Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 12 / Wednesday, January 19, 2022 / Proposed Rules 2737 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 622 

[Docket No. 220110–0008] 

RIN 0648–BK77 

Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of 

Mexico, and South Atlantic; Reef Fish 

Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico; 

Amendment 53 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Proposed rule; request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: NMFS proposes to implement 

management measures described in 

Amendment 53 to the Fishery 

Management Plan for the Reef Fish 

Resources of the Gulf of Mexico 

(Gulf)(FMP), as prepared by the Gulf of 

Mexico Fishery Management Council 

(Council)(Amendment 53). This 

proposed rule and Amendment 53 

would modify the allocation of Gulf red 

grouper catch between the commercial 

and recreational sectors as well as revise 

sector annual catch limits (ACLs) and 

annual catch targets (ACTs). The 

purposes of this proposed rule and 

Amendment 53 are to revise the red 

grouper sector allocations using the best 

scientific information available and to 

modify the allowable harvest of red 

grouper based on results of the recent 

stock assessment. 

DATES: Written comments must be 

received by February 18, 2022. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

on the proposed rule identified by 

‘‘NOAA–NMFS–2021–0098’’ by either 

of the following methods: 

• Electronic Submission: Submit all 

electronic public comments via the 

Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to 

www.regulations.gov and enter ‘‘NOAA– 

NMFS–2021–0098’’ in the Search box. 

Click the ‘‘Comment’’ icon, complete 

the required fields, and enter or attach 

your comments. 

• Mail: Submit all written comments 

to Peter Hood, NMFS Southeast 

Regional Office, 263 13th Avenue 

South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701. 

Instructions: Comments sent by any 

other method, to any other address or 

individual, or received after the end of 

the comment period, may not be 

considered by NMFS. All comments 

received are a part of the public record 

and will generally be posted for public 

viewing on www.regulations.gov 

without change. All personal identifying 

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

confidential business information, or 

otherwise sensitive information 

submitted voluntarily by the sender will 

be publicly accessible. NMFS will 

accept anonymous comments (enter ‘‘N/ 

A’’ in the required fields if you wish to 

remain anonymous). 

Electronic copies of Amendment 53, 

which includes an environmental 

assessment, a fishery impact statement, 

a Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) 

analysis, and a regulatory impact 

review, and electronic copies of a 

minority report submitted by four 

Council members, may be obtained from 

the Southeast Regional Office website at 

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

amendment-53-red-grouper-allocationsand-catch-levels. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Peter Hood, NMFS Southeast Regional 

Office, telephone: 727–824–5305, email: 

peter.hood@noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS and 

the Council manage the Gulf reef fish 

fishery, which includes red grouper, 

under the FMP. The Council prepared 

the FMP and NMFS implements the 

FMP through regulations at 50 CFR part 

622 under the authority of the 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act 

(Magnuson-Stevens Act). 

Background 

The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires 

NMFS and regional fishery management 

councils to prevent overfishing and 

achieve, on a continuing basis, the 

optimum yield from federally managed 

fish stocks. These mandates are 

intended to ensure fishery resources are 

managed for the greatest overall benefit 

to the nation, particularly with respect 

to providing food production and 

recreational opportunities, and 

protecting marine ecosystems. 

Unless otherwise noted, all weights in 

this proposed rule are in gutted weight. 

Red grouper in the Gulf exclusive 

economic zone (EEZ) are found 

primarily in the eastern Gulf on offshore 

hard bottom areas and are managed as 

a single stock with commercial and 

recreational ACLs and ACTs. The 

allocation of the ACL between the 

commercial and recreational sectors is 

currently 76 percent commercial and 24 

percent recreational and was set through 

Amendment 30B to the FMP in 2009 (74 

FR 17603; April 16, 2009). 

Commercial red grouper fishing is 

managed under the Grouper-Tilefish 

Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) program, 

which began January 1, 2010 through 

Amendment 29 to the FMP (74 FR 

44732; August 31, 2009, and 75 FR 

9116; March 1, 2010). Under the IFQ 

program, the commercial red grouper 

quota is based on the commercial 

sector’s red grouper ACT (commercial 

quota), and red grouper allocation is 

distributed on January 1 of each year to 

those who hold red grouper shares. Both 

red grouper and gag, another grouper 

species managed under the IFQ 

program, have a multi-use provision 

that allows a portion of the red grouper 

quota to be harvested under the gag 

allocation, and vice versa. The multi-use 

provision is based on the difference 

between the respective ACLs and ACTs. 

The recreational red grouper harvest 

is managed with catch limits, in-season 

and post-season accountability 

measures (AMs), season and area 

closures, a minimum size limit, and a 

recreational bag limit. The in-season 

AM for red grouper requires NMFS to 

close the recreational sector for the 

remainder of the fishing year when red 

grouper landings reach or are projected 

to reach the recreational ACL. If 

recreational landings exceed the red 

grouper recreational ACL in a fishing 

year, the post-season AM requires 

NMFS to shorten the length of the 

following recreational fishing season by 

the amount necessary to ensure landings 

do not exceed the recreational ACT. If 

the red grouper stock is overfished, 

NMFS must also reduce the ACL and 

ACT by the amount of the recreational 

ACL overage in the prior year. The 

recreational red grouper AMs were 

implemented in 2012 (77 FR 6988; 

February 10, 2012) and were modified 

in 2013 (78 FR 6218; January 30, 2013). 

