[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 20 (Wednesday, January 31, 2007)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 4458-4461]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-1544]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

RIN 0648-AT67
[Docket No. 061109296-7009-02; I.D. 110606A]


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Bluefish 
Fisheries; 2007 Atlantic Bluefish Specifications; Quota Adjustment; 
2007 Research Set-Aside Project

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Final rule; final specifications for the 2007 Atlantic bluefish 
fishery.

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SUMMARY: NMFS issues final specifications for the 2007 Atlantic 
bluefish fishery, including state-by-state commercial quotas, a 
recreational harvest limit, and recreational possession limits for 
Atlantic bluefish off the east coast of the United States. The intent 
of these specifications is to establish the allowable 2007 harvest 
levels and possession limits to attain the target fishing mortality 
rate (F), consistent with the stock rebuilding program contained in 
Amendment 1 to the Atlantic Bluefish Fishery Management Plan (FMP), as 
well as ensuring compliance with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 
Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). This action 
will publish final specifications that are modified from those 
contained in the proposed rule.

DATES: This rule is effective March 2, 2007, through December 31, 2007.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the specifications document, including the 
Environmental Assessment (EA) and the Initial Regulatory Flexibility 
Analysis (IRFA) are available from Daniel Furlong, Executive Director, 
Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, Room 2115, Federal Building, 
300 South Street, Dover, DE 19901-6790. The specifications document is 
also accessible via the Internet at http://www.nero.noaa.gov. NMFS 
prepared a Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (FRFA), which is 
contained in the classification section of this rule. The FRFA consists 
of the IRFA, public comments and responses contained in this final 
rule, and a summary of impacts and alternatives contained in this final 
rule. The small entity compliance guide is available from Patricia A. 
Kurkul, Regional Administrator, Northeast Regional Office, National 
Marine Fisheries Service, One Blackburn Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930-
2298, and on the Northeast Regional Office's website at http://www.nero.noaa.gov/nero/nr/.
    The Northeast Fisheries Science Center (Center) 41st Stock 
Assessment Review Committee (SARC) Bluefish Assessment Report (updated 
for 2006) is available at: http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/nefsc/publications/crd/crd0514.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Allison McHale, Fishery Policy 
Analyst, (978) 281-9103, or Michael Pentony, Supervisory Policy 
Analyst, (978)281-9283.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Atlantic bluefish fishery is cooperatively managed by the Mid-
Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) and the Atlantic States 
Marine Fisheries Commission (Commission). The management unit for 
bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix) is the U.S. waters of the western 
Atlantic Ocean.
    The FMP requires that the Council recommend, on an annual basis, 
total allowable landings (TAL) for the fishery, consisting of a 
commercial quota and recreational harvest limit (RHL). A research set 
aside (RSA) quota is deducted from the bluefish TAL (after any 
applicable transfer) in an amount proportional to the percentage of the 
overall TAL as allocated to the commercial and recreational sectors. 
The annual review process for bluefish requires that the Council's 
Bluefish Monitoring Committee (Monitoring Committee) review and make 
recommendations based on the best available data including, but not 
limited to, commercial and recreational catch/landing statistics, 
current estimates of fishing mortality, stock abundance, discards for 
the recreational fishery, and juvenile recruitment. Based on the 
recommendations of the Monitoring Committee, the Council makes a 
recommendation to the Northeast Regional Administrator (RA). Because 
the Bluefish FMP is a joint plan with the Atlantic States Marine 
Fisheries Commission (Commission), the Commission meets during the 
annual specification process to adopt complimentary measures.
    In July 2006, the Monitoring Committee met to discuss the updated 
estimates of bluefish stock biomass and project fishery yields for 
2007. In August 2006, the Council approved the Monitoring Committee's 
recommendations and the Commission's Bluefish Board (Board) adopted 
complementary management measures. Detailed background information 
regarding the status of the bluefish stock and the development of the 
2007 specifications for this fishery was provided in the proposed 
specifications (71 FR 68524, November 27, 2006). That information is 
not repeated here.

