82280 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 250 / Thursday, December 30, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 622 

[Docket No. 0907271173–0629–03] 

RIN 0648–AY11 

Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of 

Mexico, and South Atlantic; SnapperGrouper Fishery Off the Southern 

Atlantic States; Amendment 17B 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: NMFS issues this final rule to 

implement Amendment 17B to the 

Fishery Management Plan for the 

Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South 

Atlantic Region (FMP), as prepared and 

submitted by the South Atlantic Fishery 

Management Council (Council). This 

final rule establishes annual catch limits 

(ACLs) and accountability measures 

(AMs) for eight snapper-grouper species 

in the FMP that are undergoing 

overfishing, and for black grouper, 

which was recently assessed and 

determined to not be undergoing 

overfishing or overfished; modifies 

management measures to limit total 

mortality of those species to the ACL; 

and adds ACLs, annual catch targets 

(ACTs), and AMs to the list of 

management measures that may be 

amended via the framework process. 

The intent of this final rule is to address 

overfishing of eight snapper-grouper 

species while maintaining catch levels 

consistent with achieving optimum 

yield. 

DATES: This rule is effective January 31, 

2011. 

ADDRESSES: Copies of the Final 

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (FRFA) 

and the record of decision may be 

obtained from Kate Michie, Southeast 

Regional Office, NMFS, 263 13th 

Avenue, South, St. Petersburg, FL 

33701. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kate 

Michie, telephone: 727–824–5305. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

snapper-grouper fishery off the southern 

Atlantic States is managed under the 

FMP. The FMP was prepared by the 

Council and is implemented under the 

authority of the Magnuson-Stevens 

Fishery Conservation and Management 

Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) by 

regulations at 50 CFR part 622. 

On September 22, 2010, NMFS 

published a notice of availability of 

Amendment 17B and requested public 

comment (75 FR 57734). On October 10, 

2010, NMFS published a proposed rule 

for Amendment 17B and requested 

public comment (75 FR 62488). NMFS 

approved Amendment 17B on December 

21, 2010. This final rule for Amendment 

17B implements ACLs and AMs for 

eight snapper-grouper species 

undergoing overfishing. The rationale 

for the measures contained in 

Amendment 17B is provided in the 

amendment and in the preamble to the 

proposed rule and is not repeated here. 

Comments and Responses 

A total of 175 comments were 

received on Amendment 17B and the 

proposed rule, including comments 

from individuals, State and Federal 

agencies, environmental organizations, 

and fishing associations. NMFS received 

25 comments of general support and 48 

individual comments in general 

opposition of Amendment 17B, 31 of 

which specifically oppose the 

deepwater closure for six deepwater 

snapper-grouper species. Included in 

the letters of opposition was a minority 

report submitted by the five members of 

the Council who voted against the final 

approval of Amendment 17B. NMFS 

also received 85 identical postcards 

opposing implementation of 

Amendment 17B, and 8 comments that 

did not support or oppose Amendment 

17B but contained remarks on specific 

actions contained in the amendment. 

Additionally, 5 comments were received 

from environmental organizations, one 

of which was endorsed by two of the 

organizations, and one which was 

endorsed by 30,794 individuals. One 

State and one Federal agency submitted 

comments on Amendment 17B, and 2 

comments were unrelated to actions 

contained in Amendment 17B. Of the 

175 comments received, 22 contained 

remarks on the potential economic 

impacts of Amendment 17B. Specific 

comments related to the actions 

contained in the amendment and the 

rule as well as NMFS’S respective 

responses, are summarized below. 

Comment 1: Several commenters 

suggested the prohibition on harvest 

and possession of six deepwater 

snapper-grouper species beyond 240 

feet (73 m) is not necessary, and 

reductions in incidental harvest of 

speckled hind and warsaw grouper 

could be achieved through: (1) A 

temporary prohibition on commercial 

harvest and sale of speckled hind and 

warsaw grouper; (2) responsible fishing 

methods such as venting fish; (3) a 

temporary deepwater closure; or (4) 

seasonal closures. 

Response: Commercial sale of 

speckled hind and warsaw grouper is 

currently prohibited. NMFS previously 

considered a Council-approved measure 

to use venting tools for snapper-grouper 

species to reduce bycatch mortality 

caused by barotrauma (injuries 

sustained in response to the sudden 

pressure change when brought to the 

surface from depth), in Amendment 16 

to the FMP. The measure requiring the 

use of venting tools was disapproved 

based on data indicating the benefits of 

venting are not clear for all species, and 

venting could potentially cause harm in 

some cases if excluded unnecessarily or 

improperly. NMFS determined that 

additional guidance is needed to 

identify species that would benefit from 

venting to ensure the maximum benefit 

is provided to these species. If future 

research on the use of venting tools, 

and/or any other barotrauma mitigation 

methods, indicate speckled hind or 

warsaw grouper would benefit from the 

required use of such tools or techniques, 

the Council has the option to consider 

the issue again in a future amendment. 

Implementing the deepwater snappergrouper closure for any period of time 

less than year-round could result in 

incidental harvest and bycatch mortality 

of speckled hind and warsaw grouper, 

and could negatively impact efforts to 

protect South Atlantic speckled hind 

and warsaw grouper. At its December 

2010 meeting, the Council requested a 

regulatory amendment be prepared to 

examine new information related to the 

prohibition on harvest and possession of 

the six deepwater snapper-grouper 

species beyond 240 ft (73 m). The 

regulatory amendment would reevaluate the deepwater snapper-grouper 

closure and the new information, and 

determine if there are more effective 

measures to reduce bycatch mortality of 

speckled hind and warsaw grouper. 

Additionally, a new benchmark stock 

assessment for speckled hind and 

warsaw grouper is scheduled to be 

conducted in 2013. If the results of this 

new stock assessment indicate some 

modification to the management 

measures implemented through 

Amendment 17B is needed, the Council 

would make such adjustments as 

appropriate. 

Comment 2: Several commenters 

stated the prohibition on all bottom 

fishing beyond 240 ft (73 m) is 

draconian in nature, and too expansive 

to protect only two rarely captured 

snapper-grouper species. 

Response: The deepwater snappergrouper closure proposed in 

Amendment 17B would not prohibit all 

bottom fishing beyond 240 ft (73 m). 

The closure would prohibit the harvest 


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and possession of six snapper-grouper 

species that co-occur with specked hind 

and warsaw grouper including, snowy 

grouper, blueline tilefish, yellowedge 

grouper, misty grouper, queen snapper, 

and silk snapper. 

Both speckled hind and warsaw 

grouper are undergoing overfishing, and 

the extent to which they are overfished 

is unknown. These species are 

extremely vulnerable to overfishing 

because they are slow growing, longlived, and change sex from female to 

male with increasing size and age. 

These species are not often targeted due 

to the current bag limits (one of each per 

vessel per trip), but when they are 

caught they are likely to suffer release 

mortality. The incidental catch of 

speckled hind and warsaw grouper, 

particularly in deep water where release 

mortality is high, may be responsible for 

the continued overfishing of these 

species. Therefore, the Council 

determined that a prohibition on the 

harvest and possession of speckled hind 

and warsaw grouper, along with their 

co-occurring species caught in 240 ft (73 

m) and greater, was an appropriate 

action to reduce bycatch mortality of 

speckled hind and warsaw grouper in 

depths where depth-related release 

mortality is very high. Like gag, 

speckled hind and warsaw grouper are 

slow growing, long lived, and have 

similar life histories. Therefore, 

speckled hind and warsaw grouper may 

be expected to have similar depthrelated bycatch mortality rates to gag. If 

depth-related mortality of speckled hind 

and warsaw grouper is similar to gag, 

release mortality at depths of 240 ft (73 

m) would be expected to be greater than 

70 percent. The deepwater closure is 

expected to provide protection to the 

largest, most fecund fish and help 

ensure a natural sex ratio into the 

future. According to the Amendment 

17B biological impacts analysis, 

prohibiting all harvest of deepwater 

snapper-grouper species beyond 240 ft 

(73 m) would also protect spawning 

aggregations. 

Comment 3: One commenter stated 

that NMFS should concentrate efforts on 

managing other overexploited species 

such as mutton snapper and yellowtail 

snapper. 

Response: Mutton snapper and 

yellowtail snapper are among the 73 

species in this FMP. Recent assessments 

indicate that mutton snapper and 

yellowtail snapper are not overfished 

and are not experiencing overfishing. 

The Reauthorized Magnuson-Stevens 

Act requires that ACLs and AMs be 

specified for all species undergoing 

overfishing in 2010 and species not 

undergoing overfishing in 2011. 

Speckled hind and warsaw grouper are 

both undergoing overfishing according 

to the 2009 Report to Congress on the 

Status of U.S. Fisheries (and in all 

previous such Reports to Congress). 

Therefore, NMFS is required to establish 

ACLs at levels to end and prevent 

overfishing of speckled hind and 

warsaw grouper, along with 

management measures to limit harvest 

levels to the ACL. In the case of 

speckled hind and warsaw grouper, the 

ACL is zero, and the deep water closure 

is intended to reduce depth-related 

bycatch mortality to reduce the 

probability that overfishing will occur. 

The Council is currently developing a 

Comprehensive ACL Amendment, 

which would specify ACLs and AMs for 

mutton snapper and yellowtail snapper. 

Comment 4: One commenter stated 

the cumulative impact of the recent 

regulations approved through 

Amendment 17A to the FMP and the 

regulations contained in this final rule 

are overly complex for commercial and 

for-hire fishermen to abide by. 

Response: The Magnuson-Stevens 

Act, as reauthorized in 2006, mandates 

the Council and NMFS establish ACLs 

and AMs for species undergoing 

overfishing by 2010. Section 303(a)(15) 

of the Magnuson-Stevens Act states, in 

relevant part, that any FMP which is 

prepared by any Council ‘‘shall establish 

a mechanism for specifying annual 

catch limits in the plan * * * 

implementing regulations, or annual 

specifications, at a level such that 

overfishing does not occur in the 

fishery, including measures to ensure 

accountability.’’ Therefore, in order to 

meet these mandates, several recent 

regulatory changes have been made in 

the snapper-grouper fishery. NMFS 

strives to minimize complexity in its 

regulations, but must meet statutory 

mandates such as the requirements for 

ACLs and AMs. 

Comment 5: Several commenters 

stated the data upon which the 

prohibition on the harvest and 

possession of the six deepwater 

snapper-grouper species beyond 240 ft 

(73 m) is based is out of date, 

insufficient, and/or incorrect, and is not 

the best available science. One 

commenter inquired if the data used to 

inform the deepwater closure action was 

subject to an independent review. 

Additionally, two commenters cite the 

recently published Federal Register 

notice that denies a petition to list 

warsaw grouper as threatened or 

endangered under the Endangered 

Species Act (ESA) as based on a lack of 

substantial scientific or commercial 

information, and implied that the 

speckled hind and warsaw grouper 

management measures in Amendment 

17B are not based on adequate scientific 

information. 

Response: The intent of the action to 

prohibit the harvest of six deepwater 

species is to reduce bycatch mortality of 

speckled hind and warsaw grouper. 

Speckled hind and warsaw grouper are 

undergoing overfishing, and therefore, 

action must be taken to ensure 

overfishing is ended and does not occur. 

The Southeast Fisheries Science Center 

(SEFSC) certified, in a memorandum 

dated May 19, 2010, that Amendment 

17B is based upon the best available 

scientific information. At its December 

2010 meeting, the Council requested 

that a regulatory amendment be 

prepared to examine new information 

related to the prohibition on the harvest 

and possession of the six deepwater 

snapper-grouper species. The regulatory 

amendment would evaluate the new 

information and the deepwater snappergrouper closure and determine if there 

are more effective measures to reduce 

bycatch mortality of speckled hind and 

warsaw grouper. 

The petition to list speckled hind and 

warsaw grouper as endangered or 

threatened was denied by NMFS under 

the ESA because ‘‘the petition does not 

present substantial scientific or 

commercial information indicating the 

petition action may be warranted’’ (75 

FR 59690, September 28, 2010). This 

means that warsaw grouper was not 

determined to be endangered (i.e., is in 

danger of extinction throughout all or a 

significant portion of its range) or 

threatened (i.e., is likely to become 

endangered within the foreseeable 

future throughout all or a significant 

portion of its range). The negative 

finding on the ESA petition does not 

necessarily mean that inadequate 

scientific information was used in 

Amendment 17B. Under the MagnusonStevens Act, NMFS must use the best 

scientific information available when 

establishing management measures, 

including ACLs and AMs. 

Comment 6: Several commenters are 

concerned that the prohibition on 

harvest and possession of six deepwater 

snapper-grouper species beyond a depth 

of 240 ft (73 m) will lead to increased 

incidences of release mortality. 

Response: Prohibiting the harvest and 

possession of species that are most often 

caught with speckled hind and warsaw 

grouper in deeper waters would reduce 

the incentive to target those cooccurring species. As a result, a 

reduction in depth-related bycatch 

mortality of speckled hind and warsaw 

grouper is expected. 

Comment 7: Several commenters feel 

the deepwater closure in Amendment 


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17B should only apply to the 

commercial sector. 