In 2018, the Council received a 

recommendation from its Scientific and 

Statistical Committee (SSC) to reduce 

the red grouper commercial and 

recreational ACLs and ACTs, effective 

for the 2019 fishing year. This 

recommendation was based on an 

interim analysis conducted by the 

Southeast Fisheries Science Center 

(SEFSC). The Council also heard 

concerns from fishermen about the 

condition of the red grouper stock 

because commercial and recreational 

harvests were well below the respective 

quota and ACL. The SSC did not feel 

comfortable recommending a new 

acceptable biological catch based on the 

analysis but determined that the 

analysis did support recommending that 

the Council reduce the 2019 total ACL 

from 10.70 million lb (4.85 million kg) 

to 4.60 million lb (2.09 million kg). The 

Council noted the severe red tide 

conditions that occurred in the summer 

and fall of 2018 off the Florida west 

coast and decided to further reduce the 

total ACL to an amount equivalent to 


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the 2017 harvest of 4.16 million lb (1.89 

million kg). The Council took action by 

initially requesting an emergency rule to 

reduce red grouper ACLs and ACTs (84 

FR 22389, May 17, 2019), and then 

making the harvest reductions 

permanent in a subsequent framework 

action (84 FR 52036; October 1, 2019). 

The Southeast Data, Assessment, and 

Review (SEDAR) 61 assessment was 

completed in September 2019, and used 

updated recreational catch and effort 

data from the Marine Recreational 

Information Program (MRIP) Access 

Point Angler Intercept Survey (APAIS) 

and Fishing Effort Survey (FES). MRIP 

began incorporating a new survey 

design for APAIS in 2013 and replaced 

the Coastal Household Telephone 

Survey (CHTS) with FES in 2018. Prior 

to the implementation of MRIP in 2008, 

recreational landings estimates were 

generated using the Marine Recreational 

Fisheries Statistics Survey (MRFSS). As 

explained in Amendment 53, total 

recreational fishing effort estimates 

generated from MRIP–FES are generally 

higher than both the MRFSS and MRIP 

CHTS estimates. For example, the 

current red grouper total ACL and 

recreational ACL in MRIP CHTS units 

are 4.16 million lb (1.89 million kg) and 

1.00 million lb (0.45 million kg), 

respectively. In MRIP–FES units, that 

red grouper total ACL and recreational 

ACL would be an estimated 5.26 million 

lb (2.39 million kg) and 2.10 million lb 

(0.95 million kg), respectively. This 

difference is because MRIP–FES is 

designed to more accurately measure 

fishing activity, not because there was a 

sudden rise in fishing effort. 

NMFS developed calibrations models 

to adjust historic effort estimates so that 

they can be compared to new estimates 

from MRIP–FES. The calibration 

methodologies are discussed in Section 

1.1 of Amendment 53 as well as in the 

SEDAR 61 final report. In response to 

comments on the integrated draft 

environmental impact statement, NMFS 

added information to Section 1.1 and 

included links to the calibration peer 

reviews. However, this peer review 

information has been publicly available 

since the reviews were completed in 

2017 and 2018. In addition, a 

publication titled ‘‘Survey Design and 

Statistical Methods for Estimation of 

Recreational Fisheries Catch and Effort’’ 

has been available since 2018, and can 

be found at https://

media.fisheries.noaa.gov/2021-09/ 

MRIP-Survey-Design-and-StatisticalMethods-2021-09-15.pdf. This 

publication explains the different 

recreational fishing surveys and the 

time-series calibration methods. 

The SEDAR 61 assessment concluded 

that the Gulf red grouper stock is not 

overfished and overfishing is not 

occurring, but that as of 2017, the stock 

remained below the spawning stock 

biomass (SSB) at 30 percent of the 

spawning potential ratio (SPR), where 

SPR is the ratio of SSB to its unfished 

state. Based on the results of SEDAR 61, 

the Council’s SSC recommended an 

overfishing limit (OFL) of 5.35 million 

lb (2.43 million kg) and an acceptable 

biological catch (ABC) of 4.90 million lb 

(2.22 million kg). Because these catch 

levels are in MRIP–FES units, the 

recommended ABC appears to be larger 

than the current total ACL of 4.16 

million lb (1.89 million kg), but would 

actually result in a decrease in 

allowable harvest when compared to the 

5.26 million lb (2.39 million kg) MRIP– 

FES equivalent. In addition, these catch 

level recommendations assumed status 

quo sector allocations for red grouper, 

which were based in part on 1986–2005 

landings estimates generated by MRFSS. 

As explained in Amendment 53, 

retaining the current allocation would 

increase the commercial ACL but 

substantially decrease the recreational 

ACL when comparing like units. 