RSA Quota

    A request for proposals was published on December 23, 2005, to 
solicit research proposals to utilize RSA in 2007 based on research 
priorities identified by the Council (70 FR 76253). One research 
project that would utilize 363,677 lb (164,961 kg) of bluefish RSA has 
been conditionally approved by NMFS and is currently awaiting notice of 
award. Therefore, this final rule implements a 363,677-lb (164,961-kg) 
RSA quota for the 2007 bluefish fishery. If this project is not 
approved by the NOAA Grants Office, the research quota associated with 
the disapproved proposal will be restored to the bluefish TAL through 
publication in the Federal Register.

Final Specifications

    The FMP specifies that the bluefish stock is to be rebuilt to 
BMSY over a 9-year period and requires the Council to 
recommend, on an annual basis, a level of total allowable catch (TAC) 
consistent with the rebuilding program in the FMP. An estimate of 
annual discards is deducted from the TAC to calculate the TAL that can 
be made during the year by the commercial and recreational fishing 
sectors combined. The FMP rebuilding program requires the TAC for any 
given year to be set based either on the target F resulting from the 
stock rebuilding schedule specified in the FMP (0.31 for 2007), or the 
F estimated in the most recent fishing year (F2005 = 0.15), 
whichever is lower. An overall TAC of 32.033 million lb (14,530 mt) is 
recommended as the coastwide TAC by the Council at its August 2006 
meeting to achieve the target fishing mortality rate (F = 0.15) in 
2007, consistent with the rebuilding schedule specified in Amendment 1.
    The TAL for 2007 is derived by subtracting an estimate of discards 
of

[[Page 4459]]

4.271 million lb (1,937 mt), the average discard level from 2001-2005, 
from the TAC. After subtracting estimated discards, the 2007 TAL is 
approximately 12 percent greater than the 2006 TAL, or 27.762 million 
lb (12,593 mt). Based strictly on the percentages specified in the FMP 
(17 percent commercial, 83 percent recreational), the commercial quota 
for 2007 would be 4.720 million lb (2,141 mt), and the RHL would be 
23.043 million lb (10,452 mt) in 2007. In addition, up to 3 percent of 
the TAL may be allocated as RSA quota. The discussion below describes 
the allocation of TAL between the commercial and recreational sectors 
that is being implemented in this final rule, and its proportional 
adjustment downward to account for the bluefish RSA quota.

Council Recommendation: Commercial Quota and Recreational Harvest Limit

    As described in the proposed rule, based on the best information 
available at the time, the Council recommended that 4.780 million lb 
(2,168 mt) be transferred from the initial recreational allocation of 
23.043 million lb (10,452 mt) resulting in a 2007 commercial quota of 
9.500 million lb (4,309 mt) and a RHL of 18.262 million lb (8,284 mt). 
These allocations were also recommended by the Commission to be 
implemented by the states for fisheries within state waters.

Final 2007 Commercial Quota and Recreational Harvest Limit

    Although the Council recommendation was based on the best 
information available at the time, more recent information not 
available at the time of the Council's recommendation or at the time of 
publication of the proposed rule was used to develop a new landings 
projection for the 2007 fishing year. This new projection indicates 
that the initial transfer amount would exceed the amount allowable 
under the regulations. Based on data provided by the Marine 
Recreational Fisheries Statistic Survey (MRFSS) program, projected 
recreational landings in 2006 equal 18,823,384 lb (8,538 mt). Using 
this amount as the most reasonable proxy for expected landings in 2007, 
this final rule will reduce the amount of the transfer from the 
recreational to the commercial sector by 810,780 lb (367,764 kg) from 
4,780,000 lb (2,168 mt) to 3,969,220 lb (1,800 mt), commensurate with 
the increase in projected recreational landings. Therefore, the initial 
recreational allocation of 18,262,270 lb (8,284 mt) will be reduced by 
3,969,220 lb (1,800 mt) resulting in a post-transfer commercial quota 
of 8,688,760 lb (3,941 mt) and a recreational harvest limit of 
19,073,240 lb (8,651 mt). After adjusting for the RSA quota, the 
resulting 2007 specifications will include a commercial quota of 
8,574,939 lb (3,890 mt) and a recreational harvest limit of 18,823,384 
lb (8,538 mt). The RSA quota will remain unchanged at 363,677 lb 
(164,961 kg).

