Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Bluefish Fishery; Revised 2020 and Projected 2021 Specifications and Recreational Management Measures, 27703-27707 [2020-09572]
Download as PDF
<![CDATA[
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 91 / Monday, May 11, 2020 / Proposed Rules
forwarded to regional newspapers and
radio and television stations.
*
*
*
*
*
(e) Kodiak Archipelago region. The
Kodiak Island Roaded Area is open to
the harvesting of migratory birds and
their eggs by registration permit only as
administered by the Alaska Department
of Fish and Game, Division of
Subsistence, in cooperation with the
Sun’aq Tribe of Kodiak. No hunting or
egg gathering for Arctic terns, Aleutian
terns, mew gulls, and emperor geese is
allowed for the Kodiak Island Roaded
Area Registration Permit Hunt. * * *
(g) * * *
(1) Southern Unit (Southwestern
North Slope Borough boundary
northeast to Icy Cape, and everything
west of longitude line 161°55′ W and
south of latitude line 69°45′ N to the
west bank of the Sagavanirktok River
and south along the west bank to the
North Slope Borough boundary, then
west to the beginning):
*
*
*
*
*
(iii) Special Black Brant Hunting
Season: June 20–July 5. The open area
consists of the coastline from the mean
high-water line outward to the North
Slope Borough boundary to include
open water and barrier islands from
southern Kasegaluk Lagoon from
latitude line 69°16′ N to the north and
east to longitude line 158°30′ W.
(2) Northern Unit (From Icy Cape,
everything east of longitude line 161°55′
W and north of latitude line 69°45′ N to
the west bank of Sagavanirktok River
and north to 71°):
*
*
*
*
*
(4) Annual 30-day closure periods in
the Southern, Northern, and Eastern
Units of the North Slope Region may
differ from fixed dates (see unit-specific
closure dates in paragraphs (g)(1)
through (3) of this section) if
environmental and biological conditions
warrant such a change. After
consultation with Service field
biologists, the North Slope Borough
(NSB) Department of Wildlife
Management, and the NSB Fish and
Game Management Committee, the
Service’s Alaska Regional Director or
his/her designee may announce closure
dates that differ from those fixed dates.
The 30-day period closure period will
occur between June 7 and July 29 of
each year.
*
*
*
*
*
George Wallace,
Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and
Parks.
[FR Doc. 2020–09368 Filed 5–8–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333–15–P
VerDate Sep<11>2014
16:22 May 08, 2020
Jkt 250001
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 200428–0123]
RIN 0648–BJ61
Fisheries of the Northeastern United
States; Atlantic Bluefish Fishery;
Revised 2020 and Projected 2021
Specifications and Recreational
Management Measures
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Proposed rule; request for
comments.
AGENCY:
NMFS proposes revised
specifications for the 2020 Atlantic
bluefish fishery and projected
specifications for fishing year 2021, as
recommended by the Mid-Atlantic
Fishery Management Council. This
action is necessary to establish
allowable harvest levels and other
management measures to prevent
overfishing, consistent with the most
recent scientific information. This
action also informs the public of the
proposed fishery specifications and
provides an opportunity for comment.
DATES: Comments must be received by
May 26, 2020.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments
on this document, identified by NOAA–
NMFS–2020–0020, by either of the
following methods:
Electronic Submission: Submit all
electronic public comments via the
Federal e-Rulemaking Portal.
1. Go to https://www.regulations.gov/
docket?D=NOAA-NMFS-2020-0020,
2. Click the ‘‘Comment Now!’’ icon,
complete the required fields, and
3. Enter or attach your comments.
or
Mail: Submit written comments to
Michael Pentony, Regional
Administrator, National Marine
Fisheries Service, Greater Atlantic
Region, 55 Great Republic Drive,
Gloucester, MA, 01930–2276. Mark the
outside of the envelope: ‘‘Comments on
the Proposed Rule for Bluefish
Specifications and Recreational
Management Measures.’’
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
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
Frm 00014
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
27703
and will generally be posted for public
viewing on www.regulations.gov
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).
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 and the Initial
Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (IRFA),
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 https://www.mafmc.org.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Cynthia Ferrio, Fishery Management
Specialist, (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 the
acceptable biological catch (ABC),
annual catch limit (ACL), annual catch
targets (ACT), commercial quota,
recreational harvest limit, and other
management measures for up to 3 years
at a time. This action proposes
specifications and recreational
management measures for the 2020 and
2021 bluefish fishery.
The August 2019 bluefish operational
stock assessment incorporated revised
Marine Recreational Information
Program (MRIP) estimates into its
analyses and reference points. This
assessment determined that the bluefish
stock is overfished but not subject to
overfishing. Although the overall
biomass of the stock increased after
incorporating revised MRIP data, the
biomass threshold also nearly doubled,
resulting in the overfished
determination. The Council received
formal notification of the stock status
change on November 12, 2019, and is
developing a rebuilding plan to be
E:\FR\FM\11MYP1.SGM
11MYP1
27704
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 91 / Monday, May 11, 2020 / Proposed Rules
implemented by 2022. The final
assessment results became available in
late 2019, and additional analysis was
required to incorporate the new MRIP
data into development of revised catch
limits. To ensure catch limits would be
in place for the start of the fishing year
on January 1, 2020, NMFS published
interim 2020 specifications (84 FR
54041; October 9, 2019) until new
measures could be developed. However,
these interim catch limits and measures
were developed before the revised MRIP
data, assessment information, and new
stock status were available. The interim
specifications are substantially more
liberal than what the best available
science indicates is necessary to
constrain catch in 2020 and prevent
overfishing. This action would revise
the 2020 specifications to reflect the
assessment results, and project similar
specifications for 2021.
