Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; Reef Fish Resources of the Gulf of Mexico; Amendment 56, 77246-77256 [2023-24539]
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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 216 / Thursday, November 9, 2023 / Proposed Rules
1. Change the Current Hunting Season
on St. Paul Island
On November 2, 2022, ACSPI
requested in a letter to NMFS that
representatives from NMFS and ACSPI
investigate the feasibility of changing
the duration of the hunting season on
St. Paul Island. Subsequent discussions
by the St. Paul Island Marine Mammal
Co-Management Council (which
includes both NMFS and ACSPI
representatives) identified regulatory
changes to create greater food security
and subsistence use opportunities on St.
Paul Island.
Current regulations at 50 CFR
216.72(e)(1) allow subsistence hunting
of northern fur seals with firearms from
January 1 through May 31, annually.
ACSPI requests NMFS modify
regulations to allow the annual hunting
season with firearms to begin October
15 and end consistent with the
provisions at 50 CFR 216.72(g)(1)(i).
This would result in a northern fur seal
hunting season with firearms on St. Paul
Island from October 15 through May 31,
or when the overall quota for a calendar
year is reached (2,000 juvenile male fur
seals). ACSPI did not request any
change to the overall quota of 2,000
juvenile northern fur seal males or the
female mortality limit of 20 northern fur
seals. Therefore, NMFS is not
considering any changes to the quota or
female mortality limit at this time.
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2. Create a Hunting Season on St.
George Island
Current regulations at 50 CFR
216.72(d) do not allow subsistence use
of northern fur seals with firearms on St.
George Island. The regulatory changes
in 2014 (79 FR 65327, November 4,
2014) and 2019 (84 FR 52372, October
2, 2019) did not contemplate a hunting
season to use firearms to take fur seals
for subsistence on St. George Island.
The TCSGI submitted a letter to
NMFS on June 8, 2023, requesting
equitable subsistence hunting
opportunities for the community of St.
George by creating a hunting season
using firearms annually from October 15
to May 31, similar to that proposed on
St. Paul Island. The letter requested no
change to the overall quota of 500
juvenile males, 150 male pups, or the
female mortality limit of 3 northern fur
seals. Therefore, NMFS is not
considering any changes to the quota or
female mortality limit at this time.
3. Create a Hunting Season and
Associated Upper Take Limit in the
Aleutian Islands in Alaska
On May 1, 2023, AMMC submitted a
letter to NMFS outlining their interest in
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resuming their traditional subsistence
practices of taking fur seals. Harvesting
fur seals on land in the Aleutian Islands
is not practical, as the only breeding
location is the uninhabited Bogoslof
Island. However, northern fur seals
migrate through the AMMC region (i.e.,
the Aleutian Islands and Alaska
Peninsula), which if authorized for
subsistence use, could provide an
additional subsistence resource for
AMMC member communities. The 2019
Alaska Marine Mammal Stock
Assessment Report (SAR) indicates
declining availability of harbor seals
over the past decade in the Aleutian
Islands (Muto et al., 2020). The 2019
SAR for the Western Distinct Population
Segment (DPS) of Steller sea lion, which
includes most sea lions in the Aleutian
Islands where hunting may occur, also
notes historically low abundance and
availability in this region (some Eastern
DPS animals may occur in the area, but
it is unclear to what extent) (Jemison et
al., 2013; Jemison et al., 2018; Muto et
al., 2020). Both harbor seals and Steller
sea lions are important subsistence
resources in the Aleutian region, and
hunting of northern fur seals for
subsistence would improve food
security for AMMC member tribes. The
AMMC letter requests a revision of the
regulations at 50 CFR 216.72(b) to allow
a total take of 100 non-breeding male fur
seals by hunting with firearms from
November 1 through April 30 in the
AMMC region from their 11 member
tribes in the communities of Atka,
Belkofski, Akutan, False Pass,
Agdaagux, Nelson Lagoon, Nikolski,
Pauloff Harbor, Qagan Tayagungin,
Unalaska, and Unga.
The Assistant Administrator for
Fisheries, has determined that the
petition contains enough information to
enable NMFS to consider the substance
of the petition. NMFS solicits public
comment on these three related requests
to modify regulations that govern the
taking of fur seals for subsistence
purposes by Alaska Native residents of
the Pribilof and Aleutian Islands. NMFS
is particularly interested in information
that would allow an evaluation of the
effects these potential changes may have
on food security, the fur seal
population, and the temporal and
spatial distribution of hunting effort.
NMFS will consider public comments
received in determining whether to
proceed with the requested regulations
revisions. Upon determining whether to
initiate the requested rulemaking, the
Assistant Administrator for Fisheries,
will publish in the Federal Register the
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References
Jemison, L.A., G.W. Pendleton, L.W. Fritz,
K.K. Hastings, J.M. Maniscalco, A.W.
Trites, and T.S. Gelatt. 2013. Interpopulation movements of Steller sea
lions in Alaska with implications for
population separation. PLoS ONE
8(8):e70167.
Jemison, L.A., G.W. Pendleton, K.K. Hastings,
J.M. Maniscalco, and L.W. Fritz. 2018.
Spatial distribution, movements, and
geographic range of Steller sea lions
(Eumetopias jubatus) in Alaska. PLoS
ONE 13(12):e0208093.
Muto, M.M., V.T. Helker, B.J. Delean, R.P.
Angliss, P.L. Boveng, J.M. Breiwick, B.M.
Brost, M.F. Cameron, P.J. Clapham, S.P.
Dahle, M.E. Dahlheim, B.S. Fadely, M.C.
Ferguson, L.W. Fritz, R.C. Hobbs, Y.V.
Ivaschenko, A.S. Kennedy, J.M. London,
S.A. Mizroch, R.R. Ream, E.L. Richmond,
K.E.W. Shelden, K.L. Sweeney, R.G.
Towell, P.R. Wade, J.M. Waite, and A.N.
Zerbini. 2020. Alaska Marine Mammal
Stock Assessments, 2019. U.S. Dept. of
Commerce, National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, National
Marine Fisheries Service, Alaska
Fisheries Science Center, Seattle, WA,
July 2020. NOAA Technical
Memorandum NMFS–AFSC–404, 395
pp.
Dated: November 6, 2023.
Samuel D. Rauch, III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for
Regulatory Programs, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2023–24829 Filed 11–8–23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
Request for Information
PO 00000
Agency’s notice of proposed rulemaking
with a request for public comment.
50 CFR Part 622
[Docket No. 231101–0258]
RIN 0648–BM46
Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of
Mexico, and South Atlantic; Reef Fish
Resources of the Gulf of Mexico;
Amendment 56
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Proposed rule; request for
comments.
AGENCY:
NMFS proposes to implement
management measures described in
Amendment 56 to the Fishery
Management Plan for the Reef Fish
Resources of the Gulf of Mexico (FMP)
as prepared by the Gulf of Mexico
SUMMARY:
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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 216 / Thursday, November 9, 2023 / Proposed Rules
Fishery Management Council (Council).
If implemented for gag in the Gulf of
Mexico (Gulf), this proposed rule would
revise catch levels, recreational
accountability measures (AMs), and the
recreational fishing season. In addition,
Amendment 56 would establish a
rebuilding plan for the overfished stock,
revise stock status determination
criteria, and sector harvest allocations.
The purpose of this action is to
implement a rebuilding plan for gag and
revised management measures to end
overfishing and rebuild the stock.
DATES: Written comments on this
proposed rule must be received no later
than December 11, 2023.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments
on the proposed rule identified by
‘‘NOAA–NMFS–2023–0103’’ by either
of the following methods:
• Electronic submission: Submit all
electronic public comments via the
Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to
https://www.regulations.gov and enter
‘‘NOAA–NMFS–2023–0103’’ in the
Search box. Click the ‘‘Comment’’ icon,
complete the required fields, and enter
or attach your comments.
• Mail: Submit all written comments
to Dan Luers, NMFS Southeast Regional
Office, 263 13th Avenue South, St.
Petersburg, FL 33701.
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 a part of the public record
and will generally be posted for public
viewing on https://www.regulations.gov
without change. All personal identifying
information, e.g., name and address,
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 required fields if you wish to
remain anonymous.
An electronic copy of Amendment 56,
which includes an environmental
assessment, a fishery impact statement,
a Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA)
analysis, and a regulatory impact
review, may be obtained from the
Southeast Regional Office website at
https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/
amendment-56-modifications-catchlimits-sector-allocation-andrecreational-fishing-seasons.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dan
Luers, NMFS Southeast Regional Office,
telephone: 727–824–5305, or email:
daniel.luers@noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS,
with the advice of the Council, manages
the reef fish fishery, which includes gag,
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under the FMP in Federal waters of the
Gulf. The Council prepared the FMP,
which the Secretary of Commerce
approved, and NMFS implements the
FMP through regulations at 50 CFR part
622 under the authority of the
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act
(Magnuson-Stevens Act).
Background
The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires
NMFS and regional fishery management
councils to prevent overfishing and
achieve, on a continuing basis, the
optimum yield (OY) from federally
managed fish stocks. These mandates
are intended to ensure fishery resources
are managed for the greatest overall
benefit to the Nation, particularly with
respect to providing food production
and recreational opportunities, and
protecting marine ecosystems.
All weights in this proposed rule are
given in gutted weight unless indicated
otherwise.
Gag in the Gulf exclusive economic
zone (EEZ) are found primarily in the
eastern Gulf. Juvenile gag are estuarine
dependent and are often found in
shallow seagrass beds. As gag mature,
they move to deeper offshore waters to
live and spawn. Gag is managed as a
single stock with commercial and
recreational catch limits. The allocation
of the stock annual catch limit (ACL)
between the commercial and
recreational sectors established by
Amendment 30B to the FMP is currently
39 percent commercial and 61 percent
recreational.
Commercial fishing for gag is
managed under the individual fishing
quota (IFQ) program for groupers and
tilefishes (GT–IFQ program), which
began January 1, 2010, upon
implementation of the final rule for
Amendment 29 to the FMP (74 FR
44732, August 31, 2009; 75 FR 9116,
March 1, 2010). Under the GT–IFQ
program, the commercial quota for gag
is set 23 percent below the gag
commercial ACL, and NMFS distributes
allocation (in pounds) of gag on January
1 each year to those who hold shares (in
percent) of the gag total commercial
quota. Both gag and red grouper,
another grouper species managed under
the GT–IFQ program, have a commercial
multi-use provision that allows a
portion of the gag quota to be harvested
under the red grouper allocation, and
vice versa. As explained further in
Amendment 56, the multi-use provision
is based on the difference between the
respective red grouper and gag ACLs
and quotas. However, if gag is under a
rebuilding plan, as would occur under
Amendment 56 and this proposed rule,
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the percentage of red grouper multi-use
allocation is equal to zero. Commercial
harvest of gag is also restricted by area
closures and a minimum size limit.
NMFS, with the advice of the Council,
manages the recreational harvest of gag
with an ACL, an annual catch target
(ACT) set approximately 10 percent
below the ACL, in-season and postseason AMs, seasonal and area closures,
a minimum size limit, and daily bag and
possession limits.
The most recent stock assessment for
gag was completed in 2021 through
Southeast Data, Assessment, and
Review 72 (SEDAR 72), and concluded
that the gag stock is overfished is
undergoing overfishing as of 2019.
Compared to the previous assessment
for gag, SEDAR 72 used several
improved data sources, including
corrections for the potential
misidentification between black grouper
and gag, which are similar looking
species, to better quantify estimates of
commercial discards. SEDAR 72 also
used updated recreational catch and
effort data from the Marine Recreational
Information Program (MRIP) Access
Point Angler Intercept Survey and
Fishing Effort Survey (FES) through
2019. MRIP–FES replaced the MRIP
Coastal Household Telephone Survey
(CHTS) in 2018. Prior to the
implementation of MRIP in 2008,
recreational landings estimates were
generated using the Marine Recreational
Fisheries Statistics Survey (MRFSS).
Because MRIP–FES is designed to more
accurately measure fishing activity, total
recreational fishing effort estimates
generated from MRIP–FES are generally
higher than both the MRFSS and MRIP–
CHTS estimates. Prior to SEDAR 72, the
most recent stock assessment for gag
was SEDAR 33 Update (2016), which
indicated that gag was not subject to
overfishing and was not overfished. The
SEDAR 33 Update used recreational
catch and effort data generated by
MRIP–CHTS.
SEDAR 72 also accounted for
observations of red tide mortality
directly within the stock assessment
model. Gag is vulnerable to red tide
events and was negatively affected by
these disturbances in 2005, 2014, 2018,
and projected for 2021. Modeling
changes were also made in SEDAR 72 to
improve size estimates of gag retained
by commercial and for-hire (charter
vessels and headboats) fishermen, and
private anglers.
The Council’s Scientific and
Statistical Committee (SSC) reviewed
the results of SEDAR 72 in November
2021 and concluded that the assessment
was consistent with the best scientific
information available and suitable for
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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 216 / Thursday, November 9, 2023 / Proposed Rules
informing fisheries management. On
January 26, 2022, NMFS notified the
Council that gag was overfished and
undergoing overfishing. The MagnusonStevens Act requires that a rebuilding
plan be developed and implemented
within 2 years of the notification. The
Council developed Amendment 56 to
comply with this mandate.
At its January 2022 meeting, the
Council requested that the NMFS
Southeast Fisheries Science Center
update the SEDAR 72 base model by
replacing MRIP–FES landings estimates
for the Florida private angling mode
with landings estimates produced by the
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation
Commission’s State Reef Fish Survey
(SRFS). Historically, SRFS estimates a
slightly larger harvest of gag by private
anglers and state charter vessels (in
Florida) than MRIP–CHTS, but
estimates a substantially smaller harvest
of gag by private anglers and state
charter vessels than MRIP–FES. This
alternative model run of SEDAR 72
(‘‘SRFS Run’’) also used MRIP–FES data
for the federally permitted charter vessel
and shore modes, and Southeast Region
Headboat Survey (SRHS) data for
federally permitted headboats. The
results of the SRFS Run was presented
to the Council’s SSC at its July 2022
meeting. The SSC found the SEDAR 72
SRFS Run to be consistent with the best
scientific information available. The
SSC determined that SRFS is a
comprehensive survey for the gag
private angling component of the
recreational sector given that greater
than 95 percent of private angling
landings of gag are captured by the
SRFS sampling frame and the SRFS
program’s collection protocol has been
certified by the NMFS Office of Science
and Technology as scientifically
rigorous. NMFS worked in conjunction
with the State of Florida to develop a
calibration model to rescale historic
effort estimates so that they could be
compared to new estimates from SRFS.
This calibration model was reviewed
and approved by peer-review through
the NOAA Office of Science and
Technology in May 2022. Information
about the calibration and the SSC’s
review of the SEDAR 72 SRFS Run can
be found here: https://gulfcouncil.org/
meetings/scientific-and-statisticalmeetings/july-2022/. The results of the
SEDAR 72 SRFS Run were consistent
with the results of the SEDAR 72 base
model in that both concluded that the
gag stock is overfished and undergoing
overfishing.
