10450 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 44 / Monday, March 8, 2010 / Proposed Rules 

Dated: February 24, 2010. 

Al Armendariz, 

Regional Administrator, Region 6. 

[FR Doc. 2010–4832 Filed 3–5–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 100204079–0084–01] 

RIN 0648–XQ49 

Fisheries of the Northeastern United 

States; Atlantic Bluefish Fisheries; 

2010 Atlantic Bluefish Specifications 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Proposed rule; request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: NMFS proposes specifications 

for the 2010 Atlantic bluefish fishery, 

including State-by-State commercial 

quotas, a recreational harvest limit, and 

recreational possession limits for 

Atlantic bluefish off the east coast of the 

United States. The intent of these 

specifications is to establish the 

allowable 2010 harvest levels and 

possession limits to attain the target 

fishing mortality rate (F), consistent 

with the Atlantic Bluefish Fishery 

Management Plan (FMP). 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before March 23, 2010. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by 0648–XQ49, by any one of 

the following methods: 

• Electronic Submissions: Submit all 

electronic public comments via the 

Federal e-Rulemaking portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov, 

• Fax: (978) 281–9135, Attn: Regional 

Administrator. 

• Mail and Hand Delivery: Patricia A. 

Kurkul, Regional Administrator, NMFS, 

Northeast Regional Office, 55 Great 

Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930. 

Mark the outside of the envelope: 

‘‘Comments on 2010 Bluefish 

Specifications.’’ 

• Instructions: No comments will be 

posted for public viewing until after the 

comment period has closed. All 

comments received are a part of the 

public record and will generally be 

posted to http://www.regulations.gov 

without change. All Personal Identifying 

Information (for example, name, 

address, etc.) voluntarily submitted by 

the commenter may be publicly 

accessible. Do not submit Confidential 

Business Information or otherwise 

sensitive or protected information. 

NMFS will accept anonymous 

comments (enter N/A in the required 

fields, if you wish to remain 

anonymous). You may submit 

attachments to electronic comments in 

Microsoft Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or 

Adobe PDF file formats only. 

Copies of the specifications 

document, including the Environmental 

Assessment and Initial Regulatory 

Flexibility Analysis (EA/IRFA) and 

other supporting documents for the 

specifications, are available from Daniel 

Furlong, Executive Director, MidAtlantic Fishery Management Council, 

Room 2115, Federal Building, 300 South 

Street, Dover, DE 19901–6790. The 

specifications document is also 

accessible via the Internet at http:// 

www.nero.noaa.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Sarah Heil, Fishery Management 

Specialist, (978) 281–99257. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The Atlantic bluefish fishery is 

managed cooperatively by the MidAtlantic Fishery Management Council 

(Council) and the Atlantic States Marine 

Fisheries Commission (Commission). 

The management unit for bluefish 

specified in the FMP is U.S. waters of 

the western Atlantic Ocean. Regulations 

implementing the FMP appear at 50 

CFR part 648, subparts A and J. 

Regulations requiring annual 

specifications are found at § 648.160. 

The FMP requires the Council to 

recommend, on an annual basis, a total 

allowable catch (TAC) and total 

allowable landings (TAL) that will 

control fishing mortality. An estimate of 

annual discards is deducted from the 

TAC to calculate the TAL that can be 

made during the year by the commercial 

and recreational fishing sectors 

combined. The TAL is composed of a 

commercial quota (allocated to the 

States from Maine to Florida in 

specified shares) and a coastwide 

recreational harvest limit (RHL). A 

research set-aside (RSA) quota is 

deducted from the bluefish TAL (after 

any applicable transfer) in an amount 

proportional to the percentage of the 

overall TAL as allocated to the 

commercial and recreational sectors. 

The annual review process for 

bluefish requires that the Council’s 

Bluefish Monitoring Committee 

(Monitoring Committee) and Scientific 

and Statistical Committee (SSC) review 

and make recommendations based on 

the best available data, including, but 

not limited to, commercial and 

recreational catch/landing statistics, 

current estimates of fishing mortality, 

stock abundance, discards for the 

recreational fishery, and juvenile 

recruitment. Based on the 

recommendations of the Monitoring 

Committee and SSC, the Council makes 

a recommendation to the Northeast 

Regional Administrator (RA). Because 

this FMP is a joint plan, the 

Commission also meets during the 

annual specification process to adopt 

complementary measures. 

