[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 125 (Monday, June 29, 2020)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 38794-38798]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-13867]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 200623-0167]
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: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: NMFS issues revised specifications and recreational management
measures for the 2020 Atlantic bluefish fishery and projected
specifications for fishing year 2021. This action is necessary to
establish allowable harvest levels and other management measures to
prevent overfishing, consistent with the most recent scientific
information. This rule informs the public of these revised fishery
specifications and management measures for the 2020 fishing year.
DATES: Effective June 29, 2020.
ADDRESSES: The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council prepared an
environmental assessment (EA) for these specifications that describes
the action and other considered alternatives. The EA provides an
analysis of the biological, economic, and social impacts of the
preferred measures and other considered alternatives; a Regulatory
Impact Review; and economic analysis. Copies of these specifications,
including the EA, Regulatory Flexibility Act Analyses, and other
supporting documents for the action are available upon request from Dr.
Christopher M. Moore, Executive Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery
Management Council, Suite 201, 800 N State Street, Dover, DE 19901.
These documents are also accessible via the internet at https://www.mafmc.org/supporting-documents.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cynthia Ferrio, Fishery Policy
Analyst, (978) 281-9180.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
[[Page 38795]]
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 three years at a time. This action
implements specifications and recreational management measures for the
2020 bluefish fishery, and announces projected specifications for 2021.
The most recent 2019 bluefish operational assessment incorporated
revised Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP) estimates into
its analyses and reference points, and determined that the bluefish
stock is now overfished but not subject to overfishing. The Council is
developing a rebuilding plan to be implemented for the 2022 fishing
year. Interim specifications status quo to 2019 were implemented on
October 9, 2019 (84 FR 54041) to be in place for the beginning of the
2020 fishing year until new measures could be developed incorporating
the results of the operational assessment. However, those interim
specifications are substantially more liberal than what the best
available science indicates is necessary to constrain catch and prevent
overfishing in 2020. Interim recreational management measures were
implemented on February 28, 2020 (85 FR 11863), which reduced the
recreational bag limit for the fishery in an effort to prevent
overfishing in the early months of the fishing year. This final action
is necessary to implement these recreational measures beyond the
temporary period of the interim rule that expires in August 2020. This
action revises the 2020 specifications to reflect the assessment
results and project similar specifications for 2021, as well as
implements recreational management measures to constrain catch to these
new limits on a permanent basis.
The proposed rule for this action published in the Federal Register
on May 11, 2020 (85 FR 27703), and comments were accepted through May
26, 2020. NMFS received nine comments from the public, and no changes
were made to the final rule as a result of those comments (see Comments
and Responses for additional detail). Additional background information
regarding the development of these specifications was provided in the
proposed rule and is not repeated here.
Final Specifications
This action implements the final revised 2020 and projected 2021
bluefish catch specifications, as well as the revised recreational
management measures to constrain harvest the new limits, as outlined in
the proposed rule. These specifications substantially reduce both the
commercial quota and recreational harvest limit (RHL) in response to
the results of the 2019 operational assessment and to prevent
overfishing on the overfished bluefish stock. There is no transfer of
quota from the recreational to commercial sector because the
recreational fishery is expected to achieve the full harvest limit. A
comparison of the interim 2020 and the revised 2020-21 specifications
is shown below in Table 1.
Table 1--Comparison of Interim 2020 and Revised 2020-21 Bluefish Specifications *
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Interim 2020 Revised 2020-2021
---------------------------------------------------------------- Percent change
Million lb Metric tons Million lb Metric tons
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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
Commercial Total Allowable 3.71 1,682 2.77 1,255 -25
Landings (TAL).................
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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* Specifications are derived in metric tons (mt). When values are converted to millions of pounds the numbers
may slightly shift due to rounding. The conversion factor used is 1 mt = 2,204.6226 pounds.
Table 2 provides the commercial state allocations based on the
final coastwide commercial quota for 2020 and 2021, and the allocation
percentages defined in the FMP. No states exceeded their allocated
quota in 2019; therefore, no commercial fishery accountability measures
are necessary for the 2020 fishing year.
Table 2--2020-21 Bluefish State Commercial Quota Allocations
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State Percent share Quota (lb) Quota (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
[[Page 38796]]
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, changes to the recreational management
measures were already made through a temporary interim action
implemented by NMFS using Magnuson-Stevens Act authority to prevent
overfishing (section 305(c)). This action permanently implements the
change in the daily federal recreational bag limit. The 2020 measures
reduce the limit from 15 fish for all anglers 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
measures, and recreational season (open all year) and minimum fish size
(none), remain unchanged.
The Council will review the specifications for fishing year 2021 to
determine if any changes need to be made prior to their final
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 finalize the projected measures or announce any
necessary changes.