Because Amendment 56 would not
likely be implemented until 2024, and
the Council recognized that maintaining
the 2023 catch limits for gag would
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continue to allow overfishing, the
Council sent a letter to NMFS, dated
July 18, 2022 (Appendix A in
Amendment 56), requesting interim
measures that would reduce overfishing
by reducing the gag stock ACL from 3.12
million lb (1.415 million kg) to 661,901
lb (300,233 kg). The Council
determined, and NMFS agreed, that for
this short-term reduction in harvest it
was appropriate to maintain the current
sector allocations of 39 percent
commercial and 61 percent recreational,
and the availability of red grouper
multi-use and gag multi-use under the
IFQ program. In addition to the
reduction in the catch limits, the
Council requested that the recreational
fishing season for 2023 begin on
September 1 and close on November 10,
rather than the existing open season of
June 1 through December 31. NMFS
agreed and implemented these interim
measures through a temporary rule
effective on May 3, 2023 (88 FR 27701,
May 3, 2023). The measures in the
temporary rule are effective for 180 days
(through October 30, 2023), and NMFS
expects to extend them for up to 186
additional days while NMFS reviews
public comments on this proposed rule
and Amendment 56, and prepares any
final regulations. Because the SSC’s
review of the SEDAR 72 SRFS Run
occurred after the Council’s decision to
request for interim measures for gag, the
recreational catch limits in the
temporary rule are consistent with
MRIP–FES calibrated landings, and are
not directly comparable to the catch
limits recommended in Amendment 56
and this proposed rule.
Based on the results of the SEDAR 72
SRFS Run and SSC recommendations,
the Council recommended the following
changes for gag through Amendment 56:
• Revise the maximum sustainable
yield (MSY) proxy, OY, and status
determination criteria (SDC);
• Establish a rebuilding plan for the
stock, and revise the overfishing limit
(OFL), acceptable biological catch
(ABC), and stock ACL consistent with
that rebuilding plan;
• Revise the commercial-recreational
allocation of the stock ACL and set new
commercial and recreational sector
ACLs, sector ACTs, and commercial
quota;
• Modify the recreational AMs; and
• Revise the Federal recreational
fishing season.
The current MSY proxy is based on
the yield associated with a fishing
mortality rate (F) associated with the
maximum yield per recruit (FMAX). The
SSC recommended a more conservative
MSY proxy using the yield associated
with F that would result in a spawning
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stock biomass (SSB) of 40 percent
spawning potential ratio (SPR), where
SPR is the ratio of the SSB to its
unfished state. This revised MSY proxy
would be used to specify the long-term
OY and SDC, and informs the catch
level projections produced by the
SEDAR 72 SRFS Run.
For gag, the sector allocations of the
stock ACL impact the catch level
projections produced by SEDAR 72. As
more of the stock ACL is allocated to the
recreational sector, the proportion of
recreational discards and associated
mortality increases. Recreational discard
mortality rates are assumed to be less
than commercial discard mortality rates
but the total amount of recreational
discards is considerably greater than
commercial discards. Generally, a gag
caught and released by a recreational
fisherman has a greater likelihood of
survival than by a commercial
fisherman because of how and where
they fish. However, because of the much
higher numbers of gag that are released
by the recreational sector compared to
the commercial sector, the total number
of discarded fish that die from
recreational fishing exceeds dead
discards from commercial fishing. This
results in additional mortality for the
stock and a lower projected annual
yield, which means a lower OFL, ABC,
and stock ACL. However, higher
number of dead discards is not due to
any change in how the recreational
sector operates in the fishery but occurs
because the SEDAR 72 SRFS Run data
estimated greater fishing effort, and
consequently a greater number of fish
being caught, which included discards
and the associated mortality from
discarding fish.
In Amendment 56, the Council
considered two allocation alternatives:
(1) maintaining the current allocation of
39 percent commercial and 61 percent
recreational, which was based on
MRFSS data from 1986 through 2005,
and (2) updating historical recreational
landings using SRFS Run calibrated
data from the same 1986 through 2005
period, which would result in an
allocation of the stock ACL of 35
percent to the commercial sector and 65
percent to the recreational sector.
During the development of these two
allocation alternatives, the Council also
reviewed allocation options based on
five additional historical reference
periods from 1986 to 2019. These
options differed by less than 1 percent
up to less than 4 percent. Because the
options were so similar, the Council
decided to move forward with detailed
analysis of only the two alternatives
described above. The Council
determined that the second alternative
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would best represent the historic
landings for each sector while
accounting for the change from MRFSS
data to SRFS data. Based on the results
of the SEDAR 72 SRFS Run and using
the proposed allocation of 35 percent
commercial and 65 percent recreational,
the Council recommended OFLs and
ABCs for gag during 2024–2028, and
also recommended the stock ACL be set
equal to the ABC.
Management Measures Contained in
This Proposed Rule
If implemented by NMFS, this
proposed rule would modify the gag
stock and sector ACLs, sector ACTs,
commercial quota, recreational AMs,
and recreational fishing season.
Annual Catch Limits and Annual Catch
Targets
Prior to the implementation of the
2023 temporary rule, the stock ACL was
3.120 million lb (1.415 million kg) and
was allocated 39 percent to the
commercial sector and 61 percent to the
recreational sector. The resulting
commercial ACL and quota were 1.217
million lb (0.552 million kg) and 0.939
million lb (0.426 million kg)
respectively, and the recreational ACL
and ACT were 1.903 million lb (0.863
million kg) and 1.708 million lb (0.775
million kg) respectively. The
commercial ACT is not codified. These
catch limits are based on the results of
the 2016 SEDAR 33 Update (2016),
which included recreational landings
estimates generated from MRIP–CHTS.
The 2023 temporary rule reduced these
catch limits consistent with the
Council’s request. Therefore, the current
commercial ACL and commercial quota
are 258,000 lb (117,027 kg) and 199,000
lb (90,265 kg), respectively, and the
recreational ACL and ACT are 403,759
lb (183,142 kg) and 362,374 lb (164,370
kg), respectively. These catch limits are
based on the results of the initial
SEDAR 72 base model run, which
included recreational landings estimates
generated using MRIP–FES.
Amendment 56 and this proposed rule
would set the stock ACL for gag at
444,000 lb (201,395 kg) in 2024, and
would allocate approximately 35
percent to the commercial sector and
approximately 65 percent to the
recreational sector. This results in a
155,000-lb (70,307-kg) commercial ACL,
and a 288,000-lb (130,635-kg)
recreational ACL for 2024. These catch
limits are based on the results of the
SEDAR 72 SRFS Run, which included
recreational landings estimates
generated using SRFS. Because of the
different recreational landings estimates
used to determine the catch limits
described above, those catch limits are
not directly comparable. However, the
proposed catch limits are a significant
reduction compared to the catch limits
that would go back into effect after the
2023 temporary rule expires.
Amendment 56 and this proposed
rule would set catch levels from 2024
through 2028, which increase during the
time series. The 2028 catch levels would
continue after 2028 unless modified by
subsequent rulemaking. All of the catch
levels were rounded down to the nearest
thousand pounds. Therefore, the sum of
the sector ACLs does not equal the stock
ACL.
Based on the Council’s
recommendation, this proposed rule
would modify the commercial quota
such that it would be set equal to the
commercial ACT, and would be
approximately 5 percent below the
commercial ACL. The current buffer
between the commercial ACL and
commercial quota is 23 percent. The
Council recommended reducing this
buffer, because there have been
considerable improvements in the
estimation of commercial landings and
discards of gag since the buffer was put
in place through Amendment 32 to the
FMP. Further, the fraction of gag
discarded compared to the total number
of gag caught has remained low. NMFS
does not expect the actions in
Amendment 56 and this proposed rule
to significantly increase commercial
discards of gag. Therefore, the
commercial quota would be
approximately 95 percent of the
commercial ACL.
For the recreational sector, the current
buffer between the ACL and ACT is
approximately 10 percent. The Council
elected to choose a more conservative
ACT than if they had applied the ACL
and ACT control rule, which would
have resulted in the same 10 percent
buffer between the ACL and ACT.
Instead, the Council decided to double
that buffer to increase the probability of
rebuilding gag by accounting for
uncertainty in managing the recreational
harvest and further reducing fishing
mortality and discards that result from
directed harvest. Thus, this proposed
rule would implement a recreational
ACT that is approximately 20 percent
below the recreational ACL. Table 1
shows the catch levels recommended in
Amendment 56, and except for the stock
ACL, these catch levels are included in
the proposed regulatory text at the end
of this rule. Values proposed for 2028
would continue in subsequent fishing
years unless modified through a
subsequent rulemaking.
TABLE 1—PROPOSED STOCK ACL AND SECTOR CATCH LEVELS
Year
2024
2025
2026
2027
2028
.....
.....
.....
.....
.....
Stock ACL lb
(kg)
444,000
615,000
769,000
943,000
1,156,000
Com ACL lb
(kg)
(201,395)
(278,959)
(348,813)
(427,738)
(524,353)
Rec ACL lb
(kg)
155,000 (70,307)
215,000 (97,522)
269,000 (122,016)
330,000 (149,685)
404,000 (183,251)
288,000
399,000
499,000
613,000
751,000
Com ACT & Quota lb
(kg)
(130,635)
(180,983)
(226,343)
(278,052)
(340,648)
147,000 (66,678)
204,000 (92,533)
255,000 (115,666)
313,000 (141,974)
383,000 (173,726)
Rec ACT lb
(kg)
230,000
319,000
399,000
490,000
600,000
(104,326)
(144,696)
(180,983)
(222,260)
(272,155)
ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with PROPOSALS1
Note: Values are displayed in gutted weight. Abbreviations used in this table: Com means commercial and Rec means recreational. Lb is pounds and kg is
kilograms.
Recreational Accountability Measures
Currently for the recreational sector,
the AMs require NMFS to prohibit
harvest of gag for the rest of the fishing
year when the recreational ACL is
projected to be met. The AMs also state
that if the recreational ACL for gag is
exceeded in a fishing year, then in the
following fishing year, NMFS will
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maintain the prior year’s ACT at the
same level, unless the best scientific
information available determines that is
unnecessary, and the fishing season
duration will be set based on the
recreational ACT. In addition to the
previous measures, if gag is overfished
and the recreational ACL is exceeded in
a fishing year, NMFS will reduce the
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Sfmt 4702
ACL and ACT in the following fishing
year by the amount of the ACL overage,
unless the best scientific information
available determines that is
unnecessary. Amendment 56 and this
proposed rule would change the AMs to
require that NMFS prohibit harvest
when the recreational ACT is projected
to be met regardless of whether there
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09NOP1
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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 216 / Thursday, November 9, 2023 / Proposed Rules
was an overage of the ACL in the prior
year. NMFS and the Council expect this
change, in combination with the
increased buffer between the
recreational ACL and ACT, to decrease
the likelihood of recreational harvest
exceeding the recreational ACL. The
larger buffer between the recreational
ACL and ACT would also reduce the
level of discards associated with
directed harvest, increasing the
probability of meeting the 18 years
rebuilding time.
This proposed rule would also
remove the provision that requires the
previous year’s ACT to be maintained in
the year following an overage of the
ACL. Because the stock is overfished
and NMFS is required to reduce the
ACL and ACT by any overage, an
additional adjustment that retains the
lower ACT is unnecessary.
ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with PROPOSALS1
Recreational Fishing Season
Before NMFS implemented the
temporary recreational fishing season
for gag in 2023, the season for Gulf gag
began on June 1 and continued through
December 31 (74 FR 17603, April 16,
2009). During the effective period of the
temporary rule, the recreational fishing
season opened on September 1 and was
to close on November 10, 2023, unless
NMFS projected the recreational ACL
would be harvested prior to that date.
On October 4, 2023, NMFS published a
temporary rule in the Federal Register
closing the recreational harvest of gag
effective on October 19, 2023 (88 FR
68495).
This proposed rule would modify the
recreational fishing season for gag so the
season would begin each year on
September 1. Unlike the season
implemented by the temporary rule,
Amendment 56 and this proposed rule
would not establish a predetermined
season closure date. Consistent with the
proposed changes to the AMs, NMFS
would close the gag recreational season
when landings are projected to reach the
recreational ACT. NMFS would use the
best data available to project the
duration of the proposed recreational
season in 2024 and in following years.
NMFS expects to have better estimates
of recreational fishing effort and catch of
gag for a season beginning September 1
after data from 2023 are finalized. This
should reduce the uncertainty in
projecting an appropriate closure date
for the 2024 recreational fishing season.
Once the ACT for gag is projected to be
met and harvest is closed, recreational
fishing for gag would not resume before
the end of the year because data would
not yet be available to determine
whether landings did reach the ACT.
Management Measures in Amendment
56 That Would Not Be Codified by This
Proposed Rule
In addition to the measures that
would be codified through this
proposed rule, Amendment 56 would
revise the MSY proxy, OY, and SDC for
gag. Amendment 56 would also revise
the gag OFL, ABC, and sector
allocations.
Maximum Sustainable Yield, Optimum
Yield, and Status Determination Criteria
Based on the results of SEDAR 72,
Amendment 56 would revise MSY
proxy, OY, as well as the SDC used to
determine whether overfishing is
occurring or the stock is overfished. The
proxy for MSY would be defined as the
yield when fishing at F40%SPR, where
SPR is the ratio of SSB to its unfished
state. The maximum fishing mortality
threshold (MFMT) would be equal to
F40%SPR. The minimum stock size
threshold (MSST) would be defined as
50 percent of the biomass at the new
MSY proxy. The OY would be
conditional on the rebuilding plan, such
that if the stock is under a rebuilding
plan, OY would be equal to the stock
ACL; and if the stock is not under a
rebuilding plan, OY would be equal to
90 percent of MSY or its proxy.
Currently, MSY is defined in the FMP
as F assuming FMAX, and the MFMT is
FMAX. The MSST is defined as 50
percent of the biomass at FMAX. The OY
is defined as 75 percent of the yield at
FMAX. The proposed changes to the
MSY, OY, and SDC represent a more
conservative approach to management
of that would rebuild the gag stock to a
more robust size, which should be more
resilient to episodic mortality from red
tide, harmful algal blooms, and
sustainable levels of fishing mortality.
Stock Rebuilding Plan Timeline and
Modification of OFL, ABC, and Sector
Allocations
Amendment 56 would establish a
rebuilding plan and set the rebuilding
time for Gulf gag at 18 years, which is
based on the amount of time the stock
is expected to take to rebuild if fished
at 75 percent of the MSY proxy (yield
at F40%SPR). Amendment 56 evaluated
two other rebuilding times: 11 years,
which is the minimum time to rebuild
in the absence of fishing mortality; and
22 years, which is twice the minimum
time. In addition, the Council initially
considered an alternative rebuilding
time of 19 years, which is based on the
minimum rebuilding time plus one
generation time (8 years for gag).
Because this option resulted in a
rebuilding time similar to fishing at 75
percent of the MSY proxy, the Council
removed this alternative from further
consideration (Appendix C in
Amendment 56). The Council also
discussed whether to consider in more
detail a rebuilding time between 11
years and 18 years. The Council decided
not to add an additional alternative
because a slightly shorter rebuilding
time would provide minimal benefits to
the stock but increase the negative
impacts to fishing communities.
Consistent with the rebuilding time
recommended by the Council,
Amendment 56 would revise the OFL
and ABC, and set the stock ACL equal
to the ABC. In addition, Amendment 56
would revise the sector allocations from
39 percent commercial and 61 percent
recreational to 35 percent commercial
and 65 percent recreational, and revise
the sector ACLs consistent with the
revised allocations as discussed earlier
in this proposed rule. The current OFL
and ABC, and the OFLs and ABCs for
2024 through 2028, which increase over
the time series as projected for the
rebuilding plan, are shown in Table 2.
However, the current OLF and ABC are
not directly comparable to the proposed
OFLs and ABCs because they are based,
in part, on recreational landings
estimates produced by the different
surveys discussed above. Values in 2028
would continue for subsequent fishing
years unless modified through another
action by the Council or NMFS.
TABLE 2—CURRENT AND PROPOSED OFLS AND ABCS FOR GAG
OFL in pounds
(kg)
Year
2023
2024
2025
2026
.........................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................