The Council’s recommendations must 

include supporting documentation 

concerning the environmental, 

economic, and social impacts of the 

recommendations. NMFS is responsible 

for reviewing these recommendations to 

assure they achieve the FMP objectives, 

and may modify them if they do not. 

NMFS then publishes proposed 

specifications in the Federal Register. 

After considering public comment, 

NMFS will publish final specifications 

in the Federal Register. 

In July 2009, the Monitoring 

Committee and SSC met to discuss the 

updated estimates of bluefish stock 

biomass and project fishery yields for 

2010. In August 2009, the Council 

approved the Monitoring Committee 

and SSC’s recommendations, and the 

Commission’s Bluefish Board (Board) 

adopted complementary management 

measures. 

Proposed Specifications 

Updated Model Estimates 

According to Amendment 1 to the 

FMP (Amendment 1), overfishing for 

bluefish occurs when F exceeds the 

fishing mortality rate that allows 

maximum sustainable yield (FMSY), or 

the maximum F threshold to be 

achieved. The stock is considered 

overfished if the biomass (B) falls below 

the minimum biomass threshold, which 

is defined as 1⁄2 BMSY. Amendment 1 

also established that the long-term target 

F is 90 percent of FMSY (FMSY = 0.19, 

therefore Ftarget = 90 percent of FMSY = 

0.17), and the long-term target B is BMSY

= 324 million lb (146,964 mt). 

An age-structured assessment 

program (ASAP) model for bluefish was 

approved by the 41st Stock Assessment 

Review Committee (SARC 41) in 2005 to 

estimate F and annual biomass. In June 

2009, the ASAP model was updated in 

order to estimate the current status of 

the bluefish stock (i.e., 2008 biomass 

and F estimates) and enable the 

Monitoring Committee and SSC to 

recommend 2010 specifications using 

landings information and survey indices 


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through the 2008 fishing year. The 

results of the assessment update were as 

follows: (1) An estimated stock biomass 

for 2008, B2008 = 360.957 million lb 

(163,727 mt); and (2) projected yields 

for 2010 using Ftarget = F2008 = 0.12. 

Based on the updated 2008 estimate of 

bluefish stock biomass, the bluefish 

stock is not considered overfished: B2008

= 360.957 million lb (163,727 mt) is 

greater than the minimum biomass 

threshold, 2 BMSY = 162 million lb 

(73,526 mt), and is actually above BMSY. 

Biomass has been above the target since 

2007, and the stock was declared rebuilt 

in 2009, satisfying the rebuilding 

program requirement to achieve 

rebuilding by 2010 that was established 

in Amendment 1. Estimates of F have 

declined from 0.41 in 1991 to 0.12 in 

2008. The updated model results also 

conclude that the Atlantic bluefish stock 

is not experiencing overfishing; i.e., the 

most recent F (F2008 = 0.12) is less than 

the maximum F overfishing threshold 

specified by SARC 41 (FMSY = 0.19). 

2010 TAL 

During the rebuilding period, the 

Council was required to set a TAC 

consistent with the prescribed F for a 

given phase in the rebuilding period, or 

the status quo F, whichever is less. 

According to Amendment 1, once the 

stock is recovered, the TAC could be set 

to achieve an Ftarget defined as 90 

percent of FMSY (0.19). An estimate of 

annual discards is deducted from the 

TAC to calculate the TAL that can be 

made during the fishing year by the 

commercial and recreational fishing 

sector combined. The TAL is composed 

of a commercial quota and a RHL. 

At its July 2009 meeting, the SSC 

noted that sparse age composition data, 

the lack of sampling by fishery 

independent trawl and seine surveys, 

and the uncertainty behind recreational 

catch estimates were sources of 

scientific uncertainty associated with 

the bluefish stock assessment. The 

Monitoring Committee and SSC 

recommended a TAC for 2010 at a level 

consistent with the maximum allowable 

rebuilding fishing mortality rate (F = 

0.15), rather than increasing Ftarget to the 

FMP-prescribed level for a recovered 

stock (F = 0.17). The Council 

subsequently approved the Monitoring 

Committee and SSC’s recommendations 

at its August 2009 meeting. Therefore, 

the Council recommended a coastwide 

TAC of 34.376 million lb (15,593 mt) to 

achieve the target F (0.15) in 2010 and 

to ensure that the bluefish stock 

continues to remain above the long-term 

biomass target, BMSY. 

