50 CFR § 648.160-648.167 - Fisheries of the Northeastern United States - Management Measures for the Atlantic Bluefish Fishery

972 50 CFR Ch. VI (10–1–22 Edition) § 648.160 determined by the Regional Adminis trator to be the conservation equiva lent of the season, size limits and pos session limit prescribed in §§ 648.146, 648.147(b), and 648.145(a), respectively, due to the lack of, or the reversal of, a conservation-equivalent recommenda tion from the Black Sea Bass Board of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission shall be subject to the fol lowing precautionary default measures: Season—June 24 through December 31; minimum size—16 inches (40.64 cm); and possession limit—3 fish. [87 FR 35117, June 9, 2022] Subpart J—Management Meas ures for the Atlantic Bluefish Fishery SOURCE: 65 FR 45852, July 26, 2000, unless otherwise noted. § 648.160 Bluefish Annual Catch Limit (ACL). (a) The Bluefish Monitoring Com mittee shall recommend to the MAFMC an ACL for the bluefish fish ery, which shall be equal to the ABC recommended by the SSC. (1) Periodicity. The bluefish fishery ACL may be established on an annual basis for up to 3 years at a time, de pendent on whether the SSC provides single or multiple-year ABC rec ommendations. (2) [Reserved] (b) Performance review. The Bluefish Monitoring Committee shall conduct a detailed review of fishery performance relative to the ACL at least every 5 years. (1) If the ACL is exceeded with a fre quency greater than 25 percent (i.e., more than once in 4 years or any 2 con secutive years), the Bluefish Moni toring Committee will review fishery performance information and make recommendations to the MAFMC for changes in measures intended to ensure the ACL is not exceeded as frequently. (2) The MAFMC may specify more frequent or more specific ACL perform ance review criteria as part of a stock rebuilding plan following the deter mination that the bluefish stock has become overfished. (3) Performance reviews shall not substitute for annual reviews that occur to ascertain if prior year ACLs have been exceeded, but may be con ducted in conjunction with such re views. [76 FR 60639, Sept. 29, 2011] § 648.161 Bluefish Sector ACLs and An nual Catch Targets (ACTs). (a) Sector ACLs and ACTs. As a part of the bluefish specifications process, the Bluefish Monitoring Committee shall allocate a specified percentage of the fishery-level ACL to the commercial and recreational fishery sectors, and identify and review the relevant sources of sector-specific management uncertainty to recommend ACTs for each sector. (1) Sectors. The sum of the commer cial and recreational sector-specific ACLs shall be less than or equal to the fishery level ACL. A total of 86 percent of the fishery-level ACL will be allo cated to the recreational fishery. A total of 14 percent of the fishery-level ACL will be allocated to the commer cial fishery. (2) Management uncertainty. The Blue fish Monitoring Committee shall rec ommend any reduction in catch nec essary to address management uncer tainty and recommend ACTs for each sector, consistent with paragraph (a) of this section, after the sector allocation described in paragraph (a)(1) of this section. The Bluefish Monitoring Com mittee recommendations shall identify any sector-specific sources of manage ment uncertainty affecting the fishery, technical approaches to mitigating these sources of uncertainty, and any additional relevant information consid ered in the ACT recommendation and adjustment process. (3) Periodicity. ACTs may be estab lished on an annual basis for up to 3 years at a time, dependent on whether the SSC provides single or multiple year ABC recommendations. (b) Performance review. The Bluefish Monitoring Committee shall conduct a detailed review of fishery performance relative to ACTs in conjunction with 973 Fishery Conservation and Management § 648.162 any ACL performance review, as out lined in § 648.160(b)(1) through (3). [76 FR 60639, Sept. 29, 2011, as amended at 86 FR 66981, Nov. 24, 2021] § 648.162 Bluefish specifications. (a) Recommended measures. Based on the annual review and requests for re search quota as described in paragraph (h) of this section, the Bluefish Moni toring Committee shall recommend to the Coastal Migratory Committee of the MAFMC and the ASMFC the fol lowing measures to ensure that the ACL specified by the process outlined in § 648.160(a) will not be exceeded: (1) A fishery-level ACT; (2) Research quota set from a range of 0 to 3 percent of TALs; (3) Commercial minimum fish size; (4) Minimum mesh size; (5) Recreational possession limit set from a range of 0 to 20 bluefish; (6) Recreational minimum fish size; (7) Recreational season; (8) Restrictions on gear