[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 10 (Friday, January 14, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 2640-2644]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-798]
[[Page 2640]]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 101228634-0481-01]
RIN 0648-BA26
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Bluefish
Fishery; 2011 Atlantic Bluefish Specifications; Regulatory Amendment
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Proposed specifications; regulatory amendment; request for
comments.
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SUMMARY: NMFS proposes specifications for the 2011 Atlantic bluefish
fishery, including total allowable landings (TAL), a commercial quota
and recreational harvest limit (RHL), and a recreational possession
limit. The intent of this action is to establish the allowable 2011
harvest levels and other management measures to achieve the target
fishing mortality rate (F), consistent with the Atlantic Bluefish
Fishery Management Plan (FMP). NMFS also proposes to amend the bluefish
regulations that specify the process for setting the annual TAL and
target F to more clearly reflect the intent of the FMP.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before January 31, 2011.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by 0648-BA26, by any one
of the following methods:
Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic public
comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking portal: http://www.regulations.gov
Fax: 978-281-9135, Attn: Regional Administrator.
Mail and Hand Delivery: Patricia A. Kurkul, Regional
Administrator, NMFS, Northeast Regional Office, 55 Great Republic
Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930. Mark the outside of the envelope:
``Comments on 2011 Bluefish Specifications.''
Instructions: No comments will be posted for public viewing until
after the comment period has closed. All comments received are a part
of the public record and will generally be posted to http://www.regulations.gov without change. All Personal Identifying
Information (for example, name, address, etc.) voluntarily submitted by
the commenter may be publicly accessible. Do not submit Confidential
Business Information or otherwise sensitive or protected information.
NMFS will accept anonymous comments (enter N/A in the required
fields, if you wish to remain anonymous). You may submit attachments to
electronic comments in Microsoft Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe PDF
file formats only.
Copies of the specifications document, including the Environmental
Assessment and Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (EA/IRFA) and
other supporting documents for the specifications, are available from
Dr. Christopher M. Moore, Executive Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery
Management Council, Suite 201, 800 N. State Street, Dover, DE 19901.
The specifications document is also accessible via the Internet at:
http://www.nero.noaa.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tobey Curtis, Fishery Policy Analyst,
(978) 281-9273, or Sarah Heil, Fishery Management Specialist, (978)
281-9257.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Atlantic bluefish fishery is managed cooperatively by the Mid-
Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) and the Atlantic States
Marine Fisheries Commission (Commission). The management unit for
bluefish specified in the FMP is U.S. waters of the western Atlantic
Ocean. Regulations implementing the FMP appear at 50 CFR part 648,
subparts A and J. The regulations requiring annual specifications are
found at Sec. 648.16.
The FMP requires the Council to recommend, on an annual basis, a
total allowable catch (TAC) and a TAL that will control fishing
mortality. An estimate of annual discards is deducted from the TAC to
calculate the TAL that can be made during the year by the commercial
and recreational fishing sectors combined. The FMP requires that 17
percent of the TAL be allocated to the commercial fishery, as a quota
(further allocated to the states from Maine to Florida in specified
shares), with the remaining 83 percent of the TAL allocated as an RHL.
The Council may also recommend a research set-aside (RSA) quota, which
is deducted from the bluefish TAL (after any applicable transfer) in an
amount proportional to the percentage of the overall TAL as allocated
to the commercial and recreational sectors.
Pursuant to Sec. 648.162, the annual review process for bluefish
requires that the Council's Bluefish Monitoring Committee (Monitoring
Committee) and Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) review and
make recommendations based on the best available data, including, but
not limited to, commercial and recreational catch/landing statistics,
current estimates of fishing mortality, stock abundance, discards for
the recreational fishery, and juvenile recruitment. Based on the
recommendations of the Monitoring Committee and SSC, the Council makes
a recommendation to the NMFS Northeast Regional Administrator. Because
this FMP is a joint plan, the Commission also meets during the annual
specification process to adopt complementary measures.
The Council's recommendations must include supporting documentation
concerning the environmental, economic, and social impacts of the
recommendations. NMFS is responsible for reviewing these
recommendations to assure they achieve the FMP objectives, and may
modify them if they do not. NMFS then publishes proposed specifications
in the Federal Register, and after considering public comment, NMFS
will publish final specifications in the Federal Register.