Response: In the northern portion of 

the Council’s area of jurisdiction, 

fisheries and fishery components in 

depths greater than 240 ft (73 m) are 

primarily prosecuted by the commercial 

sector. However, the Council chose to 

include the recreational sector in the 

prohibition on harvest and possession of 

snowy grouper, blueline tilefish, 

yellowedge grouper, misty grouper, 

queen snapper, and silk snapper beyond 

240 ft (73 m) because recreational 

fishing in deeper waters is common in 

the southern area of the Council’s 

jurisdiction i.e., southeast Florida and 

the Florida Keys, the 240-ft (73-m) 

depth contour is close to shore. Because 

deep water is much more accessible to 

recreational fishermen off southern 

Florida, recreational fishermen are more 

likely to incidentally capture speckled 

hind and warsaw grouper in depths 

where these fish are more likely to die 

as a result of barotrauma-related 

injuries. 

Comment 8: One commenter stated 

the lack of warsaw grouper landings 

data was due to fishermen 

misidentifying warsaw grouper as 

snowy grouper. 

Response: It is unlikely warsaw 

grouper landings are significantly 

underreported due to misidentification 

with snowy grouper. Snowy grouper 

and warsaw grouper do share some 

common physical characteristics, 

however, these species also have several 

distinguishing characteristics that make 

it possible to easily identify both 

species. When fishermen submit species 

landings information to NMFS, 

identification accuracy is not expected 

to be 100 percent, and this is taken into 

consideration when conducting stock 

assessments. 

Comment 9: One commenter asked 

how NMFS will determine when the 

speckled hind and warsaw grouper 

stocks are rebuilt, if fishing for them is 

prohibited. 

Response: The overfished status of 

speckled hind and warsaw grouper is 

unknown. Therefore, a rebuilding plan 

is not required. The deepwater closure 

is intended to reduce depth-related 

bycatch mortality to help end 

overfishing of speckled hind and 

warsaw grouper. Prohibiting harvest of 

one or more species in a certain area 

does not prevent the collection of 

scientific information on those species. 

The SEFSC conducts fisheryindependent studies and surveys to 

measure the overall abundance of fish 

stocks in the South Atlantic. In 

Amendment 17A to the FMP, the 

Council required implementation of a 

fishery-independent monitoring 

program. This program would continue 

the long-term data set that already exists 

for snapper-grouper species from 

sampling programs such as the 

Southeast Monitoring Assessment and 

Prediction program, and the Marine 

Resources Monitoring Assessment and 

Prediction program in the South 

Atlantic, which monitor fish stocks in 

depths shallower and deeper than 240 ft 

(73 m), and these programs should 

continue to provide information on 

warsaw grouper and speckled hind. 

Fishery-dependent data may also be 

collected during a period when certain 

species may not be landed. These data 

may be collected through the 

Cooperative Research Program (CRP), 

which is a competitive Federal 

assistance program that funds projects 

seeking to increase and improve the 

working relationship between 

researchers from NMFS, State fishery 

agencies, universities, and fishermen. 

The intent of the CRP in the Southeast 

Region is to utilize the collective 

experience of fishermen and scientists 

to advise fishery managers of best 

fishery management practices based on 

fishing experience and sound scientific 

research procedures. Other fisherydependent data collection sources 

include the Marine Recreational 

Fisheries Statistical Survey (MRFSS) 

(now part of the Marine Recreational 

Information Program (MRIP)), 

commercial logbooks, headboat 

logbooks, observer data, the Trip 

Interview Program, and dealer reported 

landings. 

Comment 10: After the Council voted 

to approve Amendment 17B for 

Secretarial review, the five members of 

the Council who voted against the final 

approval of Amendment 17B submitted 

a minority report to NMFS, dated March 

23, 2010. This report is endorsed by one 

fishing organization and one State 

agency. The minority report outlines the 

dissenting Council members’ opposition 

to the deepwater closure for the six cooccurring snapper-grouper species. 

Specifically, these Council members 

oppose the inclusion of blueline tilefish 

in the list of snapper-grouper species 

prohibited beyond 240 ft (73 m). The 

report states the deepwater closure was 

based on inadequate assessments, does 

not include rebuilding plans for 

speckled hind and warsaw grouper, and 

does not consider and properly analyze 

the impacts of the prohibition on the 

sale of bag limit-caught snappergrouper. The report also notes a lack of 

data on the range where speckled hind 

and warsaw grouper are found, 

particularly off the coast of North 

Carolina. The report mentions that the 

species most commonly caught with 

speckled hind are vermilion snapper, 

red grouper, and scamp, which are not 

deepwater species. The minority report 

suggests that other alternatives besides 

the deep water closure should have 

been considered by the Council, 

including allowing fishing for species 

other than speckled hind and warsaw 

grouper on various well-known ship 

wrecks or other potential sites and 

closing only a percentage of the most 

productive bottom habitat. The minority 

report also lists fish stocks that have 

been successfully rebuilt or are 

currently rebuilding without the 

utilization of large area closures for 

fishery management, namely Atlantic 

king and Spanish mackerel, greater 

amberjack, and golden tilefish. 

Response: Speckled hind and warsaw 

grouper have not undergone a recent 

stock assessment. However, the 2009 

Report to Congress on the Status of U.S. 

Fisheries states that both speckled hind 

and warsaw grouper are undergoing 

overfishing and their overfished status 

is unknown. The stock status 

determination for these two species 

included in the Report to Congress is 

the best scientific information available 

for speckled hind and warsaw grouper. 

Therefore, NMFS is required to establish 

ACLs for these species at levels that can 

end, as well as prevent, overfishing and 

implement management measures to 

limit harvest levels of these species to 

the ACL. Since the overfished status of 

speckled hind and warsaw grouper is 

currently unknown, rebuilding plans are 

not required at this time. To address 

overfishing of speckled hind and 

warsaw grouper, the Council’s Scientific 

and Statistical Committee (SSC) 

recommended an Acceptable Biological 

Catch (ABC) of zero for both species 

based on landed catch, rather than total 

removals. Subsequent to the SSC ABC 

recommendation, the Council specified 

an ACL of zero for speckled hind and 

warsaw grouper. 

Speckled hind and warsaw grouper 

are extremely vulnerable to overfishing 

because they are slow growing, longlived, change sex from female to male 

with increasing size and age, and occur 

in deep water where release mortality is 

very high. The prohibition on the 

harvest and possession of six deepwater 

snapper-grouper species, including 

blueline tilefish, that co-occur with 

speckled hind and warsaw grouper is 

expected to reduce the incidental take of 

speckled hind and warsaw grouper in 

water depths where survival of released 

fish is low. Of the six species for which 

harvest and possession would be 

prohibited beyond 240 ft (73 m), 

commercial and recreational landings 


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are highest for blueline tilefish and 

snowy grouper, which are often caught 

together in the same location and during 

the same trip. Speckled hind and 

warsaw grouper can be incidentally 

caught while blueline tilefish and other 

deepwater species are being targeted. 

This incidental catch, if allowed to 

continue, may contribute to the 

continued overfishing of speckled hind 

and warsaw grouper. Furthermore, 

recent snowy grouper regulations 

resulted in effort shifts from snowy 

grouper to blueline tilefish, which could 

increase the probability of snowy 

grouper bycatch after the 100-lb (45-kg) 

trip limit or quota for snowy grouper is 

met, in addition to a potential for 

increased bycatch of speckled hind and 

warsaw grouper. If blueline tilefish were 

eliminated from the list of prohibited 

deepwater species, incidental take of 

speckled hind and warsaw grouper 

could persist in that portion of the 

snapper-grouper fishery; therefore, the 

Council determined it would be prudent 

to retain blueline tilefish in the list of 

prohibited species beyond a depth of 

240 ft (73 m). 

The minority report includes an 

examination of trip ticket information 

from vessels fishing for blueline tilefish 

north of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, 

which suggests blueline tilefish can be 

captured without resultant incidental 

catch of speckled hind and warsaw 

grouper. At its December 2010 meeting, 

the Council considered this new 

information, and voted to request the 

preparation of a regulatory amendment 

to examine the new information and to 

determine if there are more effective 

management measures that could be 

implemented to reduce the depthrelated bycatch mortality of speckled 

hind and warsaw grouper. 

The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires 

the establishment of ACLs and AMs. In 

the comments and responses section of 

the final rule implementing the National 

Standard 1 Guidelines, NMFS states, 

‘‘ACLs must be implemented using the 

best data and information available 

* * * NMFS believes that Councils 

must implement the best ACLs possible 

with the existing data’’ (74 FR 3178, 

January 16, 2009). As required by the 

Magnuson-Stevens Act, the Council has 

developed ACLs and AMs for speckled 

hind and warsaw grouper using the best 

scientific information available during 

the amendment development process. 

The minority report points out that 

the species most commonly caught with 

speckled hind are vermilion snapper, 

red grouper, and scamp, none of which 

are deepwater species. Juvenile 

speckled hind and warsaw grouper are 

found in depths less than 240 ft (73 m) 

and are often caught with species such 

as vermilion snapper, red grouper, 

scamp, and others. However, the 

Council chose not to prohibit catch in 

shallower water because it is likely that 

some portion of released speckled hind 

and warsaw grouper would survive the 

trauma of capture. Like gag, speckled 

hind and warsaw grouper are slow 

growing, long lived, and have similar 

life histories. Therefore, they may be 

expected to have similar bycatch 

mortality rates to gag. If release 

mortality rates of speckled hind and 

warsaw grouper are similar to those 

published for gag, release mortality at 

depths greater than 240 ft (73 m) would 

be expected to be greater than 70 

percent. Based on this assumption, the 

Council determined the most effective 

method of reducing the incidence of 

bycatch related mortality in deepwater 

was to prohibit the harvest and 

possession of the species that co-occur 

with speckled hind and warsaw grouper 

beyond 240 ft (73 m). 

During the development process for 

Amendment 17B, alternatives such as 

allowing fishing for species other than 

speckled hind and warsaw grouper on 

various well-known ship wrecks or 

other potential sites, and closing only a 

percentage of the most productive 

bottom habitat, were not proposed by 

Council members and thus were not 

included in the document for analysis. 

The approval and implementation of the 

prohibition on harvest and possession of 

six deepwater snapper-grouper species 

beyond 240 ft (73 m) does not preclude 

the Council from proposing future 

action to modify this prohibition if 

scientific information indicates it is 

appropriate to do so. Re-addressing the 

deepwater closure will be accomplished 

through a regulatory amendment 

proposed by the Council at its December 

2010 meeting. 

The minority report states the impact 

of the prohibition on bag-limit sales of 

snapper-grouper implemented through 

Amendment 15B to the FMP was not 

properly analyzed in Amendment 17B 

because the impact of sales from only 

snapper-grouper fishermen with Federal 

permits was not determined. The 

impacts of the bag limit sale prohibition 

were analyzed and documented by 

NMFS in the supporting documentation 

for Amendment 15B, including the 

National Environmental Policy Act 

document, the Regulatory Impact 

Review, and the Regulatory Flexibility 

Analysis. The analysis conducted for 

Amendment 15B to the FMP used State 

trip ticket data because at the time the 

analysis was conducted, fishermen that 

did not possess a Federal permit for 

snapper-grouper could still sell their bag 

limit caught fish. The analysis 

conducted for Amendment 17B, 

however, did not use trip ticket data and 

used only Federal logbook data, because 

at that time the prohibition on bag limit 

sales had been implemented. As such, 

the relevant economic analysis does not 

include bag limit sales information and 

was conducted correctly. 

Different actions are needed to end 

overfishing of species depending on 

their life history and habitat 

requirements. Snapper-grouper species 

such as speckled hind and warsaw 

grouper are long-lived and slow growing 

and require more stringent management 

measures, such as area closures, to end 

overfishing. King mackerel and Spanish 

mackerel are not as long lived nor do 

they suffer the high release mortality 

rates of speckled hind and warsaw 

grouper. Therefore, management 

measures that would be needed to end 

overfishing of mackerel species may not 

be as onerous as those that would be 

needed for long-lived species found in 

deep water. 

Golden tilefish has never been 

determined to be overfished and it will 

not be known if actions taken to end 

overfishing of golden tilefish were 

successful until the stock is assessed 

again in 2011. Greater amberjack have 

never been determined to be overfished 

or experienced overfishing. 

Comment 11: One commenter 

questioned why co-occurring species 

deeper than 240 ft (73 m) would be 

prohibited to protect speckled hind and 

warsaw grouper when these species are 

not frequently caught in these depths. 

The species most commonly caught 

along with speckled hind are vermilion 

snapper, red grouper, and scamp, none 

of which are considered by the Council 

to be deepwater species. Since speckled 

hind predominately live inshore of 40 

fathoms and warsaw grouper are 

common inside of 100 ft (31 m), at least 

off the Florida coast, NMFS should 

consider closing the entire EEZ. 

Response: The Council is aware that 

speckled hind and warsaw grouper are 

currently not commonly caught by 

fishermen and that the inshore shelf 

edge in 160 ft (49 m) is the area where 

juveniles are most abundant. However, 

adults of these species do occur in deep 

water where release mortality is 

extremely high and are incidentally 

captured when fishermen target cooccurring species. Therefore, the 

Council determined that prohibiting the 

harvest of species that co-occur with 

warsaw grouper and speckled hind in 

water deeper than 240 ft (73 m) could 

help reduce bycatch mortality, 

particularly as population biomass 

increases and more adults occur in 


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deeper water. Speckled hind and 

warsaw grouper occur in shallower 

water as juveniles with vermilion 

snapper and others. This is their zone of 

greatest abundance where some level of 

survival of released fish would be 

expected to occur. Therefore, the 

Council did not feel it was necessary to 

close the harvest of co-occurring species 

in depths less than 240 ft (73 m). As 

noted previously, speckled hind and 

warsaw grouper share similar biological 

characteristics to gag. Therefore, if 

depth related bycatch is similar to gag, 

in depths greater than 240 ft (73 m), 

release mortality would be expected to 

be greater than 70 percent. By 

prohibiting the harvest and possession 

of co-occurring species, in addition to 

prohibiting all harvest and possession of 

speckled hind and warsaw grouper, 

fishing mortality of speckled hind and 

warsaw grouper is expected to decrease 

and protection would be provided to 

adult fish with the greatest spawning 

potential. 

