7524 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 18 / Friday, January 29, 2021 / Proposed Rules 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 622 

RIN 0648–BK22 

Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of 

Mexico, and South Atlantic; Dolphin 

and Wahoo Fishery Off the Atlantic 

States; Amendment 12 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Announcement of availability of 

fishery management plan amendment; 

request for comments. 

SUMMARY: The South Atlantic Fishery 

Management Council (Council) 

submitted Amendment 12 to the Fishery 

Management Plan (FMP) for the Dolphin 

and Wahoo Fishery off the Atlantic 

States (Dolphin Wahoo FMP) for review, 

approval, and implementation by 

NMFS. If approved by the Secretary of 

Commerce, Amendment 12 to the 

Dolphin Wahoo FMP (Amendment 12) 

would add bullet mackerel and frigate 

mackerel to the Dolphin Wahoo FMP 

and designate them as ecosystem 

component (EC) species. The purpose of 

Amendment 12 is to acknowledge the 

ecological role of bullet mackerel and 

frigate mackerel as forage fish and to 

achieve the ecosystem management 

objectives in the Dolphin Wahoo FMP. 

DATES: Written comments must be 

received on or before March 30, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

on Amendment 12, identified by 

‘‘NOAA–NMFS–2020–0146,’’ by either 

of the following methods: 

• Electronic Submission: Submit all 

electronic public comments via the 

Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to 

www.regulations.gov/ 

#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2020- 

0146, click the ‘‘Comment Now!’’ icon, 

complete the required fields, and enter 

or attach your comments. 

• Mail: Submit written comments to 

Nikhil Mehta, Southeast Regional 

Office, NMFS, 263 13th Avenue South, 

St. Petersburg, FL 33701. 

Instructions: Comments sent by any 

other method, to any other address or 

individual, or received after the end of 

the comment period, may not be 

considered by NMFS. All comments 

received are a part of the public record 

and will generally be posted for public 

viewing on www.regulations.gov 

without change. All personal identifying 

information (e.g., name, address), 

confidential business information, or 

otherwise sensitive information 

submitted voluntarily by the sender will 

be publicly accessible. NMFS will 

accept anonymous comments (enter ‘‘N/ 

A’’ in the required fields if you wish to 

remain anonymous). 

Electronic copies of Amendment 12, 

which includes a fishery impact 

statement, a Regulatory Flexibility Act 

analysis, and a regulatory impact 

review, may be obtained from the 

Southeast Regional Office website at 

https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/ 

amendment-12-add-bullet-mackereland-frigate-mackerel-ecosystemcomponent-species. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Nikhil Mehta, telephone: 727–824– 

5305, or email: nikhil.mehta@noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act 

(Magnuson-Stevens Act) requires each 

regional fishery management council to 

submit any FMP or FMP amendment to 

the Secretary of Commerce (the 

Secretary) for review and approval, 

partial approval, or disapproval. The 

Magnuson-Stevens Act also requires 

that NMFS, upon receiving an FMP or 

amendment, publish an announcement 

in the Federal Register notifying the 

public that the FMP or amendment is 

available for review and comment. 

The Council prepared the Dolphin 

Wahoo FMP that is being revised by 

Amendment 12. If approved, 

Amendment 12 would be implemented 

by NMFS through regulations at 50 CFR 

part 622 under the authority of the 

Magnuson-Stevens Act. 

Background 

The Council manages dolphin and 

wahoo under the Dolphin Wahoo FMP 

in Federal waters off the Atlantic states 

from Maine south to the Florida Keys in 

the Atlantic. In the western North 

Atlantic, bullet mackerel are found from 

Cape Cod to the Gulf of Mexico, and 

frigate mackerel are found mostly from 

North Carolina to Florida. As described 

in Amendment 12, both bullet mackerel 

and frigate mackerel are found in the 

diets of dolphin and wahoo in the North 

Atlantic. In particular, wahoo has been 

demonstrated to have a strong dietary 

reliance on bullet and frigate mackerel, 

indicating that these mackerel species 

are the most dominant forage species 

observed in the diets of wahoo. Dolphin 

tend to have more diverse diets than 

wahoo and have a lower reliance on 

these mackerel species as prey. 

Additionally, bullet and frigate 

mackerel have been identified as 

important forage species for other 

offshore pelagic predatory species in the 

Atlantic such as blue marlin and 

yellowfin tuna. Bullet mackerel feed on 

a variety of prey, especially clupeoids 

(i.e., herrings and sardines), crustaceans, 

and squids. Frigate mackerel feed on a 

variety of fish, squid, and small 

crustaceans. Therefore, given their 

presence as a common forage fish and 

prey food source, bullet mackerel and 

frigate mackerel are an important 

component of the marine environment 

in the Atlantic. There is no stock 

assessment for dolphin, wahoo, bullet 

mackerel, or frigate mackerel. In 

Atlantic Federal waters, dolphin and 

wahoo are targeted both commercially 

and recreationally. Annual reported 

commercial and recreational landings of 

bullet mackerel and frigate mackerel are 

low along the entire Atlantic coastline. 

