[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 200 (Wednesday, October 16, 2024)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 83440-83445]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-23841]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 241009-0267]
RTID 0648-XE226
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; 2025 Specifications
for the Summer Flounder, Scup, Black Sea Bass, and Bluefish Fisheries
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Proposed rule; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: NMFS proposes 2025 specifications for the summer flounder,
scup, black sea bass, and bluefish fisheries. The implementing
regulations for the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fishery
Management Plan and the Bluefish Fishery Management Plan require us to
publish specifications for the upcoming fishing year for each of these
species and to provide an opportunity for public comment. The proposed
specifications establish allowable harvest levels for these species
that will prevent overfishing, consistent with the most recent
scientific information.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before October 31, 2024.
ADDRESSES: A plain language summary of this proposed rule is available
at https://www.regulations.gov/docket/NOAA-NMFS-2024-0117. You may
submit comments on this document, identified by NOAA-NMFS-2024-0117, by
the following method:
Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public
comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Visit https://www.regulations.gov and type NOAA-NMFS-2024-0117 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).
A Supplemental Information Report (SIR) was prepared for the 2025
black sea bass specifications. Environmental Assessments (EA) were
prepared for the 2024 and projected 2025 summer flounder and scup
specifications and 2024 and projected 2025 bluefish specifications.
Copies of the EAs are available on request from Dr. Christopher M.
Moore, Executive Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council,
Suite 201, 800 North State Street, Dover, DE 19901. The EAs are also
accessible via the internet at https://www.mafmc.org/supporting-documents.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Emily Keiley, Fishery Policy Analyst,
(978) 281-9116, or [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
General Background
The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) and the
Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (Commission) cooperatively
develop management measures for the summer flounder, scup, black sea
bass, and bluefish fisheries. The Council, pursuant to the Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act)
develops recommendations regarding fisheries in Federal waters seaward
of New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia,
and North Carolina. The Commission, pursuant to the Atlantic Coastal
Fisheries Cooperative Management Act, addresses fisheries in state
waters from Florida to Maine. These bodies work together in the
development of complementary fishery management plans (FMP) for species
like summer flounder, scup, black sea bass, and bluefish that are
harvested in both Federal and state waters, and each year these bodies
work together to develop specifications for these fisheries. The
Council provides its recommendations to NMFS, and NMFS engages in a
Federal rulemaking process by which the agency adopts specifications
that become binding on the Federal fisheries. Specifications in these
fisheries include various catch and landing subdivisions, such as the
commercial and recreational sector annual catch limits (ACL), annual
catch targets (ACT), and sector-specific landing limits (i.e., the
commercial fishery quota and recreational harvest limit (RHL))
established for 1 to 3 years at a time. Adjustments to commercial
management measures are also considered in the specifications process.
The process for measures used to manage the recreational fisheries
(i.e., minimum fish sizes, seasonal closures, and possession
restrictions) for these four species occurs separately and is not
discussed further in this proposed rule.
The Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass FMP and the Bluefish
FMP and their implementing regulations establish the process for
establishing specifications for each of those four species. All
requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, including the 10 national
standards, also apply to specifications. The FMPs also contain formulas
to divide the catch limits into commercial and recreational fishery
allocations, state-by-state quotas, and quota periods, depending on the
species in question. This proposed rule outlines the application of the
existing allocation provisions for each species and provides
[[Page 83441]]
the resulting allocations by state and sector, as appropriate, for each
species.
The Council's Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) met on
July 23-25, 2024, to recommend acceptable biological catches (ABC) for
the summer flounder, scup, black sea bass, and bluefish fisheries. The
FMPs' implementing regulations require the involvement of a monitoring
committee in the specification process for each species. The Monitoring
Committees recommend any reduction in catch limits from the SSC-
recommended ABCs to offset management uncertainty and other commercial
management measures (e.g., mesh requirements, minimum commercial fish
sizes, gear restrictions, possession restrictions, and area
restrictions) needed for these four fisheries. The Monitoring
Committees met on August 1 and 2, 2024, to develop specification-
related recommendations for each fishery.