Therefore, the Council requested that 

the SSC review alternative catch level 

projections based on sector allocation 

alternatives that used MRIP–FES data 

and several time series (1986–2005, 

1986–2009, and 1986–2018). The SSC 

reviewed these alternative sector 

allocation scenarios, affirmed that the 

SEDAR 61 (2019) assessment, which 

included MRIP–FES recreational 

landings, represented the best scientific 

information available, and provided 

alternative catch level recommendations 

based on the allocation alternatives. 

The commercial-recreational 

allocation impacts the catch level 

projections produced by the assessment. 

As more of the total ACL is allocated to 

the recreational sector, the proportion of 

recreational discards increases. 

Recreational discard mortality rates are 

assumed to be less than commercial 

discard mortality rates but the 

magnitude of recreational discards is 

considerably greater than commercial 

discards. Generally, a fish caught and 

released by a recreational fishermen has 

a greater likelihood of survival than by 

a commercial fishermen because of how 

and where they fish. However, because 

of the much higher numbers of red 

grouper that are released by the 

recreational sector vs the commercial 

sector, the total number of discards that 

die from the recreational fishing exceeds 

those from the commercial fishing. This 

results in additional mortality for the 

stock and a lower projected annual 

yield, which means a lower OFL, ABC, 

and total ACL. However, this is not due 

to any change in how the recreational 

sector prosecutes the fishery but occurs 

because MRIP–FES estimates higher 

levels of fishing effort, and consequently 

a greater number of fish being caught, 

which includes discards and the 

associated mortality of discarding fish. 

In Amendment 53, the Council 

considered several allocation 

alternatives: Maintaining the current 

allocation, maintaining the current 

commercial ACL and allocating the 

remaining pounds to the recreational 

sector, and using the various time series 

reviewed by the SSC to adjust the 

allocation to reflect the most recent 

understanding of historical landings. 

The Council decided to adjust the 

allocation using the same years used to 

set the current allocation in Amendment 

30B to the FMP (1986–2005). The 

Council determined that this would best 

represent the historic landings for the 

years used in Amendment 30B while 

accounting for the change from MRFSS 

data to MRIP–FES data. Because the 

MRIP–FES landings estimates are 

greater than the previous estimates of 

recreational landings estimates, the 

commercial-recreational allocation 

would shift from 76 percent and 24 

percent, respectively, to 59.3 percent 

and 40.7 percent, respectively. Based on 

the results of SEDAR 61 and using the 

proposed allocation of 59.3 percent 

commercial and 40.7 percent 

recreational, the Council’s SSC 

recommended an OFL of 4.66 million lb 

(2.11 million kg) and an ABC of 4.26 

million lb (1.93 million kg). The total 

ACL is equal to the ABC. 

Management Measures Contained in 

This Proposed Rule 

If implemented, this proposed rule 

would revise the sector ACLs and ACTs 

for the Gulf red grouper stock. 

Annual Catch Limits and Annual Catch 

Targets 

The current commercial ACL and 

ACT are 3.16 million lb (1.43 million 

kg) and 3.00 million lb (1.36 million kg), 

respectively. The current recreational 

ACL and ACT are 1.00 million lb (0.45 

million kg) and 0.92 million lb (0.42 

million kg) in MRIP CHTS units, 

respectively. In MRIP FES units, the 

current recreational ACL and ACT are 

estimated to be 2.10 million lb (0.95 

million kg) and 1.93 million lb (0.88 

million kg), respectively. 

As explained previously, the ABC 

associated with the preferred allocation 

is 4.26 million lb (1.93 million kg) and 

the total ACL is equal to the ABC. 


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Applying the allocation selected by the 

Council in Amendment 53 to the total 

ACL results in a 2.53 million lb (1.15 

million kg) commercial ACL and a 1.73 

million lb (0.78 million kg) recreational 

ACL in MRIP FES units. 

The Council did not apply the ACL/ 

ACT Control Rule to set the commercial 

buffer between the ACL and ACT. 

Normally, a sector managed using an 

IFQ program without a commercial 

quota overage during its reference 

period (as was the case for the reference 

period 2016–2019) would yield a 0 

percent buffer from the control rule. 

Instead, in Amendment 53, the Council 

decided to continue using a buffer of 5 

percent between the commercial ACL 

and ACT to allow red grouper and gag 

share categories in the IFQ program to 

have a multi-use provision that allows 

a portion of the red grouper quota to be 

harvested under the gag multi-use 

allocation, and vice versa. Applying the 

5 percent buffer to the proposed 

commercial ACL of 2.53 million lb (1.15 

million kg) yields a commercial ACT of 

2.40 million lb (1.09 million kg). 

The Council did apply the ACL/ACT 

Control Rule to set the recreational 

sector buffer between the ACL and ACT. 

Using 2016–2019 MRIP FES landings 

data in the control rule produced a 

buffer of 9 percent, one percentage point 

greater than the current buffer. Applying 

this 9 percent buffer to the proposed 

recreational ACL of 1.73 million lb (0.78 

million kg) generated a recreational ACT 

of 1.57 million lb (0.71 million kg) in 

MRIP FES units. 

Minority Report 

A minority report signed by four 

Council members raises several 

objections to the preferred allocation in 

Amendment 53, including allegations 

that the preferred allocation violates 

several provisions of the MagnusonStevens Act. These issues were also 

raised in public comments on the draft 

environmental impact statement, which 

is integrated into Amendment 53. 

