Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; 2022 and 2023 Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Specifications, 67014-67018 [2021-25394]
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67014
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 224 / Wednesday, November 24, 2021 / Proposed Rules
scheduled to close on November 26,
2021. We subsequently received two
requests to extend the public comment
period. One request was submitted by
the Association of Fish and Wildlife
Agencies (AFWA), which sought an
extension in order to coordinate and
incorporate feedback from all its
members into its comment. AFWA is a
national organization representing State
agencies in all 50 States, and the
Services find their request shows good
cause to extend the comment period.
With this document, we extend the
public comment period for an
additional 15 days, as specified above in
DATES, to provide all interested parties
an additional opportunity to comment
on the October 27, 2021, proposed rule.
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the October 27, 2021, proposed rule,
please do not resubmit them. Any such
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Authority
We issue this document under the
authority of the Endangered Species
Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq).
Shannon A. Estenoz,
Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and
Parks, Department of the Interior.
Samuel D. Rauch, III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for
Regulatory Programs, National Marine
Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration.
[FR Doc. 2021–25767 Filed 11–23–21; 8:45 am]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 211117–0235; RTID 0648–
XX072]
Fisheries of the Northeastern United
States; 2022 and 2023 Summer
Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass
Specifications
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Proposed rule; request for
comments.
AGENCY:
NMFS proposes 2022–2023
specifications for the summer flounder,
scup, and black sea fisheries. The
implementing regulations for the
Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea
Bass Fishery Management Plan require
us to publish specifications for the
upcoming fishing year for each of these
species and to provide an opportunity
for public comment. The proposed
specifications are intended to establish
allowable harvest levels for these
species that will prevent overfishing,
consistent with the most recent
scientific information.
DATES: Comments must be received on
or before December 9, 2021.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments
on this document, identified by NOAA–
NMFS–2021–0120, by the following
method:
Electronic Submission: Submit all
electronic public comments via the
Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to
https://www.regulations.gov and enter
NOAA–NMFS–2021–0120 in the Search
box. Click on the ‘‘Comment’’ icon,
complete the required fields, and enter
or attach your comments.
Instructions: Comments sent by any
other method, to any other address or
individual, or received after the end of
the comment period, may not be
considered by NMFS. All comments
received are part of the public record
and will generally be posted for public
viewing on 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).
A Supplemental Information Report
(SIR) was prepared for the 2022–2023
SUMMARY:
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summer flounder, scup, and black sea
bass specifciations. Copies of the SIR 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 https://www.mafmc.org/s/
SFSBSB_2022-2023_specs_SIR_
final.pdf.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Emily Keiley, Fishery Policy Analyst,
(978) 281–9116.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
General Background
The Mid-Atlantic Fishery
Management Council (Council) and the
Atlantic States Marine Fisheries
Commission (Commission)
cooperatively manage the summer
flounder, scup, and black sea bass
fisheries. The Summer Flounder, Scup,
and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management
Plan (FMP) outlines the Council’s
process for establishing specifications.
The FMP requires NMFS to set an
acceptable biological catch (ABC),
annual catch limit (ACL), annual catch
targets (ACT), commercial quotas,
recreational harvest limits (RHL), and
other management measures, for 1 to 3
years at a time. This action proposes
2022 and 2023 ABCs, as well as the
recreational and commercial ACLs,
ACTs, commercial quotas, and RHLs for
all three species, consistent with the
recommendations made by the
Commission’s Summer Flounder, Scup,
and Black Sea Bass Board (Board) and
Council at their joint August 2021
meeting.
The Scientific and Statistical
Committee (SSC) met on July 22, 2021,
to review the results of the 2021
management track stock assessments
and recommend 2022 and 2023 ABCs
for all three species; specific
recommendations are discussed below.
Proposed 2021 Specifications
Summer Flounder Specifications
The Council and Board recommended
2022–2023 summer flounder catch and
landings limits are shown in Table 1.
The recommendations are based on the
averaged 2022–2023 ABCs
recommended by the SSC. This
approach allows for constant catch and
landings limits across both years. The
ABCs are based on an SSC-modified
overfishing limit (OFL) and the
Council’s risk policy, resulting in a 44to 46-percent probability of overfishing.
For summer flounder, this results in a
22-percent increase in the
recommended 2022 and 2023 ABC over
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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 224 / Wednesday, November 24, 2021 / Proposed Rules
the 2021 ABC. The proposed 2022–2023
commercial quota represents a 24percent increase over the 2021 quota,
and approximately a 35-percent increase
over 2020 reported landings. The
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proposed 2022–2023 RHL is a 25percent increase over the 2021 RHL.