Following the SSC and Monitoring Committee meetings, the Council
and the Commission's Summer Flounder, Scup, Black Sea Bass, and
Bluefish Management Boards considered the recommendations of the SSC,
the Monitoring Committees, and public comments and made their
specification recommendations at a meeting held on August 12-15, 2024.
While the Boards' actions were finalized at the August meeting, the
Council's recommendations must be reviewed by NMFS to ensure that they
comply with the FMPs, implementing regulations, and applicable law.
NMFS also must conduct notice-and-comment rulemaking to propose and
implement the final specifications.
Proposed 2025 Specifications
Summer Flounder Specifications
Consistent with the statutory scheme described above, NMFS is
proposing the Council and Board-recommended 2025 summer flounder catch
and landings limits shown in table 1.
Table 1--Summary of 2025 Summer Flounder Fishery Specifications
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Million pounds Metric ton
Specifications (lb) (mt)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Overfishing Limit (OFL)............... 24.97 11,325
ABC................................... 19.32 8,761
Commercial ACL = ACT.................. 10.62 4,819
Commercial Quota...................... 8.79 3,987
Recreational ACL = ACT................ 8.69 3,942
Recreational Harvest Limit............ 6.35 2,879
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The proposed initial 2025 state-by-state summer flounder quotas are
provided in table 2. As required in Amendment 21 to the Summer
Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass FMP (85 FR 80661), if the commercial
quota in any year is higher than 9.55 million lb (4,332 mt), the first
9.55 million lb (4,322 mt) is distributed according to the baseline
formula, and any additional quota beyond this threshold will be
distributed in equal shares to all states except Maine, Delaware, and
New Hampshire, which would split 1 percent of the additional quota.
Because this year's quota is below the threshold, the state-by-state
allocations below are based on the baseline allocations that were
established through Amendment 2 (57 FR 57358) and modified by Amendment
4 (58 FR 49937) to the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass FMP.
Any long-standing overages or potential 2024 overages may result in
adjustments to these proposed quotas in the final rule.
Table 2--Initial 2025 Summer Flounder State-by-State Quotas
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Initial 2025 Initial 2025
State Percent share Quotas * (lb) Quotas * (mt)
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ME.............................................................. 0.04756 4,180 1.90
NH.............................................................. 0.00046 40 0.02
MA.............................................................. 6.82046 599,507 271.93
RI.............................................................. 15.68298 1,378,507 625.28
CT.............................................................. 2.25708 198,394 89.99
NY.............................................................. 7.64699 672,157 304.89
NJ.............................................................. 16.72499 1,470,098 666.83
DE.............................................................. 0.01779 1,564 0.71
MD.............................................................. 2.03910 179,233 81.30
VA.............................................................. 21.31676 1,873,707 849.90
NC.............................................................. 27.44584 2,412,443 1,094.27
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Total....................................................... 100 8,789,830 3,987.02
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* Initial quotas do not account for any previous overages.
This action makes no changes to the current commercial management
measures, including the minimum fish size (14-inch (36-centimeters
(cm)) total length), gear requirements, and possession limits. This
action also proposes no changes to the recreational management
measures. Any such changes would take place through a separate action.
Black Sea Bass Specifications
At the August 2024, meeting, the Council and the Commission's Black
Sea Bass Board were unable to agree on the 2025 black sea bass
specifications. The Black Sea Bass Board adopted a coastwide quota for
black sea bass that is the same as the 2024 quota, while the Council
adopted a quota that represents a 20-percent reduction from 2024. If
implemented, the differing quotas
[[Page 83442]]
would likely have significant negative socioeconomic impacts on Federal
black sea bass permit holders. The regulations at 50 CFR 648.143(e)
require that, in the case of different specifications, the Regional
Administrator will take administrative action to align measures to
prevent these differential effects on Federal permit holders. Given the
current status of the black sea bass stock, which is well above the
FMP's definition of the biomass capable of producing maximum
sustainable yield, and the potentially significant social and economic
harm to Federal permit holders that would result from divergent state
and Federal quotas, we are proposing to implement 2025 black sea bass
specifications consistent with those adopted by the Commission.
