[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 97 (Friday, May 17, 2024)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 43364-43369]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-10849]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 240513-0136]
RIN 0648-BM90


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast 
Multispecies Fishery; Fishing Year 2024 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: This rulemaking proposes fishing year 2024 recreational 
management measures for Gulf of Maine (GOM) cod and GOM haddock. The 
measures are intended to ensure the recreational fishery achieves, but 
does not exceed, fishing year 2024 catch limits for GOM cod and GOM 
haddock. NMFS also announces that recreational measures for Georges 
Bank (GB) cod will remain unchanged in fishing year 2024.

DATES: Comments must be received by 5:00 p.m. EST on June 3, 2024.

ADDRESSES: A plain language summary of this proposed rule is available 
at https://www.regulations.gov/docket/NOAA-NMFS-2024-0047. You may 
submit comments on this document, identified by NOAA-NMFS-2024-0047, by 
the following method:
     Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public 
comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to https://www.regulations.gov and enter NOAA-NMFS-2024-0047 in the Search box. 
Click on the ``Comment'' icon, complete the required fields, and 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 a part of the 
public record and will generally be posted for public viewing on 
https://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).
    To review Federal Register documents referenced in this proposed 
rule, you can visit: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/management-plan/northeast-multispecies-management-plan.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mark Grant, Fishery Policy Analyst, 
(978) 281-9145.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Measures for the Gulf of Maine

    The recreational fishery for GOM cod and GOM haddock is managed 
under the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan (FMP). The 
multispecies fishing year starts on May 1 and runs through April 30 of 
the following calendar year. The FMP sets sub-annual catch limits (sub-
ACL) for the recreational fishery each fishing year for both stocks. 
These sub-ACLs are a fixed proportion of the overall catch limit for 
each stock. The FMP also includes proactive recreational accountability 
measures (AM) to prevent the recreational sub-ACLs from being exceeded 
and reactive AMs to correct the cause or mitigate the effects of an 
overage if one occurs.

[[Page 43365]]

    The proactive AM provision in the FMP provides a process for the 
Regional Administrator, in consultation with the New England Fishery 
Management Council (Council), to develop recreational management 
measures for the upcoming fishing year to ensure that the recreational 
sub-ACL is achieved, but not exceeded. The provisions governing this 
action can be found in the FMP's implementing regulations at 50 CFR 
648.89(f)(3).
    The 2024 recreational sub-ACL for GOM cod, established by Framework 
Adjustment 63, is 192 metric tons (mt), remains the same as the 2023 
recreational sub-ACL (87 FR 42375, July 15, 2022).
    For fishing year 2024, Framework Adjustment 66 proposes a 
recreational sub-ACL for GOM haddock of 759 mt, which is a 4-percent 
reduction from the 2023 sub-ACL of 793 mt (89 FR 20412, March 22, 
2024).
    NMFS projected the 2024 recreational GOM cod and GOM haddock 
removals under several combinations of minimum sizes, slot limits, 
possession limits, and closed seasons using the 2024 GOM cod sub-ACL 
implemented by Framework Adjustment 63, the proposed 2024 GOM haddock 
sub-ACL in Framework Adjustment 66, and a peer-reviewed bio-economic 
model developed by NMFS's Northeast Fisheries Science Center. The bio-
economic model considers measures for the two stocks in conjunction 
because cod are commonly caught while recreational participants are 
targeting haddock, linking the catch and effort for each stock to the 
other. The bio-economic model projected that status quo measures would 
adequately limit removals of GOM haddock in 2024, but the model also 
projected that the total GOM cod catch under status quo measures would 
exceed the 2024 sub-ACL.
    For each of the sets of management measures, 100 simulations of the 
bio-economic model were conducted, and the number of simulations which 
yielded recreational mortality estimates under the sub-ACL was used as 
an estimate of the probability that the simulated set of measures will 
not result in an overage of the sub-ACL. Measures that do not result in 
model-estimated removals under the sub-ACL greater than 50 percent of 
the time are generally considered unsatisfactory. The results of 
initial bio-economic model runs were shared with the Council and its 
Recreational Advisory Panel (RAP) and Groundfish Oversight Committee 
for review at their January meetings.
    The RAP, the Groundfish Committee, and the Council agreed on 
preferred measures and the Council formally recommended a suite of 
measures to NMFS on February 2, 2024. The Council recommended 
maintaining the GOM cod open season and 1-fish bag limit, while 
increasing the minimum fish size from 22 inches (55.9 centimeters (cm)) 
to 23 inches (58.4 cm); combined with maintaining the GOM haddock open 
season and increasing the minimum haddock fish size from 17 inches 
(43.2 cm) to 18 inches (45.7 cm) for private recreational vessels and 
increasing the GOM haddock bag limit from 10 fish to 15 fish for 
private recreational vessels. This change makes the recreational GOM 
haddock measures the same for all recreational vessels, rather than 
having different bag limits and minimum fish sizes for private vessels 
and for-hire vessels. The model projected that having different GOM 
haddock measures for private recreational vessels and for-hire vessels 
would not sufficiently constrain catch to the quota. The proposed 
measures are expected to adequately constrain recreational catch of GOM 
cod and GOM haddock based on the bio-economic model estimates. NMFS is 
proposing these Council-recommended measures for GOM cod and GOM 
haddock for fishing year 2024 (table 1).

