[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 217 (Thursday, November 10, 2022)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 67830-67832]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-24540]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 221104-0234]
RIN 0648-BL55


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Mid-Atlantic Golden 
Tilefish Fishery; Framework Adjustment 7 to Tilefish Fishery Management 
Plan

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

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: This rule implements Framework Adjustment 7 to the Tilefish 
Fishery Management Plan, which includes specifications for the golden 
tilefish fishery for fishing years 2022-2024, a change to the annual 
specifications process, and a change to the start of the golden 
tilefish fishing year. This action is necessary to establish allowable 
harvest levels and other management measures to prevent overfishing 
while allowing optimum yield. This action is intended to ensure 
measures are based on the best scientific information available and 
increase flexibility, where possible, for the tilefish fishery.

DATES: This rule is effective November 9, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the Environmental Assessment prepared for Tilefish 
Framework Adjustment 7, and other supporting documents for this action, 
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 (Council) manages the 
golden tilefish fishery under the Tilefish Fishery Management Plan 
(FMP), which outlines the Council's process for establishing annual 
specifications. The FMP requires the Council to recommend acceptable 
biological catch (ABC), an annual catch limit (ACL), an annual catch 
target (ACT), total allowable landings (TAL), and other management 
measures, currently for up to 3 years at a time. The directed 
commercial fishery is managed under an individual fishing quota (IFQ) 
program, with small amounts of non-IFQ catch allowed under an 
incidental permit. Detailed background information regarding the 
development of the 2022-2024 specifications for this fishery was 
provided in the proposed rule for this action (87 FR 56393; September 
14, 2022), and is not repeated here.

2022-2024 Fishery Specifications

    In 2020, the Council set specifications for 2021 and interim 
specifications for 2022. This action revises the 2022 golden tilefish 
ABC with a 20-percent increase from the interim 2022 specifications, 
maintains a constant ABC for 2023, and projects the same ABC for 2024. 
The 20 percent increase was based on the 2021 management track stock 
assessment and recommendations from the Scientific and Statistical 
Committee and Tilefish Monitoring Committee. This action makes no 
changes to the current recreational bag limit or the commercial/
incidental trip limit. NMFS will publish a notice in the Federal 
Register before the 2024 fishing year notifying the public of the final 
specifications.

     Table 1--Final 2022 and 2023 and Projected 2024 Specifications
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
ABC..........................  1,964,319 lb (891 mt).
ACL..........................  1,964,319 (891 mt).
IFQ fishery ACT..............  1,763,478 (800 mt).
Incidental fishery ACT.......  92,815 (42 mt).
IFQ fishery TAL = ACT (no      1,763,478 lb (800 mt).
 discards permitted in
 fishery).
Incidental fishery TAL =       75,410 lb (42 mt).
 Incidental fishery ACT--
 discards.
Incidental Trip Limit........  500 lb (226.8 kg) or 50 percent, by
                                weight, of all fish, including golden
                                tilefish, on board the vessel, whichever
                                is less.

[[Page 67831]]

 
Recreational Bag Limit.......  8-fish recreational bag-size limit per
                                angler, per trip.
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Multi-Year Specifications

    This action modifies the annual specifications process, so that 
multi-year specifications can be set for up to the maximum number of 
years needed to be consistent with the Northeast Region Coordinating 
Council-approved stock assessment schedule. Multi-year regulations have 
been implemented for all fisheries managed by the Council to relieve 
some of the administrative demands on the Council and NMFS associated 
with annual specification requirements. Longer-term specifications also 
provide greater regulatory consistency and predictability to the 
fishing sectors. This action provides additional flexibility as 
specifications could be set to cover the time period until a new golden 
tilefish stock assessment is available. Stock assessments provide 
critical information for setting specifications and, in the period 
between assessments, there often is no new information that would lead 
to changes to annual specifications. The Council will continue its 
process of reviewing multi-year specifications each year to determine 
if any modifications are necessary.

Fishing Year Timing

    This action changes the fishing year to match the calendar year and 
starts on January 1. Changing the fishing year to the calendar year 
will match the period used in the stock assessments and the cost 
recovery program for the golden tilefish IFQ fishery. The 2022 fishing 
year, which started on November 1, 2021, will continue through December 
31, 2022. The 2022 fishing year would be a 14-month year and IFQ permit 
holders will receive additional allocation because of the 20-percent 
increase to the 2022 ABC. IFQ permit holders would start with a new 
allocation at the start of the 2023 fishing year on January 1, 2023, 
based on the revised 2023 ABC. The 2023 fishing year, and all 
subsequent fishing years, will begin on January 1 and end on December 
31.

Comments

    On September 14, 2022, we published a proposed rule (87 FR 56393) 
requesting comment on the measures in Tilefish Framework Adjustment 7. 
The comment period was open through September 29, 2022. We received 
three public comments. One comment was not relevant to this rule.
    Comment 1: One commenter supported the administrative changes, but 
opposed the increased ABC. The commenter noted that a constant harvest 
strategy is a better approach and avoids, ``whiplash'' quotas for the 
fishery.
    Response: To account for potential uncertainties in the assessment 
projections, the Council adopted an Annual Catch Target that is more 
conservative. This provides stability in the annual specifications and 
reduce the risk of wide fluctuations in quotas. Maintaining the status 
quo would have prevented achieving optimum yield based on the most 
recent assessment information for this stock and would likely have 
unnecessarily disadvantaged smaller quota shareholders. The small 
increase implemented in this action balances the need to achieve 
optimum yield, while still minimizing variability and providing 
stability for the fishery.
    Comment 2: One comment opposed the 8-fish recreational bag limit 
and recommended a lower bag limit of 4-6 fish as tilefish grow slowly 
and anglers rarely catch the current limit.
    Response: The Monitoring Committee considered changing the bag 
limit, but opted not to because recreational landings are not included 
in the stock assessment model and because we did not change the bag 
limit when the quota dropped a few years ago. The bag limit is expected 
to help the fishery achieve the quota, and these measures are expected 
to maintain catch within the quota. The recreational bag limit also has 
not changed since it was first implemented by Amendment 1. In the final 
rule for Amendment 1, 8 fish was selected as the upper range of the 
mean effort in 1996-2005. Since that time, the mean effort numbers have 
tended to be in the range of 3-4 fish per angler, which indicates the 
8-fish bag limit is not generally achieved and reducing it might not 
result in increased conservation. In addition, the 8-fish limit is 
valuable to party/charter owners who are trying to attract patrons for 
these long-duration trips offshore and the potential to take home 8 
fish.

