Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 82 / Friday, April 27, 2012 / Rules and Regulations 25097 

been approved by OMB. The Federal 

Communications Commission will 

publish a document in the Federal 

Register announcing the effective date. 

82. It is further ordered that the 

Commission’s Consumer and 

Governmental Affairs Bureau, Reference 

Information Center, shall send a copy of 

this Report and Order, including the 

Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis, to 

the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the 

Small Business Administration. 

List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part 4 

Communications common carriers, 

Communications equipment. 

Federal Communications Commission. 

Marlene H. Dortch, 

Secretary. 

For the reasons discussed in the 

preamble, the Federal Communications 

Commission amends 47 CFR part 4 as 

follows: 

PART 4—DISRUPTIONS TO 

COMMUNICATIONS 

■ 1. The authority for part 4 is revised 

to read as follows: 

Authority: Sec. 5, 48 Stat. 1068, as 

amended; 47 U.S.C. 154, 155, 201, 251, 307, 

316, 615a–1, 1302(a), and 1302(b). 

■ 2. Section 4.3 is amended by revising 

paragraph (f) and redesignating 

paragraph (h) as paragraph (i) and 

adding new paragraph (h) to read as 

follows: 

§ 4.3 Communications providers covered 

by the requirements of this part. 

* * * * * 

(f) Wireless service providers include 

Commercial Mobile Radio Service 

communications providers that use 

cellular architecture and CMRS paging 

providers. See § 20.9 of this chapter for 

the definition of Commercial Mobile 

Radio Service. Also included are 

affiliated and non-affiliated entities that 

maintain or provide communications 

networks or services used by the 

provider in offering such 

communications. 

* * * * * 

(h) Interconnected Voice over Internet 

Protocol (VoIP) providers are providers 

of interconnected VoIP service. See § 9.3 

of this chapter for the definition of 

interconnected VoIP service. Such 

providers may be facilities-based or 

non-facilities-based. Also included are 

affiliated and non-affiliated entities that 

maintain or provide communications 

networks or services used by the 

provider in offering such 

communications. 

* * * * * 

■ 3. Section 4.7 is amended by revising 

paragraphs (e)(1) and (2) as follows: 

§ 4.7 Definitions of metrics used to 

determine the general outage-reporting 

threshold criteria. 

* * * * * 

(e) * * * 

(1) Assigned telephone number 

minutes (as defined in paragraph (c) of 

this section), for telephony, including 

non-mobile interconnected VoIP 

telephony, and for those paging 

networks in which each individual user 

is assigned a telephone number; 

(2) The mathematical result of 

multiplying the duration of an outage, 

expressed in minutes, by the number of 

end users potentially affected by the 

outage, for all other forms of 

communications. For wireless service 

providers and interconnected VoIP 

service providers to mobile users, the 

number of potentially affected users 

should be determined by multiplying 

the simultaneous call capacity of the 

affected equipment by a concentration 

ratio of 8. 

* * * * * 

■ 4. Section 4.9 is amended by adding 

paragraph (g) to read as follows: 

§ 4.9 Outage reporting requirements— 

threshold criteria. 

* * * * * 

(g) Interconnected VoIP Service 

Providers. (1) All interconnected VoIP 

service providers shall submit 

electronically a Notification to the 

Commission: 

(i) Within 240 minutes of discovering 

that they have experienced on any 

facilities that they own, operate, lease, 

or otherwise utilize, an outage of at least 

30 minutes duration that potentially 

affects a 9–1–1 special facility (as 

defined in (e) of § 4.5), in which case 

they also shall notify, as soon as 

possible by telephone or other 

electronic means, any official who has 

been designated by the management of 

the affected 9–1–1 facility as the 

provider’s contact person for 

communications outages at that facility, 

and the provider shall convey to that 

person all available information that 

may be useful to the management of the 

affected facility in mitigating the effects 

of the outage on efforts to communicate 

with that facility; or 

(ii) Within 24 hours of discovering 

that they have experienced on any 

facilities that they own, operate, lease, 

or otherwise utilize, an outage of at least 

30 minutes duration: 

(A) That potentially affects at least 

900,000 user minutes of interconnected 

VoIP service and results in complete 

loss of service; or 

(B) That potentially affects any special 

offices and facilities (in accordance with 

paragraphs § 4.5(a) through (d)). 