On September 9, 2019, the Council’s
Scientific and Statistical Committee
(SSC) reviewed the operational
assessment, and recommended a
reduced ABC for bluefish using the
Council’s risk policy with an
overfishing limit coefficient of variation
(CV) equal to 100 percent due to some
increased uncertainty with the new
MRIP data. In previous years, the SSC
used a less conservative 60-percent CV
because there was more confidence in
the data. The Bluefish Monitoring
Committee met on September 18, 2019,
to develop and recommend full
specifications based on the SSC’s ABC
recommendation. The Bluefish FMP has
a prescriptive process for deriving
specifications from the ABC. The FMP
sets the ACL equal to the ABC, and the
ACL is allocated 17 percent to the
commercial ACT and 83 percent to the
recreational ACT. The most recent
fishing year discards from each sector
are subtracted from each applicable
ACT to calculate the sector’s total
allowable landings (TAL). Commercial
discards are assumed to be negligible,
and recreational discards are estimated
from MRIP data. If the recreational
fishery is not projected to land its
harvest limit, then quota may be
transferred from the recreational to the
commercial sector. The maximum
amount that may be transferred can
result in a commercial quota of up to
10.5 million lb (4,763 mt). The final
commercial quota is then allocated to
the coastal states from Maine to Florida
based on percent shares specified in the
FMP.
The Council and the Commission’s
Bluefish Board jointly approved catch
specifications for fishing years 2020 and
2021 at a joint meeting in October 2019,
based on the assessment and
recommendations from the SSC and
Monitoring Committee. In these revised
specifications, the Council
recommended a 25-percent reduction in
the overall ABC and ACL in comparison
to the current interim 2020 values, a 25percent reduction in initial commercial
quota, and an 18-percent reduction in
the recreational harvest limit (RHL).
Because recreational landings are
expected to fully achieve the RHL, no
sector transfer to the commercial fishery
is permitted. Thus, these recommended
specifications would reduce the final
commercial quota a total of a 64-percent
from the reduced commercial quota and
the lack of a quota transfer from the
recreational sector. Given the
substantial difference in expected 2020
recreational harvest compared to the
reduced 2020 RHL, the Council and
Board chose to delay development of
recreational management measures until
December 2019. This delay was
intended to provide additional time to
develop and analyze measures
necessary to constrain recreational catch
to the recommended 2020 RHL.
Based on projected recreational
landings for the 2020 bluefish fishery
(13.27 million lb; 6,020 mt), the
Monitoring Committee determined that
a 28.65-percent reduction in
recreational harvest is necessary to
constrain catch to the new RHL of 9.48
million lb (4,301 mt). The Council and
Board took final action in December
2019 to recommend a mode-specific
reduction in the daily recreational bag
limit from 15 to 3 fish per person for
private anglers and to 5 fish per person
for for-hire (party/charter) vessels. No
changes were recommended to
recreational seasons or size limits
because there is substantial variability
in seasonal availability and recreational
fish sizes taken from Florida to Maine.
The change in bag limit is expected to
sufficiently constrain recreational catch
to the 9.48 million-lb (6,020-mt) RHL
when applied to the entire fishing year.
In an effort to prevent overfishing in the
early months of the fishing year (which
began on January 1, 2020), NMFS
implemented interim measures to
temporarily establish this reduced bag
limit (85 FR 11863; February 28, 2020).
However, this proposed action is
necessary to permanently implement
these recreational measures.
Proposed Specifications
This action proposes the Council’s
recommendations for revised 2020 and
projected 2021 bluefish catch
specifications, as well as the
recreational management measures to
constrain harvest the new limits. A
comparison of the interim 2020 and the
proposed revised 2020–21 specifications
is summarized below in Table 1.
TABLE 1—COMPARISON OF CURRENT 2020 AND PROPOSED 2020–21 BLUEFISH SPECIFICATIONS
Interim 2020
(current)
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with PROPOSALS
Metric tons
Revised 2020–2021
(proposed)
Million lb
Overfishing Limit ..................................................................
* 27.97
12,688
ABC = ACL ..........................................................................
Commercial ACT ..................................................................
Recreational ACT .................................................................
Recreational Discards † .......................................................
Commercial TAL ..................................................................
Recreational TAL .................................................................
Sector Transfer ....................................................................
Commercial Quota ...............................................................
RHL ......................................................................................
21.81
3.71
18.11
2.49
3.71
15.62
4.00
7.71
11.62
9,895
1,682
8,213
1,129
1,682
7,085
1,814
3,497
5,271
Million lb
Metric tons
2020: 32.97
2021: 37.98
16.28
2.77
13.51
4.03
2.77
9.48
0.00
2.77
9.48
2020: 14,955
2021: 17,227
7,385
1,255
6,130
1,829
1,255
4,301
0
1,255
4,301
Percent
change
2020: 18
2021: 36
¥25
¥25
¥25
+162
¥25
¥39
¥100
¥64
¥18
* This value was incorrectly published as 29.97 million pounds in the interim final specifications (84 FR 54041; October 9, 2019). This was the
result of an inadvertent conversion error, and the value in metric tons was correct. This pound value was published correctly in the prior 2019
specifications rule (84 FR 8826; March 12, 2019), and this error has not directly affected bluefish fishery operations or stock status in any way.
