[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 212 (Thursday, November 3, 2022)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 66245-66246]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-23956]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 221026-0227; RTID 0648-XC411]


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Mid-Atlantic 
Blueline Tilefish Fishery; Final 2022 and 2023 and Projected 2024 
Specifications

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

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: This final rule implements specifications for the 2022 and 
2023 blueline tilefish fishery north of the North Carolina/Virginia 
border and projected specifications for 2024. This action is necessary 
to establish allowable harvest levels and other management measures to 
prevent overfishing while allowing optimum yield, consistent with the 
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and the 
Tilefish Fishery Management Plan. It is also intended to inform the 
public of the final specifications for the 2022 fishing year (January 
1, 2022 through December 31, 2022) and the 2023 fishing year (January 
1, 2023 through December 31, 2023), and projected specifications for 
2024.

DATES: This rule is effective December 5, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the Supplemental Information Report (SIR) prepared 
for this action, and other supporting documents for these proposed 
specifications, are available from Dr. Christopher M. Moore, Executive 
Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, 800 North State 
Street, Suite 201, Dover, DE 19901. These documents are also accessible 
via the internet at https://www.mafmc.org.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Laura Hansen, Fishery Management 
Specialist, (978) 281-9225.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council manages the blueline 
tilefish fishery north of the North Carolina/Virginia border under the 
Tilefish Fishery Management Plan (FMP), which outlines the Council's 
process for establishing annual specifications. The South Atlantic 
Fishery Management Council manages Blueline tilefish south of the North 
Carolina/Virginia border under the Snapper Grouper FMP.
    The Tilefish FMP requires the Mid-Atlantic Council to recommend 
acceptable biological catch (ABC), annual catch limit (ACL), annual 
catch target (ACT), total allowable landings (TAL), and other 
management measures for the commercial and recreational sectors of the 
fishery, for up to three years at a time. The Council's Scientific and 
Statistical Committee (SSC) provides an ABC recommendation to the 
Council to derive these catch limits. The Council makes recommendations 
to NMFS that cannot exceed the recommendation of its SSC. The Council's 
recommendations must include supporting documentation concerning the 
environmental, economic, and social impacts of the recommendations. We 
are responsible for reviewing these recommendations to ensure that they 
achieve the FMP objectives and are consistent with all applicable laws. 
Following review, NMFS publishes the final specifications in the 
Federal Register.
    In 2017, a benchmark assessment of the blueline tilefish population 
along the entire East Coast was conducted through the Southeast Data, 
Assessment, and Review process (SEDAR 50). Due to data limitations, the 
coast-wide population was modeled separately north and south of Cape 
Hatteras, NC. To assist in developing a recommendation for acceptable 
biological catch (ABC), the Mid- and South Atlantic Councils' SSCs, as 
well as staff from the Northeast and Southeast Fisheries Science 
Centers, formed a joint subcommittee to examine available information 
for the region north of Cape Hatteras, and to develop separate catch 
advice for each Council's jurisdiction.
    At its March 2018 meeting, the Mid-Atlantic SSC reviewed the output 
from the SEDAR 50 benchmark stock assessment as well as additional work 
using the Data-Limited Methods Toolkit (DLMTool) and derived an ABC 
recommendation using the Mid-Atlantic Council's risk policy. The 
resulting ABC was 179,500 lb (81.4 mt) for 2019-2021 for the region 
north of Cape Hatteras. The SSC then followed the recommendation of the 
Joint Mid- and South Atlantic Blueline Tilefish Subcommittee to 
distribute 56 percent of that ABC to the Mid-Atlantic Council (north of 
the VA/NC border) and 44 percent to the South Atlantic Council. This 
percentage breakdown is based on the catch distribution from the 2017 
Pilot Blueline Tilefish Longline Survey.

[[Page 66246]]

    At its March 2022 meeting, the Mid-Atlantic SSC used the 2018 
approach to recommend a status quo ABC of 100,520 lb (45.6 mt) for the 
2022-2024 fishing years for the region north of Cape Hatteras. The SSC 
made this recommendation under consideration of recent fishery 
performance, lack of an updated assessment, the need to synchronize the 
Mid-Atlantic specifications cycle with a SEDAR assessment scheduled for 
2024/2025, and the high degree of uncertainty within the recreational 
sector. Final 2022 and 2023 and projected 2024 specifications are shown 
below in Table 1. We will reaffirm the 2024 final specifications via 
publication in the Federal Register.

                Table 1--Final 2022 and 2023 and Projected 2024 Blueline Tilefish Specifications
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                                              Final 2022               Final 2023             Projected 2024
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ABC--North of NC/VA line.............  100,520 lb (45.6 mt)...  100,520 lb (45.6 mt)...  100,520 lb (45.6 mt).
Recreational ACL/ACT.................  73,380 (33.3 mt).......  73,380 (33.3 mt).......  73,380 (33.3 mt).
Commercial ACL/ACT...................  27,140 lb (12.3 mt)....  27,140 lb (12.3 mt)....  27,140 lb (12.3 mt).
Recreational TAL.....................  71,912 lb (32.6 mt)....  71,912 lb (32.6 mt)....  71,912 lb (32.6 mt).
Commercial TAL.......................  26,869 lb (12.2 mt)....  26,869 lb (12.2 mt)....  26,869 lb (12.2 mt).
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    There were no other recommended changes to commercial or 
recreational management measures. The 2022 fishing year began on 
January 1, 2022, and the fishery is operating under a rollover 
provision. The 2023 fishing year will begin on January 1, 2023.
    On August 2, 2022, we published a proposed rule (87 FR 47181) 
requesting comment on the 2022-2024 blueline tilefish specifications. 
The comment period was open through August 17, 2022. We did not receive 
any comments and no changes were made from the proposed action.

Classification

    Pursuant to section 304(b)(1)(A) of the Magnuson Stevens Fishery 
Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), the NMFS 
Assistant Administrator (AA) has determined that this final rule is 
consistent with the Tilefish FMP, other provisions of the Magnuson-
Stevens Act, and other applicable law.
    The Council prepared a Supplemental Information Report (SIR) for 
this action and the AA concluded that that the modifications and their 
impacts make no substantial changes relevant to environmental concerns 
considered and analyzed in the original Environmental Assessment 
prepared for the 2019-2021 Blueline tilefish specifications. The 
management measures are status quo from the 2019-2021 specifications. A 
copy of the SIR is available from the Council (see ADDRESSES).
    This final rule is not subject to Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) 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 during the proposed rule stage that this action would 
not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small 
entities. The factual basis for the certification was published in the 
proposed rule and is not repeated here. No comments were received 
regarding this certification. As a result, a regulatory flexibility 
analysis was not required and none was prepared.
    This final rule contains no information collection requirements 
under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

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

    Dated: October 31, 2022.
Samuel D. Rauch, III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-23956 Filed 11-2-22; 8:45 am]
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