Adjustment Additional 2005 New York Overage

    In accordance with the regulations found at 50 CFR 648.160(f)(4), 
NMFS published an in-season adjustment to New York's commercial 
bluefish quota on May 15, 2006 (71 FR 27977), as the result of an 
overage of 51,397 lb (23,313 kg) that occurred during FY 2005. Since 
the publication of that in-season adjustment, updated landings 
information for FY 2005 indicates an additional bluefish quota overage 
for New York in the amount of 6,238 lb (2,829 kg), resulting in a total 
2005 bluefish quota overage of 57,635 lb (26,143 kg) for the state. 
This final rule adjusts the 2007 bluefish quota for New York downward 
by 6,238 lb (2,829 kg) to account for this additional 2005 overage, 
from 890,516 lb (403,931 kg) to 884,278 lb (401,106 kg).

Final State Commercial Allocations

    The 2007 commercial quota is allocated by state as shown in Table 1 
below, according to the percentages specified in the FMP. Table 1 shows 
the allocations both before and after the deductions made to reflect 
the RSA quota allocation, and also accounts for the carryover quota 
overage for New York from FY 2005.

                                         Table 1. Final Bluefish Commercial State-by-State Allocations for 2007
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                                                        2007 Commercial Quota           Carryover 2005 Overages             2007 Commercial Quota
             States               Quota Percent  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                      Share             (lb)             (kg)            (lb)            (kg)              (lb)               (kg)
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ME                               0.6685           58,084           26,347           ..............  ..............  57,323             26,002
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NH                               0.4145           36,015           16,336           ..............  ..............  35,543             16,122
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MA                               6.7167           583,598          264,718          ..............  ..............  575,953            261,251
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RI                               6.8081           591,539          268,321          ..............  ..............  583,790            264,806
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CT                               1.2663           110,026          49,907           ..............  ..............  108,584            49,254
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NY                               10.3851          902,336          409,297          6,238           2,830           884,278            401,106
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NJ                               14.8162          1,287,344        583,935          ..............  ..............  1,270,480          576,286
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DE                               1.8782           163,192          74,024           ..............  ..............  161,055            73,054
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MD                               3.0018           260,819          118,307          ..............  ..............  257,403            116,757
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VA                               11.8795          1,032,181        468,194          ..............  ..............  1,018,660          462,061
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NC                               32.0608          2,785,686        1,263,579        ..............  ..............  2,749,194          1,247,026
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SC                               0.0352           3,058            1,387            ..............  ..............  3,018              1,369
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GA                               0.0095           825              374              ..............  ..............  815                370
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FL                               10.0597          874,063          396,472          ..............  ..............  862,613            391,279
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[[Page 4460]]

 
Total                            100.0001         8,688,769\(1)\   3,941,200        6,238           2,830           8,568,710\(2)\     3,886,741
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\(1)\ The sum of the individual states does not add up to the final commercial quota of 8,688,760 lb due to rounding.
\(2)\ The sum of the individual states does not add up to the final RSA adjusted commercial quota of 8,574,939 lb, less the New York overage of 6,238 lb
  (i.e., 8,568,701 lb), due to rounding.

Recreational Possession Limit

    In this final rule, NMFS approves the Council's recommendation to 
maintain the current recreational possession limit of up to 15 fish per 
person to achieve the RHL.

