This action changes the process used to set recreational management measures (bag, size, and season limits) for summer flounder, scup, black sea bass, and bluefish as recommended by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Interstate Fisheries Management Program Policy Board. The changes also include modifications to the recreational accountability measures.
The changes are part of a broader long-term effort by both the Council and Commission to improve recreational management of these four species. The new management program aims to provide greater stability and predictability in recreational measures from year-to-year while accounting for uncertainty in recreational catch estimates.
The new process would allow managers to consider two factors: 1) biomass compared to the target, and 2) estimated recent recreational harvest compared to future harvest limits, to determine if management measures need to change, and if so, by how much.
Management Response Table
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Factors to determine recommended change |
Recommended Change in Harvest |
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Future 2-year average RHL is greater than the upper bound of the harvest estimate confidence interval (harvest is expected to be lower than the RHL) |
Very high (at least 150% of the target stock size) |
Liberalization: percent based on the difference between the harvest estimate and the 2-year average RHL, not to exceed 40 percent |
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High (between the target and 150% of the target stock size) |
Liberalization: percent based on the difference between the harvest estimate and the 2-year average RHL, not to exceed 20 percent |
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Low (below the target stock size) |
Liberalization: 10 percent |
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Future 2-year average RHL is within the confidence interval of the harvest estimate (harvest is expected to be close to the RHL) |
Very high (at least 150% of the target stock size) |
Liberalization: 10 percent |
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High (between the target and 150% of the target stock size) |
No change: 0 percent |
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Low (below the target stock size) |
Reduction: 10 percent |
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Future 2-year average RHL is less than the lower bound of the harvest estimate confidence interval (harvest is expected to exceed the RHL) |
Very high (at least 150% of the target stock size) |
Reduction: 10 percent |
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High (between the target and 150% of the target stock size) |
Reduction: percent based on the difference between the harvest estimate and the 2-year average RHL, not to exceed 20 percent |
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Low (below the target stock size) |
Reduction: percent based on the difference between the harvest estimate and the 2-year average RHL, not to exceed 40 percent |
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Key Terms:
- Biomass (B): The size of a stock of fish measured in weight. For summer flounder, scup, black sea bass, and bluefish, the biomass levels and biomass targets used in management are based on spawning stock biomass.
- Biomass target (BMSY): The stock size (B) associated with maximum sustainable yield (MSY), as defined by a stock assessment. MSY is the largest average catch that can be taken from a stock at BMSY over time under existing environmental conditions without negatively impacting the reproductive capacity of the stock.
- Confidence Interval: the upper and lower bound around a point estimate to indicate the range of probable values given the uncertainties around the estimate.
- Recreational Harvest Limit (RHL): The total allowable annual recreational fishery harvest; set based on information from the stock assessment, considerations about scientific and management uncertainty, allocations between the commercial and recreational sectors, and assumptions about dead discards.
This bulletin serves as a Small Entity Compliance Guide, complying with section 212 of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996.