Proposed Specifications
Updated Model Estimates
According to Amendment 1 to the FMP (Amendment 1), overfishing for
bluefish occurs when F exceeds the fishing mortality rate that allows
maximum sustainable yield (FMSY), or the maximum F threshold
to be achieved. The stock is considered overfished if the biomass (B)
falls below the minimum biomass threshold, which is defined as \1/2\
BMSY. Amendment 1 also established that the long-term target
F is 90 percent of FMSY (FMSY = 0.19, therefore
Ftarget = 90 percent of FMSY, or 0.17), and the
long-term target B is BMSY = 324 million lb (146,964 mt).
An age-structured assessment program (ASAP) model for bluefish was
approved by the 41st Stock Assessment Review Committee (SARC 41) in
2005 to estimate F and annual biomass. In June 2010, the ASAP model was
updated in order to estimate the current status of the bluefish stock
(i.e., 2009 biomass and F estimates) and enable the Monitoring
Committee and SSC to recommend 2011 specifications using landings
information and survey indices through the 2009 fishing year. The
results of the assessment update were as follows: (1) An estimated
stock biomass for 2009, B2009 = 343.901 million lb (155,991
mt); and (2) an estimated fishing mortality rate for 2009,
F2009 = 0.10. Based on the updated 2009 estimate of bluefish
stock biomass, the bluefish stock is not considered
[[Page 2641]]
overfished: B2009 is greater than the minimum biomass
threshold, \1/2\ BMSY = 162 million lb (73,526 mt), and is
above BMSY. Biomass has been above the target since 2007,
and the stock was declared rebuilt in October 2009, satisfying the
rebuilding program requirement to achieve rebuilding by 2010 that was
established in Amendment 1. Estimates of F have declined from 0.41 in
1991 to 0.10 in 2009. The updated model results also conclude that the
Atlantic bluefish stock is not experiencing overfishing; i.e., the most
recent F (F2009 = 0.10) is less than the maximum F
overfishing threshold specified by SARC 41 (FMSY = 0.19).
2011 TAL
The Council's SSC met in July 2010 to review updated stock status
and other fishery independent and dependent data to recommend an
acceptable biological catch (ABC) for the 2011 bluefish fishing year.
Based on the updated bluefish assessment, the SSC recommended an ABC of
31.744 million lb (14,399 mt), which corresponds to an F of 0.15.
Following the SSC meeting, the Monitoring Committee met to review the
SSC's ABC determination and recommend bluefish management measures for
2011. The MC recommended an Ftarget of 0.15 and a
corresponding TAC of 31.744 million lb (14,399 mt). After subtracting
an estimate of discards of 4.451 million lb (2,019 mt) (the average
annual discard level from 2007-2009) from the TAC, the Monitoring
Committee recommended a 2011 TAL of 27.293 million lb (12,380 mt). At
its August 2010 meeting, the Council concurred with the recommendation
of the Monitoring Committee for a TAC of 31.744 million lb (14,299 mt)
and a TAL of 27.293 million lb (12,380 mt). The proposed TAL is a 7-
percent decrease from the 2010 TAL of 29.264 million lb (13,274 mt) due
to a slight decrease in the 2009 estimate of bluefish stock biomass.
The discussion below describes the recommended allocation of TAL
between the commercial and recreational sectors, and the proportional
adjustments to account for the recommended bluefish RSA quota.
Proposed Commercial Quota and Recreational Harvest Limit
Based strictly on the percentages specified in the FMP (17 percent
commercial, 83 percent recreational), the commercial quota for 2011
would be 4.640 million lb (2,105 mt) and the RHL would be 22.653
million lb (10,275 mt) in 2011. However, the FMP stipulates that, in
any year in which 17 percent of the TAL is less than 10.500 million lb
(4,763 mt), and the recreational fishery is not projected to land its
harvest limit for the upcoming year, the commercial quota may be
increased up to 10.500 million lb (4,763 mt), provided that the
combined projected recreational landings and commercial quota would not
exceed the TAL. The RHL would then be adjusted downward so that the TAL
would be unchanged.