Comment 12: One commenter feels 

the deepwater closure will result in an 

effort shift to the black sea bass, gray 

triggerfish, and vermilion snapper 

components of the snapper-grouper 

fishery, and lead to more out-of-state 

fishing by southern vessels in waters off 

North Carolina. 

Response: Effort shifts resulting from 

the deepwater closure are difficult to 

predict. Negative biological impacts of 

effort shifts may be mitigated by ACLs 

and AMs in Amendment 17B and the 

Comprehensive ACL Amendment, 

which are designed to prevent the ACL 

from being exceeded or correct for ACL 

overages should they occur. However, 

negative social and economic effects 

could result from ACLs being met more 

quickly due to effort shifts. 

The commercial sector for vermilion 

snapper is currently managed under a 

quota split into two seasons, and this 

amendment will specify the same split 

season for commercial ACLs, as well as 

specify a recreational ACL. 

Additionally, trip limits for vermilion 

snapper are being considered by the 

Council in Regulatory Amendment 9 to 

the FMP. Therefore, effort shift into the 

vermilion snapper portion of the fishery 

is unlikely to have negative biological 

impacts on vermilion snapper because 

the commercial harvest and sale of 

vermilion snapper would be prohibited 

when the ACLs are projected to be met. 

The Council is developing 

Amendment 18A to the FMP, which 

includes actions to: Limit the number of 

black sea bass pots allowed per vessel; 

limit the number of participants in the 

black sea bass component of the 

snapper-grouper fishery; and require 

that pots be returned to port at the 

completion of a fishing trip. If approved, 

these controls should limit effort shift 

into the black sea bass component of the 

snapper-grouper fishery, minimizing the 

occurrence of black sea bass pot ‘‘ghost 

fishing’’ on snapper-grouper species, as 

well as interactions with protected 

species. 

Gray triggerfish are included within 

the 20 snapper-grouper aggregate bag 

limit for the recreational sector, and 

there is a 12-inch (30.5-cm) total length 

size limit in Federal waters off the east 

coast of Florida for the commercial and 

recreational sectors. The Comprehensive 

ACL Amendment, currently under 

development, would establish an ACL 

for gray triggerfish. This ACL would be 

associated with an AM intended to 

maintain harvest at or below the 

specified ACL. Therefore, if the 

Comprehensive ACL Amendment is 

implemented, a mechanism for 

controlling harvest of gray triggerfish 

would be established and could mitigate 

effort shifts that may result from actions 

contained in Amendment 17B. The 

deepwater closure could result in some 

amount of permanent and/or temporary 

effort shifting, however, the number of 

vessels that may or may not shift effort 

to other fisheries in response to the 

deepwater area closure cannot be 

predicted. 

Comment 13: One commenter states 

the Council discussion concerning 

warsaw grouper and speckled hind was 

inadequate considering the scope of the 

deepwater closure being implemented 

through Amendment 17B. 

Response: The Council discussed 

management measures for speckled 

hind and warsaw grouper beginning in 

June 2008. Since that time, the Council 

has met seven times and discussed 

actions in Amendment 17B before 

taking final action to approve the 

amendment. At its December 2010 

meeting, the Council requested a 

regulatory amendment be prepared to 

examine new information related to the 

prohibition on harvest and possession of 

the six deepwater snapper-grouper 

species and evaluate the new 

information to determine if the 

deepwater closure in certain areas of the 

South Atlantic is still necessary. 

Comment 14: One commenter states 

that the Amendment 17B cumulative 

impacts assessment of the role of the 

marine protected areas (MPAs) 

implemented through Amendment 14 to 

the FMP is inaccurate, and the ancillary 

impacts of the Oculina Experimental 

Closed Area for speckled hind and 

warsaw grouper were not mentioned in 

Amendment 17B. 

Response: The effective date of the 

eight MPAs implemented through 

Amendment 14 to the FMP was 

February 13, 2009. Because these MPAs 

have been in place for a short period of 

time, little is known about their 

potential to positively impact snappergrouper species beyond the basic 

protections afforded to habitats in these 

MPAs, and subsequent benefits realized 

by local fish populations. It is expected 

that the MPAs may help, to some extent, 

to protect a portion of the population 

(including spawning aggregations) and 

habitat of long-lived, slow growing, 

deepwater snapper-grouper species 

(speckled hind, snowy grouper, warsaw 

grouper, yellowedge grouper, misty 

grouper, golden tilefish, and blueline 

tilefish) from directed fishing pressure 

to achieve a more natural sex ratio, age, 

and size structure within the MPAs. 

Because the snapper-grouper species 

most affected by the MPAs and the 

Oculina closed area are long-lived, 

quantifiable biological benefits may not 

be measureable in the short-term. 

However, future studies are expected to 

analyze the affects of the MPAs and the 

Oculina closure on snapper-grouper 

species. Over time, continued research 

will provide further insight on the 

ecological benefits of conservation 

areas. 

Comment 15: One commenter states 

that snowy grouper is the main driver 

for deepwater snapper-grouper fishing 

and past regulations to reduce snowy 

grouper harvest have not been 

considered in Amendment 17B as they 

relate to effort-reduction in the 

deepwater portion of the snappergrouper fishery. 

Response: Effort reductions resulting 

from previously implemented snowy 

grouper regulations were taken into 

account when analyzing the biological 

and socioeconomic impacts of the 

deepwater closure. As required under 

NEPA, Amendment 17B analyzes the 

impacts of the status quo alternative for 

each action, including the action to 

prohibit the harvest and possession of 

six deepwater species beyond 240 ft (73 

m). The baseline condition used in the 

status quo (no action) analysis for the 

action to prohibit the harvest and 

possession of six deepwater species 

beyond 240 ft (73 m) included the 

snowy grouper harvest restrictions 

implemented through Amendment 13C 

to the FMP. These restrictions included 

a recreational bag limit for snowy 

grouper of one per person per day, a 

commercial trip limit of 100 lb (45 kg) 

gutted weight, and a reduced 

commercial quota of 84,000 lb (38,102 

kg) gutted weight. Amendment 15A to 

the FMP specified an ABC for snowy 


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grouper that is consistent with the 

rebuilding plan for the species. 

Comment 16: One commenter is 

opposed to reducing the recreational 

ACL for snowy grouper to 523 fish, and 

favors allowing existing regulations to 

rebuild the stock. 

Response: The Magnuson-Stevens Act 

requires that ACLs and AMs be 

specified in 2010 for species undergoing 

overfishing. The Council chose to base 

the ACL for snowy grouper on the 

current total allowable catch (TAC). The 

Council also chose to specify sector 

ACLs for snowy grouper rather than one 

ACL for the commercial and 

recreational sectors. The Council 

determined the recreational sector ACL 

to be 523 fish, based on landings data 

from 2005–2008. Because this ACL is 

quite small, and recreational landings 

data is associated with a high degree of 

uncertainty, the AM will compare a 3- 

year running average of recreational 

landings to the recreational ACL. The 

AMs established for snowy grouper are 

intended to maintain harvest levels at or 

below the specified ACLs. 

Comment 17: One commenter 

recommended additional inshore 

seasonal closures in the Florida Keys 

area to help rebuild overfished stocks. 

Response: The Florida Keys area has 

an extensive network of marine 

sanctuaries, where fishing is limited or 

prohibited, and there is the offshore East 

Hump MPA, which was established in 

Amendment 14 to the FMP. The Council 

has not requested consideration of 

inshore area closures in the Florida 

Keys to address overfishing of the 

species addressed in Amendment 17B. 

Comment 18: Several commenters 

state that aggregating the gag, black 

grouper, and red grouper ACLs, and the 

associated AMs is not an appropriate 

method for managing these stocks. One 

commenter emphasizes the fact that 

black grouper is no longer considered to 

be undergoing overfishing or overfished, 

further justifying not including it in the 

aggregate ACL. One commenter 

recommended developing a catch share 

program for these species in order to 

ensure all commercial sector 

participants are given the opportunity to 

harvest them. 

Response: Amendment 16 established 

a commercial AM for red grouper and 

black grouper through a prohibition on 

the harvest of all shallow-water 

snapper-grouper species that would be 

effective when the commercial ACL for 

gag (a biologically similar species) is 

projected to be met each year. Because 

black grouper and red grouper had not 

been recently assessed at the time 

Amendment 17B was developed, and 

the Council was aware that a new stock 

assessment for both species was 

forthcoming, the Council chose to 

establish an aggregate ACL that includes 

gag, red grouper, and black grouper, 

based on expected catch resulting from 

management measures implemented 

through Amendment 16 to the FMP. 

The red grouper and black grouper 

Southeast Data, Assessment, and 

Review (SEDAR) stock assessment 

(SEDAR 19) was completed in 2010, 

after Amendment 17B had been 

submitted to NMFS for Secretarial 

review. The assessment indicated black 

grouper is not overfished and is not 

undergoing overfishing, and red grouper 

is overfished and undergoing 

overfishing. Therefore, a new FMP 

amendment is currently under 

development to establish a rebuilding 

plan and assign an individual ACL and 

AM for red grouper. The black grouper 

stock assessment was not completed 

until after Amendment 17B was 

submitted to the Secretary for review. 

Black grouper ACLs and AMs have been 

retained in Amendment 17B, however, 

the Council will immediately consider 

whether adjustments to ACLs and AMs 

are needed in light of the new 

assessment. The Comprehensive ACL 

Amendment, which is also under 

development by the Council, would 

consider a new ACL and AM for black 

grouper, as well as species groups for 

many different snapper-grouper species 

that could include gag, red grouper, and 

black grouper. 

Comment 19: Several commenters 

state they have witnessed the 

progressive decline in deepwater 

snapper-grouper species over many 

years, and support measures to end 

overfishing and rebuild deepwater 

snapper-grouper stocks. 

Response: NMFS agrees that effective 

management strategies must be utilized 

to rebuild stocks that are overfished to 

sustainable levels and prevent future 

overfishing from occurring. Actions 

have been taken through previous 

amendments to address overfishing of 

black sea bass, vermilion snapper, gag, 

red grouper, black grouper, snowy 

grouper, speckled hind, warsaw 

grouper, red snapper, and golden 

tilefish. It is the intent of the Council 

and NMFS to employ a system of ACLs 

and AMs to achieve these goals. 

Comment 20: One commenter feels 

the restrictions on vermilion snapper 

are too restrictive and have fostered a 

derby fishery, and suggests a trip limit 

be implemented for vermilion snapper. 

Another commenter recommended the 

implementation of a system of trip 

limits, also known as the ‘‘Fisherman’s 

Plan,’’ as a means of maintaining harvest 

levels of vermilion snapper below the 

specified ACLs. 

Response: Regulatory Amendment 9 

to the FMP includes an action to specify 

trip limits for vermilion snapper. It is 

the Council’s intent to alleviate the 

derby nature of the vermilion snapper 

component of the snapper-grouper 

fishery by implementing a trip limit as 

soon as possible. Additionally, 

Amendment 21 to the FMP, which is in 

the early stages of the development 

process, includes an action to establish 

a catch share program for vermilion 

snapper. Establishing a catch share 

program would eliminate the derbystyle fishery, and would promote safety 

at sea. 

Comment 21: One commenter feels 

Amendment 17B would not reduce 

harvest enough to end overfishing of the 

subject stocks, and recommends 

reducing all the ACLs contained in 

Amendment 17B by 66 percent. 

Response: The best scientific 

information available supports the 

recently implemented harvest 

reductions in previous amendments and 

the ACLs contained in Amendment 17B. 

Actions have been taken in previous 

amendments to address overfishing of 

most species addressed in Amendment 

17B. A reduction of the current ACLs by 

66 percent is not supported by the best 

available scientific information, and 

could result in unnecessary adverse 

socioeconomic impacts on the fishing 

community. Therefore additional 

harvest restrictions beyond those in 

Amendment 17B are not necessary to 

end overfishing of the species addressed 

in Amendment 17B as required by the 

Magnuson-Stevens Act. Amendment 

17B specifies ACLs and AMs for 

speckled hind, warsaw grouper, snowy 

grouper, black sea bass, vermilion 

snapper, black grouper, red grouper, 

gag, and golden tilefish to end 

overfishing and help ensure that 

overfishing does not occur in the future. 

Comment 22: One commenter stated 

the impacts of anthropogenic pollutants 

such as sunscreens, pharmaceuticals, 

and cruise ships could have an effect on 

snapper-grouper reproductive fitness. 

Response: The direct impacts of 

anthropogenic toxins introduced into 

the marine environment have been 

studied in recent years, but their 

impacts on snapper-grouper species are 

not quantifiable at this time. Ongoing 

research in the field is likely to continue 

as human impacts on the environment 

increase. Several studies show a 

correlation between pharmaceutical 

waste and subsequent lowered 

reproductive fitness in marine 

organisms. The extent to which 

chemical waste impacts snapperVerDate Mar<15>2010 17:29 Dec 29, 2010 Jkt 223001 PO 00000 Frm 00069 Fmt 4700 Sfmt 4700 E:\FR\FM\30DER1.SGM 30DER1

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82286 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 250 / Thursday, December 30, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 

grouper species in the South Atlantic is 

unknown, and may be more difficult to 

measure in deepwater species, which do 

not spend the majority of their live 

cycles in close proximity to known 

pollution sources. 