Responses to those comments are 

included in Appendix J of Amendment 

53. Consistent with those responses, 

NMFS has determined that the proposed 

rule is consistent with the relevant 

provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens 

Act. Any final rule will respond to 

comments on the proposed rule 

received by NMFS during the comment 

period, as well as the issues raised in 

the Council’s minority report. 

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 Amendment 53, the Reef Fish 

FMP, other provisions of the MagnusonStevens Act, and other applicable law, 

subject to further consideration after 

public comment. 

This proposed rule has been 

determined to be not significant for 

purposes of Executive Order 12866. The 

Magnuson-Stevens Act provides the 

legal basis for this proposed rule. No 

duplicative, overlapping, or conflicting 

Federal rules have been identified. In 

addition, no new reporting and recordkeeping requirements are introduced by 

this proposed rule. This proposed rule 

contains no information collection 

requirements under the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995. 

NMFS prepared an initial regulatory 

flexibility analysis (IRFA) for this 

proposed rule, as required by section 

603 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 

U.S.C. 603. The IRFA describes the 

economic impact this proposed rule, if 

adopted, would have on small entities. 

A description of this proposed rule, why 

it is being considered, and the purposes 

of this proposed rule are contained in 

the preamble and in the SUMMARY

section of the preamble. A copy of the 

full analysis is available from NMFS 

(see ADDRESSES). A summary of the 

IRFA follows. 

The objective of this proposed rule is 

to use the best scientific information 

available to establish Gulf red grouper 

sector allocations, ACLs, and ACTs, 

thereby ensuring that the sector ACLs 

accurately reflect the commercial and 

recreational sectors’ historical 

participation and the recreational ACL 

is consistent with data used to monitor 

recreational landings and trigger AMs. 

All monetary estimates in the following 

analysis are in 2019 dollars. 

Amendment 53 would revise the 

sector allocations of the total ACL for 

Gulf red grouper from 76 percent for the 

commercial sector and 24 percent for 

the recreational sector to 59.3 percent 

for the commercial sector and 40.7 

percent for the recreational sector. The 

current OFL, ABC, and total ACL are 

14.16 million lb (6.42 million kg), 13.92 

million lb (6.31 million kg), and 4.16 

million lb (1.89 million kg), 

respectively. The recreational portion of 

these values are based on MRIP–CHTS 

data. Amendment 53 would change the 

OFL and ABC to 4.66 million lb (2.11 

million kg) and 4.26 million lb (1.93 

million kg), consistent with the results 

of the most recent stock assessment and 

the recommendations of the Council’s 

SSC, and would set the total ACL equal 

to the ABC of 4.26 million lb (1.93 

million kg). The recreational portion of 

these values are based on MRIP–FES 

data. Applying the new sector 

allocations would reduce the 

commercial ACL from 3.16 million lb 

(1.43 million kg) to 2.53 million lb (1.15 

million kg) and the recreational ACL 

from 2.10 million lb (0.95 million kg) in 

MRIP–FES units, or 1.00 million lb (0.45 

million kg) in MRIP–CHTS units, to 1.73 

million lb (0.78 million kg) in MRIP– 

FES units. This proposed rule and 

Amendment 53 would retain the current 

5 percent buffer between the 

commercial ACL and ACT (quota), 

resulting in a reduction of the 

commercial ACT (quota) from 3.00 

million lb (1.36 million kg) to 2.40 

million lb (1.09 million kg). However, it 

would increase the buffer between the 

recreational ACL and ACT from 8 

percent to 9 percent, and thereby reduce 

the recreational ACT from 1.59 million 

lb (0.72 million kg) to 1.57 million lb 

(0.71 million kg) given the proposed 

reduction in the recreational ACL. As a 

result, this proposed rule is expected to 

directly regulate commercial fishing 

businesses that possess Gulf red grouper 

shares in the grouper-tilefish IFQ 

program and for-hire fishing businesses 

that target red grouper. 

The commercial red grouper quota is 

allocated annually based on the 

percentage of red grouper shares in each 

IFQ account (e.g., if an account 

possesses 1 percent of the red grouper 

shares and the commercial quota is 1.00 

million lb (0.45 million kg), then that 

account would receive 10,000 lb (4,536 

kg) of commercial red grouper quota). 

Although it is common for a single IFQ 

account with red grouper shares to be 

held by a single business, some 

businesses have multiple IFQ accounts 

with red grouper shares. As of February 

19, 2020, 495 IFQ accounts held red 

grouper shares. These accounts and red 

grouper shares were owned by 436 

businesses. Thus, it is assumed this 

proposed rule would directly regulate 

436 commercial fishing businesses. 

A valid charter-headboat (for-hire) 

Gulf reef fish vessel permit is required 

to legally harvest red grouper in the 

Gulf. NMFS does not possess complete 

ownership data regarding businesses 

that hold charter-headboat (for-hire) 

Gulf reef fish vessel permits, and thus 

potentially harvest red grouper. 