The Council postponed projections of estimated recreational harvest
for 2011 until Marine Recreational Fisheries Statistics Survey (MRFSS)
harvest data through Wave 5 of 2010 became available (six ``Waves'' of
data are released each year by MRFSS). In the meantime, the 3-year
average of annual recreational harvest from 2007 through 2009 (17.882
million lb (8,111 mt)) was applied as the estimated recreational
harvest for 2011. As such, it was expected that a transfer of up to
4.772 million lb (2,164 mt) from the recreational sector to the
commercial sector could be approved. This option represents the
preferred alternative recommended by the Council in its specifications
document.
Northeast Regional Office staff recently updated the recreational
harvest projection using 2010 MRFSS data through Wave 5. Using the best
available data, the 2011 recreational harvest was estimated to be
16.992 million lb (7,707 mt), or approximately 62 percent of the TAL.
Consistent with the Council's recommendation, this would allow for a
transfer of 4.772 million lb (2,164 mt) from the recreational sector to
the commercial sector. This would result in an adjusted commercial
quota of 9.411 million lb (4,269 mt) and an RHL of 17.882 million lb
(8,111 mt).
RSA
Two research projects that would utilize bluefish RSA quota have
been preliminarily approved and forwarded to NOAA's Grants Management
Division. A 105,000-lb (48-mt) RSA quota is preliminarily approved for
use by these projects during 2011. Proportional adjustments of this
amount to the commercial and recreational allocations would result in a
final commercial quota of 9.375 million lb (4,253 mt) and a final RHL
of 17.813 million lb (8,080 mt). NMFS staff will update the commercial
and recreational allocations based on the final 2011 RSA awards as part
of the final rule for the 2011 specifications.
Proposed Recreational Possession Limit
The Council recommends, and NMFS proposes, to maintain the current
recreational possession limit of up to 15 fish per person to achieve
the RHL.
Proposed State Commercial Allocations
The proposed state commercial allocations for the recommended 2011
commercial quota are shown in Table 1, based on the percentages
specified in the FMP. These quotas do not reflect any adjustments for
quota overages that may have occurred in some states in 2010. Any
potential deductions for states that exceeded their quota in 2010 will
be accounted for in the final rule.
Table 1--Proposed Bluefish Commercial State-by-State Allocations for 2011
[Including RSA deductions]
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2011 Council-proposed 2011 Council-proposed
State Percent share commercial quota (lb) commercial quota (kg)
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ME.......................................... 0.6685 62,673 28,428
NH.......................................... 0.4145 38,860 17,627
MA.......................................... 6.7167 629,704 285,629
RI.......................................... 6.8081 638,273 289,516
CT.......................................... 1.2663 118,718 53,850
NY.......................................... 10.3851 973,624 441,629
NJ.......................................... 14.8162 1,389,049 630,062
DE.......................................... 1.8782 176,085 79,871
MD.......................................... 3.0018 281,425 127,652
VA.......................................... 11.8795 1,113,727 505,178
NC.......................................... 32.0608 3,005,765 1,363,392
SC.......................................... 0.0352 3,300 1,497
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GA.......................................... 0.0095 891 404
FL.......................................... 10.0597 943,117 427,791
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Total................................... 100.0001 9,375,204 4,252,521
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Proposed Regulatory Amendment
Amendment 1, implemented in 2000, established a rebuilding schedule
to rebuild the bluefish stock biomass to its biomass target using a
graduated step reduction in fishing mortality over a 9-year period.
Amendment 1 specified a target F of 90 percent of FMSY, to
become effective after the rebuilding period. The regulations at Sec.
648.160(a) state that the Council must set the TAL to ``achieve the
target fishing mortality rate (F) specified in the Fishery Management
Plan for Atlantic Bluefish for the upcoming fishing year or the
estimated F for the fishing year preceding the Council submission of
the recommended specifications, whichever F is lower.'' These
regulations reflect the annual specification process during the
rebuilding period; however, the regulations do not reflect the intent
of the FMP for specification of the TAL after the rebuilding period.
The ``whichever F is lower'' provision was only intended to apply to
annual specifications during the rebuilding period. Therefore, this
rule proposes to eliminate the ``whichever F is lower'' provision to
more clearly reflect the intent of the FMP.