(2) Not later than thirty days after 

discovering the outage, the provider 

shall submit electronically a Final 

Communications Outage Report to the 

Commission. The Notification and Final 

reports shall comply with all of the 

requirements of § 4.11. 

[FR Doc. 2012–9749 Filed 4–26–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 120208116–2416–03] 

RIN 0648–BB83 

Fisheries of the Northeastern United 

States; 2012–2013 Northeast Skate 

Complex Fishery Specifications 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: This rule implements catch 

limits and associated measures for the 

Northeast skate complex fishery for the 

2012–2013 fishing years. The action was 

developed by the New England Fishery 

Management Council pursuant to the 

provisions of the Northeast Skate 

Complex Fishery Management Plan. The 

catch limits are supported by the best 

available scientific information and 

reflect recent increases in skate biomass. 

DATES: This rule is effective May 1, 

2012. 

ADDRESSES: An environmental 

assessment (EA) was prepared that 

describes the action and other 

considered alternatives, and provides a 

thorough analysis of the impacts of the 

proposed measures and alternatives. 

Copies of the EA and the Initial 

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (IRFA), 

are available on request from Paul J. 

Howard, Executive Director, New 

England Fishery Management Council, 

50 Water Street, Newburyport, MA 

01950. These documents are also 

available online at http:// 

www.nefmc.org. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Tobey Curtis, Fishery Policy Analyst, 

(978) 281–9273; fax: (978) 281–9135. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

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25098 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 82 / Friday, April 27, 2012 / Rules and Regulations 

Background 

The New England Fishery 

Management Council (Council) is 

responsible for developing management 

measures for skate fisheries in the 

northeastern U.S. through the Northeast 

Skate Complex Fishery Management 

Plan (Skate FMP). Seven skate species 

are managed under the Skate FMP: 

Winter, little, thorny, barndoor, smooth, 

clearnose, and rosette. The Council’s 

Scientific and Statistical Committee 

reviews the best available information 

on the status of skate populations and 

makes recommendations on acceptable 

biological catch (ABC) for the skate 

complex (all seven species). This 

recommendation is then used as the 

basis for catch limits and other 

management measures for the skate 

fisheries. 

A detailed description of how the 

2012–2013 skate ABC and associated 

specification measures were derived is 

provided in the proposed rule for this 

action (February 22, 2012, 77 FR 10463), 

and in its supplementary materials (see 

ADDRESSES). The final approved 

specifications for the 2012–2013 skate 

fishery are described below, and are 

mostly consistent with the measures 

implemented by Secretarial emergency 

action during the 2011 fishing year 

(October 28, 2011, 76 FR 66856), except 

as noted. 

Final Measures 

NMFS is implementing the following 

specifications for the skate fishery for 

the 2012–2013 fishing years: 

1. Skate ABC and annual catch limit 

(ACL) of 50,435 mt; 

2. Annual catch target (ACT) of 37,826 

mt; 

3. Total allowable landings (TAL) of 

21,561 mt (the skate wing fishery is 

allocated 66.5 percent of the TAL 

(14,338 mt) and the skate bait fishery is 

allocated 33.5 percent of the TAL (7,223 

mt, divided into three seasons according 

to the regulations at § 648.322)); 

4. The skate bait possession limit is 

increased from 20,000 lb (9,072 kg) to 

25,000 lb (11,340 kg) whole weight per 

trip for vessels carrying a valid Skate 

Bait Letter of Authorization; and, 

5. The skate wing possession limits 

will remain at status quo levels, as 

defined in § 648.322(b): 2,600 lb (1,179 

kg) wing weight per trip for Season I 

(May 1 through August 31), and 4,100 

lb (1,860 kg) wing weight per trip for 

Season II (September 1 through April 

30) for vessels fishing on a Northeast 

Multispecies, Monkfish, or Scallop Dayat-Sea. The Northeast Multispecies 

Category-B Day-at-Sea possession limit 

remains at 220 lb (100 kg) wing weight 

per trip, and the non-Day-at-Sea 

incidental possession limit remains at 

500 lb (227 kg) wing weight per trip. 