TABLE 1—SUMMARY OF 2022 AND 2023 SUMMER FLOUNDER FISHERY SPECIFICATIONS
Specifications
Mil lb.
OFL ..........................................................................................................................................................................
ABC ..........................................................................................................................................................................
Commercial ACL = ACT ..........................................................................................................................................
Commercial Quota ...................................................................................................................................................
Recreational ACL = ACT .........................................................................................................................................
Recreational Harvest Limit ......................................................................................................................................
The initial 2022 state-by-state summer
flounder quotas are provided in Table 2.
Through the final rule for this action,
prior to the start of the fishing year, we
will announce any adjustments
necessary to address any long-standing
overages or potential 2021 overages to
Metric ton
2022: 36.28
2023: 34.98
33.12
18.48
15.53
14.64
10.36
2022: 16,458
2023: 15,865
15,021
8,382
7,046
6,639
4,697
provide the states with their final
quotas.
TABLE 2—INITIAL 2022 SUMMER FLOUNDER STATE-BY-STATE QUOTAS
Initial 2022
quotas*
(lb)
State
Initial 2022
quotas*
(mt)
ME ............................................................................................................................................................................
NH ............................................................................................................................................................................
MA ............................................................................................................................................................................
RI .............................................................................................................................................................................
CT ............................................................................................................................................................................
NY ............................................................................................................................................................................
NJ .............................................................................................................................................................................
DE ............................................................................................................................................................................
MD ...........................................................................................................................................................................
VA ............................................................................................................................................................................
NC ............................................................................................................................................................................
24,488
19,990
1,391,846
2,238,216
956,043
1,470,779
2,337,728
21,645
935,226
2,776,242
3,361,569
11.11
9.07
631.33
1,015.24
433.65
667.13
1,060.37
9.82
424.21
1,259.28
1,524.78
Total ..................................................................................................................................................................
15,533,771
7,045.99
* Initial quotas do not account for any previous overages.
This action makes no changes to the
current commercial management
measures, including the minimum fish
size (14 inch (36 cm) total length), gear
requirements, and possession limits.
Changes to 2022 recreational
management measures (bag limits, size
limits, and seasons) are not considered
in this action, but will be considered by
the Board and Council later this year
when additional data are available for
2021.
Black Sea Bass Specifications
The Council and Board recommended
2022–2023 black sea bass catch and
landings limits are shown in Table 3.
After reviewing the 2021 black sea bass
management track stock assessment, the
SSC recommended 2022–2023 ABCs
based on a 100-percent OFL coefficient
of variation (CV) and the Council’s risk
policy for a stock above 1.5 times
SSBMSY, with an associated 49-percent
probability of overfishing, aligning with
their recommendations for this species
from previous years. To ensure that the
probability of overfishing remained
below 50 percent in each year, the SSC
recommends annually varying ABCs for
2022 and 2023. They could not
recommend a constant ABC across the
two years based on the average of the
varying ABCs as this would have
resulted in a greater than 50-percent
probability of overfishing in 2023. This
results in a 2022 black sea bass ABC that
is an 8-percent increase compared to
2021, and a 2023 ABC that is a 5-percent
decrease compared to 2021. The
proposed 2022 commercial quota and
RHL are both 6 percent higher than the
2021 quota and RHL.
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TABLE 3—2022–2023 BLACK SEA BASS CATCH AND LANDINGS LIMITS
2022
2023
Specifications
Mil lb.
OFL ..................................................................................................................
ABC ..................................................................................................................
Expected Commercial Discards .......................................................................
Expected Recreational Discards ......................................................................
Commercial ACL = ACT ..................................................................................
Commercial Quota ...........................................................................................
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Metric ton
19.26
18.86
3.63
2.02
10.10
6.47
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8,735
8,555
1,649
917
4,583
2,934
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Mil lb.
17.01
16.66
3.21
1.79
8.93
5.71
Metric ton
7,716
7,557
1,456
810
4,048
2,592
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TABLE 3—2022–2023 BLACK SEA BASS CATCH AND LANDINGS LIMITS—Continued
2022
2023
Specifications
Mil lb.
Recreational ACL = ACT .................................................................................
RHL ..................................................................................................................