Classification
Pursuant to section 304(b)(1)(A) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), the NMFS
Assistant Administrator has determined that this proposed rule is
consistent with the Atlantic Bluefish FMP, other provisions of the
Magnuson-Stevens Act, and other applicable law, subject to further
consideration after public comment.
This action has been determined to be not significant for purposes
of Executive Order 12866.
An IRFA was prepared, as required by section 603 of the Regulatory
Flexibility Act (RFA), which describes the economic impact this
proposed rule, if adopted, would have on small entities. A description
of the action, why it is being considered, and the legal basis for this
action are contained at the beginning of this preamble and in the
SUMMARY. A summary of the analysis follows. A copy of this analysis is
available from the Council (see ADDRESSES).
Small businesses operating in commercial and recreational (i.e.,
party and charter vessel operations) fisheries have been defined by the
Small Business Administration as firms with gross revenues of up to
$4.0 and $6.5 million, respectively. The categories of small entities
likely to be affected by this action include commercial and charter/
party vessel owners holding an active Federal permit for Atlantic
bluefish, as well as owners of vessels that fish for Atlantic bluefish
in state waters. All federally permitted vessels fall into the
definition of small businesses; thus, there would be no
disproportionate impacts between large and small entities as a result
of the proposed rule.
An active participant in the commercial sector was defined as any
vessel that reported having landed one or more lb (0.45 kg) in the
Atlantic bluefish fishery in 2009 (the last year for which there are
complete data). The active participants in the commercial sector were
defined using two sets of data. The Northeast dealer reports were used
to identify 688 vessels that landed bluefish in states from Maine
through North Carolina in 2009. However, the Northeast dealer database
does not provide information about fishery participation in South
Carolina, Georgia, or Florida. South Atlantic Trip Ticket reports were
used to identify 908 vessels \1\ that landed bluefish in North Carolina
and 685 vessels that landed bluefish on Florida's east coast. Bluefish
landings in South Carolina and Georgia were near zero in 2009,
representing a negligible proportion of the total bluefish landings
along the Atlantic Coast. Therefore, this analysis assumed that no
vessel activity for these two states took place in 2009. In recent
years, approximately 2,063 party/charter vessels may have been active
in the bluefish fishery and/or have caught bluefish.
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\1\ Some of these vessels were also identified in the Northeast
dealer data; therefore, double counting is possible.
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There are no new reporting or recordkeeping requirements contained
in any of the alternatives considered for this action. In addition,
NMFS is not aware of any relevant Federal rules that may duplicate,
overlap, or conflict with this proposed rule.
The IRFA in the Draft EA analyzed three alternatives (including a
no action/status quo alternative) for the 2011 Atlantic bluefish
fishery. All quota alternatives considered in this analysis are based
on various commercial harvest levels for bluefish (a low, medium, and
high level of harvest). For analysis of impacts of each alternative,
the maximum potential RSA quota of 3 percent of the TAL (818,797 lb
(371 mt)) was used. For analysis of impacts of Alternatives 1 and 3,
the recommended transfer of 4.772 million lb (2,164 mt) from the
recreational sector to the commercial sector was used. Under
Alternative 2, no transfer of bluefish would be made from the
recreational sector to the commercial sector, and the allocation of the
TAL would be based strictly on the percentages specified in the FMP (17
percent commercial, 83 percent recreational).
Alternatives 1 and 2 would implement a TAL of 27.293 million lb
(12,380 mt). Alternative 3 would implement status quo management
measures for 2011, which would result in a TAL identical to the 2010
TAL, or 29.264 million lb (13,274 mt). The proposed 2011 Atlantic
bluefish specification alternatives are shown in Table 2, along with
the resulting commercial quota and RHL after any applicable transfer
described earlier in the preamble and after deduction of the RSA quota.
Alternative 1 (Council's preferred) would allocate 9.129 million lb
(4,141 mt) to the commercial sector and 17.345 million lb (7,868 mt) to
the recreational sector. Alternative 2 would result in the most
restrictive commercial quota and would allocate 4.501 million lb (2,041
mt) to the commercial sector and 21.974 million lb (9,967 mt) to the
recreational sector. Alternative 3 (status quo) would allocate 10.051
million lb (4,559 mt) to the commercial sector and 18.335 million lb
(8,317 mt) to the recreational sector. The commercial
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quota and RHL under Alternative 3 would be slightly different than
those in 2010 due to differences in the RSA quota.
