[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 91 (Monday, May 11, 2020)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 27703-27707]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-09572]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 200428-0123]
RIN 0648-BJ61
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Bluefish
Fishery; Revised 2020 and Projected 2021 Specifications and
Recreational Management Measures
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Proposed rule; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: NMFS proposes revised specifications for the 2020 Atlantic
bluefish fishery and projected specifications for fishing year 2021, as
recommended by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council. This action
is necessary to establish allowable harvest levels and other management
measures to prevent overfishing, consistent with the most recent
scientific information. This action also informs the public of the
proposed fishery specifications and provides an opportunity for
comment.
DATES: Comments must be received by May 26, 2020.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on this document, identified by
NOAA-NMFS-2020-0020, by either of the following methods:
Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public comments via
the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal.
1. Go to https://www.regulations.gov/docket?D=NOAA-NMFS-2020-0020,
2. Click the ``Comment Now!'' icon, complete the required fields,
and
3. Enter or attach your comments.
or
Mail: Submit written comments to Michael Pentony, Regional
Administrator, National Marine Fisheries Service, Greater Atlantic
Region, 55 Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA, 01930-2276. Mark the
outside of the envelope: ``Comments on the Proposed Rule for Bluefish
Specifications and Recreational Management Measures.''
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 part of the
public record and will generally be posted for public viewing on
www.regulations.gov without change. All personal identifying
information (e.g., name, address, etc.), 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 the required fields if you wish to remain
anonymous).
The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council prepared a draft
environmental assessment (EA) for this action that describes the
proposed measures and other considered alternatives. The EA also
provides an economic analysis, as well as an analysis of the
biological, economic, and social impacts of the proposed measures and
other considered alternatives. Copies of the specifications document,
including the EA and the Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
(IRFA), are available on request from Dr. Christopher M. Moore,
Executive Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, Suite 201,
800 North State Street, Dover, DE 19901. These documents are also
accessible via the internet at http://www.mafmc.org.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cynthia Ferrio, Fishery Management
Specialist, (978) 281-9180.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council and the Atlantic States
Marine Fisheries Commission jointly manage the Atlantic Bluefish
Fishery Management Plan (FMP). The FMP requires the specification of
the acceptable biological catch (ABC), annual catch limit (ACL), annual
catch targets (ACT), commercial quota, recreational harvest limit, and
other management measures for up to 3 years at a time. This action
proposes specifications and recreational management measures for the
2020 and 2021 bluefish fishery.
The August 2019 bluefish operational stock assessment incorporated
revised Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP) estimates into
its analyses and reference points. This assessment determined that the
bluefish stock is overfished but not subject to overfishing. Although
the overall biomass of the stock increased after incorporating revised
MRIP data, the biomass threshold also nearly doubled, resulting in the
overfished determination. The Council received formal notification of
the stock status change on November 12, 2019, and is developing a
rebuilding plan to be
[[Page 27704]]
implemented by 2022. The final assessment results became available in
late 2019, and additional analysis was required to incorporate the new
MRIP data into development of revised catch limits. To ensure catch
limits would be in place for the start of the fishing year on January
1, 2020, NMFS published interim 2020 specifications (84 FR 54041;
October 9, 2019) until new measures could be developed. However, these
interim catch limits and measures were developed before the revised
MRIP data, assessment information, and new stock status were available.
The interim specifications are substantially more liberal than what the
best available science indicates is necessary to constrain catch in
2020 and prevent overfishing. This action would revise the 2020
specifications to reflect the assessment results, and project similar
specifications for 2021.
On September 9, 2019, the Council's Scientific and Statistical
Committee (SSC) reviewed the operational assessment, and recommended a
reduced ABC for bluefish using the Council's risk policy with an
overfishing limit coefficient of variation (CV) equal to 100 percent
due to some increased uncertainty with the new MRIP data. In previous
years, the SSC used a less conservative 60-percent CV because there was
more confidence in the data. The Bluefish Monitoring Committee met on
September 18, 2019, to develop and recommend full specifications based
on the SSC's ABC recommendation. The Bluefish FMP has a prescriptive
process for deriving specifications from the ABC. The FMP sets the ACL
equal to the ABC, and the ACL is allocated 17 percent to the commercial
ACT and 83 percent to the recreational ACT. The most recent fishing
year discards from each sector are subtracted from each applicable ACT
to calculate the sector's total allowable landings (TAL). Commercial
discards are assumed to be negligible, and recreational discards are
estimated from MRIP data. If the recreational fishery is not projected
to land its harvest limit, then quota may be transferred from the
recreational to the commercial sector. The maximum amount that may be
transferred can result in a commercial quota of up to 10.5 million lb
(4,763 mt). The final commercial quota is then allocated to the coastal
states from Maine to Florida based on percent shares specified in the
FMP.