This action proposes no changes to
the 2022 commercial management
measures for black sea bass, including
the commercial minimum fish size (11
inch (27.94 cm) total length) and gear
requirements.
Scup Specifications
The Council and Board recommended
2022–2023 scup catch and landings
limits are shown in Table 4. The SSC
recommended 2022–2023 ABCs based
Metric ton
8.76
6.74
on a 60-percent OFL CV (as they have
used for this species in previous years)
and the Council’s risk policy for a stock
above 1.5 times SSBMSY, with an
associated 49-percent probability of
overfishing. Similar to black sea bass, to
ensure that the probability of
overfishing remained below 50 percent
in each year, the SSC recommend
annually varying ABCs for 2022 and
2023. This results in a proposed 2022
ABC that is 8 percent less than the 2021
Mil lb.
3,972
3,055
Metric ton
7.74
5.95
3,509
2,699
ABC; the proposed 2023 ABC is 15
percent less than the 2021 ABC. The
proposed scup commercial quotas for
2022 and 2023 represent a less than 1percent decrease and a 13-percent
decrease respectively from 2021.
However, scup quotas have not been
constraining since 2007 and recent
landings are less than the proposed
quotas. The proposed 2022 RHL is less
than 1 percent greater than the 2021
RHL.
TABLE 4—2022–2023 SCUP CATCH AND LANDINGS LIMITS
2022
2023
Specifications
Mil lb.
OFL ..................................................................................................................
ABC ..................................................................................................................
Expected Commercial Discards .......................................................................
Expected Recreational Discards ......................................................................
Commercial ACL = ACT ..................................................................................
Commercial Quota ...........................................................................................
Recreational ACL = ACT .................................................................................
RHL ..................................................................................................................
Metric ton
32.56
32.11
4.67
0.99
25.05
20.38
7.06
6.08
Mil lb.
14,770
14,566
2,117
447
11,361
9,245
3,205
2,757
Metric ton
30.09
29.67
5.28
1.12
23.15
17.87
6.53
5.41
13,648
13,460
2,394
506
10,499
8,105
2,961
2,455
The commercial scup quota is divided
into three commercial fishery quota
periods, as outlined in Table 5.
TABLE 5—COMMERCIAL SCUP QUOTA ALLOCATIONS FOR 2020 BY QUOTA PERIOD
Quota period
Percent share
lb
mt
Winter I ..................................................................................................................................
Summer .................................................................................................................................
Winter II .................................................................................................................................
45.11
38.95
15.94
9,194,201
7,938,686
3,248,849
4,170
3,601
1,474
Total ................................................................................................................................
100.0
20,381,736
9,245
The current quota period possession
limits are not changed by this action,
and are outlined in Table 6.
TABLE 6—COMMERCIAL SCUP POSSESSION LIMITS BY QUOTA PERIOD
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Quota period
Percent share
Federal possession limits
(per trip)
lb
kg
Winter I ..................................................................................................................................
Summer .................................................................................................................................
Winter II .................................................................................................................................
45.11
38.95
15.94
50,000
N/A
12,000
22,680
N/A
5,443
Total ................................................................................................................................
100.0
N/A
N/A
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The Winter I possession limit will
drop to 1,000 lb (454 kg) when 80
percent of that period’s allocation is
landed. If the Winter I quota is not fully
harvested, the remaining quota is
transferred to Winter II. The Winter II
possession limit may be adjusted (in
association with a transfer of unused
Winter I quota to the Winter II period)
via notice in the Federal Register. The
67017
regulations specify that the Winter II
possession limit increases consistent
with the increase in the quota, as
described in Table 7.
TABLE 7—POTENTIAL INCREASE IN WINTER II POSSESSION LIMITS BASED ON THE AMOUNT OF UNUSED SCUP ROLLED
OVER FROM WINTER I TO WINTER II
Initial Winter II
possession limit
lb
Rollover from
Winter I to Winter II
kg
12,000
12,000
12,000
12,000
12,000
5,443
5,443
5,443
5,443
5,443
lb
Increase in initial Winter II
possession limit
kg
0–499,999
500,000–999,999
1,000,000–1,499,999
1,500,000–1,999,999
* 2,000,000–2,500,000
lb
0–226,796
226,796–453,592
453,592–680,388
680,389–907,184
907,185–1,133,981
kg
0
1,500
3,000
4,500
6,000
0
680
1,361
2,041
2,722
Final Winter II possession
limit after rollover from
Winter I to Winter II
lb
12,000
13,500
15,000
16,500
18,000
kg
5,443
6,123
6,804
7,484
8,165
* This process of increasing the possession limit in 1,500 lb (680 kg) increments would continue past 2,500,000 lb (1,122,981 kg), but we end
here for the purpose of this example.
