[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 200 (Wednesday, October 16, 2024)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 83440-83445]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-23841]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 241009-0267]
RTID 0648-XE226


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; 2025 Specifications 
for the Summer Flounder, Scup, Black Sea Bass, and Bluefish Fisheries

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Proposed rule; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS proposes 2025 specifications for the summer flounder, 
scup, black sea bass, and bluefish fisheries. The implementing 
regulations for the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fishery 
Management Plan and the Bluefish Fishery Management Plan require us to 
publish specifications for the upcoming fishing year for each of these 
species and to provide an opportunity for public comment. The proposed 
specifications establish allowable harvest levels for these species 
that will prevent overfishing, consistent with the most recent 
scientific information.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before October 31, 2024.

ADDRESSES: A plain language summary of this proposed rule is available 
at https://www.regulations.gov/docket/NOAA-NMFS-2024-0117. You may 
submit comments on this document, identified by NOAA-NMFS-2024-0117, by 
the following method:
    <bullet> Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public 
comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Visit https://www.regulations.gov and type NOAA-NMFS-2024-0117 in the Search box. 
Click on the ``Comment'' icon, complete the required fields, and enter 
or attach your comments.
    Instructions: Comments sent by any other method, to any other 
address or individual, or received after the end of the comment period, 
may not be considered by NMFS. All comments received are a part of the 
public record and will generally be posted for public viewing on 
https://www.regulations.gov without change. All personal identifying 
information (e.g., name, address, etc.), confidential business 
information, or otherwise sensitive information submitted voluntarily 
by the sender will be publicly accessible. NMFS will accept anonymous 
comments (enter ``N/A'' in the required fields if you wish to remain 
anonymous).
    A Supplemental Information Report (SIR) was prepared for the 2025 
black sea bass specifications. Environmental Assessments (EA) were 
prepared for the 2024 and projected 2025 summer flounder and scup 
specifications and 2024 and projected 2025 bluefish specifications. 
Copies of the EAs are available on request from Dr. Christopher M. 
Moore, Executive Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, 
Suite 201, 800 North State Street, Dover, DE 19901. The EAs are also 
accessible via the internet at https://www.mafmc.org/supporting-documents.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Emily Keiley, Fishery Policy Analyst, 
(978) 281-9116, or <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#2d4840444154034648444148546d43424c4c034a425b"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="01646c686d782f6a64686d6478416f6e60602f666e77">[email protected]</span></a>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

General Background

    The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) and the 
Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (Commission) cooperatively 
develop management measures for the summer flounder, scup, black sea 
bass, and bluefish fisheries. The Council, pursuant to the Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) 
develops recommendations regarding fisheries in Federal waters seaward 
of New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, 
and North Carolina. The Commission, pursuant to the Atlantic Coastal 
Fisheries Cooperative Management Act, addresses fisheries in state 
waters from Florida to Maine. These bodies work together in the 
development of complementary fishery management plans (FMP) for species 
like summer flounder, scup, black sea bass, and bluefish that are 
harvested in both Federal and state waters, and each year these bodies 
work together to develop specifications for these fisheries. The 
Council provides its recommendations to NMFS, and NMFS engages in a 
Federal rulemaking process by which the agency adopts specifications 
that become binding on the Federal fisheries. Specifications in these 
fisheries include various catch and landing subdivisions, such as the 
commercial and recreational sector annual catch limits (ACL), annual 
catch targets (ACT), and sector-specific landing limits (i.e., the 
commercial fishery quota and recreational harvest limit (RHL)) 
established for 1 to 3 years at a time. Adjustments to commercial 
management measures are also considered in the specifications process. 
The process for measures used to manage the recreational fisheries 
(i.e., minimum fish sizes, seasonal closures, and possession 
restrictions) for these four species occurs separately and is not 
discussed further in this proposed rule.
    The Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass FMP and the Bluefish 
FMP and their implementing regulations establish the process for 
establishing specifications for each of those four species. All 
requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, including the 10 national 
standards, also apply to specifications. The FMPs also contain formulas 
to divide the catch limits into commercial and recreational fishery 
allocations, state-by-state quotas, and quota periods, depending on the 
species in question. This proposed rule outlines the application of the 
existing allocation provisions for each species and provides

