[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 244 (Wednesday, December 21, 2022)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 78011-78013]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-27661]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 221215-0272; RTID 0648-XC422]


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Bluefish 
Fishery; 2023 Specifications

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

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: NMFS issues final specifications for the 2023 Atlantic 
bluefish fishery, as recommended by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management 
Council and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. This 
action is necessary to establish allowable harvest levels for the stock 
to prevent overfishing and promote rebuilding, while enabling optimum 
yield, using the best scientific information available.

DATES: Effective on January 1, 2023.

ADDRESSES: The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council prepared a 
Supplemental Information Report (SIR) for these specifications that 
describes the action, and any changes from the original environmental 
assessment (EA) and analyses for 2023 specifications action. Copies of 
the SIR, original EA, and other supporting documents for this action, 
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 https://www.mafmc.org/supporting-documents.

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 
annual regulatory limits including: An acceptable biological catch 
(ABC); commercial and recreational annual catch limits (ACL); 
commercial and recreational annual catch targets (ACT); a commercial 
quota; a recreational harvest limit (RHL); and other management 
measures, for up to 3 years at a time. This action implements adjusted 
bluefish specifications for the 2023 fishing year, based on the most 
recent data and Council and Commission recommendations.
    Catch limits for the 2023 bluefish fishery were previously 
projected in a multi-year specifications action (87 FR 5739, February 
2, 2022), based on a 2021 assessment update and Amendment 7 to the 
Bluefish FMP (86 FR 66977, November 24, 2021). Those 2023 
specifications would increase the commercial quota 21 percent and the 
RHL 59 percent from 2022 limits. No changes were necessary to the 
majority of those projected specifications; however, there was a 
recreational catch overage of 5.59 million lb (2,536 mt) in

[[Page 78012]]

2021 that is required to be paid back pound-for-pound through 
accountability measures (AM) in 2023, and updated data indicated that 
the initial projection of recreational discards was too low. To account 
for this new information, the 2023 RHL has been adjusted from the 
projected 22.14 million lb (10,044 mt) to 14.11 million lb (6,400 mt), 
which is an increase of 1.6 percent from 2022, rather than 59 percent. 
No changes were recommended to recreational management measures because 
the adjusted RHL is only slightly higher than the 2022 RHL, and there 
was no compelling reason to change existing measures.
    The proposed rule for this action published in the Federal Register 
on November 15, 2022 (87 FR 68434), and comments were accepted through 
November 30, 2022. NMFS received five comments from the public, and no 
changes were made to the final rule because of those comments (see 
Comments and Responses for additional detail). Additional background 
information regarding the development of these specifications was 
provided in the proposed rule and is not repeated here.

Final Specifications

    This action implements the Council and Commission's recommended 
2023 bluefish catch specifications, as outlined in the proposed rule 
(Table 1). These final specifications increase the coastwide commercial 
quota by 21 percent, as previously projected, and the RHL by 1.6 
percent, rather than 59 percent as originally projected.

         Table 1--Final Adjusted 2023 Bluefish Specifications *
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                            Million lb      Metric tons
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Overfishing Limit.......................           45.17          20,490
ABC.....................................           30.62          13,890
Commercial ACL = Commercial ACT.........            4.29           1,945
Recreational ACL = Recreational ACT.....           26.34          11,945
Recreational AM.........................            5.59           2,536
Recreational Discards...................            6.64           3,012
Commercial Quota........................            4.29           1,945
RHL.....................................           14.11           6,400
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* 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 = 2,204.6226
  lb.

    The final coastwide commercial quota is allocated among the coastal 
states from Maine to Florida based on percent shares specified in the 
FMP, and the phased-in changes to these share allocations specified in 
Amendment 7 to the FMP (86 FR 66977, November 24, 2021). The 2023 state 
bluefish quota allocations (Table 2) are unchanged from what was 
previously projected, as there are no adjustments to the commercial 
sector. In addition, no states exceeded their allocated quota in 2021 
or 2022; therefore, no AMs for the commercial fishery are required for 
the 2023 fishing year.