This action proposes no changes to
the 2022 commercial management
measures for scup, including the
minimum fish size (9 inch (22.9 cm)
total length), gear requirements, and
quota period possession limits. As with
summer flounder and black sea bass,
potential changes to the recreational
measures (bag limits, size limits, and
seasons) for 2022 will be considered
later this year when additional data are
available for 2021.
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Classification
Pursuant to section 304(b)(1)(A) of the
Magnuson-Stevens Act, the NMFS
Assistant Administrator has determined
that this proposed rule is consistent
with the Summer Flounder, Scup, and
Black Sea Bass FMP, other provisions of
the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and other
applicable law, subject to further
consideration after public comment.
This proposed rule is exempt from
review under Executive Order 12866.
The Chief Counsel for Regulation of
the Department of Commerce certified
to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the
Small Business Administration that this
proposed rule, if adopted, would not
have a significant economic impact on
a substantial number of small entities.
The factual basis for this determination
is as follows.
The Mid-Atlantic Fishery
Management Council conducted an
evaluation of the potential
socioeconomic impacts of the proposed
measures in conjunction with a SIR. The
proposed action would set the 2022 and
projected 2023 catch and landings limits
for summer flounder, scup, and black
sea bass based on the recommendations
of the SSC, the Council, and Board. The
proposed 2022–2023 specifications are
an increase for summer flounder in both
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years and black sea bass in 2022,
compared to the 2021 quotas. The 2022–
2023 scup specification are lower than
2021, but commercial scup landings
appear to be influenced by market
conditions, and landings have been
lower than the quota since 2007. No
changes to the Federal commercial
fishery management measures are being
proposed. Recreational fishery
management measures are developed in
a separate action.
Vessel ownership data were used to
identify all individuals who own fishing
vessels. Vessels were then grouped
according to common owners. The
resulting groupings were then treated as
entities, or affiliates, for purposes of
identifying small and large businesses
which may be affected by this action.
Affiliates were identified as primarily
commercial fishing affiliates if the
majority of their revenues in 2020 came
from commercial fishing. Some of these
affiliates may have also held party/
charter permits. Affiliates were
identified as primarily for-hire fishing
affiliates if the majority of their
revenues in 2020 came from for-hire
fishing. Some of these affiliates may
have also held commercial permits.
Based on this grouping, a total of 711
commercial affiliates reported revenue
from summer flounder, scup, and/or
black sea bass landings in at least one
year during 2018–2020. Based on
combined receipts in 2020, 706 (99
percent) of these commercial affiliates
were classified as small businesses and
5 (1 percent) were classified as large
businesses.
A total of 361 affiliates reported that
the majority of their revenues in 2020
came from for-hire fishing. Some of
these affiliates may have also
participated in commercial fishing. All
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361 of the for-hire affiliates were
categorized as small businesses based
on their 2020 revenues. It is not possible
to determine the proportion of their
revenues that came from fishing for an
individual species. However, given the
popularity of summer flounder, scup,
and black sea bass as recreational
species in the Mid-Atlantic and
southern New England, revenues
generated from these species are likely
important for many of these firms at
certain times of the year.
The 706 potentially impacted
commercial fishing small business
affiliates had average total annual
revenues of $634,503, and an average of
$52,227 in annual revenues from
commercial landings of summer
flounder, scup and/or black sea bass
during 2018–2020. On average, these
species accounted for 8 percent of the
total revenues for these 706 small
business affiliates.
The five potentially impacted large
business affiliates had average total
annual revenues of $82.8 million and
$438,853 on average in annual revenues
from commercial landings of summer
flounder, scup, and/or black sea bass
during 2018–2020. On average, these
species accounted for less than 1
percent of the total revenues for these
five large business affiliates.
The proposed action for summer
flounder is expected to result in a slight
to moderate increase in commercial
landings compared to current levels.
The proposed 2022–2023 commercial
quota represents a 24-percent increase
over the 2021 quota, and approximately
a 35-percent increase over 2020 reported
landings.