Table 2. Proposed 2011 Atlantic Bluefish Specification Alternatives
for TAL, Commercial Quota, and RHL (million lb).
Table 2--Proposed 2011 Atlantic Bluefish Specification Alternatives for TAL, Commercial Quota, and RHL
[million lb]
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TAL Commercial quota RHL
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Alternative 1................................. 27.293 (12,380 mt) 9.129 (4,141 mt) 17.345 (7,868 mt)
Alternative 2................................. 27.293 (12,380 mt) 4.501 (2,041 mt) 21.974 (9,967 mt)
Alternative 3................................. 29.264 (13,274 mt) 10.051 (4,559 mt) 18.335 (8,317 mt)
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Commercial Fishery Impacts
To assess the impact of the alternatives on commercial fisheries,
the Council conducted a threshold analysis and analysis of potential
changes in ex-vessel gross revenue that would result from each
alternative, using Northeast dealer reports and South Atlantic Trip
Ticket reports.
Under Alternative 1, the recommended commercial quota for 2011 is
approximately 40 percent higher than 2009 commercial landings. When
this commercial quota is distributed to the states from Maine to
Florida (based on the percentages specified in the FMP), each state's
2011 quota is higher than its 2009 landings, except for New York and
New Jersey. New York and New Jersey both fully harvested their initial
bluefish quota and received commercial quota transfers from other
states in 2009. Therefore, New York and New Jersey's 2009 landings were
greater than their initially allocated 2009 commercial quota. Results
of the threshold analysis from dealer data estimated that, coast wide,
there would be no revenue change for 449 vessels, while 219 vessels
could incur slight revenue losses of less than 5 percent. Approximately
20 vessels could incur revenue losses of more than 5 percent. A larger
number of these vessels have home ports in New York than in any other
state. Of the 20 vessels that may experience revenue losses of more
than 5 percent, 15 percent had gross sales of $1,000 or less, and 80
percent had gross sales of $10,000 or less. This likely indicates that
the dependence on income from fishing for some of these vessels is very
small. If commercial quota is transferred from a state or states that
do not land their entire bluefish quota for 2011, as was done in 2010
and frequently in previous years, the number of affected entities
described above could decrease, thus decreasing the adverse economic
impact on vessels landing in the state(s) receiving quota transfers.
Alternative 2 would result in a commercial quota 31 percent below
the 2009 commercial landings. Although the overall commercial quota
would be lower than 2009 commercial landings, when distributed to the
states, each state's 2011 quota is higher than its 2009 landings,
except for Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New
Jersey, Maryland, and North Carolina. For these states, 2011 commercial
landings would be constrained by the 2011 commercial quota under
Alternative 2. The threshold analysis projected that 566 vessels could
incur revenue losses of less than 5 percent and 61 vessels could incur
revenue losses of 5 percent or more. Of the vessels likely to be
impacted with revenue reductions of 5 percent or more, 36 percent had
gross sales of $1,000 or less and 61 percent had gross sales of $10,000
or less, which may indicate that the dependence on fishing for some of
these vessels is small. A larger number of impacted vessels have home
ports in New York, New Jersey, and North Carolina, which may indicate a
higher dependence on bluefish for these states.
Under Alternative 3, the 2011 commercial quota is approximately 54
percent higher than the 2009 commercial landings. Most states show a
similar directional change in fishing opportunities under this
alternative; however, New York's 2011 commercial quota would be lower
than its 2009 commercial landings. Analysis of Alternative 3 concluded
that, coast wide, 565 vessels would likely have no change in revenue
relative to 2009, but 8 vessels were projected to incur revenue losses
of more than 5 percent. Of the vessels projected to incur revenue
losses of more than 5 percent, 88 percent had gross sales of $10,000 or
less, likely indicating that the dependence on fishing for some of
these vessels is small. No revenue reduction would be expected for
vessels that land bluefish in North Carolina or Florida under
Alternative 3. If commercial quota is transferred from a state or
states that do not land their entire bluefish quota for 2011, as was
done in 2010 and frequently in previous years, the number of affected
entities described above could decrease, thus decreasing the adverse
economic impact on vessels landing in the state(s) receiving quota
transfers.
