Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 62 / Thursday, March 31, 2011 / Rules and Regulations 17789 

(6,803.89 mt) (75 FR 36012, June 24, 

2010). The commercial quota is 

allocated into two periods (May 1 

through October 31, and November 1 

through April 30). Vessel possession 

limits were set at 3,000 lb (1.36 mt) for 

both Quota Periods 1 and 2. Quota 

Period 1 was allocated 8,685,000 lb 

(3,943.45 mt), and Quota Period 2 was 

allocated 6,315,000 lb (2,864.44 mt) of 

the commercial quota. The total quota 

cannot be exceeded, so landings in 

excess of the amount allocated to Period 

1 have the effect of reducing the quota 

available to the fishery during Period 2. 

The Administrator, Northeast Region, 

NMFS (Regional Administrator) 

monitors the commercial spiny dogfish 

quota for each quota period and, based 

upon dealer reports, state data, and 

other available information, determines 

when the total commercial quota will be 

harvested. NMFS is required to publish 

a notification in the Federal Register 

advising and notifying commercial 

vessels and dealer permit holders that, 

effective upon a specific date, the 

Federal spiny dogfish commercial quota 

has been harvested and no Federal 

commercial quota is available for 

landing spiny dogfish for the remainder 

of that quota period. 

Section 648.4(b) provides that Federal 

spiny dogfish permit holders agree, as a 

condition of their permit, not to land 

spiny dogfish in any state after NMFS 

has published notification in the 

Federal Register that the commercial 

quota has been harvested and that no 

commercial quota for the spiny dogfish 

fishery is available. Therefore, effective 

0001 hr local time, April 1, 2011, 

landings of spiny dogfish in coastal 

states from Maine through Florida by 

vessels holding commercial Federal 

fisheries permits will be prohibited 

through April 30, 2011, 2400 hr local 

time. The FY 2011 quota will be 

available for commercial spiny dogfish 

harvest on May 1, 2011. Effective April 

1, 2011, federally permitted dealers are 

also advised that they may not purchase 

spiny dogfish from vessels issued 

Federal spiny dogfish permits that land 

in coastal states from Maine through 

Florida. 

Classification 

This action is required by 50 CFR part 

648 and is exempt from review under 

Executive Order 12866. 

The Assistant Administrator for 

Fisheries, NOAA (AA), finds good cause 

pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B) to waive 

prior notice and the opportunity for 

public comment because it would be 

contrary to the public interest. The 

regulations at § 648.231 require such 

action to ensure that spiny dogfish 

vessels do not exceed the FY 2010 

quota. Data indicating the spiny dogfish 

fleet will have landed the FY 2010 quota 

have only recently become available. If 

implementation of this closure was 

delayed to solicit prior public comment, 

the FY 2010 quota would be exceeded, 

thereby undermining the conservation 

objectives of the FMP. The AA further 

finds, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3), 

good cause to waive the 30-day delayed 

effectiveness period for the reasons 

stated above. 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. 

Dated: March 28, 2011. 

Emily H. Menashes, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2011–7616 Filed 3–28–11; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 101228634–1149–02] 

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: Final rule; final specifications 

for the 2011 Atlantic bluefish fishery. 

SUMMARY: NMFS issues final 

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). The final rule also amends 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: This rule is effective May 2, 

2011. The final specifications for the 

2011 Atlantic bluefish fishery are 

effective May 2, 2011, through 

December 31, 2011. 

ADDRESSES: 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: 

Jason Berthiaume, Fishery Management 

Specialist, (978) 281–9177. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The Atlantic bluefish fishery is 

managed cooperatively by the MidAtlantic 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 § 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 setaside (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 § 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 


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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. The proposed 

specifications were published in the 

Federal Register on January 14, 2011 

(76 FR 2640), with a 15-day comment 

period which ended on January 31, 

2011. 

Final 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 

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. 

Final Commercial Quota and RHL 

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 6. The inclusion of 

Wave 6 data did not result in any quota 

overages for the fishing year and would, 

therefore, not impact the final quotas. 

Using the best available data, the 2011 

recreational harvest was estimated to be 

16.581 million lb (7,456 mt), or 

approximately 61 percent of the TAL. 

Consistent with the Council’s 

recommendation, this allows for a 

transfer of 4.772 million lb (2,164 mt) 

from the recreational sector to the 

commercial sector. This results 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 results 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). 

Final Recreational Possession Limit 

The current recreational possession 

limit of up to 15 fish per person is 

maintained to achieve the RHL. 

Final State Commercial Allocations 

The final State commercial allocations 

of the 2011 commercial quota are shown 

in Table 1, based on the percentages 

specified in the FMP. 