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4,180,000 (1,896,016)
591,000 (268,073)
805,000 (365,142)
991,000 (449,510)
E:\FR\FM\09NOP1.SGM
09NOP1
ABC in pounds
(kg)
3,120,000 (1,415,208)
444,000 (201,395)
615,000 (278,959)
769,000 (348,813)
Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 216 / Thursday, November 9, 2023 / Proposed Rules
77251
TABLE 2—CURRENT AND PROPOSED OFLS AND ABCS FOR GAG—Continued
Year
2027 .........................................................................................................................................
2028 .........................................................................................................................................
OFL in pounds
(kg)
ABC in pounds
(kg)
1,200,000 (544,311)
1,454,000 (659,523)
943,000 (427,738)
1,156,000 (524,353)
Note: Values are displayed in gutted weight. Kg is kilograms. The ABC values also equal the current and proposed stock ACL values for gag.
ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with PROPOSALS1
Proposed Administrative Change to
Codified Text Not in Amendment 56
NMFS also proposes to clarify the
regulations at 50 CFR 622.8(c). These
regulations allow NMFS to re-open
harvest for a stock in the same fishing
year if data indicate that a quota or ACL
was not reached as previously projected.
Several stocks have ACTs that are also
codified as quotas. However, some
ACTs, such as the recreational ACT for
gag, do not have corresponding quotas,
and therefore may not appear to be
included in the current authority to reopen. NMFS proposes to modify the
regulations in section 622.8(c) to
provide a more general reference to
allowable harvest levels. This would be
consistent with the framework
procedures in the relevant Gulf and
South Atlantic fishery management
plans that allow NMFS to re-open
harvest if additional data shows that
NMFS closed the season prematurely.
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 Amendment 56, the FMP, other
provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens
Act, and other applicable law, subject to
further consideration after public
comment.
This proposed rule has been
determined to be not significant for
purposes of Executive Order 12866.
The Magnuson-Stevens Act provides
the legal basis for this proposed rule. No
duplicative, overlapping, or conflicting
Federal rules have been identified. In
addition, no new reporting and recordkeeping requirements are introduced by
this proposed rule.
NMFS prepared an initial regulatory
flexibility analysis (IRFA) for this
proposed rule, as required by section
603 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5
U.S.C. 603. The IRFA describes the
economic impact this proposed rule, if
adopted, would have on small entities.
A description of this proposed rule, why
it is being considered, and the purposes
of this proposed rule are contained in
the SUMMARY and SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION sections of the preamble. A
copy of the full analysis is available
from NMFS (see the ADDRESSES section
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of this proposed rule). A summary of the
IRFA follows.
The objective of this proposed rule is
to use the best scientific information
available to end overfishing of gag and
rebuild the stock to a level
commensurate with MSY, consistent
with the authority under the MagnusonStevens Act. All monetary estimates in
the following analysis are in 2021
dollars.
Amendment 56 would revise the
MSY, OY, and SDC for gag based on the
results of the updated SEDAR 72 SRFS
Run as reviewed by the Council’s SSC.
The definition of MSY would change
from FMAX to the yield when fishing at
F40%SPR. The definition of MFMT would
change from being equal to FMAX to
being equal to the fishing mortality at
the FMSY proxy (e.g., F40%SPR). The
definition of MSST would change from
50 percent of BMAX to 50 percent of the
biomass at MSY or its proxy. OY is
currently defined as 75 percent of the
yield at FMAX. The proposed definition
of OY would be conditional on whether
a rebuilding plan is in place.
Specifically, if the stock is under a
rebuilding plan, OY would be equal to
the stock ACL. However, if the stock is
not under a rebuilding plan, OY would
be equal to 90 percent of MSY or its
proxy.
Amendment 56 would also revise the
sector allocation of the stock ACL from
39 percent commercial and 61 percent
recreational to approximately 35 percent
commercial and 65 percent recreational.
Amendment 56 would also establish a
rebuilding plan based on the amount of
time the stock is expected to take to
rebuild based on the yield when fishing
at 75 percent of F40%SPR, which is equal
to 18 years. In turn, the proposed
rebuilding plan in combination with the
proposed sector allocation would
change the OFL, ABC, stock ACL,
commercial ACL, and the recreational
ACL. Based on the current allocation of
the stock ACL between sectors, the OFL,
ABC, stock ACL, commercial ACL,
recreational ACL, and commercial
quota, and recreational ACT would be
4.180 million lb (1.896 million kg),
3.120 million lb (1.415 million kg),
3.120 million lb (1.415 million kg),
1.217 million lb (0.552 million kg),
1.903 million lb (0.863 million kg), and
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0.939 million lb (0.426 million kg), and
1.708 million lb (0.775 million kg),
respectively, in 2024 and future years if
no action is taken. The recreational
portion of the OFL, ABC, stock ACL, the
recreational ACL, and the recreational
ACT are based on MRIP–CHTS data.
Under the proposed sector allocation
and rebuilding plan, the OFL, ABC,
stock ACL, recreational ACL,
commercial ACL, recreational ACT, and
commercial quota would be reduced in
2024 and subsequently increase through
2028 as indicated in Tables 1 and 2. The
recreational portion of the revised OFL,
ABC, stock ACL, the recreational ACL,
and the recreational ACT are based on
recreational landings estimates used in
the SEDAR 72 SRFS Run. Therefore, the
different stock ACLs and recreational
ACLs and ACTs not directly
comparable.
This proposed rule would also revise
the buffer between the recreational ACL
and ACT, which is currently 10.25
percent (i.e., the recreational ACT is
89.75 percent of the recreational ACL).
Under the proposed rule, the buffer
between the recreational ACL and ACT
would be approximately 20 percent (i.e.,
the recreational ACT would be
approximately 80 percent of the
recreational ACL).
In addition, this proposed rule would
also modify the buffer the between the
commercial ACL and quota, and set the
quota equal to the ACT. The commercial
quota is currently set at approximately
77 percent of the commercial ACL. The
commercial ACT is not codified. This
proposed rule would set the commercial
ACT equal to approximately 95 percent
of the commercial ACL and set
commercial quota equal to the
commercial ACT. Thus, the commercial
quota would be approximately 95
percent of the commercial ACL.
Finally, this proposed rule would
change the recreational season start date
and modify the recreational AMs for
gag. Specifically, the recreational season
start date would change from June 1 to
September 1 each year. The current AM
requires NMFS to prohibit harvest when
the recreational ACL is projected to be
met, whereas this proposed rule would
require NMFS to prohibit harvest when
the recreational ACT is projected to be
met. The current AM also requires
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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 216 / Thursday, November 9, 2023 / Proposed Rules
NMFS to maintain the recreational ACT
for the following fishing year at the level
of the prior year’s ACT unless the best
scientific information available
determines that maintaining the prior
year’s ACT is unnecessary. This
provision would be removed under the
proposed rule. Given these individual
actions, this proposed rule is expected
to regulate commercial fishing
businesses that possess gag shares in the
GT–IFQ program and for-hire fishing
businesses (charter vessels and
headboats) that target gag.
The gag commercial quota is allocated
annually based on the percentage of gag
shares in each IFQ account. For
example, if an account possesses 1
percent of the gag shares and the
commercial quota is 1 million lb (0.45
million kg), then that account would
receive 10,000 lb (4,536 kg) of
commercial gag quota. Although it is
common for a single IFQ account with
gag shares to be held by a single
business, some businesses have
multiple IFQ accounts with gag shares.
As of July 8, 2021, there were 536 IFQ
accounts, of which 506 IFQ accounts
held gag shares. These accounts and gag
shares were owned by 455 businesses.
Thus, it is assumed this proposed rule
would regulate 455 commercial fishing
businesses.
A valid charter vessel/headboat
permit for Gulf reef fish is required to
legally harvest gag on a recreational forhire fishing trip. NMFS does not possess
complete ownership data regarding
businesses that hold a charter vessel/
headboat permit for Gulf reef fish, and
thus potentially harvest gag. Therefore,
it is not currently feasible to accurately
determine affiliations between vessels
and the businesses that own them. As a
result, for purposes of this analysis, it is
assumed each for-hire vessel is
independently owned by a single
business, which is expected to result in
an overestimate of the actual number of
for-hire fishing businesses regulated by
this proposed rule.
NMFS also does not have data
indicating how many for-hire vessels
actually harvest gag in a given year.
However, in 2020, there were 1,289
vessels with valid charter vessel/
headboat permits for Gulf reef fish.
Further, gag is only targeted and almost
entirely harvested in waters off the west
coast of Florida. Of the 1,289 federally
permitted vessels, 803 were homeported
in Florida. Of these permitted vessels,
62 are primarily used for commercial
fishing rather than for-hire fishing
purposes, and thus are not considered
for-hire fishing businesses (i.e., 1,227
vessels are for-hire fishing businesses).
In addition, 46 of these permitted
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vessels are considered headboats, which
are considered for-hire fishing
businesses. However, headboats take a
relatively large, diverse set of anglers to
harvest a diverse range of species on a
trip, and therefore do not typically
target a particular species exclusively.
Therefore, it is assumed that no
headboat trips would be canceled, and
thus no headboats would be directly
affected as a result of this proposed rule.
However, charter vessels often target
gag. Of the 803 vessels with a valid
charter vessel/headboat permit for Gulf
reef fish that are homeported in Florida,
695 vessels are charter vessels. A recent
study reported that 76 percent of charter
vessels with a valid charter vessel/
headboat permit in the Gulf were active
in 2017, i.e., 24 percent were not
fishing. A charter vessel would only be
directly affected by this proposed rule if
it used to go fishing. Given this
information, NMFS’ best estimate of the
number of charter vessels that are likely
to harvest gag in a given year is 528, and
thus this proposed rule is estimated to
regulate 528 for-hire fishing businesses.
For RFA purposes, NMFS has
established a small business size
standard for businesses, including their
affiliates, whose primary industry is
commercial fishing (50 CFR 200.2). A
business primarily involved in the
commercial fishing industry is classified
as a small business if it is independently
owned and operated, is not dominant in
its field of operation (including its
affiliates), and its combined annual
receipts (revenue) are not in excess of
$11 million for all of its affiliated
operations worldwide. NMFS does not
collect revenue data specific to
commercial fishing businesses that have
IFQ accounts; rather, revenue data are
collected for commercial fishing vessels
in general. It is not possible to assign
revenues earned by commercial fishing
vessels back to specific IFQ accounts
and the businesses that possess them
because quota is often transferred across
many IFQ accounts before it is used by
the business on a vessel for harvesting
purposes, and specific units of quota
cannot be tracked. However, from 2017
through 2021, the maximum annual
gross revenue earned by a single
commercial fishing vessel during this
time was about $3.25 million. Based on
this information, all commercial fishing
businesses regulated by this proposed
rule are determined to be small entities
for the purpose of this analysis.
For other industries, the Small
Business Administration has established
size standards for all major industry
sectors in the U.S., including for-hire
businesses (North American Industry
Classification System code 487210). A
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business primarily involved in for-hire
fishing is classified as a small business
if it is independently owned and
operated, is not dominant in its field of
operation (including its affiliates), and
has annual receipts (revenue) not in
excess of $12.5 million for all its
affiliated operations worldwide. The
maximum annual gross revenue for a
single headboat in the Gulf was about
$1.38 million in 2017. On average,
annual gross revenue for headboats in
the Gulf is about three times greater
than annual gross revenue for charter
vessels, reflecting the fact that
businesses that own charter vessels are
typically smaller than businesses that
own headboats. Based on this
information, all for-hire fishing
businesses regulated by this proposed
rule are determined to be small
businesses for the purpose of this
analysis.
If implemented, NMFS expects this
proposed rule to regulate 455 of the 536
businesses with IFQ accounts, or
approximately 85 percent of those
commercial fishing businesses. Further,
NMFS expects this proposed rule would
regulate 528 of the 1,227 for-hire fishing
businesses with valid charter vessel/
headboat permits for Gulf reef fish, or
approximately 43 percent of those forhire fishing businesses. NMFS has
determined that, for the purpose of this
analysis, all regulated commercial and
for-hire fishing businesses are small
entities. Based on this information,
NMFS expects the proposed rule to
affect a substantial number of small
entities.
Because NMFS does not collect
revenue and cost data for the
commercial fishing businesses that are
expected to be regulated by this
proposed rule, direct estimates of their
economic profits are not available.
However, economic theory suggests that
annual allocation (quota) prices should
reflect expected annual economic
profits, which allows economic profits
to be estimated indirectly. Further, the
455 businesses with gag shares also own
shares in the other IFQ share categories
and thus are expected to earn profits
from their ownership of these shares as
well, i.e., red snapper, red grouper,
shallow-water grouper, deep-water
grouper, and tilefish.
However, economic profits will only
be realized if the allocated quota is used
for harvesting purposes. For example,
practically all of the commercial red
snapper quota has been used for
harvesting in recent years, and so it is
assumed that all of that quota will be
harvested in the foreseeable future.
Important management changes have
occurred for red grouper, which partly
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resulted in 96 percent of the commercial
quota being harvested in 2021. Thus,
this analysis also assumes that all of the
red grouper quota will be harvested in
the future as well. However, based on
2017–2021 data, only 82 percent of the
deep-water grouper quota, 38 percent of
the shallow-water grouper quota, and 73
percent of the tilefish quota have been
harvested, and that is expected to
continue in the foreseeable future. For
gag, the quota utilization rate from 2017
to 2021 was approximately 52 percent.
Given these quota utilization rates in
combination with average annual
allocation prices from 2017 to 2021 and
annual commercial quotas in 2021,
NMFS estimates that the total expected
economic profits for businesses with gag
shares are at least $29.4 million at the
present time. This estimate does not
account for any economic profits that
may accrue to businesses with gag
shares that also own commercial fishing
vessels that harvest non-IFQ species.
Such profits are likely to be small
because harvest of IFQ species accounts
for around 84 percent of commercial
IFQ vessels’ annual revenue and
economic profits from the harvest of
non-IFQ species tend to be smaller than
those from IFQ species. Given that there
are 455 businesses with gag shares,
NMFS expects the average annual
economic profit per commercial fishing
business is at least $64,620.
Most of these economic profits (84
percent) are the result of owning red
snapper shares. Only approximately
$502,930 (or 1.7 percent) of the
expected economic profits is due to the
ownership of gag shares. This proposed
rule is only expected to affect economic
profits from the ownership of gag
shares. Specifically, the proposed action
to change the sector allocation of the
stock ACL and implement a rebuilding
plan, which would change the stock
ACL, would reduce the commercial ACL
and commercial quota from their
current values of 1.217 million lb and
939,000 lb, respectively. The average
commercial ACL and commercial quota
from 2024 through 2028 would be
275,000 lb and 212,000 lb, respectively,
under the proposed action.
However, average annual commercial
landings of gag from 2017 to 2021 were
only 492,401 lb, noticeably below the
commercial quota. Because average
annual landings exceed the proposed
commercial quotas through 2028, it is
assumed all of the proposed commercial
quota will be harvested in each year
through 2028, and the expected average
reduction in annual commercial
landings will be 280,401 lb. Initially,
NMFS expects the reduction in
commercial landings to increase the
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average ex-vessel price of gag from $6.10
per lb to $7.78 per lb, or by $1.68 per
lb, in 2024. However, NMFS expects the
increase in ex-vessel price to gradually
decrease through 2028 as the quota and
landings increase, with an ex-vessel
price of $6.96 in 2028. The increase in
the ex-vessel price would partially offset
the adverse effects of the landings
reduction. Based the above information,
NMFS expects a reduction in annual exvessel revenue for gag on average of
approximately $1.57 million or about
$3,451 on average per commercial
fishing business. Given an average
annual allocation price of $1.03 per lb
for gag from 2017 to 2021, NMFS
expects the reduction in commercial
landings of gag to reduce economic
profits to these commercial fishing
businesses by about $288,813, or by
approximately $635 per commercial
fishing business. Thus, NMFS expects
economic profits to be reduced by
around 1 percent on average per
commercial fishing business as a result
of the proposed action to change the
sector allocation and implement a
rebuilding plan that reduces the stock
ACL.