The proposed 2025 black sea bass catch and landings limits are
shown in table 3.
Table 3--2025 Black Sea Bass Catch and Landings Limits
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Specifications Million lb mt
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OFL..................................... 17.01 7,716
ABC..................................... 16.66 7,557
Expected Commercial Discards............ 1.50 680
Expected Recreational Discards.......... 2.89 1,311
Commercial ACL = ACT.................... 7.50 3,401
Commercial Quota........................ 6.00 2,721
Recreational ACL = ACT.................. 9.16 4,156
RHL..................................... 6.27 2,845
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This action proposes no changes to the other commercial management
measures for black sea bass, including the commercial minimum fish size
(11-inch (27.94-cm) total length) and gear requirements. This action
also proposes no changes to the recreational management measures. Any
such changes to recreational management measures for black sea bass
would occur through a separate action.
On October 1, 2024 (89 FR 79778), we implemented Amendment 23 to
the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass FMP, which changes the
Federal coastwide commercial in-season accountability measure such that
the black sea bass commercial fishery will now close when the quota
plus an additional buffer of up to 5 percent is projected to be landed.
The intent of this buffer is to minimize negative economic impacts when
the coastwide quota is reached before all states have fully harvested
their allocations due to overages in individual states.
Pursuant to Amendment 23, each year, through the specification
process, the Council and Board will recommend and NMFS will establish a
buffer from 0 to 5 percent. For 2025, the Council and Board have
recommended a 5-percent commercial in-season closure buffer, and this
action proposes this buffer. Given recent patterns in the fishery, an
in-season closure is not expected for 2025; however, in the unlikely
event it is needed, a 5-percent buffer could have socioeconomic
benefits with little risk to stock status.
Scup Specifications
The Council and Board-recommended 2025 scup catch and landings
limits are shown in table 4.
Table 4--2025 Scup Catch and Landing Limits
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Specifications Million lb mt
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OFL..................................... 42.19 19,135
ABC..................................... 41.31 18,740
Expected Commercial Discards............ 7.38 3,318
Expected Recreational Discards.......... 2.08 944
Commercial ACL = ACT.................... 26.85 12,181
Commercial Quota........................ 19.54 8,863
Recreational ACL = ACT.................. 14.46 6,559
RHL..................................... 12.31 5,585
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass FMP established three
commercial fishery quota periods with corresponding percentages of the
total quota for each period. Applying those percentages, which NMFS
does not propose to change via this action, to the quota provided in
Table 4 results in the allocations to quota periods outlined in table
5.
Table 5--Commercial Scup Quota Allocations for 2025 by Quota Period
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Quota period Percent share lb mt
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Winter I....................................................... 45.11 8,814,300 3,998
Summer......................................................... 38.95 7,610,663 3,452
Winter II...................................................... 15.94 3,114,608 1,413
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Total...................................................... 100.00 19,539,570 8,863
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[[Page 83443]]
The current quota period possession limits are not changed by this
action and are outlined in table 6.
Table 6--Commercial Scup Possession Limits by Quota Period
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Federal possession limits (per
trip)
Quota period Percent share -------------------------------
lb kg
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Winter I....................................................... 45.11 50,000 22,680
Summer......................................................... 38.95 N/A N/A
Winter II...................................................... 15.94 12,000 5,443
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Total...................................................... 100.0 N/A N/A
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The Winter I scup commercial possession limit is proposed to drop
to 1,000 lb (454 kg) when 80 percent of that period's allocation is
landed. If the Winter I quota is not fully harvested, the remaining
quota would be transferred to Winter II. The Winter II possession limit
may be adjusted (in association with a transfer of unused Winter I
quota to the Winter II period) via announcement in the Federal
Register. The regulations specify that the Winter II possession limit
would increase to different levels consistent with any increase in the
quota as described in table 7.