The proposed rule included 

reductions to the skate wing possession 

limits, as recommended by the Council, 

in an effort to prolong the fishing season 

and avoid implementation of the 

incidental skate wing possession limit 

before the end of the fishing year (i.e., 

closure of the directed skate wing 

fishery). The possession limit analysis 

used by the Council was based on skate 

landing rates in 2010 and early 2011 

when landing rates were particularly 

high. However, landing rates slowed 

during 2011, and as of March 31, 2012, 

the wing fishery only landed 77 percent 

of its TAL, and is not projected to land 

its entire TAL before the end of the 

fishing year. Upon the reasonable 

assumption that landing rates in 2012 

and 2013 will be similar to this year’s, 

implementing the reduced possession 

limits recommended by the Council 

may prevent the TAL from being 

harvested. Therefore, there is no 

justification to reduce the skate wing 

possession limits for the 2012–2013 

fishing years, and the proposed 

reduction is disapproved. The skate 

wing possession limits will remain at 

status quo levels. 

For the reasons described in the 

proposed rule and environmental 

assessment for this action (see 

ADDRESSES), this final rule implements 

updates to stock status determination 

criteria for skates that reflect the most 

recent scientific information. These 

updates include refinement of the 

survey strata used for determining the 

stock status of each skate species, and 

adjusts the overfishing definition for 

clearnose skate. Overfishing would be 

deemed to be occurring if the 3-year 

moving average trawl survey biomass of 

clearnose skate declines by 40 percent 

or more. 

Additionally, this final rule 

implements the requirement that skate 

bait transfers at sea, as recorded on 

vessel trip reports, be counted against 

the skate bait fishery quotas. Recent 

analysis indicated that bait transfers at 

sea, on average, represented 

approximately 18 percent of total skate 

landings, and need to be considered 

when monitoring catch. 

Finally, in order to be consistent with 

the requirements of Amendment 3, this 

final rule removes a reference to 

Northeast multispecies sectors in the 

skate wing possession limit regulations 

found at § 648.322(b). The skate wing 

possession limits were not intended to 

apply to sector vessels, and this 

reference should have been removed 

from the Amendment 3 final rule (June 

16, 2010, 75 FR 34049). 

Comments and Responses 

On February 22, 2012, NMFS 

published a proposed rule soliciting 

public comment on the proposed skate 

fishery specifications, and accepted 

comments through March 23, 2012. 

NMFS received seven comments on the 

proposed rule. This section summarizes 

the principal comments contained in 

the comment letters, and NMFS’s 

response to those comments. 

Comment 1: Four commercial fishing 

groups and the Massachusetts Division 

of Marine Fisheries were supportive of 

the proposed TALs, but were opposed to 

reducing the skate wing possession 

limits. 

Response: NMFS agrees that the TALs 

reflect the best available science and are 

consistent with the requirements of the 

Skate FMP. NMFS also agrees that the 

skate wing possession limits do not 

need to be reduced as more fully 

discussed above in the preamble. 

Therefore, this final rule maintains the 

status quo possession limits for the 

skate wing fishery through the 2013 

fishing year. 

Comment 2: Three of the commercial 

fishing groups commented that the 

prohibition on possession of barndoor 

skate should be removed, and an 

incidental possession limit of barndoor 

skate wings should be implemented. 

Response: The issue of barndoor skate 

possession is beyond the scope of these 

specifications, and was not part of the 

proposed rule. Therefore, this issue 

cannot be added to this final rule. To 

date, the Council has rejected measures 

to allow possession of this species, 

which is no longer overfished, but not 

yet rebuilt to its target population size. 

The Council may reconsider species 

prohibitions in future actions. 

Comment 3: One commenter was 

generally critical of NMFS and opposed 

to the proposed catch limits. The 

commenter suggested that skate stock 

status was inaccurate, and skate quotas 

should be reduced by 50 percent. 

Response: No justification was offered 

by the commenter to indicate that the 

proposed specifications were based on 

inaccurate science. Justification for 

reducing the skate quotas by 50 percent 

was also not provided. These 

specifications are based upon the best 

available scientific information, as 

required by the Magnuson-Stevens Act. 