† The terminal year of MRIP data used to project discard estimates for the interim (current) specifications was 2017, and the terminal year
used to project the discards for the revised (proposed) specifications was 2018.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
16:22 May 08, 2020
Jkt 250001
PO 00000
Frm 00015
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
E:\FR\FM\11MYP1.SGM
11MYP1
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 91 / Monday, May 11, 2020 / Proposed Rules
Table 2 provides the proposed
commercial state allocations based on
the Council-recommended coastwide
commercial quota for 2020 and 2021. No
states exceeded their state allocated
quota in 2019; therefore, no
27705
accountability measures are necessary
for the 2020 commercial fishery.
TABLE 2—PROPOSED 2020–21 BLUEFISH STATE COMMERCIAL QUOTA ALLOCATIONS
Percent
share
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with PROPOSALS
State
Proposed
quota
(lb)
Proposed
quota
(kg)
Maine ...........................................................................................................................................
New Hampshire ...........................................................................................................................
Massachusetts .............................................................................................................................
Rhode Island ................................................................................................................................
Connecticut ..................................................................................................................................
New York .....................................................................................................................................
New Jersey ..................................................................................................................................
Delaware ......................................................................................................................................
Maryland ......................................................................................................................................
Virginia .........................................................................................................................................
North Carolina ..............................................................................................................................
South Carolina .............................................................................................................................
Georgia ........................................................................................................................................
Florida ..........................................................................................................................................
0.67
0.41
6.72
6.81
1.27
10.39
14.82
1.88
3.00
11.88
32.06
0.04
0.01
10.06
18,496
11,468
185,838
188,366
35,036
287,335
409,934
51,966
83,054
328,682
887,058
974
263
278,332
8,388
5,201
84,280
85,427
15,889
130,311
185,911
23,567
37,666
149,062
402,294
442
119
126,228
Total ......................................................................................................................................
100.00
2,766,801
1,254,785
As previously mentioned, this action
would also change the recreational
management measures by reducing the
Federal bluefish recreational daily bag
limit from 15 to 3 fish per person for
private anglers and to 5 fish per person
for for-hire (charter/party) vessels. All
other Federal management measures,
including commercial management
measures, and recreational season (open
all year) and minimum fish size (none),
would remain unchanged.
The Council will review the
specifications for fishing year 2021 to
determine if any changes need to be
made prior to their implementation.
Changes may occur if 2020 quota
overages trigger accountability
measures, or if new stock information
results in changes to the ABC
recommendations. NMFS will publish a
notice prior to or early in 2021 to
confirm or announce any necessary
changes. The Council is developing a
rebuilding plan for the bluefish stock
that will be implemented by 2022.
NMFS expects the rebuilding plan to
inform development of the next set of
specifications beginning in 2022.
The Council reviewed the proposed
regulations for this action and deemed
them necessary and appropriate to
implement consistent with section
303(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
This proposed rule has been
determined to be not significant for
purposes of Executive Order 12866.
This proposed rule is not an
Executive Order 13771 regulatory action
because this rule is not significant under
Executive Order 12866.
The Mid-Atlantic Council prepared a
draft EA for this action that analyzes the
impacts of this proposed rule. The EA
includes an IRFA, as required by section
603 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act
(RFA), which is supplemented by
information contained in the preamble
of this proposed rule. The IRFA was
prepared to examine the economic
impact of this proposed rule, if adopted,
on small business entities, as well as the
possible economic impact of the other
alternatives presented in the EA/
specifications document. A copy of the
detailed RFA analysis is available from
the Council (see ADDRESSES). A
summary of the 2020–2021 bluefish
specifications IRFA analysis follows.
Classification
Description of the Reasons Why Action
by the Agency Is Being Considered, and
the Statement of the Objectives of, and
Legal Basis for, This Proposed Rule
This action is taken under the
authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Act
and regulations at 50 CFR part 648. This
proposed rule revises 2020 catch limits
and recreational management measures,
and projects 2021 specifications for the
Atlantic bluefish fishery. A complete
description of the action, why it is being
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 Atlantic Bluefish FMP, other
provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens
Act, and other applicable law, subject to
further consideration after public
comment.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
16:22 May 08, 2020
Jkt 250001
PO 00000
Frm 00016
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
considered, and its legal basis are
contained in the draft EA and in this
rule’s preamble, and are not repeated
here.
Description and Estimate of the Number
of Small Entities to Which This
Proposed Rule Would Apply
This proposed rule affects those small
entities engaged in commercial fishing
operations in the Atlantic bluefish
fishery (those with commercial bluefish
permits), and those with Federal party/
charter recreational permits for bluefish.
Private recreational anglers are not
considered ‘‘entities’’ under the RFA,
thus economic impacts on private
anglers are not considered here. For the
purposes of the RFA analysis, the
ownership entities (or firms), not the
individual vessels, are considered to be
the regulated entities. Ownership
entities are defined as those entities or
firms with common ownership
personnel as listed on the permit
application. Because of this, some
vessels with bluefish permits may be
considered to be part of the same firm
because they may have the same
owners. To identify these small and
large firms, vessel ownership data from
the permit database were grouped
according to common owners and sorted
by size. In terms of RFA, a business
primarily engaged in commercial fishing
is classified as a small business if it has
combined annual receipts not in excess
of $11 million, for all its affiliated
operations worldwide. A business
primarily engaged in for-hire (party/
charter) fishing is classified as small
business if it has combined annual
receipts not in excess of $8 million.