The Environmental Protection Agency 

(EPA) has participated in several 

surveys to assess the impacts of cruise 

ship discharge of food waste, gray water, 

bilge water, and ballast water on the 

marine environment, including a survey 

conducted in August 2001 to estimate 

the dilution of cruise ship discharges 

into receiving waters. Another survey, 

conducted in Skagway Harbor, Alaska, 

in July 2008, estimated the near-field 

dilution of treated sewage/gray water 

discharges from docked cruise ships. 

The EPA also prepared a Cruise Ship 

Discharge Assessment Report 

(Assessment Report), which examines 

waste streams generated by cruise ships. 

The report is available at: http://water.

epa.gov/polwaste/vwd/cruise_ship_

disch_assess_report.cfm. Despite these 

and other ongoing studies, the direct 

impact of cruise ship waste discharge on 

snapper-grouper species in the South 

Atlantic is not known at this time. 

Comment 23: One commenter 

suggests requiring permits and logbooks 

on all vessels in all sectors of the 

snapper-grouper fishery. 

Response: Logbooks and snappergrouper permits are required for 

participants in the commercial snappergrouper fishery. Permits are also 

required for all participants in the forhire sector of the snapper-grouper 

fishery, and logbooks are required on 

headboats if selected by NMFS. 

Amendment 15B, which became 

effective in December 2009, requires any 

vessel fishing for snapper-grouper in the 

South Atlantic EEZ, if selected by 

NMFS, to maintain and submit fishing 

records; and requires any vessel that 

fishes in the EEZ, if selected by NMFS, 

to carry an observer and install an 

electronic logbook (ELB) and/or video 

monitoring equipment provided by 

NMFS. The reporting and recordkeeping requirements contained in 

Amendment 15B only include selected 

vessels because these requirements are 

cost prohibitive if applied to every 

fisher in the South Atlantic at this time. 

Comment 24: One commenter stated 

that a prohibition on all longline fishing 

would end overfishing of golden 

tilefish. 

Response: Golden tilefish are 

primarily harvested using bottom 

longline gear. Actions were taken in 

Amendment 13C to end the overfishing 

of golden tilefish, which included a 

reduction in the quota to 295,000 lb 

(133,810 kg) gutted weight. Therefore, 

eliminating the longline harvest for 

golden tilefish could have unnecessary 

negative economic and social effects. 

The effectiveness of management 

measures in ending overfishing for 

golden tilefish will be determined in an 

assessment scheduled for 2011. 

Amendment 17B established ACLs and 

AMs to help ensure golden tilefish 

overfishing does not occur. 

Currently, for the snapper-grouper 

fishery, the use of bottom longline 

fishing gear is limited by species and 

area. A vessel that has on board a valid 

Federal commercial permit for South 

Atlantic snapper-grouper, excluding 

wreckfish, that fishes in the EEZ on a 

trip with a longline on board, may 

possess only snowy grouper, warsaw 

grouper, yellowedge grouper, misty 

grouper, golden tilefish, blueline 

tilefish, and sand tilefish. Additionally, 

under the FMP, a longline may not be 

used to fish in the EEZ for South 

Atlantic snapper-grouper south of 

27°10′ N. latitude (due east of the 

entrance to St. Lucie Inlet, FL); or north 

of 27°10′ N. latitude where the charted 

depth is less than 50 fathoms (91.4 m), 

as shown on the latest edition of the 

largest scale NOAA chart of the 

location. Under the FMP, a person 

aboard a vessel with a longline on board 

that fishes on a trip in the South 

Atlantic EEZ south of 27°10′ N. latitude, 

or north of 27°10′ N. latitude where the 

charted depth is less than 50 fathoms 

(91.4 m), is limited on that trip to the 

bag limit for South Atlantic snappergrouper for which a bag limit is 

specified, and to zero for all other South 

Atlantic snapper-grouper. 

Additionally, Amendment 18A to the 

FMP is addressing potential effort 

control mechanisms for the golden 

tilefish component of the snappergrouper fishery, including an 

endorsement for hook-and-line and 

longline gear. Therefore, Amendment 

18A may mitigate, to some extent, any 

effort shift into the golden tilefish 

component of the snapper-grouper 

fishery. 

Comment 25: Three commenters felt 

the golden tilefish allocation of 97- 

percent commercial and 3-percent 

recreational is unfair and allocates too 

much of the total ACL to the 

commercial sector. 

Response: The sector allocations for 

golden tilefish were chosen based on 

long-term and short-term landings 

histories. The preferred allocation of 97 

percent for the commercial sector and 3 

percent for the recreational sector is 

representative of past and current 

harvest levels for both sectors and thus 

would cause the least disruption to the 

economic and social environments. The 

Council considered an alternative that 

would allocate half of the ACL to the 

commercial sector and half to the 

recreational sector, but rejected this 

alternative because it would result in 

the largest deviation from the short and 

long-term landings trend for the two 

sectors. It was concluded that the 

preferred allocation is fair and equitable 

based on the best scientific information 

available. 

Comment 26: Two commenters 

suggested that the Federal government 

buy out those fishermen who are ready 

to leave the fishery because of overly 

burdensome regulations. One 

commenter suggested the U.S. 

Department of Commerce develop a 

fisheries disaster assistance program for 

commercial and for-hire fishermen 

affected by recently implemented 

regulations. 

Response: The Council discussed the 

establishment of a buy-out program for 

commercial snapper-grouper fishermen 

in Georgia during the development 

process for Amendment 17A to the 

FMP, which was drafted concurrently 

with Amendment 17B. A buy-out 

program for the commercial sector 

would require a great deal of planning, 

time, funds, and acceptance from 

fishery participants. Because of these 

limiting factors and the need to end 

overfishing immediately as required by 

the Magnuson-Stevens Act, a buy-out 

program was not pursued by the 

Council or NMFS during the 

development of Amendment 17B. 

The Magnuson-Stevens Act states the 

Secretary may establish a regional 

economic transition program to provide 

immediate disaster relief assistance 

upon the request and concurrence with 

the Governors of the affected States. 

Neither the Secretary nor NMFS has 

received a request from any of the four 

affected States’ governors for disaster 

relief. Therefore, a disaster relief 

program for the snapper-grouper fishery 

has not been considered. 

Comment 27: Several commenters feel 

the economic impact analysis for 

actions contained in Amendment 17B is 

either absent or inadequately represents 

the true impacts expected from the 

implementation of Amendment 17B. 

Response: Amendment 17B contains a 

complete economic impact analysis of 

all actions and alternatives considered 

by the Council in Amendment 17B. 

Additionally, Amendment 17B contains 

a social impact analysis of all the 

alternatives considered by the Council. 

Furthermore, in compliance with 

Magnuson-Stevens Act, Amendment 

17B contains a Regulatory Impact 

Review, an initial Regulatory Flexibility 

Analysis, a Fishery Impact Statement, 


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and a Social Impact Assessment. These 

economic and social analyses utilize 

recent landings, trip ticket, logbook, 

permit, and financial data for the 

commercial and recreational sectors. As 

such, the subject analyses have been 

determined to represent an accurate and 

complete economic picture of potential 

impacts that may result from the 

implementation of Amendment 17B. 

Comment 28: Three commenters feel 

Amendment 17B contained several 

deficiencies, including: the absence of 

overfishing limits (OFLs) for six species, 

the absence of ABCs for five species, the 

lack of an ABC control rule, failing to 

account for management uncertainty in 

the ACLs, and failing to include discard 

mortality in the ACLs (most notably for 

speckled hind and warsaw grouper). 

One commenter states that Amendment 

17B establishes ACLs and management 

measures that are unlikely to end 

overfishing for golden tilefish, black sea 

bass, and snowy grouper. Additionally, 

one commenter states that Amendment 

17B should include an ACL 

performance standard, and re-evaluation 

of the ACLs and AMs that would be 

triggered if the catch exceeds the ACL 

more often than once in a given period 

of time. 

Response: 

OFL: The Magnuson-Stevens Act 

National Standard 1 Guidelines give the 

Councils flexibility to use either the 

maximum fishing mortality threshold 

(MFMT) or the overfishing limit (OFL) 

to determine if overfishing is occurring. 

The National Standard 1 Guidelines 

state, ‘‘The OFL is an annual level of 

catch that corresponds directly to the 

MFMT, and is the best estimate of the 

catch level above which overfishing is 

occurring.’’ Furthermore, in June 2008, 

the SSC stated that for species assessed 

through SEDAR, OFL is equal to the 

yield at MFMT. Golden tilefish, snowy 

grouper, black sea bass, vermilion 

snapper, red grouper, and black grouper 

have been assessed through SEDAR and, 

therefore, have estimates of MFMT. The 

numerical estimates of MFMT for black 

grouper and red grouper will be 

provided in the Comprehensive ACL 

Amendment and Amendment 24, 

respectively. 

The SSC was unable to provide 

recommendations of the OFL for 

speckled hind and warsaw grouper at its 

June 2008 meeting, based on current 

data, and, therefore, specified OFL as 

‘‘unknown.’’ The SSC encountered 

similar problems when attempting to 

specify OFLs for species at its April 

2010 meeting. Discussion at the April 

2010 meeting focused on what the SSC 

was responsible for providing to the 

Council under National Standard 1 

Guidelines. To explain its reasoning and 

judgment, the April 2010 SSC report 

states, ‘‘It became clear that 

recommending an ABC was the main 

goal, and providing this recommended 

value without an estimate of OFL was 

acceptable in situations where only 

catch series data were available.’’ 

ABC: At its December 2008 meeting, 

the SSC considered the guidance given 

in the proposed Magnuson-Stevens Act 

National Standard 1 Guidelines and 

rescinded all estimates of ABC from its 

June 2008 meeting (except for an ABC 

of zero for speckled hind and warsaw 

grouper based on landed catch). At its 

December 2008 meeting, the SSC also 

recommended that the ABC levels for 

snowy grouper, black sea bass, and red 

snapper be set consistent with the 

rebuilding plans for those species until 

they can be further amended using more 

updated scientific information. The SSC 

reaffirmed, at its April 2010 meeting, 

that ‘‘For overfished stocks and stock 

complexes, a rebuilding ABC must be 

set to reflect the annual catch that is 

consistent with the schedule of fishing 

mortality rates in the rebuilding plan.’’ 

At its June 2009 meeting, the SSC 

recommended ABCs for gag and 

vermilion snapper based on a P* 

analysis, which is being used as the 

Council’s preferred ABC control rule for 

assessed species that are not 

experiencing overfishing in the 

Comprehensive ACL Amendment. 

The SSC did not provide an ABC 

value for golden tilefish because of the 

age of the assessment and because of the 

lack of a current estimate of abundance. 

Golden tilefish will be assessed by 

SEDAR in 2011. The ABC control rule 

being used in the Comprehensive ACL 

Amendment will be applied to golden 

tilefish to obtain an ABC value when the 

assessment and amendment are 

completed in 2011. The SSC did not 

provide an ABC value for black grouper 

and red grouper because assessments 

were ongoing for those species when 

Amendment 17B was being developed 

by the Council, and since the SEDAR 

assessments have now been completed, 

OFLs, ABCs, and ACLs will be specified 

in the Comprehensive ACL Amendment 

and Amendment 24 for black grouper 

and red grouper, respectively. 

ABC Control Rule: For overfished 

stocks and stock complexes, the SSC has 

indicated that the ABC must be set to 

reflect the annual catch that is 

consistent with the schedule of fishing 

mortality rates in the rebuilding plan. 

Amendment 17B did not specify ABC 

control rules for assessed species that 

were not overfished or for data poor 

species because these control rules were 

under development by the SSC. The 

SSC met in March and June of 2009 to 

determine ABC control rules for data 

rich species, and met in April and 

August of 2010 to identify the protocol 

for determining the ABC for data poor 

species. A final version of the SSC’s 

recommendation of an ABC control rule 

for assessed species was provided to the 

Council at its March 2010 meeting, after 

the Council had voted to submit 

Amendment 17B for Secretarial review. 

The SSC has not completed its 

recommendations for ABC control rules 

for non-assessed species. ABC control 

rules for assessed and data poor species 

will be included in the Comprehensive 

ACL Amendment. 

The SSC recommended and the 

Council chose an ACL of zero for 

speckled hind and warsaw grouper 

based on landings only. Choosing an 

ACL based on total mortality rather than 

landed catch would require the SEFSC 

to monitor discarded speckled hind and 

warsaw grouper in the commercial and 

recreational sectors. The Council’s SSC 

expressed concerns about monitoring 

discards when discussing ACLs for 

speckled hind and warsaw grouper at its 

March 2009 meeting. The SSC was not 

only concerned about the accuracy of 

discard data as currently collected from 

the recreational and commercial sector 

but also the possibility that some 

members of the fishing community 

might under-report discarded fish if 

they believed further restrictions might 

be imposed if levels of dead discards 

became elevated. Therefore, due to 

concern about monitoring discards, the 

SSC recommended an acceptable 

biological catch equal to zero for 

speckled hind and warsaw grouper 

based on landed catch only. 