The proposed action that would set
the commercial ACT equal to 95 percent
of the commercial ACL and set
commercial quota equal to the
commercial ACT would cause the
commercial quota to be equal to 95
percent of the commercial ACL as
opposed to approximately 77 percent of
the commercial ACL as is presently the
case. As such, this action is expected to
increase the commercial quota relative
to what it would be otherwise. The
increase would still yield commercial
quotas below the recent average
commercial landings and thus NMFS
assumes all of the expected increase in
the quota will be harvested.
Specifically, NMFS expects the
average annual increase in the
commercial quota and landings from
2024 through 2028 to be about 48,527
lb, which would increase average
annual revenue by $267,371, or by about
$588 per commercial fishing business.
Again, assuming an average annual
allocation price of $1.03 per lb, NMFS
expects average increase in economic
profit to commercial fishing businesses
per year is $49,983, or about $110 per
commercial fishing business.
Combining these expected increases
in revenue and profits with the
decreases discussed earlier, NMFS
expects this proposed rule to decrease
average revenue for commercial fishing
businesses by about $1.31 million per
year from 2024 through 2028, or by
$2,868 per commercial fishing business.
The total reduction in economic profit
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77253
for commercial fishing businesses is
expected to be $238,830, or $525 per
commercial fishing business, which
represents a decrease of about 0.8
percent.
According to the most recent
estimates of economic returns in the forhire sector, average annual economic
profits are $27,948 per charter vessel.
The proposed rule to change the sector
allocation and implement a rebuilding
plan, which would change the stock
ACL, would change the gag recreational
ACL from its current value of 1.903
million lb (863,186 kg). Specifically, the
average recreational ACL for gag would
be 510,000 lb from 2024 through 2028
under the proposed action. As
explained previously, these ACLs are
not directly comparable because they
are based, in part, on recreational
landings estimates derived from
different surveys (MRIP–FES and SRFS).
However, average recreational landings
from 2017 to 2021 were approximately
1.265 million lb (573,884 kg). Given that
average recreational landings have been
considerably greater than the proposed
recreational ACT, all of the proposed
recreational ACT is expected to be
harvested in the future. NMFS expects
the reduction in the recreational ACT to
reduce the recreational season length
from 214 days to 25 days in 2024.
However, the season length is expected
to steadily increase to 120 days by 2028
and the average season length from 2024
to 2028 is expected to be 64 days. The
reduction in the season length would
reduce the number of angler trips
targeting gag on charter vessels. From
2024 through 2028, the average
reduction in angler trips targeting gag on
charter vessels is expected to be 20,976
trips per year. Net Cash Flow per Angler
Trip (CFpA) is the best available
estimate of profit per angler trip by
charter vessels. According to a recent
study (available from NMFS see
ADDRESSES), CFpA on charter vessels is
estimated to be $150 per angler trip.
Thus, NMFS estimates a reduction in
charter vessel profits from this action of
$3.146 million per year, which results
in a reduction in charter vessels’ profits
per vessel to be $5,960 per year, or
about 21.3 percent on average per forhire fishing business.
In combination with the proposed
action to require NMFS to close the
recreational season based on when the
recreational ACT is projected to be met,
rather than the recreational ACL, the
proposed action to increase the buffer
between the recreational ACL and
recreational ACT from 10.25 to 20
percent would be expected to reduce the
recreational season length further from
the proposed action to change the sector
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allocation and implement a rebuilding
plan. Specifically, the season length is
expected to be further reduced by 2 days
in 2024 (open for 23 days instead of 25),
but this reduction is expected to
gradually increase to 24 days by 2028
(open for 96 days instead of 120). The
average additional reduction in the
recreational season length is expected to
be 12 days (open for 52 days instead of
64). Again, a reduction in the season
length is expected to reduce the number
of angler trips targeting gag on charter
vessels. From 2024 through 2028, the
average reduction in angler trips
targeting gag on charter vessels is
expected to be 2,125 trips per year.
Based on an estimate of $150 in
economic profit per angler trip, NMFS
estimates a reduction in charter vessel
profits from this action of $318,690 per
year, and a reduction in the annual
charter vessels’ profits of $604 per
vessel, or about 2.2 percent on average
per for-hire fishing business.
The proposed action that would
change the recreational season start date
from June 1 to September 1 is expected
to increase the recreational season
length from 23 days to 59 days in 2024,
and from 52 to 81 days on average from
2024 to 2028. However, because there
are many fewer charter trips targeting
gag in the fall months (September
through December) compared to the
summer months (June through August),
this proposed action is expected to
further decrease the number of angler
trips targeting gag on charter vessels.
Although the reduction in trips from
2024 through 2028 varies slightly from
year to year, the average reduction per
year is 1,610 trips. Based on an estimate
of $150 in economic profit per angler
trip, NMFS expects this proposed action
to decrease economic profits for charter
vessels by about $241,500 per year, or
by $456 per charter vessel. This would
result in a decrease economic profits by
around 1.6 percent on average per forhire fishing business.
Based on the above, NMFS expects
the total reduction in target trips by
charter vessels per year as a result of
this proposed rule to be 24,711 trips.
NMFS expects this reduction in trips to
result in a total reduction in economic
profits for charter vessels per year to be
about $3.707 million, or approximately
$7,020 per charter vessel. Thus, annual
economic profits are expected to be
reduced by approximately 25.1 percent
on average per for-hire fishing business.
Six alternatives, including the status
quo, were considered for the proposed
actions to change the sector allocation of
the stock ACL to 35 percent to the
commercial sector and 65 percent to the
recreational sector, establish a
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rebuilding plan of 18 years based on the
amount of time the stock is expected to
take to rebuild if fished at the yield from
fishing at 75 percent of F40%SPR, and
change the catch levels for 2024 through
2028 as specified in Table 1. The status
quo alternative would have retained the
current sector allocation of the stock
ACL of 39 percent to the commercial
sector and 61 percent to the recreational
sector based on MRIP–CHTS
recreational landings data. The status
quo alternative would not have
established a rebuilding plan or
modified any of the catch limits based
on MRIP–FES and SRFS landings
estimates. This alternative was not
selected because the sector allocation
would have been based in part on
MRFSS recreational landings estimates,
which is no longer consistent with the
best scientific information available and
would result in a de facto reallocation
to the commercial sector of
approximately 4 percent, which the
Council did not consider to be
equitable. This alternative also would
not have rebuilt the gag stock or ended
overfishing as required by the
Magnuson-Stevens Act.
A second alternative would have also
retained the current sector allocation of
the stock ACL of 39 percent to the
commercial sector and 61 percent to the
recreational sector, but would have
established a rebuilding plan of 11 years
assuming a fishing mortality rate of
zero. This alternative would have
revised the OFL based on the
projections from the SEDAR 72 SRFS
Run and would have set all of the other
catch levels through 2028 at zero.
However, as with the status quo
alternative, the sector allocation would
have been based in part on MRFSS
recreational landings data. Further,
prohibiting harvest of gag would not be
expected to eliminate all fishing
mortality, as some gag would still be
expected to be discarded and die as
fishermen continue fishing for other
species that live in similar habitats as
gag. This alternative was not selected
because, as discussed above, MRFSS is
not consistent with the best scientific
information available, and would result
in a de facto reallocation from the
recreational to the commercial sector of
approximately 4 percent, which the
Council did not considerable to be
equitable. Further, because it is not
feasible to eliminate dead discards of
gag when fishermen are targeting other
species, it is unlikely the stock would
actually be rebuilt in 11 years. This
alternative would have also resulted in
significantly larger adverse economic
effects on commercial and for-hire
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fishing businesses compared to the
proposed action.
A third alternative would have also
retained the current sector allocation of
the stock ACL of 39 percent to the
commercial sector and 61 percent to the
recreational sector. But, like the
proposed action, the third alternative
would have established a rebuilding
plan of 18 years and changed the catch
levels based on the projections from the
SEDAR 72 SRFS Run. This alternative
would have ended overfishing and
rebuilt the stock in 18 years. But, as
with the status quo and the second
alternative, the sector allocation of the
stock ACL would be based on MRFSS
recreational landings data. Thus, this
alternative was not selected because
MRFSS is not the best scientific
information available, and would result
in a de facto reallocation from the
recreational sector to the commercial
sector of approximately 4 percent.
A fourth alternative would have also
retained the current sector allocation of
the stock ACL of 39 percent to the
commercial sector and 61 percent to the
recreational sector, but would have
established a rebuilding plan of 22 years
and changed the catch limits based on
the projections from the SEDAR 72
SRFS Run. This alternative would have
ended overfishing and rebuilt the stock
while allowing greater harvest and
resulting in smaller adverse economic
effects on commercial and for-hire
fishing businesses compared to the
proposed action. However, it was not
selected because the stock is expected to
take 4 more years to rebuild compared
to the proposed action, and the
Magnuson-Stevens Act requires
overfished stocks to be rebuilt in as
short a time period as possible, taking
into account various factors. This
alternative was also not selected
because the use of MRFSS recreational
landings data is not consistent with the
best scientific information available,
and would result in a de facto
reallocation to the commercial sector of
approximately 4 percent.
Like the proposed action, a fifth
alternative would have changed the
sector allocation of the stock ACL to 35
percent to the commercial sector and 65
percent to the recreational sector based
in part on recreational landings
estimates from MRIP–FES, SRHS, and
SRFS for 1986–2005. As with the
second alternative, the fifth alternative
would have also established a
rebuilding plan of 11 years assuming a
fishing mortality rate of zero and used
SEDAR 72 SRFS Run projections to
change the OFL. The other catch limits
would have been set at zero. As
discussed earlier, prohibiting harvest of
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gag would not be expected to eliminate
all fishing mortality, as some gag would
still be expected to be discarded and die
as fishermen continue fishing for other
species that live in similar habitats as
gag. This alternative was not selected
because it is not feasible to eliminate
dead discards of gag when fishermen are
targeting other species, and therefore it
is unlikely the stock would rebuild in
11 years. This alternative would have
also resulted in significantly larger
adverse economic effects on commercial
and for-hire fishing businesses
compared to the proposed action.
Like the proposed action, a sixth
alternative would have changed the
sector allocation of the stock ACL to 35
percent to the commercial sector and 65
percent to the recreational sector based
in part on recreational landings
estimates from MRIP–FES, SRHS, and
SRFS data for 1986–2005. However, this
alternative would have also established
a rebuilding plan of 22 years. This
alternative would be based on the best
scientific information available, end
overfishing, and rebuild the stock. This
alternative would have also resulted in
higher catch limits and therefore
resulted in small adverse economic
effects on commercial and for-hire
fishing businesses compared to the
proposed action. However, this
alternative was not selected because it is
expected to take 4 more years to rebuild
compared to the proposed action, and
the Magnuson-Stevens Act requires
overfished stocks to be rebuilt in as
short a time as possible, taking into
account various factors.
Two alternatives, including the status
quo, were considered for the proposed
action to increase the buffer between the
recreational ACL and recreational ACT
from 10.25 to 20 percent. The status quo
alternative would have maintained the
buffer between the recreational ACL and
recreational ACT at 10.25 percent based
the yield at 75 percent of FMAX.
However, as explained previously, use
of FMAX as a proxy for FMSY is not
consistent with the best scientific
information available.
The second alternative would have
revised the recreational ACT using the
Council’s ACL/ACT Control Rule based
on recreational landings data from 2018
through 2021. This alternative would
have resulted in a 10 percent buffer
between the recreational ACL and ACT,
which would have left the buffer
essentially unchanged. This alternative
was not selected because the Council
concluded it was necessary to increase
the buffer between the ACL and ACT to
reduce the probability of the
recreational sector exceeding its ACL,
reduce the likelihood of overfishing,
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17:04 Nov 08, 2023
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and reduce the level of discards
associated with directed harvest, which
together are expected to increase the
probability of meeting the 18-year
timeline for rebuilding the gag stock.
Two alternatives, including the status
quo, were considered for the proposed
action to set the commercial ACT equal
to 95 percent of the commercial ACL
and set commercial quota equal to the
commercial ACT. The status quo
alternative would have maintained
commercial ACT, which is based on the
yield at 75 percent of FMAX, and a
commercial quota set at 86 percent of
the commercial ACT. This alternative
was not selected because it is based on
FMAX, which is no longer consistent
with the best scientific information
available.
The second alternative would have set
the commercial ACT equal to 86 percent
of the commercial ACL and, like the
proposed action, set the commercial
quota equal to the commercial ACT.
This alternative was not selected
because the Council determined that a
14 percent buffer between the
commercial ACL and ACT is too high
and unnecessarily limits commercial
harvest due to reduced uncertainty in
the estimates of commercial landings
and discards.
Three alternatives, including the
status quo, were considered for the
proposed action to change the
recreational season start date from June
1 to September 1 and require NMFS to
close the recreational season based on
when the recreational ACT is projected
to be met rather than the recreational
ACL. The status quo alternative would
have maintained the recreational season
start date of June 1 and required NMFS
to close the recreational season based on
when the recreational ACL is projected
to be met. This alternative was not
selected mainly because it would have
resulted in a shorter average recreational
season length (75 days) compared to the
proposed action (81 days) for 2024
through 2028. In general, a longer
fishing season would result in more
fishing opportunities for both the
private and for-hire components of the
recreational sector. Further, shifting
fishing effort to a historically low-effort
month (September) may reduce the
overall magnitude of recreational
discards compared to starting the season
in June. Shifting fishing pressure to the
fall would also be expected to reduce
directed effort for gag in deeper waters,
which may further reduce the
probability of harvesting or discarding
dead male gag.
The second alternative would have
retained the June 1 start date for the
recreational season. But, like the
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77255
proposed action, this alternative would
have required NMFS to close the
recreational season based on when the
recreational ACT is projected to be met.
This alternative was not selected mainly
because it would have resulted in a
shorter average recreational season
length (52 days) compared to the
proposed action (81 days) for 2024
through 2028. In general, a longer
fishing season would result in more
fishing opportunities for both the
private recreational and for-hire
components of the fishery. Further,
shifting fishing effort to a historically
low-effort month (September) may
reduce the overall magnitude of
recreational discards compared to
starting the season in June. Shifting
fishing pressure to the fall would be
expected to reduce directed effort for
gag in deeper waters, which may further
reduce the probability of harvesting or
discarding dead male gag.
The third alternative would have
changed the recreational season start
date to October 1. But, like the proposed
action, this alternative would have
required NMFS to close the recreational
season based on when the recreational
ACT is projected to be met. This
alternative was not selected because it
would have resulted in a shorter average
recreational season length (63 days)
compared to the proposed action (81
days) for 2024 through 2028 and would
have also resulted in greater adverse
effects to for-hire fishing businesses. In
general, a longer fishing season would
be expected to result in more fishing
opportunities for both the private and
for-hire components of the recreational
sector.
This proposed rule contains no
information collection requirements
under the Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995.
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 622
Fisheries, Fishing, Gag, Gulf of
Mexico.
Dated: November 1, 2023.