[[Page 83441]]

the resulting allocations by state and sector, as appropriate, for each 
species.
    The Council's Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) met on 
July 23-25, 2024, to recommend acceptable biological catches (ABC) for 
the summer flounder, scup, black sea bass, and bluefish fisheries. The 
FMPs' implementing regulations require the involvement of a monitoring 
committee in the specification process for each species. The Monitoring 
Committees recommend any reduction in catch limits from the SSC-
recommended ABCs to offset management uncertainty and other commercial 
management measures (e.g., mesh requirements, minimum commercial fish 
sizes, gear restrictions, possession restrictions, and area 
restrictions) needed for these four fisheries. The Monitoring 
Committees met on August 1 and 2, 2024, to develop specification-
related recommendations for each fishery.
    Following the SSC and Monitoring Committee meetings, the Council 
and the Commission's Summer Flounder, Scup, Black Sea Bass, and 
Bluefish Management Boards considered the recommendations of the SSC, 
the Monitoring Committees, and public comments and made their 
specification recommendations at a meeting held on August 12-15, 2024. 
While the Boards' actions were finalized at the August meeting, the 
Council's recommendations must be reviewed by NMFS to ensure that they 
comply with the FMPs, implementing regulations, and applicable law. 
NMFS also must conduct notice-and-comment rulemaking to propose and 
implement the final specifications.

Proposed 2025 Specifications

Summer Flounder Specifications

    Consistent with the statutory scheme described above, NMFS is 
proposing the Council and Board-recommended 2025 summer flounder catch 
and landings limits shown in table 1.

     Table 1--Summary of 2025 Summer Flounder Fishery Specifications
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                         Million pounds     Metric ton
            Specifications                    (lb)             (mt)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Overfishing Limit (OFL)...............             24.97          11,325
ABC...................................             19.32           8,761
Commercial ACL = ACT..................             10.62           4,819
Commercial Quota......................              8.79           3,987
Recreational ACL = ACT................              8.69           3,942
Recreational Harvest Limit............              6.35           2,879
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The proposed initial 2025 state-by-state summer flounder quotas are 
provided in table 2. As required in Amendment 21 to the Summer 
Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass FMP (85 FR 80661), if the commercial 
quota in any year is higher than 9.55 million lb (4,332 mt), the first 
9.55 million lb (4,322 mt) is distributed according to the baseline 
formula, and any additional quota beyond this threshold will be 
distributed in equal shares to all states except Maine, Delaware, and 
New Hampshire, which would split 1 percent of the additional quota. 
Because this year's quota is below the threshold, the state-by-state 
allocations below are based on the baseline allocations that were 
established through Amendment 2 (57 FR 57358) and modified by Amendment 
4 (58 FR 49937) to the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass FMP. 
Any long-standing overages or potential 2024 overages may result in 
adjustments to these proposed quotas in the final rule.

                           Table 2--Initial 2025 Summer Flounder State-by-State Quotas
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                   Initial 2025    Initial 2025
                              State                                Percent share   Quotas * (lb)   Quotas * (mt)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ME..............................................................         0.04756           4,180            1.90
NH..............................................................         0.00046              40            0.02
MA..............................................................         6.82046         599,507          271.93
RI..............................................................        15.68298       1,378,507          625.28
CT..............................................................         2.25708         198,394           89.99
NY..............................................................         7.64699         672,157          304.89
NJ..............................................................        16.72499       1,470,098          666.83
DE..............................................................         0.01779           1,564            0.71
MD..............................................................         2.03910         179,233           81.30
VA..............................................................        21.31676       1,873,707          849.90
NC..............................................................        27.44584       2,412,443        1,094.27
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................................             100       8,789,830        3,987.02
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Initial quotas do not account for any previous overages.

    This action makes no changes to the current commercial management 
measures, including the minimum fish size (14-inch (36-centimeters 
(cm)) total length), gear requirements, and possession limits. This 
action also proposes no changes to the recreational management 
measures. Any such changes would take place through a separate action.

Black Sea Bass Specifications

    At the August 2024, meeting, the Council and the Commission's Black 
Sea Bass Board were unable to agree on the 2025 black sea bass 
specifications. The Black Sea Bass Board adopted a coastwide quota for 
black sea bass that is the same as the 2024 quota, while the Council 
adopted a quota that represents a 20-percent reduction from 2024. If 
implemented, the differing quotas

[[Page 83442]]

would likely have significant negative socioeconomic impacts on Federal 
black sea bass permit holders. The regulations at 50 CFR 648.143(e) 
require that, in the case of different specifications, the Regional 
Administrator will take administrative action to align measures to 
prevent these differential effects on Federal permit holders. Given the 
current status of the black sea bass stock, which is well above the 
FMP's definition of the biomass capable of producing maximum 
sustainable yield, and the potentially significant social and economic 
harm to Federal permit holders that would result from divergent state 
and Federal quotas, we are proposing to implement 2025 black sea bass 
specifications consistent with those adopted by the Commission.
    The proposed 2025 black sea bass catch and landings limits are 
shown in table 3.

