[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
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                      Interim 2020 (current)       Revised 2020-2021 (proposed)
                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------- Percent change
                                    Metric tons     Million lb      Million lb      Metric tons
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\*\ 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)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................................          100.00       2,766,801       1,254,785
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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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