E:\FR\FM\11MYP1.SGM
11MYP1
27706
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 91 / Monday, May 11, 2020 / Proposed Rules
In the commercial fishery, 735 firms
reported commercial bluefish revenue
from 2016–2018. According to the
vessel ownership database, based on
2018 revenues, 728 of those 735 total
firms are categorized as small
businesses, and 7 are categorized as
large businesses. For the recreational
for-hire (party/charter) fishery, 389
affiliate firms reported revenue from
recreational fishing from 2016–2018. All
389 of those firms are categorized as
small businesses based on their 2018
revenues. It is not possible to derive
what proportion of the overall revenues
for these for-hire firms came from
fishing activities for an individual
species. Nevertheless, given the
popularity of bluefish as a recreational
species in the Mid-Atlantic and New
England, revenues generated from this
species are likely somewhat important
for many of these firms at certain times
of the year. The 3-year average (2016–
2018) combined gross receipts (all forhire fishing activity combined) for these
small entities was $52,156,152, ranging
from less than $10,000 for 119 entities
(lowest value $124) to over $1,000,000
for 8 entities (highest value $2.9
million).
Description of the Projected Reporting,
Record-Keeping, and Other Compliance
Requirements of This Proposed Rule
There are no new reporting, recordkeeping, or other compliance
requirements contained in this proposed
rule, or any of the alternatives
considered for this action.
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with PROPOSALS
Federal Rules Which May Duplicate,
Overlap, or Conflict With This Proposed
Rule
NMFS is not aware of any relevant
Federal rules that may duplicate,
overlap, or conflict with this proposed
rule.
Description of Significant Alternatives
to the Proposed Action Which
Accomplish the Stated Objectives of
Applicable Statutes and Which
Minimize Any Significant Economic
Impact on Small Entities
The measures proposed revise 2020
and outline projected 2021 catch
specifications and recreational
management measures for the bluefish
fishery based on the most recent stock
assessment and the application of the
Council’s Risk Policy to prevent
overfishing. Revenues in 2020 and 2021
are uncertain and will depend not only
on the quota, but also on availability of
bluefish, market factors (e.g., price of
bluefish compared to alternative
species), weather, and other factors.
These proposed specifications would
VerDate Sep<11>2014
16:22 May 08, 2020
Jkt 250001
decrease the coastwide commercial
quota by 64 percent, and the
recreational harvest limit by 18 percent.
Although these are substantial
reductions, especially for the
commercial fishery due to the lack of
quota transfer from the recreational
sector, commercial bluefish entities may
not be substantially negatively
impacted. Preliminary reports indicate
that the commercial bluefish fishery
only landed 2.61 million lb (1,185 mt)
in 2019, which is below the proposed
commercial quota of 2.77 million lb
(1,255 mt). Therefore, the commercial
fishery overall is not expected to
experience substantial negative impacts
from the quota reduction. However,
commercial entities in certain states that
more actively target bluefish may still be
affected as the allocated state quotas
proportionately decrease. Compared to
the average receipts for 2016–2018, the
proposed 2020–2021 commercial quotas
are expected to result in an overall
revenue reduction of 0.38 percent and
0.01 percent for small and large entities.
In the recreational fishery (for-hire or
party/charter entities), impacts to
entities are more likely to be driven by
the change in recreational management
measures than the reduction in RHL. In
the development of the proposed
measures, a mode-specific bag limit was
chosen specifically to mitigate the
negative impacts on for-hire entities
fishing for bluefish. To achieve the
required reduction in the RHL, these
measures propose a reduction in the
daily recreational bag limit from 15 to
3 fish per person for private anglers and
to 5 fish per person for for-hire (charter/
party) vessels. Because for-hire vessels
are responsible for less than 5 percent
of overall bluefish recreational catch,
but the bag limit can affect demand for
mixed-catch trips and general business
revenues, the proposed action allowed
the for-hire mode two additional fish
per-person than the initially determined
3-fish bag limit for the entire
recreational fishery. Even with this extra
allowance, it can be difficult to predict
with certainty how the preferred
alternative will affect demand for party/
charter boat trips. Anglers may shift
effort away from species with more
restrictive measures towards those with
more liberal measures, resulting in little
change in overall fishing effort or
demand for party/charter trips where
multiple species can be caught together.
The Council also considered
maintaining status quo specifications,
where the same catch limits and
management measures from 2019 would
continue through 2020 and beyond; and
a most-restrictive alternative, which
would further reduce catch limits for a
PO 00000
Frm 00017
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
64-percent reduction in commercial
quota and a 69-percent reduction in the
RHL. Maintaining status quo would be
expected to maintain revenues in the
short term, but would likely have
negative long term impacts due to the
increased risk of overfishing and low
contribution to stock health and
recovery. The most-restrictive
alternative is expected to have similar
impacts as the preferred alternative, but
is more drastic in the short term and
may have a more substantial negative
short term impact on affected entities.
The Council recommended the
specifications in this proposed rule over
the other two alternatives to satisfy the
Magnuson-Stevens Act requirements to
ensure fish stocks are not subject to
overfishing, while minimizing the
impact on the industry (including small
entities) and private anglers. This also
increases the likelihood that the fishery
will remain a viable source of fishing
revenues for bluefish fishing entities in
the long term, and makes it the better
sustainable economic choice. The status
quo alternative was not recommended
by the Council because it would exceed
the catch level recommendations of the
Council’s SSC, put the bluefish stock at
risk of overfishing, and would be
inconsistent with the requirements of
the Magnuson-Stevens Act. The most
restrictive alternative was not
recommended because it would impose
substantial restrictions on the fishery
too quickly without time to adjust,
creating a more negative impact than the
preferred alternative. Overall, the
proposed specifications are expected to
have slightly negative (short-term) to
slightly positive (long-term) impacts on
the affected entities; which could vary
depending on the firm’s reliance on
bluefish as a target species. NMFS
agrees with the Council’s IRFA analysis
and rationale for recommending these
catch limits. As such, NMFS is
proposing to implement the Council’s
preferred specifications and
management measures, as presented in
this proposed rule’s preamble.
