Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 22 / Wednesday, February 2, 2022 / Rules and Regulations 5739 

Another principal consideration is the 

objective of providing opportunities to 

harvest the available General category 

quota, based on the objectives of the 

2006 Consolidated HMS FMP and its 

amendments, including to achieve 

optimum yield on a continuing basis 

and to allow all permit categories a 

reasonable opportunity to harvest 

available BFT quota allocations (related 

to § 635.27(a)(8)(x)). For the General 

category, this includes providing 

opportunities equitably across all timeperiods. 

Given these considerations, NMFS is 

transferring 26 mt from the adjusted 

Reserve category quota to the General 

category January through March 2022 

subquota time period. Therefore, NMFS 

adjusts the General category January 

through March subquota to 75 mt, and 

adjusts the Reserve category quota to 

168 mt (194 mt¥26 mt = 168 mt). The 

General category fishery will remain 

open until March 31, 2022, or until the 

adjusted General category quota is 

reached, whichever comes first. 

Monitoring and Reporting 

NMFS will continue to monitor the 

BFT fisheries closely. Dealers are 

required to submit landing reports 

within 24 hours of a dealer receiving 

BFT. Late reporting by dealers 

compromises NMFS’ ability to timely 

implement actions such as quota and 

retention limit adjustments, as well as 

closures, and may result in enforcement 

actions. Additionally, and separate from 

the dealer reporting requirement, 

General and HMS Charter/Headboat 

category vessel owners are required to 

report the catch of all BFT retained or 

discarded dead within 24 hours of the 

landing(s) or end of each trip, by 

accessing hmspermits.noaa.gov, using 

the HMS Catch Reporting app, or calling 

(888) 872–8862 (Monday through Friday 

from 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.). 

Depending on the level of fishing 

effort and catch rates of BFT, NMFS 

may determine that additional 

adjustments (e.g., quota adjustment, 

daily retention limit adjustment, or 

closure) are necessary to ensure 

available quota is not exceeded or to 

enhance scientific data collection from, 

and fishing opportunities in, all 

geographic areas. If needed, subsequent 

adjustments will be published in the 

Federal Register. In addition, fishermen 

may call the Atlantic Tunas Information 

Line at (978) 281–9260, or access 

hmspermits.noaa.gov, for updates on 

quota monitoring and inseason 

adjustments. 

Classification 

NMFS issues this action pursuant to 

section 305(d) of the Magnuson-Stevens 

Act and regulations at 50 CFR part 635, 

and it is exempt from review under 

Executive Order 12866. 

The Assistant Administrator for 

NMFS finds that it is impracticable and 

contrary to the public interest to provide 

prior notice of, and an opportunity for 

public comment on, the transfer from 

the Reserve category to the General 

category for the following reasons: 

The regulations implementing the 

2006 Consolidated HMS FMP and 

amendments provide for inseason 

adjustments to respond to the 

unpredictable nature of BFT availability 

on the fishing grounds, the migratory 

nature of this species, and the regional 

variations in the BFT fishery. This 

fishery is currently underway and 

delaying this action would be contrary 

to the public interest as BFT landings 

could otherwise exceed the adjusted 

January through March 2022 General 

category quota and result in an earlier 

closure of the fishery while fish are 

available on the fishing grounds. 

Transferring quota from the Reserve 

category to the General category does 

not affect the overall U.S. BFT quota, 

and available data shows the adjustment 

would have a minimal risk of exceeding 

the ICCAT-allocated quota. NMFS notes 

that the public had an opportunity to 

comment on the underlying 

rulemakings that established the U.S. 

BFT quota, measures to reallocate quota, 

and the inseason adjustment criteria. 

For all of the above reasons, there is 

good cause under 5 U.S.C. 553(d) to 

waive the 30-day delay in effectiveness. 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 971 et seq. and 1801 

et seq. 

Dated: January 28, 2022. 