The proposed TAL for 2010 is derived 

by subtracting an estimate of discards of 

5.112 million lb (2,319 mt), the average 

discard level from 2006–2008, from the 

TAC. After subtracting estimated 

discards, the 2010 TAL would be 29.264 

million lb (13,274 mt), which is slightly 

less than the 2009 TAL of 29.356 

million lb (13,316 mt) due to an increase 

in discard estimates in recent years. 

Based strictly on the percentages 

specified in the FMP (17 percent 

commercial, 83 percent recreational), 

the commercial quota for 2010 would be 

4.975 million lb (2,257 mt) and the RHL 

would be 24.289 million lb (11,017 mt) 

in 2010. In addition, up to 3 percent of 

the TAL may be allocated as RSA quota. 

The discussion below describes the 

recommended allocation of TAL 

between the commercial and 

recreational sectors, and the 

proportional adjustments to account for 

the recommended bluefish RSA quota. 

Proposed Commercial Quota and 

Recreational Harvest Limit 

The FMP stipulates that, in any year 

in which 17 percent of the TAL is less 

than 10.500 million lb (4,763 mt), the 

commercial quota may be increased up 

to 10.500 million lb (4,763 mt) as long 

as the recreational fishery is not 

projected to land more than 83 percent 

of the TAL in the upcoming fishing 

year, and the combined projected 

recreational landings and commercial 

quota would not exceed the TAL. At the 

Monitoring Committee meeting in July 

2009, Council staff attempted to 

estimate projected recreational landings 

for the 2010 fishing year by using 

simple linear regression of the recent 

(2001–2008) temporal trends in 

recreational landings. However, at that 

time, only data through Wave 2 were 

available, and a reliable estimate of 2009 

catch could not be generated. Therefore, 

the Council postponed this type of 

projection until more landings data for 

the 2009 fishing year become available. 

Recreational landings for 2008 (18.9 

million lb, 8,573 mt) were applied to 

2010 for calculation of the RHL. As 

such, it is likely that a transfer of 5.387 

million lb to the commercial sector 

could be approved. This option 

represents the preferred alternative 

recommended by the Council in its 

specifications document. 

However, the Council also recognized 

that future updates of the recreational 

harvest projections could result in a 

different transfer amount to the 

commercial sector in the final 

specifications. NMFS’s Northeast 

Regional Office (NERO) staff is unable to 

update the recreational harvest 

projection at this time because although 

Marine Recreational Fisheries Statistics 

Survey (MRFSS) data through Wave 4 of 

2009 are available, Wave 5 estimates are 

delayed. When Wave 5 data become 

available, NERO staff will update the 

recreational harvest projection in the 

final rule for the 2010 bluefish 

specifications. Depending on the results 

of the Wave 5 estimates, the actual 

amount that could be transferred to the 

commercial sector could be higher or 

lower than the preferred option of 5.387 

million lb. 

RSA 

A request for research proposals for 

the 2010 Mid-Atlantic RSA Program was 

published on January 2, 2009 (74 FR 

72). For analysis of impacts for each 

TAL alternative, the maximum potential 

RSA amount of 3 percent of the TAL 

was used. Consistent with the allocation 

of the maximum bluefish RSA amount, 

the proposed commercial quota for 2010 

would be adjusted to 10.051 million lb 

(4,559 mt), and the proposed 2010 RHL 

would be adjusted to 18.355 million lb 

(8,326 mt). This proposed rule does not 

represent NOAA’s approval of any RSArelated grant award, which will be 

included in a subsequent action. 

Proposed Recreational Possession Limit 

The Council recommends, and NMFS 

proposes, to maintain the current 

recreational possession limit of up to 15 

fish per person to achieve the RHL. 

Proposed State Commercial Allocations 

The proposed State commercial 

allocations for the recommended 2010 

commercial quota are shown in Table 1, 

based on the percentages specified in 

the FMP. These quotas do not reflect 

any adjustments for quota overages that 

may have occurred in some States in 

2009. Any potential deductions for 

States that exceeded their quota in 2009 

will be accounted for in the final rule. 


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10452 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 44 / Monday, March 8, 2010 / Proposed Rules 

1Some of these vessels were also identified in the 

Northeast dealer data; therefore, double counting is 

possible. 