Therefore, it is not currently feasible to 

accurately determine affiliations 

between vessels and the businesses that 

own them. As a result, for purposes of 

this analysis, it is assumed each for-hire 

vessel is independently owned by a 

single business, which is expected to 

result in an overestimate of the actual 

number of for-hire fishing businesses 

directly regulated by this proposed rule. 

NMFS also does not have data 

indicating how many for-hire vessels 


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actually harvest Gulf red grouper in a 

given year. However, in 2019, there 

were 1,277 vessels with valid charterheadboat Gulf reef fish vessel permits. 

Of these 1,277 vessels, 90 vessels are 

used primarily for commercial fishing 

purposes and thus are not considered 

for-hire fishing businesses in this 

analysis. Further, Gulf red grouper is 

only targeted and almost entirely 

harvested in waters off the west coast of 

Florida. Of the 1,277 vessels with valid 

charter-headboat Gulf reef fish vessel 

permits, 799 were homeported in 

Florida. Of these permitted vessels, 60 

are primarily used for commercial 

fishing rather than for-hire fishing 

purposes and thus are not considered 

for-hire fishing businesses. In addition, 

48 of these permitted vessels are 

considered headboats. Headboats take a 

relatively large, diverse set of anglers to 

harvest a diverse range of species on a 

trip, and therefore do not typically 

target a particular species. Therefore, it 

is assumed that no headboat trips would 

be canceled, and thus no headboats 

would be directly affected as a result of 

this proposed rule. However, charter 

vessels often target red grouper. Of the 

799 vessels with valid charter-headboat 

Gulf reef fish vessel permits that are 

homeported in Florida, 691 vessels are 

charter vessels. A recent study reported 

that 76 percent of charter vessels with 

valid charter-headboat permits in the 

Gulf were active in 2017 (i.e., 24 percent 

were not fishing). A charter vessel 

would only be directly regulated by this 

proposed rule if it is fishing. Given this 

information, our best estimate of the 

number of charter vessels that are likely 

to harvest Gulf red grouper in a given 

year is 525, and thus this proposed rule 

is estimated to directly regulate 525 forhire fishing businesses. 

For RFA purposes, NMFS has 

established a small business size 

standard for businesses, including their 

affiliates, whose primary industry is 

commercial fishing (50 CFR 200.2). A 

business primarily involved in the 

commercial fishing industry is classified 

as a small business if it is independently 

owned and operated, is not dominant in 

its field of operation (including its 

affiliates), and its combined annual 

receipts (revenue) are not in excess of 

$11 million for all of its affiliated 

operations worldwide. NMFS does not 

collect revenue data specific to 

commercial fishing businesses that have 

IFQ accounts; rather, revenue data are 

collected for commercial fishing vessels 

in general. It is not possible to assign 

revenues earned by commercial fishing 

vessels back to specific IFQ accounts 

and the businesses that possess them 

because quota is often transferred across 

many IFQ accounts before it is used by 

a vessel for harvesting purposes, and 

specific units of quota cannot be 

tracked. However, from 2014 through 

2018, the maximum annual gross 

revenue earned by a single vessel was 

about $2.39 million, which occurred in 

2015. The average gross revenue per 

vessel was about $143,000 in that year. 

By 2018, the maximum and average 

gross revenue per vessel had decreased 

to about $1.04 million and $96,000, 

respectively. Based on this information, 

all commercial fishing businesses 

directly regulated by this proposed rule 

are determined to be small entities for 

the purpose of this analysis. 

For other industries, the Small 

Business Administration has established 

size standards for all major industry 

sectors in the U.S., including for-hire 

businesses (NAICS code 487210). A 

business primarily involved in for-hire 

fishing is classified as a small business 

if it is independently owned and 

operated, is not dominant in its field of 

operation (including its affiliates), and 

has annual receipts (revenue) not in 

excess of $8 million for all its affiliated 

operations worldwide. The maximum 

annual gross revenue for a single 

headboat in the Gulf was about $1.38 

million in 2017. On average, annual 

gross revenue for headboats in the Gulf 

is about three times greater than annual 

gross revenue for charter vessels, 

reflecting the fact that businesses that 

own charter vessels are typically smaller 

than businesses that own headboats. 

Based on this information, all for-hire 

fishing businesses directly regulated by 

this proposed rule are determined to be 

small businesses for the purpose of this 

analysis. 

If implemented, NMFS expects this 

proposed rule to directly regulate 436 of 

the 532 businesses with IFQ accounts, 

or approximately 82 percent of those 

commercial fishing businesses. Further, 

NMFS expects this proposed rule to 

directly regulate 525 of the 1,187 forhire fishing businesses valid charter/ 

headboat permits in the Gulf reef fish 

fishery, or approximately 44 percent of 

those for-hire fishing businesses. NMFS 

has determined that, for the purpose of 

this analysis, all directly regulated 

commercial and for-hire fishing 

businesses are small entities. Based on 

this information, NMFS expects the 

proposed rule to affect a substantial 

number of small entities. 

