fish per person, so there should be no 
impact on demand for party/charter vessel fishing and, therefore, no 
impact on revenues earned by party/charter vessels. No negative 
economic impacts on the recreational fishery are anticipated.
    The impacts on revenues associated with the proposed RSA quota were 
analyzed and are expected to be minimal. Assuming that the full RSA 
quota 99,000 lb (45 mt) for 2014 is landed and sold to support the 
proposed research projects, then all of the participants in the fishery 
would benefit from the improved fisheries data yielded from each 
project.

Small Entity Compliance Guide

    Section 212 of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness 
Act of 1996 states that, for each rule or group of related rules for 
which an agency is required to prepare a FRFA, the agency shall publish 
one or more guides to assist small entities in complying with the rule, 
and shall designate such publications as ``small entity compliance 
guides.'' The agency shall explain the actions a small entity is 
required to take to comply with a rule or group of rules. As part of 
this rulemaking process, a small entity compliance guide will be sent 
to all holders of Federal permits issued for the Atlantic bluefish 
fishery.
    In addition, copies of this final rule and guide (i.e., permit 
holder letter) are available from NMFS (see ADDRESSES) and at the 
following Web site: www.nero.noaa.gov.

    Authority:  16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

    Dated: June 16, 2014.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2014-14419 Filed 6-19-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P