Comments and Responses

    The public comment period on the proposed rule ended on December 
27, 2006, with only one comment received.
    Comment 1: The commenter expressed general support for 
environmental reforms and conservation of bluefish for future 
generations. The commenter suggested that the TAC be reduced by 50 
percent initially, and by 10 percent in each subsequent year.
    Response: NMFS acknowledges the importance of the issues raised by 
the commenter, but those of a general nature are outside the scope of 
this rulemaking. The commenter gave no specific rationale for why the 
quotas should be reduced in the manner suggested, and there is no known 
scientific basis for the commenter's suggestions. The reasons presented 
by the Council and NMFS for recommending the final 2007 bluefish 
specifications are discussed in the preambles to both the proposed and 
final rules, and sufficient analysis is contained within the supporting 
documents.

Classification

    This final rule is exempt from review under Executive Order 12866.
    Included in this final rule is the FRFA prepared pursuant to 5 
U.S.C. 604(a). The FRFA incorporates the 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 copy of the EA/RIR/IRFA is 
available from the 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.

Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

Statement of Objective and Need

    A description of the reasons why this action is being taken, and 
the objectives of and legal basis for these specifications are 
explained in the preambles to the proposed rule and this final rule and 
are not repeated here.

Summary of Significant Issues Raised in Public Comments

    One comment was submitted on the proposed rule, but it was not 
specific to the IRFA or the economic effects of the rule. NMFS has 
responded to the comment in the Comments and Responses section of the 
preamble to this final rule. No changes were made to the final rule as 
a result of the comment received.

Description and Estimate of Number of Small Entities to Which the Rule 
will Apply

    The Small Business Administration (SBA) defines small businesses in 
the commercial fishing and recreational fishing sectors as firms with 
receipts (gross revenues) of up to $4.0 million and $6.5 million, 
respectively. This rule could affect any vessels that fish for bluefish 
in Federal or state waters. The final measures regarding the 2007 
quotas could affect any vessels holding an active Federal permit for 
bluefish as well as vessels that fish for this species in state waters.
    An active participant in the commercial sector was defined as being 
any vessel that reported having landed one or more pounds of bluefish 
the dealer data during calendar year 2005. Of the active vessels 
reported in 2005, 745 known vessels landed bluefish from Maine through 
North Carolina. The Northeast Region dealer data do not cover vessel 
activity in the South Atlantic. The Northeast Region dealer data 
indicate that 148 federally permitted vessels landed bluefish in North 
Carolina in 2005. However, the North Carolina landings data for 
bluefish may be incomplete is this data system. South Atlantic Trip 
Ticket Report data indicate that 882 vessels landed bluefish in North 
Carolina in 2005. Some of these vessels may be included among the 148 
vessels identified as landing bluefish in the Northeast Region dealer 
data. As such, double counting is possible. In addition, up to 620 
vessels may have landed bluefish in Florida's east coast in 2005. 
Bluefish landings in South Carolina and Georgia were less than a 
thousand pounds combined in FY 2005, representing a negligible 
proportion of the total bluefish landings along the Atlantic coast in 
2005. Therefore, for the purpose of this analysis, it is assumed that 
no vessels landed bluefish from South Carolina and Georgia.
    In addition, it was estimated that in recent years approximately 
2,063 party/charter vessels may have been active and/or caught 
bluefish. All of these vessels are considered small entities under the 
RFA, having gross receipts of less than $5 million annually. Since the 
recreational possession limits will remain at 15 fish per person, there 
should be no impact on demand for party/charter vessel fishing, and, 
therefore, no impact on revenues earned by party/charter vessels.

Description of Projected Reporting, Recordkeeping, and Other Compliance 
Requirements

    No additional reporting, recordkeeping, or other compliance 
requirements are included in this final rule.

Description of the Steps Taken to Minimize Economic Impact on Small 
Entities

    Specification of commercial quota, recreational harvest levels, and 
possession limits is constrained by the conservation objectives of the 
FMP, under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. The commercial 
quota and RHL contained in this final rule are 8.5 percent lower and 
4.4 percent higher, respectively, than the Council's preferred 
alternative contained in the proposed rule. Although the commercial 
quota under this new alternative is lower than the commercial quota 
recommended by the Council, it is 7.7 percent higher than the final 
2006 commercial quota (71 FR 9471; February 24, 2006). As a result, all 
affected states will receive an increase in their