Skate stock status determinations were 

developed following stock assessments 

conducted by the Northeast Fisheries 

Science Center and rigorously peerreviewed by external fishery scientists. 

The skate ABC was recommended by 

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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 82 / Friday, April 27, 2012 / Rules and Regulations 25099 

the Council’s Scientific and Statistical 

Committee, and was based upon 

precautionary catch levels designed to 

promote biomass increases in all skates. 

Therefore, the commenter’s assertions 

are unfounded, and NMFS disagrees 

that quotas should be reduced. 

Comment 4: One commenter was 

opposed to the proposed catch limits 

due to concerns of the impacts on 

thorny skate, a prohibited species that is 

currently overfished. The commenter 

argued that these specifications would 

promote illegal landings of thorny skate, 

increase discards, and ultimately hinder 

the rebuilding of this stock. The 

commenter was particularly critical of 

NMFS’s lack of documented 

enforcement actions against vessels that 

may have illegally landed thorny skates. 

The commenter argued that vessels 

should be required to report all skate 

landings by species, skates should only 

be landed in whole form to improve 

dockside species identification and 

enforcement, and additional measures 

should be implemented to help rebuild 

thorny skates (e.g., time/area closures in 

essential thorny skate habitats). 

Response: In response to similar 

comments received on the 2011 

emergency action (October 28, 2011, 76 

FR 66856), NMFS disagrees that these 

specifications would have significant 

negative impacts on thorny skates. 

NMFS acknowledges the overfished 

condition and vulnerability of thorny 

skates, but the skate ABC recommended 

by the Council was specified at a level 

that should help promote long-term 

biomass increases in this stock (which 

needs to be rebuilt by 2028). Fishing 

effort in the skate fishery is not greatly 

affected by skate catch limits, as the vast 

majority of vessels that land skates catch 

them incidentally to trips targeting 

groundfish or monkfish. Effort in these 

fisheries has declined in recent years, 

and may decline further in coming 

years. Discards of all skates have 

declined in recent years. Therefore, 

increasing skate catch limits is not 

expected to promote more fishing effort 

for, or discards of, thorny skates. 

The lack of documented enforcement 

actions citing illegal possession of 

thorny skates is not reflective of a total 

lack of enforcement of this prohibition. 

As described in NMFS’s negative 90-day 

finding on a petition to list thorny skate 

as endangered under the Endangered 

Species Act (December 20, 2011, 76 FR 

78891), between 2007 and 2010, thorny 

skate wings were found in less than 1 

percent of sampled skate wing landings. 

Therefore, there is no basis for 

concluding that enforcement of this 

provision is inadequate, and NMFS has 

ongoing education and outreach efforts 

in the skate fishery to improve 

prohibited species compliance (e.g., 

http://www.nero.noaa.gov/sfd/ 

sfdskate.html). If prohibited species 

regulations were not being adequately 

enforced, port sampling would reveal 

more frequent landings of thorny skate 

wings. NMFS agrees that landing skates 

in whole form would improve 

monitoring of species-specific landings, 

and help further enforce species 

prohibitions. However, the Council has 

rejected such requirements for the skate 

fishery to date. In addition to closed 

areas and other measures, the Council 

may reconsider such measures to help 

rebuild thorny skate in future actions. 

Changes From the Proposed Rule 

In § 648.322(b)(1), the proposed 

change to the skate wing possession 

limits are not included in this final rule 

due to the disapproval of this proposed 

measure. 

Classification 

Pursuant to section 304(b)(1)(A) of the 

Magnuson-Stevens Act, the NMFS 

Assistant Administrator has made a 

determination that this rule is consistent 

with the Skate FMP, other provisions of 

the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and other 

applicable law. 

The Office of Management and Budget 

has determined that this rule is not 

significant for the purposes of Executive 

Order 12866. 