The proposed action for scup is
expected to result in similar levels of
commercial landings and revenues as
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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 224 / Wednesday, November 24, 2021 / Proposed Rules
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the past several years. Commercial scup
landings appear to be influenced more
by market factors than the annual
commercial quota. The proposed scup
quotas for 2022 (20.38 million lb, 9,244
metric tons) and 2023 (17.87 million lb,
8,105 metric tons) represent a less than
1-percent decrease and a 13-percent
decrease from 2021 (20.50 million lb,
9,298 metrictons), respectively.
However commercial landings have
been lower than the quotas since 2007,
and recent landings are lower than the
proposed 2022 and 2023 quotas. In
general, the proposed 2022–2023 scup
quotas are expected to have moderate
positive impacts for both the small and
large commercial fishing business
identified above because they are
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expected to result in revenues similar to
those over the past several years.
The proposed action for black sea bass
is expected to have generally moderate
positive socioeconomic impacts for all
participants because it would allow for
commercial landings and revenues that
are similar to recent years. For example,
the proposed 2022 quota (6.47 million
lb, 2,934 metric tons) is 6 percent higher
than the 2021 quota (6.09 million lb,
2,762 metric tons) and the proposed
2023 quota is 6 percent lower than the
2021 quota.
This action does not consider changes
to recreational management measures.
As result, this action is not expected
to adversely impact revenues for
commercial and recreational vessels that
fish for summer flounder, scup, and,
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black sea bass. Because this rule will not
have a significant economic impact on
a substantial number of small entities,
an initial regulatory flexibility analysis
is not required and none has been
prepared.
This proposed rule contains no
information collection requirements
under the Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: November 17, 2021.
Samuel D. Rauch, III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for
Regulatory Programs, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2021–25394 Filed 11–23–21; 8:45 am]
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 224 (Wednesday, November 24, 2021)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 67014-67018]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-25394]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 211117-0235; RTID 0648-XX072]
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; 2022 and 2023 Summer
Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Specifications
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Proposed rule; request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: NMFS proposes 2022-2023 specifications for the summer
flounder, scup, and black sea fisheries. The implementing regulations
for the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management
Plan require us to publish specifications for the upcoming fishing year
for each of these species and to provide an opportunity for public
comment. The proposed specifications are intended to establish
allowable harvest levels for these species that will prevent
overfishing, consistent with the most recent scientific information.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before December 9, 2021.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on this document, identified by
NOAA-NMFS-2021-0120, by the following method:
Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public comments via
the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to https://www.regulations.gov and
enter NOAA-NMFS-2021-0120 in the Search box. Click on the ``Comment''
icon, complete the required fields, and enter or attach your comments.
Instructions: Comments sent by any other method, to any other
address or individual, or received after the end of the comment period,
may not be considered by NMFS. All comments received are part of the
public record and will generally be posted for public viewing on
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).
A Supplemental Information Report (SIR) was prepared for the 2022-
2023 summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass specifciations. Copies
of the SIR 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 https://www.mafmc.org/s/SFSBSB_2022-2023_specs_SIR_final.pdf.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Emily Keiley, Fishery Policy Analyst,
(978) 281-9116.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
General Background
The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) and the
Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (Commission) cooperatively
manage the summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass fisheries. The
Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan (FMP)
outlines the Council's process for establishing specifications. The FMP
requires NMFS to set an acceptable biological catch (ABC), annual catch
limit (ACL), annual catch targets (ACT), commercial quotas,
recreational harvest limits (RHL), and other management measures, for 1
to 3 years at a time. This action proposes 2022 and 2023 ABCs, as well
as the recreational and commercial ACLs, ACTs, commercial quotas, and
RHLs for all three species, consistent with the recommendations made by
the Commission's Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Board
(Board) and Council at their joint August 2021 meeting.
The Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) met on July 22,
2021, to review the results of the 2021 management track stock
assessments and recommend 2022 and 2023 ABCs for all three species;
specific recommendations are discussed below.
Proposed 2021 Specifications
Summer Flounder Specifications
The Council and Board recommended 2022-2023 summer flounder catch
and landings limits are shown in Table 1. The recommendations are based
on the averaged 2022-2023 ABCs recommended by the SSC. This approach
allows for constant catch and landings limits across both years. The
ABCs are based on an SSC-modified overfishing limit (OFL) and the
Council's risk policy, resulting in a 44- to 46-percent probability of
overfishing. For summer flounder, this results in a 22-percent increase
in the recommended 2022 and 2023 ABC over
[[Page 67015]]
the 2021 ABC. The proposed 2022-2023 commercial quota represents a 24-
percent increase over the 2021 quota, and approximately a 35-percent
increase over 2020 reported landings. The proposed 2022-2023 RHL is a
25-percent increase over the 2021 RHL.