Management Measures: Action is 

being taken in Amendment 17B to 

reduce discards of speckled hind and 

warsaw grouper by prohibiting the take 

of co-occurring species in depths greater 

than 240 ft (73 m). Rather than retain 

and monitor speckled hind and warsaw 

grouper discards, the intent of the area 

closure is to reduce bycatch in an area 

where release mortality is expected to 

be very high. The relationship between 

depth and mortality has not been 

specified for speckled hind and warsaw 

grouper. However, as previously 

discussed, speckled hind and warsaw 

grouper share similar biological 

characteristics to gag; therefore, if depth 

related release mortality of speckled 

hind and warsaw grouper is similar to 

gag, release mortality would be expected 

to be approximately 70 percent in 

depths of 240 ft (73 m). 

Actions were taken to end overfishing 

of golden tilefish, snowy grouper, and 

black sea bass in Amendment 13C to the 


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82288 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 250 / Thursday, December 30, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 

FMP. It will not be known if the 

measures were successful in ending 

overfishing until new assessments are 

conducted for these species. New 

benchmark assessments will be 

conducted for golden tilefish and black 

sea bass in 2011, and snowy grouper 

will be assessed in 2013. Amendment 

17B specifies ACLs and AMs for 

speckled hind, warsaw grouper, snowy 

grouper, gag, vermilion snapper, black 

sea bass, golden tilefish, black grouper, 

and red grouper, to ensure overfishing 

of these species does not occur. 

The National Standard 1 Guidelines 

states that ‘‘if catch exceeds the ACL for 

a given stock or stock complex more 

than once in the last 4 years, the system 

of ACLs and AMs should be reevaluated, and modified if necessary, to 

improve its performance and 

effectiveness.’’ Amendment 17B follows 

this guidance for performance measures 

with an action to update the framework 

procedure to allow for adjustments to 

OFL, ABC, and ACL based on SEDAR 

reports or other new information. Under 

the updated framework procedure, the 

SSC would examine the social and 

economic impact analyses for a specific 

allocation, ACL, ACT, AM, quota, bag 

limit, or other fishing restriction. If it is 

determined by the Council and its SSC 

that the management measures in place 

are not constraining catch to a target 

level, adjustments could be made 

through a future regulatory amendment. 

Comment 29: One commenter stated 

Amendment 17B does not adequately 

demonstrate that speckled hind and 

warsaw grouper are undergoing 

overfishing. 

Response: According to the most 

recent Report to Congress on the Status 

of U.S. Fisheries, warsaw grouper and 

speckled hind are undergoing 

overfishing and have been identified as 

experiencing overfishing every year 

since the Report was initiated in 1997. 

Status determinations in the Report to 

Congress on the Status of U.S. Stocks 

are generally made during a formal 

review of a scientific stock assessment 

using the best available scientific 

information and status determination 

criteria specified in a fishery 

management plan. However, many 

resources can be used to make status 

determinations, including final peerreviewed documents such as Stock 

Assessment Review Committee reports 

and recommendations of each Council’s 

Scientific and Statistical Committee. 

The Council and NMFS are mandated to 

end overfishing by the Reauthorized 

Magnuson-Stevens Act, and to specify 

ACLs and AMs for species undergoing 

overfishing and to implement 

management measures to ensure 

overfishing does not continue to occur. 

New SEDAR benchmark assessments for 

speckled hind and warsaw grouper are 

scheduled for 2012 or 2013. 

Comment 30: Three commenters felt 

the Finding of No Significant Impact 

(FONSI) for Amendment 17B 

erroneously concluded that there are no 

significant impacts as a result of this 

amendment. One commenter requests 

that an environmental impact statement 

(EIS) be prepared for Amendment 17B. 

Response: An environmental 

assessment (EA) was conducted for 

Amendment 17B, instead of an EIS, 

because most of the ACLs and AMs 

implemented through this final rule are 

based on previously implemented 

quotas and allocations, and the 

deepwater closure was concluded to 

result in a low to moderate level of 

socioeconomic impact to the snappergrouper fishery. The deepwater closure 

is expected to primarily affect 

commercial fishermen who target 

blueline tilefish off North Carolina, and 

commercial and recreational fishermen 

in areas of the Florida Keys where the 

240-ft (73-m) depth boundary is close to 

shore. 

The significance of an action under 

NEPA is determined by considering the 

action’s context and intensity. In the 

case of the deepwater area closure, the 

impacts are not considered significant 

because select groups of snappergrouper fishery participants are 

expected to be impacted, and those 

impacts are anticipated to be low to 

moderate relative to the entire snappergrouper fishery. For the entire South 

Atlantic, the prohibition on harvest and 

possession of six deepwater snappergrouper species beyond a depth of 240 

ft (73 m) is expected to reduce annual 

overall net operating revenues in the 

commercial snapper-grouper fishery by 

about $292,000, or by 3.3 percent. For 

the State of North Carolina alone, the 

action is expected to reduce net 

operating revenue in the commercial 

sector by approximately 7 percent. As 

such, the FONSI appropriately 

concludes the actions in Amendment 

17B are not expected to result in 

significant impacts on the human 

environment; and therefore, an EIS was 

not prepared. 

Comment 31: Several commenters 

stated that the amendment would have 

severe economic impacts on commercial 

and recreational fishing opportunities 

and operations, including their support 

industries and local communities. Many 

comments especially singled out the ban 

on fishing for, retaining, and possessing 

of six deepwater species in waters 

beyond 240 ft (73 m) deep as a major 

factor that would put many people out 

of work. 

Response: The economic analysis of 

the actions and alternatives considered 

concluded that, with the exception of 

the no action alternatives, practically all 

management measure alternatives 

would result in restricted fishing 

opportunities and short-term adverse 

economic effects on fishers, support 

industries, and associated communities. 

However, it is imperative that we take 

some action to protect species 

undergoing overfishing. The actions 

adopted are expected to be those which 

best achieve the Council’s objectives 

while minimizing, to the extent 

practicable, the adverse economic and 

social effects on fishing participants and 

associated communities. 

Comment 32: One commenter stated 

that no consideration was made of 

potential differences in economic 

impacts based on differences in fishing 

practices and economic activities along 

the coast. 

Response: The economic analysis 

evaluated the effects of the various 

measures in Amendment 17B on vessels 

by gear type used and geographic area 

in the South Atlantic. Thus, the analysis 

addressed, to the extent possible using 

available data, the differential economic 

effects of the alternatives based on gear 

type and geographic location. 

Comment 33: One commenter stated 

that once the Council and NMFS 

decided what the economic impacts are, 

public comments would not count at all. 

Response: The Council and NMFS 

have taken multiple steps to solicit 

comments from the public through 

meetings, public hearings, and 

dissemination of written materials on 

the various issues considered in the 

amendment. The law, as well as the 

policies of the Council and NMFS, 

requires consideration of public 

comments as an integral part of the 

regulatory process even after the 

economic analysis is completed. 

However, economic impacts are not the 

only factor the Council and NMFS must 

take into account. 

Comment 34: Two commenters noted 

that the 97 percent commercial and 3 

percent recreational allocation of golden 

tilefish neglects the contribution of the 

recreational sector into the local 

economy. 

Response: The commercial/ 

recreational allocation for golden 

tilefish took into account the past and 

present landing records of both the 

commercial and recreational sectors. 

The economic effects of the various 

allocation measures were evaluated 

independently and in conjunction with 

the other alternatives in the amendment. 


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The economic analysis concluded that 

the allocation ratio was not expected to 

introduce severe dislocations of 

commercial and recreational fishing 

activities. 

Comment 35: One commenter 

mentioned the lack of analysis of the 

cumulative economic impacts of the 

amendment. 

Response: The economic analysis 

evaluated the cumulative effects of past 

and present regulatory measures 

affecting the snapper-grouper 

recreational and commercial sectors. 

Both quantitative and qualitative 

discussions of cumulative economic 

effects were presented. 

Comment 36: One commenter 

remarked that serious attention to 

socioeconomic aspects of fisheries 

management is grossly overlooked as 

real science. 

Response: NMFS has always 

recognized the important role of social 

science in fisheries management, as 

specifically required by the MagnusonStevens Act, Regulatory Flexibility Act, 

and Executive Order 12866. Although 

the overriding objective of Amendment 

17B has been to protect or rebuild the 

subject snapper-grouper species, the 

socioeconomic effects of the various 

alternatives were evaluated and 

considered in the choice of preferred 

alternatives. 

Classification 

The Regional Administrator, 

Southeast Region, NMFS has 

determined that Amendment 17B is 

necessary for the conservation and 

management of South Atlantic snappergrouper and is consistent with the 

Magnuson-Stevens Act, and other 

applicable laws. 

This final rule has been determined to 

be not significant for purposes of 

Executive Order 12866. 

NMFS prepared a FRFA, as required 

by section 604 of the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act. The FRFA describes the 

economic impact this final rule is 

expected to have on small entities. A 

description of the action, why it is being 

considered, and the objectives of, and 

legal basis for, this action are contained 

at the beginning of this section in the 

preamble and in the SUMMARY section of 

the preamble. A copy of this analysis is 

available from the NMFS (see 

ADDRESSES). The FRFA follows. 

No public comments specific to the 

IRFA were received. However, 22 of the 

175 comments contained statements 

regarding the economic effects of the 

amendment, and they are addressed in 

comments/responses section, 

specifically comments/responses 

number 31 through 36. 

NMFS agrees with the Council’s 

choice of preferred alternatives as those 

which would be expected to best 

achieve the Council’s objectives while 

minimizing, to the extent practicable, 

the adverse effects on fishers, support 

industries, and associated communities. 

No changes to the proposed rule were 

made in response to public comments. 

The final rule introduces several 

changes to the management of the South 

Atlantic snapper-grouper fishery. This 

rule establishes an ACL of zero for 

speckled hind and warsaw grouper, and 

this prohibits the harvest and 

possession of speckled hind and warsaw 

grouper. The rule prohibits fishing for 

and possession of snowy grouper, 

blueline tilefish, yellowedge grouper, 

warsaw grouper, speckled hind, misty 

grouper, queen snapper, and silk 

snapper beyond a depth of 240 ft (73 m). 

This rule establishes a 97-percent 

commercial and 3-percent recreational 

allocation of golden tilefish. This rule 

establishes a commercial ACL (quota) 

for golden tilefish of 282,819 lb (128,284 

kg) gutted weight and a recreational 

ACL of 1,578 fish based on the chosen 

allocation for golden tilefish. The 

commercial AM for golden tilefish 

prohibits the harvest, possession, 

purchase, and sale of golden tilefish 

after the quota is met or projected to be 

met. The recreational AM is specified as 

follows: If the ACL is exceeded, the 

Regional Administrator (RA) shall 

publish a notice to reduce the length of 

the following fishing season by the 

amount necessary to ensure landings do 

not exceed the sector ACL in the 

following fishing year. The recreational 

ACL would be compared to recreational 

landings using only 2010 landings for 

2010, an average of 2010 and 2011 

landings for 2011, and a 3-year average 

of landings for 2012 and beyond. 

This rule establishes a recreational 

daily bag limit of one snowy grouper per 

vessel, with a recreational ACL of 523 

fish and a recreational AM specified as 

follows: If the ACL is exceeded, the RA 

shall publish a notice to reduce the 

length of the following fishing season by 

the amount necessary to ensure landings 

do not exceed the sector ACL in the 

following fishing year. The recreational 

ACL would be compared to recreational 

landings using only 2010 landings for 

2010, an average of 2010 and 2011 

landings for 2011, and a 3-year average 

of landings for 2012 and beyond. 

This rule establishes an aggregate ACL 

(quota) for gag, black grouper, and red 

grouper of 662,403 lb (300,461 kg) 

gutted weight (commercial) and 648,663 

lb (294,229 kg) gutted weight 

(recreational), but retains the 

commercial ACL (quota) for gag or 

352,940 lb (160,091 kg) gutted weight 

and recreational ACL for gag of 340,060 

lb (154,249 kg) gutted weight. This rule 

prohibits the commercial possession of 

shallow-water groupers (gag, black 

grouper, red grouper, scamp, red hind, 

yellowmouth grouper, tiger grouper, 

yellowfin grouper, graysby, and coney) 

when the gag ACL (currently at 352,940 

lb (160,091 kg) gutted weight) or the 

aggregate gag, black grouper, and red 

grouper ACL is met or projected to be 

met. This rule implements recreational 

AMs for black grouper, black sea bass, 

gag, red grouper, and vermilion snapper 

as follows: If a species is overfished and 

the sector ACL is met or projected to be 

met, prohibit the harvest and retention 

of the species or species group. If the 

ACL is exceeded, independent of stock 

status, the RA shall publish a notice to 

reduce the sector ACL in the following 

fishing season by the amount of the 

overage. The recreational ACL would be 

compared to recreational landings using 

only 2010 landings for 2010, an average 

of 2010 and 2011 landings for 2011, and 

a 3-year running average of landings for 

2012 and beyond. 

Finally, this rule updates the 

framework procedure for specification 

of Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for the 

FMP to incorporate ACLs, ACTs, and 

AMs. Such modifications are based 

upon new scientific information 

indicating such modifications are 

prudent. 

The Magnuson-Stevens Act provides 

the statutory basis for the final rule. 

No duplicative, overlapping, or 

conflicting Federal rules have been 

identified. The final rule does not alter 

existing reporting, recordkeeping, or 

other compliance requirements. 

The final rule is expected to directly 

affect commercial fishers and for-hire 

operators. The SBA has established size 

criteria for all major industry sectors in 

the U.S. including commercial fish 

harvesters and for-hire operations. A 

business involved in fish harvesting is 

classified as a small business if it is 

independently owned and operated, is 

not dominant in its field of operation 

(including its affiliates), and has 

combined annual receipts not in excess 

of $4.0 million (NAICS code 114111, 

finfish fishing) for all its affiliated 

operations worldwide. For for-hire 

vessels, the other qualifiers apply and 

the annual receipts threshold is $7.0 

million (NAICS code 713990, 

recreational industries). 