The Council and the Commission's Bluefish Board jointly approved
catch specifications for fishing years 2020 and 2021 at a joint meeting
in October 2019, based on the assessment and recommendations from the
SSC and Monitoring Committee. In these revised specifications, the
Council recommended a 25-percent reduction in the overall ABC and ACL
in comparison to the current interim 2020 values, a 25-percent
reduction in initial commercial quota, and an 18-percent reduction in
the recreational harvest limit (RHL). Because recreational landings are
expected to fully achieve the RHL, no sector transfer to the commercial
fishery is permitted. Thus, these recommended specifications would
reduce the final commercial quota a total of a 64-percent from the
reduced commercial quota and the lack of a quota transfer from the
recreational sector. Given the substantial difference in expected 2020
recreational harvest compared to the reduced 2020 RHL, the Council and
Board chose to delay development of recreational management measures
until December 2019. This delay was intended to provide additional time
to develop and analyze measures necessary to constrain recreational
catch to the recommended 2020 RHL.
Based on projected recreational landings for the 2020 bluefish
fishery (13.27 million lb; 6,020 mt), the Monitoring Committee
determined that a 28.65-percent reduction in recreational harvest is
necessary to constrain catch to the new RHL of 9.48 million lb (4,301
mt). The Council and Board took final action in December 2019 to
recommend a mode-specific reduction in the daily recreational bag limit
from 15 to 3 fish per person for private anglers and to 5 fish per
person for for-hire (party/charter) vessels. No changes were
recommended to recreational seasons or size limits because there is
substantial variability in seasonal availability and recreational fish
sizes taken from Florida to Maine. The change in bag limit is expected
to sufficiently constrain recreational catch to the 9.48 million-lb
(6,020-mt) RHL when applied to the entire fishing year. In an effort to
prevent overfishing in the early months of the fishing year (which
began on January 1, 2020), NMFS implemented interim measures to
temporarily establish this reduced bag limit (85 FR 11863; February 28,
2020). However, this proposed action is necessary to permanently
implement these recreational measures.
Proposed Specifications
This action proposes the Council's recommendations for revised 2020
and projected 2021 bluefish catch specifications, as well as the
recreational management measures to constrain harvest the new limits. A
comparison of the interim 2020 and the proposed revised 2020-21
specifications is summarized below in Table 1.
Table 1--Comparison of Current 2020 and Proposed 2020-21 Bluefish Specifications
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Interim 2020 (current) Revised 2020-2021 (proposed)
---------------------------------------------------------------- Percent change
Metric tons Million lb Million lb Metric tons
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Overfishing Limit............... * 27.97 12,688 2020: 32.97 2020: 14,955 2020: 18
2021: 37.98 2021: 17,227 2021: 36
ABC = ACL....................... 21.81 9,895 16.28 7,385 -25
Commercial ACT.................. 3.71 1,682 2.77 1,255 -25
Recreational ACT................ 18.11 8,213 13.51 6,130 -25
Recreational Discards [dagger].. 2.49 1,129 4.03 1,829 +162
Commercial TAL.................. 3.71 1,682 2.77 1,255 -25
Recreational TAL................ 15.62 7,085 9.48 4,301 -39
Sector Transfer................. 4.00 1,814 0.00 0 -100
Commercial Quota................ 7.71 3,497 2.77 1,255 -64
RHL............................. 11.62 5,271 9.48 4,301 -18
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\*\ This value was incorrectly published as 29.97 million pounds in the interim final specifications (84 FR
54041; October 9, 2019). This was the result of an inadvertent conversion error, and the value in metric tons
was correct. This pound value was published correctly in the prior 2019 specifications rule (84 FR 8826; March
12, 2019), and this error has not directly affected bluefish fishery operations or stock status in any way.