Ngagne Jafnar Gueye, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2022–02123 Filed 1–28–22; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 220126–0034; RTID 0648– 

XX073] 

Fisheries of the Northeastern United 

States; Atlantic Bluefish Fishery; 2022 

and Projected 2023 Specifications 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: NMFS issues final 

specifications for the 2022 Atlantic 

bluefish fishery, and projected 

specifications for 2023, as 

recommended by the Mid-Atlantic 

Fishery Management Council. This 

action is necessary to establish 

allowable harvest levels to prevent 

overfishing while enabling optimum 

yield, using the best scientific 

information available. This rule also 

informs the public of the final fishery 

specifications for the 2022 fishing year. 

DATES: Effective February 2, 2022. 

ADDRESSES: The Mid-Atlantic Fishery 

Management Council prepared an 

environmental assessment (EA) for these 

specifications that describes the action 

and other considered alternatives. The 

EA provides an analysis of the 

biological, economic, and social impacts 

of the preferred measures and other 

considered alternatives. Copies of these 

specifications, including the EA, 

Regulatory Flexibility Act Analyses, and 

other supporting documents for the 

action are available upon request from 

Dr. Christopher M. Moore, Executive 

Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery 

Management Council, Suite 201, 800 N 

State Street, Dover, DE 19901. These 

documents are also accessible via the 

internet at https://www.mafmc.org/ 

supporting-documents. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Cynthia Ferrio, Fishery Policy Analyst, 

(978) 281–9180. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery 

Management Council and the Atlantic 

States Marine Fisheries Commission 

jointly manage the Atlantic Bluefish 

Fishery Management Plan (FMP). The 

FMP requires the specification of an 

acceptable biological catch (ABC), 

commercial and recreational annual 

catch limits (ACL), commercial and 

recreational annual catch targets (ACT), 

a commercial quota, a recreational 

harvest limit (RHL), and any other 

management measures, for up to 3 years 

at a time. This action implements 

bluefish specifications for the 2022 

fishing year, and projects specifications 

for 2023, based on Council and 

Commission recommendations. 

These specifications incorporate 

several revised measures from 

Amendment 7 to the FMP (86 FR 66977; 

November 24, 2021), including the 

rebuilding plan for the stock, and 

phased-in reallocation of commercial 


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5740 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 22 / Wednesday, February 2, 2022 / Rules and Regulations 

quota among the states in the 

management unit. There was also an 

overage of the fishery ACL caused by 

recreational catch in 2020, which will 

be accounted for through a pound-forpound payback from the 2022 

recreational ACT according to the 

accountability measures (AM) defined 

in the FMP (50 CFR 648.163(d)(1)). 

There is no sector transfer in these 

specifications because the stock is 

overfished. This action contains no 

changes to the recreational management 

measures because the expected 

recreational landings under the existing 

measures are likely to fully achieve the 

RHL. 

The proposed rule for this action 

published in the Federal Register on 

December 2, 2021 (86 FR 68456), and 

comments were accepted through 

December 17, 2021. NMFS received two 

comments from the public, and no 

changes were made to the final rule as 

a result of those comments (see 

Comments and Responses for additional 

detail). Additional background 

information regarding the development 

of these specifications was provided in 

the proposed rule and is not repeated 

here. 

Final Specifications 

This action implements the Council 

and Commission’s recommended 2022 

and projected 2023 bluefish catch 

specifications, as outlined in the 

proposed rule. These specifications 

increase the 2022 fishery ABC by about 

55 percent, and raise the 2022 

commercial quota and RHL by 28 

percent and 67 percent, respectively 

(Table 1). 

TABLE 1—COMPARISON OF 2021, 2022, AND 2023 BLUEFISH SPECIFICATIONS * 

2021 2022 2023 

Million 

lb 

Metric 

tons 

Million 

lb 

Metric 

tons 

Million 

lb 

Metric 

tons 

Overfishing Limit .................................................................................................. 32.98 17,228 40.56 18,399 45.17 20,490 

ABC = Fishery ACL ............................................................................................. 16.28 7,385 25.26 11,460 30.62 13,890 

Commercial ACL = Commercial ACT .................................................................. 2.77 1,255 3.54 1,604 4.29 1,945 

Recreational ACL = Recreational ACT ................................................................ 13.51 6,130 21.73 9,856 26.34 11,945 