Samuel D. Rauch, III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for
Regulatory Programs, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
For the reasons set out in the
preamble, NMFS proposes to amend 50
CFR part 622 as follows:
PART 622—FISHERIES OF THE
CARIBBEAN, GULF OF MEXICO, AND
SOUTH ATLANTIC
1. The authority citation for part 622
continues to read as follows:
■
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
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2. In § 622.8, revise paragraph (c) to
read as follows:
■
§ 622.8
Quotas—general.
*
*
*
*
*
(c) Reopening. When a species,
species group, sector, or sector
component has been closed based on a
projection of the applicable catch limit
(ACL, ACT, or quota) specified in this
part being reached and subsequent data
indicate that the catch limit was not
reached, the Assistant Administrator
may file a notification with the Office of
the Federal Register. Such notification
may reopen the species, species group,
sector, or sector component to provide
an opportunity for the catch limit to be
harvested.
■ 3. In § 622.34, revise paragraph (e) to
read as follows:
§ 622.34 Seasonal and area closures
designed to protect Gulf reef fish.
*
*
*
*
*
(e) Seasonal closure of the
recreational sector for gag. The
recreational harvest of gag in or from the
Gulf EEZ is closed from January 1
§ 622.41 Annual catch limits (ACLs),
annual catch targets (ACTs), and
accountability measures (AMs).
through August 31. During the closure,
the bag and possession limits for gag in
or from the Gulf EEZ are zero.
*
*
*
*
*
■ 4. In § 622.39, revise paragraph
(a)(1)(iii)(B) to read as follows:
§ 622.39
*
*
*
*
*
*
(d) Gag—(1) Commercial sector. See
Table 1 for the commercial ACLs in
gutted weight. The commercial ACT for
gag is equal to the applicable
commercial quota specified in
§ 622.39(a)(1)(iii)(B). The IFQ program
for groupers and tilefishes in the Gulf of
Mexico in § 622.22 serves as the
accountability measure for the
commercial harvest of gag.
Quotas.
*
*
*
*
(a) * * *
(1) * * *
(iii) * * *
(B) Gag. See Table 1.
TABLE 1 TO PARAGRAPH (a)(1)(iii)(B)
Commercial quota in lb
(kg)
Year
2024
2025
2026
2027
2028
TABLE 1 TO PARAGRAPH (d)(1)
......................
......................
......................
......................
......................
147,000 (66,678)
204,000 (92,533)
255,000 (115,666)
313,000 (141,974)
383,000 (173,726)
*
*
*
*
*
5. In § 622.41, revise paragraph (d) to
read as follows:
Year
2024
2025
2026
2027
2028
......................
......................
......................
......................
......................
Commercial ACL in lb
(kg)
155,000 (70,307)
215,000 (97,522)
269,000 (122,016)
330,000 (149,685)
404,000 (183,251)
(2) Recreational sector.
(i) See Table 1 for the recreational
ACLs and ACTs in gutted weight.
■
TABLE 1 TO PARAGRAPH (d)(2)(i)
Recreational ACL in lb
(kg)
Year
2024
2025
2026
2027
2028
.........................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................
ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with PROPOSALS1
(ii) If the NMFS SRD estimates that
gag recreational landings have reached
or are projected to reach the applicable
recreational ACT specified in paragraph
(d)(2)(i) of this section, the AA will file
a notification with the Office of the
Federal Register to close the recreational
sector for the remainder of the fishing
year. On and after the effective date of
such a notification, the bag and
possession limits for gag in or from the
Gulf EEZ are zero. These bag and
possession limits apply in the Gulf on
board a vessel for which a valid Federal
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charter vessel/headboat permit for Gulf
reef fish has been issued without regard
to where such species were harvested,
i.e., in state or Federal waters.
(iii) In addition to the measures
specified in paragraph (d)(2)(ii) of this
section, if the NMFS SRD estimates that
gag recreational landings have exceeded
the applicable ACL specified in
paragraph (d)(2)(i) of this section and
gag is overfished based on the most
recent Status of U.S. Fisheries Report to
Congress, the following measure will
apply. The AA will file a notification
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288,000
399,000
499,000
613,000
751,000
(130,635)
(180,983)
(226,343)
(278,052)
(340,648)
Recreational ACT in lb
(kg)
230,000
319,000
399,000
490,000
600,000
(104,326)
(144,696)
(180,983)
(222,260)
(272,155)
with the Office of the Federal Register,
at or near the beginning of the following
fishing year, to reduce the ACL for that
following year by the amount of the
ACL overage in the prior fishing year,
unless the best scientific information
available determines that a greater,
lesser, or no overage adjustment is
necessary.
*
*
*
*
*
[FR Doc. 2023–24539 Filed 11–8–23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 216 (Thursday, November 9, 2023)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 77246-77256]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-24539]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 622
[Docket No. 231101-0258]
RIN 0648-BM46
Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic;
Reef Fish Resources of the Gulf of Mexico; Amendment 56
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Proposed rule; request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: NMFS proposes to implement management measures described in
Amendment 56 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Reef Fish Resources
of the Gulf of Mexico (FMP) as prepared by the Gulf of Mexico
[[Page 77247]]
Fishery Management Council (Council). If implemented for gag in the
Gulf of Mexico (Gulf), this proposed rule would revise catch levels,
recreational accountability measures (AMs), and the recreational
fishing season. In addition, Amendment 56 would establish a rebuilding
plan for the overfished stock, revise stock status determination
criteria, and sector harvest allocations. The purpose of this action is
to implement a rebuilding plan for gag and revised management measures
to end overfishing and rebuild the stock.
DATES: Written comments on this proposed rule must be received no later
than December 11, 2023.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on the proposed rule identified by
``NOAA-NMFS-2023-0103'' by either of the following methods:
Electronic submission: Submit all electronic public
comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to https://www.regulations.gov and enter ``NOAA-NMFS-2023-0103'' in the Search
box. Click the ``Comment'' icon, complete the required fields, and
enter or attach your comments.
Mail: Submit all written comments to Dan Luers, NMFS
Southeast Regional Office, 263 13th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL
33701.
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 a part of the
public record and will generally be posted for public viewing on
https://www.regulations.gov without change. All personal identifying
information, e.g., name and address, 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 required fields if you wish to remain anonymous.
An electronic copy of Amendment 56, which includes an environmental
assessment, a fishery impact statement, a Regulatory Flexibility Act
(RFA) analysis, and a regulatory impact review, may be obtained from
the Southeast Regional Office website at https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/amendment-56-modifications-catch-limits-sector-allocation-and-recreational-fishing-seasons.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dan Luers, NMFS Southeast Regional
Office, telephone: 727-824-5305, or email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS, with the advice of the Council,
manages the reef fish fishery, which includes gag, under the FMP in
Federal waters of the Gulf. The Council prepared the FMP, which the
Secretary of Commerce approved, and NMFS implements the FMP through
regulations at 50 CFR part 622 under the authority of the Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act).
Background
The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires NMFS and regional fishery
management councils to prevent overfishing and achieve, on a continuing
basis, the optimum yield (OY) from federally managed fish stocks. These
mandates are intended to ensure fishery resources are managed for the
greatest overall benefit to the Nation, particularly with respect to
providing food production and recreational opportunities, and
protecting marine ecosystems.
All weights in this proposed rule are given in gutted weight unless
indicated otherwise.
Gag in the Gulf exclusive economic zone (EEZ) are found primarily
in the eastern Gulf. Juvenile gag are estuarine dependent and are often
found in shallow seagrass beds. As gag mature, they move to deeper
offshore waters to live and spawn. Gag is managed as a single stock
with commercial and recreational catch limits. The allocation of the
stock annual catch limit (ACL) between the commercial and recreational
sectors established by Amendment 30B to the FMP is currently 39 percent
commercial and 61 percent recreational.
Commercial fishing for gag is managed under the individual fishing
quota (IFQ) program for groupers and tilefishes (GT-IFQ program), which
began January 1, 2010, upon implementation of the final rule for
Amendment 29 to the FMP (74 FR 44732, August 31, 2009; 75 FR 9116,
March 1, 2010). Under the GT-IFQ program, the commercial quota for gag
is set 23 percent below the gag commercial ACL, and NMFS distributes
allocation (in pounds) of gag on January 1 each year to those who hold
shares (in percent) of the gag total commercial quota. Both gag and red
grouper, another grouper species managed under the GT-IFQ program, have
a commercial multi-use provision that allows a portion of the gag quota
to be harvested under the red grouper allocation, and vice versa. As
explained further in Amendment 56, the multi-use provision is based on
the difference between the respective red grouper and gag ACLs and
quotas. However, if gag is under a rebuilding plan, as would occur
under Amendment 56 and this proposed rule, the percentage of red
grouper multi-use allocation is equal to zero. Commercial harvest of
gag is also restricted by area closures and a minimum size limit.
NMFS, with the advice of the Council, manages the recreational
harvest of gag with an ACL, an annual catch target (ACT) set
approximately 10 percent below the ACL, in-season and post-season AMs,
seasonal and area closures, a minimum size limit, and daily bag and
possession limits.
The most recent stock assessment for gag was completed in 2021
through Southeast Data, Assessment, and Review 72 (SEDAR 72), and
concluded that the gag stock is overfished is undergoing overfishing as
of 2019. Compared to the previous assessment for gag, SEDAR 72 used
several improved data sources, including corrections for the potential
misidentification between black grouper and gag, which are similar
looking species, to better quantify estimates of commercial discards.
SEDAR 72 also used updated recreational catch and effort data from the
Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP) Access Point Angler
Intercept Survey and Fishing Effort Survey (FES) through 2019. MRIP-FES
replaced the MRIP Coastal Household Telephone Survey (CHTS) in 2018.
Prior to the implementation of MRIP in 2008, recreational landings
estimates were generated using the Marine Recreational Fisheries
Statistics Survey (MRFSS). Because MRIP-FES is designed to more
accurately measure fishing activity, total recreational fishing effort
estimates generated from MRIP-FES are generally higher than both the
MRFSS and MRIP-CHTS estimates. Prior to SEDAR 72, the most recent stock
assessment for gag was SEDAR 33 Update (2016), which indicated that gag
was not subject to overfishing and was not overfished. The SEDAR 33
Update used recreational catch and effort data generated by MRIP-CHTS.
SEDAR 72 also accounted for observations of red tide mortality
directly within the stock assessment model. Gag is vulnerable to red
tide events and was negatively affected by these disturbances in 2005,
2014, 2018, and projected for 2021. Modeling changes were also made in
SEDAR 72 to improve size estimates of gag retained by commercial and
for-hire (charter vessels and headboats) fishermen, and private
anglers.
The Council's Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) reviewed
the results of SEDAR 72 in November 2021 and concluded that the
assessment was consistent with the best scientific information
available and suitable for
[[Page 77248]]
informing fisheries management. On January 26, 2022, NMFS notified the
Council that gag was overfished and undergoing overfishing. The
Magnuson-Stevens Act requires that a rebuilding plan be developed and
implemented within 2 years of the notification. The Council developed
Amendment 56 to comply with this mandate.
At its January 2022 meeting, the Council requested that the NMFS
Southeast Fisheries Science Center update the SEDAR 72 base model by
replacing MRIP-FES landings estimates for the Florida private angling
mode with landings estimates produced by the Florida Fish and Wildlife
Conservation Commission's State Reef Fish Survey (SRFS). Historically,
SRFS estimates a slightly larger harvest of gag by private anglers and
state charter vessels (in Florida) than MRIP-CHTS, but estimates a
substantially smaller harvest of gag by private anglers and state
charter vessels than MRIP-FES. This alternative model run of SEDAR 72
(``SRFS Run'') also used MRIP-FES data for the federally permitted
charter vessel and shore modes, and Southeast Region Headboat Survey
(SRHS) data for federally permitted headboats. The results of the SRFS
Run was presented to the Council's SSC at its July 2022 meeting. The
SSC found the SEDAR 72 SRFS Run to be consistent with the best
scientific information available. The SSC determined that SRFS is a
comprehensive survey for the gag private angling component of the
recreational sector given that greater than 95 percent of private
angling landings of gag are captured by the SRFS sampling frame and the
SRFS program's collection protocol has been certified by the NMFS
Office of Science and Technology as scientifically rigorous. NMFS
worked in conjunction with the State of Florida to develop a
calibration model to rescale historic effort estimates so that they
could be compared to new estimates from SRFS. This calibration model
was reviewed and approved by peer-review through the NOAA Office of
Science and Technology in May 2022. Information about the calibration
and the SSC's review of the SEDAR 72 SRFS Run can be found here:
https://gulfcouncil.org/meetings/scientific-and-statistical-meetings/july-2022/. The results of the SEDAR 72 SRFS Run were consistent with
the results of the SEDAR 72 base model in that both concluded that the
gag stock is overfished and undergoing overfishing.
Because Amendment 56 would not likely be implemented until 2024,
and the Council recognized that maintaining the 2023 catch limits for
gag would continue to allow overfishing, the Council sent a letter to
NMFS, dated July 18, 2022 (Appendix A in Amendment 56), requesting
interim measures that would reduce overfishing by reducing the gag
stock ACL from 3.12 million lb (1.415 million kg) to 661,901 lb
(300,233 kg). The Council determined, and NMFS agreed, that for this
short-term reduction in harvest it was appropriate to maintain the
current sector allocations of 39 percent commercial and 61 percent
recreational, and the availability of red grouper multi-use and gag
multi-use under the IFQ program. In addition to the reduction in the
catch limits, the Council requested that the recreational fishing
season for 2023 begin on September 1 and close on November 10, rather
than the existing open season of June 1 through December 31. NMFS
agreed and implemented these interim measures through a temporary rule
effective on May 3, 2023 (88 FR 27701, May 3, 2023). The measures in
the temporary rule are effective for 180 days (through October 30,
2023), and NMFS expects to extend them for up to 186 additional days
while NMFS reviews public comments on this proposed rule and Amendment
56, and prepares any final regulations. Because the SSC's review of the
SEDAR 72 SRFS Run occurred after the Council's decision to request for
interim measures for gag, the recreational catch limits in the
temporary rule are consistent with MRIP-FES calibrated landings, and
are not directly comparable to the catch limits recommended in
Amendment 56 and this proposed rule.
Based on the results of the SEDAR 72 SRFS Run and SSC
recommendations, the Council recommended the following changes for gag
through Amendment 56:
Revise the maximum sustainable yield (MSY) proxy, OY, and
status determination criteria (SDC);
Establish a rebuilding plan for the stock, and revise the
overfishing limit (OFL), acceptable biological catch (ABC), and stock
ACL consistent with that rebuilding plan;
Revise the commercial-recreational allocation of the stock
ACL and set new commercial and recreational sector ACLs, sector ACTs,
and commercial quota;
Modify the recreational AMs; and
Revise the Federal recreational fishing season.
The current MSY proxy is based on the yield associated with a
fishing mortality rate (F) associated with the maximum yield per
recruit (FMAX). The SSC recommended a more conservative MSY
proxy using the yield associated with F that would result in a spawning
stock biomass (SSB) of 40 percent spawning potential ratio (SPR), where
SPR is the ratio of the SSB to its unfished state. This revised MSY
proxy would be used to specify the long-term OY and SDC, and informs
the catch level projections produced by the SEDAR 72 SRFS Run.