other than otter trawls and gill nets; (9) Changes, as appropriate, to the SBRM, including the CV-based per formance standard, the means by which discard data are collected/ob tained, fishery stratification, the proc ess for prioritizing observer sea-day al locations, reports, and/or industry funded observers or observer set aside programs; and (10) Modification of existing AM measures and ACT control rules uti lized by the Bluefish Monitoring Com mittee. (b) TAL. The Bluefish Monitoring Committee shall recommend sector specific TALs less than or equal to the ACTs through the specifications proc ess. (1) Recreational harvest limit and com mercial quota. If research quota is speci fied as described in paragraph (g) of this section, the recreational harvest limit and commercial quota will be based on the respective sector TALs re maining after the deduction of the ap plicable research quota. (2) Sector quota transfer. During the specifications process, the Bluefish Monitoring Committee may rec ommend a transfer of quota from the commercial fishery to the recreational fishery or from the recreational fishery to the commercial fishery; based on a review and comparison of expected landings for each sector and the rec reational harvest limit and commercial quota. The amount of quota trans ferred between sectors may not exceed 10-percent of the ABC for that fishing year. No transfer may occur when the bluefish stock is overfished or subject to overfishing. (c) Annual fishing measures. The MAFMC’s Coastal Migratory Com mittee shall review the recommenda tions of the Bluefish Monitoring Com mittee. Based on these recommenda tions and any public comment, the Coastal Migratory Committee shall recommend to the MAFMC measures necessary to ensure that the ACL will not be exceeded. The MAFMC shall re view these recommendations and, based on the recommendations and any public comment, recommend to the Re gional Administrator by September 1 measures necessary to ensure that the applicable ACL will not be exceeded. The MAFMC’s recommendations must include supporting documentation, as appropriate, concerning the environ mental, economic, and social impacts of the recommendations. The Regional Administrator shall review these rec ommendations and any recommenda tions of the ASMFC. After such review, NMFS will publish a proposed rule in the FEDERAL REGISTER as soon as prac ticable, to implement an ACL, ACTs, research quota, a coastwide commer cial quota, individual state commercial quotas, a recreational harvest limit, and additional management measures for the commercial and recreational fisheries to ensure that the ACL will not be exceeded. After considering pub lic comment, NMFS will publish a final rule in the FEDERAL REGISTER. (d) Distribution of annual commercial quota. (1) The annual commercial quota will be distributed to the states, based upon the following percentages; state each followed by its allocation in pa rentheses: ME (0.1091); NH (0.2154); MA (10.1150); RI (9.6079); CT (1.0872); NY (19.7582); NJ (13.8454); DE (0.4945); MD (1.9175); VA (5.8657); NC (32.0278); SC (0.1034); GA (0.1023); and FL (4.7788). Note: The sum of all state allocations 974 50 CFR Ch. VI (10–1–22 Edition) § 648.163 does not add to 100 because of round ing. This distribution includes a min imum allocation of 0.1 to every state in the management unit. (2) The allocation percentages in paragraph (d)(1) of this section will be phased in over a 7-year period begin ning in 2022. The percent change in al location from those prior to 2022 for each state is divided equally by seven, and will be applied incrementally each year until the final allocations listed in paragraph (d)(1) are in full effect for fishing year 2028. (e) Quota transfers and combinations. Any state implementing a state com mercial quota for bluefish may request approval from the Regional Adminis trator to transfer part or all of its an nual quota to one or more states. Two or more states implementing a state commercial quota for bluefish may re quest approval from the Regional Ad ministrator to combine their quotas, or part of their quotas, into an overall re gional quota. Requests for transfer or combination of commercial quotas for bluefish must be made by individual or joint letter(s) signed by the principal state official with marine fishery man agement responsibility and expertise, or his/her previously named designee, for each state involved. The letter(s) must certify that all pertinent state requirements have been met and iden tify the states involved and the amount of quota to be transferred or combined. (1) Within 10 working days following the receipt of the letter(s) from the states involved, the Regional Adminis trator