50 CFR § 648.40-648.41 Fisheries of the Northeastern United States — Management Measures for Atlantic Salmon

738 50 CFR Ch. VI (10–1–22 Edition) § 648.40 (1) Initial commercial possession limits. A vessel issued a valid commercial At lantic mackerel, Illex squid, longfin squid, or butterfish permit is author ized to fish for, possess, and land an un limited amount of Atlantic chub mack erel per trip from the EEZ portion of the Atlantic Chub Mackerel Manage ment Unit, provided that the fishery has not been closed, as specified in § 648.24(e)(1). (2) Commercial fishery closure posses sion limits. Once the commercial fishery is closed in accordance with § 648.24(e)(1), the possession limits spec ified in this paragraph (e)(2) will apply. A vessel not issued a Federal commer cial Atlantic mackerel, Illex squid, longfin squid, or butterfish permit in accordance with § 648.4 that fished ex clusively in state waters or a vessel that fished in Federal waters outside of the Atlantic Chub Mackerel Manage ment Unit that is transiting the area with gear that is stowed and not avail able for immediate use is exempt from the possession limits specified in this paragraph (e)(2). (i) When the Regional Administrator projects that 90 percent of the commer cial Atlantic chub mackerel TAL has been landed, a vessel issued a commer cial Atlantic mackerel, Illex squid, longfin squid, or butterfish permit may not fish for, possess, or land more than 40,000 lb (18.14 mt) of Atlantic chub mackerel at any time per trip in the EEZ portion of the Atlantic Chub Mackerel Management Unit. (ii) When the Regional Administrator projects that 100 percent of the com mercial Atlantic chub mackerel TAL has been landed, a vessel issued a com mercial Atlantic mackerel, Illex squid, longfin squid, or butterfish permit fish for, possess, or land more than 10,000 lb (4.54 mt) of Atlantic chub mackerel at any time per trip in the EEZ portion of the Atlantic Chub Mackerel Manage ment Unit. [76 FR 60621, Sept. 29, 2011, as amended at 76 FR 68656, Nov. 7, 2011; 77 FR 16480, Mar. 21, 2012; 77 FR 23636, Apr. 20, 2012; 78 FR 3354, Jan. 16, 2013; 79 FR 18843, Apr. 4, 2014; 80 FR 14875, Mar. 20, 2015; 81 FR 24509, Apr. 26, 2016; 83 FR 64268, Dec. 14, 2018; 83 FR 65315, Dec. 20, 2018; 84 FR 58059, Oct. 30, 2019; 85 FR 47116, Aug. 4, 2020] Subpart C—Management Measures for Atlantic Salmon § 648.40 Prohibition on possession. (a) Incidental catch. All Atlantic salmon caught incidental to a directed fishery for other species in the EEZ must be released in such a manner as to insure maximum probability of sur vival. (b) Presumption. The possession of At lantic salmon is prima facie evidence that such Atlantic salmon were taken in violation of this regulation. Evi dence that such fish were harvested in state waters, or from foreign waters, or from aquaculture enterprises, will be sufficient to rebut the presumption. This presumption does not apply to fish being sorted on deck. § 648.41 Framework specifications. (a) Within season management action. The New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) may, at any time, initiate action to implement, add to or adjust Atlantic salmon management measures to: (1) Allow for Atlantic salmon aqua culture projects in the EEZ, provided such an action is consistent with the goals and objectives of the Atlantic Salmon FMP; and (2) Make changes to the SBRM, in cluding the CV-based performance standard, the means by which discard data are collected/obtained, fishery stratification, the process for prioritizing observer sea-day alloca tions, reports, and/or industry-funded observers or observer set aside pro grams. (b) Framework process. After initi ation of an action to implement, add to or adjust an Atlantic salmon manage ment measure to allow for an Atlantic salmon aquaculture project in the EEZ, the NEFMC shall develop and analyze Atlantic salmon management meas ures to allow for Atlantic salmon aqua culture projects in the EEZ over the span of at least two NEFMC meetings. The NEFMC shall provide the public with advance notice of the availability of both the proposals and the analysis and opportunity to comment on them prior to and at the second NEFMC meeting. The NEFMC’s recommenda tion on aquaculture management 739 Fishery Conservation and Management § 648.50 measures must come from one or more of the following categories: minimum fish sizes, gear restrictions, minimum mesh sizes, possession limits, tagging requirements, monitoring require ments, reporting requirements, permit restrictions, area closures, establish ment of special management areas or zones and any other management measures currently included in the FMP. (c) NEFMC recommendation. After de veloping Atlantic salmon management measures and receiving public testi mony, the NEFMC shall make a rec ommendation to NMFS. The NEFMC’s recommendation must include sup porting rationale and, if management measures are recommended, an anal ysis of impacts and a recommendation to NMFS on whether to issue the man agement measures as a final rule. If NMFS concurs with the NEFMC’s rec ommendation to issue the management measures as a final rule, the NEFMC must consider at least the following factors and provide support and anal ysis for each factor considered: (1) Whether the availability of data on which the recommended manage ment measures are based allows for adequate time to publish a proposed rule, and whether regulations have to be in place for an entire harvest/fishing season. (2) Whether there has been adequate notice and opportunity for participa tion by the public and members of the affected industry in the development of the NEFMC’s recommended manage ment measures. (3) Whether there is an immediate need to protect the resource. (4) Whether there will be a con tinuing evaluation of measures adopted following their implementation as a final rule. (d) NMFS action. If the NEFMC’s rec ommendation includes implementation of management measures and, after re viewing the NEFMC’s recommendation and supporting information: (1) NMFS concurs with the NEFMC’s recommended management measures and determines that the recommended measures should be issued as a final rule based on the factors specified in paragraph (c)(1) through (4) of this sec tion, the measures will be issued as a final rule in the FEDERAL REGISTER. (2) NMFS concurs with the NEFMC’s recommendation and determines that the recommended management meas ures should be published first as a pro posed rule, the measures will be pub lished as a proposed rule in the FED ERAL REGISTER. After additional public comment, if NMFS concurs with the NEFMC recommendation, the measures will be issued as a final rule in the FED ERAL REGISTER. (3) NMFS does not concur, the NEFMC will be notified in writing of the reasons for the non-concurrence. (e) Emergency action. Nothing in this section is meant to derogate from the authority of the Secretary to take emergency action under section 305(e) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. [64 FR 40520, July 27, 1999, as amended at 80 FR 37194, June 30, 2015] Subpart D—Management Meas ures for the Atlantic Sea Scal lop Fishery SOURCE: 69 FR 35215, June 23, 2004, unless otherwise noted. § 648.50 Shell-height standard. (a) Minimum shell height. The min imum shell height for in-shell scallops that may be landed, or possessed at or after landing, is 3.5 inches (8.9 cm). Shell height is a straight line measure ment from the hinge to the part of the shell that is farthest away from the hinge. (b) Compliance and sampling. Any time at landing or after, including when the scallops are received or pos sessed by a dealer or person acting in the capacity of a dealer, compliance with the minimum shell-height stand ard shall be determined as follows: Samples of 40 scallops each shall be taken at random from the total amount of scallops in possession. The person in possession of the scallops may request that as many as 10 sample groups (400 scallops) be examined. A sample group fails to comply with the standard if more than 10 percent of all scallops sampled are shorter than the shell height specified. The total amount of scallops in possession shall