Recreational Accountability Measures ................................................................. 0 0 3.65 1,656 0 0 

Commercial Total Allowable Landings (TAL) ...................................................... 2.77 1,255 3.54 1,604 4.29 1,945

Recreational TAL ................................................................................................. 8.34 3,785 13.89 6,298 22.14 10,044 

Sector Transfer .................................................................................................... 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Commercial Quota ............................................................................................... 2.77 1,255 3.54 1,604 4.29 1,945 

RHL ...................................................................................................................... 8.34 3,785 13.89 6,298 22.14 10,044 

* Specifications are derived from the ABC in metric tons (mt). When values are converted to millions of pounds the numbers may slightly shift 

due to rounding. The conversion factor used is 1 mt = 2,204.6226 lb. 

The final commercial quota is 

allocated among the states from Maine 

to Florida based on percent shares 

specified in the FMP; however, 

Amendment 7 reallocated those percent 

shares, to be phased in over 7 years. 

Table 2 provides the commercial state 

allocations for 2022 and 2023 based on 

the final coastwide commercial quotas 

for each year, and the applicable 

reallocated changes to the percent 

shares specified in Amendment 7. No 

states exceeded their allocated quota in 

2020, or are projected to do so in 2021; 

therefore, no accountability measures 

for the commercial fishery are required 

for the 2022 fishing year. 

TABLE 2—2022 AND 2023 BLUEFISH STATE COMMERCIAL QUOTA ALLOCATIONS

State 

2022 2023 

Percent 

share 

Quota 

(lb) 

Quota 

(kg) 

Percent 

share 

Quota 

(lb) 

Quota 

(kg) 

Maine ........................................................................................... 0.59 20,819 9,443 0.51 21,807 9,892 

New Hampshire ........................................................................... 0.39 13,655 6,194 0.36 15,331 6,954 

Massachusetts ............................................................................. 7.20 254,748 115,552 7.69 329,578 149,494 

Rhode Island ................................................................................ 7.21 254,956 115,646 7.61 326,165 147,946 

Connecticut .................................................................................. 1.24 43,885 19,906 1.22 52,094 23,629 

New York ..................................................................................... 11.72 414,693 188,102 13.06 560,031 254,026 

New Jersey .................................................................................. 14.68 519,158 235,486 14.54 623,295 282,722 

Delaware ...................................................................................... 1.68 59,442 26,962 1.48 63,572 28,836 

Maryland ...................................................................................... 2.85 100,698 45,676 2.69 115,409 52,349 

Virginia ......................................................................................... 11.02 389,802 176,811 10.16 435,625 197,596 

North Carolina .............................................................................. 32.06 1,133,855 514,308 32.05 1,374,077 623,271 

South Carolina ............................................................................. 0.04 1,590 721 0.05 2,344 1,063 

Georgia ........................................................................................ 0.02 805 365 0.04 1,544 700 

Florida .......................................................................................... 9.31 329,137 149,294 8.55 366,585 166,280 

Total ...................................................................................... 100.00 3,537,096 1,604,400 100.01 4,287,109 1,944,600 

As previously mentioned, this action 

makes no changes to the recreational 

management measures, as the expected 

recreational landings of 13.58 million 

pounds (6,160 metric tons) under the 

existing measures are likely to achieve 

the proposed RHL. The specifications 

for 2023 are projected based on the 

available data and the second year of the 


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Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 22 / Wednesday, February 2, 2022 / Rules and Regulations 5741 

rebuilding plan model. However, there 

is a research track stock assessment 

scheduled for bluefish in 2022. The 

Council will review the projected 2023 

specifications in light of any new 

information, including this assessment, 

to determine if changes need to be made 

prior to their implementation. NMFS 

will publish a notification prior to the 

2023 fishing year to confirm these limits 

as projected or propose any necessary 

changes. 

Comments and Responses 

The public comment period for the 

proposed rule ended on December 17, 

2021, and NMFS received two 

comments from the public. One 

commenter stated that beach 

replenishment efforts are destroying 

coastal habitats and disrupting the 

coastal food chain, and this is negatively 

affecting the bluefish stock and biomass 

numbers; especially inshore where most 

of the recreational fishery occurs. This 

action affects the annual catch limits 

and quotas in the bluefish fishery. 

