9072 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 39 / Monday, March 2, 2009 / Proposed Rules 

Should the length of oral comments or 

the number of commenters warrant 

doing so, the meeting may be extended 

to as late as 5 p.m. A government-issued 

photo identification (for example, a 

driver’s license) will be required for 

entrance to the building. 

We plan to record this meeting using 

an audio-digital recorder and to make 

that audio recording available through a 

link in our online docket. We will also 

provide a written summary of the 

meeting and comments and will place 

that summary in the docket. 

Dated: February 25, 2009. 

Howard L. Hime, 

Acting Director of Commercial Regulations 

and Standards. 

[FR Doc. E9–4356 Filed 2–25–09; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 4910–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 090206144–9186–01] 

RIN 0648–AX49 

Fisheries of the Northeastern United 

States; Atlantic Bluefish Fisheries; 

2009 Atlantic Bluefish Specifications 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Proposed rule; request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: NMFS proposes 2009 

specifications for the Atlantic bluefish 

fishery, including state-by-state 

commercial quotas, a recreational 

harvest limit, and recreational 

possession limits for Atlantic bluefish 

off the east coast of the United States. 

The intent of these specifications is to 

establish the allowable 2009 harvest 

levels and possession limits to attain the 

target fishing mortality rate (F), 

consistent with the Atlantic Bluefish 

Fishery Management Plan (FMP). 

DATES: Written comments must be 

received no later than 5 p.m. eastern 

standard time, on March 17, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by 0648–AX49, by any one of 

the following methods: 

• Electronic Submissions: Submit all 

electronic public comments via the 

Federal e-Rulemaking portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov, 

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

Administrator. 

• Mail: Patricia A. Kurkul, Regional 

Administrator, NMFS, Northeast 

Regional Office, 55 Great Republic 

Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930. Mark the 

outside of the envelope: ‘‘Comments on 

2009 Bluefish Specifications.’’ 

Instructions: All comments received 

are part of the public record and will 

generally be posted to http:// 

www.regulations.gov without change. 

All Personal Identifying Information (for 

example, name, address, etc.) 

voluntarily submitted by the commenter 

may be publicly accessible. Do not 

submit Confidential Business 

Information or otherwise sensitive or 

protected information. 

NMFS will accept anonymous 

comments. Attachments to electronic 

comments will be accepted in Microsoft 

Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe 

PDF file formats only. 

Copies of the specifications 

document, including the Environmental 

Assessment and Initial Regulatory 

Flexibility Analysis (EA/IRFA) and 

other supporting documents for the 

specifications, are available from Daniel 

Furlong, Executive Director, MidAtlantic Fishery Management Council, 

Room 2115, Federal Building, 300 South 

Street, Dover, DE 19901–6790. The 

specifications document is also 

accessible via the Internet at http:// 

www.nero.noaa.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Tobey Curtis, Fishery Policy Analyst, 

(978) 281–9273. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The regulations implementing the 

FMP are prepared by the Mid-Atlantic 

Fishery Management Council (Council) 

and appear at 50 CFR part 648, subparts 

A and J. Regulations requiring annual 

specifications are found at § 648.160. 

The management unit for bluefish 

(Pomatomus saltatrix) is U.S. waters of 

the western Atlantic Ocean. 

The FMP requires that the Council 

recommend, on an annual basis, total 

allowable landings (TAL) for the fishery, 

consisting of a commercial quota and 

recreational harvest limit (RHL). A 

research set aside (RSA) quota is 

deducted from the bluefish TAL (after 

any applicable transfer) in an amount 

proportional to the percentage of the 

overall TAL as allocated to the 

commercial and recreational sectors. 

The annual review process for bluefish 

requires that the Council’s Bluefish 

Monitoring Committee (Monitoring 

Committee) and Scientific and 

Statistical Committee (SSC) review and 

make recommendations based on the 

best available data, including, but not 

limited to, commercial and recreational 

catch/landing statistics, current 

estimates of fishing mortality, stock 

abundance, discards for the recreational 

fishery, and juvenile recruitment. Based 

on the recommendations of the 

Monitoring Committee and SSC, the 

Council makes a recommendation to the 

Northeast Regional Administrator (RA). 

This FMP is a joint plan with the 

Atlantic States Marine Fisheries 

Commission (Commission); therefore, 

the Commission meets during the 

annual specification process to adopt 

complementary measures. 

The Council’s recommendations must 

include supporting documentation 

concerning the environmental, 

economic, and social impacts of the 

recommendations. NMFS is responsible 

for reviewing these recommendations to 

assure they achieve the FMP objectives, 

and may modify them if they do not. 

NMFS then publishes proposed 

specifications in the Federal Register. 

After considering public comment, 

NMFS will publish final specifications 

in the Federal Register. 

In July 2008, the Monitoring 

Committee and SSC met to discuss the 

updated estimates of bluefish stock 

biomass and project fishery yields for 

2009. In August 2008, the Council 

approved the SSC and Monitoring 

Committee’s recommendations and the 

Commission’s Bluefish Board (Board) 

adopted complementary management 

measures. 