Table 1--Summary of 2022 and 2023 Summer Flounder Fishery Specifications
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Specifications Mil lb. Metric ton
------------------------------------------------------------------------
OFL..................................... 2022: 36.28 2022: 16,458
2023: 34.98 2023: 15,865
ABC..................................... 33.12 15,021
Commercial ACL = ACT.................... 18.48 8,382
Commercial Quota........................ 15.53 7,046
Recreational ACL = ACT.................. 14.64 6,639
Recreational Harvest Limit.............. 10.36 4,697
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The initial 2022 state-by-state summer flounder quotas are provided
in Table 2.
Through the final rule for this action, prior to the start of the
fishing year, we will announce any adjustments necessary to address any
long-standing overages or potential 2021 overages to provide the states
with their final quotas.
Table 2--Initial 2022 Summer Flounder State-by-State Quotas
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Initial 2022 Initial 2022
State quotas* (lb) quotas* (mt)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
ME...................................... 24,488 11.11
NH...................................... 19,990 9.07
MA...................................... 1,391,846 631.33
RI...................................... 2,238,216 1,015.24
CT...................................... 956,043 433.65
NY...................................... 1,470,779 667.13
NJ...................................... 2,337,728 1,060.37
DE...................................... 21,645 9.82
MD...................................... 935,226 424.21
VA...................................... 2,776,242 1,259.28
NC...................................... 3,361,569 1,524.78
-------------------------------
Total............................... 15,533,771 7,045.99
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* Initial quotas do not account for any previous overages.
This action makes no changes to the current commercial management
measures, including the minimum fish size (14 inch (36 cm) total
length), gear requirements, and possession limits. Changes to 2022
recreational management measures (bag limits, size limits, and seasons)
are not considered in this action, but will be considered by the Board
and Council later this year when additional data are available for
2021.
Black Sea Bass Specifications
The Council and Board recommended 2022-2023 black sea bass catch
and landings limits are shown in Table 3. After reviewing the 2021
black sea bass management track stock assessment, the SSC recommended
2022-2023 ABCs based on a 100-percent OFL coefficient of variation (CV)
and the Council's risk policy for a stock above 1.5 times
SSBMSY, with an associated 49-percent probability of
overfishing, aligning with their recommendations for this species from
previous years. To ensure that the probability of overfishing remained
below 50 percent in each year, the SSC recommends annually varying ABCs
for 2022 and 2023. They could not recommend a constant ABC across the
two years based on the average of the varying ABCs as this would have
resulted in a greater than 50-percent probability of overfishing in
2023. This results in a 2022 black sea bass ABC that is an 8-percent
increase compared to 2021, and a 2023 ABC that is a 5-percent decrease
compared to 2021. The proposed 2022 commercial quota and RHL are both 6
percent higher than the 2021 quota and RHL.
Table 3--2022-2023 Black Sea Bass Catch and Landings Limits
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2022 2023
Specifications ---------------------------------------------------------------
Mil lb. Metric ton Mil lb. Metric ton
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OFL............................................. 19.26 8,735 17.01 7,716
ABC............................................. 18.86 8,555 16.66 7,557
Expected Commercial Discards.................... 3.63 1,649 3.21 1,456
Expected Recreational Discards.................. 2.02 917 1.79 810
Commercial ACL = ACT............................ 10.10 4,583 8.93 4,048
Commercial Quota................................ 6.47 2,934 5.71 2,592
[[Page 67016]]
Recreational ACL = ACT.......................... 8.76 3,972 7.74 3,509
RHL............................................. 6.74 3,055 5.95 2,699
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This action proposes no changes to the 2022 commercial management
measures for black sea bass, including the commercial minimum fish size
(11 inch (27.94 cm) total length) and gear requirements.
Scup Specifications
The Council and Board recommended 2022-2023 scup catch and landings
limits are shown in Table 4. The SSC recommended 2022-2023 ABCs based
on a 60-percent OFL CV (as they have used for this species in previous
years) and the Council's risk policy for a stock above 1.5 times
SSBMSY, with an associated 49-percent probability of
overfishing. Similar to black sea bass, to ensure that the probability
of overfishing remained below 50 percent in each year, the SSC
recommend annually varying ABCs for 2022 and 2023. This results in a
proposed 2022 ABC that is 8 percent less than the 2021 ABC; the
proposed 2023 ABC is 15 percent less than the 2021 ABC. The proposed
scup commercial quotas for 2022 and 2023 represent a less than 1-
percent decrease and a 13-percent decrease respectively from 2021.