[[Page 43366]]



              Table 1--Summary of Gulf of Maine Status Quo Measures and Proposed Measures, With Model Estimates of Catch and the Probability of Catch Remaining Below the Sub-ACLs
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                                                                        GOM haddock                                                                        GOM cod
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                                                                     Private
                                               Private    For hire    angler                                        %                     Minimum                                         %
                                  For hire     angler     minimum    minimum                       Projected   Simulations   Possession     size                         Projected   Simulations
                                 possession  possession     size       size        Open season       catch        under        limit       inches       Open season        catch      under cod
                                    limit       limit      inches     inches                          (mt)    haddock sub-                  (cm)                            (mt)       sub-ACL
                                                            (cm)       (cm)                                        ACL
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Status Quo Measures............          15          10         18         17  May 1-February 28/     557.87           100            1  22 (55.9)  September 1-October     200.21            34
                                                                                29 and April 1-                                                      31.
                                                                                April 30.
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Proposed Measures..............            15
                                           18               May 1-     517.68  100...............          1     23 (58.4)  September 1-    181.69  63.................
                                                          February                                                           October 31
                                                         28/29 and
                                                          April 1-
                                                          April 30
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[[Page 43367]]

Status Quo for Georges Bank

    This rule also announces that the current recreational measures for 
GB cod will remain in place for fishing year 2024. The Council reviewed 
the GB cod recreational catch and effort information provided by the 
Northeast Fisheries Science Center. This information shows that 
maintaining the status quo measures for GB cod would likely keep 
recreational catches close to the catch target of 113 mt in fishing 
year 2024.