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 648
Fisheries, Fishing, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements.
Dated: April 29, 2020.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for
Regulatory Programs, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
For the reasons set out in the
preamble, 50 CFR part 648 is proposed
to be amended as follows:
E:\FR\FM\11MYP1.SGM
11MYP1
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 91 / Monday, May 11, 2020 / Proposed Rules
PART 648—FISHERIES OF THE
NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES
1. The authority citation for part 648
continues to read as follows:
■
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
2. In § 648.164,
a. Remove paragraphs (c) and (d),
b. Lift the suspension on paragraphs
(a) and (b), and
■ c. Revise paragraphs (a) and (b).
The revisions read as follows:
■
■
■
§ 648.164 Bluefish possession
restrictions.
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with PROPOSALS
(a) Recreational possession limits.
Any person fishing from a vessel in the
EEZ that is not fishing under a bluefish
commercial permit shall observe the
VerDate Sep<11>2014
16:22 May 08, 2020
Jkt 250001
applicable recreational possession limit.
The owner, operator, and crew of a
charter or party boat issued a bluefish
commercial permit are not subject to the
recreational possession limit when not
carrying passengers for hire and when
the crew size does not exceed five for a
party boat and three for a charter boat.
(1) Private recreational vessels. Any
person fishing from a vessel that is not
fishing under a bluefish commercial or
charter/party vessel permit issued
pursuant to § 648.4(a)(8), may land up to
three bluefish per day.
(2) For-hire vessels. Anglers fishing
onboard a for-hire vessel under a
bluefish charter/party vessel permit
issued pursuant to § 648.4(a)(8), may
PO 00000
Frm 00018
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 9990
27707
land up to five bluefish per person per
day.
(b) Pooling Catch. Bluefish harvested
by vessels subject to the possession
limit with more than one person on
board may be pooled in one or more
containers. Compliance with the daily
possession limit will be determined by
dividing the number of bluefish on
board by the number of persons on
board, other than the captain and the
crew. If there is a violation of the
possession limit on board a vessel
carrying more than one person, the
violation shall be deemed to have been
committed by the owner and operator of
the vessel.
[FR Doc. 2020–09572 Filed 5–8–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
E:\FR\FM\11MYP1.SGM
11MYP1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 91 (Monday, May 11, 2020)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 27703-27707]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-09572]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 200428-0123]
RIN 0648-BJ61
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Bluefish
Fishery; Revised 2020 and Projected 2021 Specifications and
Recreational Management Measures
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Proposed rule; request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: NMFS proposes revised specifications for the 2020 Atlantic
bluefish fishery and projected specifications for fishing year 2021, as
recommended by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council. This action
is necessary to establish allowable harvest levels and other management
measures to prevent overfishing, consistent with the most recent
scientific information. This action also informs the public of the
proposed fishery specifications and provides an opportunity for
comment.
DATES: Comments must be received by May 26, 2020.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on this document, identified by
NOAA-NMFS-2020-0020, by either of the following methods:
Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public comments via
the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal.
1. Go to https://www.regulations.gov/docket?D=NOAA-NMFS-2020-0020,
2. Click the ``Comment Now!'' icon, complete the required fields,
and
3. Enter or attach your comments.
or
Mail: Submit written comments to Michael Pentony, Regional
Administrator, National Marine Fisheries Service, Greater Atlantic
Region, 55 Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA, 01930-2276. Mark the
outside of the envelope: ``Comments on the Proposed Rule for Bluefish
Specifications and Recreational Management Measures.''
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
www.regulations.gov 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).
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 and the Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
(IRFA), 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 https://www.mafmc.org.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cynthia Ferrio, Fishery Management
Specialist, (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
the acceptable biological catch (ABC), annual catch limit (ACL), annual
catch targets (ACT), commercial quota, recreational harvest limit, and
other management measures for up to 3 years at a time. This action
proposes specifications and recreational management measures for the
2020 and 2021 bluefish fishery.
The August 2019 bluefish operational stock assessment incorporated
revised Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP) estimates into
its analyses and reference points. This assessment determined that the
bluefish stock is overfished but not subject to overfishing. Although
the overall biomass of the stock increased after incorporating revised
MRIP data, the biomass threshold also nearly doubled, resulting in the
overfished determination. The Council received formal notification of
the stock status change on November 12, 2019, and is developing a
rebuilding plan to be
[[Page 27704]]
implemented by 2022. The final assessment results became available in
late 2019, and additional analysis was required to incorporate the new
MRIP data into development of revised catch limits. To ensure catch
limits would be in place for the start of the fishing year on January
1, 2020, NMFS published interim 2020 specifications (84 FR 54041;
October 9, 2019) until new measures could be developed. However, these
interim catch limits and measures were developed before the revised
MRIP data, assessment information, and new stock status were available.
The interim specifications are substantially more liberal than what the
best available science indicates is necessary to constrain catch in
2020 and prevent overfishing. This action would revise the 2020
specifications to reflect the assessment results, and project similar
specifications for 2021.
