[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:
    <bullet> Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic public 
comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking portal: http://www.regulations.gov
    <bullet> Fax: 978-281-9135, Attn: Regional Administrator.
    <bullet> 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 (F<INF>MSY</INF>), 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\ 
B<INF>MSY</INF>. Amendment 1 also established that the long-term target 
F is 90 percent of F<INF>MSY</INF> (F<INF>MSY</INF> = 0.19, therefore 
F<INF>target</INF> = 90 percent of F<INF>MSY</INF>, or 0.17), and the 
long-term target B is B<INF>MSY</INF> = 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, B<INF>2009</INF> = 343.901 million lb (155,991 
mt); and (2) an estimated fishing mortality rate for 2009, 
F<INF>2009</INF> = 0.10. Based on the updated 2009 estimate of bluefish 
stock biomass, the bluefish stock is not considered

[[Page 2641]]

overfished: B<INF>2009</INF> is greater than the minimum biomass 
threshold, \1/2\ B<INF>MSY</INF> = 162 million lb (73,526 mt), and is 
above B<INF>MSY</INF>. 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 (F<INF>2009</INF> = 0.10) is less than the maximum F 
overfishing threshold specified by SARC 41 (F<INF>MSY</INF> = 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 F<INF>target</INF> 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 F<INF>MSY</INF>, 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