From 2003–2007, an average of 944 

vessels per year was permitted to 

operate in the commercial sector of the 

snapper-grouper fishery. Of these 

vessels, 749 held transferable permits 

and 195 held non-transferable permits. 


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As of December 17, 2010, there are 604 

vessels with transferable permits and 

138 vessels with non-transferable 

permits. On average, 890 vessels landed 

6.43 million lb (2.92 million kg) of 

snapper-grouper species and 1.95 

million lb (0.88 million kg) of other 

species on snapper-grouper trips. Total 

dockside revenues from snappergrouper species stood at $13.81 million 

and at $2.30 million from other species. 

Considering revenues from both 

snapper-grouper and other species, the 

revenues per vessel were approximately 

$18,101. An average of 27 vessels per 

year harvested more than 50,000 lb 

(22,680 million kg) of snapper-grouper 

species per year, generating dockside 

revenues of at least $107,500, at an 

average price of $2.15 (2007 dollars) per 

pound. Commercial vessels that operate 

in the snapper-grouper fishery may also 

operate in other fisheries, the revenues 

of which cannot be determined with 

available data and are not reflected in 

these totals. 

Although a vessel that possesses a 

commercial snapper-grouper permit can 

harvest any snapper-grouper species, 

not all permitted vessels or vessels that 

landed snapper-grouper landed all of 

the major species in this amendment. 

The following average number of vessels 

landed the subject species in 2003– 

2007: 292 vessels landed gag, 253 

vessels landed vermilion snapper, 32 

vessels landed speckled hind, 64 vessels 

landed golden tilefish, 160 vessels 

landed snowy grouper, 323 vessels 

landed black grouper, 237 vessels 

landed black sea bass, and 402 vessels 

landed red grouper. Combining 

revenues from snapper-grouper and 

other species on the same trip, the 

average revenue per vessel for vessels 

landing the subject species were 

$20,551 for gag, $28,454 for vermilion 

snapper, $6,250 for speckled hind, 

$17,266 for golden tilefish, $7,186 for 

black grouper, $19,034 for black sea 

bass, and $17,164 for red grouper. 

Based on revenue information, all 

commercial vessels that would be 

affected by the final action are 

considered to be small entities. 

For the period 2003–2007, an average 

of 1,635 vessels were permitted to 

operate in the snapper-grouper for-hire 

sector, of which 82 are estimated to 

have operated as headboats and 1,553 as 

charter boats. As of December 17, 2010, 

there are 1,474 permitted for-hire 

vessels. The for-hire fleet is comprised 

of charterboats, which charge a fee on a 

vessel basis, and headboats, which 

charge a fee on an individual angler 

(head) basis. Within the total number of 

vessels, 227 also possessed a 

commercial snapper-grouper permit and 

would be included in the summary 

information provided on the 

commercial sector. The charterboat 

annual average gross revenue is 

estimated to range from approximately 

$62,000–$84,000 for Florida vessels, 

$73,000–$89,000 for North Carolina 

vessels, $68,000–$83,000 for Georgia 

vessels, and $32,000–$39,000 for South 

Carolina vessels. For headboats, the 

appropriate estimates are $170,000– 

$362,000 for Florida vessels, and 

$149,000–$317,000 for vessels in the 

other States. 

Based on average revenue figures, all 

for-hire operations that would be 

affected by the final action are 

considered to be small entities. 

Some fleet activity (i.e., multiple 

vessels owned by a single entity) may 

exist in both the commercial and forhire snapper-grouper sectors, but the 

extent of such is unknown and all 

vessels are treated as independent 

entities in this analysis. 

The measure to establish an ACL of 

zero for speckled hind and warsaw 

grouper, together with the ban on 

fishing for deepwater species cooccurring with these two species 

beyond 240 ft (73 m), is expected to 

reduce net operating revenues of 

commercial vessels by about $292,000. 

This measure is also expected to reduce 

net operating revenues of for-hire 

vessels by less than $102,000. 

Establishing a 97 percent commercial 

and 3 percent recreational allocation of 

golden tilefish would maintain the longterm and short-term proportional 

landings history of the commercial and 

recreational sectors, with possible small 

short-term changes (depending on the 

ACL) in net operating revenues of both 

commercial and for-hire vessels. At this 

allocation ratio, the corresponding 

commercial ACL (quota) would be 

282,819 lb (128,284 kg) gutted weight 

and the recreational allocation would be 

1,578 fish (8,747 lb (3,968 kg) gutted 

weight). The golden tilefish commercial 

quota in combination with the AM of 

closing the fishery after the quota is met 

is expected to reduce net operating 

revenues of vessels with snappergrouper commercial permits by about 

$8,000. The recreational allocation is 

expected to result in net revenue 

reductions of for-hire snapper-grouper 

vessels by about $7,000. It is worth 

noting, however, that the reduction in 

net operating revenues of for-hire 

vessels is not immediate because the 

recreational AM would shorten only the 

subsequent year’s fishing season and 

only when recreational landings over a 

number of years (except for 2010) 

exceed the ACL. 

Establishing a daily bag limit of one 

snowy grouper per vessel is expected to 

reduce net operating revenues of forhire snapper-grouper vessels by about 

$7,000. This reduction in net operating 

revenues would not be immediate 

because the recreational AM would 

shorten only the subsequent year’s 

fishing season and only when 

recreational landings over a number of 

years (except for 2010) exceed the ACL. 

The combined measures of retaining 

the commercial ACL for gag of 352,940 

lb (160,091 kg) gutted weight, to 

establish an aggregate commercial ACL 

for gag, red grouper, and black grouper 

of 662,403 lb (300,461 kg) gutted weight, 

and to close the fishery when the gag 

ACL or the aggregate ACL is reached is 

expected to reduce net operating 

revenues of commercial vessels by about 

$103,000. For the recreational 

component of the snapper-grouper 

fishery, the combined measures of 

retaining the recreational ACL for gag of 

340,060 lb (154,249 kg) gutted weight 

and establishing an aggregate 

recreational ACL for gag, red grouper, 

and black grouper of 648,663 lb 

(294,229 kg) gutted weight are not 

expected to affect the net operating 

revenues of for-hire snapper-grouper 

vessels because these are the expected 

landings from implementation of 

previous amendments, notably 

Amendment 16 to the FMP. There is a 

possibility that the recreational AM of 

prohibiting the harvest and retention of 

an overfished species when the sector 

ACL is met or projected to be met would 

have negative impacts on for-hire 

snapper-grouper vessels fishing for 

black sea bass. Under this AM, for-hire 

snapper-grouper vessels as a whole 

could potentially lose about $860,000 in 

net revenues. This reduction is likely to 

be an overestimate for at least two 

reasons. First, the method used in 

estimating the economic effects on the 

recreational sector likely overestimated 

the number of headboat angler trips 

affected by the measure. Second, the 

trend of recreational black sea bass 

landings has been downward due to the 

implementation of more restrictive 

measures provided in previous 

amendments. Therefore, using average 

landings over the period 2005–2008 

inflated the landings when compared to 

the ACL. 

Updating the framework procedure 

for specification of TAC has no direct 

effects on the net operating revenues of 

commercial and for-hire snappergrouper vessels. 

Five alternatives, including the final 

action, were considered for establishing 

an ACL for speckled hind and warsaw 

grouper. The first alternative to the final 


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action, the no action alternative, would 

not conform to the requirements of the 

Magnuson-Stevens Act, as reauthorized 

in 2006, to establish an ACL for the 

subject species. The second alternative 

to the final action would establish an 

ACL of zero for speckled hind and 

warsaw grouper but would not close any 

areas to fishing for deepwater species 

that co-occur with these two species. 

Although this alternative would have 

smaller negative economic effects on 

small entities than the final action, it 

would not be sufficient to end 

overfishing of speckled hind and 

warsaw grouper due to discard mortality 

from fishing for other co-occurring 

deepwater species. The third alternative 

to the final action is the same as the 

final action, except that the fishing 

prohibition for other co-occurring 

deepwater species would apply to all 

depths. In this case, this alternative 

would result in greater negative 

economic effects on small entities than 

the final action. The fourth alternative 

to the final action is similar to the final 

action, except that the prohibition on 

fishing for other co-occurring deepwater 

species would be beyond 300 ft (92 m). 

With smaller closed areas, this 

alternative would result in slightly 

smaller negative economic effects on 

small entities. On the other hand, the 

protection this alternative provides for 

adult speckled hind and warsaw 

grouper would be less than that of the 

final action. The possibility of 

continued overfishing for the subject 

species may still occur under this 

alternative. 

Four alternatives, including the final 

action, were considered for the golden 

tilefish allocation. The first alternative 

to the final action, the no action 

alternative, would not establish a 

commercial and recreational allocation 

for golden tilefish. Without a defined 

sector allocation, it would be difficult to 

define sector ACLs and to take 

corrective actions should the sector 

ACLs or overall ACL be exceeded. This 

would weaken the ability of fishery 

managers to effectively manage the 

stock. The second alternative to the final 

action would establish a 96-percent 

commercial and 4-percent recreational 

allocation. This allocation is very close 

to that provided under the final action, 

and thus its economic effects would 

only minimally differ from those of the 

final action. This alternative uses only 

the most current landings records 

(2006–2008) while the final action uses 

both the long-run (1986–2008) and 

short-run (2006–2008) landings history. 

The third alternative to the final action 

would establish a 50-percent 

commercial and 50-percent recreational 

allocation. This alternative would create 

significant disruptions to the 

commercial sector operations, and thus 

would impose relatively large costs to 

this sector. The recreational sector 

would stand to gain from this allocation, 

but whether or not the gains to the 

recreational sector would outweigh 

losses to the commercial sector cannot 

be determined. At least in the short-term 

and given the current bag limit of one 

fish per person per day, benefits to the 

recreational sector would be relatively 

small and would not compensate for the 

losses in the commercial sector. Thus, 

the expected net economic effects of this 

alternative in the short-term would be 

negative. 

Five alternatives, including the final 

action, were considered for the golden 

tilefish ACL and AM. The first 

alternative to the final action, the no 

action alternative, would retain the 

current ACL (quota) for the commercial 

sector based on FMSY and would not 

establish an ACL for the recreational 

sector. The current AM would close all 

fishing for golden tilefish once the 

commercial quota is reached. This 

alternative would not add any more 

fishery restrictions and economic losses 

to the fishery participants, but it would 

be less conservative than the final action 

in rebuilding the stock as to potentially 

lengthen the recovery of the stock 

beyond the specified rebuilding period. 

In addition, it would provide less 

flexibility in implementing sectorspecific AMs. The second alternative to 

the final action would establish a single 

commercial and recreational ACL which 

would combine the commercial ACL at 

the FOY level and the recreational 

allowable harvest at the OY level. The 

AM would prohibit commercial and 

recreational harvest when the ACL is 

projected to be met. This alternative 

would result in approximately the same 

economic losses to the commercial 

sector as the final action. There is some 

potential for this alternative to result in 

smaller economic losses to the 

recreational sector than the final action, 

especially if only the commercial 

landings were effectively monitored 

because then the recreational fishing 

season would remain open longer. But 

to the extent that the AM under this 

alternative would be imposed in-season 

while that of the final action would 

become effective only in subsequent 

years, the economic effects of this 

alternative over time could very well 

exceed those of the final action. The 

third alternative to the final action 

would establish a recreational AM of 

one golden tilefish per vessel per day 

when the single ACL (sum of the 

commercial ACL at the FOY level and 

recreational harvest at the OY level) is 

met or projected to be met. This 

alternative offers potential for smaller 

economic losses to the recreational 

sector than the final action by 

maintaining a year-round recreational 

fishing season although at a very limited 

bag limit. However, because this 

alternative requires an in-season 

adjustment in lieu of subsequent-year 

adjustments, as under the final action, 

the resulting economic losses over time 

due to this alternative could exceed 

those of the final action. The fourth 

alternative to the final action would 

establish a commercial and recreational 

ACL based on the yield at FOY for the 

commercial fishery. The AM for both 

sectors would be to prohibit harvest, 

possession, and retention of golden 

tilefish when commercial landings 

exceed the ACL. This alternative would 

have the same economic effects on the 

commercial sector as the final action, 

but losses to the recreational sector 

would likely exceed those of the final 

action. 

Four alternatives, including the final 

action, were considered for establishing 

a snowy grouper ACL and AM. The first 

alternative, the no action alternative, to 

the final action would retain the 

commercial ACL (quota) of 82,900 lb 

(37,603 kg) gutted weight as the ACL 

based on the current TAC of 87,254 lb 

(39,578 kg) gutted weight; would retain 

the commercial AM which is to prohibit 

harvest, possession, and retention of 

snowy grouper when the quota is met or 

projected to be met; would maintain the 

recreational ACL of 523 fish; and, would 

not implement a recreational AM. This 

alternative would not add any 

restrictions to either the commercial or 

recreational sector. The absence of an 

AM for the recreational sector would 

make it difficult to implement sectorspecific adjustments. The second 

alternative to the final action would 

establish a single commercial/ 

recreational ACL based on the current 

TAC of 87,254 lb (39,578 kg) gutted 

weight, and the AM for both sectors 

would be a closure of the fishery when 

the ACL is met or projected to be met. 

This alternative may result in slightly 

better economic effects on the 

commercial sector than the final action 

or the no action alternative, but this 

slight advantage of the commercial 

sector would come at the expense of the 

recreational sector. In effect, this 

alternative would have slightly larger 

short-term economic losses on the 

recreational sector than the final action. 