         Table 3--2025 Black Sea Bass Catch and Landings Limits
------------------------------------------------------------------------
             Specifications                 Million lb          mt
------------------------------------------------------------------------
OFL.....................................           17.01           7,716
ABC.....................................           16.66           7,557
Expected Commercial Discards............            1.50             680
Expected Recreational Discards..........            2.89           1,311
Commercial ACL = ACT....................            7.50           3,401
Commercial Quota........................            6.00           2,721
Recreational ACL = ACT..................            9.16           4,156
RHL.....................................            6.27           2,845
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    This action proposes no changes to the other commercial management 
measures for black sea bass, including the commercial minimum fish size 
(11-inch (27.94-cm) total length) and gear requirements. This action 
also proposes no changes to the recreational management measures. Any 
such changes to recreational management measures for black sea bass 
would occur through a separate action.
    On October 1, 2024 (89 FR 79778), we implemented Amendment 23 to 
the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass FMP, which changes the 
Federal coastwide commercial in-season accountability measure such that 
the black sea bass commercial fishery will now close when the quota 
plus an additional buffer of up to 5 percent is projected to be landed. 
The intent of this buffer is to minimize negative economic impacts when 
the coastwide quota is reached before all states have fully harvested 
their allocations due to overages in individual states.
    Pursuant to Amendment 23, each year, through the specification 
process, the Council and Board will recommend and NMFS will establish a 
buffer from 0 to 5 percent. For 2025, the Council and Board have 
recommended a 5-percent commercial in-season closure buffer, and this 
action proposes this buffer. Given recent patterns in the fishery, an 
in-season closure is not expected for 2025; however, in the unlikely 
event it is needed, a 5-percent buffer could have socioeconomic 
benefits with little risk to stock status.

Scup Specifications

    The Council and Board-recommended 2025 scup catch and landings 
limits are shown in table 4.

               Table 4--2025 Scup Catch and Landing Limits
------------------------------------------------------------------------
             Specifications                 Million lb          mt
------------------------------------------------------------------------
OFL.....................................           42.19          19,135
ABC.....................................           41.31          18,740
Expected Commercial Discards............            7.38           3,318
Expected Recreational Discards..........            2.08             944
Commercial ACL = ACT....................           26.85          12,181
Commercial Quota........................           19.54           8,863
Recreational ACL = ACT..................           14.46           6,559
RHL.....................................           12.31           5,585
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass FMP established three 
commercial fishery quota periods with corresponding percentages of the 
total quota for each period. Applying those percentages, which NMFS 
does not propose to change via this action, to the quota provided in 
Table 4 results in the allocations to quota periods outlined in table 
5.

                       Table 5--Commercial Scup Quota Allocations for 2025 by Quota Period
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                          Quota period                            Percent share         lb              mt
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Winter I.......................................................            45.11       8,814,300           3,998
Summer.........................................................            38.95       7,610,663           3,452
Winter II......................................................            15.94       3,114,608           1,413
                                                                ------------------------------------------------
    Total......................................................           100.00      19,539,570           8,863
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


[[Page 83443]]

    The current quota period possession limits are not changed by this 
action and are outlined in table 6.

                           Table 6--Commercial Scup Possession Limits by Quota Period
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                  Federal possession limits (per
                                                                                               trip)
                          Quota period                            Percent share  -------------------------------
                                                                                        lb              kg
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Winter I.......................................................            45.11          50,000          22,680
Summer.........................................................            38.95             N/A             N/A
Winter II......................................................            15.94          12,000           5,443
                                                                ------------------------------------------------
    Total......................................................            100.0             N/A             N/A
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Winter I scup commercial possession limit is proposed to drop 
to 1,000 lb (454 kg) when 80 percent of that period's allocation is 
landed. If the Winter I quota is not fully harvested, the remaining 
quota would be transferred to Winter II. The Winter II possession limit 
may be adjusted (in association with a transfer of unused Winter I 
quota to the Winter II period) via announcement in the Federal 
Register. The regulations specify that the Winter II possession limit 
would increase to different levels consistent with any increase in the 
quota as described in table 7.