Table 7--Potential Increase in Winter II Possession Limits Based on the Amount of Unused Scup Rolled Over From Winter I to Winter II
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Initial Winter II possession limit Rollover from Winter I to Winter Increase in initial Winter II Final Winter II possession limit
------------------------------------------------ II possession limit after rollover from Winter I to
----------------------------------------------------------------------- Winter II
lb kg ---------------------------------
lb kg lb kg lb kg
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12,000....................... 5,443........... 0-499,999....... 0-226,796....... 0............... 0.............. 12,000......... 5,443
12,000....................... 5,443........... 500,000-999,999. 226,796-453,592. 1,500........... 680............ 13,500......... 6,123
12,000....................... 5,443........... 1,000,000-1,499, 453,592-680,388. 3,000........... 1,361.......... 15,000......... 6,804
999.
12,000....................... 5,443........... 1,500,000-1,999, 680,389-907,184. 4,500........... 2,041.......... 16,500......... 7,484
999.
12,000....................... 5,443........... 2,000,000- * 907,185-1,133,98 6,000........... 2,722.......... 18,000......... 8,165
2,500,000. 1.
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* This process of increasing the possession limit in 1,500 lb (680 kg) increments would continue past 2,500,000 lb (1,122,981 kg), but we end here for
the purpose of this example.
This action proposes no changes to the 2025 commercial management
measures for scup, including the minimum fish size (9-inch (22.9-cm)
total length), gear requirements, and quota period possession limits.
This action also proposes no changes to the 2025 recreational
management measures. Any such changes would take place through a
separate action.
Bluefish Specifications
The Council and Board-recommended 2025 bluefish catch and landings
limits are shown in table 8.
Table 8--Summary of 2025 Bluefish Fishery Specifications
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Specifications Million lb mt
------------------------------------------------------------------------
OFL..................................... 27.49 12,467
ABC..................................... 21.83 9,903
Commercial ACL = ACT.................... 3.06 1,386
Commercial Quota........................ 3.03 1,375
Recreational ACL = ACT.................. 18.78 8,517
Recreational Harvest Limit.............. 15.70 7,121
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The coastwide commercial quota is allocated to coastal states from
Maine to Florida based on percent shares specified in the Bluefish FMP.
Table 9 provides the proposed commercial state allocations based on the
Council-recommended coastwide commercial quota for 2025 and the phased-
in changes to the percent share allocations to the states specified in
Amendment 7. No states exceeded their allocated quota in 2023, or are
projected to do so in 2024; therefore, no accountability measures for
the commercial fishery are required for the 2025 fishing year based on
the data available at this time.
[[Page 83444]]
Table 9--2025 Bluefish State Commercial Quota Allocations
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State Percent share Quota (lb) Quota (kg)
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Maine.......................................................... 0.35 10,582 4,800
New Hampshire.................................................. 0.30 9,123 4,138
Massachusetts.................................................. 8.66 262,663 119,142
Rhode Island................................................... 8.41 255,061 115,694
Connecticut.................................................... 1.16 35,309 16,016
New York....................................................... 15.74 477,518 216,598
New Jersey..................................................... 14.26 432,630 196,238
Delaware....................................................... 1.09 32,990 14,964
Maryland....................................................... 2.38 72,265 32,779
Virginia....................................................... 8.44 256,125 116,176
North Carolina................................................. 32.04 972,012 440,897
South Carolina................................................. 0.07 2,250 1,021
Georgia........................................................ 0.06 1,897 860
Florida........................................................ 7.04 213,625 96,899
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Total...................................................... 100 3,033,561 1,376,000
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This action proposes no changes to the 2025 commercial or
recreational management measures for bluefish.
Classification
Pursuant to section 304(b)(1)(A) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the
NMFS Assistant Administrator has determined that this proposed rule is
consistent with the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass FMP, the
Bluefish FMP, other provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and other
applicable law, subject to further consideration after public comment.
This action is exempt from 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 that this proposed rule, if adopted, would not have a
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.
The basis for the certification follows.
We conducted an evaluation of the potential socioeconomic impacts
of the proposed measures in conjunction with the EAs and a SIR. The
proposed action would set the 2025 catch and landings limits for summer
flounder, scup, black sea bass, and bluefish.
Vessel ownership data were used to identify all individuals who own
fishing vessels. Vessels were then grouped according to common owners.