In addition, this alternative would not 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with RULES
82292 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 250 / Thursday, December 30, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 

allow for sector-specific adjustments 

should ACL overages occur. The third 

alternative to the final action would 

establish a recreational AM of one fish 

per vessel per day when the commercial 

quota is met or projected to be met. The 

commercial AM would be a fishery 

closure when the quota is met. This 

alternative would have similar 

economic effects for the commercial 

sector as the no action alternative and 

slightly lower short-term negative 

effects on the recreational sector than 

the final action. However, unlike the 

final action, this alternative could result 

in overages in the recreational sector 

without a possible compensating 

adjustment in succeeding years, thereby 

potentially resulting in less protection 

to the stock. 

Five alternatives, two of which 

comprise the final action, were 

considered for the black grouper, black 

sea bass, gag, red grouper, and vermilion 

snapper ACL, AM, and ACT. The 

alternative for establishing commercial 

and recreational ACLs consisted of two 

sub-alternatives, one of which is the 

final action. The ACT alternative for the 

recreational sector consisted of three 

sub-alternatives, none of which were 

selected as the final action. The AM 

alternative for the recreational sector 

consisted of three sub-alternatives, one 

of which is the final action. The first 

alternative to the final action, the no 

action alternative, would retain the 

commercial and recreational ACLs 

(quotas) for black sea bass, gag, and 

vermilion snapper and would not 

establish commercial and recreational 

ACLs for black grouper and red grouper. 

This alternative would not comply with 

the requirements of the MagnusonStevens Act, as reauthorized in 2006. 

The second alternative to the final 

action for commercial and recreational 

ACLs would establish black grouper 

commercial and recreational ACLs of 

86,886 lb (39,411 kg) gutted weight and 

31,863 lb (14,453 kg) gutted weight, 

respectively. It would also establish red 

grouper commercial and recreational 

ACLs of 221,577 lb (100,505 kg) gutted 

weight and 276,740 lb (125,527 kg) 

gutted weight, respectively. This 

alternative would have similar 

biological effects as the final action. 

However, it could result in slightly 

worse economic effects as the final 

action because it would allow less 

flexibility for small entities in adjusting 

their fishing operations with respect to 

gag, black grouper, and red grouper. The 

third alternative to the final action for 

the recreational AM consisted of two 

sub-alternatives. The first subalternative would require the RA to 

reduce the length of the following 

fishing year if the ACL were exceeded 

in the current year. Although this 

alternative would provide less negative 

effects in the short-term, it would 

provide less biological benefits than the 

final action, particularly with respect to 

overfished species, so as to delay further 

the generation of economic benefits 

from the fishery. The second subalternative would close the fishery if the 

sector ACT were exceeded for an 

overfished species or species group and 

would require the RA to reduce the 

sector ACT the following year. By not 

selecting any ACT, this alternative 

would not be a viable alternative. If 

ACTs were selected, this alternative 

would likely result in larger short-term 

economic losses than the final 

alternative. 

Two alternatives, including the final 

action, were considered for updating the 

framework procedure for specification 

of TAC in the FMP to incorporate ACLs, 

ACTs, and AMs. The only alternative to 

the final action, the no action 

alternative, would delay the 

implementation or modification of 

ACLs, ACTs, and AMs when new 

scientific information becomes available 

because this would require the FMP 

amendment process which would incur 

more administrative costs than the final 

action. 

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 622 

Fisheries, Fishing, Puerto Rico, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Virgin Islands. 

Dated: December 22, 2010. 

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 622 is amended 

as follows: 

PART 622—FISHERIES OF THE 

CARIBBEAN, GULF, AND SOUTH 

ATLANTIC 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 622 

continues to read as follows: 

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

■ 2. In § 622.2, the definitions of ‘‘Deepwater grouper (DWG)’’ and ‘‘Shallowwater grouper (SWG)’’ are revised and 

definitions of ‘‘Deep-water snappergrouper (DWSG)’’ and ‘‘South Atlantic 

shallow-water grouper (SASWG)’’ are 

added in alphabetical order to read as 

follows: 

§ 622.2 Definitions and acronyms. 

* * * * * 

Deep-water grouper (DWG) means, in 

the Gulf, yellowedge grouper, misty 

grouper, warsaw grouper, snowy 

grouper, and speckled hind. In addition, 

for the purposes of the IFQ program for 

Gulf groupers and tilefishes in § 622.20, 

scamp are also included as DWG as 

specified in § 622.20(b)(2)(vi). 

Deep-water snapper-grouper (DWSG) 

means, in the South Atlantic, 

yellowedge grouper, misty grouper, 

warsaw grouper, snowy grouper, 

speckled hind, blueline tilefish, queen 

snapper, and silk snapper. 

* * * * * 

Shallow-water grouper (SWG) means, 

in the Gulf, gag, red grouper, black 

grouper, scamp, yellowfin grouper, rock 

hind, red hind, and yellowmouth 

grouper. In addition, for the purposes of 

the IFQ program for Gulf groupers and 

tilefishes in § 622.20, speckled hind and 

warsaw grouper are also included as 

SWG as specified in § 622.20(b)(2)(v). 

* * * * * 

South Atlantic shallow-water grouper 

(SASWG) means, in the South Atlantic, 

gag, black grouper, red grouper, scamp, 

red hind, rock hind, yellowmouth 

grouper, tiger grouper, yellowfin 

grouper, graysby, and coney. 

* * * * * 

■ 3. In § 622.4, the first sentence of 

paragraph (a)(2)(vi) is revised to read as 

follows: 

§ 622.4 Permits and fees. 

(a) * * * 

(2) * * * 

(vi) * * * For a person aboard a 

vessel to be eligible for exemption from 

the bag limits for South Atlantic 

snapper-grouper in or from the South 

Atlantic EEZ, to sell South Atlantic 

snapper-grouper in or from the South 

Atlantic EEZ, to engage in the directed 

fishery for tilefish in the South Atlantic 

EEZ, to use a longline to fish for South 

Atlantic snapper-grouper in the South 

Atlantic EEZ, or to use a sea bass pot in 

the South Atlantic EEZ between 

35°15.19′ N. lat. (due east of Cape 

Hatteras Light, NC) and 28°35.1′ N. lat. 

(due east of the NASA Vehicle 

Assembly Building, Cape Canaveral, 

FL), a commercial vessel permit for 

South Atlantic snapper-grouper must 

have been issued to the vessel and must 

be on board. * * * 

* * * * * 

■ 4. In § 622.9, the first sentence of 

paragraph (a)(1) is revised to read as 

follows: 

§ 622.9 Vessel monitoring systems 

(VMSs). 

(a) * * * 

(1) * * * An owner or operator of a 

vessel that has been issued a limited 


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access endorsement for South Atlantic 

rock shrimp (until January 27, 2010) or 

a Commercial Vessel Permit for Rock 

Shrimp (South Atlantic EEZ) must 

ensure that such vessel has an operating 

VMS approved by NMFS for use in the 

South Atlantic rock shrimp fishery on 

board when on a trip in the South 

Atlantic. * * * 

* * * * * 

■ 5. In § 622.32, paragraph (c)(3) is 

removed and paragraph (b)(3)(vii) is 

added to read as follows: 

§ 622.32 Prohibited and limited-harvest 

species. 

* * * * * 

(b) * * * 

(3) * * * 

(vii) Speckled hind and warsaw 

grouper may not be harvested or 

possessed in or from the South Atlantic 

EEZ. Such fish caught in the South 

Atlantic EEZ must be released 

immediately with a minimum of harm. 

These restrictions also apply in the 

South Atlantic on board a vessel for 

which a valid Federal commercial or 

charter vessel/headboat permit for 

South Atlantic snapper-grouper has 

been issued, i.e., in State or Federal 

waters. 

* * * * * 

■ 6. In § 622.35, the first sentence of 

paragraph (j) is revised and paragraph 

(o) is added to read as follows: 

§ 622.35 Atlantic EEZ seasonal and/or area 

closures. 

* * * * * 

(j) * * * During January through 

April each year, no person may fish for, 

harvest, or possess in or from the South 

Atlantic EEZ any SASWG (gag, black 

grouper, red grouper, scamp, red hind, 

rock hind, yellowmouth grouper, tiger 

grouper, yellowfin grouper, graysby, and 

coney). * * * 

* * * * * 

(o) Depth closure for deep-water 

snapper-grouper (DWSG). No person 

may fish for or possess DWSG 

(yellowedge grouper, misty grouper, 

warsaw grouper, snowy grouper, 

speckled hind, blueline tilefish, queen 

snapper, and silk snapper) in or from 

the South Atlantic EEZ offshore of 

rhumb lines connecting, in order, the 

following points: 

Point North lat. West long. 

A ............... 36°31′01′′ 74°48′10′′ 

B ............... 35°57′29′′ 74°55′49′′ 

C ............... 35°30′49′′ 74°49′17′′ 

D ............... 34°19′41′′ 76°00′21′′ 

E ............... 33°13′31′′ 77°17′50′′ 

F ................ 33°05′13′′ 77°49′24′′ 

G ............... 32°24′03′′ 78°57′03′′ 

H ............... 31°39′04′′ 79°38′46′′ 

Point North lat. West long. 

I ................. 30°27′33′′ 80°11′39′′ 

J ................ 29°53′21′′ 80°16′01′′ 

K ............... 29°24′03′′ 80°16′01′′ 

L ................ 28°19′29′′ 80°00′27′′ 

M ............... 27°32′05′′ 79°58′49′′ 

N ............... 26°52′45′′ 79°58′49′′ 

O ............... 26°03′36′′ 80°04′33′′ 

P ............... 25°31′03′′ 80°04′55′′ 

Q ............... 25°13′44′′ 80°09′40′′ 

R ............... 24°59′09′′ 80°19′51′′ 

S ............... 24°42′06′′ 80°46′38′′ 

T ................ 24°33′53′′ 81°10′23′′ 

U ............... 24°25′20′′ 81°50′25′′ 

V ............... 24°25′49′′ 82°11′17′′ 

W .............. 24°21′35′′ 82°22′32′′ 

X ............... 24°21′29′′ 82°42′33′′ 

Y ............... 24°25′37′′ 83°00′00′′ 

■ 7. In § 622.39, paragraph (d)(1)(ii)(B) 

is revised to read as follows: 

§ 622.39 Bag and possession limits. 

* * * * * 

(d) * * * 

(1) * * * 

(ii) * * * 

(B) No more than one fish per vessel 

may be a snowy grouper; 

* * * * * 

■ 8. In § 622.42, paragraph (e)(1)(ii) is 

removed; paragraphs (e)(1), (e)(2), (e)(5), 

and (e)(6) are revised; and paragraph 

(e)(8) is added to read as follows: 

§ 622.42 Quotas. 

* * * * * 

(e) * * * 

(1) Snowy grouper—82,900 lb (37,603 

kg). 

(2) Golden tilefish—282,819 lb 

(128,284 kg). 

* * * * * 

(5) Black sea bass—309,000 lb 

(140,160 kg). 

(6) Red porgy—190,050 lb (86,205 kg). 

* * * * * 

(8) Gag, black grouper, and red 

grouper, combined—662,403 lb (300,461 

kg). 

* * * * * 

■ 9. In § 622.43, the heading for 

paragraph (a)(5) and paragraph (a)(5)(iii) 

are revised to read as follows: 

§ 622.43 Closures. 

(a) * * * 

(5) South Atlantic gag, black grouper, 

red grouper, greater amberjack, snowy 

grouper, golden tilefish, vermilion 

snapper, black sea bass, and red porgy. 

* * * * * 

(iii) For gag and for gag, black 

grouper, and red grouper, combined, 

when the appropriate commercial quota 

is reached, the provisions of paragraphs 

(a)(5)(i) and (ii) of this section apply to 

gag and all other SASWG. 

* * * * * 

■ 10. In § 622.44, paragraph (c)(3) is 

revised to read as follows: 

§ 622.44 Commercial trip limits. 

* * * * * 

(c) * * * 

(3) Snowy grouper. Until the quota 

specified in § 622.42(e)(1) is reached— 

100 lb (45 kg). See § 622.43(a)(5) for the 

limitations regarding snowy grouper 

after the fishing year quota is reached. 

* * * * * 

■ 11. In § 622.48, paragraph (f) is 

revised to read as follows: 

§ 622.48 Adjustment of management 

measures. 

* * * * * 

(f) South Atlantic snapper-grouper 

and wreckfish. Biomass levels, agestructured analyses, target dates for 

rebuilding overfished species, MSY, 

ABC, TAC, quotas, annual catch limits 

(ACLs), target catch levels, 

accountability measures (AMs), trip 

limits, bag limits, minimum sizes, gear 

restrictions (ranging from regulation to 

complete prohibition), seasonal or area 

closures, definitions of essential fish 

habitat, essential fish habitat, essential 

fish habitat HAPCs or Coral HAPCs, and 

restrictions on gear and fishing activities 

applicable in essential fish habitat and 

essential fish habitat HAPCs. 

* * * * * 

■ 12. In § 622.49, paragraph (b) is added 

to read as follows: 

§ 622.49 Accountability measures. 

* * * * * 

(b) South Atlantic snapper-grouper. 

(1) Golden tilefish—(i) Commercial 

fishery. If commercial landings, as 

estimated by the SRD, reach or are 

projected to reach the quota specified in 

§ 622.42(e)(2), the AA will file a 

notification with the Office of the 

Federal Register to close the commercial 

fishery for the remainder of the fishing 

year. 

