National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration December 30, 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

NMFS announces that the Commonwealth of Virginia is transferring commercial bluefish quota to the State of North Carolina from its 2010 quota. By this action, NMFS adjusts the quotas and announces the revised commercial quotas for Virginia and North Carolina.

NOAA's Office of Ocean Exploration and Research (OER) is seeking comments on the revised draft OER STRATEGIC PLAN Fiscal Year (FY) 2011-2015, submitted to meet the requirement for program direction under Public Law 111-11, Section 12104(b). The draft OER STRATEGIC PLAN describes the vision, mission, core activities, and organization of the Office of Ocean Exploration and Research.

NMFS issues this final rule to implement Amendment 17B to the Fishery Management Plan for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region (FMP), as prepared and submitted by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council). This final rule establishes annual catch limits (ACLs) and accountability measures (AMs) for eight snapper-grouper species in the FMP that are undergoing overfishing, and for black grouper, which was recently assessed and determined to not be undergoing overfishing or overfished; modifies management measures to limit total mortality of those species to the ACL; and adds ACLs, annual catch targets (ACTs), and AMs to the list of management measures that may be amended via the framework process. The intent of this final rule is to address overfishing of eight snapper-grouper species while maintaining catch levels consistent with achieving optimum yield.