[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 186 (Monday, September 29, 2025)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 46526-46527]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-18914]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 622
[Docket No. 140722613-4908-02; RTID 0648-XF240]
Coastal Migratory Pelagic Resources of the Gulf and Atlantic
Region; Re-Opening of Commercial Harvest for Atlantic Spanish Mackerel
in the Northern Zone
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Temporary rule; re-opening.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: NMFS announces the re-opening of commercial harvest of Spanish
mackerel in the northern zone of the Atlantic exclusive economic zone
(EEZ). NMFS recently approved a second transfer of commercial quota
from the southern zone to the northern zone for the 2025-2026 fishing
year. Therefore, NMFS re-opens the commercial harvest of Spanish
mackerel in the northern zone for an additional 8 days. The purpose of
this temporary rule is to allow commercial fishermen to harvest the
increased commercial quota of Spanish mackerel in the northern zone
while managing the risk of exceeding the commercial quota.
DATES: This temporary rule is effective from September 29, 2025,
through October 6, 2025.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary Vara, NMFS Southeast Regional
Office, telephone: 727-824-5305, or email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The fishery for coastal migratory pelagic
fish in the Atlantic includes king mackerel, Spanish mackerel, and
cobia on the east coast of Florida, and is managed under the Fishery
Management Plan for Coastal Migratory Pelagic Resources of the Gulf and
Atlantic Region (FMP). The FMP was prepared by NMFS and the Gulf and
South Atlantic Fishery Management Councils, was approved by the
Secretary of Commerce, and is implemented by NMFS through regulations
at 50 CFR part 622 under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). All weights
described in this document for Spanish mackerel in the Atlantic EEZ
apply as either round or gutted weight. The metric conversion for the
imperial measurements used in this document is 1 pound (lb) equals
approximately 0.45 kilograms.
Atlantic Spanish mackerel are divided into northern and southern
zones for management purposes. The northern zone for Spanish mackerel
extends in the Atlantic EEZ from New York through North Carolina. The
northern boundary of the northern zone extends from an intersection
point off New York, Connecticut, and Rhode Island at 41[deg]18'16.249''
N latitude and 71[deg]54'28.477'' W longitude, and proceeds southeast
to 37[deg]22'32.75'' N latitude and the intersection point with the
outward boundary of the EEZ. The southern boundary of the northern zone
extends from the North Carolina and South Carolina state border along a
line in a direction of 135[deg]34'55'' from true north beginning at
33[deg]51'07.9'' N latitude and 78[deg]32'32.6'' W longitude to the
intersection point with the outward boundary of the EEZ [50 CFR
622.369(b)(2)]. See figure 2 of appendix G to part 622--Spanish
Mackerel for an illustration of the management zones.
The commercial annual catch limit (ACL; equal to the commercial
quota) for the Atlantic migratory group of Spanish mackerel (Atlantic
Spanish mackerel) is 3.33 million lb [50 CFR 622.384(c)(2)]. The
commercial quota for Atlantic Spanish mackerel in the northern zone is
662,670 lb and is 2,667,330 lb in the southern zone for the 2025-2026
fishing year, which is March 1, 2025, through February 28, 2026 [50 CFR
622.384(c)(2)(i) and (ii)].
Regulations at 50 CFR 622.384(c)(2)(iii) allow for quota transfers
between the northern and southern zones with the approval from the
Regional Administrator (RA) of the NMFS Southeast Region. North
Carolina or Florida, in consultation with the other states in the
respective zones, may request approval from the RA to transfer part or
all of a respective zone's annual commercial quota to the other zone.
For the purposes of quota closures as described in 50 CFR 622.8, the
receiving zone's quota will be the original quota plus any transferred
amount for that fishing year only. Landings associated with any
transferred quota will be included in the total landings for Atlantic
Spanish mackerel, which will be evaluated relative to its total ACL.
NMFS approved and transferred 250,000 lb of Atlantic Spanish
mackerel commercial quota from the southern zone to the northern zone
in response to a request from the State of Florida in July 2025.
Following the transfer, and because NMFS projected that landings of
Atlantic Spanish mackerel from the northern zone reached the revised
commercial quota, NMFS implemented a commercial closure in the northern
[[Page 46527]]
zone on September 20, 2025 (90 FR 44581, September 16, 2025).
In a letter to NMFS dated September 18, 2025, the State of Florida
requested the transfer of an additional 75,000 lb of Atlantic Spanish
mackerel commercial quota from the southern zone to the northern zone
to allow the commercial quota for both zones in this fishing year to be
fully harvested. NMFS approved the transfer of commercial quota, and
along with the July 2025 transfer of 250,000 lb from the southern zone
to the northern zone, the revised northern zone commercial quota for
Atlantic Spanish mackerel is 987,670 lb and the revised southern zone
commercial quota is 2,342,330 lb for the 2025-2026 fishing year.
Pursuant to 50 CFR 622.8(c), NMFS is reopening commercial harvest in
the northern zone.
Regulations at 50 CFR 622.388(d)(1)(i) require NMFS to close the
commercial sector for Atlantic Spanish mackerel in the northern zone
when landings reach or are projected to reach the commercial quota for
that zone. NMFS projects that landings of Atlantic Spanish mackerel
from the northern zone will reach the revised commercial quota of
987,670 lb with another 8 days of commercial landings. After those 8
days, the commercial sector for Atlantic Spanish mackerel in the
northern zone is closed from October 7, 2025 through February 28, 2026,
the end of the current fishing year.
During the commercial closure, a person on a vessel that has been
issued a valid Federal commercial permit to harvest Atlantic Spanish
mackerel may continue to retain this species in the northern zone under
the recreational bag and possession limits specified in 50 CFR
622.382(a)(1)(iii) and (2)(i), if recreational harvest of Atlantic
Spanish mackerel in the northern zone has not been closed [50 CFR
622.384(e)(1)].
Also during the commercial closure, Atlantic Spanish mackerel from
the northern zone, including those fish harvested under the
recreational bag and possession limits, may not be purchased or sold.
This prohibition does not apply to Atlantic Spanish mackerel from the
northern zone that were harvested, landed ashore, and sold prior to the
closure and were held in cold storage by a dealer or processor [50 CFR
622.384(e)(2)].
Classification
NMFS issues this action pursuant to section 305(d) of the Magnuson-
Stevens Act. This action is taken under 50 CFR 622.8(c), issued
pursuant to section 304(b) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and is exempt
from review under Executive Order 12866.
Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B), there is good cause to waive prior
notice and an opportunity for public comment on this action, as notice
and comment is unnecessary. Such procedure is unnecessary, because the
regulations associated with the commercial quota for Atlantic Spanish
mackerel in the northern zone and a re-opening to provide an
opportunity for the harvest of the revised commercial quota have
already been subject to notice and public comment, and all that remains
is to notify the public of the commercial sector re-opening.
For the same reason just stated, there is good cause to waive the
30-day delay in the effectiveness of this action under 5 U.S.C.
553(d)(3).
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: September 25, 2025.
Kelly Denit,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2025-18914 Filed 9-26-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P