On September 9, 2019, the Council's Scientific and Statistical
Committee (SSC) reviewed the operational assessment, and recommended a
reduced ABC for bluefish using the Council's risk policy with an
overfishing limit coefficient of variation (CV) equal to 100 percent
due to some increased uncertainty with the new MRIP data. In previous
years, the SSC used a less conservative 60-percent CV because there was
more confidence in the data. The Bluefish Monitoring Committee met on
September 18, 2019, to develop and recommend full specifications based
on the SSC's ABC recommendation. The Bluefish FMP has a prescriptive
process for deriving specifications from the ABC. The FMP sets the ACL
equal to the ABC, and the ACL is allocated 17 percent to the commercial
ACT and 83 percent to the recreational ACT. The most recent fishing
year discards from each sector are subtracted from each applicable ACT
to calculate the sector's total allowable landings (TAL). Commercial
discards are assumed to be negligible, and recreational discards are
estimated from MRIP data. If the recreational fishery is not projected
to land its harvest limit, then quota may be transferred from the
recreational to the commercial sector. The maximum amount that may be
transferred can result in a commercial quota of up to 10.5 million lb
(4,763 mt). The final commercial quota is then allocated to the coastal
states from Maine to Florida based on percent shares specified in the
FMP.
The Council and the Commission's Bluefish Board jointly approved
catch specifications for fishing years 2020 and 2021 at a joint meeting
in October 2019, based on the assessment and recommendations from the
SSC and Monitoring Committee. In these revised specifications, the
Council recommended a 25-percent reduction in the overall ABC and ACL
in comparison to the current interim 2020 values, a 25-percent
reduction in initial commercial quota, and an 18-percent reduction in
the recreational harvest limit (RHL). Because recreational landings are
expected to fully achieve the RHL, no sector transfer to the commercial
fishery is permitted. Thus, these recommended specifications would
reduce the final commercial quota a total of a 64-percent from the
reduced commercial quota and the lack of a quota transfer from the
recreational sector. Given the substantial difference in expected 2020
recreational harvest compared to the reduced 2020 RHL, the Council and
Board chose to delay development of recreational management measures
until December 2019. This delay was intended to provide additional time
to develop and analyze measures necessary to constrain recreational
catch to the recommended 2020 RHL.
Based on projected recreational landings for the 2020 bluefish
fishery (13.27 million lb; 6,020 mt), the Monitoring Committee
determined that a 28.65-percent reduction in recreational harvest is
necessary to constrain catch to the new RHL of 9.48 million lb (4,301
mt). The Council and Board took final action in December 2019 to
recommend a mode-specific reduction in the daily recreational bag limit
from 15 to 3 fish per person for private anglers and to 5 fish per
person for for-hire (party/charter) vessels. No changes were
recommended to recreational seasons or size limits because there is
substantial variability in seasonal availability and recreational fish
sizes taken from Florida to Maine. The change in bag limit is expected
to sufficiently constrain recreational catch to the 9.48 million-lb
(6,020-mt) RHL when applied to the entire fishing year. In an effort to
prevent overfishing in the early months of the fishing year (which
began on January 1, 2020), NMFS implemented interim measures to
temporarily establish this reduced bag limit (85 FR 11863; February 28,
2020). However, this proposed action is necessary to permanently
implement these recreational measures.
Proposed Specifications
This action proposes the Council's recommendations for revised 2020
and projected 2021 bluefish catch specifications, as well as the
recreational management measures to constrain harvest the new limits. A
comparison of the interim 2020 and the proposed revised 2020-21
specifications is summarized below in Table 1.
Table 1--Comparison of Current 2020 and Proposed 2020-21 Bluefish Specifications
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Interim 2020 (current) Revised 2020-2021 (proposed)
---------------------------------------------------------------- Percent change
Metric tons Million lb Million lb Metric tons
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Overfishing Limit............... * 27.97 12,688 2020: 32.97 2020: 14,955 2020: 18
2021: 37.98 2021: 17,227 2021: 36
ABC = ACL....................... 21.81 9,895 16.28 7,385 -25
Commercial ACT.................. 3.71 1,682 2.77 1,255 -25
Recreational ACT................ 18.11 8,213 13.51 6,130 -25
Recreational Discards [dagger].. 2.49 1,129 4.03 1,829 +162
Commercial TAL.................. 3.71 1,682 2.77 1,255 -25
Recreational TAL................ 15.62 7,085 9.48 4,301 -39
Sector Transfer................. 4.00 1,814 0.00 0 -100
Commercial Quota................ 7.71 3,497 2.77 1,255 -64
RHL............................. 11.62 5,271 9.48 4,301 -18
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\*\ This value was incorrectly published as 29.97 million pounds in the interim final specifications (84 FR
54041; October 9, 2019). This was the result of an inadvertent conversion error, and the value in metric tons
was correct. This pound value was published correctly in the prior 2019 specifications rule (84 FR 8826; March
12, 2019), and this error has not directly affected bluefish fishery operations or stock status in any way.
[dagger] The terminal year of MRIP data used to project discard estimates for the interim (current)
specifications was 2017, and the terminal year used to project the discards for the revised (proposed)
specifications was 2018.
[[Page 27705]]
Table 2 provides the proposed commercial state allocations based on
the Council-recommended coastwide commercial quota for 2020 and 2021.
No states exceeded their state allocated quota in 2019; therefore, no
accountability measures are necessary for the 2020 commercial fishery.