The resulting groupings were then treated as entities, or affiliates
for purposes of identifying small and large businesses that may be
affected by this action.
Affiliates were identified as primarily commercial fishing
affiliates if the majority of their revenues in 2023 came from
commercial fishing. Some of these affiliates may have also held party/
charter permits. Affiliates were identified as primarily for-hire
fishing affiliates if the majority of their revenues in 2023 came from
for-hire fishing. Some of these affiliates may have also held
commercial permits. Affiliates were identified as small or large
businesses based on their average revenues during 2019-2023.
A total of 915 affiliates derive the majority of their revenue from
commercial fishing operations. Of these affiliates, 905 are classified
as small businesses, and 10 are classified as large businesses. A total
of 362 primarily for-hire affiliates were identified as potentially
impacted by this action. All 362 of these for-hire affiliates were
categorized as small businesses.
Expected Impacts on Commercial Entities
The 10 potentially impacted primarily commercial large business
affiliates had average total annual revenues of $19.1 million and
$303,600 on average in annual revenues from summer flounder, scup,
black sea bass, and/or bluefish during 2019-2023. On average, summer
flounder, scup, black sea bass, and/or bluefish accounted for about 2
percent of total annual revenues for these ten large businesses.
The 905 potentially impacted primarily commercial small business
affiliates had average total annual revenues of $719,300 and $37,500 on
average in annual revenues from commercial landings of summer flounder,
scup, black sea bass, and/or bluefish during 2019-2023. Summer
flounder, scup, and/or black sea bass accounted for an average of 5
percent of the total revenues for these 905 small businesses.
The proposed 2025 quotas for black sea bass and summer flounder are
constant compared to 2024. The proposed 2025 bluefish quota is
approximately 25 percent higher than the 2024 quota. The proposed 2025
quota for scup would decrease by approximately 7 percent compared to
2024. This decrease in the scup quota is the only plausible pathway for
the proposed rule to have an adverse impact on small entities. However,
the proposed 2025 scup commercial quotas are expected to result in
similar levels of commercial scup landings and revenues as the past
several years. Commercial scup landings appear to be influenced more by
market factors than the annual commercial quota. The proposed 2025 scup
quota is higher than recent commercial landings which have ranged
between 12 and 13 million lb since 2018. It is unlikely that commercial
effort or landings would change given recent trends.
Expected Impacts on Recreational Entities
As previously stated, 362 for-hire fishing affiliates were
identified as potentially impacted by this action based on the
definition above. All these affiliates were categorized as small
businesses based on their average 2019-2023 revenues. These 362 small
businesses had average total annual revenues of $133,500 during 2019-
2023. Their average revenues from recreational for hire fishing (for a
variety of species) was $132,500. On average, recreational fishing
accounted for 99 percent of the total revenues for these 362 small
businesses.
It is not possible to derive what proportion of the for-hire
revenues came from fishing activities for an individual species.
Nevertheless, given the popularity of summer flounder, scup, black sea
bass, and bluefish as recreational species, revenues generated from
these species are likely important
[[Page 83445]]
to many of these businesses, at least at certain times of the year.
For-hire revenues are impacted by a variety of factors, including
demand for for-hire trips for summer flounder, scup, black sea bass,
bluefish, and other potential target species, as well as weather, the
economy, and other factors. Recreational measures (possession, season
and size limits) for 2025 will remain the same as measures implemented
in 2024 for summer flounder, scup, and bluefish. Potential changes for
black sea bass recreational measures will be considered in a separate
action, but with an unchanged recreational quota it is unlikely that
any changes would significantly affect revenues. In any event, any
changes to the black sea bass recreational measures will be evaluated
when they are developed.
This action is not expected to adversely impact revenues for
commercial and recreational vessels that fish for summer flounder,
scup, black sea bass, and bluefish. Because this proposed rule, if
adopted, will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial
number of small entities, 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.
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 648
Fisheries, Fishing, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
Dated: October 10, 2024.
Jennifer Leigh Quan,
Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-23841 Filed 10-15-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P