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TABLE 1—FINAL BLUEFISH COMMERCIAL STATE-BY-STATE ALLOCATIONS FOR 2011 (INCLUDING RSA DEDUCTIONS) 

State Percent share 2011 Council-final 

commercial quota (lb) 

2011 Council-final 

commercial quota (kg) 

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 

GA ................................................................................................ 0.0095 891 404 

FL ................................................................................................. 10.0597 943,117 427,791 

Total ...................................................................................... 100.0001 9,375,204 4,252,521 

Final 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 F over a 9-yr period. 

Amendment 1 specified a target F of 90 

percent of FMSY, to become effective 

after the rebuilding period. The 

regulations at § 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 eliminates 

the ‘‘whichever F is lower’’ provision to 

more clearly reflect the intent of the 

FMP. 

Comments and Responses 

The public comment period for the 

proposed rule ended on January 31, 

2011. Four comments were received. A 

summary and response to the concerns 

raised by the commenters are included 

below. 

Comment 1: A member of the charter/ 

party Atlantic bluefish fishery in New 

Jersey was supportive of the quotas, but 

feels the recreational bag limit of 15 fish 

per person per day is too high. The 

commenter stated that the combined 

pressure of recreational and party/ 

charter, as well as a commercial 

presence in the Atlantic bluefish 

fishery, has caused significant 

reductions in catch levels. The 

commenter suggested a recreational bag 

limit of 5 fish per person per day. 

Response: From 2000–2009, the 

recreational fishery overharvested its 

RHL in only 2 years, 2006 and 2007, 

with recreational landings of 16.752 and 

21.163 million lb, respectively, or about 

7 percent higher than the combined 

recreational harvest limit implemented 

those years. With the majority of the 

years from 2000–2009 having 

recreational landings well under the 

RHL for those years, and minimal 

overages occurring in 2006 and 2007, a 

reduction to the recreational bag limit 

from 15 fish per day to 5 fish would not 

allow the recreational fishery to achieve 

the RHL. The 15 fish per day limit is 

consistent with the conservation 

objectives in the Atlantic Bluefish FMP 

while allowing the recreational sector to 

achieve optimum yield. 

Comment 2: Two comments suggested 

that the quotas were too high to be 

sustainable, and criticized the Council 

in general, but offered no scientific basis 

for this suggestion. 

Response: Atlantic bluefish are not 

overfished, nor are they subject to 

overfishing; therefore, there is no 

scientific basis for reducing the quotas 

as suggested by these commenters. 

Comment 3: One comment was in 

support of the quotas, but raised 

concerns regarding the IRFA. 

Specifically, the comment states that the 

IRFA should have used data through 

2010 for all alternatives, rather than just 

for alternative 3. The comment also 

suggested that NMFS should conduct 

the analyses beyond Atlantic bluefish to 

include a comprehensive analysis of an 

entire suite of permits. The commenter 

stated that this could be performed by 

looking at the closure status of 

additionally permitted fisheries other 

than bluefish to quantify the fisheries a 

permit holder is able to participate in. 

Response: Alternative 3 is the no 

action alternative and does not utilize 

2010 data. If alternative 3 were to be the 

selected alternative, the 2011 

specifications would remain the same as 

the 2010 Atlantic bluefish 

specifications. The no action alternative 

is considered to be synonymous with 

‘‘status quo’’ management measures for 

2010 since the alternative interpretation 

(failure to specify management 

measures) would be in violation of the 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act. 

Therefore, alternative 3 would not 

necessitate additional analysis and 

would maintain the 2010 quotas which 

rely upon the analysis used for setting 

the 2010 specifications. The analysis 

performed for alternatives 1 and 2 

utilizes 2009 data and not the entire 

data set for 2010. At the time the data 

were presented to the Monitoring 

Committee and the Council, data were 

only available from the recreational 

fishery from Waves 1 and 2 of 2010. 

Historically, landings for Waves 1 and 2 

comprise less than 5 percent, on 

average, of the total recreational 

landings since 2000. Therefore, it was 

suggested that this type of projection be 

postponed until more complete data are 

available. In the meantime, average 

recreational landings for 2007–2009 

were used. After the proposed rule 

published on January 14, 2011, landings 

data through December 31, 2010, were 

utilized to determine if any quota 

overages occurred in 2010 and make any 

quota adjustments as necessary. 