Recreational Fishery Impacts
For Alternative 1, the recommended RHL for the recreational sector
(17.345 million lb, 7,868 mt) is approximately 28 percent above the
recreational landings for 2009 and 7 percent below the RHL implemented
for 2010 (18.631 million lb (8,451 mt)). The proposed 2011 RHL is
approximately 3 percent less than the projected 2011 recreational
landings. There is little empirical evidence regarding the sensitivity
of charter/party anglers to fishing regulations. However, under
Alternative 1, given the recreational landings in recent years, it is
possible that the proposed RHL may cause a slight decrease in
recreational satisfaction. In addition, if the proposed measures
discourage trip-taking behavior, the demand for party/charter boat
trips may be slightly negatively impacted as a result of the proposed
2011 RHL under Alternative 1. Some anglers may reduce their effort in
2011 as a result of the RHL, and are likely to transfer this effort to
alternative species, resulting in little change in overall fishing
effort. The IRFA analyzed the maximum transfer amount from the
recreational sector to the commercial sector, but future updates of
recreational harvest projections could result in a lesser transfer
amount.
The 2011 RHL under Alternative 2 would be 62 percent higher than
the recreational landings in 2009 and 18 percent higher than the 2010
RHL. In addition, the 2011 RHL is 23 percent higher than the projected
recreational landings for 2011. Under Alternative 3, the 2011 RHL would
be 35 percent higher than 2009 recreational landings and 2 percent
lower than the 2010 RHL. The 2011 RHL would be approximately
[[Page 2644]]
3 percent higher than the projected 2011 recreational landings. Thus,
Alternatives 2 and 3 are not expected to have any negative effects on
recreational fishermen or the demand for party/charter boat trips. In
addition, neither of these alternatives are expected to result in
recreational landings in excess of the RHL.
RSA Quota Impacts
For analysis of each alternative, the maximum RSA quota amount (3
percent of the TAL) was deducted from the initial overall TAL for 2011
to derive the adjusted 2011 commercial quota and RHL under each
alternative. Thus, the threshold analyses for each alternative
accounted for overall reductions in fishing opportunities due to RSA.
Specification of RSA quota for 2011 is expected to benefit all
participants in the fishery as a result of improved data and
information for management or stock assessment purposes.
Summary
The Council recommended Alternative 1 over Alternatives 2 and 3
because it is projected to achieve the target F in 2011, while
providing the second least restrictive commercial quota among the
alternatives analyzed. Alternative 2 was not recommended by the Council
because it would yield the lowest commercial fishing opportunities
among the alternatives due to an absence of a quota transfer under this
alternative. Alternative 3 was not selected because it would result in
a TAC above the level recommended by the SSC and Monitoring Committee.
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 648
Fisheries, Fishing, Recordkeeping and reporting requirements.
Dated: January 11, 2011.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
For the reasons set out in the preamble, 50 CFR part 648 is
proposed to be amended as follows:
PART 648--FISHERIES OF THE NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES
1. The authority citation for part 648 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
2. In Sec. 648.160, paragraph (a) is revised to read as follows:
Sec. 648.160 Catch quotas and other restrictions.
* * * * *
(a) Annual review. On or before August 15 of each year, the
Bluefish Monitoring Committee will meet to determine the total
allowable level of landings (TAL) and other restrictions necessary to
achieve the appropriate target fishing mortality rate (F) specified in
the Atlantic Bluefish FMP. In determining the TAL and other
restrictions necessary to achieve the appropriate F, the Bluefish
Monitoring Committee will review the following data, subject to
availability: Commercial, recreational, and research catch data;
current estimates of fishing mortality; stock status; recent estimates
of recruitment; virtual population analysis results; levels of
noncompliance by fishermen or individual states; impact of size/mesh
regulations; discards; sea sampling data; impact of gear other than
otter trawls and gill nets on the mortality of bluefish; and any other
relevant information.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2011-798 Filed 1-13-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P