Classification

    NMFS is issuing this proposed rule pursuant to section 305(d) of 
the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-
Stevens Act) to carry out the FMP consistent with measures implemented 
in regulations at 50 CFR 648.89(f)(3). The NMFS Assistant Administrator 
has determined that this proposed rule is consistent with the Northeast 
Multispecies FMP and other applicable law, subject to further 
consideration after public comment.
    Due to timing constraints resulting from the Council-recommend 
measures being finalized on January 31, 2024, NMFS is providing a 15-
day comment period. This rulemaking proposes modifications to 
management measures for GOM cod and GOM haddock under existing NMFS 
authority to implement annual recreational fishing measures, in 
consultation with the Council. The Northeast multispecies fishing year 
begins on May 1 of each year and continues through April 30 of the 
following calendar year. Delaying final action on these proposed 
measures to allow for a longer comment period than the minimum 15-day 
amount allowed for by the Magnuson-Stevens Act would result in 
significant regulatory confusion for the industry and has the potential 
to negatively impact for-hire fishing business operations and bookings. 
Delayed implementation of measures may diminish the intended impact and 
increase the uncertainty of outcomes of measures and may potentially 
result in overages or overfishing. The changes to the GOM haddock 
measures are necessary to reduce bycatch of cod during the open season 
for GOM haddock. Delaying the change in the GOM haddock measures beyond 
May 1, 2024, is expected to increase cod bycatch above the levels 
projected by the bio-economic model and to raise the likelihood of an 
overage. GOM cod is overfished and was subject to overfishing in the 
most recent assessment which highlights the need for this action to be 
in place as close to the May 1, 2024, start of the fishing year as 
possible. The intended performance of Federal recreational measures 
also depends on the implementation of complementary state-waters 
measures by partner states. Delaying the promulgation of a final rule 
to allow more time for public comment may also impact the ability of 
states to implement complementary measures in a timely fashion, 
increasing regulatory confusion among private anglers and the for-hire 
industry, negatively impacting for-hire bookings, and introducing 
significant uncertainty into the performance of recreational measures. 
This rulemaking proposes changes that fall within the range of options 
discussed during a series of public meetings. Affected and other 
interested parties have already had opportunity to participate in the 
Council's process to develop this action, which provided extensive 
opportunity to comment about potential measures and their impacts.
    The Chief Counsel for Regulation of the Department of Commerce 
certified to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business 
Administration (SBA) that this proposed rule, if adopted, would not 
have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small 
entities.
    For Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) purposes only, NMFS 
established a small business size standard for businesses, including 
their affiliates, whose primary industry is fishing (see 50 CFR 200.2). 
A business primarily engaged in fishing (NAICS code 11411) is 
classified as a small business if it is independently owned and 
operated, is not dominant in its field of operation (including its 
affiliates) and has combined annual receipts less than $11.0 million 
for all its affiliated operations worldwide. A small for-hire 
recreational fishing business is defined as a firm with receipts of up 
to $11.0 million. Having different size standards for different types 
of fishing activities creates difficulties in categorizing businesses 
that participate in multiple fishing related activities. For purposes 
of this assessment, business entities have been classified into the 
SBA-defined categories based on which activity produced the highest 
percentage of average annual gross revenues from 2018-2022, the most 
recent 5-year period for which data are available. This classification 
is now possible because vessel ownership data are included in the 
Northeast permit database. The ownership data identify all individuals 
who own fishing vessels. Using this information, vessels can be grouped 
together according to common owners. Each of the resulting groups was 
treated as a single fishing business for purposes of this analysis. 
Revenues are summed across all vessels in a group and the activities 
that generate those revenues form the basis for determining whether the 
entity is a large or small business. As the for-hire owner is permitted 
and required to comply with these measures and can be held liable under 
the law for violations of the proposed regulations, for-hire business 
entities are considered directly affected in this analysis. Private 
anglers are not considered ``entities'' under the RFA.
    For-hire fishing businesses are required to obtain a Federal 
charter/party Northeast multispecies fishing permit in order to carry 
passengers to catch Northeast multispecies including GOM cod and GOM 
haddock. Limited access permit holders may also take passengers for-
hire but are not allowed to hold any open access permits. Thus, the 
affected businesses entities of concern are businesses that hold 
Federal Northeast multispecies Limited Access permits or for-hire 
fishing permits (Category I). While all of these business entities 
could be affected by changes in recreational fishing restrictions, not 
all entities actively participate in a given year. Those who actively 
participate (i.e., report catch) would be the group of business 
entities that are affected by the regulations. Latent fishing power (in 
the form of unfished permits) has the potential to alter the impacts on 
a fishery, but it is not possible to predict how many of these latent 
business entities will participate in this fishery in fishing year 
2024. The Northeast Federal permits database indicates that a total of 
1,314 vessels held a Northeast multispecies Limited Access or for-hire 
fishing permit in 2022 (the most recent full year of available data). 
Of these 1,314 vessels, only 154 actively participated in the for-hire 
Atlantic cod and haddock fishery in calendar year 2022 (i.e., reported 
catch of cod or haddock). NMFS used these participants to analyze the 
potential economic impact of these regulations.
    Using vessel ownership information and vessel trip report data, 
NMFS determined that the 154 for-hire vessels actively participating in 
the fishery are owned by 142 unique fishing business entities. The 
majority of the 142 fishing businesses were solely engaged in for-hire 
fishing, but some also earned revenue from commercial shellfish and/or 
finfish fishing. The highest percentage of annual gross revenues for 
all but 12 of the fishing businesses was from for-hire fishing.
    Average annual gross revenue estimates calculated from the most 
recent 5 years (2018-2022) indicate that none of the 142 fishing 
business entities

[[Page 43368]]

had annual receipts of more than $11.0 million from all of their 
fishing activities (i.e., for-hire, shellfish, and finfish). Therefore, 
all of the affected fishing business entities are considered ``small'' 
by the SBA size standards, and thus this action will not 
disproportionately affect small versus large for-hire business 
entities. The proposed measures are expected to have a negative, but 
negligible, effect on small entities because they are expected to 
reduce GOM cod and GOM haddock catch and reduce overall trips, compared 
to status quo measures. The proposed measures for GOM cod and GOM 
haddock would lead to more restrictive harvest opportunities for for-
hire anglers that balance the need for additional restrictions with 
opportunities to target these stocks. This action is not expected to 
have a significant or substantial effect on small entities. Under the 
proposed action, small entities would not be placed at a competitive 
disadvantage relative to large entities, and the regulations would not 
substantially reduce profit for any small entities. Based on these 
conclusions, 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.
    This proposed rule has been determined to be not significant for 
purposes of Executive Order 12866.