Comments and Responses
The public comment period for the proposed rule ended on May 26,
2020, and NMFS received nine comments from the public. Four commenters
supported this action and encouraged restriction in the bluefish
fishery, mentioning that they have noticed a decline in the available
bluefish resource in recent years. However, one of these commenters did
note concerns about the implications of implementing different
recreational measures for private anglers and for-hire vessels,
especially when the stock is overfished. NMFS understands these
concerns, and these issues are being discussed as part of ongoing
agency, Council, and Commission recreational reform initiative, as well
as under Amendment 7 to the FMP and the rebuilding plan, currently in
various stages of development.
Two commenters suggested that this action's catch reduction is too
drastic and should be reconsidered, and another commenter suggested
that a slot limit or size limits be used to restrict recreational catch
instead of only a substantially reduced bag limit. The Council and
Commission explored other methods to reduce catch, such as size limits
or phased reductions, during development of these measures; however,
these measures were not adopted. This action achieves the necessary
reduction in catch while having the smallest negative impact on all
stakeholders coastwide.
A comment from a fishing organization in Florida expressed concerns
about the accuracy of the data used in the latest assessment,
especially with regards to certain states. This commenter alleged that
inaccuracies could be found in both the recreational and commercial
fishery data, and such drastic reductions should not be made based on
an assessment that includes flawed data. The revised MRIP and
commercial data used in the 2019 operational assessment are the best
scientific data available, and the appropriate model from which to base
these management decisions. MRIP is the only program to provide
consistent, comprehensive recreational catch and effort data for the
entire Atlantic coast to cover the range of the bluefish fishery, and
the recent revisions incorporating the Fishing Effort Survey improved
the accuracy of the data; reducing bias and increasing efficiency. In
terms of commercial fishery data and quota allocation, these
specifications allocate commercial quota based on the percentage share
determined by Amendment 1 to the FMP (65 FR 45844; August 25, 2000).
Revision of these allocations is being discussed under Bluefish
Amendment 7, but this is a separate action and does not need to be
addressed with these specifications.
The final comment was not responsive to the action or bluefish
fishery, and as such, it does not warrant a response. No changes were
made to the proposed rule as a result of these comments.
Changes From the Proposed Rule
NMFS has not made any changes to the proposed regulatory text, and
there are no substantive changes from the proposed rule.
Classification
Pursuant to section 304(b)(1)(A) of the Magnuson Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), the NMFS
Administrator, Greater Atlantic Region, has determined that this final
rule is necessary for the conservation and management of the Atlantic
bluefish fishery, and that it is consistent with the Atlantic Bluefish
FMP, other provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and other applicable
laws.
The Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA, finds good cause
under 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3) to waive the 30-day delay in effective date
for this rule, to ensure that these final specifications are in place
as soon as possible to prevent overfishing in the 2020 fishing year,
which began on January 1, 2020. This action establishes final, revised
specifications (i.e., annual catch limits) and recreational daily bag
limits for the 2020 bluefish fishery that began on January 1. A delay
in effectiveness well into the 2020 fishing year would be contrary to
the public interest, as it could create confusion in both the
commercial and recreational fishery sectors. Additionally, it could
compromise the effectiveness of the new specifications to prevent
overfishing.
This rule is being issued at the earliest possible date. The
proposed rule and public comment period were delayed due to the timing
of the operational stock assessment and the time necessary for the
Council and Commission to develop new specifications based on this
updated information. The proposed rule published on May 11, 2020, with
a 15-day comment period ending May 26, 2020. A 30-day delay in
effectiveness would postpone implementation of the revised
specifications and recreational bag limit well into the 2020 fishing
year and after the start of the recreational season for most of the
coast, which is contrary to the public interest.
Furthermore, it is important to implement the lower catch limits as
soon as possible to minimize the potential for overfishing. Although
interim specifications are in place, the specifications in this rule
provide a substantial reduction in catch limits based on the most
recent stock assessment, which also determined the bluefish stock to be
overfished. Further
[[Page 38797]]
harvest under old catch limits could harm the resource and subject it
to a greater risk of overfishing. This could also have further negative
impact on industry, as overharvest could result in even more
restrictive catch limits in the near future.
Finally, regulated parties do not require any additional time to
come into compliance with this rule, and thus, a 30-day delay does not
provide any benefit.
Unlike actions that require an adjustment period to comply with new
rules, bluefish fishery participants will not have to purchase new
equipment or otherwise expend time or money to comply with these status
quo management measures. Rather, complying with this final rule simply
means adhering to the catch limits and management measures set for the
bluefish fishing year. Fishery stakeholders have also been involved in
the development of this action and are anticipating this rule.
Therefore, there would be no benefit to delaying the implementation of
these specifications.
For these reasons, NMFS finds that a 30-day delay in effectiveness
would be contrary to the public interest, and therefore waives the
requirement consistent with 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3). As a result, there is
good cause to implement this action on June 29, 2020.