shall notify the appropriate state officials of the disposition of the request. In evaluating requests to transfer a quota or combine quotas, the Regional Administrator shall consider whether: (i) The transfer or combination would preclude the overall annual quota from being fully harvested; (ii) The transfer addresses an unfore seen variation or contingency in the fishery; and (iii) The transfer is consistent with the objectives of the Bluefish FMP and Magnuson-Stevens Act. (2) The transfer of quota or the com bination of quotas will be valid only for the calendar year for which the request was made. (3) A state may not submit a request to transfer quota or combine quotas if a request to which it is party is pend ing before the Regional Administrator. A state may submit a new request when it receives notification that the Regional Administrator has dis approved the previous request or when notification of the approval of the transfer or combination has been pub lished in the FEDERAL REGISTER. (f) Revision of state allocation. Based upon any changes in the landings data available from the states for the base years 2009–2018, the Atlantic States Ma rine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) and the MAFMC may recommend to the Regional Administrator that the states’ shares specified in paragraph (d)(1) of this section be revised. The MAFMC’s and the ASMFC’s rec ommendation must include supporting documentation, as appropriate, con cerning the environmental and eco nomic impacts of the recommendation. The Regional Administrator shall re view the recommendation of the ASMFC and the MAFMC. After such review, NMFS will publish a proposed rule in the FEDERAL REGISTER to im plement a revision in the state shares. After considering public comment, NMFS will publish a final rule in the FEDERAL REGISTER to implement any warranted changes in allocation. (g) Research quota. See § 648.22(g). [76 FR 60639, Sept. 29, 2011, as amended at 76 FR 81850, Dec. 29, 2011; 80 FR 37197, June 30, 2015; 86 FR 66981, Nov. 24, 2021] § 648.163 Bluefish Accountability Measures (AMs). (a) ACL overage evaluation. The ACL will be evaluated based on a single year examination of total catch (land ings and dead discards). Both landings and dead discards will be evaluated in determining if the ACL has been ex ceeded. (b) Commercial sector EEZ closure. NMFS shall close the EEZ to fishing for bluefish by commercial vessels for the remainder of the calendar year by publishing notification in the FEDERAL REGISTER if the Regional Adminis trator determines that the inaction of one or more states will cause the ACL 975 Fishery Conservation and Management § 648.163 specified in § 648.160(a) to be exceeded, or if the commercial fisheries in all states have been closed. NMFS may re open the EEZ if earlier inaction by a state has been remedied by that state, or if commercial fisheries in one or more states have been reopened with out causing the ACL to be exceeded. (c) State commercial landing quotas. The Regional Administrator will mon itor state commercial quotas based on dealer reports and other available in formation and shall determine the date when a state commercial quota will be harvested. NMFS shall publish notifi cation in the FEDERAL REGISTER advis ing a state that, effective upon a spe cific date, its commercial quota has been harvested and notifying vessel and dealer permit holders that no com mercial quota is available for landing bluefish in that state. (1) Commercial landings overage repay ment. All bluefish landed for sale in a state shall be applied against that state’s annual commercial quota, re gardless of where the bluefish were har vested. Any overages of the commer cial quota landed in any state will be deducted from that state’s annual quota for the following year, irrespec tive of whether the fishery-level ACL is exceeded. If a state has increased or re duced quota through the transfer proc ess described in § 648.162, then any over age will be measured against that state’s final adjusted quota. (2) If there is a quota overage at the end of the fishing year among states involved in the combination of quotas, the overage will be deducted from the following year’s quota for each of the states involved in the combined quota, irrespective of whether the fishery level ACL is exceeded. The deduction will be proportional, based on each state’s relative share of the combined quota for the previous year. A transfer of quota or combination of quotas does not alter any state’s percentage share of the overall quota specified in § 648.162(d)(1). (d) Recreational landings AM when the ACL is exceeded and no sector-to-sector transfer of allowable landings has oc curred. If the fishery-level