For gag, the sector allocations of the stock ACL impact the catch
level projections produced by SEDAR 72. As more of the stock ACL is
allocated to the recreational sector, the proportion of recreational
discards and associated mortality increases. Recreational discard
mortality rates are assumed to be less than commercial discard
mortality rates but the total amount of recreational discards is
considerably greater than commercial discards. Generally, a gag caught
and released by a recreational fisherman has a greater likelihood of
survival than by a commercial fisherman because of how and where they
fish. However, because of the much higher numbers of gag that are
released by the recreational sector compared to the commercial sector,
the total number of discarded fish that die from recreational fishing
exceeds dead discards from commercial fishing. This results in
additional mortality for the stock and a lower projected annual yield,
which means a lower OFL, ABC, and stock ACL. However, higher number of
dead discards is not due to any change in how the recreational sector
operates in the fishery but occurs because the SEDAR 72 SRFS Run data
estimated greater fishing effort, and consequently a greater number of
fish being caught, which included discards and the associated mortality
from discarding fish.
In Amendment 56, the Council considered two allocation
alternatives: (1) maintaining the current allocation of 39 percent
commercial and 61 percent recreational, which was based on MRFSS data
from 1986 through 2005, and (2) updating historical recreational
landings using SRFS Run calibrated data from the same 1986 through 2005
period, which would result in an allocation of the stock ACL of 35
percent to the commercial sector and 65 percent to the recreational
sector. During the development of these two allocation alternatives,
the Council also reviewed allocation options based on five additional
historical reference periods from 1986 to 2019. These options differed
by less than 1 percent up to less than 4 percent. Because the options
were so similar, the Council decided to move forward with detailed
analysis of only the two alternatives described above. The Council
determined that the second alternative
[[Page 77249]]
would best represent the historic landings for each sector while
accounting for the change from MRFSS data to SRFS data. Based on the
results of the SEDAR 72 SRFS Run and using the proposed allocation of
35 percent commercial and 65 percent recreational, the Council
recommended OFLs and ABCs for gag during 2024-2028, and also
recommended the stock ACL be set equal to the ABC.
Management Measures Contained in This Proposed Rule
If implemented by NMFS, this proposed rule would modify the gag
stock and sector ACLs, sector ACTs, commercial quota, recreational AMs,
and recreational fishing season.
Annual Catch Limits and Annual Catch Targets
Prior to the implementation of the 2023 temporary rule, the stock
ACL was 3.120 million lb (1.415 million kg) and was allocated 39
percent to the commercial sector and 61 percent to the recreational
sector. The resulting commercial ACL and quota were 1.217 million lb
(0.552 million kg) and 0.939 million lb (0.426 million kg)
respectively, and the recreational ACL and ACT were 1.903 million lb
(0.863 million kg) and 1.708 million lb (0.775 million kg)
respectively. The commercial ACT is not codified. These catch limits
are based on the results of the 2016 SEDAR 33 Update (2016), which
included recreational landings estimates generated from MRIP-CHTS. The
2023 temporary rule reduced these catch limits consistent with the
Council's request. Therefore, the current commercial ACL and commercial
quota are 258,000 lb (117,027 kg) and 199,000 lb (90,265 kg),
respectively, and the recreational ACL and ACT are 403,759 lb (183,142
kg) and 362,374 lb (164,370 kg), respectively. These catch limits are
based on the results of the initial SEDAR 72 base model run, which
included recreational landings estimates generated using MRIP-FES.
Amendment 56 and this proposed rule would set the stock ACL for gag at
444,000 lb (201,395 kg) in 2024, and would allocate approximately 35
percent to the commercial sector and approximately 65 percent to the
recreational sector. This results in a 155,000-lb (70,307-kg)
commercial ACL, and a 288,000-lb (130,635-kg) recreational ACL for
2024. These catch limits are based on the results of the SEDAR 72 SRFS
Run, which included recreational landings estimates generated using
SRFS. Because of the different recreational landings estimates used to
determine the catch limits described above, those catch limits are not
directly comparable. However, the proposed catch limits are a
significant reduction compared to the catch limits that would go back
into effect after the 2023 temporary rule expires.
Amendment 56 and this proposed rule would set catch levels from
2024 through 2028, which increase during the time series. The 2028
catch levels would continue after 2028 unless modified by subsequent
rulemaking. All of the catch levels were rounded down to the nearest
thousand pounds. Therefore, the sum of the sector ACLs does not equal
the stock ACL.
Based on the Council's recommendation, this proposed rule would
modify the commercial quota such that it would be set equal to the
commercial ACT, and would be approximately 5 percent below the
commercial ACL. The current buffer between the commercial ACL and
commercial quota is 23 percent. The Council recommended reducing this
buffer, because there have been considerable improvements in the
estimation of commercial landings and discards of gag since the buffer
was put in place through Amendment 32 to the FMP. Further, the fraction
of gag discarded compared to the total number of gag caught has
remained low. NMFS does not expect the actions in Amendment 56 and this
proposed rule to significantly increase commercial discards of gag.
Therefore, the commercial quota would be approximately 95 percent of
the commercial ACL.
For the recreational sector, the current buffer between the ACL and
ACT is approximately 10 percent. The Council elected to choose a more
conservative ACT than if they had applied the ACL and ACT control rule,
which would have resulted in the same 10 percent buffer between the ACL
and ACT. Instead, the Council decided to double that buffer to increase
the probability of rebuilding gag by accounting for uncertainty in
managing the recreational harvest and further reducing fishing
mortality and discards that result from directed harvest. Thus, this
proposed rule would implement a recreational ACT that is approximately
20 percent below the recreational ACL. Table 1 shows the catch levels
recommended in Amendment 56, and except for the stock ACL, these catch
levels are included in the proposed regulatory text at the end of this
rule. Values proposed for 2028 would continue in subsequent fishing
years unless modified through a subsequent rulemaking.
Table 1--Proposed Stock ACL and Sector Catch Levels
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Com ACT & Quota lb
Year Stock ACL lb (kg) Com ACL lb (kg) Rec ACL lb (kg) (kg) Rec ACT lb (kg)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2024............................................................... 444,000 (201,395) 155,000 (70,307) 288,000 (130,635) 147,000 (66,678) 230,000 (104,326)
2025............................................................... 615,000 (278,959) 215,000 (97,522) 399,000 (180,983) 204,000 (92,533) 319,000 (144,696)
2026............................................................... 769,000 (348,813) 269,000 (122,016) 499,000 (226,343) 255,000 (115,666) 399,000 (180,983)
2027............................................................... 943,000 (427,738) 330,000 (149,685) 613,000 (278,052) 313,000 (141,974) 490,000 (222,260)
2028............................................................... 1,156,000 (524,353) 404,000 (183,251) 751,000 (340,648) 383,000 (173,726) 600,000 (272,155)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: Values are displayed in gutted weight. Abbreviations used in this table: Com means commercial and Rec means recreational. Lb is pounds and kg is kilograms.
Recreational Accountability Measures
Currently for the recreational sector, the AMs require NMFS to
prohibit harvest of gag for the rest of the fishing year when the
recreational ACL is projected to be met. The AMs also state that if the
recreational ACL for gag is exceeded in a fishing year, then in the
following fishing year, NMFS will maintain the prior year's ACT at the
same level, unless the best scientific information available determines
that is unnecessary, and the fishing season duration will be set based
on the recreational ACT. In addition to the previous measures, if gag
is overfished and the recreational ACL is exceeded in a fishing year,
NMFS will reduce the ACL and ACT in the following fishing year by the
amount of the ACL overage, unless the best scientific information
available determines that is unnecessary. Amendment 56 and this
proposed rule would change the AMs to require that NMFS prohibit
harvest when the recreational ACT is projected to be met regardless of
whether there
[[Page 77250]]
was an overage of the ACL in the prior year. NMFS and the Council
expect this change, in combination with the increased buffer between
the recreational ACL and ACT, to decrease the likelihood of
recreational harvest exceeding the recreational ACL. The larger buffer
between the recreational ACL and ACT would also reduce the level of
discards associated with directed harvest, increasing the probability
of meeting the 18 years rebuilding time.
This proposed rule would also remove the provision that requires
the previous year's ACT to be maintained in the year following an
overage of the ACL. Because the stock is overfished and NMFS is
required to reduce the ACL and ACT by any overage, an additional
adjustment that retains the lower ACT is unnecessary.
Recreational Fishing Season
Before NMFS implemented the temporary recreational fishing season
for gag in 2023, the season for Gulf gag began on June 1 and continued
through December 31 (74 FR 17603, April 16, 2009). During the effective
period of the temporary rule, the recreational fishing season opened on
September 1 and was to close on November 10, 2023, unless NMFS
projected the recreational ACL would be harvested prior to that date.
On October 4, 2023, NMFS published a temporary rule in the Federal
Register closing the recreational harvest of gag effective on October
19, 2023 (88 FR 68495).
This proposed rule would modify the recreational fishing season for
gag so the season would begin each year on September 1. Unlike the
season implemented by the temporary rule, Amendment 56 and this
proposed rule would not establish a predetermined season closure date.
Consistent with the proposed changes to the AMs, NMFS would close the
gag recreational season when landings are projected to reach the
recreational ACT. NMFS would use the best data available to project the
duration of the proposed recreational season in 2024 and in following
years. NMFS expects to have better estimates of recreational fishing
effort and catch of gag for a season beginning September 1 after data
from 2023 are finalized. This should reduce the uncertainty in
projecting an appropriate closure date for the 2024 recreational
fishing season. Once the ACT for gag is projected to be met and harvest
is closed, recreational fishing for gag would not resume before the end
of the year because data would not yet be available to determine
whether landings did reach the ACT.
Management Measures in Amendment 56 That Would Not Be Codified by This
Proposed Rule
In addition to the measures that would be codified through this
proposed rule, Amendment 56 would revise the MSY proxy, OY, and SDC for
gag. Amendment 56 would also revise the gag OFL, ABC, and sector
allocations.
Maximum Sustainable Yield, Optimum Yield, and Status Determination
Criteria
Based on the results of SEDAR 72, Amendment 56 would revise MSY
proxy, OY, as well as the SDC used to determine whether overfishing is
occurring or the stock is overfished. The proxy for MSY would be
defined as the yield when fishing at
F40SPR, where SPR is the ratio of SSB to
its unfished state. The maximum fishing mortality threshold (MFMT)
would be equal to F40SPR. The minimum
stock size threshold (MSST) would be defined as 50 percent of the
biomass at the new MSY proxy. The OY would be conditional on the
rebuilding plan, such that if the stock is under a rebuilding plan, OY
would be equal to the stock ACL; and if the stock is not under a
rebuilding plan, OY would be equal to 90 percent of MSY or its proxy.
Currently, MSY is defined in the FMP as F assuming FMAX, and
the MFMT is FMAX. The MSST is defined as 50 percent of the
biomass at FMAX. The OY is defined as 75 percent of the
yield at FMAX. The proposed changes to the MSY, OY, and SDC
represent a more conservative approach to management of that would
rebuild the gag stock to a more robust size, which should be more
resilient to episodic mortality from red tide, harmful algal blooms,
and sustainable levels of fishing mortality.
Stock Rebuilding Plan Timeline and Modification of OFL, ABC, and Sector
Allocations
Amendment 56 would establish a rebuilding plan and set the
rebuilding time for Gulf gag at 18 years, which is based on the amount
of time the stock is expected to take to rebuild if fished at 75
percent of the MSY proxy (yield at
F40SPR). Amendment 56 evaluated two other
rebuilding times: 11 years, which is the minimum time to rebuild in the
absence of fishing mortality; and 22 years, which is twice the minimum
time. In addition, the Council initially considered an alternative
rebuilding time of 19 years, which is based on the minimum rebuilding
time plus one generation time (8 years for gag). Because this option
resulted in a rebuilding time similar to fishing at 75 percent of the
MSY proxy, the Council removed this alternative from further
consideration (Appendix C in Amendment 56). The Council also discussed
whether to consider in more detail a rebuilding time between 11 years
and 18 years. The Council decided not to add an additional alternative
because a slightly shorter rebuilding time would provide minimal
benefits to the stock but increase the negative impacts to fishing
communities.
Consistent with the rebuilding time recommended by the Council,
Amendment 56 would revise the OFL and ABC, and set the stock ACL equal
to the ABC. In addition, Amendment 56 would revise the sector
allocations from 39 percent commercial and 61 percent recreational to
35 percent commercial and 65 percent recreational, and revise the
sector ACLs consistent with the revised allocations as discussed
earlier in this proposed rule. The current OFL and ABC, and the OFLs
and ABCs for 2024 through 2028, which increase over the time series as
projected for the rebuilding plan, are shown in Table 2. However, the
current OLF and ABC are not directly comparable to the proposed OFLs
and ABCs because they are based, in part, on recreational landings
estimates produced by the different surveys discussed above. Values in
2028 would continue for subsequent fishing years unless modified
through another action by the Council or NMFS.
Table 2--Current and Proposed OFLs and ABCs for Gag
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Year OFL in pounds (kg) ABC in pounds (kg)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2023.......................................................... 4,180,000 (1,896,016) 3,120,000 (1,415,208)
2024.......................................................... 591,000 (268,073) 444,000 (201,395)
2025.......................................................... 805,000 (365,142) 615,000 (278,959)
2026.......................................................... 991,000 (449,510) 769,000 (348,813)
[[Page 77251]]
2027.......................................................... 1,200,000 (544,311) 943,000 (427,738)
2028.......................................................... 1,454,000 (659,523) 1,156,000 (524,353)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: Values are displayed in gutted weight. Kg is kilograms. The ABC values also equal the current and proposed
stock ACL values for gag.
Proposed Administrative Change to Codified Text Not in Amendment 56
NMFS also proposes to clarify the regulations at 50 CFR 622.8(c).
These regulations allow NMFS to re-open harvest for a stock in the same
fishing year if data indicate that a quota or ACL was not reached as
previously projected. Several stocks have ACTs that are also codified
as quotas. However, some ACTs, such as the recreational ACT for gag, do
not have corresponding quotas, and therefore may not appear to be
included in the current authority to re-open. NMFS proposes to modify
the regulations in section 622.8(c) to provide a more general reference
to allowable harvest levels. This would be consistent with the
framework procedures in the relevant Gulf and South Atlantic fishery
management plans that allow NMFS to re-open harvest if additional data
shows that NMFS closed the season prematurely.
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 Amendment 56, the FMP, other provisions of the
Magnuson-Stevens Act, and other applicable law, subject to further
consideration after public comment.
This proposed rule has been determined to be not significant for
purposes of Executive Order 12866.
The Magnuson-Stevens Act provides the legal basis for this proposed
rule. No duplicative, overlapping, or conflicting Federal rules have
been identified. In addition, no new reporting and record-keeping
requirements are introduced by this proposed rule.
NMFS prepared an initial regulatory flexibility analysis (IRFA) for
this proposed rule, as required by section 603 of the Regulatory
Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 603. The IRFA describes the economic impact
this proposed rule, if adopted, would have on small entities. A
description of this proposed rule, why it is being considered, and the
purposes of this proposed rule are contained in the SUMMARY and
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION sections of the preamble. A copy of the full
analysis is available from NMFS (see the ADDRESSES section of this
proposed rule). A summary of the IRFA follows.
The objective of this proposed rule is to use the best scientific
information available to end overfishing of gag and rebuild the stock
to a level commensurate with MSY, consistent with the authority under
the Magnuson-Stevens Act. All monetary estimates in the following
analysis are in 2021 dollars.
Amendment 56 would revise the MSY, OY, and SDC for gag based on the
results of the updated SEDAR 72 SRFS Run as reviewed by the Council's
SSC. The definition of MSY would change from FMAX to the
yield when fishing at F40SPR. The
definition of MFMT would change from being equal to FMAX to
being equal to the fishing mortality at the FMSY proxy
(e.g., F40SPR). The definition of MSST
would change from 50 percent of BMAX to 50 percent of the
biomass at MSY or its proxy. OY is currently defined as 75 percent of
the yield at FMAX. The proposed definition of OY would be
conditional on whether a rebuilding plan is in place. Specifically, if
the stock is under a rebuilding plan, OY would be equal to the stock
ACL. However, if the stock is not under a rebuilding plan, OY would be
equal to 90 percent of MSY or its proxy.
