National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration December 19, 2013 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

NMFS announces that the 2013 summer flounder commercial quota allocated to the State of New Jersey has been harvested. Vessels issued a commercial Federal fisheries permit for the summer flounder fishery may not land summer flounder in New Jersey for the remainder of calendar year 2013, unless additional quota becomes available through a transfer from another state. Regulations governing the summer flounder fishery require publication of this notification to advise New Jersey that the quota has been harvested and to advise vessel permit holders and dealer permit holders that no Federal commercial quota is available for landing summer flounder in New Jersey.

The Gulf of Mexico (Gulf) and South Atlantic Fishery Management Councils (Councils) have submitted a Generic Amendment to the Fishery Management Plans (FMPs) in the Gulf and South Atlantic Regions (Generic Dealer Amendment) for review, approval, and implementation by NMFS. The Generic Dealer Amendment amends the following FMPs: Reef Fish Resources and the Red Drum Fishery of the Gulf; the Snapper-Grouper Fishery (including wreckfish), the Golden Crab Fishery, and the Shrimp Fishery (excluding penaeid shrimp) of the South Atlantic Region; the Dolphin and Wahoo Fishery of the Atlantic; and Coastal Migratory Pelagic (CMP) Resources and the Spiny Lobster Fishery of the Gulf and South Atlantic. The Generic Dealer Amendment would modify the permitting and reporting requirements for seafood dealers who first receive species managed by the Councils through the previously mentioned FMPs. These revisions would create a single dealer permit for dealers who first receive fish managed by the Councils, require both purchase and non-purchase reports to be submitted online on a weekly basis, not authorizing dealers to purchase fish from federally-permitted vessels if they are delinquent in submitting reports, and modify the sale and purchase provisions based on the new dealer permitting requirements. The intent of the amendment is to obtain timelier purchase information from dealers to help reduce annual catch limit (ACL) underages and overages, and achieve optimum yield in accordance with the requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act).

This action closes the Gulf of Maine (GOM) haddock Trimester Total Allowable Catch (TAC) Area for Trimester 3, from January 1, 2014, through April 30, 2014, to common pool vessels, because the Trimester 3 TAC for GOM haddock has already been exceeded due to an overage in Trimester 1. This action is intended to prevent the overharvest of the common pool's allocation of GOM haddock.