Because revenue and cost data are not 

collected for the commercial fishing 

businesses that are expected to be 

directly regulated by this proposed rule, 

direct estimates of their economic 

profits are not available. However, 

economic theory suggests that annual 

allocation (quota) prices should reflect 

expected annual economic profits, 

which allows economic profits to be 

estimated indirectly. Further, the 436 

commercial fishing businesses that own 

red grouper shares, and therefore 

receive red grouper quota at the 

beginning of each calendar year, also 

own shares and receive quota in the 

other IFQ share categories i.e., red 

snapper, gag, shallow-water grouper, 

deep-water grouper, and tilefish. These 

businesses earn economic profits 

because of their ownership of these 

shares as well their red grouper shares. 

However, economic profits are only 

realized if the quota allocated to these 

businesses with shares is actually used 

for harvesting purposes (i.e., no 

economic profits will accrue unless the 

quota results in the production and sale 

of seafood). Because the average annual 

commercial landings of red grouper 

from 2014–2018 and the proposed red 

grouper commercial quota are almost 

identical, NMFS assumes that all of the 

red grouper commercial quota will be 

harvested in the foreseeable future. 

Similarly, because practically all of the 

commercial red snapper quota has been 

used for harvesting in recent years, 

NMFS assumes that all of the 

commercial red snapper quota allocated 

to these businesses will be harvested in 

the foreseeable future. However, based 

on 2015–2019 data, NMFS expects that 

only 84 percent of the deep-water 

grouper commercial quota, 50 percent of 

the gag commercial quota, 35 percent of 

the shallow-water grouper commercial 

quota, and 78 percent of the tilefish 

commercial quota allocated to these 

businesses will be used for harvesting in 

the foreseeable future. Given these quota 

utilization rates in combination with 

average annual allocation prices in 2019 

and annual commercial quotas in 2020 

by share category, total economic profits 

for commercial fishing businesses with 

red grouper shares are estimated to be 

at least $18.61 million. This estimate 

does not account for any economic 

profits that may accrue to commercial 

fishing businesses that own red grouper 

shares from the harvest of non-IFQ 

species. Such profits are likely to be 

small because harvest of IFQ species 

accounts for around 85 percent of 

commercial IFQ vessels’ average annual 

gross revenue, and economic profits 

from the harvest of non-IFQ species 

tend to be much smaller than those from 

IFQ species. Given that there are 436 

commercial fishing businesses that own 

red grouper shares, the average annual 

expected economic profit per 


jspears on DSK121TN23PROD with PROPOSALS1
Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 12 / Wednesday, January 19, 2022 / Proposed Rules 2741 

commercial fishing business is at least 

$42,700. 

However, most of these economic 

profits (82 percent) are the result of 

owning red snapper shares. Only 

approximately $1.77 million (or 9.5 

percent) of their economic profits are 

due to the ownership of red grouper 

shares. This proposed rule is only 

expected to affect economic profits from 

the ownership of red grouper shares. 

Specifically, the action that proposes to 

reduce the OFL, ABC, total ACL, and 

the commercial sector allocation of the 

total ACL results in a reduction of the 

red grouper commercial ACL from 3.16 

million lb (1.43 million kg) to 2.53 

million lb (1.15 million kg) and the 

commercial red grouper ACT (quota) 

from 3.00 million lb (1.36 million kg) to 

2.40 million lb (1.09 million kg). Given 

an annual allocation price of $.59/lb in 

2019 for red grouper, this reduction in 

the commercial red grouper quota is 

expected to reduce economic profits to 

these commercial fishing businesses by 

$354,000, or about $812 per business. 

Thus, economic profit is expected to be 

reduced by no more than 1.9 percent on 

average per commercial fishing 

business. 

Based on the most recent information 

available, average annual profit is 

$26,514 per charter vessel. The action 

that modifies the sector allocations, 

OFL, ABC, and total ACL results in a 

reduction of the red grouper recreational 

ACL from 2.10 million lb (0.95 million 

kg) in MRIP–FES units to 1.73 million 

lb (0.78 million kg) in MRIP–FES units. 

The ACL reduction is expected to 

reduce the recreational season length by 

12 days, and thereby cause the number 

of trips targeting red grouper on charter 

vessels to decrease by 665 angler trips. 

Net Cash Flow per Angler Trip (CFpA) 

is the best available estimate of profit 

per angler trip by charter vessels. CFpA 

on charter vessels is estimated to be 

$141 per angler trip. Thus, NMFS 

expects the estimated reduction in 

charter vessel profits from this action to 

be $93,723, or $179 per vessel. 

The action that proposes to increase 

the buffer between the recreational ACL 

and recreational ACT from 8 percent to 

9 percent would decrease the 

recreational ACT from 1.59 million lb 

(0.72 million kg) to 1.57 million lb (0.71 

million kg). The ACT reduction is only 

germane if the recreational sector 

exceeds its ACL in the future, as that 

would trigger the post-season AM, 

causing the recreational sector to be 

constrained to the recreational ACT 

rather than the recreational ACL. 

Average annual landings in the 

recreational sector from 2016 through 

2019 are greater than the proposed 

recreational ACL, and so it is possible 

that the post-season AM may be 

triggered, causing the recreational 

sector, including the for-hire 

component, to be constrained to the 

ACT. If the post-season AM is triggered, 

the additional reduction in the 

recreational season length caused by 

this action is estimated to be 4 days, 

which NMFS expects to cause the 

number of trips targeting red grouper on 

charter vessels to decrease by an 

additional 204 angler trips. Thus, if the 

post-season AM is triggered, NMFS 

estimates that the reduction in charter 

vessel profits would be $28,764, or $55 

per vessel. 