[[Page 4461]]

individual commercial quota allocation in comparison to their 
respective 2006 individual state allocations. However, the magnitude of 
that increase varies depending on the state's respective percent share 
in the total commercial quota, as specified in the FMP, and depending 
on if the state had any additional overages from FY 2005 that needed to 
be adjusted for in this final rule (e.g., New York). NMFS considered a 
TAL that would have allowed a higher allocation of quota to the 
commercial sector, but this alternative, proposed by the Council, would 
have been inconsistent with the goals and objectives of the FMP and the 
Magnuson-Stevens Act. The new alternative, which will transfer less 
quota from the recreational sector to the commercial sector than the 
alternative contained in the proposed rule (see Table 2), is being 
implemented consistent with recent recreational landings trends and 
should ensure that the 2007 RHL is not exceeded. Furthermore, the RHL 
being implemented in this final rule is 14.3 percent higher than the 
RHL specified in FY 2006. In conclusion, because both the 2007 
commercial quota and RHL being implemented in this final rule represent 
increases over the 2006 specifications, and because the revised 2007 
RHL is consistent with recent trends in recreational landings, no 
negative economic impacts are expected relative to the status quo and 
the Council's preferred alternative.
    The impacts on revenues of the proposed RSA were analyzed. The 
social and economic impacts of this proposed RSA are expected to be 
minimal. Assuming the full RSA is allocated for bluefish, the set-aside 
amount could be worth as much as $120,013 dockside, based on an average 
2005 ex-vessel price of $0.33 per pound for bluefish. Assuming an equal 
reduction among all 745 active dealer reported vessels, this could mean 
a reduction of about $161 per individual vessel. Changes in the 
recreational harvest limit would be insignificant (less than a 2- 
percent decrease), if 1.3 percent of the TAL is used for research. 
There are no anticipated adverse impacts associated with the RSA. In 
general, RSAs are expected to yield important long-term benefits 
associated with improved data upon which to base management decisions.
    Table 2. Comparison of New Alternative to Council Preferred and 
2006 Specifications

               Table 2. Comparison of New Alternative to Council Preferred and 2006 Specifications
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                                                Post-         Post-                                   Adjusted
                                              Transfer      Transfer    Research Set-   Adjusted    Recreational
                               Initial TAL   Commercial   Recreational      Aside      Commercial      Harvest
                                                Quota         Quota                       Quota         Limit
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2007 Final Bluefish Specifications
-----------------------------                                          --------------              -------------
Final Rule                    27,762,000    8,688,760 lb  19,073,240    363,677 lb    8,574,939 lb  18,823,384
                               lb                          lb                                        lb
Preferred                     (12,593 mt)   (3,941 mt)    (8,651 mt)    (165 mt)      (3,890 mt)    (8,538 mt)
Alternative                   ............  ............  ............  ............  ............  ............
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Council's Preferred Alternative for 2007 Bluefish Specifications
-----------------------------                                          --------------              -------------
Proposed Rule                 27,762,000    9,499,540 lb  18,262,460    363,677 lb    9,375,098 lb  18,023,225
                               lb                          lb                                        lb
Preferred                     (12,593 mt)   (4,309 mt)    (8,284 mt)    (165 mt)      (4,252 mt)    (8,175 mt)
Alternative                   ............  ............  ............  ............  ............  ............
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2006 Final Bluefish Specifications
-----------------------------                                          --------------              -------------
Preferred                     24,798,836    8,081,096 lb  16,717,740    363,677 lb    7,962,586 lb  16,472,573
                               lb                          lb                                        lb
Alternative                   (11,249 mt)   (3,666 mt)    (7,583 mt)    (165 mt)      (3,612 mt)    (7,472 mt)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Small Entity Compliance Guide

    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 small entity compliance guide 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 (see ADDRESSES) and at the following 
website: http://www.nero.noaa.gov/nero/nr/index.html.

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

    Dated: January 24, 2007.
William T. Hogarth,
Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. E7-1544 Filed 1-30-07; 8:45 am]
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