Amendment 56 would also revise the sector allocation of the stock
ACL from 39 percent commercial and 61 percent recreational to
approximately 35 percent commercial and 65 percent recreational.
Amendment 56 would also establish a rebuilding plan based on the amount
of time the stock is expected to take to rebuild based on the yield
when fishing at 75 percent of F40SPR,
which is equal to 18 years. In turn, the proposed rebuilding plan in
combination with the proposed sector allocation would change the OFL,
ABC, stock ACL, commercial ACL, and the recreational ACL. Based on the
current allocation of the stock ACL between sectors, the OFL, ABC,
stock ACL, commercial ACL, recreational ACL, and commercial quota, and
recreational ACT would be 4.180 million lb (1.896 million kg), 3.120
million lb (1.415 million kg), 3.120 million lb (1.415 million kg),
1.217 million lb (0.552 million kg), 1.903 million lb (0.863 million
kg), and 0.939 million lb (0.426 million kg), and 1.708 million lb
(0.775 million kg), respectively, in 2024 and future years if no action
is taken. The recreational portion of the OFL, ABC, stock ACL, the
recreational ACL, and the recreational ACT are based on MRIP-CHTS data.
Under the proposed sector allocation and rebuilding plan, the OFL, ABC,
stock ACL, recreational ACL, commercial ACL, recreational ACT, and
commercial quota would be reduced in 2024 and subsequently increase
through 2028 as indicated in Tables 1 and 2. The recreational portion
of the revised OFL, ABC, stock ACL, the recreational ACL, and the
recreational ACT are based on recreational landings estimates used in
the SEDAR 72 SRFS Run. Therefore, the different stock ACLs and
recreational ACLs and ACTs not directly comparable.
This proposed rule would also revise the buffer between the
recreational ACL and ACT, which is currently 10.25 percent (i.e., the
recreational ACT is 89.75 percent of the recreational ACL). Under the
proposed rule, the buffer between the recreational ACL and ACT would be
approximately 20 percent (i.e., the recreational ACT would be
approximately 80 percent of the recreational ACL).
In addition, this proposed rule would also modify the buffer the
between the commercial ACL and quota, and set the quota equal to the
ACT. The commercial quota is currently set at approximately 77 percent
of the commercial ACL. The commercial ACT is not codified. This
proposed rule would set the commercial ACT equal to approximately 95
percent of the commercial ACL and set commercial quota equal to the
commercial ACT. Thus, the commercial quota would be approximately 95
percent of the commercial ACL.
Finally, this proposed rule would change the recreational season
start date and modify the recreational AMs for gag. Specifically, the
recreational season start date would change from June 1 to September 1
each year. The current AM requires NMFS to prohibit harvest when the
recreational ACL is projected to be met, whereas this proposed rule
would require NMFS to prohibit harvest when the recreational ACT is
projected to be met. The current AM also requires
[[Page 77252]]
NMFS to maintain the recreational ACT for the following fishing year at
the level of the prior year's ACT unless the best scientific
information available determines that maintaining the prior year's ACT
is unnecessary. This provision would be removed under the proposed
rule. Given these individual actions, this proposed rule is expected to
regulate commercial fishing businesses that possess gag shares in the
GT-IFQ program and for-hire fishing businesses (charter vessels and
headboats) that target gag.
The gag commercial quota is allocated annually based on the
percentage of gag shares in each IFQ account. For example, if an
account possesses 1 percent of the gag shares and the commercial quota
is 1 million lb (0.45 million kg), then that account would receive
10,000 lb (4,536 kg) of commercial gag quota. Although it is common for
a single IFQ account with gag shares to be held by a single business,
some businesses have multiple IFQ accounts with gag shares. As of July
8, 2021, there were 536 IFQ accounts, of which 506 IFQ accounts held
gag shares. These accounts and gag shares were owned by 455 businesses.
Thus, it is assumed this proposed rule would regulate 455 commercial
fishing businesses.
A valid charter vessel/headboat permit for Gulf reef fish is
required to legally harvest gag on a recreational for-hire fishing
trip. NMFS does not possess complete ownership data regarding
businesses that hold a charter vessel/headboat permit for Gulf reef
fish, and thus potentially harvest gag. Therefore, it is not currently
feasible to accurately determine affiliations between vessels and the
businesses that own them. As a result, for purposes of this analysis,
it is assumed each for-hire vessel is independently owned by a single
business, which is expected to result in an overestimate of the actual
number of for-hire fishing businesses regulated by this proposed rule.
NMFS also does not have data indicating how many for-hire vessels
actually harvest gag in a given year. However, in 2020, there were
1,289 vessels with valid charter vessel/headboat permits for Gulf reef
fish. Further, gag is only targeted and almost entirely harvested in
waters off the west coast of Florida. Of the 1,289 federally permitted
vessels, 803 were homeported in Florida. Of these permitted vessels, 62
are primarily used for commercial fishing rather than for-hire fishing
purposes, and thus are not considered for-hire fishing businesses
(i.e., 1,227 vessels are for-hire fishing businesses). In addition, 46
of these permitted vessels are considered headboats, which are
considered for-hire fishing businesses. However, headboats take a
relatively large, diverse set of anglers to harvest a diverse range of
species on a trip, and therefore do not typically target a particular
species exclusively. Therefore, it is assumed that no headboat trips
would be canceled, and thus no headboats would be directly affected as
a result of this proposed rule. However, charter vessels often target
gag. Of the 803 vessels with a valid charter vessel/headboat permit for
Gulf reef fish that are homeported in Florida, 695 vessels are charter
vessels. A recent study reported that 76 percent of charter vessels
with a valid charter vessel/headboat permit in the Gulf were active in
2017, i.e., 24 percent were not fishing. A charter vessel would only be
directly affected by this proposed rule if it used to go fishing. Given
this information, NMFS' best estimate of the number of charter vessels
that are likely to harvest gag in a given year is 528, and thus this
proposed rule is estimated to regulate 528 for-hire fishing businesses.
For RFA purposes, NMFS has established a small business size
standard for businesses, including their affiliates, whose primary
industry is commercial fishing (50 CFR 200.2). A business primarily
involved in the commercial fishing industry is classified as a small
business if it is independently owned and operated, is not dominant in
its field of operation (including its affiliates), and its combined
annual receipts (revenue) are not in excess of $11 million for all of
its affiliated operations worldwide. NMFS does not collect revenue data
specific to commercial fishing businesses that have IFQ accounts;
rather, revenue data are collected for commercial fishing vessels in
general. It is not possible to assign revenues earned by commercial
fishing vessels back to specific IFQ accounts and the businesses that
possess them because quota is often transferred across many IFQ
accounts before it is used by the business on a vessel for harvesting
purposes, and specific units of quota cannot be tracked. However, from
2017 through 2021, the maximum annual gross revenue earned by a single
commercial fishing vessel during this time was about $3.25 million.
Based on this information, all commercial fishing businesses regulated
by this proposed rule are determined to be small entities for the
purpose of this analysis.
For other industries, the Small Business Administration has
established size standards for all major industry sectors in the U.S.,
including for-hire businesses (North American Industry Classification
System code 487210). A business primarily involved in for-hire fishing
is classified as a small business if it is independently owned and
operated, is not dominant in its field of operation (including its
affiliates), and has annual receipts (revenue) not in excess of $12.5
million for all its affiliated operations worldwide. The maximum annual
gross revenue for a single headboat in the Gulf was about $1.38 million
in 2017. On average, annual gross revenue for headboats in the Gulf is
about three times greater than annual gross revenue for charter
vessels, reflecting the fact that businesses that own charter vessels
are typically smaller than businesses that own headboats. Based on this
information, all for-hire fishing businesses regulated by this proposed
rule are determined to be small businesses for the purpose of this
analysis.
If implemented, NMFS expects this proposed rule to regulate 455 of
the 536 businesses with IFQ accounts, or approximately 85 percent of
those commercial fishing businesses. Further, NMFS expects this
proposed rule would regulate 528 of the 1,227 for-hire fishing
businesses with valid charter vessel/headboat permits for Gulf reef
fish, or approximately 43 percent of those for-hire fishing businesses.
NMFS has determined that, for the purpose of this analysis, all
regulated commercial and for-hire fishing businesses are small
entities. Based on this information, NMFS expects the proposed rule to
affect a substantial number of small entities.
Because NMFS does not collect revenue and cost data for the
commercial fishing businesses that are expected to be regulated by this
proposed rule, direct estimates of their economic profits are not
available. However, economic theory suggests that annual allocation
(quota) prices should reflect expected annual economic profits, which
allows economic profits to be estimated indirectly. Further, the 455
businesses with gag shares also own shares in the other IFQ share
categories and thus are expected to earn profits from their ownership
of these shares as well, i.e., red snapper, red grouper, shallow-water
grouper, deep-water grouper, and tilefish.
However, economic profits will only be realized if the allocated
quota is used for harvesting purposes. For example, practically all of
the commercial red snapper quota has been used for harvesting in recent
years, and so it is assumed that all of that quota will be harvested in
the foreseeable future. Important management changes have occurred for
red grouper, which partly
[[Page 77253]]
resulted in 96 percent of the commercial quota being harvested in 2021.
Thus, this analysis also assumes that all of the red grouper quota will
be harvested in the future as well. However, based on 2017-2021 data,
only 82 percent of the deep-water grouper quota, 38 percent of the
shallow-water grouper quota, and 73 percent of the tilefish quota have
been harvested, and that is expected to continue in the foreseeable
future. For gag, the quota utilization rate from 2017 to 2021 was
approximately 52 percent. Given these quota utilization rates in
combination with average annual allocation prices from 2017 to 2021 and
annual commercial quotas in 2021, NMFS estimates that the total
expected economic profits for businesses with gag shares are at least
$29.4 million at the present time. This estimate does not account for
any economic profits that may accrue to businesses with gag shares that
also own commercial fishing vessels that harvest non-IFQ species. Such
profits are likely to be small because harvest of IFQ species accounts
for around 84 percent of commercial IFQ vessels' annual revenue and
economic profits from the harvest of non-IFQ species tend to be smaller
than those from IFQ species. Given that there are 455 businesses with
gag shares, NMFS expects the average annual economic profit per
commercial fishing business is at least $64,620.
Most of these economic profits (84 percent) are the result of
owning red snapper shares. Only approximately $502,930 (or 1.7 percent)
of the expected economic profits is due to the ownership of gag shares.
This proposed rule is only expected to affect economic profits from the
ownership of gag shares. Specifically, the proposed action to change
the sector allocation of the stock ACL and implement a rebuilding plan,
which would change the stock ACL, would reduce the commercial ACL and
commercial quota from their current values of 1.217 million lb and
939,000 lb, respectively. The average commercial ACL and commercial
quota from 2024 through 2028 would be 275,000 lb and 212,000 lb,
respectively, under the proposed action.
However, average annual commercial landings of gag from 2017 to
2021 were only 492,401 lb, noticeably below the commercial quota.
Because average annual landings exceed the proposed commercial quotas
through 2028, it is assumed all of the proposed commercial quota will
be harvested in each year through 2028, and the expected average
reduction in annual commercial landings will be 280,401 lb. Initially,
NMFS expects the reduction in commercial landings to increase the
average ex-vessel price of gag from $6.10 per lb to $7.78 per lb, or by
$1.68 per lb, in 2024. However, NMFS expects the increase in ex-vessel
price to gradually decrease through 2028 as the quota and landings
increase, with an ex-vessel price of $6.96 in 2028. The increase in the
ex-vessel price would partially offset the adverse effects of the
landings reduction. Based the above information, NMFS expects a
reduction in annual ex-vessel revenue for gag on average of
approximately $1.57 million or about $3,451 on average per commercial
fishing business. Given an average annual allocation price of $1.03 per
lb for gag from 2017 to 2021, NMFS expects the reduction in commercial
landings of gag to reduce economic profits to these commercial fishing
businesses by about $288,813, or by approximately $635 per commercial
fishing business. Thus, NMFS expects economic profits to be reduced by
around 1 percent on average per commercial fishing business as a result
of the proposed action to change the sector allocation and implement a
rebuilding plan that reduces the stock ACL.
The proposed action that would set the commercial ACT equal to 95
percent of the commercial ACL and set commercial quota equal to the
commercial ACT would cause the commercial quota to be equal to 95
percent of the commercial ACL as opposed to approximately 77 percent of
the commercial ACL as is presently the case. As such, this action is
expected to increase the commercial quota relative to what it would be
otherwise. The increase would still yield commercial quotas below the
recent average commercial landings and thus NMFS assumes all of the
expected increase in the quota will be harvested.
Specifically, NMFS expects the average annual increase in the
commercial quota and landings from 2024 through 2028 to be about 48,527
lb, which would increase average annual revenue by $267,371, or by
about $588 per commercial fishing business. Again, assuming an average
annual allocation price of $1.03 per lb, NMFS expects average increase
in economic profit to commercial fishing businesses per year is
$49,983, or about $110 per commercial fishing business.
Combining these expected increases in revenue and profits with the
decreases discussed earlier, NMFS expects this proposed rule to
decrease average revenue for commercial fishing businesses by about
$1.31 million per year from 2024 through 2028, or by $2,868 per
commercial fishing business. The total reduction in economic profit for
commercial fishing businesses is expected to be $238,830, or $525 per
commercial fishing business, which represents a decrease of about 0.8
percent.
According to the most recent estimates of economic returns in the
for-hire sector, average annual economic profits are $27,948 per
charter vessel. The proposed rule to change the sector allocation and
implement a rebuilding plan, which would change the stock ACL, would
change the gag recreational ACL from its current value of 1.903 million
lb (863,186 kg). Specifically, the average recreational ACL for gag
would be 510,000 lb from 2024 through 2028 under the proposed action.
As explained previously, these ACLs are not directly comparable because
they are based, in part, on recreational landings estimates derived
from different surveys (MRIP-FES and SRFS). However, average
recreational landings from 2017 to 2021 were approximately 1.265
million lb (573,884 kg). Given that average recreational landings have
been considerably greater than the proposed recreational ACT, all of
the proposed recreational ACT is expected to be harvested in the
future. NMFS expects the reduction in the recreational ACT to reduce
the recreational season length from 214 days to 25 days in 2024.
However, the season length is expected to steadily increase to 120 days
by 2028 and the average season length from 2024 to 2028 is expected to
be 64 days. The reduction in the season length would reduce the number
of angler trips targeting gag on charter vessels. From 2024 through
2028, the average reduction in angler trips targeting gag on charter
vessels is expected to be 20,976 trips per year. Net Cash Flow per
Angler Trip (CFpA) is the best available estimate of profit per angler
trip by charter vessels. According to a recent study (available from
NMFS see ADDRESSES), CFpA on charter vessels is estimated to be $150
per angler trip. Thus, NMFS estimates a reduction in charter vessel
profits from this action of $3.146 million per year, which results in a
reduction in charter vessels' profits per vessel to be $5,960 per year,
or about 21.3 percent on average per for-hire fishing business.