                            Table 2--2023 Bluefish State Commercial Quota Allocations
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                              State                               Percent  share    Quota  (lb)     Quota  (kg)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Maine...........................................................            0.51          21,807           9,892
New Hampshire...................................................            0.36          15,331           6,954
Massachusetts...................................................            7.69         329,578         149,494
Rhode Island....................................................            7.61         326,165         147,946
Connecticut.....................................................            1.22          52,094          23,629
New York........................................................           13.06         560,031         254,026
New Jersey......................................................           14.54         623,295         282,722
Delaware........................................................            1.48          63,572          28,836
Maryland........................................................            2.69         115,409          52,349
Virginia........................................................           10.16         435,625         197,596
North Carolina..................................................           32.05       1,374,077         623,271
South Carolina..................................................            0.05           2,344           1,063
Georgia.........................................................            0.04           1,544             700
Florida.........................................................            8.55         366,585         166,280
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................................          100.01       4,287,109       1,944,600
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    As previously mentioned, this action makes no changes to 
recreational management measures, including the recreational daily bag 
limit of three fish per person for private anglers and five fish per 
person for for-hire (charter/party) vessels.

Comments and Responses

    The public comment period for the proposed rule ended on November 
15, 2022, and NMFS received five comments from the public. No changes 
were made to final rule as a result of these comments.
    Comment 1: Three comments expressed similar opposition to the 
current recreational bag limits for bluefish; specifically that private 
anglers are held to a limit of three fish per person, while party/
charter boats are allowed five fish per person.
    Response: This action does not change or affect the bluefish 
recreational management measures, including bag limits. That said, the 
issue of recreational bag limits was discussed at length following the 
overfished

[[Page 78013]]

determination of the stock in 2019, and in the development of 
specifications for fishing years 2020 and 2021. There is a possibility 
that these limits will be revisited for the 2024 fishing year following 
the next assessment, but no changes are considered in this 
specifications action for 2023.
    Comment 2: Another commenter noted that any additional restriction 
of the recreational bluefish fishery is unnecessary and would cause 
economic burden.
    Response: NMFS understands the concern expressed for the 
recreational sector; however, this action does not add any restrictions 
to the bluefish fishery. Even though the RHL is increasing less than 
previously projected, it is still increasing 1.6 percent from 2022.
    Comment 3: The final commenter simply voiced support for the action 
and encouraged implementation as soon as possible.
    Response: NMFS agrees and is implementing this rule in a timely 
manner.

Changes From the Proposed Rule

    There are no substantive 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, Greater Atlantic Region, has determined that 
these final specifications are necessary for the conservation and 
management of the Atlantic bluefish fishery, and that they are 
consistent with the Atlantic Bluefish FMP, the Magnuson-Stevens Act, 
and other applicable law.
    The Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA, finds good cause 
under 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3) to waive the 30-day delay in effective date 
for this rule to ensure that the final specifications are in place as 
close as practicable to the start of the bluefish fishing year on 
January 1, 2023. This action establishes the final specifications 
(i.e., catch limits) for the 2023 bluefish fishery. A delay in 
effectiveness well beyond the start of this fishing year would be 
contrary to the public interest as it could create confusion in the 
bluefish industry, and compromise the effectiveness of the increased 
quota allocations both to fishery sectors, and commercially among the 
states. State agencies also use commercially-allocated quotas to set 
annual state management measures, so the longer these specifications 
are delayed, the longer it will take for some states to implement their 
respective regulations. Additionally, because catch limits are 
increasing, a further delay into the new fishing year could also cause 
potential economic harm to the fishery through lost opportunity to fish 
under the higher limits.
    Furthermore, regulated parties do not require any additional time 
to come into compliance with this rule, and thus, a 30-day delay before 
the final rule becomes effective does not provide any benefit. Unlike 
actions that require an adjustment period, bluefish fishery 
participants will not have to purchase new equipment or otherwise 
expend time or money to comply with these management measures. Rather, 
complying with this final rule simply means adhering to the new catch 
limits set for the 2023 fishing year. Fishery stakeholders have also 
been involved in the development of this action and are anticipating 
this rule. For these reasons, NMFS finds that a 30-day delay in 
effectiveness would be contrary to the public interest, and therefore, 
waives the requirement consistent with 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3).
    This final rule is not subject to review under Executive Order 
12866 because the action contains no implementing regulations.
    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, and the initial certification remains 
unchanged. As a result, a final regulatory flexibility analysis is not 
required and none was prepared.
    This final rule does not duplicate, conflict, or overlap with any 
existing Federal rules.
    This action contains no information collection requirements under 
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

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

    Dated: December 15, 2022.
Andrew James Strelcheck,
Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National 
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-27661 Filed 12-20-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P