ACL is ex ceeded and landings from the rec reational fishery are determined to be the sole cause of the overage, and no transfer between the commercial and recreational sector was made for the fishing year, as outlined in § 648.162(b)(2), then the following proce dure will be followed: (1) If biomass is below the threshold, the stock is under rebuilding, or biological ref erence points are unknown. If the most recent estimate of biomass is below the BMSY threshold (i.e., B/BMSY is less than 0.5), the stock is under a rebuilding plan, or the biological reference points (B or BMSY) are unknown, and the ACL has been exceeded, then the exact amount, in pounds, by which the most recent year’s recreational catch esti mate exceeded the most recent year’s ACL will be deducted from the fol lowing year’s recreational ACT, or as soon as possible thereafter, once catch data are available, as a single-year ad justment. (2) If biomass is above the threshold, but below the target, and the stock is not under rebuilding. If the most recent es timate of biomass is above the biomass threshold (B/BMSY is greater than 0.5), but below the biomass target (B/BMSY is less than 1.0), and the stock is not under a rebuilding plan, then the fol lowing AMs will apply: (i) If the ACL has been exceeded. If the ACL has been exceeded, then adjust ments to the recreational management measures, taking into account the per formance of the measures and condi tions that precipitated the overage, will be made in the following fishing year, or as soon as possible thereafter, once catch data are available, as a sin gle-year adjustment. (ii) If the ABC has been exceeded. If the ABC has been exceeded, then a sin gle-year adjustment to the following year’s recreational ACT will be made in the following fishing year, or as soon as possible thereafter, once catch data are available, as described in paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(A) of this section. In addition, adjustments to the recreational man agement measures, taking into account the performance of the measures and conditions that precipitated the over age, will be made in the following year. (A) Adjustment to Recreational ACT. If an adjustment to the following year’s Recreational ACT is required, then the ACT will be reduced by the exact amount, in pounds, of the product of 976 50 CFR Ch. VI (10–1–22 Edition) § 648.164 the recreational overage, defined as the difference between the recreational contribution to the catch above the ACL, and the payback coefficient, as specified in paragraph (d)(2)(ii)(B) of this section. (B) Payback coefficient. The payback coefficient is the difference between the most recent estimates of BMSY and biomass (i.e., BMSY¥B) divided by one half of BMSY. (3) If biomass is above BMSY. If the most recent estimate of biomass is above BMSY (i.e., B/BMSY is greater than 1.0), then adjustments to the recreational management measures, taking into ac count the performance of the measures and conditions that precipitated the overage, will be made in the following fishing year, or as soon as possible thereafter, once catch data are avail able, as a single-year adjustment. (e) AM for when the ACL is exceeded and a sector-to-sector transfer of allow able landings has occurred. If the fish ery-level ACL is exceeded and landings from the recreational fishery and/or the commercial fishery are determined to have caused the overage, and a transfer between the commercial and recreational sector has occurred for the fishing year, as outlined in § 648.162(b)(2), then the amount trans ferred between the recreational and commercial sectors may be reduced by the ACL overage amount (pound-for pound repayment) in a subsequent, sin gle fishing year if the Bluefish Moni toring Committee determines that the ACL overage was the result of too lib eral a landings transfer between the two sectors. If the Bluefish Monitoring Committee determines that the ACL overage was not the result of the land ings transfer, the recreational AMs de scribed in paragraph (d) of this section will be implemented. (f) Non-landing AMs. In the event that the ACL has been exceeded and the overage has not been accommodated through the AM measures in para graphs (a) through (d) of this section, then the exact amount, in pounds, by which the ACL was exceeded shall be deducted, as soon as possible, from a subsequent, single fishing year ACL. (g) State/Federal disconnect AM. If the total catch, allowable landings, com mercial quotas, and/or recreational harvest limit measures adopted by the ASMFC Bluefish Management Board and the MAFMC differ for a given fish ing year, administrative action will be taken as soon as is practicable to re visit the respective