Environmental impacts and habitat 

conditions are analyzed in the EA for 

this action. The second commenter 

supported the action, and is in favor of 

overall increased quotas for the bluefish 

fishery. They commented that Florida 

should receive a higher percentage of 

the commercial quota, but support these 

specifications overall. State commercial 

quota allocations were the subject of a 

recent amendment to the Bluefish FMP, 

and changes to these allocations are 

beyond the scope of this specifications 

action. No changes to the proposed 

specifications were made as a result of 

these comments. 

Changes From the Proposed Rule 

There are no substantive changes from 

the proposed rule. 

Classification 

Pursuant to section 304(b)(3) of the 

Magnuson Stevens Fishery Conservation 

and Management Act (MagnusonStevens Act), the NMFS Assistant 

Administrator, Greater Atlantic Region, 

has determined that these final 

specifications are necessary for the 

conservation and management of the 

Atlantic bluefish fishery, and that they 

are consistent with the Atlantic Bluefish 

FMP, the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and 

other applicable law. 

The Assistant Administrator for 

Fisheries, NOAA, also finds good cause 

under 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3) to waive the 

30-day delay in effective date for this 

rule to ensure that the final 

specifications are in place as close as 

practicable to the start of the 2022 

bluefish fishing year, which began on 

January 1, 2022. A delay in effectiveness 

well beyond the start of this fishing year 

would be contrary to the public interest 

as it could create confusion in the 

bluefish industry, and compromise the 

effectiveness of the new measures to 

reallocate commercial quota among the 

states. Because the commercial quota is 

increasing, a delay too long into the new 

fishing year could also cause potential 

economic harm to the commercial 

bluefish fishery through lost 

opportunity to fish under the higher 

limits. 

Furthermore, this rule is being issued 

at the earliest possible date. These 

specifications include several changes 

that were implemented by Amendment 

7 to the Bluefish FMP, and were delayed 

until after the final rule for the 

amendment published on November 24, 

2021 (86 FR 66977). The proposed rule 

for these specifications published on 

December 2, 2021, with a 15-day 

comment period ending December 17, 

2021. Because of these administrative 

delays, this final rule will not be 

effective for the January 1 start of the 

fishing year; however, a 30-day delay in 

effectiveness would postpone 

implementation of final 2022 

specifications well into the fishing year, 

which is contrary to the public interest. 

State agencies also use commerciallyallocated quotas to set annual state 

management measures. The longer these 

specifications are delayed, the longer it 

will take for some states to implement 

their respective regulations. 

Finally, regulated parties do not 

require any additional time to come into 

compliance with this rule, and thus, a 

30-day delay would not benefit the 

regulated community in this regard. 

Unlike actions that require an 

adjustment period, bluefish fishery 

participants will not have to purchase 

new equipment or otherwise expend 

time or money to comply with these 

management measures. Rather, 

complying with this final rule simply 

means adhering to the new catch limits 

set for the fishing year. Fishery 

stakeholders have also been involved in 

the development of this action and are 

anticipating this rule. Therefore, NMFS 

finds good cause not to delay this final 

rule’s effectiveness, consistent with 5 

U.S.C. 553(d)(3). 

For these reasons, NMFS finds that a 

30-day delay in effectiveness would be 

contrary to the public interest, and 

therefore, waives the requirement 

consistent with 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(1) and 

(3). As a result, there is good cause to 

implement this action on February 2, 

2022. 

This final rule is exempt from review 

under Executive Order 12866 because 

the action contains no implementing 

regulations. 

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 is not repeated here. 

No comments were received regarding 

this certification and the initial 

certification remains unchanged. As a 

result, a final regulatory flexibility 

analysis is not required and none was 

prepared. 

This final rule does not duplicate, 

conflict, or overlap with any existing 

Federal rules. 

This action contains no information 

collection requirements under the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. 

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

Dated: January 26, 2022. 

Samuel D. Rauch, III, 

Deputy Assistant Administrator for 

Regulatory Programs, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2022–01996 Filed 2–1–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 


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