National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration September 15, 2021 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

NMFS and the Assessment Oversight Panel (AOP) will convene the Management Track Assessment Peer Review Meeting for the purpose of reviewing both Georges Bank and Gulf of Maine Atlantic cod stocks. The Management Track Assessment Peer Review is a formal scientific peer- review process for evaluating and presenting stock assessment results to managers for fish stocks in the offshore U.S. waters of the northwest Atlantic. Assessments are prepared by the lead stock assessment analyst and reviewed by an independent panel of stock assessment experts called the AOP. The public is invited to attend the presentations and discussions between the review panel and the scientists who have participated in the stock assessment process.

NMFS announces that the commercial per-trip possession limit for blueline tilefish has been reduced for the remainder of the 2021 fishing year. This announcement informs the public of the reduced blueline tilefish possession limit. This action is intended to prevent over-harvest of blueline tilefish for the fishing year.

NMFS implements an accountability measure (AM) for the gray triggerfish recreational sector in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the Gulf of Mexico (Gulf) for the 2021 fishing year through this temporary rule. NMFS has projected that the 2021 recreational annual catch target (ACT) for Gulf gray triggerfish will be reached by September 10, 2021. However, because there is uncertainty in the projection and to provide additional notice to fishery participants, NMFS closes the recreational sector for Gulf gray triggerfish on September 15, 2021, and it will remain closed through the end of the fishing year on December 31, 2021. This closure is necessary to protect the Gulf gray triggerfish resource.