TABLE 1—PROPOSED BLUEFISH COMMERCIAL STATE-BY-STATE ALLOCATIONS FOR 2010 

[Including RSA deductions] 

State Percent share 

2010 

Council-proposed 

commercial quota 

(lb) 

2010 

Council-proposed 

commercial quota 

(kg) 

ME .............................................................................................................................. 0.6685 67,192 30,478 

NH .............................................................................................................................. 0.4145 41,662 18,898 

MA .............................................................................................................................. 6.7167 675,105 306,222 

RI ............................................................................................................................... 6.8081 684,292 310,390 

CT .............................................................................................................................. 1.2663 127,278 57,732 

NY .............................................................................................................................. 10.3851 1,043,821 473,469 

NJ ............................................................................................................................... 14.8162 1,489,197 675,488 

DE .............................................................................................................................. 1.8782 188,781 85,629 

MD ............................................................................................................................. 3.0018 301,715 136,856 

VA .............................................................................................................................. 11.8795 1,194,025 541,601 

NC .............................................................................................................................. 32.0608 3,222,476 1,461,691 

SC .............................................................................................................................. 0.0352 3,538 1,605 

GA .............................................................................................................................. 0.0095 955 433 

FL ............................................................................................................................... 10.0597 1,011,115 458,634 

Total .................................................................................................................... 100.0001 10,051,150 4,559,125 

Classification 

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

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act 

(Magnuson-Stevens Act), the NMFS 

Assistant Administrator has determined 

that this proposed rule is consistent 

with the Atlantic Bluefish FMP, other 

provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens 

Act, and other applicable law, subject to 

further consideration after public 

comment. 

This action is exempt from review 

under E.O. 12866. 

An initial regulatory flexibility 

analysis (IRFA) was prepared, as 

required by section 603 of the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA). The 

IRFA describes the economic impact 

this proposed rule, if adopted, would 

have on small entities. A description of 

the action, why it is being considered, 

and the legal basis for this action are 

contained at the beginning of this 

preamble and in the SUMMARY. A 

summary of the analysis follows. A copy 

of this analysis is available from the 

Council (see ADDRESSES). 

The total gross revenue for the 

individual vessels that would be 

directly regulated by this action is less 

than $4.0 million for commercial fishing 

and $6.5 million for recreational fishing 

activities. All vessels that would be 

impacted by this proposed rulemaking 

are therefore considered to be small 

entities and, thus, there would be no 

disproportionate impacts between large 

and small entities as a result of the 

proposed rule. The categories of small 

entities likely to be affected by this 

action include commercial and charter/ 

party vessel owners holding an active 

Federal permit for Atlantic bluefish, as 

well as owners of vessels that fish for 

Atlantic bluefish in State waters. 

The Council estimates that the 

proposed 2010 specifications could 

affect approximately 2,217 commercial 

vessels that actively participated 

(landed 1 lb (0.45 kg) or more) in the 

Atlantic bluefish fishery in 2008 (the 

last year for which there is complete 

data). The participants in the 

commercial sector were defined using 

two sets of data. First, the Northeast 

dealer reports were used to identify any 

vessel that reported bluefish landings 

during calendar year 2008. These dealer 

reports identified 624 vessels that 

landed bluefish in States from Maine to 

North Carolina. However, this database 

does not provide information about 

fishery participation in South Carolina, 

Georgia, or Florida. South Atlantic Trip 

Ticket reports were used to identify 908 

vessels 1 that landed bluefish in North 

Carolina and 685 vessels that landed 

bluefish on Florida’s east coast. Bluefish 

landings in South Carolina and Georgia 

were near zero in 2008, representing a 

negligible proportion of the total 

bluefish landings along the Atlantic 

Coast. In recent years, approximately 

2,063 party/charter vessels may have 

been active in the bluefish fishery and/ 

or have caught bluefish. 

There are no new reporting or 

recordkeeping requirements contained 

in any of the alternatives considered for 

this action. In addition, NMFS is not 

aware of any relevant Federal rules that 

may duplicate, overlap, or conflict with 

this proposed rule. 

The IRFA in the Draft EA analyzed 

three TAL alternatives (including a no 

action/status quo alternative) for 2010 

Atlantic bluefish fishery. All quota 

alternatives considered are based on 

various commercial harvest levels for 

bluefish (a low, medium, and high level 

of harvest). The Council approved a 

transfer of 5.387 million lb (2,444 mt) 

from the recreational sector to the 

commercial sector. For analysis of 

impacts of each TAL alternative, the 

maximum potential RSA quota of 3 

percent of the TAL was used. 