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 648

    Fisheries, Fishing, Recordkeeping and reporting requirements.

    Dated: May 13, 2024.
Samuel D. Rauch, III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
    For the reasons set out in the preamble, NMFS proposes to amend 50 
CFR part 648 as follows:

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.  648.89, revise table 1 to paragraph (b)(1) and table 2 to 
paragraph (c)(1)(i) to read as follows:


Sec.  648.89   Recreational and charter/party vessel restrictions.

* * * * *
    (b) * * *
    (1) * * *

                                           Table 1 to Paragraph (b)(1)
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                                      Charter/party minimum     Private minimum size          Maximum size
                                              size           ---------------------------------------------------
              Species              --------------------------
                                       Inches         cm         Inches         cm         Inches         cm
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Cod:
    Inside GOM Regulated Mesh Area           23         58.4           23         58.4          N/A          N/A
     \1\..........................
    Outside GOM Regulated Mesh               23         58.4           23         58.4          N/A          N/A
     Area \1\.....................
Haddock:
    Inside GOM Regulated Mesh Area           18         45.7           18         45.7          N/A          N/A
     \1\..........................
    Outside GOM Regulated Mesh               18         45.7           18         45.7          N/A          N/A
     Area \1\.....................
Pollock...........................           19         48.3           19         48.3          N/A          N/A
Witch Flounder (gray sole)........           14         35.6           14         35.6          N/A          N/A
Yellowtail Flounder...............           13         33.0           13         33.0          N/A          N/A
American Plaice (dab).............           14         35.6           14         35.6          N/A          N/A
Atlantic Halibut..................           41        104.1           41        104.1          N/A          N/A
Winter Flounder (black back)......           12         30.5           12         30.5          N/A          N/A
Redfish...........................            9         22.9            9         22.9          N/A          N/A
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\1\ GOM Regulated Mesh Area specified in Sec.   648.80(a).

* * * * *
    (c) * * *
    (1) * * *
    (i) * * *

                                         Table 2 to Paragraph (c)(1)(i)
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               Stock                     Open season              Possession limit             Closed season
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GB Cod............................  September 1-April 30;  5.............................  June 1-August 31.
                                     May 1-31.
GOM Cod...........................  September 1-October    1.............................  May 1-August 31;
                                     31.                                                    November 1-April 30.
GB Haddock........................  All Year.............  Unlimited.....................  N/A.
GOM Haddock.......................  May 1-February 28 (or  15............................  March 1-March 31.
                                     29); April 1-30.
GB Yellowtail Flounder............  All Year.............  Unlimited.....................  N/A.
SNE/MA Yellowtail Flounder........  All Year.............  Unlimited.....................  N/A.
CC/GOM Yellowtail Flounder........  All Year.............  Unlimited.....................  N/A.
American Plaice...................  All Year.............  Unlimited.....................  N/A.
Witch Flounder....................  All Year.............  Unlimited.....................  N/A.
GB Winter Flounder................  All Year.............  Unlimited.....................  N/A.
GOM Winter Flounder...............  All Year.............  Unlimited.....................  N/A.
SNE/MA Winter Flounder............  All Year.............  Unlimited.....................  N/A.
Redfish...........................  All Year.............  Unlimited.....................  N/A.
White Hake........................  All Year.............  Unlimited.....................  N/A.
Pollock...........................  All Year.............  Unlimited.....................  N/A.

[[Page 43369]]

 
N Windowpane Flounder.............  CLOSED...............  No retention..................  All Year.
S Windowpane Flounder.............  CLOSED...............  No retention..................  All Year.
Ocean Pout........................  CLOSED...............  No retention..................  All Year.
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Atlantic Halibut..................                              See paragraph (c)(3)
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Atlantic Wolffish.................  CLOSED...............  No retention..................  All Year.
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[FR Doc. 2024-10849 Filed 5-16-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P