          Table 7--Potential Increase in Winter II Possession Limits Based on the Amount of Unused Scup Rolled Over From Winter I to Winter II
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
       Initial Winter II possession limit         Rollover from Winter I to Winter     Increase in initial Winter II    Final Winter II possession limit
------------------------------------------------                 II                           possession limit           after rollover from Winter I to
                                                -----------------------------------------------------------------------             Winter II
              lb                      kg                                                                               ---------------------------------
                                                        lb                kg                lb                kg               lb               kg
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12,000.......................  5,443...........  0-499,999.......  0-226,796.......  0...............  0..............  12,000.........  5,443
12,000.......................  5,443...........  500,000-999,999.  226,796-453,592.  1,500...........  680............  13,500.........  6,123
12,000.......................  5,443...........  1,000,000-1,499,  453,592-680,388.  3,000...........  1,361..........  15,000.........  6,804
                                                  999.
12,000.......................  5,443...........  1,500,000-1,999,  680,389-907,184.  4,500...........  2,041..........  16,500.........  7,484
                                                  999.
12,000.......................  5,443...........  2,000,000- *      907,185-1,133,98  6,000...........  2,722..........  18,000.........  8,165
                                                  2,500,000.        1.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* This process of increasing the possession limit in 1,500 lb (680 kg) increments would continue past 2,500,000 lb (1,122,981 kg), but we end here for
  the purpose of this example.

    This action proposes no changes to the 2025 commercial management 
measures for scup, including the minimum fish size (9-inch (22.9-cm) 
total length), gear requirements, and quota period possession limits. 
This action also proposes no changes to the 2025 recreational 
management measures. Any such changes would take place through a 
separate action.

Bluefish Specifications

    The Council and Board-recommended 2025 bluefish catch and landings 
limits are shown in table 8.

        Table 8--Summary of 2025 Bluefish Fishery Specifications
------------------------------------------------------------------------
             Specifications                 Million lb          mt
------------------------------------------------------------------------
OFL.....................................           27.49          12,467
ABC.....................................           21.83           9,903
Commercial ACL = ACT....................            3.06           1,386
Commercial Quota........................            3.03           1,375
Recreational ACL = ACT..................           18.78           8,517
Recreational Harvest Limit..............           15.70           7,121
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The coastwide commercial quota is allocated to coastal states from 
Maine to Florida based on percent shares specified in the Bluefish FMP. 
Table 9 provides the proposed commercial state allocations based on the 
Council-recommended coastwide commercial quota for 2025 and the phased-
in changes to the percent share allocations to the states specified in 
Amendment 7. No states exceeded their allocated quota in 2023, or are 
projected to do so in 2024; therefore, no accountability measures for 
the commercial fishery are required for the 2025 fishing year based on 
the data available at this time.

[[Page 83444]]



                            Table 9--2025 Bluefish State Commercial Quota Allocations
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                             State                                Percent share     Quota (lb)      Quota (kg)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Maine..........................................................             0.35          10,582           4,800
New Hampshire..................................................             0.30           9,123           4,138
Massachusetts..................................................             8.66         262,663         119,142
Rhode Island...................................................             8.41         255,061         115,694
Connecticut....................................................             1.16          35,309          16,016
New York.......................................................            15.74         477,518         216,598
New Jersey.....................................................            14.26         432,630         196,238
Delaware.......................................................             1.09          32,990          14,964
Maryland.......................................................             2.38          72,265          32,779
Virginia.......................................................             8.44         256,125         116,176
North Carolina.................................................            32.04         972,012         440,897
South Carolina.................................................             0.07           2,250           1,021
Georgia........................................................             0.06           1,897             860
Florida........................................................             7.04         213,625          96,899
                                                                ------------------------------------------------
    Total......................................................              100       3,033,561       1,376,000
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    This action proposes no changes to the 2025 commercial or 
recreational management measures for bluefish.