Section 603 of the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act requires that an IRFA be 

prepared for all proposed rules, 


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17792 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 62 / Thursday, March 31, 2011 / Rules and Regulations 

describing the impacts of the proposed 

rule on small entities. The IRFA 

prepared for this rule analyzed the 2011 

Atlantic bluefish specifications, 

including the considered alternatives 

and the expected impacts by the 

Council. Each of the statutory 

requirements of section 603(b) and (c) 

have been addressed and are 

summarized in the Classification section 

of this final rule. The portion of this 

comment regarding regulatory closures 

in fisheries outside of Atlantic bluefish 

is beyond the scope of an IRFA and this 

rulemaking. 

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 final rule is consistent with the 

Atlantic Bluefish FMP, other provisions 

of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and other 

applicable law. 

This final rule has been determined to 

be not significant for purposes of 

Executive Order 12866. 

This final rule does not duplicate, 

conflict, or overlap with any existing 

Federal rules. 

The FRFA included in this final rule 

was prepared pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 

section 604(a), and incorporates the 

IRFA and a summary of analyses 

completed to support the action. No 

significant issues were raised by the 

public comment in response to the 

IRFA, other than the comment noted 

above. A public copy of the EA/RIR/ 

IRFA is available from the Council (see 

ADDRESSES). 

The preamble to the proposed rule 

included a detailed summary of the 

analyses contained in the IRFA, and that 

discussion is not repeated here. 

Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

Statement of Objective and Need 

A description of the reasons why this 

action is being taken, and the objectives 

of and legal basis for this final rule are 

contained in the preambles to the 

proposed rule and this final rule and are 

not repeated here. 

Summary of Significant Issues Raised 

in Public Comments 

Four comments were submitted on 

the proposed rule. One comment was 

received that commented on the 

economic analyses summarized in the 

IRFA and the economic impacts of the 

rule more generally, but did not raise 

significant issues. The response to this 

comment is provided above in the 

‘‘Comments and Responses’’ section of 

this preamble. The remaining 3 

comments did not refer to the economic 

analysis summarized in the IRFA or the 

economic impacts of the rule more 

generally. No changes were made to the 

final rule as a result of the comments 

received. 

Description and Estimate of Number of 

Small Entities to Which the Rule Will 

Apply 

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 final 

rule. 

An active participant in the 

commercial sector was defined as any 

vessel that reported having landed 1 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 

that landed bluefish in North Carolina, 

and 685 vessels that landed bluefish on 

Florida’s east coast. Some of these 

vessels were also identified in the 

Northeast dealer data; therefore, double 

counting is possible. 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. 

Description of Projected Reporting, 

Recordkeeping, and Other Compliance 

Requirements 

No additional reporting, 

recordkeeping, or other compliance 

requirements are included in this final 

rule. 

Description of the Steps Taken To 

Minimize Economic Impact on Small 

Entities 

Specification of commercial quota, 

recreational harvest levels, and 

possession limits is constrained by the 

conservation objectives of the FMP, 

under the authority of the MagnusonStevens Act. The commercial quota 

contained in this final rule is 8 percent 

lower than the 2010 quota and 61 

percent higher than actual 2010 bluefish 

landings. All affected States will receive 

reductions in their individual 

commercial quota allocation in 

comparison to their respective 2010 

individual State allocations. However, 

the magnitude of the reduction varies 

depending on the State’s respective 

percent share in the total commercial 

quota, as specified in the FMP. 

The RHL contained in this final rule 

is approximately 4 percent lower than 

the RHL in 2010. The small reduction in 

RHL is a reflection of a declining trend 

in recreational bluefish harvest in recent 

years. Since the 2011 RHL is greater 

than the total estimated recreational 

bluefish harvest for 2010, it does not 

constrain recreational bluefish harvest 

below a level that the fishery is 

anticipated to achieve. The possession 

limit for bluefish will remain at 15 fish 

per person, so there should be no 

impact on demand for party/charter 

vessel fishing and, therefore, no impact 

on revenues earned by party/charter 

vessels. No negative economic impacts 

on the recreational fishery are 

anticipated. 

The impacts on revenues associated 

with the proposed RSA quota were 

analyzed and are expected to be 

minimal. Assuming that the full RSA 

quota 105,000 lb (48 mt) is landed and 

sold to support the proposed research 

projects, then all of the participants in 

the fishery would benefit from the 

improved fisheries data yielded from 

each project. 

Because both the RHL and the 

commercial quota being implemented in 

this final rule are slightly lower than the 

2009 RHL and commercial quotas, and 

there will be no impacts from the RSA 

quota, the economic impacts are 

expected to be minimal. 

Under alternative 2, which was not 

selected, a transfer of bluefish landings 

from the recreational to the commercial 

fishery would not occur. The absence of 

a quota transfer under this alternative 

would result in decreased commercial 

fishing opportunity compared to 2010, 

and is therefore associated with a higher 

probability of commercial revenue 


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losses compared to the specifications 

being implemented in this final rule. 