However, scup quotas have not been constraining since 2007 and recent
landings are less than the proposed quotas. The proposed 2022 RHL is
less than 1 percent greater than the 2021 RHL.
Table 4--2022-2023 Scup Catch and Landings Limits
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2022 2023
Specifications ---------------------------------------------------------------
Mil lb. Metric ton Mil lb. Metric ton
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OFL............................................. 32.56 14,770 30.09 13,648
ABC............................................. 32.11 14,566 29.67 13,460
Expected Commercial Discards.................... 4.67 2,117 5.28 2,394
Expected Recreational Discards.................. 0.99 447 1.12 506
Commercial ACL = ACT............................ 25.05 11,361 23.15 10,499
Commercial Quota................................ 20.38 9,245 17.87 8,105
Recreational ACL = ACT.......................... 7.06 3,205 6.53 2,961
RHL............................................. 6.08 2,757 5.41 2,455
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The commercial scup quota is divided into three commercial fishery
quota periods, as outlined in Table 5.
Table 5--Commercial Scup Quota Allocations for 2020 by Quota Period
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quota period Percent share lb mt
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Winter I..................................................... 45.11 9,194,201 4,170
Summer....................................................... 38.95 7,938,686 3,601
Winter II.................................................... 15.94 3,248,849 1,474
--------------------------------------------------
Total.................................................... 100.0 20,381,736 9,245
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The current quota period possession limits are not changed by this
action, and are outlined in Table 6.
Table 6--Commercial Scup Possession Limits by Quota Period
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Federal possession limits (per
trip)
Quota period Percent share ---------------------------------
lb kg
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Winter I..................................................... 45.11 50,000 22,680
Summer....................................................... 38.95 N/A N/A
Winter II.................................................... 15.94 12,000 5,443
--------------------------------------------------
Total.................................................... 100.0 N/A N/A
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[[Page 67017]]
The Winter I possession limit will drop to 1,000 lb (454 kg) when
80 percent of that period's allocation is landed. If the Winter I quota
is not fully harvested, the remaining quota is transferred to Winter
II. The Winter II possession limit may be adjusted (in association with
a transfer of unused Winter I quota to the Winter II period) via notice
in the Federal Register. The regulations specify that the Winter II
possession limit increases consistent with the increase in the quota,
as described in Table 7.
Table 7--Potential Increase in Winter II Possession Limits Based on the Amount of Unused Scup Rolled Over From Winter I to Winter II
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Initial Winter II possession Rollover from Winter I to Winter II Increase in initial Winter II Final Winter II possession limit
limit ---------------------------------------------------- possession limit after rollover from Winter I to
--------------------------------- ---------------------------------- Winter II
lb kg ---------------------------------
lb kg lb kg lb kg
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12,000 5,443 0-499,999 0-226,796 0 0 12,000 5,443
12,000 5,443 500,000-999,999 226,796-453,592 1,500 680 13,500 6,123
12,000 5,443 1,000,000-1,499,999 453,592-680,388 3,000 1,361 15,000 6,804
12,000 5,443 1,500,000-1,999,999 680,389-907,184 4,500 2,041 16,500 7,484
12,000 5,443 * 2,000,000-2,500,000 907,185-1,133,981 6,000 2,722 18,000 8,165
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* This process of increasing the possession limit in 1,500 lb (680 kg) increments would continue past 2,500,000 lb (1,122,981 kg), but we end here for
the purpose of this example.
This action proposes no changes to the 2022 commercial management
measures for scup, including the minimum fish size (9 inch (22.9 cm)
total length), gear requirements, and quota period possession limits.
As with summer flounder and black sea bass, potential changes to the
recreational measures (bag limits, size limits, and seasons) for 2022
will be considered later this year when additional data are available
for 2021.
Classification
Pursuant to section 304(b)(1)(A) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the
NMFS Assistant Administrator has determined that this proposed rule is
consistent with the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass FMP,
other provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and other applicable law,
subject to further consideration after public comment.
This proposed rule is exempt from review under Executive Order
12866.
The Chief Counsel for Regulation of the Department of Commerce
certified to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business
Administration that this proposed rule, if adopted, would not have a
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.
The factual basis for this determination is as follows.