In combination with the proposed action to require NMFS to close
the recreational season based on when the recreational ACT is projected
to be met, rather than the recreational ACL, the proposed action to
increase the buffer between the recreational ACL and recreational ACT
from 10.25 to 20 percent would be expected to reduce the recreational
season length further from the proposed action to change the sector
[[Page 77254]]
allocation and implement a rebuilding plan. Specifically, the season
length is expected to be further reduced by 2 days in 2024 (open for 23
days instead of 25), but this reduction is expected to gradually
increase to 24 days by 2028 (open for 96 days instead of 120). The
average additional reduction in the recreational season length is
expected to be 12 days (open for 52 days instead of 64). Again, a
reduction in the season length is expected to reduce the number of
angler trips targeting gag on charter vessels. From 2024 through 2028,
the average reduction in angler trips targeting gag on charter vessels
is expected to be 2,125 trips per year. Based on an estimate of $150 in
economic profit per angler trip, NMFS estimates a reduction in charter
vessel profits from this action of $318,690 per year, and a reduction
in the annual charter vessels' profits of $604 per vessel, or about 2.2
percent on average per for-hire fishing business.
The proposed action that would change the recreational season start
date from June 1 to September 1 is expected to increase the
recreational season length from 23 days to 59 days in 2024, and from 52
to 81 days on average from 2024 to 2028. However, because there are
many fewer charter trips targeting gag in the fall months (September
through December) compared to the summer months (June through August),
this proposed action is expected to further decrease the number of
angler trips targeting gag on charter vessels. Although the reduction
in trips from 2024 through 2028 varies slightly from year to year, the
average reduction per year is 1,610 trips. Based on an estimate of $150
in economic profit per angler trip, NMFS expects this proposed action
to decrease economic profits for charter vessels by about $241,500 per
year, or by $456 per charter vessel. This would result in a decrease
economic profits by around 1.6 percent on average per for-hire fishing
business.
Based on the above, NMFS expects the total reduction in target
trips by charter vessels per year as a result of this proposed rule to
be 24,711 trips. NMFS expects this reduction in trips to result in a
total reduction in economic profits for charter vessels per year to be
about $3.707 million, or approximately $7,020 per charter vessel. Thus,
annual economic profits are expected to be reduced by approximately
25.1 percent on average per for-hire fishing business.
Six alternatives, including the status quo, were considered for the
proposed actions to change the sector allocation of the stock ACL to 35
percent to the commercial sector and 65 percent to the recreational
sector, establish a rebuilding plan of 18 years based on the amount of
time the stock is expected to take to rebuild if fished at the yield
from fishing at 75 percent of F40SPR, and
change the catch levels for 2024 through 2028 as specified in Table 1.
The status quo alternative would have retained the current sector
allocation of the stock ACL of 39 percent to the commercial sector and
61 percent to the recreational sector based on MRIP-CHTS recreational
landings data. The status quo alternative would not have established a
rebuilding plan or modified any of the catch limits based on MRIP-FES
and SRFS landings estimates. This alternative was not selected because
the sector allocation would have been based in part on MRFSS
recreational landings estimates, which is no longer consistent with the
best scientific information available and would result in a de facto
reallocation to the commercial sector of approximately 4 percent, which
the Council did not consider to be equitable. This alternative also
would not have rebuilt the gag stock or ended overfishing as required
by the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
A second alternative would have also retained the current sector
allocation of the stock ACL of 39 percent to the commercial sector and
61 percent to the recreational sector, but would have established a
rebuilding plan of 11 years assuming a fishing mortality rate of zero.
This alternative would have revised the OFL based on the projections
from the SEDAR 72 SRFS Run and would have set all of the other catch
levels through 2028 at zero. However, as with the status quo
alternative, the sector allocation would have been based in part on
MRFSS recreational landings data. Further, prohibiting harvest of gag
would not be expected to eliminate all fishing mortality, as some gag
would still be expected to be discarded and die as fishermen continue
fishing for other species that live in similar habitats as gag. This
alternative was not selected because, as discussed above, MRFSS is not
consistent with the best scientific information available, and would
result in a de facto reallocation from the recreational to the
commercial sector of approximately 4 percent, which the Council did not
considerable to be equitable. Further, because it is not feasible to
eliminate dead discards of gag when fishermen are targeting other
species, it is unlikely the stock would actually be rebuilt in 11
years. This alternative would have also resulted in significantly
larger adverse economic effects on commercial and for-hire fishing
businesses compared to the proposed action.
A third alternative would have also retained the current sector
allocation of the stock ACL of 39 percent to the commercial sector and
61 percent to the recreational sector. But, like the proposed action,
the third alternative would have established a rebuilding plan of 18
years and changed the catch levels based on the projections from the
SEDAR 72 SRFS Run. This alternative would have ended overfishing and
rebuilt the stock in 18 years. But, as with the status quo and the
second alternative, the sector allocation of the stock ACL would be
based on MRFSS recreational landings data. Thus, this alternative was
not selected because MRFSS is not the best scientific information
available, and would result in a de facto reallocation from the
recreational sector to the commercial sector of approximately 4
percent.
A fourth alternative would have also retained the current sector
allocation of the stock ACL of 39 percent to the commercial sector and
61 percent to the recreational sector, but would have established a
rebuilding plan of 22 years and changed the catch limits based on the
projections from the SEDAR 72 SRFS Run. This alternative would have
ended overfishing and rebuilt the stock while allowing greater harvest
and resulting in smaller adverse economic effects on commercial and
for-hire fishing businesses compared to the proposed action. However,
it was not selected because the stock is expected to take 4 more years
to rebuild compared to the proposed action, and the Magnuson-Stevens
Act requires overfished stocks to be rebuilt in as short a time period
as possible, taking into account various factors. This alternative was
also not selected because the use of MRFSS recreational landings data
is not consistent with the best scientific information available, and
would result in a de facto reallocation to the commercial sector of
approximately 4 percent.
Like the proposed action, a fifth alternative would have changed
the sector allocation of the stock ACL to 35 percent to the commercial
sector and 65 percent to the recreational sector based in part on
recreational landings estimates from MRIP-FES, SRHS, and SRFS for 1986-
2005. As with the second alternative, the fifth alternative would have
also established a rebuilding plan of 11 years assuming a fishing
mortality rate of zero and used SEDAR 72 SRFS Run projections to change
the OFL. The other catch limits would have been set at zero. As
discussed earlier, prohibiting harvest of
[[Page 77255]]
gag would not be expected to eliminate all fishing mortality, as some
gag would still be expected to be discarded and die as fishermen
continue fishing for other species that live in similar habitats as
gag. This alternative was not selected because it is not feasible to
eliminate dead discards of gag when fishermen are targeting other
species, and therefore it is unlikely the stock would rebuild in 11
years. This alternative would have also resulted in significantly
larger adverse economic effects on commercial and for-hire fishing
businesses compared to the proposed action.
Like the proposed action, a sixth alternative would have changed
the sector allocation of the stock ACL to 35 percent to the commercial
sector and 65 percent to the recreational sector based in part on
recreational landings estimates from MRIP-FES, SRHS, and SRFS data for
1986-2005. However, this alternative would have also established a
rebuilding plan of 22 years. This alternative would be based on the
best scientific information available, end overfishing, and rebuild the
stock. This alternative would have also resulted in higher catch limits
and therefore resulted in small adverse economic effects on commercial
and for-hire fishing businesses compared to the proposed action.
However, this alternative was not selected because it is expected to
take 4 more years to rebuild compared to the proposed action, and the
Magnuson-Stevens Act requires overfished stocks to be rebuilt in as
short a time as possible, taking into account various factors.
Two alternatives, including the status quo, were considered for the
proposed action to increase the buffer between the recreational ACL and
recreational ACT from 10.25 to 20 percent. The status quo alternative
would have maintained the buffer between the recreational ACL and
recreational ACT at 10.25 percent based the yield at 75 percent of
FMAX. However, as explained previously, use of
FMAX as a proxy for FMSY is not consistent with
the best scientific information available.
The second alternative would have revised the recreational ACT
using the Council's ACL/ACT Control Rule based on recreational landings
data from 2018 through 2021. This alternative would have resulted in a
10 percent buffer between the recreational ACL and ACT, which would
have left the buffer essentially unchanged. This alternative was not
selected because the Council concluded it was necessary to increase the
buffer between the ACL and ACT to reduce the probability of the
recreational sector exceeding its ACL, reduce the likelihood of
overfishing, and reduce the level of discards associated with directed
harvest, which together are expected to increase the probability of
meeting the 18-year timeline for rebuilding the gag stock.
Two alternatives, including the status quo, were considered for the
proposed action to set the commercial ACT equal to 95 percent of the
commercial ACL and set commercial quota equal to the commercial ACT.
The status quo alternative would have maintained commercial ACT, which
is based on the yield at 75 percent of FMAX, and a
commercial quota set at 86 percent of the commercial ACT. This
alternative was not selected because it is based on FMAX,
which is no longer consistent with the best scientific information
available.
The second alternative would have set the commercial ACT equal to
86 percent of the commercial ACL and, like the proposed action, set the
commercial quota equal to the commercial ACT. This alternative was not
selected because the Council determined that a 14 percent buffer
between the commercial ACL and ACT is too high and unnecessarily limits
commercial harvest due to reduced uncertainty in the estimates of
commercial landings and discards.
Three alternatives, including the status quo, were considered for
the proposed action to change the recreational season start date from
June 1 to September 1 and require NMFS to close the recreational season
based on when the recreational ACT is projected to be met rather than
the recreational ACL. The status quo alternative would have maintained
the recreational season start date of June 1 and required NMFS to close
the recreational season based on when the recreational ACL is projected
to be met. This alternative was not selected mainly because it would
have resulted in a shorter average recreational season length (75 days)
compared to the proposed action (81 days) for 2024 through 2028. In
general, a longer fishing season would result in more fishing
opportunities for both the private and for-hire components of the
recreational sector. Further, shifting fishing effort to a historically
low-effort month (September) may reduce the overall magnitude of
recreational discards compared to starting the season in June. Shifting
fishing pressure to the fall would also be expected to reduce directed
effort for gag in deeper waters, which may further reduce the
probability of harvesting or discarding dead male gag.
The second alternative would have retained the June 1 start date
for the recreational season. But, like the proposed action, this
alternative would have required NMFS to close the recreational season
based on when the recreational ACT is projected to be met. This
alternative was not selected mainly because it would have resulted in a
shorter average recreational season length (52 days) compared to the
proposed action (81 days) for 2024 through 2028. In general, a longer
fishing season would result in more fishing opportunities for both the
private recreational and for-hire components of the fishery. Further,
shifting fishing effort to a historically low-effort month (September)
may reduce the overall magnitude of recreational discards compared to
starting the season in June. Shifting fishing pressure to the fall
would be expected to reduce directed effort for gag in deeper waters,
which may further reduce the probability of harvesting or discarding
dead male gag.
The third alternative would have changed the recreational season
start date to October 1. But, like the proposed action, this
alternative would have required NMFS to close the recreational season
based on when the recreational ACT is projected to be met. This
alternative was not selected because it would have resulted in a
shorter average recreational season length (63 days) compared to the
proposed action (81 days) for 2024 through 2028 and would have also
resulted in greater adverse effects to for-hire fishing businesses. In
general, a longer fishing season would be expected to result in more
fishing opportunities for both the private and for-hire components of
the recreational sector.
This proposed rule contains no information collection requirements
under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 622
Fisheries, Fishing, Gag, Gulf of Mexico.
Dated: November 1, 2023.
Samuel D. Rauch, III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
For the reasons set out in the preamble, NMFS proposes to amend 50
CFR part 622 as follows:
PART 622--FISHERIES OF THE CARIBBEAN, GULF OF MEXICO, AND SOUTH
ATLANTIC
0
1. The authority citation for part 622 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
[[Page 77256]]
0
2. In Sec. 622.8, revise paragraph (c) to read as follows:
Sec. 622.8 Quotas--general.
* * * * *
(c) Reopening. When a species, species group, sector, or sector
component has been closed based on a projection of the applicable catch
limit (ACL, ACT, or quota) specified in this part being reached and
subsequent data indicate that the catch limit was not reached, the
Assistant Administrator may file a notification with the Office of the
Federal Register. Such notification may reopen the species, species
group, sector, or sector component to provide an opportunity for the
catch limit to be harvested.
0
3. In Sec. 622.34, revise paragraph (e) to read as follows:
Sec. 622.34 Seasonal and area closures designed to protect Gulf reef
fish.
* * * * *
(e) Seasonal closure of the recreational sector for gag. The
recreational harvest of gag in or from the Gulf EEZ is closed from
January 1 through August 31. During the closure, the bag and possession
limits for gag in or from the Gulf EEZ are zero.
* * * * *
0
4. In Sec. 622.39, revise paragraph (a)(1)(iii)(B) to read as follows:
Sec. 622.39 Quotas.
* * * * *
(a) * * *
(1) * * *
(iii) * * *
(B) Gag. See Table 1.
Table 1 to Paragraph (a)(1)(iii)(B)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commercial quota in lb
Year (kg)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2024........................................... 147,000 (66,678)
2025........................................... 204,000 (92,533)
2026........................................... 255,000 (115,666)
2027........................................... 313,000 (141,974)
2028........................................... 383,000 (173,726)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* * * * *
0
5. In Sec. 622.41, revise paragraph (d) to read as follows:
Sec. 622.41 Annual catch limits (ACLs), annual catch targets (ACTs),
and accountability measures (AMs).
* * * * *
(d) Gag--(1) Commercial sector. See Table 1 for the commercial ACLs
in gutted weight. The commercial ACT for gag is equal to the applicable
commercial quota specified in Sec. 622.39(a)(1)(iii)(B). The IFQ
program for groupers and tilefishes in the Gulf of Mexico in Sec.
622.22 serves as the accountability measure for the commercial harvest
of gag.
Table 1 to Paragraph (d)(1)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commercial ACL in lb
Year (kg)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2024........................................... 155,000 (70,307)
2025........................................... 215,000 (97,522)
2026........................................... 269,000 (122,016)
2027........................................... 330,000 (149,685)
2028........................................... 404,000 (183,251)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
(2) Recreational sector.
(i) See Table 1 for the recreational ACLs and ACTs in gutted
weight.
Table 1 to Paragraph (d)(2)(i)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recreational ACL in lb Recreational ACT in lb
Year (kg) (kg)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2024.......................................................... 288,000 (130,635) 230,000 (104,326)
2025.......................................................... 399,000 (180,983) 319,000 (144,696)
2026.......................................................... 499,000 (226,343) 399,000 (180,983)
2027.......................................................... 613,000 (278,052) 490,000 (222,260)
2028.......................................................... 751,000 (340,648) 600,000 (272,155)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(ii) If the NMFS SRD estimates that gag recreational landings have
reached or are projected to reach the applicable recreational ACT
specified in paragraph (d)(2)(i) of this section, the AA will file a
notification with the Office of the Federal Register to close the
recreational sector for the remainder of the fishing year. On and after
the effective date of such a notification, the bag and possession
limits for gag in or from the Gulf EEZ are zero. These bag and
possession limits apply in the Gulf on board a vessel for which a valid
Federal charter vessel/headboat permit for Gulf reef fish has been
issued without regard to where such species were harvested, i.e., in
state or Federal waters.
(iii) In addition to the measures specified in paragraph (d)(2)(ii)
of this section, if the NMFS SRD estimates that gag recreational
landings have exceeded the applicable ACL specified in paragraph
(d)(2)(i) of this section and gag is overfished based on the most
recent Status of U.S. Fisheries Report to Congress, the following
measure will apply. The AA will file a notification with the Office of
the Federal Register, at or near the beginning of the following fishing
year, to reduce the ACL for that following year by the amount of the
ACL overage in the prior fishing year, unless the best scientific
information available determines that a greater, lesser, or no overage
adjustment is necessary.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2023-24539 Filed 11-8-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