Based on the above, NMFS expects 

the total reduction in profits for charter 

vessels from this proposed rule to be no 

more than $122,487, or $234 per charter 

vessel. Thus, profit would potentially be 

reduced by approximately 0.9 percent 

on average per for-hire fishing business. 

Five alternatives, including the status 

quo, were considered for the proposed 

action to set the sector allocations for 

red grouper at 59.3 percent for the 

commercial sector and 40.7 percent for 

the recreational sector, and set the OFL, 

ABC, total ACL, commercial ACL, and 

recreational ACL at 4.66 million lb (2.11 

million kg), 4.26 million lb (1.93 million 

kg), 4.26 million lb (1.93 million kg), 

2.53 million lb (1.15 million kg), and 

1.73 million lb (0.78 million kg) in 

MRIP–FES units, respectively. The 

status quo alternative would have 

maintained the current sector 

allocations for red grouper at 76 percent 

for the commercial sector and 24 

percent for the recreational sector, and 

maintained the OFL, ABC, total ACL, 

commercial ACL, and recreational ACL 

of 14.16 million lb (6.42 million kg), 

13.92 million lb (6.31 million kg), 4.16 

million lb (1.89 million kg), 3.16 million 

lb (1.43 million kg), and 1.00 million lb 

(0.45 million kg) in MRIP–CHTS units, 

respectively. In general, the status quo 

alternative was not selected because it is 

not based on the best scientific 

information available. More specifically, 

the status quo alternative would 

continue to use estimates based on 

MRIP–CHTS data rather than MRIP–FES 

data for the recreational sector, even 

though MRIP–FES data have been 

determined to be the best scientific 

information available for estimating and 

monitoring landings and effort in the 

recreational sector. The status quo 

alternative would have also set OFL and 

ABC above the values produced by the 

most recent stock assessment and 

recommended by the Council’s SSC. 

A second alternative would have 

maintained the current sector 

allocations for red grouper at 76 percent 

for the commercial sector and 24 

percent for the recreational sector, and 

resulted in an OFL, ABC, total ACL, 

commercial ACL, and recreational ACL 

of 5.35 million lb (2.43 million kg), 4.90 

million lb (2.22 million kg), 4.90 million 

lb (2.22 million kg), 3.72 million lb (1.69 

million kg), and 1.18 million lb (0.54 

million kg) in MRIP–FES units, 

respectively. This alternative was not 

selected as it would have resulted in 

considerably lower net economic 

benefits to the Nation compared to the 

proposed action. In addition, because of 

the conversion from MRIP–CHTS to 

MRIP–FES, the second alternative 

would have also effectively resulted in 

a significant reallocation of the total 

ACL from the recreational sector to the 

commercial sector, thereby causing a 

much larger, adverse proportional effect 

on the recreational sector relative to the 

commercial sector compared to the 

proposed action, which was not 

considered to be fair and equitable. 

A third alternative would have set the 

sector allocations for red grouper at 68.7 

percent for the commercial sector and 

31.3 percent for the recreational sector, 

and resulted in an OFL, ABC, total ACL, 

commercial ACL, and recreational ACL 

of 5.03 million lb (2.28 million kg), 4.60 

million lb (2.09 million kg), 4.60 million 

lb (2.09 million kg), 3.16 million lb (1.43 

million kg), and 1.44 million lb (0.65 

million kg) in MRIP–FES units, 

respectively. Similar to the second 

alternative, the third alternative was not 

selected as it would have resulted in 

considerably lower net economic 

benefits to the Nation compared to the 

proposed action. Further, the third 

alternative would have maintained the 

current commercial ACL despite the 

required reduction in the total ACL. 

While this would have resulted in no 

effects on the commercial sector, it 

would have also resulted in a 

reallocation of the total ACL from the 

recreational sector to the commercial 

sector and thereby caused large adverse 

effects on the recreational sector 

compared to the proposed action, which 

was not considered to be fair and 

equitable. 

A fourth alternative would have set 

the sector allocations for red grouper at 

60.5 percent for the commercial sector 

and 39.5 percent for the recreational 

sector, and resulted in an OFL, ABC, 

total ACL, commercial ACL, and 

recreational ACL of 4.70 million lb (2.13 

million kg), 4.30 million lb (1.95 million 

kg), 4.30 million lb (1.95 million kg), 

2.60 million lb (1.18 million kg), and 

1.70 million lb (0.77 million kg) in 

MRIP–FES units, respectively. A fifth 

alternative would have set the sector 

allocations for red grouper at 59.7 


jspears on DSK121TN23PROD with PROPOSALS1
2742 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 12 / Wednesday, January 19, 2022 / Proposed Rules 

percent for the commercial sector and 

40.3 percent for the recreational sector, 

and resulted in an OFL, ABC, total ACL, 

commercial ACL, and recreational ACL 

of 4.67 million lb (2.12 million kg), 4.28 

million lb (1.94 million kg), 4.28 million 

lb (1.94 million kg), 2.56 million lb (1.16 

million kg), and 1.72 million lb (0.78 

million kg) in MRIP–FES units, 

respectively. The fourth and fifth 

alternatives were not selected because 

they did not use the same time series of 

years as the original sector allocation 

and therefore would not as accurately 

reflect the historical participation of the 

recreational and commercial sectors in 

the fishery, which is contrary to the 

Council’s objectives. These alternatives 

were also not selected as they resulted 

in slightly lower net economic benefits 

to the Nation compared to the proposed 

action. 