[dagger] The terminal year of MRIP data used to project discard estimates for the interim (current)
specifications was 2017, and the terminal year used to project the discards for the revised (proposed)
specifications was 2018.
[[Page 27705]]
Table 2 provides the proposed commercial state allocations based on
the Council-recommended coastwide commercial quota for 2020 and 2021.
No states exceeded their state allocated quota in 2019; therefore, no
accountability measures are necessary for the 2020 commercial fishery.
Table 2--Proposed 2020-21 Bluefish State Commercial Quota Allocations
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Proposed quota Proposed quota
State Percent share (lb) (kg)
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Maine........................................................... 0.67 18,496 8,388
New Hampshire................................................... 0.41 11,468 5,201
Massachusetts................................................... 6.72 185,838 84,280
Rhode Island.................................................... 6.81 188,366 85,427
Connecticut..................................................... 1.27 35,036 15,889
New York........................................................ 10.39 287,335 130,311
New Jersey...................................................... 14.82 409,934 185,911
Delaware........................................................ 1.88 51,966 23,567
Maryland........................................................ 3.00 83,054 37,666
Virginia........................................................ 11.88 328,682 149,062
North Carolina.................................................. 32.06 887,058 402,294
South Carolina.................................................. 0.04 974 442
Georgia......................................................... 0.01 263 119
Florida......................................................... 10.06 278,332 126,228
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Total....................................................... 100.00 2,766,801 1,254,785
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As previously mentioned, this action would also change the
recreational management measures by reducing the Federal bluefish
recreational daily bag limit from 15 to 3 fish per person for private
anglers and to 5 fish per person for for-hire (charter/party) vessels.
All other Federal management measures, including commercial management
measures, and recreational season (open all year) and minimum fish size
(none), would remain unchanged.
The Council will review the specifications for fishing year 2021 to
determine if any changes need to be made prior to their implementation.
Changes may occur if 2020 quota overages trigger accountability
measures, or if new stock information results in changes to the ABC
recommendations. NMFS will publish a notice prior to or early in 2021
to confirm or announce any necessary changes. The Council is developing
a rebuilding plan for the bluefish stock that will be implemented by
2022. NMFS expects the rebuilding plan to inform development of the
next set of specifications beginning in 2022.
Classification
Pursuant to section 304(b)(1)(A) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), the NMFS
Assistant Administrator has determined that this proposed rule is
consistent with the Atlantic Bluefish FMP, other provisions of the
Magnuson-Stevens Act, and other applicable law, subject to further
consideration after public comment.
The Council reviewed the proposed regulations for this action and
deemed them necessary and appropriate to implement consistent with
section 303(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
This proposed rule has been determined to be not significant for
purposes of Executive Order 12866.
This proposed rule is not an Executive Order 13771 regulatory
action because this rule is not significant under Executive Order
12866.
The Mid-Atlantic Council prepared a draft EA for this action that
analyzes the impacts of this proposed rule. The EA includes an IRFA, as
required by section 603 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), which
is supplemented by information contained in the preamble of this
proposed rule. The IRFA was prepared to examine the economic impact of
this proposed rule, if adopted, on small business entities, as well as
the possible economic impact of the other alternatives presented in the
EA/specifications document. A copy of the detailed RFA analysis is
available from the Council (see ADDRESSES). A summary of the 2020-2021
bluefish specifications IRFA analysis follows.
Description of the Reasons Why Action by the Agency Is Being
Considered, and the Statement of the Objectives of, and Legal Basis
for, This Proposed Rule
This action is taken under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens
Act and regulations at 50 CFR part 648. This proposed rule revises 2020
catch limits and recreational management measures, and projects 2021
specifications for the Atlantic bluefish fishery. A complete
description of the action, why it is being considered, and its legal
basis are contained in the draft EA and in this rule's preamble, and
are not repeated here.