recommendations of the two groups. The intent of this action shall be to achieve alignment through consistent state and Federal measures so no differential effects occur to Federal permit holders. [76 FR 60640, Sept. 29, 2011, as amended at 78 FR 76765, Dec. 19, 2013] § 648.164 Bluefish possession restric tions. (a) Recreational possession limits. Any person fishing from a vessel in the EEZ that is not fishing under a bluefish commercial permit shall observe the applicable recreational possession limit. The owner, operator, and crew of a charter or party boat issued a blue fish commercial permit are not subject to the recreational possession limit when not carrying passengers for hire and when the crew size does not exceed five for a party boat and three for a charter boat. (1) Private recreational vessels. Any person fishing from a vessel that is not fishing under a bluefish commercial or charter/party vessel permit issued pur suant to § 648.4(a)(8), may land up to three bluefish per day. (2) For-hire vessels. Anglers fishing on board a for-hire vessel under a bluefish charter/party vessel permit issued pur suant to § 648.4(a)(8), may land up to five bluefish per person per day. (b) Pooling Catch. Bluefish harvested by vessels subject to the possession limit with more than one person on board may be pooled in one or more containers. Compliance with the daily possession limit will be determined by dividing the number of bluefish on board by the number of persons on board, other than the captain and the crew. If there is a violation of the pos session limit on board a vessel carrying more than one person, the violation shall be deemed to have been com mitted by the owner and operator of the vessel. [76 FR 60641, Sept. 29, 2011, as amended at 85 FR 38798, June 29, 2020] 977 Fishery Conservation and Management § 648.167 § 648.165 Bluefish minimum fish sizes. If the MAFMC determines through its annual review or framework adjust ment process that minimum fish sizes are necessary to ensure that the fish ing mortality rate is not exceeded, or to attain other FMP objectives, such measures will be enacted through the procedure specified in § 648.162(c) or 648.167. [76 FR 60641, Sept. 29, 2011] § 648.166 Bluefish gear restrictions. If the MAFMC determines through its annual review or framework adjust ment process that gear restrictions are necessary to ensure that the ACL is not exceeded, or to attain other FMP objectives, such measures, subject to the gear other than trawls and gillnets restrictions in § 648.162 regarding speci fications, will be enacted through the procedure specified in § 648.162(c) or 648.167. [76 FR 60641, Sept. 29, 2011] § 648.167 Bluefish framework adjust ment to management measures. (a) Within-season management action. The MAFMC may, at any time, initiate action to add or adjust management measures if it finds that action is nec essary to meet or be consistent with the goals and objectives of the Bluefish FMP. (1) Adjustment process. After a man agement action has been initiated, the MAFMC shall develop and analyze ap propriate management actions over the span of at least two MAFMC meetings. The MAFMC shall provide the public with advance notice of the availability of both the proposals and the analysis and the opportunity to comment on them prior to and at the second MAFMC meeting. The MAFMC’s rec ommendation on adjustments or addi tions to management measures must come from one or more of the following categories: Adjustments within exist ing ABC control rule levels; adjust ments to the existing MAFMC risk pol icy; introduction of new AMs, includ ing sub-ACTs; minimum fish size; max imum fish size; gear restrictions; gear requirements or prohibitions; permit ting restrictions; recreational posses sion limit; recreational season; closed areas; commercial season; description and identification of EFH; fishing gear management measures to protect EFH; designation of habitat areas of par ticular concern within EFH; changes to the SBRM, including the CV-based per formance standard, the means by which discard data are collected/ob tained, fishery stratification, the proc ess for prioritizing observer sea-day al locations, reports, and/or industry funded observers or observer set aside programs; and any other management measures currently included in the FMP. Measures that require significant departures from previously con templated measures or that are other wise introducing new concepts may re quire an amendment of the FMP in stead of a framework adjustment. (2) MAFMC recommendation. After de veloping management actions and re ceiving public testimony, the MAFMC shall make a recommendation to the Regional Administrator. The MAFMC’s recommendation