(ii) Recreational fishery. If 

recreational landings, as estimated by 

the SRD, exceed the recreational annual 

catch limit (ACL) of 1,578 fish, the AA 

will file a notification with the Office of 

the Federal Register, at or near the 

beginning of the following fishing year, 

to reduce the length of the following 

recreational fishing season by the 

amount necessary to ensure recreational 

landings do not exceed the recreational 

ACL in the following fishing year. 

Recreational landings will be evaluated 

relative to the ACL as follows. For 2010, 

only 2010 recreational landings will be 

compared to the ACL; in 2011, the 

average of 2010 and 2011 recreational 

landings will be compared to the ACL; 

and in 2012 and subsequent fishing 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with RULES
82294 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 250 / Thursday, December 30, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 

years, the most recent 3-year running 

average recreational landings will be 

compared to the ACL. 

(2) Snowy grouper—(i) Commercial 

fishery. If commercial landings, as 

estimated by the SRD, reach or are 

projected to reach the quota specified in 

§ 622.42(e)(1), the AA will file a 

notification with the Office of the 

Federal Register to close the commercial 

fishery for the remainder of the fishing 

year. 

(ii) Recreational fishery. If 

recreational landings, as estimated by 

the SRD, exceed the recreational ACL of 

523 fish, the AA will file a notification 

with the Office of the Federal Register, 

at or near the beginning of the following 

fishing year, to reduce the length of the 

following recreational fishing season by 

the amount necessary to ensure 

recreational landings do not exceed the 

recreational ACL in the following 

fishing year. Recreational landings will 

be evaluated relative to the ACL as 

follows. For 2010, only 2010 

recreational landings will be compared 

to the ACL; in 2011, the average of 2010 

and 2011 recreational landings will be 

compared to the ACL; and in 2012 and 

subsequent fishing years, the most 

recent 3-year running average 

recreational landings will be compared 

to the ACL. 

(3) Gag—(i) Commercial fishery. If 

commercial landings, as estimated by 

the SRD, reach or are projected to reach 

the quota specified in § 622.42(e)(7), the 

AA will file a notification with the 

Office of the Federal Register to close 

the commercial fishery for gag and all 

other SASWG for the remainder of the 

fishing year. 

(ii) Recreational fishery. (A) If 

recreational landings, as estimated by 

the SRD, reach or are projected to reach 

the recreational ACL of 340,060 lb 

(154,249 kg), gutted weight, and gag are 

overfished, based on the most recent 

Status of U.S. Fisheries Report to 

Congress, the AA will file a notification 

with the Office of the Federal Register 

to close the gag recreational fishery for 

the remainder of the fishing year. On 

and after the effective date of such 

notification, the bag and possession 

limit for gag in or from the South 

Atlantic EEZ is zero. This bag and 

possession limit also applies in the 

South Atlantic on board a vessel for 

which a valid Federal charter vessel/ 

headboat permit for South Atlantic 

snapper-grouper has been issued, 

without regard to where such species 

were harvested, i.e., in State or Federal 

waters. 

(B) Without regard to overfished 

status, if gag recreational landings 

exceed the ACL, the AA will file a 

notification with the Office of the 

Federal Register, at or near the 

beginning of the following fishing year, 

to reduce the ACL for that fishing year 

by the amount of the overage. 

(C) Recreational landings will be 

evaluated relative to the ACL as follows. 

For 2010, only 2010 recreational 

landings will be compared to the ACL; 

in 2011, the average of 2010 and 2011 

recreational landings will be compared 

to the ACL; and in 2012 and subsequent 

fishing years, the most recent 3-year 

running average recreational landings 

will be compared to the ACL. 

(4) Gag, black grouper, and red 

grouper, combined—(i) Commercial 

fishery. If commercial landings, as 

estimated by the SRD, reach or are 

projected to reach the quota specified in 

§ 622.42(e)(8), the AA will file a 

notification with the Office of the 

Federal Register to close the commercial 

fishery for gag, black grouper, red 

grouper and all other SASWG for the 

remainder of the fishing year. 

(ii) Recreational fishery. (A) If 

recreational landings, as estimated by 

the SRD, reach or are projected to reach 

the combined recreational ACL of 

648,663 lb (294,229 kg), gutted weight, 

and gag, black grouper, or red grouper 

are overfished, based on the most recent 

Status of U.S. Fisheries Report to 

Congress, the AA will file a notification 

with the Office of the Federal Register 

to close the recreational fishery for gag, 

black grouper, and red grouper for the 

remainder of the fishing year. On and 

after the effective date of such 

notification, the bag and possession 

limit of gag, black grouper, and red 

grouper in or from the South Atlantic 

EEZ is zero. This bag and possession 

limit also applies in the South Atlantic 

on board a vessel for which a valid 

Federal charter vessel/headboat permit 

for South Atlantic snapper-grouper has 

been issued, without regard to where 

such species were harvested, i.e., in 

State or Federal waters. 

(B) Without regard to overfished 

status, if gag, black grouper, and red 

grouper recreational landings exceed the 

combined ACL, the AA will file a 

notification with the Office of the 

Federal Register, at or near the 

beginning of the following fishing year, 

to reduce the combined ACL for that 

fishing year by the amount of the 

overage. 

(C) Recreational landings will be 

evaluated relative to the ACL as follows. 

For 2010, only 2010 recreational 

landings will be compared to the ACL; 

in 2011, the average of 2010 and 2011 

recreational landings will be compared 

to the ACL; and in 2012 and subsequent 

fishing years, the most recent 3-year 

running average recreational landings 

will be compared to the ACL. 

(5) Black sea bass—(i) Commercial 

fishery. If commercial landings, as 

estimated by the SRD, reach or are 

projected to reach the quota specified in 

§ 622.42(e)(5), the AA will file a 

notification with the Office of the 

Federal Register to close the commercial 

fishery for the remainder of the fishing 

year. 

(ii) Recreational fishery. (A) If 

recreational landings, as estimated by 

the SRD, reach or are projected to reach 

the recreational ACL of 409,000 lb 

(185,519 kg), gutted weight, and black 

sea bass are overfished, based on the 

most recent Status of U.S. Fisheries 

Report to Congress, the AA will file a 

notification with the Office of the 

Federal Register to close the recreational 

fishery for black sea bass for the 

remainder of the fishing year. On and 

after the effective date of such 

notification, the bag and possession 

limit of black sea bass in or from the 

South Atlantic EEZ is zero. This bag and 

possession limit also applies in the 

South Atlantic on board a vessel for 

which a valid Federal charter vessel/ 

headboat permit for South Atlantic 

snapper-grouper has been issued, 

without regard to where such species 

were harvested, i.e., in State or Federal 

waters. 

(B) Without regard to overfished 

status, if black sea bass recreational 

landings exceed the ACL, the AA will 

file a notification with the Office of the 

Federal Register, at or near the 

beginning of the following fishing year, 

to reduce the ACL for that fishing year 

by the amount of the overage. 

(C) Recreational landings will be 

evaluated relative to the ACL as follows. 

For 2010, only 2010 recreational 

landings will be compared to the ACL; 

in 2011, the average of 2010 and 2011 

recreational landings will be compared 

to the ACL; and in 2012 and subsequent 

fishing years, the most recent 3-year 

running average recreational landings 

will be compared to the ACL. 

(6) Vermilion snapper—(i) 

Commercial fishery. If commercial 

landings, as estimated by the SRD, reach 

or are projected to reach a quota 

specified in § 622.42(e)(4)(i) or (ii), the 

AA will file a notification with the 

Office of the Federal Register to close 

the commercial fishery for that portion 

of the fishing year applicable to the 

respective quota. 

(ii) Recreational fishery. (A) If 

recreational landings, as estimated by 

the SRD, reach or are projected to reach 

the recreational ACL of 307,315 lb 

(139,396 kg), gutted weight, and 

vermilion snapper are overfished, based 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with RULES
Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 250 / Thursday, December 30, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 82295 

on the most recent Status of U.S. 

Fisheries Report to Congress, the AA 

will file a notification with the Office of 

the Federal Register to close the 

recreational fishery for vermilion 

snapper for the remainder of the fishing 

year. On and after the effective date of 

such notification, the bag and 

possession limit of vermilion snapper in 

or from the South Atlantic EEZ is zero. 

This bag and possession limit also 

applies in the South Atlantic on board 

a vessel for which a valid Federal 

charter vessel/headboat permit for 

South Atlantic snapper-grouper has 

been issued, without regard to where 

such species were harvested, i.e., in 

State or Federal waters. 

(B) Without regard to overfished 

status, if vermilion snapper recreational 

landings exceed the ACL, the AA will 

file a notification with the Office of the 

Federal Register, at or near the 

beginning of the following fishing year, 

to reduce the ACL for that fishing year 

by the amount of the overage. 

(C) Recreational landings will be 

evaluated relative to the ACL as follows. 

For 2010, only 2010 recreational 

landings will be compared to the ACL; 

in 2011, the average of 2010 and 2011 

recreational landings will be compared 

to the ACL; and in 2012 and subsequent 

fishing years, the most recent 3-year 

running average recreational landings 

will be compared to the ACL. 

[FR Doc. 2010–32831 Filed 12–29–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 0908191244–91427–02] 

RIN 0648–XA073 

Fisheries of the Northeastern United 

States; Summer Flounder Fishery; 

Quota Transfer 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; quota transfer. 

SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the 

State of North Carolina is transferring a 

portion of its 2010 commercial summer 

flounder quota to the Commonwealth of 

Virginia. In addition, the State of Maine 

is transferring a portion of its 2010 

commercial summer flounder quota to 

the State of Rhode Island. By this action, 

NMFS adjusts the quotas and announces 

the revised commercial quota for each 

state involved. 

DATES: Effective December 27, 2010, 

through December 31, 2010. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Sarah Heil, Fishery Management 

Specialist, 978–281–9257. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Regulations governing the summer 

flounder fishery are found at 50 CFR 

part 648. The regulations require annual 

specification of a commercial quota that 

is apportioned among the coastal states 

from North Carolina through Maine. The 

process to set the annual commercial 

quota and the percent allocated to each 

state are described in § 648.100. 

The final rule implementing 

Amendment 5 to the Summer Flounder, 

Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fishery 

Management Plan, which was published 

on December 17, 1993 (58 FR 65936), 

provided a mechanism for summer 

flounder quota to be transferred from 

one state to another. Two or more states, 

under mutual agreement and with the 

concurrence of the Administrator, 

Northeast Region, NMFS (Regional 

Administrator), can transfer or combine 

summer flounder commercial quota 

under § 648.100(d). The Regional 

Administrator is required to consider 

the criteria set forth in § 648.100(d)(3) in 

the evaluation of requests for quota 

transfers or combinations. 

North Carolina has agreed to transfer 

11,815 lb (5,359 kg) of its 2010 

commercial quota to Virginia. This 

transfer was prompted by summer 

flounder landings of two North Carolina 

vessels that were granted safe harbor in 

Virginia due to mechanical problems on 

November 19, 2010, and December 6, 

2010. In addition, Maine has agreed to 

transfer 6,000 lb (2,722 kg) of its 2010 

commercial quota to Rhode Island. The 

Regional Administrator has determined 

that the criteria set forth in 

§ 648.100(d)(3) have been met. The 

revised summer flounder quotas for 

calendar year 2010 are: North Carolina, 

3,358,231 lb (1,523,268 kg); Virginia, 

2,922,226 lb (1,325,499 kg); Maine, 126 

lb (57 kg); and Rhode Island, 2,025,915 

lb (918,940 kg). 

Classification 

This action is taken under 50 CFR 

part 648 and is exempt from review 

under Executive Order 12866. 

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

Dated: December 27, 2010. 

Emily H. Menashes, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2010–32947 Filed 12–27–10; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 100204079–0199–02] 

RIN 0648–XA084 

Fisheries of the Northeastern United 

States; Atlantic Bluefish Fishery; 

Quota Transfer 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; inseason quota 

transfer. 

SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the 

Commonwealth of Virginia is 

transferring commercial bluefish quota 

to the State of North Carolina from its 

2010 quota. By this action, NMFS 

adjusts the quotas and announces the 

revised commercial quotas for Virginia 

and North Carolina. 

DATES: Effective December 27, 2010 

through December 31, 2010. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Sarah Heil, Fishery Management 

Specialist, (978) 281–9257. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Regulations governing the Atlantic 

bluefish fishery are found at 50 CFR part 

648. The regulations require annual 

specification of a commercial quota that 

is apportioned among the coastal States 

from Florida through Maine. The 

process to set the annual commercial 

quota and the percent allocated to each 

State is described in § 648.160. 

Two or more States, under mutual 

agreement and with the concurrence of 

the Administrator, Northeast Region, 

NMFS (Regional Administrator), can 

transfer or combine bluefish commercial 

quota under § 648.160(f). The Regional 

Administrator is required to consider 

the criteria set forth in § 648.160(f)(1) in 

the evaluation of requests for quota 

transfers or combinations. 

Virginia has agreed to transfer 250,000 

lb (113,398 kg) of its 2010 commercial 

quota to North Carolina. The Regional 

Administrator has determined that the 

criteria set forth in § 648.160(f)(1) have 

been met. The revised bluefish quotas 

for calendar year 2010 are: Virginia, 

963,280 lb (436,937 kg); and North 

Carolina, 3,524,441 lb (1,528,860 kg). 

Classification 

This action is taken under 50 CFR 

part 648 and is exempt from review 

under Executive Order 12866. 

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


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with RULES