Description and Estimate of the Number of Small Entities to Which This
Proposed Rule Would Apply
This proposed rule affects those small entities engaged in
commercial fishing operations in the Atlantic bluefish fishery (those
with commercial bluefish permits), and those with Federal party/charter
recreational permits for bluefish. Private recreational anglers are not
considered ``entities'' under the RFA, thus economic impacts on private
anglers are not considered here. For the purposes of the RFA analysis,
the ownership entities (or firms), not the individual vessels, are
considered to be the regulated entities. Ownership entities are defined
as those entities or firms with common ownership personnel as listed on
the permit application. Because of this, some vessels with bluefish
permits may be considered to be part of the same firm because they may
have the same owners. To identify these small and large firms, vessel
ownership data from the permit database were grouped according to
common owners and sorted by size. In terms of RFA, a business primarily
engaged in commercial fishing is classified as a small business if it
has combined annual receipts not in excess of $11 million, for all its
affiliated operations worldwide. A business primarily engaged in for-
hire (party/charter) fishing is classified as small business if it has
combined annual receipts not in excess of $8 million.
[[Page 27706]]
In the commercial fishery, 735 firms reported commercial bluefish
revenue from 2016-2018. According to the vessel ownership database,
based on 2018 revenues, 728 of those 735 total firms are categorized as
small businesses, and 7 are categorized as large businesses. For the
recreational for-hire (party/charter) fishery, 389 affiliate firms
reported revenue from recreational fishing from 2016-2018. All 389 of
those firms are categorized as small businesses based on their 2018
revenues. It is not possible to derive what proportion of the overall
revenues for these for-hire firms came from fishing activities for an
individual species. Nevertheless, given the popularity of bluefish as a
recreational species in the Mid-Atlantic and New England, revenues
generated from this species are likely somewhat important for many of
these firms at certain times of the year. The 3-year average (2016-
2018) combined gross receipts (all for-hire fishing activity combined)
for these small entities was $52,156,152, ranging from less than
$10,000 for 119 entities (lowest value $124) to over $1,000,000 for 8
entities (highest value $2.9 million).
Description of the Projected Reporting, Record-Keeping, and Other
Compliance Requirements of This Proposed Rule
There are no new reporting, record-keeping, or other compliance
requirements contained in this proposed rule, or any of the
alternatives considered for this action.
Federal Rules Which May Duplicate, Overlap, or Conflict With This
Proposed Rule
NMFS is not aware of any relevant Federal rules that may duplicate,
overlap, or conflict with this proposed rule.
Description of Significant Alternatives to the Proposed Action Which
Accomplish the Stated Objectives of Applicable Statutes and Which
Minimize Any Significant Economic Impact on Small Entities
The measures proposed revise 2020 and outline projected 2021 catch
specifications and recreational management measures for the bluefish
fishery based on the most recent stock assessment and the application
of the Council's Risk Policy to prevent overfishing. Revenues in 2020
and 2021 are uncertain and will depend not only on the quota, but also
on availability of bluefish, market factors (e.g., price of bluefish
compared to alternative species), weather, and other factors. These
proposed specifications would decrease the coastwide commercial quota
by 64 percent, and the recreational harvest limit by 18 percent.
Although these are substantial reductions, especially for the
commercial fishery due to the lack of quota transfer from the
recreational sector, commercial bluefish entities may not be
substantially negatively impacted. Preliminary reports indicate that
the commercial bluefish fishery only landed 2.61 million lb (1,185 mt)
in 2019, which is below the proposed commercial quota of 2.77 million
lb (1,255 mt). Therefore, the commercial fishery overall is not
expected to experience substantial negative impacts from the quota
reduction. However, commercial entities in certain states that more
actively target bluefish may still be affected as the allocated state
quotas proportionately decrease. Compared to the average receipts for
2016-2018, the proposed 2020-2021 commercial quotas are expected to
result in an overall revenue reduction of 0.38 percent and 0.01 percent
for small and large entities.
In the recreational fishery (for-hire or party/charter entities),
impacts to entities are more likely to be driven by the change in
recreational management measures than the reduction in RHL. In the
development of the proposed measures, a mode-specific bag limit was
chosen specifically to mitigate the negative impacts on for-hire
entities fishing for bluefish. To achieve the required reduction in the
RHL, these measures propose a reduction in the daily recreational bag
limit from 15 to 3 fish per person for private anglers and to 5 fish
per person for for-hire (charter/party) vessels. Because for-hire
vessels are responsible for less than 5 percent of overall bluefish
recreational catch, but the bag limit can affect demand for mixed-catch
trips and general business revenues, the proposed action allowed the
for-hire mode two additional fish per-person than the initially
determined 3-fish bag limit for the entire recreational fishery. Even
with this extra allowance, it can be difficult to predict with
certainty how the preferred alternative will affect demand for party/
charter boat trips. Anglers may shift effort away from species with
more restrictive measures towards those with more liberal measures,
resulting in little change in overall fishing effort or demand for
party/charter trips where multiple species can be caught together.
The Council also considered maintaining status quo specifications,
where the same catch limits and management measures from 2019 would
continue through 2020 and beyond; and a most-restrictive alternative,
which would further reduce catch limits for a 64-percent reduction in
commercial quota and a 69-percent reduction in the RHL. Maintaining
status quo would be expected to maintain revenues in the short term,
but would likely have negative long term impacts due to the increased
risk of overfishing and low contribution to stock health and recovery.
The most-restrictive alternative is expected to have similar impacts as
the preferred alternative, but is more drastic in the short term and
may have a more substantial negative short term impact on affected
entities.
The Council recommended the specifications in this proposed rule
over the other two alternatives to satisfy the Magnuson-Stevens Act
requirements to ensure fish stocks are not subject to overfishing,
while minimizing the impact on the industry (including small entities)
and private anglers. This also increases the likelihood that the
fishery will remain a viable source of fishing revenues for bluefish
fishing entities in the long term, and makes it the better sustainable
economic choice. The status quo alternative was not recommended by the
Council because it would exceed the catch level recommendations of the
Council's SSC, put the bluefish stock at risk of overfishing, and would
be inconsistent with the requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. The
most restrictive alternative was not recommended because it would
impose substantial restrictions on the fishery too quickly without time
to adjust, creating a more negative impact than the preferred
alternative. Overall, the proposed specifications are expected to have
slightly negative (short-term) to slightly positive (long-term) impacts
on the affected entities; which could vary depending on the firm's
reliance on bluefish as a target species. NMFS agrees with the
Council's IRFA analysis and rationale for recommending these catch
limits. As such, NMFS is proposing to implement the Council's preferred
specifications and management measures, as presented in this proposed
rule's preamble.
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 648
Fisheries, Fishing, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
Dated: April 29, 2020.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
For the reasons set out in the preamble, 50 CFR part 648 is
proposed to be amended as follows:
[[Page 27707]]
PART 648--FISHERIES OF THE NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES
0
1. The authority citation for part 648 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
0
2. In Sec. 648.164,
0
a. Remove paragraphs (c) and (d),
0
b. Lift the suspension on paragraphs (a) and (b), and
0
c. Revise paragraphs (a) and (b).
The revisions read as follows:
Sec. 648.164 Bluefish possession restrictions.
(a) Recreational possession limits. Any person fishing from a
vessel in the EEZ that is not fishing under a bluefish commercial
permit shall observe the applicable recreational possession limit. The
owner, operator, and crew of a charter or party boat issued a bluefish
commercial permit are not subject to the recreational possession limit
when not carrying passengers for hire and when the crew size does not
exceed five for a party boat and three for a charter boat.
(1) Private recreational vessels. Any person fishing from a vessel
that is not fishing under a bluefish commercial or charter/party vessel
permit issued pursuant to Sec. 648.4(a)(8), may land up to three
bluefish per day.
(2) For-hire vessels. Anglers fishing onboard a for-hire vessel
under a bluefish charter/party vessel permit issued pursuant to Sec.
648.4(a)(8), may land up to five bluefish per person per day.
(b) Pooling Catch. Bluefish harvested by vessels subject to the
possession limit with more than one person on board may be pooled in
one or more containers. Compliance with the daily possession limit will
be determined by dividing the number of bluefish on board by the number
of persons on board, other than the captain and the crew. If there is a
violation of the possession limit on board a vessel carrying more than
one person, the violation shall be deemed to have been committed by the
owner and operator of the vessel.
[FR Doc. 2020-09572 Filed 5-8-20; 8:45 am]
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