must include sup porting rationale and, if management measures are recommended, an anal ysis of impacts and a recommendation to the Regional Administrator on whether to issue the management measures as a final rule. If the MAFMC recommends that the management measures should be issued as a final rule, the MAFMC must consider at least the following factors and provide support and analysis for each factor considered: (i) 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; (ii) 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 MAFMC’s recommended manage ment measures; (iii) Whether there is an immediate need to protect the resource; and (iv) Whether there will be a con tinuing evaluation of management measures adopted following their im plementation as a final rule. (3) Action by NMFS. If the MAFMC’s recommendation includes adjustments 978 50 CFR Ch. VI (10–1–22 Edition) § 648.200 or additions to management measures and, after reviewing the MAFMC’s rec ommendation and supporting informa tion: (i) If NMFS concurs with the MAFMC’s recommended management measures and determines that the rec ommended management measures should be issued as a final rule based on the factors specified in paragraph (a)(2) of this section, the measures will be issued as a final rule in the FEDERAL REGISTER. (ii) If NMFS concurs with the MAFMC’s recommendation and deter mines that the recommended manage ment measures should be published first as a proposed rule, the measures will be published as a proposed rule in the FEDERAL REGISTER. After addi tional public comment, if NMFS con curs with the MAFMC’s recommenda tion, the measures will be issued as a final rule in the FEDERAL REGISTER. (iii) If NMFS does not concur, the MAFMC will be notified in writing of the reasons for the non-concurrence. (b) 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. [76 FR 60641, Sept. 29, 2011, as amended at 76 FR 81850, Dec. 29, 2011; 80 FR 37197, June 30, 2015] Subpart K—Management Meas ures for the Atlantic Herring Fishery SOURCE: 72 FR 11277, Mar. 12, 2007, unless otherwise noted. § 648.200 Specifications. (a) The Atlantic Herring Plan Devel opment Team (PDT) shall meet at least every 3 years, but no later than July of the year before new specifications are implemented, with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (Com mission) Atlantic Herring Technical Committee (TC) to develop and rec ommend the following specifications for a period of 3 years for consideration by the New England Fishery Manage ment Council’s Atlantic Herring Over sight Committee: Overfishing Limit (OFL), Acceptable Biological Catch (ABC), Annual Catch Limit (ACL), Op timum yield (OY), domestic annual harvest (DAH), domestic annual proc essing (DAP), U.S. at-sea processing (USAP), border transfer (BT), the sub ACL for each management area, in cluding seasonal periods as specified at § 648.201(d) and modifications to sub ACLs as specified at § 648.201(f), the amount to be set aside for the RSA (from 0 to 3 percent of the sub-ACL from any management area), and river herring and shad catch caps, as speci fied in § 648.201(a)(4). Recommended specifications shall be presented to the New England Fishery Management Council. (1) The PDT shall meet with the Commission’s TC to review the status of the stock and the fishery and pre pare a Stock Assessment and Fishery Evaluation (SAFE) report at least every 3 years. The Herring PDT will meet at least once during interim years to review the status of the stock relative to the overfishing definition if information is available to do so. When conducting a 3-year review and pre paring a SAFE Report, the PDT/TC will recommend to the Council/Com mission any necessary adjustments to the specifications for the upcoming 3 years. (2) If the Council determines, based on information provided by the PDT/ TC or other stock-related information, that the specifications should be ad justed during the 3-year time period, it can do so through the same process outlined in this section during one or both of the interim years. (b) Guidelines. As the basis for its rec ommendations under paragraph (a) of this section, the PDT shall review available data pertaining to: Commer cial and recreational catch data; cur rent estimates of fishing mortality; discards; stock status; recent estimates of recruitment; virtual population analysis results and other estimates of stock size; sea sampling and trawl sur vey data or, if sea sampling data are unavailable, length frequency informa tion from trawl surveys; impact of other fisheries on herring mortality; and any other relevant information. The specifications recommended pursu ant to paragraph (a) of this section must be consistent with the following: