15916 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 52 / Friday, March 16, 2012 / Rules and Regulations 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 622 

[Docket No. 100812345–2142–03] 

RIN 0648–AY73 

Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of 

Mexico, and South Atlantic; 

Comprehensive Annual Catch Limit 

Amendment for the South Atlantic 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Department of Commerce. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: NMFS issues this final rule to 

implement the Comprehensive Annual 

Catch Limit Amendment 

(Comprehensive ACL Amendment) to 

the Fishery Management Plans (FMPs) 

for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the 

South Atlantic Region (SnapperGrouper FMP), the Golden Crab Fishery 

of the South Atlantic Region (Golden 

Crab FMP), the Dolphin and Wahoo 

Fishery off the Atlantic States (Dolphin 

and Wahoo FMP), and the Pelagic 

Sargassum Habitat of the South Atlantic 

Region (Sargassum FMP) as prepared 

and submitted by the South Atlantic 

Fishery Management Council (Council). 

This final rule specifies annual catch 

limits (ACLs) and accountability 

measures (AMs) for species in the 

Snapper-Grouper, Dolphin and Wahoo, 

and Golden Crab FMPs. This final rule 

also describes the current terminology 

and measures in place in the Sargassum 

FMP that are equivalent to ACLs and 

AMs. For Sargassum, this final rule 

does not specifically set an ACL because 

there is currently a commercial quota in 

place which functions as an ACL, and 

there are commercial closure provisions 

in the event the quota is met or 

projected to be met which functions as 

an AM. To implement the SnapperGrouper FMP, this final rule revises the 

snapper-grouper fishery management 

unit (FMU), including the removal of 

some species, designation of ecosystem 

component (EC) species, and the 

development of species groups. This 

final rule also establishes a daily vessel 

limit for the recreational possession of 

wreckfish and creates a closed season 

for the wreckfish recreational sector. To 

implement the Dolphin and Wahoo 

FMP, this final rule prohibits 

recreational bag limit sales of dolphin 

from for-hire vessels, and sets a 

minimum size limit for dolphin off 

South Carolina that complements the 

existing minimum size limit off Georgia 

and Florida. The intent of this final rule 

is to specify ACLs for species not 

undergoing overfishing while 

maintaining catch levels consistent with 

achieving optimum yield (OY) for the 

resource. 

DATES: This rule is effective April 16, 

2012. 

ADDRESSES: Electronic copies of the 

Comprehensive ACL Amendment, 

which includes a final environmental 

impact statement (FEIS), a regulatory 

flexibility analysis, and a regulatory 

impact review, may be obtained from 

the Southeast Regional Office Web site 

at http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/sf/pdfs/ 

Comp%20ACL%20Am%

20101411%20FINAL.pdf. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Nikhil Mehta, Southeast Regional 

Office, NMFS, telephone: 727–824– 

5305; email: nikhil.mehta@noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

fisheries for snapper-grouper, golden 

crab, dolphin and wahoo, and pelagic 

Sargassum habitat of the South Atlantic 

are managed under their respective 

FMPs. The FMPs were prepared by the 

Council and are implemented through 

regulations at 50 CFR part 622 under the 

authority of the Magnuson-Stevens 

Fishery Conservation and Management 

Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). 

On October, 20, 2011, NMFS 

published a notice of availability for the 

Comprehensive ACL Amendment and 

requested public comment (76 FR 

65153). On December 1, 2011, NMFS 

published a proposed rule for the 

Comprehensive ACL Amendment and 

requested public comment (76 FR 

74757). Additionally, on December 30, 

2011, NMFS published an amended 

proposed rule for the Comprehensive 

ACL Amendment specific to a revised 

allowable biological catch (ABC) and a 

corresponding reduction to the 

commercial and recreational sector 

ACLs for wreckfish and requested 

public comment (76 FR 82264). On 

January 18, 2012, the Secretary of 

Commerce approved the Comprehensive 

ACL Amendment. 

In the proposed rule that published 

on December 1, 2011 (76 FR 74757), the 

revised commercial quota for greater 

amberjack that was referenced in 

§ 622.49(b)(11)(i)(A) was inadvertently 

not revised in the commercial quota 

section in § 622.42(e)(3). Subsequent 

proposed and final rulemaking, that is 

currently being developed as described 

in the Comprehensive ACL 

Amendment, will incorporate the 

revised commercial quota for greater 

amberjack of 769,388 lb (348,989 kg), 

gutted weight. 

The proposed rules and the 

Comprehensive ACL Amendment 

outline the rationale for the actions 

contained in this final rule. A summary 

of the actions implemented by this final 

rule are provided below. 

Snapper-Grouper FMP 

This final rule identifies snappergrouper species that do not need Federal 

management and can therefore be 

removed from the Snapper-Grouper 

FMP; designates selected snappergrouper species as EC species; 

establishes species groups for selected 

snapper-grouper species for more 

effective management; establishes ACLs 

and AMs for the commercial and 

recreational sectors; establishes a daily 

vessel limit for the recreational 

possession of wreckfish and creates a 

closed season for the wreckfish 

recreational sector. 

Designation of Species To Be Removed 

From the FMP 

There are currently 73 species in the 

Snapper-Grouper FMP and the Council 

decided to remove 13 of these species 

based on Magnuson-Stevens Act 

National Standard 7 (NS 7) guidelines 

(50 CFR 600.340(b)(2)). This rule 

removes black margate, bluestriped 

grunt, crevalle jack, French grunt, grass 

porgy, porkfish, puddingwife, queen 

triggerfish, sheepshead, smallmouth 

grunt, Spanish grunt, tiger grouper, and 

yellow jack from the Snapper-Grouper 

FMP. 

Designation of Ecosystem Component 

Species in the FMP 

This rule designates six species as EC 

species based on an evaluation of the 

Magnuson-Stevens Act National 

Standard 1 (NS 1) Guidelines criteria to 

be considered when designating an EC 

species (50 CFR 600.310(d)(5)). This 

final rule designates bank sea bass, 

cottonwick, longspine porgy, ocean 

triggerfish, rock sea bass, and 

schoolmaster as EC species within the 

Snapper-Grouper FMP. The designation 

of these species as EC species retains 

them in the Snapper-Grouper FMP, but 

they are not required to have an ACL or 

AM (50 CFR 600.310 (c) and (d)). These 

EC species are also not subject to any 

other management actions within the 

Comprehensive ACL Amendment and 

are not subject to other Federal 

management measures such as 

recreational bag limits and size limits. 

Where those types of management 

measures are already in place, this final 

rule removes those applicable Federal 

regulations. Of the species to be 

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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 52 / Friday, March 16, 2012 / Rules and Regulations 15917 

designated as EC species, all are 

currently included in the aggregate 

snapper-grouper recreational bag limit 

and the schoolmaster has current size 

limit regulations. 

Species Groupings 

This final rule establishes species 

group or complex ACLs for selected 

snapper-grouper species within the 

Comprehensive ACL Amendment based 

on NS 1 Guidelines and as described in 

the Comprehensive ACL Amendment. 

This final rule revises the current 

snapper-grouper species grouping, and 

places selected snapper-grouper species 

into the complexes for: Deep-water 

species (yellowedge grouper, blueline 

tilefish, silk snapper, misty grouper, 

sand tilefish, queen snapper, black 

snapper, and blackfin snapper); 

shallow-water groupers (red hind, rock 

hind, yellowmouth grouper, yellowfin 

grouper, coney, and graysby); snappers 

(gray snapper, lane snapper, cubera 

snapper, dog snapper, and mahogany 

snapper), jacks (almaco jack, banded 

rudderfish, and lesser amberjack), 

grunts (white grunt, sailors choice, 

tomtate, and margate), and porgies 

(jolthead porgy, knobbed porgy, 

saucereye porgy, scup, and whitebone 

porgy). An ACL and AM is specified for 

each complex. Heavily targeted stocks, 

stocks with assessments, stocks with 

fishery closures where the ACL equals 

zero, or stocks that did not fall into any 

complex grouping will be managed 

under individual ACLs. Species not 

included in species groups but for 

which individual ACLs will be 

established are black grouper, 

wreckfish, Atlantic spadefish, greater 

amberjack, scamp, red porgy 

(recreational sector only), hogfish, 

yellowtail snapper, blue runner, bar 

jack, gray triggerfish, and mutton 

snapper. 

ACLs 

This final rule assigns initial ACLs for 

each of the species or species groups or 

complexes retained for Federal 

management in the Comprehensive ACL 

Amendment, excluding EC species. For 

selected snapper-grouper species or 

species groups that will have an ACL 

established through this final rule, the 

ACL is equal to both the OY and the 

allowable biological catch (ABC). 

This final rule specifies an ACL for 

species in both the commercial and 

recreational sectors, except for red 

porgy. For red porgy, this final rule 

establishes an ACL for red porgy for the 

recreational sector only because a 

commercial quota is already in place for 

red porgy and functions as the 

equivalent of a commercial ACL. 

For wreckfish specifically, a 

commercial quota is in place and is 

reduced through this final rule. The 

wreckfish commercial ACL established 

through this final rule will be equal to 

the revised commercial quota of 223,250 

lb (101,264 kg), round weight. This final 

rule also establishes an ACL for the 

wreckfish recreational sector of 11,750 

lb (5,330 kg), round weight. The 

wreckfish ACLs initially proposed in 

the rule that published on December 1, 

2011 (76 FR 74757) were later proposed 

to be revised based on the November 

2011 recommendation of the Council’s 

Scientific and Statistical Committee 

(SSC) and the Council’s concurrence of 

that recommended action. The revised 

sector ACLs for wreckfish were 

announced through an amended 

proposed rule published in the Federal 

Register on December 30, 2011 (76 FR 

82264). 

AMs 

This final rule implements AMs for 

the commercial sector, excluding 

wreckfish. If the commercial ACL for a 

species or species group is exceeded 

during a fishing year, then the sector 

would be closed for the remainder of 

that fishing year for that specific species 

or species group. If the ACL for a 

species group is exceeded, all species 

contained within that group would be 

subject to their respective group AM. If 

a species, or at least a single member of 

a species group is designated as 

overfished, and the commercial ACL is 

exceeded, then during the following 

fishing year, the commercial sector ACL 

would be reduced by the amount of the 

commercial ACL overage in the prior 

fishing year. For red porgy, the 

commercial quota closure provisions 

function as the equivalent to an AM in 

the event that the red porgy commercial 

quota is exceeded in a fishing year. 

The wreckfish commercial sector is 

managed under the individual 

transferrable quota (ITQ) program and 

this final rule will make the ITQ 

program itself the AM for the 

commercial sector because commercial 

landings are closely monitored and ITQ 

participants are limited to their specific 

ITQ allocation each fishing year. 

For the recreational sector AMs, if the 

recreational ACL is exceeded for a 

species or species group in a fishing 

year, then during the next fishing year 

the NMFS Regional Administrator (RA) 

will monitor the recreational landings 

for a persistence in increased landings, 

and using the best scientific information 

available, will reduce the length of the 

recreational fishing season as necessary 

to ensure the recreational landings do 

not exceed the recreational ACL. 

Wreckfish Management Measures 

This final rule implements a one 

wreckfish per vessel daily recreational 

possession limit and a recreational 

wreckfish closed season of January 1 

through June 30, and September 1 

through December 31, each year. 

Dolphin and Wahoo FMP 

This final rule specifies ACLs and 

AMs for dolphin and wahoo. This final 

rule also prohibits recreational bag limit 

sales of dolphin harvested from for-hire 

vessels, and sets a minimum size limit 

for dolphin off South Carolina equal to 

the established minimum size limit off 

Georgia and Florida. 

ACLs 

This final rule establishes ACLs for 

dolphin and wahoo. For the ACLs 

established through this final rule, the 

ACL is equal to both the OY and the 

ABC. ACLs are specified for species in 

both the commercial and recreational 

sectors. 

AMs 

For the commercial sector, if the 

commercial ACL is exceeded during a 

fishing year, then the commercial sector 

would be closed for the remainder of 

that fishing year for that species. If a 

species is designated as overfished, and 

the commercial ACL is exceeded, then 

during the following fishing year, the 

commercial sector ACL would be 

reduced by the amount of the 

commercial ACL overage from the prior 

fishing year. 

For the recreational sector, if the 

recreational ACL is exceeded for a 

species in a fishing year, then during the 

next fishing year the RA will monitor 

the recreational landings for a 

persistence in increased landings, and 

using the best scientific information 

available, reduce the length of the 

recreational fishing season as necessary 

to ensure the recreational landings do 

not exceed the recreational ACL. 

Dolphin Bag Limit Sales 

This final rule prohibits recreational 

bag limit sales of dolphin harvested by 

persons while onboard for-hire vessels. 

This prohibition ensures that the 

Federal regulations are fair and 

equitable by making sure that fish 

harvested by the recreational sector are 

not counted toward commercial quotas 

through submitted dealer reports and 

that total landings data are accurate. 

Accordingly, this final rule prohibits the 

sale of dolphin harvested or possessed 

under the bag limit by a vessel for 

which a Federal charter vessel/headboat 

permit for Atlantic dolphin and wahoo 

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15918 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 52 / Friday, March 16, 2012 / Rules and Regulations 

has been issued in the Atlantic 

exclusive economic zone (EEZ). 

Dolphin Minimum Size Limit 

This final rule establishes a minimum 

size limit for dolphin of 20 inches (50.8 

cm) fork length to include the Federal 

waters off South Carolina. Currently, the 

dolphin minimum size limit is 20 

inches (50.8 cm) fork length, for the 

Federal waters off Florida and Georgia. 

This final rule extends the applicability 

of that size limit from Florida through 

South Carolina to ensure consistency in 

the regulations as well as help prevent 

the large scale harvest of very small 

dolphin. 

Golden Crab FMP 

This final rule specifies an ACL and 

an AM for golden crab. 

ACLs 

This rule assigns an initial ACL for 

golden crab. The ACL is only specified 

for the commercial sector of the golden 

crab fishery as no recreational sector 

within the golden crab fishery exists 

and there are no identified golden crab 

recreational fishers. Therefore, a 

recreational ACL will not be established 

through this final rule. 

AMs 

If the golden crab commercial sector 

exceeds the ACL during a fishing year, 

then the sector would be closed for the 

remainder of that fishing year. If, at a 

later date golden crab were to be 

designated as overfished, and the 

commercial ACL was exceeded, then 

during the following fishing year, the 

sector ACL would be reduced by the 

amount of the commercial ACL overage 

from the prior fishing year. 

Measures Contained in This Final Rule 

That Are Not in the Comprehensive ACL 

Amendment 

This final rule revises the boundary 

coordinates for the harvest prohibition 

for pelagic Sargassum in the South 

Atlantic EEZ. The current northern 

boundary for this harvest prohibition 

defined at 50 CFR 622.35(g)(1)(i) is 

approximately 2 nautical miles (3.7 km) 

north of the intercouncil boundary 

between the Mid-Atlantic Fishery 

Management Council and the South 

Atlantic Council as defined at 50 CFR 

600.105. The Sargassum FMP specifies 

that the northern boundary for 

management of Sargassum in the South 

Atlantic EEZ is the Virginia/North 

Carolina boundary, which is the 

boundary between the Mid-Atlantic and 

South Atlantic Councils. Therefore, this 

final rule specifies the latitude for the 

northern boundary of the management 

area for Sargassum, which is the 

boundary between the Mid-Atlantic and 

South Atlantic Councils. 

Comments and Responses 

A total of 91 comments were received 

on the Comprehensive ACL 

Amendment, the proposed rule, and the 

amended proposed rule. Comments 

were received from individuals, 

environmental organizations, 

recreational fishing associations, and a 

Federal agency. Additionally, a minority 

report was submitted by five members 

of the Council. One Federal agency 

submitted comments on the 

Comprehensive ACL Amendment. Of 

the 91 comments received, 12 contained 

remarks on the potential economic 

impacts of the Comprehensive ACL 

Amendment, specifically related to the 

actions implementing management 

measures for dolphin. Comments related 

to the actions contained in the 

Comprehensive ACL Amendment, the 

two proposed rules, and NMFS’s 

respective responses are summarized 

and responded to below. 

Comment 1: Several commenters 

supported the removal of 13 species 

from the snapper-grouper FMU. One 

commenter recommended this action be 

disapproved, and states that with the 

exception of the 3 species covered 

under the Florida Marine Life Species 

Rule (porkfish, puddingwife, and queen 

triggerfish), 10 of the 13 species (black 

margate, bluestriped grunt, crevalle jack, 

French grunt, grass porgy, sheepshead, 

smallmouth grunt, Spanish grunt, tiger 

grouper, and yellow jack), are either 

considered ‘‘likely to become subject to 

overfishing or overfished’’, have average 

landings in excess of 35,000 lb (15,876 

kg) per year, or remain unregulated in 

Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. 

Response: The Magnuson-Stevens Act 

National Standard 7 (NS 7) Guidelines 

state that the principle implicit in NS 7 

is that not every fishery needs 

regulation. The Magnuson-Stevens Act 

requires fishery management councils to 

prepare FMPs only for overfished 

fisheries and for other fisheries where 

regulation would serve some useful 

purpose; and where the present or 

future benefits of regulation would 

justify the costs. Decisions about the 

composition of FMUs are an integral 

part of the plan development process, as 

FMUs define the specific species that 

are to be the target of Federal 

conservation and management. 

Magnuson-Stevens Act guidelines 

specify that FMUs may be organized 

around biological, geographic, 

economic, technical, social, or 

ecological goals (50 CFR 600.320(d)(1)). 

Of the 13 species proposed for removal 

from the FMU, 10 species (black 

margate, bluestriped grunt, crevalle jack, 

French grunt, grass porgy, porkfish, 

puddingwife, sheepshead, Spanish 

grunt, and yellow jack) have over 95 

percent of their landings reported in 

state waters. Therefore, these species 

could be, or are already adequately 

managed by the states. Three of these 

species (porkfish, puddingwife, and 

queen triggerfish) are managed by 

Florida in their state waters under the 

Florida Marine Life Species Rule, which 

contains more stringent protections for 

the species than current Federal 

regulations. In addition, two species 

(tiger grouper and smallmouth grunt) 

identified for removal through this final 

rule had no reported commercial or 

recreational landings in Federal waters 

from 2005 to 2009. Therefore, any 

conservation and management measures 

applied to Federal waters are not 

expected to have a noticeable effect on 

the population of the 13 species 

identified for removal from the FMU. 

Furthermore, effects on bycatch would 

be minimal, and the socio-economic 

benefits associated with retaining 

management of the 13 snapper-grouper 

species would be relatively small. 

Removal of these 13 species should 

not affect state regulations for these 

species, with the exception of South 

Carolina. In South Carolina, for all 

species in the snapper-grouper FMU, 

regulations in state waters (http:// 

www.dnr.sc.gov/regulations.html) are 

currently structured to be compatible 

with the regulations in Federal waters. 

Therefore, any species that is no longer 

subject to Federal regulations would not 

be subject to state regulations in South 

Carolina waters, unless the state acted to 

establish such regulations. However, 

only two of the species identified for 

removal (sheepshead and crevalle jack) 

are harvested from South Carolina state 

waters. Additionally, while state 

compatibility with Federal regulations 

is often desirable from a management 

standpoint, managing state fisheries is 

not and was never an intended goal of 

the Snapper-Grouper FMP. The intent of 

the FMP is to manage snapper-grouper 

species within its ‘‘area of authority,’’ 

which includes Federal waters from the 

North Carolina/Virginia border through 

the Atlantic side of the Florida Keys. 

The Council intends to evaluate 

landings in state and Federal waters and 

other available information on species 

removed from the snapper-grouper FMU 

every 5 years, or sooner if necessary. 

Monitoring and data collection will 

continue for all species that are sold to 

dealers or caught recreationally, even if 

not in the FMU. If the Council 

determines that a removed species is in 

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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 52 / Friday, March 16, 2012 / Rules and Regulations 15919 

need of Federal management, the 

species could be added back into the 

Snapper-Grouper FMP in the future. 

Comment 2: NMFS and the Council 

should include criteria in addition to 

landings information such as species 

vulnerability, species misidentification 

issues, and species distribution to 

determine which species should be 

included or removed from the snappergrouper FMU. NMFS and the Council 

should monitor and compare landings 

proportions of removed species in state 

and Federal waters. 

Response: The Council and NMFS 

used the Magnuson-Stevens Act 

National Standards guidelines to inform 

this decision. National Standard 3 

discusses the composition of an FMU 

and states that it may be organized 

around biological, geographic, 

economic, technical, social, or 

ecological goals (50 CFR 600.320(d)(1)). 

Moreover, NS 7 guidelines discuss 

seven factors to be used for determining 

whether to include species in an FMU 

for purposes of Federal conservation 

and management (50 CFR 600.340(b)(2). 

These factors include the importance of 

the fishery to the Nation and the 

regional economy, the condition of the 

stock, whether an FMP can improve or 

maintain that condition, the extent to 

which the fishery could be or already is 

adequately managed by states, the need 

to resolve competing interests and 

whether an FMP can further that 

resolution, the economic conditions of 

the fishery and whether an FMP can 

produce a more efficient utilization, the 

needs of a developing fishery and 

whether an FMP can foster the orderly 

growth, and the costs associated with 

the FMP balanced against benefits. 

Using all of this information, the 

Council evaluated and analyzed 

whether all 73 species originally 

included in the snapper-grouper FMU 

were in need of Federal conservation 

and management. The Council 

concluded, and NMFS agrees, that 

Federal conservation and management 

is not needed for 13 species, and 

removed them from the FMP. 

Monitoring and data collection will 

continue for all species that are sold to 

dealers or caught recreationally, 

regardless of whether or not they are in 

the snapper-grouper FMU. If the 

Council determines that a removed 

species is in need of Federal 

management, the species could be 

added back into the snapper-grouper 

FMU in the future. 

Comment 3: Several commenters 

supported the designation of six species 

in the snapper-grouper FMU 

(cottonwick, longspine porgy, bank sea 

bass, rock sea bass, ocean triggerfish, 

and schoolmaster), as EC species. One 

commenter recommended that the EC 

designation of bank sea bass be 

disapproved, due to the findings of a 

recent study for this species. 

Additionally, close monitoring of the 

other five designated EC species was 

recommended. 

Response: The Council determined, 

and NMFS agrees that six species 

(cottonwick, longspine porgy, bank sea 

bass, rock sea bass, ocean triggerfish, 

and schoolmaster) currently contained 

in the snapper-grouper FMU most 

closely meet the criteria in the NS 1 

Guidelines pertaining to EC species 

designation. An ‘‘exploratory 

assessment’’ conducted by some college 

students indicated the bank sea bass 

stock was overfished and undergoing 

overfishing, however, this ‘‘exploratory 

assessment’’ has not been peer-reviewed 

and the document states that all work in 

the report is considered to be 

preliminary (NOAA Technical 

Memorandum NMFS–SEFSC–167). As 

in the action to remove species from the 

Snapper-Grouper FMP, ongoing 

monitoring and data collection will 

continue for all species that are sold to 

dealers or caught recreationally, 

including those considered to be EC 

species. The EC status of a species may 

be reconsidered if new information 

becomes available and the Council 

determines a species is in need of 

Federal management and conservation. 

Comment 4: Several commenters 

opposed the establishment of species 

groups, stating that fishing 

opportunities for many species could be 

lost due to one species of a group 

meeting the ACL. The treatment of all 

geographic areas as equal while 

establishing species groups is unfair, 

and dismisses scientific data that should 

be applied to the range of the species. 

The Marine Resources Monitoring 

Assessment and Prediction Program 

(MARMAP) data used in establishing 

species groups are based on small 

sample size and do not sample all areas 

such as South Florida and the Florida 

Keys. Furthermore, converting landings 

data from the Marine Recreational 

Fishing Statistical Survey (MRFSS) to 

the Marine Recreational Information 

Program (MRIP) will cause problems 

with accuracy. 

Response: Species groups were not 

specified for all species in the snappergrouper FMU. The approach for the 

establishment of species groups applied 

scientific data to the geographic range of 

species and included life history 

information, fishery-dependent data, 

and fishery-independent data. Data used 

in the establishment of species groups 

were not limited to those from 

MARMAP and MRFSS. Additionally, 

the analysis considered species 

distribution and therefore did not treat 

all geographic areas as equal. Identified 

associations between stocks, as 

described in Appendix O of the 

Comprehensive ACL Amendment, were 

used to develop 6 species groups for 

unassessed stocks and 12 individual 

ACLs for assessed and targeted species. 

The Council’s preferred alternative to 

establish species groups within the 

snapper-grouper FMU is consistent with 

the guidelines at 50 CFR 600.320(d)(1) 

for establishing stock complexes. 

The Council intends to evaluate 

landings and other available 

information on all species through stock 

assessment and fishery evaluation 

reports. Ongoing monitoring and data 

collection will continue for all species 

that are sold to dealers or caught 

recreationally, even if not included in 

complexes. If the Council determines 

that landings of any species within a 

species group have changed 

significantly, more appropriate species 

groupings may be established that 

reflect any changes in landings and the 

appropriateness of the organization of 

any specific species groups. 

Comment 5: One commenter 

recommends partially disapproving the 

Comprehensive ACL Amendment since 

it fails to provide clear status 

determination criteria for overfishing as 

required by the Magnuson-Stevens Act. 

The commenter advises that the 

maximum fishing mortality threshold 

(MFMT) or overfishing limit (OFL) for 

12 assessed snapper-grouper species be 

included in the amendment. Another 

commenter recommends that NMFS and 

the Council undertake a comprehensive 

review of OY and use the results from 

the analysis to modify the current OY 

definition of the Council. 

Response: Status determination 

criteria, including MFMT, have been 

specified in previous amendments for 

species addressed by the 

Comprehensive ACL Amendment. 

When available, OFL has been specified 

in Southeast Data Assessment and 

Review assessments, and is then 

incorporated into the FMP via 

amendments. One purpose of the 

Comprehensive ACL Amendment is to 

identify an ABC control rule that can be 

utilized by the Council’s SSC to 

determine and recommend an ABC to 

the Council. Another purpose is to 

specify ACLs and AMs to ensure 

overfishing does not occur for species 

not currently undergoing overfishing. 

The NS 1 Guidelines describe the 

relationship between catch levels (ACLs 

and annual catch targets (ACTs)) and 

OY. These guidelines were used to 

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modify the Council’s current OY 

definition for species addressed in this 

final rule where OY was set equal to 

ACL. The NS 1 Guidelines state that if 

OY is set close to the maximum 

sustainable yield (MSY), the 

conservation and management measures 

in the fishery must have very good 

control of the amount of catch in order 

to achieve the OY without overfishing. 

Many species in the Comprehensive 

ACL Amendment are data poor, and the 

value for MSY is currently unknown. By 

setting the OY equal to the ACL, which 

is the catch level that ensures 

overfishing does not occur, there will be 

a greater likelihood that OY can be 

achieved without overfishing occurring. 

Comment 6: Several commenters 

opposed the Council’s ABC control rule 

and recommended an ABC control rule 

where the ABC equals the ACL. Two 

commenters supported the ABC control 

rule, but recommended future 

incorporation of the recommendations 

developed by the Council’s SSC’s ‘‘only 

reliable catch series’’ (ORCS) working 

group. One commenter recommended 

that the ABC control rule be 

disapproved and revised to define clear 

criteria for evaluating stock status as 

part of the Council decisionmaking 

process. 

Response: The NS 1 Guidelines state 

that each fishery management council 

must establish an ABC control rule 

based on scientific advice from its SSC. 

The ABC control rule in the 

Comprehensive ACL Amendment was 

developed by the Council and its SSC 

and provides recommendations for the 

specification of ABCs based on a 

systematic inspection of sources of 

uncertainty, including variables such as 

susceptibility, vulnerability, bycatch, 

and discard information. The ABC 

control rule contains four levels, with a 

species assigned to a specific level 

depending on the amount of 

information available about the species. 

Stock status is one of the criteria used 

in determine the magnitude of the ABC 

under Level 1 of the ABC control rule. 

The ABC control rule for Level 1 

assessed species has four dimensions 

included in the control rule framework: 

Assessment information; 

characterization of uncertainty; stock 

status; and productivity/susceptibility 

of the stock. Each dimension contains 

tiers that can be evaluated for each stock 

to determine a numerical score for 

scientific uncertainty. The uncertainty 

buffer, or difference between OFL and 

ABC, is expressed in terms of a 

reduction in the probability of 

overfishing. A greater buffer between 

the OFL and ABC is established for 

species that are overfished and/or 

undergoing overfishing. 

The ABC can be determined using the 

ABC control rule for assessed and 

unassessed (data poor) species. The 

ABC control does not specify the ACL; 

the ACL is established by the Council 

based on the information as described in 

this final rule and in the Comprehensive 

ACL Amendment. The Council and the 

SSC will periodically evaluate the 

performance of the ABC control rule, 

and determine if it needs to be 

modified. In addition, the SSC intends 

to re-evaluate the unassessed species’ 

portion of the ABC control rule in April 

of 2012 (including the incorporation of 

the findings of the SSC’s ORCS working 

group), to assess whether modifications 

are necessary. 

Comment 7: Two commenters 

recommended that the Comprehensive 

ACL Amendment should include an 

update on the implementation of the 

Council’s standardized bycatch 

reporting methodology (SBRM), the 

Atlantic Coastal Cooperative Statistics 

Program (ACCSP), and describe why it 

is not suitable for monitoring current 

bycatch and dead discards in the fishery 

in the current state of implementation. 

The commenters also recommended that 

NMFS assess monitoring needs in order 

to move toward total catch accounting. 

Response: Numerous studies are 

conducted to assess bycatch, including 

survivorship of discards. Some studies 

are continuous, but many studies are 

intermittent and subject to funding. In 

the snapper-grouper commercial sector, 

approximately 20 percent of permitted 

vessels are randomly selected each year 

to fill out supplementary logbooks to 

provide discard information. For the 

recreational sector, estimates of discards 

are available each year from the MRFSS 

and from headboat logbook data. Recent 

studies conducted with funding from 

the Cooperative Research Program, Sea 

Grant, the Marine Fisheries Initiative, 

and other sources have provided 

estimates of bycatch and release 

mortality for many species. The ACCSP 

methodology has been approved by the 

NMFS and the Council. However, it is 

unknown when funding will be 

available to implement the bycatch 

module of the ACCSP. In the interim, 

estimates of discards will continue to be 

available from MRFSS and MRIP and 

supplementary commercial and 

headboat logbooks. Furthermore, the 

Council recently approved an action in 

Amendment 18A to the SnapperGrouper FMP (the notice of availability 

of Amendment 18A was published on 

January 31, 2012 (77 FR 4754)) which 

includes an action to enhance data 

reporting in the for-hire sector. The 

Council is also developing a generic 

amendment to improve data reporting 

by dealers and by the commercial sector 

of the snapper-grouper fishery and 

several other fisheries. 

Comment 8: Several commenters 

opposed allocations between the 

commercial and recreational sectors due 

to their lack of confidence in the MRFSS 

data, and recommended waiting until 

the transition to MRIP has fully 

occurred. The Council’s minority report 

also opposed the method used to 

establish allocations between sectors as 

well as the method used for calculating 

sector allocations. One commenter 

supported the Council’s preferred 

approach to establish sector allocations 

in the Snapper-Grouper FMP. 

Response: MRIP modifies the catch 

estimation method for recreational 

harvest for the period of 2004–2010 to 

address improvements for estimation 

algorithms. MRIP also addresses 

concerns raised in the 2006 National 

Resource Council review of MRFSS that 

estimation methods may not be 

consistent with the sampling 

probabilities of individually sampled 

access sites and could result in biased 

estimates. Revised estimates have been 

developed and are undergoing review, 

and will be applied to existing data 

going back to 2004. Correction of 

estimates prior to 2004 will also be 

considered in the future. As of 

September 2011, when the Council 

approved the Comprehensive ACL 

Amendment, the new MRIP estimates 

had not yet been released. NMFS notes 

that MRIP data became available in 

January of 2012. While the Council is 

fully aware of these ongoing issues, the 

Council and NMFS must still work to 

meet Magnuson-Stevens Act deadlines 

to establish the required ACLs and 

management measures to ensure 

overfishing does not occur. If needed, 

the Council may take action through a 

future amendment to revise the 

appropriate values. 

The Council’s preferred approach for 

sector allocations divides allocations 

between the recreational and 

commercial sectors based on landings 

information from 1986–2008 and 2006– 

2008, and therefore, considers past and 

present participation. The Council 

decided to establish allocations based 

on balancing long-term catch history 

with more recent catch history, and 

believes that approach to be a fair and 

equitable method to allocate fishery 

resources. Furthermore, the Council 

determined an additional benefit of this 

alternative was its inclusion of a 

mathematically transparent formula to 

specify allocations. If indicated by MRIP 

data, the Council may take action in a 

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future amendment to revise sector 

allocations if the MRIP data indicates 

that an allocation adjustment is 

warranted. 

Comment 9: Several commenters 

supported setting the ACLs in the 

Comprehensive ACL Amendment equal 

to the ABC as determined by the 

Council. Two commenters advised 

against this approach because it did not 

account for management uncertainty, 

and recommended setting a buffer 

between the ABC and ACL. One of the 

two commenters cited a failure on part 

of NMFS to ensure accountability for 

bycatch in the ACL-setting mechanism. 

Response: The NS 1 Guidelines 

indicate that the choice of an ACL is 

directly related to the choice of an ABC, 

and an ACL may not exceed the ABC. 

The Council’s preferred alternative for 

an ABC control rule takes uncertainty 

into consideration in the specification of 

an ABC regardless of the level for data 

availability. For assessed species where 

OFL is known (Level 1), the ABC 

control rule establishes a buffer between 

the OFL and the ABC. For extremely 

data poor species for which a precise 

OFL cannot be determined, the Council 

adopted a tiered approach for estimating 

the probability of exceeding an 

overfishing limit, and considered 

various factors in making appropriate 

decisions about constraining harvest 

levels to ensure the ABC is set at a level 

where overfishing would not occur. 

These factors include, but are not 

limited to, the available landings data, 

trends, whether a species is an 

ecosystem species, and whether a 

species is targeted or is primarily 

bycatch for other species. In reviewing 

this information, the Council decided it 

was unnecessary to establish an 

additional buffer between the ABC and 

ACL. For the commercial sectors of the 

fisheries contained in this amendment, 

the Council concluded that quota 

monitoring, in addition to the in-season 

and post-season AMs specified for the 

commercial sector in the 

Comprehensive ACL Amendment, are 

sufficient to account for management 

uncertainty. The in-season AMs would 

close the commercial sector when the 

commercial ACL is reached or projected 

to be reached and limit all harvest to the 

recreational bag limit once the closure is 

implemented. For overfished species 

only, the post-season AMs would 

correct for any ACL overages by 

implementing a payback provision in 

the following year based on the overage 

and the best scientific information 

available. To account for the possibility 

of additional uncertainty within the 

recreational sector, and consistent with 

the National Standard 1 Guidelines, the 

Council is establishing ACTs for stocks 

within the Snapper-Grouper and 

Dolphin and Wahoo FMPs that would 

serve as a target and as a performance 

measure for management to avoid the 

ACL from being exceeded. Additionally, 

the recreational sector AMs provide for 

shortening the length of the recreational 

fishing season by the amount necessary 

to ensure the recreational ACL is not 

exceeded. Consistent with the National 

Standard 1 Guidelines, if NMFS and the 

Council conclude that an ACL or ACT 

is being chronically exceeded, and postseason AMs are repeatedly implemented 

to correct for ACL overages, the Council 

could revise the ACTs, ACLs, and 

associated AMs (50 CFR 600.310(g)(3)). 

Comment 10: Several commenters 

supported the Council’s decision to not 

set an ACT for the commercial sector for 

species included in the Comprehensive 

ACL Amendment. Two commenters 

opposed this approach and recommend 

that an ACT be established for the 

commercial sector with a buffer between 

the ACL and the ACT. 

Response: The NS 1 Guidelines state 

that setting of ACTs is left to the 

discretion of each fishery management 

council and should be based on the 

level of management uncertainty in each 

fishery. For the commercial sectors of 

the fisheries contained in this 

amendment, the Council concluded that 

quota monitoring, in addition to the inseason and post-season AMs specified 

for the commercial sector in the 

Comprehensive ACL Amendment, are 

sufficient to account for management 

uncertainty. The in-season AMs would 

close the commercial sector when the 

commercial ACL is reached or projected 

to be reached and limit all harvest to the 

recreational bag limit once the closure is 

implemented. For overfished species 

only, the post-season AMs would 

correct for any ACL overages by 

implementing a payback provision in 

the following year based on the overage 

and the best scientific information 

available. Therefore, the Council 

determined, and NMFS agreed, that a 

commercial ACT is not necessary at this 

time. 

Comment 11: Several commenters 

were opposed to the Council’s preferred 

approaches to setting ACTs and AMs for 

the recreational sector for species 

included in the Comprehensive ACL 

Amendment. They preferred not to have 

any ACTs/AMs, and supported the use 

of average landings calculated over a 

3-year period to specify post-season 

AMs for the recreational sector. 

Two commenters supported the 

approach for setting ACTs and AMs for 

the recreational sector outlined in the 

Comprehensive ACL Amendment, but 

supported the subalternative that 

specifies a post-season AM of adjusting 

the recreational fishing season to 

account for ACL overages. 

Response: The Council determined 

that the level of management 

uncertainty for the recreational sector is 

currently high enough to warrant the 

specification of recreational ACTs. The 

Comprehensive ACL Amendment 

specified a recreational sector ACT, 

which is set lower than the recreational 

sector ACL by 50 percent or the ACL 

multiplied by one minus the percent 

standard error, whichever is greater. 

This approach also establishes an ACT 

for the recreational sector that serves as 

a performance measure. The NS 1 

Guidelines recommend a performance 

standard by which the efficiency of any 

system of ACLs and AMs can be 

measured and evaluated. If tracking the 

ACT through time reveals a trend in 

ACT and ACL overages, the entire 

system of ACTs and ACLs would be 

reevaluated and some corrective action 

could be linked to the ACT in the future 

to prevent the ACL from being 

exceeded. The Council concluded that 

the preferred alternative best met the 

need to account for management 

uncertainty in the recreational sector for 

species that currently lack AMs. 

The Council selected recreational 

sector AMs that would be triggered if 

the annual landings exceed the 

recreational sector ACL in a given year. 

In-season AMs were not chosen for the 

recreational sector because in-season 

monitoring of recreational landings is 

difficult, and there is a significant delay 

in the availability of recreational data. 

There would likely be considerable 

uncertainty in imposing in-season AMs 

for species in the recreational sector, 

particularly for species that are 

infrequently taken. Therefore, postseason AMs were determined to be more 

appropriate for the recreational sector. 

Implementation of post-season AMs for 

the recreational sector ensures that the 

amount of the previous year’s ACL 

overage is accounted for in the 

subsequent year’s adjustment via a 

shortened fishing season. Furthermore, 

monitoring of landings data also allows 

for any anomalies or data reporting 

irregularities to be taken into account 

before the AMs would be effective. 

Comment 12: Two commenters, and 

the Council’s minority report, opposed 

the reduction of the ACL for wreckfish. 

The commenters stated that the best 

available science was not used to make 

the determination, would cause adverse 

impacts to the vested participants, and 

its failure could threaten NMFS’ catch 

share initiative in the Southeast Region. 

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Response: The specification of the 

ABC for wreckfish was discussed 

extensively by the Council’s SSC. In 

April 2010, the SSC determined the 

wreckfish ABC was unknown because 

effort and landings were reduced to the 

extent that landings information was 

confidential. The SSC indicated the 

Council should consider an ACL that 

did not exceed 200,000 lb (90,718 kg), 

round weight. Additionally, the SSC 

discussed setting an ABC for wreckfish 

during their August 2010 meeting. The 

SSC stated that a 2001 assessment 

indicated wreckfish stock depletion 

occurred at higher historical levels of 

effort and that the catch reductions may 

have occurred mainly from gear 

restrictions, a spawning season closure, 

and the wreckfish ITQ implementation. 

The SSC stated that a depletion-based 

stock reduction analysis (Level 2 of the 

ABC control rule) or depletion-corrected 

average catch (DCAC) (Level 3 of the 

ABC control rule) estimate could be 

calculated, but recent wreckfish 

landings are confidential; therefore, the 

SSC was not able to perform the 

calculations to produce these estimates. 

The SSC agreed the 2001 assessment 

was dated and no longer applied to 

current wreckfish landings and 

conditions. The SSC additionally 

concluded that the ABC control rule 

based on catch-only data (Level 4 of the 

ABC control rule) should be used even 

though a dated stock assessment exists 

for wreckfish. Therefore, in September 

of 2010, the SSC recommended setting 

the ABC at the average historical catch 

(1997-recent) of 250,000 lb (113,398 kg), 

round weight. As a result of the 

confidentially of wreckfish commercial 

data, a more precise level could not be 

determined. 

A DCAC analysis for wreckfish was 

subsequently completed and presented 

to the SSC at its November 2011 

meeting. The SSC reviewed and adopted 

the DCAC methodology to develop a 

new ABC recommendation of 235,000 lb 

(106,594 kg), round weight for 

wreckfish, in accordance with the ABC 

control rule contained in the 

Comprehensive ACL Amendment. 

There is greater confidence in the ABC 

estimate of 235,000 lb (106,594 kg) 

based on the Level 3 DCAC analysis 

than in the previous 250,000 lb (113,398 

kg) estimate derived from Level 4 of the 

ABC control rule. The Council reviewed 

the recommended revised ABC value in 

December 2011 and decided to further 

adjust the wreckfish ACL to reflect the 

revised ABC value. The ACL for 

wreckfish contained in the initial 

proposed rule for the Comprehensive 

ACL Amendment (76 FR 74757, 

December 1, 2011) was 250,000 lb 

(113,398 kg), round weight. Because that 

ACL then exceeded the catch level 

recommendation of the Council’s SSC, 

an amended proposed rule was 

published on December 30, 2011 (76 FR 

82264), which proposed to further 

revise the wreckfish ACL to 235,000 lb 

(106,594 kg), round weight based on the 

revised ABC value. This final rule sets 

the ACL for wreckfish at 235,000 lb 

(106,594 kg), round weight with the 

commercial ACL for wreckfish at 

223,250 lb (101,264 kg), round weight, 

and the recreational ACL at 11,750 lb 

(5,330 kg), round weight. 

Additionally, a notice of availability 

for Amendment 20A to the SnapperGrouper FMP was published on January 

12, 2012 (77 FR 1908), which addresses 

further management measures for the 

commercial sector of the wreckfish 

component of the snapper-grouper 

fishery. Actions included in 

Amendment 20A are intended to allow 

commercial fishermen with wreckfish 

shares to better maximize harvest 

potential within the constraints of the 

commercial ACL implemented through 

this final rule. 

Comment 13: Several commenters 

were opposed to the Council’s 

recreational allocation for wreckfish in 

the Comprehensive ACL Amendment 

and some recommended a recreational 

allocation of 10 percent, while others 

recommended the recreational 

allocation be set at 50 percent. 

Response: Wreckfish has been 

managed under a commercial ITQ 

program since 1992. In recent years, 

recreational fishermen have reported an 

increased incidence of wreckfish 

encounters during recreational trips. 

Because wreckfish are caught in very 

deep water (1,476–1,969 ft (450–600 

m)), it is assumed that all incidentally 

caught wreckfish die upon reaching the 

surface and must be released dead since 

only commercial wreckfish shareholders 

are allowed to retain the fish. By 

establishing an allocation for the 

recreational sector, the Council is 

attempting to reduce wreckfish bycatch 

mortality by allowing fishermen to 

retain wreckfish. Through this final 

rule, a wreckfish recreational sector is 

established by allocating 5 percent of 

the wreckfish stock ACL to the 

recreational sector. This 5 percent 

wreckfish recreational allocation serves 

to mitigate bycatch mortality of any 

occasionally encountered wreckfish 

during recreational trips. The Council 

concluded that any recreational catch of 

wreckfish is likely to be small and a 

larger allocation of the wreckfish stock 

ACL was unnecessary. 

Comment 14: Several commenters 

opposed the jurisdictional allocation of 

black grouper, yellowtail snapper, and 

mutton snapper between the Gulf of 

Mexico and the South Atlantic 

Councils. Some of the commenters 

recommended the establishment of an 

equal allocation of 50 percent between 

the two jurisdictional areas. 

Response: This final rule establishes a 

jurisdictional allocation for black 

grouper, yellowtail snapper, and mutton 

snapper, based on the Florida Keys 

(Monroe County) jurisdictional 

boundary between the Gulf of Mexico 

and South Atlantic Councils. Currently, 

the ABC for each of these species 

applies across Council jurisdictions, and 

stock assessments for each of these three 

species treat each species as a single 

stock. This creates an issue for 

management, because the two Councils 

manage these species under two 

separate FMPs. For example, black 

grouper is also part of the ‘‘other 

shallow water grouper’’ species complex 

in the Gulf of Mexico individual fishing 

quota program. Without the 

jurisdictional allocations established in 

this final rule, these three species would 

need to be managed jointly, with both 

Councils having to manage a common 

set of regulations. Furthermore, the 

status quo allocations would not adhere 

to ‘‘best available science’’ and not be 

based on post-stratified data which 

captures actual harvest more accurately 

between the two jurisdictions. Both 

Councils agreed to the allocation 

procedure for the three species, which 

considers both historical and recent 

data, and provides extra emphasis to 

more recent landings. A jurisdictional 

allocation of 50 percent for the Gulf of 

Mexico and 50 percent for the South 

Atlantic would not consider historical 

and recent data with respect to landings. 

The Council concluded that the 

allocation procedure chosen in the 

Comprehensive ACL Amendment 

provides an accurate biological basis for 

management and ensures fairness and 

equity in practice. 

Comment 15: One commenter and the 

authors of the minority report opposed 

the allocation of dolphin in the 

Comprehensive ACL Amendment 

between the recreational and 

commercial sectors stating that the 

commercial allocation for dolphin has 

never been exceeded, and opposed the 

formula used to calculate the dolphin 

sector allocation. 

Response: Currently, a non-binding 

allocation of 13 percent for the 

commercial harvest and 87 percent for 

the recreational harvest is in place for 

dolphin. This final rule establishes a 

binding allocation that is used to specify 

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sector specific ACLs. The 

Comprehensive ACL Amendment uses a 

formula that would equal 50 percent * 

average of long catch range (lb) 1999– 

2008 + 50 percent * average of recent 

catch trend (lb) 2006–2008, thereby 

balancing the total time series with 

more recent data. This is consistent with 

the Council’s approach to sector 

allocations in other fisheries, such as 

snapper-grouper. This method provides 

the added biological benefits of 

accurately accounting for the fishing 

effort in both sectors, in addition to a 

fair, equitable, and mathematically 

transparent approach. 

Comment 16: One commenter 

opposed Alternative 2 in Action 25, and 

questioned the economic analysis for 

the action addressing management 

measures for dolphin, particularly 

relating to the prohibition of bag limit 

sales of dolphin from for-hire vessels. 

The commenter asserted the estimated 

effects provided in the proposed rule 

(76 FR 74757, December 1, 2011) were 

incomplete and inaccurate. 

Response: Action 25 addresses 

management measures for dolphin. 

Essentially, only two revisions were 

made to existing management measures. 

The 20-inch fork-length size limit now 

extends from waters off the south 

Atlantic coast of Florida through waters 

off of South Carolina, and bag limit sales 

of dolphin from for-hire vessels are 

prohibited unless they are commercially 

permitted and not operating under hire. 

In preparing the economic analysis 

conducted for this action NMFS utilized 

the best scientific information available, 

including data recorded in the Federal 

logbook program. In addition to the 

requirement that for-hire vessels possess 

a Federal dolphin-wahoo for-hire permit 

to harvest dolphin in the EEZ, with the 

exception of vessels fishing north of 39° 

N. lat., for-hire vessels must also possess 

a Federal commercial dolphin-wahoo 

permit to legally sell dolphin harvested 

when operating under hire. All vessels 

with a Federal commercial dolphinwahoo permit are annually provided 

with a Federal logbook. A logbook 

record, including information pertaining 

to any sale of fish, must be completed 

for each commercial fishing trip taken 

by the permitted vessel and reported to 

NMFS. Therefore, analysis of logbook 

data is the appropriate method of 

analyzing the expected economic effects 

of this action and the analysis should be 

complete and sufficient. As discussed in 

the proposed rule (76 FR 74757, 

December 1, 2011), based on an analysis 

of logbook data, the prohibition on the 

sale of dolphin harvested under the bag 

limit by for-hire vessels is expected to 

result in an annual loss of 

approximately $71,000 in gross revenue 

by all for-hire vessels. 

However, proper reporting through 

the Federal logbook system may not 

occur in all instances. In that case, then 

the estimates of the economic effects of 

the prohibition of the sale of dolphin 

harvested under the bag limit provided 

in the proposed rule (76 FR 74757, 

December 1, 2011) could constitute a 

lower bound of the estimated economic 

effects. In order to estimate an upper 

bound accounting for reporting 

discrepancies, NMFS re-analyzed the 

potential economic effects of the 

prohibition of the sale of dolphin 

harvested under the bag limit by for-hire 

vessels using an alternative 

methodology and data, as described 

below. Over the period 2005–2009, the 

average annual revenue from dolphin 

identified as legal sales potentially 

originating from for-hire trips in the 

Atlantic was approximately $369,000 

(nominal dollars, i.e., dollars not 

adjusted for inflation), or approximately 

$184 per for-hire vessel with a Federal 

dolphin-wahoo for-hire permit (2,012 

vessels). If the practice of selling 

dolphin harvested on for-hire trips is 

limited to charterboats, the number of 

potentially affected vessels is reduced to 

1,927 (an estimated 85 headboat vessels 

participate in the Federal logbook 

program, though it is unknown how 

many of these vessels have a Federal 

dolphin-wahoo for-hire permit) and the 

average revenue associated with 

dolphin sales increases to 

approximately $192 per vessel. Because 

these data represent average results, 

some vessels would be expected to 

depend more on dolphin sales, and 

other vessels less. No information is 

available, however, to demonstrate that 

a substantial number of entities are 

significantly dependent on these 

revenues. 

The commenter stated that in the 

Florida Keys alone there are 278 for-hire 

vessels that sell dolphin from for-hire 

trips. As an example of potential 

significant dependency, if all the 

identified revenues potentially 

originating from legal dolphin sales by 

for-hire vessels during 2005–2009 

(approximately $369,000) were 

attributed to only these 278 entities, the 

average effect per entity would be a 

reduction in ex-vessel revenue of 

approximately $1,330, or less than 3 

percent of average annual gross revenue 

from 2005–2009, estimated to range 

from approximately $51,000 to $69,000. 

In summary, although the new analysis 

of dolphin sales from the for-hire 

industry produced an estimate of the 

total potential economic effects that is 

much greater than the effect reported in 

the proposed rule (76 FR 74757, 

December 1, 2011), approximately 

$369,000 versus $71,000, the effects 

remain below the required threshold for 

significance when evaluated at the 

individual vessel level. 

Comment 17: Twelve commenters 

opposed the management measure for 

dolphin that prohibits bag limit sales 

from for-hire vessels, citing financial 

hardship. The commenters also stated 

that the sales of dolphin harvested 

under the bag limit are vital to the 

survival of charter fishing operations. 

Response: Currently, for-hire 

fishermen who possess the necessary 

state and Federal permits can sell bag 

limit quantities of dolphin, and NMFS 

acknowledges that a prohibition of such 

sales could have negative economic 

effects on some entities. During 2005– 

2009, the average annual revenue from 

dolphin identified as legal sales 

potentially originating from for-hire 

trips in the Atlantic was approximately 

$369,000 (nominal dollars), or 

approximately $184 per for-hire vessel 

with a Federal dolphin-wahoo for-hire 

permit (2,012 vessels). As a result of the 

new catch limits for dolphin, the 

Council determined that when for-hire 

fishermen sell their catch to dealers, 

catch is counted toward the commercial 

quota resulting in the commercial ACL 

being reached sooner. The Council 

decided that prohibiting the sale would 

help to improve the accuracy of total 

landings and benefit both sectors. 

Therefore, this final rule prohibits the 

sale of dolphin harvested under the 

recreational bag limit in the for-hire 

sector. 

Comment 18: One commenter cited 

all the actions addressing the Dolphin 

and Wahoo FMP in the Comprehensive 

ACL Amendment as being inconsistent 

with National Standard Guidelines 

under the Magnuson-Stevens Act. 

Specific concerns were: The MSY and 

ACL were below a reasonable level that 

would achieve OY; the allocation 

formula for these should not have used 

data from MRFSS because of data 

uncertainty; stocks of dolphin are not 

restricted to the Atlantic east coast but 

also occur in the Caribbean and Gulf of 

Mexico; and sector allocations will lead 

to unnecessary discards by commercial 

fishermen. 

Response: The Comprehensive ACL 

Amendment does not revise the MSY 

for dolphin, and prior to this 

amendment, the value for OY was 

unknown. By setting the OY equal to the 

ACL, which is the catch level that 

ensures overfishing does not occur, 

there would be greater assurance that 

OY could be achieved without 

overfishing. The Council’s preferred 

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approach for establishing sector 

allocations divides allocations between 

the recreational and commercial sectors 

based on landings information from 

1986–2008 and 2006–2008, and 

therefore, considers past and present 

participation. The Council decided to 

establish allocations based on balancing 

long-term catch history with recent 

catch history, and believes it to be the 

most fair and equitable way to allocate 

fishery resources. The Council 

determined an additional benefit of this 

alternative was its inclusion of a 

transparent formula to specify 

allocations. 

While dolphin may be genetically 

similar in the Gulf of Mexico, 

Caribbean, and South Atlantic, the 

Dolphin and Wahoo FMP only 

addresses dolphin that occur in the 

Atlantic and the Magnuson-Stevens Act 

requires the Council to specify ACLs 

and AMs for all species in their FMPs. 

Comment 19: Commercial fishermen 

will have to make longer trips to target 

other species after a dolphin closure 

occurs, possibly affecting safety at sea. 

Response: The ABC and ACL for 

dolphin are set above recent average 

catch levels. Therefore, a closure of the 

dolphin commercial sector is not 

anticipated based on recent catch 

history, and NMFS does not foresee any 

new safety at sea issues arising for 

dolphin fishers that will be imposed by 

the actions contained in this final rule. 

Comment 20: One commenter 

recommended that dolphin and wahoo 

should be managed under the NMFS 

Highly Migratory Species program to 

avoid duplication by Councils and 

allow for international management. 

Response: The Manguons-Stevens 

Act’s definition of the phrase ‘‘highly 

migratory species’’ explicitly lists which 

species are to be included, and Congress 

did not include dolphin in the 

definition (16 U.S.C. 1802(21)). In 2004, 

the Council, in cooperation with the 

Mid-Atlantic and New England 

Councils, and with the approval of the 

Secretary of Commerce, developed the 

Dolphin and Wahoo FMP for the 

Atlantic. The Magnuson-Stevens Act 

requires that a fishery management 

council specify ACLs for species in its 

FMPs at a level that may not exceed the 

fishing level recommendation of its 

SSC, and that the ACLs prevent 

overfishing. Therefore, the Council was 

required to specify an ACL for dolphin. 

Comment 21: Several commenters 

opposed the harvest of Sargassum, and 

there were no comments supporting its 

harvest. 

Response: There has not been any 

commercial harvest of Sargassum since 

1998, and there are no known data 

indicating Sargassum is a significant 

bycatch in any other fishery in the 

South Atlantic Region. Existing FMPs 

may use terms and values that are 

similar to, associated with, or may be 

equivalent to ACL and AM in many 

fisheries for which annual specifications 

are set for different stocks or stock 

complexes. In these situations, NMFS 

suggests that as fishery management 

councils revise their FMPs, they use the 

same terms as set forth in the NS 1 

Guidelines. Therefore, this final rule 

does not specifically set an ACL for 

Sargassum, because there is currently a 

commercial quota in place which serves 

as a functional ACL. When the quota is 

reached, the fishery would close, which 

serves as a functional AM. 

Measures Contained in the 

Comprehensive ACL Amendment That 

Are Not in This Final Rule 

The Comprehensive ACL Amendment 

also contains actions that are not 

specifically addressed through this 

rulemaking. These items include 

specifying ABC control rules, 

allocations for the commercial and 

recreational sectors, and jurisdictional 

allocations between the South Atlantic 

Council and the Gulf of Mexico Fishery 

Management Council (Gulf Council) for 

three species. 

The Comprehensive ACL Amendment 

established ABC control rules for the 

Snapper-Grouper, Dolphin and Wahoo, 

Golden Crab, and Sargassum FMPs, 

which were used to establish ABC. 

These standard methods for determining 

the appropriate ABC allow the Council’s 

SSC to determine an objective and 

efficient assignment of ABC that takes 

into account scientific uncertainty 

regarding the harvest levels that would 

lead to overfishing. Additionally, the 

amendment establishes allocations for 

the commercial and recreational sectors 

for snapper-grouper species and dolphin 

and wahoo that do not currently have 

allocations specified. 

The Comprehensive ACL Amendment 

also defines the apportionment for black 

grouper, yellowtail snapper, and mutton 

snapper across the jurisdictional 

boundary between the South Atlantic 

Council and the Gulf Council. These 

three species are managed separately by 

both the Gulf and South Atlantic 

Councils, but each has a stock 

assessment and ABC that covers both 

Councils areas of jurisdiction. 

Therefore, based on historical landings 

and recommendations from their 

respective SSCs, the two councils have 

agreed to apportion those overarching 

ABCs between them, and the 

amendment establishes ABC limits for 

the South Atlantic Council’s area of 

jurisdiction. 

Classification 

The Regional Administrator, 

Southeast Region, NMFS has 

determined that this final rule is 

necessary for the conservation and 

management of the species within the 

Comprehensive ACL Amendment and is 

consistent with the Magnuson-Stevens 

Act, and other applicable law. 

This final rule has been determined to 

be not significant for purposes of 

Executive Order 12866. 

The Magnuson-Stevens Act provides 

the statutory basis for this final rule. 

The Chief Counsel for Regulation of 

the Department of Commerce certified 

to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the 

Small Business Administration during 

the proposed rule stage that this action 

would not have a significant economic 

impact on a substantial number of small 

entities. The factual basis for the 

certification was published in the 

proposed rule and the amended 

proposed rule and is not repeated here. 

Two comments were received on the 

analysis of the estimated economic 

effect of the prohibition of the sale of 

dolphin harvested under the bag limit 

by for-hire vessels provided in the 

proposed rule (76 FR 74757, December 

1, 2011). The first comment asserted the 

estimated effects provided in the 

proposed rule (76 FR 74757, December 

1, 2011) were incomplete and inaccurate 

and the second comment stated that the 

revenue from these sales is vital to the 

survival of charter fishing operations. In 

preparing the economic analysis 

conducted for this action NMFS utilized 

the best scientific information available, 

including data recorded in the Federal 

logbook program. In addition to the 

requirement that for-hire vessels possess 

a Federal dolphin-wahoo for-hire permit 

to harvest dolphin in the EEZ, with the 

exception of vessels fishing north of 39° 

N. lat., for-hire vessels must also possess 

a Federal commercial dolphin-wahoo 

permit to legally sell dolphin harvested 

when operating under hire. All vessels 

with a Federal commercial dolphinwahoo permit are annually provided 

with a Federal logbook. A logbook 

record, including information pertaining 

to any sale of fish, must be completed 

for each commercial fishing trip taken 

by the permitted vessel and reported to 

NMFS. Therefore, analysis of logbook 

data is the appropriate method of 

analyzing the expected economic effects 

of this action and the analysis provided 

in the proposed rule (76 FR 74757, 

December 1, 2011) should be accurate 

and sufficient. As discussed in the 

proposed rule (76 FR 74757, December 

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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 52 / Friday, March 16, 2012 / Rules and Regulations 15925 

1, 2011), based on analysis of logbook 

data, the prohibition on the sale of 

dolphin harvested under the bag limit 

by for-hire vessels is expected to result 

in an annual loss of approximately 

$71,000 in gross revenue to the for-hire 

sector. 

However, proper reporting through 

the Federal logbook system may not 

occur in all instances. In that case, then 

the estimates of the economic effects of 

the prohibition of the sale of dolphin 

harvested under the bag limit provided 

in the proposed rule (76 FR 74757, 

December 1, 2011) could constitute a 

lower bound of the actual potential 

economic effects. In order to estimate an 

upper bound accounting for reporting 

discrepancies, NMFS re-analyzed the 

potential economic effects of the 

prohibition of the sale of dolphin 

harvested under the bag limit by for-hire 

vessels using an alternative 

methodology and data, as described 

below. Regardless of whether fish are 

harvested on a commercial or for-hire 

trip, or Federal reporting requirements 

are followed, all legal fish sales in the 

Atlantic are captured by state-managed 

data programs. Each state provides these 

data to NMFS in aggregate-form by 

species and harvest gear-type. Because 

the data are aggregated by species, 

identification of the fishing entity 

(vessel), trip type (commercial or forhire), or possession of any Federal 

permit is not possible. However, the 

aggregation and inclusion of harvest by 

gear in the data provided to NMFS 

allows partitioning of the data into 

sector categories that reasonably 

represent commercial fishing versus forhire fishing. Specifically, in the new 

analysis, NMFS assumes all harvest 

using trawl, pot, longline, dredge, and 

electric or hydraulic reel gear comes 

from commercial vessels. NMFS 

assumes all harvest using hand line, rod 

and reel, manual reel, or troll line gear 

comes from vessels under hire. The 

rationale for this categorization, beyond 

the assertion that certain gear types are 

logically commercial gear, is the 

understanding that a key motivation of 

recreational fishing is sport and the 

challenge of landing fish. As a result, 

any gear, even electric or hydraulic 

reels, which reduces this experience, is 

logically inappropriate as for-hire gear. 

NMFS notes, however, that minimal 

harvest was recorded with electric or 

hydraulic reels, so the inclusion of 

harvest by these gear with for-hire 

harvest would not substantially affect 

the following results. NMFS also notes 

that, the assumption that all hand line, 

rod and reel, manual reel, or troll line 

harvest originates from a for-hire trip 

may overestimate the actual harvest and 

sale by the for-hire sector because it is 

possible that some commercial vessels 

also harvest dolphin with this gear. 

Based on these assumptions, over the 

period of 2005–2009, the average annual 

revenue from dolphin identified as legal 

sales potentially originating from forhire trips in the Atlantic was 

approximately $369,000 (nominal 

dollars), or approximately $184 per forhire vessel with a Federal dolphinwahoo for-hire permit (2,012 vessels). If 

the practice of selling dolphin harvested 

on for-hire trips is limited to 

charterboats, the number of potentially 

affected vessels is reduced to 1,927 (an 

estimated 85 headboat vessels 

participate in the Federal logbook 

program, though it is unknown how 

many of these vessels have a Federal 

for-hire dolphin-wahoo permit) and the 

average revenue associated with 

dolphin sales increases to 

approximately $192 per vessel. Because 

these estimated economic effects 

represent average results, some vessels 

would be expected to receive higher 

losses in revenue, and other vessels 

lower losses. Information has not been 

identified, however, to demonstrate that 

a substantial number of entities are 

significantly dependent on these 

revenues. The first economic specific 

comment to the proposed rule stated 

that in the Florida Keys alone there are 

278 for-hire vessels that sell dolphin 

from for-hire trips. If the sale of dolphin 

harvested under the bag limit is limited 

to these 278 vessels, which is not 

expected to be the case, and all the 

identified revenues potentially 

originating from legal dolphin sales by 

for-hire vessels (approximately $369,000 

annually) were attributed to only these 

278 entities, the average effect per entity 

would be an annual reduction in exvessel revenue of approximately $1,330, 

or less than 3 percent of average annual 

gross revenue, estimated to range from 

approximately $51,000 to $69,000 per 

for-hire vessel. 

In summary, although the new 

analysis of dolphin sales from the forhire industry produced an estimate of 

the total potential economic effects that 

is much greater than the effect reported 

in the proposed rule (76 FR 74757, 

December 1, 2012), approximately 

$369,000 versus $71,000, the effects 

remain below the required threshold for 

significance when evaluated at the 

individual vessel level. 

With respect to the second comment 

that the sales of dolphin harvested 

under the bag limit are vital to the 

survival of charter fishing operations, 

the results provided in the new analysis 

above are relevant to consideration of 

this comment. While some for-hire 

vessels are likely more dependent on 

the sale of dolphin harvested under the 

bag limit than other vessels, available 

data does not substantiate any claim 

that these sales are vital to charter 

fishing operations in general. 

No other substantive comments were 

received on the certification provided in 

the proposed rule (76 FR 74757, 

December 1, 2011). No changes were 

made to the proposed rule as a result of 

the public comments. The analysis of 

potential economic effects provided 

above does not impact the certification 

made by the Chief Counsel for 

Regulation of the Department of 

Commerce to the Chief Counsel for 

Advocacy of the Small Business 

Administration that this rulemaking is 

not expected to have a significant 

economic impact on a substantial 

number of small entities. As a result, a 

final regulatory flexibility analysis was 

not required and none was prepared. 

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 622 

Fisheries, Fishing, Puerto Rico, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Virgin Islands. 

Dated: March 13, 2012. 

Alan D. Risenhoover, 

Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator for 

Regulatory Programs, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

For the reasons set out in the 

preamble, 50 CFR part 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 § 622.1, paragraph (b), Table 1, 

footnote 2 is revised to read as follows: 

§ 622.1 Purpose and scope. 

* * * * * 

(b) * * * 

Table 1.—FMPs Implemented Under 

Part 622 

* * * * * 2Black sea bass and scup are not managed 

by the FMP or regulated by this part north 

of 35°15.9′ N. lat., the latitude of Cape 

Hatteras Light, NC. 

* * * * * 

■ 3. In § 622.2, the definition for ‘‘South 

Atlantic shallow-water grouper 

(SASWG)’’ is revised to read as follows: 

§ 622.2 Definitions and acronyms. 

* * * * * 

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15926 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 52 / Friday, March 16, 2012 / Rules and Regulations 

South Atlantic shallow-water grouper 

(SASWG) means, in the South Atlantic, 

gag, black grouper, red grouper, scamp, 

red hind, rock hind, yellowmouth 

grouper, yellowfin grouper, graysby, and 

coney. 

* * * * * 

■ 4. In § 622.4, the first sentence in 

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

follows: 

§ 622.4 Permits and fees. 

(a) * * * 

(2) * * * 

(vii) Wreckfish. For a person aboard a 

vessel to be eligible for exemption from 

the bag limit for wreckfish in or from 

the South Atlantic EEZ, to fish under a 

quota for wreckfish in or from the South 

Atlantic EEZ, or to sell wreckfish in or 

from the South Atlantic EEZ, a 

commercial vessel permit for wreckfish 

and a commercial permit for South 

Atlantic snapper-grouper must have 

been issued to the vessel and must be 

on board. * * * 

* * * * * 

■ 5. In § 622.5, paragraphs 

(a)(1)(iv)(C)(2) and (c)(5)(iii) are revised 

to read as follows: 

§ 622.5 Recordkeeping and reporting. 

* * * * * 

(a) * * * 

(1) * * * 

(iv) * * * 

(C) * * * 

(2) Make available to an authorized 

officer upon request all records of 

commercial offloadings, purchases, or 

sales of wreckfish. 

* * * * * 

(c) * * * 

(5) * * * 

(iii) A dealer who has been issued a 

dealer permit for wreckfish, as required 

under § 622.4(a)(4), must make available 

to an authorized officer upon request all 

records of commercial offloadings, 

purchases, or sales of wreckfish. 

* * * * * 

■ 6. In § 622.15, paragraphs (c)(4) and 

(d)(3) and (4) are revised to read as 

follows: 

§ 622.15 Wreckfish individual transferable 

quota (ITQ) system. 

* * * * * 

(c) * * * 

(4) Wreckfish may not be possessed 

on board a fishing vessel that has been 

issued a commercial vessel permit for 

South Atlantic snapper-grouper and a 

commercial vessel permit for 

wreckfish— 

(i) In an amount exceeding the total of 

the ITQ coupons on board the vessel; or 

(ii) That does not have on board 

logbook forms for that fishing trip, as 

required under § 622.5(a)(1)(iv)(C)(1). 

* * * * * 

(d) * * * 

(3) A wreckfish harvested by a vessel 

that has been issued a commercial 

vessel permit for South Atlantic 

snapper-grouper and a commercial 

vessel permit for wreckfish may be 

offloaded from a fishing vessel only 

between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., local time. 

(4) If a wreckfish harvested by a vessel 

that has been issued a commercial 

vessel permit for South Atlantic 

snapper-grouper and a commercial 

vessel permit for wreckfish is to be 

offloaded at a location other than a fixed 

facility of a dealer who holds a dealer 

permit for wreckfish, as required under 

§ 622.4(a)(4), the wreckfish shareholder 

or the vessel operator must advise the 

NMFS Office for Law Enforcement, 

Southeast Region, St. Petersburg, FL, by 

telephone (727–824–5344), of the 

location not less than 24 hours prior to 

offloading. 

■ 7. In § 622.35, paragraph (g)(1)(i) is 

revised, the first sentence in paragraph 

(j) is revised, and paragraph (p) is added 

to read as follows: 

§ 622.35 Atlantic EEZ seasonal and/or area 

closures. 

* * * * * 

(g) * * * 

(1) * * * 

(i) No person may harvest pelagic 

sargassum in the South Atlantic EEZ 

between 36°33′01.0′′ N. lat. (directly east 

from the Virginia/North Carolina 

boundary) and 34° N. lat., within 100 

nautical miles east of the North Carolina 

coast. 

* * * * * 

(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, 

yellowfin grouper, graysby, and coney). 

* * * 

* * * * * 

(p) Closures of the recreational sector 

for wreckfish. The recreational sector for 

wreckfish in or from the South Atlantic 

EEZ is closed from January 1 through 

June 30, and September 1 through 

December 31, each year. During a 

closure, the bag and possession limit for 

wreckfish in or from the South Atlantic 

EEZ is zero. 

■ 8. In § 622.37, paragraph (e)(1)(iii) and 

paragraph (h) are revised to read as 

follows: 

§ 622.37 Size limits. 

* * * * * 

(e) * * * 

(1) * * * 

(iii) Blackfin, cubera, dog, gray, 

mahogany, queen, silk, and yellowtail 

snappers—12 inches (30.5 cm), TL. 

* * * * * 

(h) Dolphin in the Atlantic off Florida, 

Georgia, and South Carolina—20 inches 

(50.8 cm), fork length. 

■ 9. In § 622.39, paragraph (d)(1)(viii) is 

revised and paragraph (d)(1)(x) is added 

to read as follows: 

§ 622.39 Bag and possession limits. 

* * * * * 

(d) * * * 

(1) * * * 

(viii) South Atlantic snapper-grouper, 

combined—20. However, excluded from 

this 20-fish bag limit are tomtate, blue 

runner, ecosystem component species 

(specified in Table 4 of Appendix A to 

part 622), and those specified in 

paragraphs (d)(1)(i) through (vii) and 

paragraphs (d)(1)(ix) and (x) of this 

section. 

* * * * * 

(x) No more than one fish per vessel 

may be a wreckfish. 

* * * * * 

■ 10. In § 622.42, the first sentence of 

paragraph (f) is revised to read as 

follows: 

§ 622.42 Quotas. 

* * * * * 

(f) Wreckfish. The quota for wreckfish 

applies to wreckfish shareholders, or 

their employees, contractors, or agents, 

and is 223,250 lb (101,264 kg), round 

weight. * * * 

* * * * * 

■ 11. In § 622.43, paragraph (a)(6) is 

removed and reserved and the heading 

of paragraph (a)(5) is 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, red porgy, and 

wreckfish. * * * 

* * * * * 

■ 12. In § 622.45, the first sentence in 

paragraph (d)(8) and paragraphs (i)(2) 

and (i)(3) are revised to read as follows: 

§ 622.45 Restrictions on sale/purchase. 

* * * * * 

(d) * * * 

(8) During January through April, no 

person may sell or purchase a gag, black 

grouper, red grouper, scamp, red hind, 

rock hind, yellowmouth grouper, 

yellowfin grouper, graysby, or coney 

harvested from or possessed in the 

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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 52 / Friday, March 16, 2012 / Rules and Regulations 15927 

South Atlantic EEZ or, if harvested or 

possessed by a vessel for which a valid 

Federal commercial permit for South 

Atlantic snapper-grouper has been 

issued, harvested from the South 

Atlantic, i.e., in state or Federal waters. 

* * * 

* * * * * 

(i) * * * 

(2) In addition to the provisions of 

paragraph (i)(1) of this section, a person 

may not sell dolphin or wahoo 

possessed under the bag limit harvested 

in the Atlantic EEZ by a vessel while it 

is operating as a charter vessel or 

headboat. A dolphin or wahoo 

harvested or possessed by a vessel that 

is operating as a charter vessel or 

headboat with a Federal charter vessel/ 

headboat permit for Atlantic dolphin 

and wahoo may not be purchased or 

sold if harvested from the Atlantic EEZ. 

(3) Dolphin or wahoo harvested in the 

Atlantic EEZ may be purchased only by 

a dealer who has a permit for Atlantic 

dolphin and wahoo and only from a 

vessel authorized to sell dolphin or 

wahoo under paragraph (i)(1) of this 

section. 

■ 13. In § 622.49, paragraphs (b)(7) 

through (24) and paragraphs (e) through 

(g) are added to read as follows: 

§ 622.49 Annual catch limits (ACLs) and 

accountability measures (AMs). 

* * * * * 

(b) * * * 

(7) Black grouper—(i) Commercial 

sector—(A) If commercial landings for 

black grouper, as estimated by the SRD, 

reach or are projected to reach the 

applicable ACL in paragraph (b)(7)(i)(C) 

of this section, the AA will file a 

notification with the Office of the 

Federal Register to close the commercial 

sector for the remainder of the fishing 

year. On and after the effective date of 

such a notification, all sale or purchase 

of black grouper is prohibited and 

harvest or possession of this species in 

or from the South Atlantic EEZ is 

limited to the bag and possession limit. 

This bag and possession limit 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) If commercial landings exceed the 

ACL, and black 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, at or near the 

beginning of the following fishing year 

to reduce the ACL for that following 

year by the amount of the overage in the 

prior fishing year. 

(C) The applicable commercial ACLs, 

in round weight, are 90,575 lb (41,084 

kg) for 2012, 94,571 lb (42,897 kg) for 

2013, and 96,844 lb (43,928 kg) for 2014 

and subsequent fishing years. 

(ii) Recreational sector. If recreational 

landings for black grouper, as estimated 

by the SRD, exceed the applicable ACL, 

then during the following fishing year, 

recreational landings will be monitored 

for a persistence in increased landings 

and, if necessary, the AA will file a 

notification with the Office of the 

Federal Register, 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. However, the length of the 

recreational season will also not be 

reduced during the following fishing 

year if the RA determines, using the best 

scientific information available, that a 

reduction in the length of the following 

fishing season is unnecessary. The 

applicable recreational ACLs, in round 

weight, are 155,020 lb (70,316 kg) for 

2012, 161,859 lb (73,418 kg) for 2013, 

and 165,750 lb (75,183 kg) for 2014 and 

subsequent fishing years. 

(iii) Without regard to overfished 

status, if the combined commercial and 

recreational sector ACLs, as estimated 

by the SRD, are exceeded in a fishing 

year, then during the following fishing 

year, the AA will file a notification with 

the Office of the Federal Register stating 

that both the commercial and 

recreational sectors will not have an 

increase in their respective sector ACLs 

during that following fishing year. The 

applicable combined commercial and 

recreational sector ACLs, in round 

weight are 245,595 lb (111,400 kg) for 

2012, 256,430 lb (116,315 kg) for 2013, 

and 262,594 lb (119,111 kg) for 2014 

and subsequent fishing years. 

(8) Deep-water complex (including 

yellowedge grouper, blueline tilefish, 

silk snapper, misty grouper, queen 

snapper, sand tilefish, black snapper, 

and blackfin snapper)—(i) Commercial 

sector—(A) If commercial landings for 

the deep-water complex, as estimated by 

the SRD, reach or are projected to reach 

the commercial ACL of 343,869 lb 

(155,976 kg), round weight, the AA will 

file a notification with the Office of the 

Federal Register to close the commercial 

sector for this complex for the 

remainder of the fishing year. On and 

after the effective date of such a 

notification, all sale or purchase of 

deep-water complex species is 

prohibited and harvest or possession of 

these species in or from the South 

Atlantic EEZ is limited to the bag and 

possession limit. This bag and 

possession limit applies in the South 

Atlantic on board a vessel for which a 

valid Federal charter vessel/headboat 

permit for South Atlantic snappergrouper has been issued, without regard 

to where such species were harvested, 

i.e. in state or Federal waters. 

(B) If commercial landings exceed the 

ACL, and at least one of the species in 

the deep-water complex is 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, at or near the 

beginning of the following fishing year 

to reduce the ACL for that following 

year by the amount of the overage in the 

prior fishing year. 

(ii) Recreational sector. If recreational 

landings for the deep-water complex, as 

estimated by the SRD, exceed the 

recreational ACL of 332,039 lb (150,610 

kg), round weight, then during the 

following fishing year, recreational 

landings will be monitored for a 

persistence in increased landings and, if 

necessary, the AA will file a notification 

with the Office of the Federal Register, 

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. 

However, the length of the recreational 

season will also not be reduced during 

the following fishing year if the RA 

determines, using the best scientific 

information available, that a reduction 

in the length of the following fishing 

season is unnecessary. 

(9) Scamp—(i) Commercial sector— 

(A) If commercial landings for scamp, as 

estimated by the SRD, reach or are 

projected to reach the commercial ACL 

of 341,636 lb (154,963 kg), round 

weight, the AA will file a notification 

with the Office of the Federal Register 

to close the commercial sector for the 

remainder of the fishing year. On and 

after the effective date of such a 

notification, all sale or purchase of 

scamp is prohibited and harvest or 

possession of this species in or from the 

South Atlantic EEZ is limited to the bag 

and possession limit. This bag and 

possession limit applies in the South 

Atlantic on board a vessel for which a 

valid Federal charter vessel/headboat 

permit for South Atlantic snappergrouper has been issued, without regard 

to where such species were harvested, 

i.e. in state or Federal waters. 

(B) If commercial landings exceed the 

ACL, and scamp 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, at or near the 

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15928 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 52 / Friday, March 16, 2012 / Rules and Regulations 

beginning of the following fishing year 

to reduce the ACL for that following 

year by the amount of the overage in the 

prior fishing year. 

(ii) Recreational sector. If recreational 

landings for scamp, as estimated by the 

SRD, exceed the recreational ACL of 

150,936 lb (68,463 kg), round weight, 

then during the following fishing year, 

recreational landings will be monitored 

for a persistence in increased landings 

and, if necessary, the AA will file a 

notification with the Office of the 

Federal Register, 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. However, the length of the 

recreational season will also not be 

reduced during the following fishing 

year if the RA determines, using the best 

scientific information available, that a 

reduction in the length of the following 

fishing season is unnecessary. 

(10) Other SASWG combined 

(including red hind, rock hind, 

yellowmouth grouper, yellowfin 

grouper, coney, and graysby)—(i) 

Commercial sector—(A) If commercial 

landings for other SASWG, as estimated 

by the SRD, reach or are projected to 

reach the commercial ACL of 49,488 lb 

(22,447 kg), round weight, the AA will 

file a notification with the Office of the 

Federal Register to close the commercial 

sector for this complex for the 

remainder of the fishing year. On and 

after the effective date of such a 

notification, all sale or purchase of other 

SASWG is prohibited, and harvest or 

possession of these species in or from 

the South Atlantic EEZ is limited to the 

bag and possession limit. This bag and 

possession limit applies in the South 

Atlantic on board a vessel for which a 

valid Federal charter vessel/headboat 

permit for South Atlantic snappergrouper has been issued, without regard 

to where such species were harvested, 

i.e. in state or Federal waters. 

(B) If commercial landings exceed the 

ACL, and at least one of the species in 

the other SASWG complex is 

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, 

at or near the beginning of the following 

fishing year to reduce the ACL for that 

following year by the amount of the 

overage in the prior fishing year. 

(ii) Recreational sector. If recreational 

landings for other SASWG, as estimated 

by the SRD, exceed the recreational ACL 

of 48,329 lb (21,922 kg), round weight, 

then during the following fishing year, 

recreational landings will be monitored 

for a persistence in increased landings 

and, if necessary, the AA will file a 

notification with the Office of the 

Federal Register, 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. However, the length of the 

recreational season will also not be 

reduced during the following fishing 

year if the RA determines, using the best 

scientific information available, that a 

reduction in the length of the following 

fishing season is unnecessary. 

(11) Greater amberjack—(i) 

Commercial sector—(A) If commercial 

landings for greater amberjack, as 

estimated by the SRD, reach or are 

projected to reach the quota specified in 

§ 622.42(e)(3), the AA will file a 

notification with the Office of the 

Federal Register to close the commercial 

sector for the remainder of the fishing 

year. 

(B) If commercial landings exceed the 

ACL, and greater amberjack 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, 

at or near the beginning of the following 

fishing year to reduce the ACL for that 

following year by the amount of the 

overage in the prior fishing year. 

(ii) Recreational sector. If recreational 

landings for greater amberjack, as 

estimated by the SRD, exceed the 

recreational ACL of 1,167,837 lb 

(529,722 kg), round weight, then during 

the following fishing year, recreational 

landings will be monitored for a 

persistence in increased landings and, if 

necessary, the AA will file a notification 

with the Office of the Federal Register, 

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. 

However, the length of the recreational 

season will also not be reduced during 

the following fishing year if the RA 

determines, using the best scientific 

information available, that a reduction 

in the length of the following fishing 

season is unnecessary. 

(12) Lesser amberjack, almaco jack, 

and banded rudderfish complex, 

combined—(i) Commercial sector—(A) 

If commercial landings for lesser 

amberjack, almaco jack, and banded 

rudderfish, combined, as estimated by 

the SRD, reach or are projected to reach 

their combined commercial ACL of 

193,999 lb (87,996 kg), round weight, 

the AA will file a notification with the 

Office of the Federal Register to close 

the commercial sector for this complex 

for the remainder of the fishing year. On 

and after the effective date of such a 

notification, all sale or purchase of 

lesser amberjack, almaco jack, and 

banded rudderfish is prohibited, and 

harvest or possession of these species in 

or from the South Atlantic EEZ is 

limited to the bag and possession limit. 

This bag and possession limit 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) If the combined commercial 

landings for the complex exceed the 

ACL, and at least one of the species in 

the complex (lesser amberjack, almaco 

jack, and banded rudderfish) is 

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, 

at or near the beginning of the following 

fishing year to reduce the ACL for that 

following year by the amount of the 

overage in the prior fishing year. 

(ii) Recreational sector. If recreational 

landings for the complex (lesser 

amberjack, almaco jack, and banded 

rudderfish), combined, as estimated by 

the SRD, exceed the recreational ACL of 

261,490 lb (118,610 kg), round weight, 

then during the following fishing year, 

recreational landings will be monitored 

for a persistence in increased landings 

and, if necessary, the AA will file a 

notification with the Office of the 

Federal Register, 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. However, the length of the 

recreational season will also not be 

reduced during the following fishing 

year if the RA determines, using the best 

scientific information available, that a 

reduction in the length of the following 

fishing season is unnecessary. 

(13) Bar jack—(i) Commercial sector— 

(A) If commercial landings for bar jack, 

as estimated by the SRD, reach or are 

projected to reach the commercial ACL 

of 6,686 lb (3,033 kg), round weight, the 

AA will file a notification with the 

Office of the Federal Register to close 

the commercial sector for the remainder 

of the fishing year. On and after the 

effective date of such a notification, all 

sale or purchase of bar jack is prohibited 

and harvest or possession of this species 

in or from the South Atlantic EEZ is 

limited to the bag and possession limit. 

This bag and possession limit applies in 

the South Atlantic on board a vessel for 

which a valid Federal charter vessel/ 

headboat permit for South Atlantic 

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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 52 / Friday, March 16, 2012 / Rules and Regulations 15929 

snapper-grouper has been issued, 

without regard to where such species 

were harvested, i.e. in state or Federal 

waters. 

(B) If commercial landings exceed the 

ACL, and bar jack is 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, at or near the 

beginning of the following fishing year 

to reduce the ACL for that following 

year by the amount of the overage in the 

prior fishing year. 

(ii) Recreational sector. If recreational 

landings for bar jack, as estimated by the 

SRD, exceed the recreational ACL of 

13,834 lb (6,275 kg), round weight, then 

during the following fishing year, 

recreational landings will be monitored 

for a persistence in increased landings 

and, if necessary, the AA will file a 

notification with the Office of the 

Federal Register, 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. However, the length of the 

recreational season will also not be 

reduced during the following fishing 

year if the RA determines, using the best 

scientific information available, that a 

reduction in the length of the following 

fishing season is unnecessary. 

(14) Yellowtail snapper—(i) 

Commercial sector—(A) If commercial 

landings for yellowtail snapper, as 

estimated by the SRD, reach or are 

projected to reach the commercial ACL 

of 1,142,589 lb (518,270 kg), round 

weight, the AA will file a notification 

with the Office of the Federal Register 

to close the commercial sector for the 

remainder of the fishing year. On and 

after the effective date of such a 

notification, all sale or purchase of 

yellowtail snapper is prohibited and 

harvest or possession of this species in 

or from the South Atlantic EEZ is 

limited to the bag and possession limit. 

This bag and possession limit 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) If commercial landings exceed the 

ACL, and yellowtail snapper is 

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, 

at or near the beginning of the following 

fishing year to reduce the ACL for that 

following year by the amount of the 

overage in the prior fishing year. 

(ii) Recreational sector. If recreational 

landings for yellowtail snapper, as 

estimated by the SRD, exceed the 

recreational ACL of 1,031,286 lb 

(467,783 kg), round weight, then during 

the following fishing year, recreational 

landings will be monitored for a 

persistence in increased landings and, if 

necessary, the AA will file a notification 

with the Office of the Federal Register, 

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. 

However, the length of the recreational 

season will also not be reduced during 

the following fishing year if the RA 

determines, using the best scientific 

information available, that a reduction 

in the length of the following fishing 

season is unnecessary. 

(15) Mutton snapper—(i) Commercial 

sector—(A) If commercial landings for 

mutton snapper, as estimated by the 

SRD, reach or are projected to reach the 

commercial ACL of 157,743 lb (71,551 

kg), round weight, the AA will file a 

notification with the Office of the 

Federal Register to close the commercial 

sector for the remainder of the fishing 

year. On and after the effective date of 

such a notification, all sale or purchase 

of mutton snapper is prohibited and 

harvest or possession of this species in 

or from the South Atlantic EEZ is 

limited to the bag and possession limit. 

This bag and possession limit 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) If commercial landings exceed the 

ACL, and mutton snapper 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, 

at or near the beginning of the following 

fishing year to reduce the ACL for that 

following year by the amount of the 

overage in the prior fishing year. 

(ii) Recreational sector. If recreational 

landings for mutton snapper, as 

estimated by the SRD, exceed the 

recreational ACL of 768,857 lb (348,748 

kg), round weight, then during the 

following fishing year, recreational 

landings will be monitored for a 

persistence in increased landings and, if 

necessary, the AA will file a notification 

with the Office of the Federal Register, 

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. 

However, the length of the recreational 

season will also not be reduced during 

the following fishing year if the RA 

determines, using the best scientific 

information available, that a reduction 

in the length of the following fishing 

season is unnecessary. 

(16) Other snappers combined 

(including cubera snapper, gray 

snapper, lane snapper, dog snapper, 

and mahogany snapper) complex—(i) 

Commercial sector—(A) If commercial 

landings combined for this other 

snappers complex, as estimated by the 

SRD, reach or are projected to reach the 

combined complex commercial ACL of 

204,552 lb (92,783 kg), round weight, 

the AA will file a notification with the 

Office of the Federal Register to close 

the commercial sector for this complex 

for the remainder of the fishing year. On 

and after the effective date of such a 

notification, all sale or purchase of the 

snappers in this complex is prohibited, 

and harvest or possession of these 

species in or from the South Atlantic 

EEZ is limited to the bag and possession 

limit. This bag and possession limit 

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) If the combined commercial 

landings for this complex exceed the 

ACL, and at least one of the species in 

the other snappers complex is 

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, 

at or near the beginning of the following 

fishing year to reduce the ACL for that 

following year by the amount of the 

overage in the prior fishing year. 

(ii) Recreational sector. If the 

combined recreational landings for this 

snappers complex, as estimated by the 

SRD, exceed the recreational ACL of 

882,388 lb (400,244 kg), round weight, 

then during the following fishing year, 

recreational landings will be monitored 

for a persistence in increased landings 

and, if necessary, the AA will file a 

notification with the Office of the 

Federal Register, to reduce the length of 

the following recreational fishing season 

by the amount necessary to ensure 

recreational landings do not exceed the 

recreational ACL for this complex in the 

following fishing year. However, the 

length of the recreational season will 

also not be reduced during the following 

fishing year if the RA determines, using 

the best scientific information available, 

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15930 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 52 / Friday, March 16, 2012 / Rules and Regulations 

that a reduction in the length of the 

following fishing season is unnecessary. 

(17) Gray triggerfish—(i) Commercial 

sector—(A) If commercial landings for 

gray triggerfish, as estimated by the 

SRD, reach or are projected to reach the 

commercial ACL of 305,262 lb (138,465 

kg), round weight, the AA will file a 

notification with the Office of the 

Federal Register to close the commercial 

sector for the remainder of the fishing 

year. On and after the effective date of 

such a notification, all sale or purchase 

of gray triggerfish is prohibited and 

harvest or possession of this species in 

or from the South Atlantic EEZ is 

limited to the bag and possession limit. 

This bag and possession limit 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) If commercial landings exceed the 

ACL, and gray triggerfish 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, at or near the 

beginning of the following fishing year 

to reduce the ACL for that following 

year by the amount of the overage in the 

prior fishing year. 

(ii) Recreational sector. If recreational 

landings for gray triggerfish, as 

estimated by the SRD, exceed the 

recreational ACL of 367,303 lb (166,606 

kg), round weight, then during the 

following fishing year, recreational 

landings will be monitored for a 

persistence in increased landings and, if 

necessary, the AA will file a notification 

with the Office of the Federal Register, 

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. 

However, the length of the recreational 

season will also not be reduced during 

the following fishing year if the RA 

determines, using the best scientific 

information available, that a reduction 

in the length of the following fishing 

season is unnecessary. 

(18) Wreckfish—(i) Commercial 

sector. The ITQ program for wreckfish 

in the South Atlantic serves as the 

accountability measures for commercial 

wreckfish. The commercial ACL for 

wreckfish is equal to the commercial 

quota specified in § 622.42(f). 

(ii) Recreational sector. If recreational 

landings for wreckfish, as estimated by 

the SRD, exceed the recreational ACL of 

11,750 lb (5,330 kg), round weight, then 

during the following fishing year, 

recreational landings will be monitored 

for a persistence in increased landings 

and, if necessary, the AA will file a 

notification with the Office of the 

Federal Register, 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. However, the length of the 

recreational season will also not be 

reduced during the following fishing 

year if the RA determines, using the best 

scientific information available, that a 

reduction in the length of the following 

fishing season is unnecessary. 

(19) Blue runner—(i) Commercial 

sector—(A) If commercial landings for 

blue runner, as estimated by the SRD, 

reach or are projected to reach the 

commercial ACL of 188,329 lb (85,425 

kg), round weight, the AA will file a 

notification with the Office of the 

Federal Register to close the commercial 

sector for the remainder of the fishing 

year. On and after the effective date of 

such a notification, all sale or purchase 

of blue runner is prohibited and harvest 

or possession of this species in or from 

the South Atlantic EEZ is limited to the 

bag and possession limit. This bag and 

possession limit applies in the South 

Atlantic on board a vessel for which a 

valid Federal charter vessel/headboat 

permit for South Atlantic snappergrouper has been issued, without regard 

to where such species were harvested, 

i.e. in state or Federal waters. 

(B) If commercial landings exceed the 

ACL, and blue runner 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, at or near the 

beginning of the following fishing year 

to reduce the ACL for that following 

year by the amount of the overage in the 

prior fishing year. 

(ii) Recreational sector. If recreational 

landings for blue runner, as estimated 

by the SRD, exceed the recreational ACL 

of 1,101,612 lb (499,683 kg), round 

weight, then during the following 

fishing year, recreational landings will 

be monitored for a persistence in 

increased landings and, if necessary, the 

AA will file a notification with the 

Office of the Federal Register, 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. However, the 

length of the recreational season will 

also not be reduced during the following 

fishing year if the RA determines, using 

the best scientific information available, 

that a reduction in the length of the 

following fishing season is unnecessary. 

(20) Atlantic spadefish—(i) 

Commercial sector—(A) If commercial 

landings for Atlantic spadefish, as 

estimated by the SRD, reach or are 

projected to reach the commercial ACL 

of 36,476 lb (16,545 kg), round weight, 

the AA will file a notification with the 

Office of the Federal Register to close 

the commercial sector for the remainder 

of the fishing year. On and after the 

effective date of such a notification, all 

sale or purchase of Atlantic spadefish is 

prohibited and harvest or possession of 

this species in or from the South 

Atlantic EEZ is limited to the bag and 

possession limit. This bag and 

possession limit applies in the South 

Atlantic on board a vessel for which a 

valid Federal charter vessel/headboat 

permit for South Atlantic snappergrouper has been issued, without regard 

to where such species were harvested, 

i.e. in state or Federal waters. 

(B) If commercial landings exceed the 

ACL, and Atlantic spadefish 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, 

at or near the beginning of the following 

fishing year to reduce the ACL for that 

following year by the amount of the 

overage in the prior fishing year. 

(ii) Recreational sector. If recreational 

landings for Atlantic spadefish, as 

estimated by the SRD, exceed the 

recreational ACL of 246,365 lb (111,749 

kg), round weight, then during the 

following fishing year, recreational 

landings will be monitored for a 

persistence in increased landings and, if 

necessary, the AA will file a notification 

with the Office of the Federal Register, 

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. 

However, the length of the recreational 

season will also not be reduced during 

the following fishing year if the RA 

determines, using the best scientific 

information available, that a reduction 

in the length of the following fishing 

season is unnecessary. 

(21) Hogfish—(i) Commercial sector— 

(A) If commercial landings for hogfish, 

as estimated by the SRD, reach or are 

projected to reach the commercial ACL 

of 48,772 lb (22,123 kg), round weight, 

the AA will file a notification with the 

Office of the Federal Register to close 

the commercial sector for the remainder 

of the fishing year. On and after the 

effective date of such a notification, all 

sale or purchase of hogfish is prohibited 

and harvest or possession of this species 

in or from the South Atlantic EEZ is 

limited to the bag and possession limit. 

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This bag and possession limit 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) If commercial landings exceed the 

ACL, and hogfish 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, at or near the 

beginning of the following fishing year 

to reduce the ACL for that following 

year by the amount of the overage in the 

prior fishing year. 

(ii) Recreational sector. If recreational 

landings for hogfish, as estimated by the 

SRD, exceed the recreational ACL of 

98,866 lb (44,845 kg), round weight, 

then during the following fishing year, 

recreational landings will be monitored 

for a persistence in increased landings 

and, if necessary, the AA will file a 

notification with the Office of the 

Federal Register, 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. However, the length of the 

recreational season will also not be 

reduced during the following fishing 

year if the RA determines, using the best 

scientific information available, that a 

reduction in the length of the following 

fishing season is unnecessary. 

(22) Red porgy—(i) Commercial 

sector—(A) If commercial landings for 

red porgy, as estimated by the SRD, 

reach or are projected to reach the quota 

specified in § 622.42(e)(6), the AA will 

file a notification with the Office of the 

Federal Register to close the commercial 

sector for the remainder of the fishing 

year. 

(B) If commercial landings exceed the 

ACL, and red porgy 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, at or near the 

beginning of the following fishing year 

to reduce the ACL for that following 

year by the amount of the overage in the 

prior fishing year. 

(ii) Recreational sector. If recreational 

landings for red porgy, as estimated by 

the SRD, exceed the recreational ACL of 

197,652 lb (89,653 kg), round weight, 

then during the following fishing year, 

recreational landings will be monitored 

for a persistence in increased landings 

and, if necessary, the AA will file a 

notification with the Office of the 

Federal Register, 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. However, the length of the 

recreational season will also not be 

reduced during the following fishing 

year if the RA determines, using the best 

scientific information available, that a 

reduction in the length of the following 

fishing season is unnecessary. 

(23) Jolthead porgy, knobbed porgy, 

whitebone porgy, scup, and saucereye 

porgy complex—(i) Commercial sector— 

(A) If commercial landings for jolthead 

porgy, knobbed porgy, whitebone porgy, 

scup, and saucereye porgy, combined, 

as estimated by the SRD, reach or are 

projected to reach the commercial 

complex ACL of 35,129 lb (15,934 kg), 

round weight, the AA will file a 

notification with the Office of the 

Federal Register to close the commercial 

sector for this complex for the 

remainder of the fishing year. On and 

after the effective date of such a 

notification, all sale or purchase of 

jolthead porgy, knobbed porgy, 

whitebone porgy, scup, and saucereye 

porgy, is prohibited, and harvest or 

possession of these species in or from 

the South Atlantic EEZ is limited to the 

bag and possession limit. This bag and 

possession limit applies in the South 

Atlantic on board a vessel for which a 

valid Federal charter vessel/headboat 

permit for South Atlantic snappergrouper has been issued, without regard 

to where such species were harvested, 

i.e. in state or Federal waters. 

(B) If the combined commercial 

landings for this complex exceed the 

ACL, and at least one of the species in 

the complex is 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, at or near the 

beginning of the following fishing year 

to reduce the ACL for that following 

year by the amount of the overage in the 

prior fishing year. 

(ii) Recreational sector. If recreational 

landings for jolthead porgy, knobbed 

porgy, whitebone porgy, scup, and 

saucereye porgy, combined, as 

estimated by the SRD, exceed the 

recreational ACL of 112,485 lb (51,022 

kg), round weight, then during the 

following fishing year, recreational 

landings will be monitored for a 

persistence in increased landings and, if 

necessary, the AA will file a notification 

with the Office of the Federal Register, 

to reduce the length of the following 

recreational fishing season for this 

complex by the amount necessary to 

ensure recreational landings do not 

exceed the recreational ACL in the 

following fishing year. However, the 

length of the recreational season will 

also not be reduced during the following 

fishing year if the RA determines, using 

the best scientific information available, 

that a reduction in the length of the 

following fishing season is unnecessary. 

(24) White grunt, sailor’s choice, 

tomtate, and margate complex—(i) 

Commercial sector—(A) If commercial 

landings for white grunt, sailor’s choice, 

tomtate, and margate, combined, as 

estimated by the SRD, reach or are 

projected to reach the commercial 

complex ACL of 214,624 lb (97,352 kg), 

round weight, the AA will file a 

notification with the Office of the 

Federal Register to close the commercial 

sector for this complex for the 

remainder of the fishing year. On and 

after the effective date of such a 

notification, all sale or purchase of 

white grunt, sailor’s choice, tomtate, 

and margate, is prohibited, and harvest 

or possession of these species in or from 

the South Atlantic EEZ is limited to the 

bag and possession limit. This bag and 

possession limit applies in the South 

Atlantic on board a vessel for which a 

valid Federal charter vessel/headboat 

permit for South Atlantic snappergrouper has been issued, without regard 

to where such species were harvested, 

i.e. in state or Federal waters. 

(B) If the combined commercial 

landings for this complex exceed the 

ACL, and at least one of the species in 

the complex is 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, at or near the 

beginning of the following fishing year 

to reduce the ACL for that following 

year by the amount of the overage in the 

prior fishing year. 

(ii) Recreational sector. If recreational 

landings for white grunt, sailor’s choice, 

tomtate, and margate, as estimated by 

the SRD, exceed the recreational ACL of 

562,151 lb (254,987 kg), round weight, 

then during the following fishing year, 

recreational landings will be monitored 

for a persistence in increased landings 

and, if necessary, the AA will file a 

notification with the Office of the 

Federal Register, to reduce the length of 

the following recreational fishing season 

for this complex by the amount 

necessary to ensure recreational 

landings do not exceed the recreational 

ACL in the following fishing year. 

However, the length of the recreational 

season will also not be reduced during 

the following fishing year if the RA 

determines, using the best scientific 

information available, that a reduction 

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15932 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 52 / Friday, March 16, 2012 / Rules and Regulations 

in the length of the following fishing 

season is unnecessary. 

* * * * * 

(e) Atlantic dolphin—(1) Commercial 

sector. If commercial landings for 

Atlantic dolphin, as estimated by the 

SRD, reach or are projected to reach the 

commercial ACL of 1,065,524 lb 

(483,314 kg), round weight, the AA will 

file a notification with the Office of the 

Federal Register to close the commercial 

sector for the remainder of the fishing 

year. On and after the effective date of 

such a notification, all sale or purchase 

of Atlantic dolphin is prohibited and 

harvest or possession of this species in 

or from the South Atlantic EEZ is 

limited to the bag and possession limit. 

This bag and possession limit 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. 

(2) Recreational sector. If recreational 

landings for Atlantic dolphin, as 

estimated by the SRD, exceed the 

recreational ACL of 13,530,692 lb 

(6,137,419 kg), round weight, then 

during the following fishing year, 

recreational landings will be monitored 

for a persistence in increased landings 

and, if necessary, the AA will file a 

notification with the Office of the 

Federal Register, 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. However, the length of the 

recreational season will also not be 

reduced during the following fishing 

year if the RA determines, using the best 

scientific information available, that a 

reduction in the length of the following 

fishing season is unnecessary. 

(f) Atlantic wahoo—(1) Commercial 

sector. If commercial landings for 

Atlantic wahoo, as estimated by the 

SRD, reach or are projected to reach the 

commercial ACL of 64,147 lb (29,097 

kg), round weight, the AA will file a 

notification with the Office of the 

Federal Register to close the commercial 

sector for the remainder of the fishing 

year. On and after the effective date of 

such a notification, all sale or purchase 

of Atlantic wahoo is prohibited and 

harvest or possession of this species in 

or from the South Atlantic EEZ is 

limited to the bag and possession limit. 

This bag and possession limit 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. 

(2) Recreational sector. If recreational 

landings for Atlantic wahoo, as 

estimated by the SRD, exceed the 

recreational ACL of 1,427,638 lb 

(647,566 kg), round weight, then during 

the following fishing year, recreational 

landings will be monitored for a 

persistence in increased landings and, if 

necessary, the AA will file a notification 

with the Office of the Federal Register, 

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. 

However, the length of the recreational 

season will also not be reduced during 

the following fishing year if the RA 

determines, using the best scientific 

information available, that a reduction 

in the length of the following fishing 

season is unnecessary. 

(g) South Atlantic golden crab—(1) 

Commercial sector—(i) If commercial 

landings for golden crab, as estimated 

by the SRD, reach or are projected to 

reach the ACL of 2 million lb (907,185 

kg), round weight, the AA will file a 

notification with the Office of the 

Federal Register to close the golden crab 

fishery for the remainder of the fishing 

year. On and after the effective date of 

such a notification, all harvest, 

possession, sale or purchase of golden 

crab in or from the South Atlantic EEZ 

is prohibited. 

(ii) If commercial landings exceed the 

ACL, and golden crab 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, at or near the 

beginning of the following fishing year 

to reduce the ACL for that following 

year by the amount of the overage in the 

prior fishing year. 

(2) [Reserved] 

* * * * * 

■ 14. In Appendix A to part 622, Table 

4 is revised to read as follows: 

Appendix A to Part 622—Species 

Tables 

* * * * * 

TABLE 4 OF APPENDIX A TO PART

622—SOUTH ATLANTIC SNAPPERGROUPER

Balistidae—Triggerfishes: 

Gray triggerfish, Balistes capriscus 

Carangidae—Jacks: 

Blue runner, Caranx bartholomaei 

Bar jack, Caranx ruber 

Greater amberjack, Seriola dumerili 

Lesser amberjack, Seriola fasciata 

TABLE 4 OF APPENDIX A TO PART

622—SOUTH ATLANTIC SNAPPERGROUPER—Continued 

Almaco jack, Seriola rivoliana 

Banded rudderfish, Seriola zonata 

Ephippidae—Spadefishes: 

Spadefish, Chaetodipterus faber 

Haemulidae—Grunts: 

Margate, Haemulon album 

Tomtate, Haemulon aurolineatum 

Sailor’s choice, Haemulon parrai 

White grunt, Haemulon plumieri 

Labridae—Wrasses: 

Hogfish, Lachnolaimus maximus 

Lutjanidae—Snappers: 

Black snapper, Apsilus dentatus 

Queen snapper, Etelis oculatus 

Mutton snapper, Lutjanus analis 

Blackfin snapper, Lutjanus buccanella 

Red snapper, Lutjanus campechanus 

Cubera snapper, Lutjanus cyanopterus 

Gray snapper, Lutjanus griseus 

Mahogany snapper, Lutjanus mahogoni 

Dog snapper, Lutjanus jocu 

Lane snapper, Lutjanus synagris 

Silk snapper, Lutjanus vivanus 

Yellowtail snapper, Ocyurus chrysurus 

Vermilion snapper, Rhomboplites 

aurorubens 

Malacanthidae—Tilefishes: 

Blueline tilefish, Caulolatilus microps 

Golden tilefish, Lopholatilus 

chamaeleonticeps 

Sand tilefish, Malacanthus plumieri 

Percichthyidae—Temperate basses: 

Wreckfish, Polyprion americanus 

Serranidae—Groupers: 

Rock hind, Epinephelus adscensionis 

Graysby, Epinephelus cruentatus 

Speckled hind, Epinephelus drummondhayi 

Yellowedge grouper, Epinephelus 

flavolimbatus 

Coney, Epinephelus fulvus 

Red hind, Epinephelus guttatus 

Goliath grouper, Epinephelus itajara 

Red grouper, Epinephelus morio 

Misty grouper, Epinephelus mystacinus 

Warsaw grouper, Epinephelus nigritus 

Snowy grouper, Epinephelus niveatus 

Nassau grouper, Epinephelus striatus 

Black grouper, Mycteroperca bonaci 

Yellowmouth grouper, Mycteroperca 

interstitialis 

Gag, Mycteroperca microlepis 

Scamp, Mycteroperca phenax 

Yellowfin grouper, Mycteroperca venenosa 

Serranidae—Sea Basses: 

Black sea bass, Centropristis striata 

Sparidae—Porgies: 

Grass porgy, Calamus arctifrons 

Jolthead porgy, Calamus bajonado 

Saucereye porgy, Calamus calamus 

Whitebone porgy, Calamus leucosteus 

Knobbed porgy, Calamus nodosus 

Red porgy, Pagrus pagrus 

Scup, Stenotomus chrysops 

The following species are designated as ecosystem component species: 

Cottonwick, Haemulon melanurum 

Bank sea bass, Centropristis ocyurus 

Rock sea bass, Centropristis philadelphica 

Longspine porgy, Stenotomus caprinus 

Ocean triggerfish, Canthidermis sufflamen 

Schoolmaster, Lutjanus apodus 

[FR Doc. 2012–6450 Filed 3–15–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with RULES2