The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council conducted an evaluation
of the potential socioeconomic impacts of the proposed measures in
conjunction with a SIR. The proposed action would set the 2022 and
projected 2023 catch and landings limits for summer flounder, scup, and
black sea bass based on the recommendations of the SSC, the Council,
and Board. The proposed 2022-2023 specifications are an increase for
summer flounder in both years and black sea bass in 2022, compared to
the 2021 quotas. The 2022-2023 scup specification are lower than 2021,
but commercial scup landings appear to be influenced by market
conditions, and landings have been lower than the quota since 2007. No
changes to the Federal commercial fishery management measures are being
proposed. Recreational fishery management measures are developed in a
separate action.
Vessel ownership data were used to identify all individuals who own
fishing vessels. Vessels were then grouped according to common owners.
The resulting groupings were then treated as entities, or affiliates,
for purposes of identifying small and large businesses which may be
affected by this action. Affiliates were identified as primarily
commercial fishing affiliates if the majority of their revenues in 2020
came from commercial fishing. Some of these affiliates may have also
held party/charter permits. Affiliates were identified as primarily
for-hire fishing affiliates if the majority of their revenues in 2020
came from for-hire fishing. Some of these affiliates may have also held
commercial permits.
Based on this grouping, a total of 711 commercial affiliates
reported revenue from summer flounder, scup, and/or black sea bass
landings in at least one year during 2018-2020. Based on combined
receipts in 2020, 706 (99 percent) of these commercial affiliates were
classified as small businesses and 5 (1 percent) were classified as
large businesses.
A total of 361 affiliates reported that the majority of their
revenues in 2020 came from for-hire fishing. Some of these affiliates
may have also participated in commercial fishing. All 361 of the for-
hire affiliates were categorized as small businesses based on their
2020 revenues. It is not possible to determine the proportion of their
revenues that came from fishing for an individual species. However,
given the popularity of summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass as
recreational species in the Mid-Atlantic and southern New England,
revenues generated from these species are likely important for many of
these firms at certain times of the year.
The 706 potentially impacted commercial fishing small business
affiliates had average total annual revenues of $634,503, and an
average of $52,227 in annual revenues from commercial landings of
summer flounder, scup and/or black sea bass during 2018-2020. On
average, these species accounted for 8 percent of the total revenues
for these 706 small business affiliates.
The five potentially impacted large business affiliates had average
total annual revenues of $82.8 million and $438,853 on average in
annual revenues from commercial landings of summer flounder, scup, and/
or black sea bass during 2018-2020. On average, these species accounted
for less than 1 percent of the total revenues for these five large
business affiliates.
The proposed action for summer flounder is expected to result in a
slight to moderate increase in commercial landings compared to current
levels. The proposed 2022-2023 commercial quota represents a 24-percent
increase over the 2021 quota, and approximately a 35-percent increase
over 2020 reported landings.
The proposed action for scup is expected to result in similar
levels of commercial landings and revenues as
[[Page 67018]]
the past several years. Commercial scup landings appear to be
influenced more by market factors than the annual commercial quota. The
proposed scup quotas for 2022 (20.38 million lb, 9,244 metric tons) and
2023 (17.87 million lb, 8,105 metric tons) represent a less than 1-
percent decrease and a 13-percent decrease from 2021 (20.50 million lb,
9,298 metrictons), respectively. However commercial landings have been
lower than the quotas since 2007, and recent landings are lower than
the proposed 2022 and 2023 quotas. In general, the proposed 2022-2023
scup quotas are expected to have moderate positive impacts for both the
small and large commercial fishing business identified above because
they are expected to result in revenues similar to those over the past
several years.
The proposed action for black sea bass is expected to have
generally moderate positive socioeconomic impacts for all participants
because it would allow for commercial landings and revenues that are
similar to recent years. For example, the proposed 2022 quota (6.47
million lb, 2,934 metric tons) is 6 percent higher than the 2021 quota
(6.09 million lb, 2,762 metric tons) and the proposed 2023 quota is 6
percent lower than the 2021 quota.
This action does not consider changes to recreational management
measures.
As result, this action is not expected to adversely impact revenues
for commercial and recreational vessels that fish for summer flounder,
scup, and, black sea bass. Because this rule will not have a
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities,
an initial regulatory flexibility analysis is not required and none has
been prepared.
This proposed rule contains no information collection requirements
under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: November 17, 2021.
Samuel D. Rauch, III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2021-25394 Filed 11-23-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
