[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 246 (Wednesday, December 26, 2018)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 66234-66236]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-27878]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 181010932-8999-01]
RIN 0648-XG562


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Bluefish 
Fishery; 2019 Bluefish Specifications

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 specifications for the 2019 Atlantic bluefish 
fishery, as recommended by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council. 
This action is necessary to comply with the implementing regulations of 
the Bluefish Fishery Management Plan that require NMFS to publish 
specifications for the fishery after providing the opportunity for 
public comment. The proposed specifications are intended to establish 
allowable harvest levels for the stock that will prevent overfishing 
while allowing optimum yield, consistent with the Magnuson-Stevens 
Fishery Conservation and Management Act and the Bluefish Fishery 
Management Plan. This action also informs the public of the proposed 
fishery specifications, and provides an opportunity for comment.

DATES: Comments must be received by January 10, 2019.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on this document, identified by 
NOAA-NMFS-2018-0127, by either of the following methods:
    Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public comments via 
the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal.
    1. Go to www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2018-0127,
    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, 55 Great Republic 
Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930. Mark the outside of the envelope: 
``Comments on the Proposed Rule for Bluefish Specifications.''
    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).
    Copies of the Supplemental Information Report (SIR) prepared for 
this action and other supporting documents for the proposed 
specifications 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 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 quotas, recreational harvest limit, and 
other management measures, for up to three years at a time. This action 
proposes specifications for the bluefish fishery for the 2019 fishing 
year.
    In 2015, the 60th Northeast Stock Assessment Workshop concluded 
that the Atlantic bluefish stock is not overfished, and overfishing is 
not occurring. The most recent data update (2018) showed slight 
declines in biomass after 2016, but no change in stock status from the 
2015 benchmark assessment. Based on this best available scientific 
information, the Council's Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) 
recommended that specifications for the 2019 bluefish fishery remain 
unchanged from the 2018 specifications provided in the August 4, 2016, 
final rule (81 FR 26267), as corrected in the September 27, 2016, final 
rule (81 FR 66197). The SSC found no compelling reason to change the 
overfishing limit, ABC, or subsequent catch limits and targets. The 
Council's Bluefish Monitoring Committee (MC) also made status quo 
recommendations following their 2018 meeting, consistent with the SSC.
    The Bluefish FMP has a prescriptive process for deriving 
specifications from the ABC. The FMP sets the ACL equal to the ABC, and 
there is historically no reduction due to management uncertainty 
because of persistent under-harvest of available catch limits. The ACL 
is then divided between the commercial and recreational sectors by 
allocating 17 percent to the commercial ACT and 83 percent to the 
recreational ACT. Discards are then subtracted from each sector to 
calculate each sector's TAL. Commercial discards are assumed to be 
negligible and recreational discards are projected using a terminal

[[Page 66235]]

year estimate derived from Marine Recreational Information Program 
(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 increasing the resulting commercial quota up to 
10.5 million pounds (4,763 mt). The Council may also specify a research 
set-aside (RSA) quota of up to 3 percent of the TAL; however, no RSA 
quota has been allocated since 2015. 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 Management Board met 
jointly in August 2018 to consider the SSC and MC's recommendations and 
receive public comments. The Council and Board also voted to recommend 
largely status quo specifications for the 2019 bluefish fishery. 
Additionally, the Council recommended that the 2017 estimate of 
recreational catch be used as the basis for recreational landings 
projections and discards. They also recommended that the sector quota 
transfer from the recreational fishery to the commercial fishery be 4.0 
million pounds (1,814 mt), rather than the maximum allowable transfer 
of 6.1 million pounds (2,767 mt). The Council stated that the resulting 
final quotas more accurately represent the current sector-based 
allocations and the overall goals of the Bluefish FMP. This will result 
in slightly different final commercial quotas and recreational harvest 
limits than 2018, so proposed specifications are not entirely status 
quo. The Council and Board did not recommend changes to any other 
regulations in place for bluefish; therefore, all other fishery 
management measures in place would remain unchanged for the 2019 
fishing year.
    The bluefish stock will undergo an operational assessment in early 
2019. The assessment is designed to incorporate updated MRIP 
information. It is expected the Council and Commission will use the 
assessment results to set specifications for the 2020-2022 fishing 
years.

Proposed Specifications

    A summary of the Council's recommended specifications is shown 
below in Table 1.