The not chosen alternative 3 would be 

the least restrictive alternative (i.e., least 

restrictive commercial quota), but was 

not recommended because it is the 

status quo. Additionally, the TAC for 

alternative 3 would have been above the 

recommended acceptable biological 

catch which could possibly result in 

quota overages. 

Small Entity Compliance Guide 

Section 212 of the Small Business 

Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 

1996 states that, for each rule or group 

of related rules for which an agency is 

required to prepare a FRFA, the agency 

shall publish one or more guides to 

assist small entities in complying with 

the rule, and shall designate such 

publications as ‘‘small entity compliance 

guides.’’ The agency shall explain the 

actions a small entity is required to take 

to comply with a rule or group of rules. 

As part of this rulemaking process, a 

small entity compliance guide will be 

sent to all holders of Federal permits 

issued for the Atlantic bluefish fishery. 

In addition, copies of this final rule 

and guide (i.e., permit holder letter) are 

available from NMFS (see ADDRESSES) 

and at the following Web site: http:// 

www.nero.noaa.gov. 

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 648 

Fisheries, Fishing, Recordkeeping and 

reporting requirements. 

Dated: March 28, 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 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 § 648.160, paragraph (a) is 

revised to read as follows: 

§ 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. 2011–7630 Filed 3–30–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 679 

[Docket No. 101126522–0640–02] 

RIN 0648–XA337 

Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic 

Zone Off Alaska; Pollock in Statistical 

Area 610 in the Gulf of Alaska 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; closure. 

SUMMARY: NMFS is prohibiting directed 

fishing for pollock in Statistical Area 

610 in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This 

action is necessary to prevent exceeding 

the B season allowance of the 2011 total 

allowable catch of pollock for Statistical 

Area 610 in the GOA. 

DATES: Effective 1200 hrs, Alaska local 

time (A.l.t.), March 28, 2011, through 

1200 hrs, A.l.t., May 31, 2011. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Josh 

Keaton, 907–586–7228. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS 

manages the groundfish fishery in the 

GOA exclusive economic zone 

according to the Fishery Management 

Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of 

Alaska (FMP) prepared by the North 

Pacific Fishery Management Council 

under authority of the MagnusonStevens Fishery Conservation and 

Management Act. Regulations governing 

fishing by U.S. vessels in accordance 

with the FMP appear at subpart H of 50 

CFR part 600 and 50 CFR part 679. 

The B season allowance of the 2011 

total allowable catch (TAC) of pollock in 

Statistical Area 610 of the GOA is 4,787 

metric tons (mt) as established by the 

final 2011 and 2012 harvest 

specifications for groundfish of the GOA 

(76 FR 11111, March 1, 2011). 

In accordance with § 679.20(d)(1)(i), 

the Regional Administrator has 

determined that the B season allowance 

of the 2011 TAC of pollock in Statistical 

Area 610 of the GOA will soon be 

reached. Therefore, the Regional 

Administrator is establishing a directed 

fishing allowance of 4,687 mt, and is 

setting aside the remaining 100 mt as 

bycatch to support other anticipated 

groundfish fisheries. In accordance with 

§ 679.20(d)(1)(iii), the Regional 

Administrator finds that this directed 

fishing allowance has been reached. 

Consequently, NMFS is prohibiting 

directed fishing for pollock in Statistical 

Area 610 of the GOA. 

After the effective date of this closure 

the maximum retainable amounts at 

§ 679.20(e) and (f) apply at any time 

during a trip. 

Classification 

This action responds to the best 

available information recently obtained 

from the fishery. The Assistant 

Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA 

(AA), finds good cause to waive the 

requirement to provide prior notice and 

opportunity for public comment 

pursuant to the authority set forth at 5 

U.S.C. 553(b)(B) as such requirement is 

impracticable and contrary to the public 

interest. This requirement is 

impracticable and contrary to the public 

interest as it would prevent NMFS from 

responding to the most recent fisheries 

data in a timely fashion and would 

delay the closure of pollock in 

Statistical Area 610 of the GOA. NMFS 

was unable to publish a notice 

providing time for public comment 

because the most recent, relevant data 

only became available as of March 25, 

2011. 

The AA also finds good cause to 

waive the 30-day delay in the effective 

date of this action under 5 U.S.C. 

553(d)(3). This finding is based upon 

the reasons provided above for waiver of 

prior notice and opportunity for public 

comment. 

This action is required by § 679.20 

and is exempt from review under 

Executive Order 12866. 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. 

Dated: March 28, 2011. 

Emily H. Menashes, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2011–7614 Filed 3–28–11; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 


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