[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 215 (Thursday, November 5, 2020)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 70573-70575]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-24364]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 201029-0281; RTID 0648-XX064]


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Bluefish 
Fishery; 2021 Bluefish Specifications

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

ACTION: Proposed rule; request for comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: NMFS proposes specifications for the 2021 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, 
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 November 20, 2020.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on this document, identified by 
NOAA-NMFS-2020-0129, by the following method:
    Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public comments via 
the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal.
    1. Go to https://www.regulations.gov/docket?D=NOAA-NMFS-2020-0129,
    2. Click the ``Comment Now!'' icon, complete the required fields, 
and
    3. Enter or attach your comments.
    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). If you are unable to submit your comment through 
www.regulations.gov, contact Cynthia Ferrio, Fishery Policy Analyst, 
[email protected].
    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 North State Street, Dover, DE 19901. These documents are 
also accessible via the internet at http://www.mafmc.org.

[[Page 70574]]


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cynthia Ferrio, Fishery Policy 
Analyst, (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 three years at a time. This action 
proposes bluefish specifications for the 2021 fishing year.
    The August 2019 bluefish operational assessment concluded that the 
Atlantic bluefish stock is overfished but not subject to overfishing. 
The most recent data update (2020) showed increases in both commercial 
and recreational catch in 2019 from 2018, but no change in the stock 
status determinations from the 2019 assessment. Based on this best 
available scientific information, the Council's Scientific and 
Statistical Committee (SSC) found no compelling reason to change the 
overfishing limit, ABC, or subsequent catch limits and targets for the 
2021 bluefish fishery. Therefore, the SSC recommended a status quo ABC 
of 7,385 metric tons (16.28 million pounds). The Council's Bluefish 
Monitoring Committee also made status quo recommendations for 2021 at 
its meeting on July 28, 2020, as projected in the revised 2020-2021 
specifications final rule (85 FR 38794; June 29, 2020), consistent with 
the SSC.
    The Bluefish FMP has a prescriptive process for deriving 
specifications from the ABC. First, the ACL is set equal to the ABC. 
Then, the ACL is allocated 17 percent to the commercial ACT, and 83 
percent to the recreational ACT. Applicable discards are subtracted 
from each sector's ACT to calculate the sector's total allowable 
landings (TAL). Commercial discards are assumed to be negligible and 
recreational discards are projected using a terminal year estimate 
derived from Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP) data. If 
the recreational fishery is not projected to land its harvest limit, 
then recreational sector quota may be transferred to the commercial 
sector resulting in a commercial quota of up to 10.5 million pounds 
(4,763 metric tons). The final commercial quota is then allocated to 
coastal states from Maine to Florida based on percent shares specified 
in the FMP.
    The Council and the Commission's Bluefish Management Board approved 
catch specifications for fishing year 2021 at a joint meeting in August 
2020, based on the data update and recommendations from the SSC and 
Monitoring Committee. The Council and Board recommended status quo 
specifications for the 2021 bluefish fishery using the most recent 
catch and discard data to calculate the final harvest limits. This 
recommendation uses the complete and final 2019 estimates for 
recreational catch and discards, which increase the recreational 
discard estimates from what were originally projected for 2021 and 
subsequently decreases the recreational TAL and harvest limit. The 
recreational sector is still projected to fully achieve this 
recreational harvest limit with the updated estimates, so no sector 
transfer to the commercial fishery is permitted. The Council and Board 
did not recommend changes to any other regulations in place for 
bluefish; therefore, all other fishery management measures will remain 
unchanged for the 2021 fishing year unless changed through a separate 
rulemaking.

Proposed Specifications

    This action proposes the Council's recommendations for 2021 
bluefish catch specifications, which are consistent with the SSC's 
recommendations. A comparison of the current 2020 and the proposed 2021 
specifications is summarized below in Table 1.