Changes From the Proposed Rule

    The proposed rule inadvertently omitted the amendatory language to 
update the definition of `Fishing Year' at 50 CFR 648.2 to reflect the 
corresponding proposed change to the golden tilefish fishing year. This 
final rule corrects this oversight. There are no other changes from the 
proposed rule.

Classification

    Pursuant to section 304(b)(3) 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 Framework Adjustment 7 to the Tilefish FMP,
    There is good cause under 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3) to waive the 30-day 
delay in effective date and make the rule effective upon filing with 
the Office of the Federal Register. This rule changes the end of the 
fishing year to December 31 and extends the 2022 fishing year. Making 
this rule effective upon filing will allow additional time for IFQ 
permit holders to fully use the additional quota they will receive as a 
result of increasing their 2022 allocations. For these reasons, NMFS 
finds that a 30-day delay in effectiveness would be contrary to the 
public interest.
    This final rule has been determined to be not significant for 
purposes of 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.

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 648

    Fisheries, Fishing, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

    Dated: November 7, 2022.
Samuel D. Rauch, III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.

    For the reasons set out in the preamble, NMFS amends 50 CFR part 
648 as follows:

[[Page 67832]]

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.  648.2, revise the ``Fishing year'' definition to read as 
follows:


Sec.  648.2  Definitions.

* * * * *
    Fishing year means:
    (1) For the Atlantic deep-sea red crab fishery, from March 1 
through the last day of February of the following year.
    (2) Beginning in 2018, for the Atlantic sea scallop fishery, from 
April 1 through March 31 of the following year (for 2017, the Atlantic 
sea scallop fishing year will be from March 1, 2017, through March 31, 
2018).
    (3) For the NE multispecies, monkfish and skate fisheries, from May 
1 through April 30 of the following year.
    (4) For all other fisheries in this part, from January 1 through 
December 31.
* * * * *

0
3. In Sec.  648.292, revise paragraph (a) introductory text and 
paragraph (a)(1) to read as follows:


Sec.  648.292  Tilefish specifications.

    (a) Golden Tilefish. The golden tilefish fishing year is the 12-
month period beginning with January 1, annually.
    (1) Annual specification process. The Tilefish Monitoring Committee 
shall review the ABC recommendation of the SSC, golden tilefish 
landings and discards information, and any other relevant available 
data to determine if the golden tilefish ACL, ACT, or total allowable 
landings (TAL) for the IFQ and/or incidental sectors of the fishery 
require modification to respond to any changes to the golden tilefish 
stock's biological reference points or to ensure any applicable 
rebuilding schedule is maintained. The Monitoring Committee will 
consider whether any additional management measures or revisions to 
existing measures are necessary to ensure that the IFQ and/or 
incidental TAL will not be exceeded. Based on that review, the 
Monitoring Committee will recommend the golden tilefish ACL, ACTs, and 
TALs to the Tilefish Committee of the MAFMC. Based on these 
recommendations and any public comment received, the Tilefish Committee 
shall recommend to the MAFMC the appropriate golden tilefish ACL, ACT, 
TAL, and other management measures for both the IFQ and the incidental 
sectors of the fishery for a single fishing year or up to the maximum 
number of years needed to be consistent with the Northeast Regional 
Coordinating Council-approved stock assessment schedule. The MAFMC 
shall review these recommendations and any public comments received, 
and recommend to the Regional Administrator, at least 120 days prior to 
the beginning of the next fishing year, the appropriate golden tilefish 
ACL, ACT, TAL, the percentage of TAL allocated to research quota, and 
any management measures to ensure that the TAL will not be exceeded, 
for both the IFQ and the incidental sectors of the fishery, for the 
next fishing year, or up to the maximum number of fishing years 
consistent with the Northeast Regional Coordinating Council-approved 
stock assessment schedule. The MAFMC's recommendations must include 
supporting documentation, as appropriate, concerning the environmental 
and economic impacts of the recommendations. The Regional Administrator 
shall review these recommendations and, after such review, NMFS will 
publish a proposed rule in the Federal Register specifying the annual 
golden tilefish ACL, ACT, TAL, and any management measures to ensure 
that the TAL will not be exceeded for the upcoming fishing year or 
years for both the IFQ and the incidental sectors of the fishery. After 
considering public comments, NMFS will publish a final rule in the 
Federal Register to implement the golden tilefish ACL, ACTs, TALs and 
any management measures. The previous year's specifications will remain 
effective unless revised through the specification process and/or the 
research quota process described in paragraph (a)(5) of this section. 
NMFS will issue notification in the Federal Register if the previous 
year's specifications will not be changed.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2022-24540 Filed 11-9-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P