The Assistant Administrator for 

Fisheries, NOAA, finds good cause to 

waive the requirement for a 30-day 

delay in effectiveness under the 

provisions of section 553(d) of the 

Administrative Procedure Act. This 

action would result in a benefit of 

additional revenues associated with a 

skate bait possession limit that is 25 

percent higher, and provides more 

opportunity for skate bait vessels to 

harvest their full allocation of quota. 

This rule increases the possession limit 

for skate bait and, consequently, extends 

fishing opportunity for fishermen that 

would otherwise be constrained under 

the current possession limits, which are 

unnecessarily restrictive. If this 

rulemaking was delayed to allow for a 

30-day delay in effectiveness, the 

fishery would likely forego some 

amount of landings and revenues during 

the delay period. While these 

restrictions would be alleviated after 

this rule becomes effective, fishermen 

may be not able to recoup the lost 

economic opportunity of foregone 

landings of skate bait that would result 

from a delay in the effectiveness of this 

action. For these reasons, the AA finds 

good cause to waive the 30-day delay 

and to implement this rule on May 1, 

2012. 

Pursuant to section 604 of the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), NMFS 

has prepared a Final Regulatory 

Flexibility Analysis (FRFA) in support 

of this action. The FRFA incorporates 

the IRFA, a summary of the significant 

issues raised by the public comments in 

response to the IRFA, NMFS’s responses 

to those comments, relevant analyses 

contained in the action and its EA, and 

a summary of the analyses completed to 

support the action in this rule. A copy 

of the analyses done in the action and 

EA are available from the Council (see 

ADDRESSES). A summary of the IRFA 

was published in the proposed rule for 

this action and is not repeated here. A 

description of why this action was 

considered, the objectives of, and the 

legal basis for this rule is contained in 

the preamble to the proposed rule and 

this final rule and is not repeated here. 

A Summary of the Significant Issues 

Raised by the Public in Response to the 

IRFA, a Summary of the Agency’s 

Assessment of Such Issues, and a 

Statement of Any Changes Made in the 

Proposed Rule as a Result of Such 

Comments 

Seven comments were received on the 

proposed rule. For a summary of the 

comments, and NMFS’s responses to 

them, see the Comments and Responses 

section above. None of the comments 

raised issues or concerns related to the 

IRFA, and no changes were made to the 

rule as a result of the comments. 

Description and Estimate of Number of 

Small Entities to Which the Rule Would 

Apply 

These final specifications will impact 

vessels that hold Federal open access 

commercial skate permits that 

participate in the skate fishery. 

According to the Framework 1 final rule 

and its Final Regulatory Flexibility 

Analysis (76 FR 28328, May 17, 2011), 

as of December 31, 2010, the maximum 

number of small fishing entities (as 

defined by the SBA) that may be 

affected by this action is 2,607 entities 

(number of skate permit holders). 

However, during fishing year 2010, only 

601 vessels landed any amount of skate. 

Description of Projected Reporting, 

Recordkeeping, and Other Compliance 

Requirements 

This action does not introduce any 

new reporting, recordkeeping, or other 

compliance requirements. This rule 

does not duplicate, overlap, or conflict 

with other Federal rules. 

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25100 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 82 / Friday, April 27, 2012 / Rules and Regulations 

Description of the Steps the Agency Has 

Taken To Minimize the Significant 

Economic Impact on Small Entities 

Consistent With the Stated Objectives of 

Applicable Statutes 

The purpose of this action is to 

specify catch limits and other 

management measures that reflect the 

best available scientific information and 

the requirements of the Skate FMP. The 

Council considered one ACL alternative 

(no action) to the preferred alternative 

being implemented. The preferred ACL 

and TALs are expected to extend the 

duration of the fishing season relative to 

the no action alternative, and help to 

prevent the negative economic impacts 

that would be associated with an early 

closure of the directed skate fisheries. 

Under the no action alternative, the 

skate catch limit would remain at 

41,080 mt. This alternative was not 

selected because it does not represent 

the best available scientific information, 

and would likely result in negative 

economic impacts as compared to the 

preferred alternative. Compared to the 

other alternative considered, this action 

is expected to better maximize 

profitability for the skate fishery by 

allowing higher levels of landings for 

the duration of the 2012 and 2013 

fishing years while still being consistent 

with requirements of the MagnusonStevens Act and other applicable law. 