Regulations implemented under the 

Magnuson-Stevens Act define EC 

species as ‘‘stocks that a Council or the 

Secretary has determined do not require 

conservation and management, but 

desire to list in a FMP in order to 

achieve ecosystem management 

objectives’’ (50 CFR 600.305(d)(13)). 

National Standards (NS) General 

guidelines state that a Council should 

consider a list of ten non-exhaustive list 

of factors when deciding whether 

additional stocks require Federal 

conservation and management (50 CFR 

600.305(c)(1)). The proposed EC 

designation for bullet and frigate 

mackerel was recommended to the 

Council by the Council’s Scientific and 

Statistical Committee (SSC), their 

Dolphin Wahoo Advisory Panel (AP), 

the Habitat Protection and EcosystemBased Management (Habitat) AP, and 

through extensive positive comments 

from the public during scoping of 

Amendment 12. The Dolphin Wahoo AP 

and Habitat AP members acknowledged 

that wahoo particularly target these 

mackerel species as prey. The AP 

members also stated that the Council 

should consider a ‘‘conservative 

approach’’ to ensure there are no major 

increases in the harvest of bullet 

mackerel and frigate mackerel in the 

foreseeable future as a result of any EC 

designation. This designation would 

address the Council’s growing emphasis 

on developing ecosystem management 

approaches to fisheries management and 

advancing ecosystem management 

objectives in the Dolphin Wahoo FMP. 

The extent to which the low landings 

of bullet mackerel and frigate mackerel 

occur within the dolphin and wahoo 

fishery is unknown; however, it is 

unlikely that these species are often 

harvested in conjunction with efforts to 

target dolphin and wahoo, especially in 

the commercial sector. Bullet and frigate 


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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 18 / Friday, January 29, 2021 / Proposed Rules 7525 

mackerel have largely been landed 

commercially in the Mid-Atlantic region 

using gill net, pound net, float trap, and 

otter trawl gear, none of which are 

allowable gear types in the dolphin and 

wahoo fishery. Recreational landings of 

bullet and frigate mackerel have largely 

occurred in the South Atlantic Region, 

with some limited catches reported from 

the Mid-Atlantic Region. Furthermore, 

recreational fishermen have also noted 

that these species are used as bait for 

tuna and billfish, such as blue marlin. 

NMFS and the Council have determined 

that bullet mackerel and frigate 

mackerel are currently not in need of 

conservation and management, making 

them eligible for consideration as EC 

species. This preliminary eligibility 

determination was done after 

consideration of the provisions within 

the NS Guidelines and requirements of 

the Magnuson-Stevens Act. 

Furthermore, adding bullet mackerel 

and frigate mackerel to the Dolphin 

Wahoo FMP as EC species meets the 

FMP’s ecosystem management 

objectives (50 CFR 600.305(c)(5) and 

600.310(d)(1)). 

Action Contained in Amendment 12 

Amendment 12 would add bullet 

mackerel and frigate mackerel to the 

Dolphin Wahoo FMP and designate 

them as EC species. There would be no 

additional management measures added 

to the Dolphin Wahoo FMP as a result 

of this EC species designation, either for 

bullet and frigate mackerel, or for 

dolphin and wahoo. 

If approved and implemented, 

Amendment 12 and the proposed rule 

could be expected to result in potential 

indirect benefits such as increased 

awareness among the fishermen, fishing 

communities, data collecting agencies, 

and regulatory entities managing 

dolphin, wahoo, bullet mackerel, and 

frigate mackerel. If landings for these 

two mackerel species were to greatly 

increase in the future to unsustainable 

levels, fisheries managers could be 

made aware of the changing stock status 

before the stocks are depleted which 

may have subsequent beneficial effects 

on populations of several economically 

important predatory fish species, 

including dolphin, wahoo, blue marlin, 

and yellowfin tuna. 

Proposed Rule for Amendment 12 

A proposed rule to implement 

Amendment 12 has been drafted. In 

accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens 

Act, NMFS is evaluating the proposed 

rule for Amendment 12 to determine 

whether it is consistent with the 

Dolphin Wahoo FMP, the MagnusonStevens Act, and other applicable law. 

If that determination is affirmative, 

NMFS will publish the proposed rule in 

the Federal Register for public review 

and comment. 

Consideration of Public Comments 

The Council has submitted 

Amendment 12 for Secretarial review, 

approval, and implementation. 

Comments on Amendment 12 must be 

received by March 30, 2021. Comments 

received during the respective comment 

periods, whether specifically directed to 

Amendment 12 or the proposed rule, 

will be considered by NMFS in the 

decision to approve, partially approve, 

or disapprove, Amendment 12. All 

comments received by NMFS on the 

amendment or the proposed rule during 

their respective comment periods will 

be addressed in the final rule. 

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

Dated: January 14, 2021. 

Kelly Denit, 

Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2021–01224 Filed 1–28–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 


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