Classification

    Pursuant to section 304(b)(1)(A) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the 
NMFS Assistant Administrator has determined that this proposed rule is 
consistent with the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass FMP, the 
Bluefish FMP, other provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and other 
applicable law, subject to further consideration after public comment.
    This action is exempt from review under Executive Order 12866.
    The Chief Counsel for Regulation of the Department of Commerce 
certified to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business 
Administration that this proposed rule, if adopted, would not have a 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. 
The basis for the certification follows.
    We conducted an evaluation of the potential socioeconomic impacts 
of the proposed measures in conjunction with the EAs and a SIR. The 
proposed action would set the 2025 catch and landings limits for summer 
flounder, scup, black sea bass, and bluefish.
    Vessel ownership data were used to identify all individuals who own 
fishing vessels. Vessels were then grouped according to common owners. 
The resulting groupings were then treated as entities, or affiliates 
for purposes of identifying small and large businesses that may be 
affected by this action.
    Affiliates were identified as primarily commercial fishing 
affiliates if the majority of their revenues in 2023 came from 
commercial fishing. Some of these affiliates may have also held party/
charter permits. Affiliates were identified as primarily for-hire 
fishing affiliates if the majority of their revenues in 2023 came from 
for-hire fishing. Some of these affiliates may have also held 
commercial permits. Affiliates were identified as small or large 
businesses based on their average revenues during 2019-2023.
    A total of 915 affiliates derive the majority of their revenue from 
commercial fishing operations. Of these affiliates, 905 are classified 
as small businesses, and 10 are classified as large businesses. A total 
of 362 primarily for-hire affiliates were identified as potentially 
impacted by this action. All 362 of these for-hire affiliates were 
categorized as small businesses.

Expected Impacts on Commercial Entities

    The 10 potentially impacted primarily commercial large business 
affiliates had average total annual revenues of $19.1 million and 
$303,600 on average in annual revenues from summer flounder, scup, 
black sea bass, and/or bluefish during 2019-2023. On average, summer 
flounder, scup, black sea bass, and/or bluefish accounted for about 2 
percent of total annual revenues for these ten large businesses.
    The 905 potentially impacted primarily commercial small business 
affiliates had average total annual revenues of $719,300 and $37,500 on 
average in annual revenues from commercial landings of summer flounder, 
scup, black sea bass, and/or bluefish during 2019-2023. Summer 
flounder, scup, and/or black sea bass accounted for an average of 5 
percent of the total revenues for these 905 small businesses.
    The proposed 2025 quotas for black sea bass and summer flounder are 
constant compared to 2024. The proposed 2025 bluefish quota is 
approximately 25 percent higher than the 2024 quota. The proposed 2025 
quota for scup would decrease by approximately 7 percent compared to 
2024. This decrease in the scup quota is the only plausible pathway for 
the proposed rule to have an adverse impact on small entities. However, 
the proposed 2025 scup commercial quotas are expected to result in 
similar levels of commercial scup landings and revenues as the past 
several years. Commercial scup landings appear to be influenced more by 
market factors than the annual commercial quota. The proposed 2025 scup 
quota is higher than recent commercial landings which have ranged 
between 12 and 13 million lb since 2018. It is unlikely that commercial 
effort or landings would change given recent trends.

Expected Impacts on Recreational Entities

    As previously stated, 362 for-hire fishing affiliates were 
identified as potentially impacted by this action based on the 
definition above. All these affiliates were categorized as small 
businesses based on their average 2019-2023 revenues. These 362 small 
businesses had average total annual revenues of $133,500 during 2019-
2023. Their average revenues from recreational for hire fishing (for a 
variety of species) was $132,500. On average, recreational fishing 
accounted for 99 percent of the total revenues for these 362 small 
businesses.
    It is not possible to derive what proportion of the for-hire 
revenues came from fishing activities for an individual species. 
Nevertheless, given the popularity of summer flounder, scup, black sea 
bass, and bluefish as recreational species, revenues generated from 
these species are likely important

[[Page 83445]]

to many of these businesses, at least at certain times of the year.
    For-hire revenues are impacted by a variety of factors, including 
demand for for-hire trips for summer flounder, scup, black sea bass, 
bluefish, and other potential target species, as well as weather, the 
economy, and other factors. Recreational measures (possession, season 
and size limits) for 2025 will remain the same as measures implemented 
in 2024 for summer flounder, scup, and bluefish. Potential changes for 
black sea bass recreational measures will be considered in a separate 
action, but with an unchanged recreational quota it is unlikely that 
any changes would significantly affect revenues. In any event, any 
changes to the black sea bass recreational measures will be evaluated 
when they are developed.
    This action is not expected to adversely impact revenues for 
commercial and recreational vessels that fish for summer flounder, 
scup, black sea bass, and bluefish. Because this proposed rule, if 
adopted, will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial 
number of small entities, an initial regulatory flexibility analysis is 
not required and none has been prepared.
    This proposed rule contains no information collection requirements 
under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 648

    Fisheries, Fishing, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

    Dated: October 10, 2024.
Jennifer Leigh Quan,
Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National 
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-23841 Filed 10-15-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P


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