Therefore, the economic impacts 

resulting from this action as compared 

to the no action alternative are positive, 

since the action would provide 

additional fishing opportunity for 

vessels participating in the skate fishery 

for the 2012–2013 fishing years. 

The action is almost certain to result 

in greater revenue from skate landings. 

Based on recent landing information, 

the skate fishery is able to land close to 

the full amount of skates allowable 

under the quotas. The estimated 

potential revenue from the sale of skates 

under the revised catch limits is 

approximately $9.0 million, compared 

to $5.8 million if this action were not 

implemented. Due to the implications of 

closing the directed skate fisheries early 

in the fishing year, the higher catch 

limits associated with this action will 

result in additional revenue if fishing is 

prolonged. According to analyses in 

Framework 1, vessels that participate in 

the skate fishery derive most (an average 

of 96 percent) of their revenues from 

other fisheries (e.g., groundfish, 

monkfish). Therefore, relative to total 

fishing revenues, catch limits of other 

species would be expected to have more 

significant economic impacts than 

revenues derived from skates alone. 

However, as skate prices have begun 

increasing in recent years, more vessels 

are deriving a greater proportion of their 

income from skates. 

The final possession limits in the 

skate wing and bait fisheries are also 

expected to result in positive economic 

impacts compared to the other 

alternatives considered. The reduced 

skate wing possession limits described 

in the proposed rule would have 

slightly reduced trip level revenues of 

skates. Maintaining the status quo skate 

wing possession limits, as implemented 

in this final rule, will help maintain 

consistent trip level revenues for skate 

wings, as well as allow the fishery to 

operate throughout the fishing year 

without closures. The increased skate 

bait possession limit implemented by 

this final rule is also expected to 

increase trip level revenue for bait 

skates, and may help the bait fishery 

land more of its allocated TAL in 2012 

and 2013. 

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 letter to permit 

holders that also serves as small entity 

compliance guide (the guide) was 

prepared. Copies of this final rule are 

available from the Northeast Regional 

Office, and the guide, i.e., permit holder 

letter, will be sent to all holders of 

permits for the skate fishery. The guide 

and this final rule will be available 

upon request, and posted on the 

Northeast Regional Office’s Web site at 

www.nero.noaa.gov. 

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 648 

Fisheries, Fishing, Recordkeeping and 

reporting requirements. 

Dated: April 24, 2012. 

Alan D. Risenhoover, 

Acting 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 § 648.322, revise paragraph (b) 

introductory text and paragraph (c)(4) to 

read as follows: 

§ 648.322 Skate allocation, possession, 

and landing provisions. 

* * * * * 

(b) Skate wing possession and landing 

limits. A vessel or operator of a vessel 

that has been issued a valid Federal 

skate permit under this part, and fishes 

under an Atlantic sea scallop, NE 

multispecies, or monkfish DAS as 

specified at §§ 648.53, 648.82, and 

648.92, respectively, unless otherwise 

exempted under § 648.80 or paragraph 

(c) of this section, may fish for, possess, 

and/or land up to the allowable trip 

limits specified as follows: 

* * * * * 

(c) * * * 

(4) The vessel owner or operator 

possesses or lands no more than 25,000 

lb (11,340 kg) of only whole skates less 

than 23 inches (58.42 cm) total length, 

and does not possess or land any skate 

wings or whole skates greater than 23 

inches (58.42 cm) total length. 

* * * * * 

[FR Doc. 2012–10240 Filed 4–26–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 120201086–2418–02] 

RIN 0648–XA904 

Fisheries of the Northeastern United 

States; Atlantic Bluefish Fishery; 2012 

Atlantic Bluefish Specifications 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: NMFS issues final 

specifications for the 2012 Atlantic 

bluefish fishery, including an annual 

catch limit, total allowable landings, a 

commercial quota and recreational 

harvest limit, and a recreational 

possession limit. This action establishes 

the allowable 2012 harvest levels and 

other management measures to achieve 

the target fishing mortality rate, 

consistent with the Atlantic Bluefish 

Fishery Management Plan. 

DATES: The final specifications for the 

2012 Atlantic bluefish fishery are 

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