Table 2--Proposed 2020-21 Bluefish State Commercial Quota Allocations
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Proposed quota Proposed quota
State Percent share (lb) (kg)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Maine........................................................... 0.67 18,496 8,388
New Hampshire................................................... 0.41 11,468 5,201
Massachusetts................................................... 6.72 185,838 84,280
Rhode Island.................................................... 6.81 188,366 85,427
Connecticut..................................................... 1.27 35,036 15,889
New York........................................................ 10.39 287,335 130,311
New Jersey...................................................... 14.82 409,934 185,911
Delaware........................................................ 1.88 51,966 23,567
Maryland........................................................ 3.00 83,054 37,666
Virginia........................................................ 11.88 328,682 149,062
North Carolina.................................................. 32.06 887,058 402,294
South Carolina.................................................. 0.04 974 442
Georgia......................................................... 0.01 263 119
Florida......................................................... 10.06 278,332 126,228
-----------------------------------------------
Total....................................................... 100.00 2,766,801 1,254,785
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As previously mentioned, this action would also change the
recreational management measures by reducing the Federal bluefish
recreational daily bag limit from 15 to 3 fish per person for private
anglers and to 5 fish per person for for-hire (charter/party) vessels.
All other Federal management measures, including commercial management
measures, and recreational season (open all year) and minimum fish size
(none), would remain unchanged.
The Council will review the specifications for fishing year 2021 to
determine if any changes need to be made prior to their implementation.
Changes may occur if 2020 quota overages trigger accountability
measures, or if new stock information results in changes to the ABC
recommendations. NMFS will publish a notice prior to or early in 2021
to confirm or announce any necessary changes. The Council is developing
a rebuilding plan for the bluefish stock that will be implemented by
2022. NMFS expects the rebuilding plan to inform development of the
next set of specifications beginning in 2022.
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 Atlantic Bluefish FMP, other provisions of the
Magnuson-Stevens Act, and other applicable law, subject to further
consideration after public comment.
The Council reviewed the proposed regulations for this action and
deemed them necessary and appropriate to implement consistent with
section 303(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
This proposed rule has been determined to be not significant for
purposes of Executive Order 12866.
This proposed rule is not an Executive Order 13771 regulatory
action because this rule is not significant under Executive Order
12866.
The Mid-Atlantic Council prepared a draft EA for this action that
analyzes the impacts of this proposed rule. The EA includes an IRFA, as
required by section 603 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), which
is supplemented by information contained in the preamble of this
proposed rule. The IRFA was prepared to examine the economic impact of
this proposed rule, if adopted, on small business entities, as well as
the possible economic impact of the other alternatives presented in the
EA/specifications document. A copy of the detailed RFA analysis is
available from the Council (see ADDRESSES). A summary of the 2020-2021
bluefish specifications IRFA analysis follows.
Description of the Reasons Why Action by the Agency Is Being
Considered, and the Statement of the Objectives of, and Legal Basis
for, This Proposed Rule
This action is taken under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens
Act and regulations at 50 CFR part 648. This proposed rule revises 2020
catch limits and recreational management measures, and projects 2021
specifications for the Atlantic bluefish fishery. A complete
description of the action, why it is being considered, and its legal
basis are contained in the draft EA and in this rule's preamble, and
are not repeated here.
Description and Estimate of the Number of Small Entities to Which This
Proposed Rule Would Apply
This proposed rule affects those small entities engaged in
commercial fishing operations in the Atlantic bluefish fishery (those
with commercial bluefish permits), and those with Federal party/charter
recreational permits for bluefish. Private recreational anglers are not
considered ``entities'' under the RFA, thus economic impacts on private
anglers are not considered here. For the purposes of the RFA analysis,
the ownership entities (or firms), not the individual vessels, are
considered to be the regulated entities. Ownership entities are defined
as those entities or firms with common ownership personnel as listed on
the permit application. Because of this, some vessels with bluefish
permits may be considered to be part of the same firm because they may
have the same owners. To identify these small and large firms, vessel
ownership data from the permit database were grouped according to
common owners and sorted by size. In terms of RFA, a business primarily
engaged in commercial fishing is classified as a small business if it
has combined annual receipts not in excess of $11 million, for all its
affiliated operations worldwide. A business primarily engaged in for-
hire (party/charter) fishing is classified as small business if it has
combined annual receipts not in excess of $8 million.
[[Page 27706]]
In the commercial fishery, 735 firms reported commercial bluefish
revenue from 2016-2018. According to the vessel ownership database,
based on 2018 revenues, 728 of those 735 total firms are categorized as
small businesses, and 7 are categorized as large businesses. For the
recreational for-hire (party/charter) fishery, 389 affiliate firms
reported revenue from recreational fishing from 2016-2018. All 389 of
those firms are categorized as small businesses based on their 2018
revenues. It is not possible to derive what proportion of the overall
revenues for these for-hire firms came from fishing activities for an
individual species. Nevertheless, given the popularity of bluefish as a
recreational species in the Mid-Atlantic and New England, revenues
generated from this species are likely somewhat important for many of
these firms at certain times of the year. The 3-year average (2016-
2018) combined gross receipts (all for-hire fishing activity combined)
for these small entities was $52,156,152, ranging from less than
$10,000 for 119 entities (lowest value $124) to over $1,000,000 for 8
entities (highest value $2.9 million).
Description of the Projected Reporting, Record-Keeping, and Other
Compliance Requirements of This Proposed Rule
There are no new reporting, record-keeping, or other compliance
requirements contained in this proposed rule, or any of the
alternatives considered for this action.
Federal Rules Which May Duplicate, Overlap, or Conflict With This
Proposed Rule
NMFS is not aware of any relevant Federal rules that may duplicate,
overlap, or conflict with this proposed rule.
Description of Significant Alternatives to the Proposed Action Which
Accomplish the Stated Objectives of Applicable Statutes and Which
Minimize Any Significant Economic Impact on Small Entities
The measures proposed revise 2020 and outline projected 2021 catch
specifications and recreational management measures for the bluefish
fishery based on the most recent stock assessment and the application
of the Council's Risk Policy to prevent overfishing. Revenues in 2020
and 2021 are uncertain and will depend not only on the quota, but also
on availability of bluefish, market factors (e.g., price of bluefish
compared to alternative species), weather, and other factors. These
proposed specifications would decrease the coastwide commercial quota
by 64 percent, and the recreational harvest limit by 18 percent.