Alternative 1 (Council’s preferred) 

would implement a TAL of 29.264 

million lb (13,274 mt). Alternative 2 

would implement a TAL of 33.563 

million lb (15,224 mt). Alternative 3, the 

no action alternative, is considered to be 

synonymous with status quo 

management measures for 2010 since 

failure to specify any management 

measures (no action) would be in gross 

violation of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. 

Under Alternative 3, the TAL would be 

the same as the 2009 TAL, or 29.356 

million lb (13,316 mt). 

The proposed 2010 Atlantic bluefish 

specification alternatives for TAL are 

shown in Table 2, along with the 

resulting commercial quota and RHL 

after the applicable transfer described 

earlier in the preamble and after 

deduction of the RSA quota. Alternative 

1 (Council’s preferred) would allocate 

10.051 million lb (4,559 mt) to the 

commercial sector and 18.335 million lb 

(8,317 mt) to the recreational sector. 

Alternative 2 would result in the least 

restrictive commercial quota and would 

allocate 10.185 million lb (4,620 mt) to 

the commercial sector and 22.371 

million lb (10,147 mt) to the recreational 


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sector. Alternative 3 (status quo) would 

allocate 9.533 million lb (4,324 mt) to 

the commercial sector and 18.942 

million lb (8,592 mt) to the recreational 

sector. The commercial quota and RHL 

under Alternative 3 would be slightly 

different than those in 2009 due to 

differences in the RSA. 

TABLE 2—PROPOSED 2010 ATLANTIC BLUEFISH SPECIFICATION ALTERNATIVES FOR TAL, COMMERCIAL QUOTA, AND RHL 

[Million lb]. 

TAL Commercial quota RHL 

Alternative 1 ......................................... 29.264 (13,274 mt) ............................. 10.051 (4,559 mt) ............................... 18.335 (8,317 mt). 

Alternative 2 ......................................... 33.563 (15,224 mt) ............................. 10.185 (4,620 mt) ............................... 22.371 (10,147 mt). 

Alternative 3 ......................................... 29.356 (13,316 mt) ............................. 9.533 (4,324 mt) ................................. 18.942 (8,592 mt). 

Under Alternatives 1, 2, and 3, the 

2010 allowable commercial landings are 

68, 70, and 60 percent higher than the 

2008 commercial landings, respectively. 

While most States show similar 

directional changes in fishing 

opportunities as the overall change in 

fishing opportunity in 2010 compared to 

2008 landings, New York shows a 

reduction in fishing opportunity under 

all three alternatives compared to 2008 

commercial landings. New York had a 

bluefish quota overage for fishing year 

2008 in the amount of 34,149 lb (15,490 

kg). Because of this overage in 2008, 

New York shows a reduction in bluefish 

landings in 2010 for each alternative. 

Under Alternative 1, the 

recommended commercial quota is 

approximately 4 percent higher than the 

2009 commercial quota. Based on 

available data, approximately 32 percent 

of the TAL was not harvested during the 

2009 fishing year. Only one State, New 

York, fully harvested its initial bluefish 

quota and received allocation transfers 

from other States in 2009. Five 

additional States—Massachusetts, 

Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, 

and North Carolina—harvested more 

than 50 percent of their bluefish quotas, 

while the remaining States only 

harvested between 0 and 40 percent of 

their allocations. Given these recent 

trends in landings, it is unlikely that the 

proposed TAL will be fully harvested in 

2010, resulting in no overall coastwide 

economic impacts on the bluefish 

fishery. The economic impacts of the 

preferred alternative are therefore likely 

to be neutral or positive relative to the 

status quo and other alternatives. For 

States that did not harvest their quotas 

in 2009, the proposed 2010 quotas are 

also not expected to result in any 

detrimental impacts. For States that 

exceeded their initial quota allocations 

in 2009, but received quota transfers 

from other States, the apparent 

economic losses would likely be 

mitigated by quota transfers during 

2010, therefore resulting in no overall 

impacts. 