This final rule has been determined to be not significant for
purposes of Executive Order 12866.
This final rule is not an Executive Order 13771 regulatory action
because this action is not significant under Executive Order 12866.
This final rule does not duplicate, conflict, or overlap with any
existing Federal rules.
This action does not contain a collection of information
requirement for the purposes of the Paperwork Reduction Act.
The Council reviewed the regulations for this action and deemed
them necessary and appropriate to implement consistent with section
303(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
A final regulatory flexibility analysis (FRFA) was prepared
pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 604(a), and is included in this final rule. The
FRFA incorporates the initial regulatory flexibility analysis (IRFA), a
summary of the significant issues raised by the public comments in
response to the IRFA, and NMFS responses to those comments, and a
summary of the analyses completed to support the action. A public copy
of the EA containing the IRFA is available from the Mid-Atlantic
Fishery Management Council (see ADDRESSES). The preamble to the
proposed rule included a detailed summary of the analyses contained in
the IRFA, and that discussion is not repeated here.
A Summary of the Significant Issues Raised by the Public in Response to
the IRFA, a Summary of the Agency's Assessment of Such Issues, and a
Statement of Any Changes Made in the Final Rule as a Result of Such
Comments
NMFS did not receive any comments in response to the IRFA or
regulatory flexibility analysis (RFA) process. Refer to the ``Comments
and Responses'' section of this rule's preamble for more detail on the
public comments that were received. No changes to the proposed rule
were made as a result of public comment.
Description and Estimate of Number of Small Entities to Which the Rule
Would Apply
This final rule affects 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.
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 along the Atlantic seaboard, 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 Projected Reporting, Recordkeeping, and Other Compliance
Requirements
There are no new reporting, recordkeeping, or other compliance
requirements are included in this final rule.
Description of the Steps the Agency Has Taken To Minimize the
Significant Economic Impact on Small Entities Consistent With the
Stated Objectives of Applicable Statutes
Specification of catch limits and management measures is
constrained by the conservation objectives of the FMP and the Magnuson-
Stevens Act. This action revises 2020 catch limits and recreational
management measures, and projects 2021 specifications for the Atlantic
bluefish fishery based on the most recent operational stock assessment
and the application of the Council's Risk Policy to prevent
overfishing. Because the bluefish stock declared overfished by the most
recent assessment conducted in 2019 and is at high risk for
overfishing, the Council and the agency are required to take steps to
protect the stock. NMFS is constrained in the specifications process in
that the agency can approve, disapprove, partially approve, or in very
limited circumstances substitute measures to end overfishing and
rebuild stocks if Council-recommended measures will not do so. Because
of this, there are limited options to minimize potential impacts on
small entities.
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.
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This rule decreases 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 are unlikely to 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 revised
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. Any
quota losses should be able to be made up in state-to-state transfers.
Compared to the average receipts for 2016-2018, the revised 2020-2021
commercial quotas are expected to result in an overall revenue
reduction of 0.38 percent for small 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 implement 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, this action allows the for-hire
mode two additional fish per-person than the initially determined 3-
fish bag limit for the entire recreational fishery.
NMFS does not anticipate significant economic impacts on small
entities as a result of implementing the reduced quotas in this action.
While there is a substantial reduction in the commercial quota,
analyses indicate that coastwide bluefish landings have been less than
the approved limit in recent years. It is unlikely that potential
revenue losses would be directly affected by these quota reductions.
The recreational fishery has a relatively smaller reduction to the RHL
and loses no quota through a sector transfer. Also, the choice to
reduce harvest through only bag limit rather than adjusting other
management measures such as size limit or season enables recreational
trips to continue. The choice to allow a higher bag limit (5 fish) to
the for-hire sector was also a step taken to lessen any negative impact
on small entities.
Section 212 of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness
Act of 1996 states that, for each rule or group of related rules for
which an agency is required to prepare a FRFA, the agency shall publish
one or more guides to assist small entities in complying with the rule,
and shall designate such publications as ``small entity compliance
guides.'' The agency shall explain the actions a small entity is
required to take to comply with a rule or group of rules. As part of
this rulemaking process, a letter to permit holders that also serves as
small entity compliance guide was prepared and will be sent to all
holders of Federal permits issued for the bluefish fishery. In
addition, copies of this final rule and guide (i.e., permit holder
letter) are available from NMFS at the following website: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/bluefish#management.
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 648
Fisheries, Fishing, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
Dated: June 23, 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 amended
as follows:
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. Lift the suspension on paragraphs (a) and (b);
0
b. Revise paragraphs (a) and (b); and
0
c. Remove paragraphs (c) and (d).
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. 2020-13867 Filed 6-26-20; 8:45 am]
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