                  Table 1--Summary of Current 2020 and Proposed 2021 Bluefish Specifications *
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                    Current 2020 specifications    Proposed 2021 specifications
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
                                                    million lb      metric tons     million lb      metric tons
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Overfishing Limit...............................           32.97          14,955           37.98          17,228
ABC = ACL.......................................           16.28           7,385           16.28           7,385
Commercial ACT..................................            2.77           1,255            2.77           1,255
Recreational ACT................................           13.51           6,130           13.51           6,130
Commercial Discards.............................               0               0               0               0
Recreational Discards...........................            4.03           1,829            5.17           2,343
Commercial TAL..................................            2.77           1,255            2.77           1,255
Recreational TAL................................            9.48           4,301            8.34           3,785
Sector Transfer.................................            0.00               0            0.00               0
Commercial Quota................................            2.77           1,255            2.77           1,255
Recreational Harvest Limit......................            9.48           4,301            8.34           3,785
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Specifications are derived from the ABC 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 = 2204.6226 pounds.

    These proposed specifications are largely status quo compared to 
the current 2020 catch limits, with only slight changes to the 
recreational TAL and recreational harvest limit to account for the 
increase in recreational discards. The Council and Board did not 
recommend any changes to the recreational management measures in these 
specifications, but may do so through a separate action at the joint 
meeting in December 2020. Therefore, this proposed action does not 
change the existing recreational daily bag limits of three fish per 
person for private anglers and five 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), will also remain unchanged.
    Table 2 provides the proposed commercial state allocations based on 
the Council-recommended coastwide commercial quota for 2021. No state 
exceeded its allocated quota in 2019, nor is projected to do so in 
2020; therefore, no accountability measures for the commercial fishery 
are required for the 2021 fishing year.

[[Page 70575]]



                       Table 2--Proposed 2021 Bluefish State Commercial Quota Allocations
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                  Proposed quota  Proposed quota
                              State                                Percent share       (lb)            (kg)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Maine...........................................................            0.67          18,503           8,391
New Hampshire...................................................            0.41          11,473           5,203
Massachusetts...................................................            6.72         185,904          84,310
Rhode Island....................................................            6.81         188,434          85,458
Connecticut.....................................................            1.27          35,049          15,895
New York........................................................           10.39         287,438         130,357
New Jersey......................................................           14.82         410,082         185,978
Delaware........................................................            1.88          51,985          23,576
Maryland........................................................            3.00          83,084          37,680
Virginia........................................................           11.88         328,800         149,116
North Carolina..................................................           32.06         887,377         402,438
South Carolina..................................................            0.04             974             442
Georgia.........................................................            0.01             263             119
Florida.........................................................           10.06         278,432         126,273
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................................          100.00       2,767,793       1,255,235
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Council is developing a rebuilding plan for the bluefish stock 
that will be implemented by the end of November 2021. This rebuilding 
plan will inform development of the next set of specifications for 
fishing year 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.
    This proposed rule is exempt from review under 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 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 factual basis for this determination is as follows.
    The Council conducted an evaluation of the potential socioeconomic 
impacts of the proposed measures in conjunction with a SIR. There are 
no proposed regulatory changes in this bluefish action, so none are 
considered in the evaluation. The proposed 2021 specifications will 
maintain the existing 2020 bluefish catch limits and management 
measures with only minor adjustments to the final recreational TAL and 
recreational harvest limit.
    According to the Northeast Fisheries Science Center commercial 
ownership database, 735 affiliate firms landed bluefish commercially 
during 2016-2018. Of those commercial fishing operations, 728 are 
categorized as small businesses and 7 as large businesses. For the 
recreational for-hire fishery, 389 for-hire affiliate firms generated 
revenues from recreational fishing for various species during 2016-
2018. All of those business affiliates are categorized as small 
businesses, but it is not possible to derive the proportion of overall 
revenues for these for-hire firms resulting from fishing activities for 
an individual species, such as bluefish.
    The Council-recommended specifications for 2021 are expected to 
provide similar fishing opportunities when compared to the previous 
year, because they are largely status quo. As such, revenue changes are 
not expected in 2021 as a result of the proposed action. Overall, 
analyses indicate that the proposed specifications will not 
substantially change: Fishing effort, the risk of overfishing, prices/
revenues, or fishery behavior. Additionally, this action will not have 
a significant impact on small entities. As a result, an initial 
regulatory flexibility analysis is not required and none has been 
prepared.
    This proposed rule contains no information collection requirements 
under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

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

    Dated: October 29, 2020.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2020-24364 Filed 11-4-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P