                   Table 1--Summary of Current 2018 and Proposed 2019 Bluefish Specifications
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                                                    Current 2018 specifications    Proposed 2019 specifications
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
                                                    million lb      metric tons     million lb      metric tons
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Overfishing Limit...............................           27.97          12,688           27.97          12,688
ABC = ACL.......................................           21.81           9,895           21.81           9,895
Commercial ACT..................................            3.71           1,682            3.71           1,682
Recreational ACT................................           18.11           8,213           18.11           8,213
Commercial TAL..................................            3.71           1,682            3.71           1,682
Recreational TAL................................           15.11           6,857           15.62           7,083
Sector Transfer.................................            3.54           1,604            4.00           1,814
Commercial Quota................................            7.24           3,286            7.71           3,497
Recreational Harvest Limit......................           11.58           5,253           11.62           5,271
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    These recommendations are largely status quo compared to the 
current 2018 specifications, with only minor adjustments to the final 
commercial quota and recreational harvest limit to account for most 
recent recreational catch and an adjusted sector transfer. The Council 
and Board did not recommend any changes to the recreational fishing 
measures for bluefish, so the possession limit of up to 15 fish per 
person would remain in place for 2019.
    Once the final commercial quota is determined, state commercial 
quota from Maine through Florida are allocated based on specified 
percentages defined in the FMP. The proposed commercial state 
allocations for 2019 based on the Council-recommended commercial quota 
is shown below in Table 2. No states exceeded their state allocated 
quota in 2018; therefore, no accountability measures need to be 
implemented for the 2019 fishing year.

                       Table 2--Proposed 2019 Bluefish State Commercial Quota Allocations
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                                                                                  Proposed quota  Proposed quota
                              State                                Percent share       (lb)            (mt)
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Maine...........................................................            0.67          51,538           23.38
New Hampshire...................................................            0.41          31,956           14.49
Massachusetts...................................................            6.72         517,828          234.88
Rhode Island....................................................            6.81         524,874          238.08
Connecticut.....................................................            1.27          97,626           44.28
New York........................................................           10.39         800,645          363.17
New Jersey......................................................           14.82       1,142,264          518.12
Delaware........................................................            1.88         144,801           65.68
Maryland........................................................            3.00         231,426          104.97
Virginia........................................................           11.88         915,857          415.43
North Carolina..................................................           32.06       2,471,746         1121.17
South Carolina..................................................            0.04           2,714            1.23
Georgia.........................................................            0.01             732            0.33
Florida.........................................................           10.06         775,558          351.79
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................................          100.00       7,709,565        3,497.00
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[[Page 66236]]

    The current 2018 specifications are in effect until December 31, 
2018. After this date, the bluefish fishery will function without a 
quota in 2019 until these proposed specifications are finalized. 
Therefore, it is important to implement final specifications as quickly 
as possible into the fishing year in January 2019 to minimize time 
without functional quotas. To accomplish this, NMFS is requesting 
public comments by January 10, 2019. Please see the DATES section for 
submission instructions.

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 Bluefish FMP, other provisions of the Magnuson-
Stevens Act, and other applicable law, subject to further consideration 
after public comment.
    This proposed rule is exempt from review under Executive Order 
12866.
    The Chief Counsel for Regulation of the Department of Commerce 
certified to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business 
Administration that this proposed rule, if adopted, would not have a 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.
    The Council conducted an evaluation of the potential socioeconomic 
impacts of the proposed measures in conjunction with a SIR. Because no 
regulatory changes are proposed that would affect the bluefish fishery, 
they are not considered in the evaluation. The proposed measures would 
maintain the existing 2018 bluefish catch specifications and management 
measures with only minor adjustments to the final recreational TAL and 
resulting specifications.
    According to the commercial ownership database, 703 affiliate firms 
landed bluefish commercially (with a Federal commercial and/or charter/
party permit) during the 2015-2017 period. Of the 703 affiliate firms 
categorized as commercial fishing operations, 698 are categorized as 
small business and 5 categorized as large business. Because the 
Council-recommended specifications are largely status quo, the proposed 
action would have no impact on the way the fishery operates or affect 
small entities. These measures are expected to provide similar fishing 
opportunities in 2019 when compared to 2018 (proxy for base year 2017). 
As such, revenue changes are not expected in 2019 due to these 
specifications.
    Analyses indicate that the proposed action is not expected to 
substantially change fishing effort or the risk of overfishing, prices/
revenues, or fishery behavior. The proposed specifications are intended 
to maintain stability in the fishery for all regulated entities, while 
maintaining the healthy stock condition.
    There are no new reporting or recordkeeping requirements contained 
in this action.

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

    Dated: December 18, 2018.
Donna S. Wieting,
Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National 
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2018-27878 Filed 12-21-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P