Although these are substantial reductions, especially for the
commercial fishery due to the lack of quota transfer from the
recreational sector, commercial bluefish entities may not be
substantially negatively impacted. Preliminary reports indicate that
the commercial bluefish fishery only landed 2.61 million lb (1,185 mt)
in 2019, which is below the proposed commercial quota of 2.77 million
lb (1,255 mt). Therefore, the commercial fishery overall is not
expected to experience substantial negative impacts from the quota
reduction. However, commercial entities in certain states that more
actively target bluefish may still be affected as the allocated state
quotas proportionately decrease. Compared to the average receipts for
2016-2018, the proposed 2020-2021 commercial quotas are expected to
result in an overall revenue reduction of 0.38 percent and 0.01 percent
for small and large entities.
In the recreational fishery (for-hire or party/charter entities),
impacts to entities are more likely to be driven by the change in
recreational management measures than the reduction in RHL. In the
development of the proposed measures, a mode-specific bag limit was
chosen specifically to mitigate the negative impacts on for-hire
entities fishing for bluefish. To achieve the required reduction in the
RHL, these measures propose a reduction in the daily recreational bag
limit from 15 to 3 fish per person for private anglers and to 5 fish
per person for for-hire (charter/party) vessels. Because for-hire
vessels are responsible for less than 5 percent of overall bluefish
recreational catch, but the bag limit can affect demand for mixed-catch
trips and general business revenues, the proposed action allowed the
for-hire mode two additional fish per-person than the initially
determined 3-fish bag limit for the entire recreational fishery. Even
with this extra allowance, it can be difficult to predict with
certainty how the preferred alternative will affect demand for party/
charter boat trips. Anglers may shift effort away from species with
more restrictive measures towards those with more liberal measures,
resulting in little change in overall fishing effort or demand for
party/charter trips where multiple species can be caught together.
The Council also considered maintaining status quo specifications,
where the same catch limits and management measures from 2019 would
continue through 2020 and beyond; and a most-restrictive alternative,
which would further reduce catch limits for a 64-percent reduction in
commercial quota and a 69-percent reduction in the RHL. Maintaining
status quo would be expected to maintain revenues in the short term,
but would likely have negative long term impacts due to the increased
risk of overfishing and low contribution to stock health and recovery.
The most-restrictive alternative is expected to have similar impacts as
the preferred alternative, but is more drastic in the short term and
may have a more substantial negative short term impact on affected
entities.
The Council recommended the specifications in this proposed rule
over the other two alternatives to satisfy the Magnuson-Stevens Act
requirements to ensure fish stocks are not subject to overfishing,
while minimizing the impact on the industry (including small entities)
and private anglers. This also increases the likelihood that the
fishery will remain a viable source of fishing revenues for bluefish
fishing entities in the long term, and makes it the better sustainable
economic choice. The status quo alternative was not recommended by the
Council because it would exceed the catch level recommendations of the
Council's SSC, put the bluefish stock at risk of overfishing, and would
be inconsistent with the requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. The
most restrictive alternative was not recommended because it would
impose substantial restrictions on the fishery too quickly without time
to adjust, creating a more negative impact than the preferred
alternative. Overall, the proposed specifications are expected to have
slightly negative (short-term) to slightly positive (long-term) impacts
on the affected entities; which could vary depending on the firm's
reliance on bluefish as a target species. NMFS agrees with the
Council's IRFA analysis and rationale for recommending these catch
limits. As such, NMFS is proposing to implement the Council's preferred
specifications and management measures, as presented in this proposed
rule's preamble.
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 648
Fisheries, Fishing, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
Dated: April 29, 2020.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
For the reasons set out in the preamble, 50 CFR part 648 is
proposed to be amended as follows:
[[Page 27707]]
PART 648--FISHERIES OF THE NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES
0
1. The authority citation for part 648 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
0
2. In Sec. 648.164,
0
a. Remove paragraphs (c) and (d),
0
b. Lift the suspension on paragraphs (a) and (b), and
0
c. Revise paragraphs (a) and (b).
The revisions read as follows:
Sec. 648.164 Bluefish possession restrictions.
(a) Recreational possession limits. Any person fishing from a
vessel in the EEZ that is not fishing under a bluefish commercial
permit shall observe the applicable recreational possession limit. The
owner, operator, and crew of a charter or party boat issued a bluefish
commercial permit are not subject to the recreational possession limit
when not carrying passengers for hire and when the crew size does not
exceed five for a party boat and three for a charter boat.
(1) Private recreational vessels. Any person fishing from a vessel
that is not fishing under a bluefish commercial or charter/party vessel
permit issued pursuant to Sec. 648.4(a)(8), may land up to three
bluefish per day.
(2) For-hire vessels. Anglers fishing onboard a for-hire vessel
under a bluefish charter/party vessel permit issued pursuant to Sec.
648.4(a)(8), may land up to five bluefish per person per day.
(b) Pooling Catch. Bluefish harvested by vessels subject to the
possession limit with more than one person on board may be pooled in
one or more containers. Compliance with the daily possession limit will
be determined by dividing the number of bluefish on board by the number
of persons on board, other than the captain and the crew. If there is a
violation of the possession limit on board a vessel carrying more than
one person, the violation shall be deemed to have been committed by the
owner and operator of the vessel.
[FR Doc. 2020-09572 Filed 5-8-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