Two alternatives, including the status 

quo, were considered for the proposed 

action to maintain the buffer between 

the commercial ACL and commercial 

ACT of 5 percent and increase the buffer 

between the recreational ACL and 

recreational ACT from 8 percent to 9 

percent. The status quo alternative 

would have maintained the buffer 

between the commercial ACL and 

commercial ACT of 5 percent and 

maintained the buffer between the 

recreational ACL and recreational ACT 

of 8 percent. The status quo alternative 

was not selected because the current 

recreational buffer is based on MRFSS 

data, which are no longer used for quota 

monitoring because they are no longer 

the best scientific information available. 

The second alternative would have 

reduced the commercial buffer from 5 

percent to 0 percent and increased the 

recreational buffer from 8 percent to 9 

percent. Both the red grouper and gag 

share categories in the commercial 

grouper-tilefish IFQ program have a 

multi-use provision that allows a 

portion of the red grouper quota to be 

harvested under the gag allocation, and 

a portion of the gag quota to be 

harvested under the red grouper 

allocation. Each year, the program 

assigns a portion of each shareholder’s 

red grouper and gag’s allocations to the 

multi-use allocation category. The intent 

of the multi-use provision is to provide 

for allocation if either gag or red grouper 

are landed as incidental catch. The 

second alternative was not selected 

because, based on recent data, the gag 

multi-use allocation would be zero. As 

a result, red grouper could not be 

landed with gag allocation, which is 

contrary to the purpose of the multi-use 

provision in the grouper-tilefish IFQ 

program. 

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 622 

Annual catch limit, Fisheries, Fishing, 

Gulf, Red grouper, Reef fish. 

Dated: January 10, 2022. 

Samuel D. Rauch, III 

Deputy Assistant Administrator for 

Regulatory Programs, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

For the reasons set out in the 

preamble, 50 CFR part 622 is proposed 

to be amended as follows: 

PART 622—FISHERIES OF THE 

CARIBBEAN, GULF OF MEXICO, 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 § 622.39, revise paragraph 

(a)(1)(iii)(C) to read as follows: 

§ 622.39 Quotas. 

* * * * * 

(a) * * * 

(1) * * * 

(iii) * * * 

(C) Red grouper—2.40 million lb (1.09 

million kg). 

* * * * * 

■ 3. In § 622.41, revise the last sentence 

of paragraph (e)(1) and revise paragraph 

(e)(2)(iv) to read as follows: 

§ 622.41 Annual catch limits (ACLs), 

annual catch targets (ACTs), and 

accountability measures (AMs). 

* * * * * 

(e) * * * 

(1) * * * The commercial ACL for red 

grouper, in gutted weight, is 2.53 

million lb (1.15 million kg). 

(2) * * * 

(iv) The recreational ACL for red 

grouper, in gutted weight, is 1.73 

million lb (0.78 million kg). The 

recreational ACT for red grouper, in 

gutted weight, is 1.57 million lb (0.71 

million kg). 

* * * * * 

[FR Doc. 2022–00646 Filed 1–18–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 665 

[Docket No. 220111–0010] 

RIN 0648–BK74 

Pacific Island Fisheries; Pelagic 

Longline Gear and Operational 

Requirements 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Proposed rule; request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: NMFS proposes to prohibit 

the use of wire leaders in the Hawaii 

deep-set longline fishery, and require 

the removal of fishing gear from any 

oceanic whitetip shark caught in all of 

the region’s domestic longline fisheries. 

The proposed action is intended to 

increase post-hooking survival of 

oceanic whitetip sharks. 

DATES: NMFS must receive comments 

by February 18, 2022. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

on this proposed rule, identified by 

NOAA–NMFS–2021–0099, by either of 

the following methods: 

• Electronic Submission: Submit all 

electronic comments via the Federal eRulemaking Portal. Go to http://

www.regulations.gov and enter NOAA– 

NMFS–2021–0099 in the Search box, 

click the ‘‘Comment’’ icon, complete the 

required fields, and enter or attach your 

comments. 

• Mail: Send written comments to 

Michael D. Tosatto, Regional 

Administrator, NMFS Pacific Islands 

Regional Office (PIRO), 1845 Wasp 

Blvd., Bldg. 176, Honolulu, HI 96818. 

Instructions: NMFS may not consider 

comments sent by any other method, to 

any other address or individual, or 

received after the end of the comment 

period. All comments received are a 

part of the public record and will 

generally be posted for public viewing 

on www.regulations.gov without change. 

All personal identifying information 

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

The Western Pacific Fishery 

Management Council (Council) and 

NMFS prepared a draft environmental 


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