To assess the impact of the 

alternatives on commercial fisheries, the 

Council conducted a threshold analysis 

and analysis of potential changes in exvessel gross revenue that would result 

from each alternative using Northeast 

dealer reports and South Atlantic Trip 

Ticket reports. The analysis projected 

that there would be no revenue change 

for 493 vessels, while 124 vessels could 

incur slight revenue losses of less than 

5 percent. Approximately 9 vessels 

could incur revenue losses of more than 

5 percent. The majority of these vessels 

have home ports in New York. Of the 9 

vessels that may experience revenue 

losses of more than 5 percent, 56 

percent had gross sales of $1,000 or less, 

and 89 percent had gross sales of 

$10,000 or less, indicating that 

dependence on income from fishing for 

some of these vessels is very small. The 

analysis of Alternative 1 on commercial 

vessels in the South Atlantic concluded 

that there would be no loss of revenue 

for vessels that land bluefish in North 

Carolina or Florida. 

The analysis of Alternative 2, which 

includes a 5-percent increase in the 

commercial quota from 2009, concluded 

that there would be no revenue change 

for 493 vessels, while 126 vessels could 

incur slight revenue losses of less than 

5 percent. Approximately 7 vessels 

could incur revenue losses of between 5 

percent and 19 percent. Most of the 

vessels projected to incur revenue losses 

of greater than 5 percent had home ports 

in New York. The analysis of impacts of 

Alternative 2 on commercial vessels in 

the South Atlantic concluded that no 

revenue reduction would be expected 

for vessels that land bluefish in North 

Carolina or Florida. 

The analysis of Alternative 3 

concluded that there would be no 

change in revenue for 493 vessels, while 

121 vessels could incur slight revenue 

losses of less than 5 percent. 

Approximately 12 vessels could incur 

revenue losses of between 5 percent and 

29 percent. The analysis of impacts of 

Alternative 3 on commercial vessels in 

the South Atlantic concluded that no 

revenue reduction would be expected 

for vessels that land bluefish in North 

Carolina or Florida. 

For Alternative 1, the recommended 

RHL for the recreational sector (18.335 

million lb, 8,317 mt) is approximately 3 

percent below the recreational landings 

for 2008 and projected 2010 landings 

(18.9 million lb, 8,573 mt) and 6 percent 

below the RHL implemented for 2009 

(19.528 million lb, 8,858 mt). There is 

very little empirical evidence regarding 

the sensitivity of charter/party anglers to 

regulation. If the proposed measures 

discourages trip-taking behavior among 

some of the affected anglers, the 

demand for party/charter boat trips may 

be slightly negatively impacted. If the 

proposed measures do not have a 

negative impact on the value or 

satisfaction the affected anglers derive 

from their fishing trips, party/charter 

revenues would remain unaffected. The 

IRFA analyzed the maximum transfer 

amount from the recreational sector to 

the commercial sector, but future 

updates of recreational harvest 

projections could result in a different 

transfer amount. 

Analysis of Alternative 2 on the 

recreational sector concluded that the 

RHL for 2010 would be 18 percent 

above recreational landings in 2008 and 

projected 2010 landings. Because the 

RHL would be above the projected 

recreational landings for 2010, 

Alternative 2 would not be expected to 

have negative effects on recreational 

fishermen or affect demand for party/ 

charter boat trips. 

Analysis of the impacts of Alternative 

3, which includes a RHL less than 1 

percent above recreational landings in 

2008 and projected 2010 landings, 

would not be expected to have any 

negative effects on recreational 

fishermen or affect the demand for 

party/charter boat trips. Analysis of 

Alternative 3 concluded that this 

alternative would not be expected to 

affect angler satisfaction and would be 

expected to result in recreational 

landings close to the RHL. 

The IRFA also analyzed the impacts 

on revenues of the maximum RSA 

amount (3 percent of the TAL) and 

found that the social and economic 

impacts are minimal. Assuming that the 


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full RSA quota of 878,000 lb (398 mt) is 

landed and sold to support the proposed 

research project (a supplemental finfish 

survey in the Mid-Atlantic), then all of 

the participants in the fishery would 

benefit from the anticipated 

improvements in the data underlying 

the stock assessments. Because the 

recommended overall commercial quota 

is higher than 2008 landings, no overall 

negative impacts are expected in the 

commercial sector. Based on recent 

trends in the recreational fishery, 

recreational landings will more than 

likely remain below the recommended 

harvest level in 2009. 

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

Dated: March 1, 2010. 

Eric C. Schwaab, 

Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2010–4681 Filed 3–5–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with PROPOSALS