Proposed Specifications 

Updated Model Estimates 

According to Amendment 1 to the 

FMP (Amendment 1), overfishing for 

bluefish occurs when F exceeds the 

fishing mortality rate that allows 

maximum sustainable yield (FMSY), or 

the maximum F threshold to be 

achieved. The stock is considered 

overfished if the biomass (B) falls below 

the minimum biomass threshold, which 

is defined as 1/2 BMSY. Amendment 1 

also established that the long-term target 

F is 90 percent of FMSY (FMSY = 0.19, 

therefore Ftarget = 90 percent of FMSY = 

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

= 324 million lb (146,964 mt). The 

rebuilding plan established through 

Amendment 1 stipulates that the target 

fishing mortality rate (Ftarget) in 2009 be 

set at F = 0.31 (based upon earlier 

estimates ofFMSY, which was updated by 

the 41st Stock Assessment Review 

Committee (SARC–41) in 2005), or the 

status quo fishing mortality rate (F2007), 

whichever is less. 

An age-structured assessment 

program (ASAP) model for bluefish was 

approved by SARC–41 in 2005 to 


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estimate F and annual biomass. The 

ASAP model was updated for the 

purpose of estimating the current status 

of the bluefish stock; i.e., 2007 biomass 

and F estimates, in order to enable the 

Monitoring Committee and SSC to 

recommend 2009 specifications using 

landings information and survey indices 

through the 2007 fishing year. The 

results of the assessment update were as 

follows: (1) An estimated stock biomass 

for 2007, B2007 = 339.2 million lb 

(153,843 mt); and (2) projected yields 

for 2009 using Ftarget = F2007 = 0.15. 

Based on the updated 2007 estimate of 

bluefish stock biomass, the bluefish 

stock is not considered overfished: B2007

= 339.2 million lb (153,843 mt) is 

greater than the minimum biomass 

threshold, 1/2 BMSY = 162 million lb 

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

The bluefish stock, therefore, appears to 

be fully rebuilt. Estimates of fishing 

mortality have declined from 0.41 in 

1991 to 0.15 in 2007. The new model 

results also conclude that the Atlantic 

stock of bluefish is not experiencing 

overfishing; i.e., the most recent F (F2007

= 0.15) is less than the maximum F 

overfishing threshold specified by 

SARC–41 (FMSY = 0.19). 

2009 TAL 

The FMP specifies that the bluefish 

stock is to be rebuilt to BMSY over a 9- 

year period (i.e., by the year 2010). The 

FMP requires the Council to 

recommend, on an annual basis, a level 

of total allowable catch (TAC) consistent 

with the rebuilding program in the FMP. 

An estimate of annual discards is 

deducted from the TAC to calculate the 

TAL that can be made during the year 

by the commercial and recreational 

fishing sectors combined. The TAL is 

composed of a commercial quota and a 

RHL. The FMP rebuilding program 

requires the TAC for any given year to 

be set based either on the target F 

resulting from the stock rebuilding 

schedule specified in the FMP (0.31 for 

2009), or the F estimated in the most 

recent fishing year (F2007 = 0.15), 

whichever is lower. Therefore, the 2009 

recommendation is based on an 

estimated F of 0.15. An overall TAC of 

34.081 million lb (15,459 mt) was 

recommended as the coast-wide TAC by 

the Council at its August 2008 meeting 

to achieve the target fishing mortality 

rate, (F = 0.15) in 2009, and to ensure 

that the bluefish stock continues to 

remain above the long-term biomass 

target, BMSY. 

The proposed TAL for 2009 is derived 

by subtracting an estimate of discards of 

4.725 million lb (2,143 mt), the average 

discard level from 2005–2007, from the 

TAC. After subtracting estimated 

discards, the 2009 TAL would be 

approximately 4 percent greater than the 

2008 TAL, or 29.356 million lb (13,316 

mt). Based strictly on the percentages 

specified in the FMP (17 percent 

commercial, 83 percent recreational), 

the commercial quota for 2009 would be 

4.991 million lb (2,227 mt), and the RHL 

would be 24.366 million lb (11,052 mt) 

in 2009. In addition, up to 3 percent of 

the TAL may be allocated as RSA quota. 

The discussion below describes the 

recommended allocation of TAL 

between the commercial and 

recreational sectors, and the 

proportional adjustments to account for 

the recommended bluefish RSA quota. 

Proposed Commercial Quota and 

Recreational Harvest Limit 

The FMP stipulates that, in any year 

in which 17 percent of the TAL is less 

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

commercial quota may be increased up 

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

as the recreational fishery is not 

projected to land more than 83 percent 

of the TAL in the upcoming fishing 

year, and the combined projected 

recreational landings and commercial 

quota would not exceed the TAL. At the 

Monitoring Committee meeting in July 

2008, Council staff estimated projected 

recreational landings for the 2009 

fishing year by using simple linear 

regression of the recent (2001–2007) 

temporal trends in recreational 

landings. At that time, recreational 

landings were projected to reach 24.719 

million lb (11,212 mt) in 2009. 

Therefore, projected 2009 recreational 

landings were slightly greater than the 

initial 2009 RHL. As such, a transfer of 

quota to the commercial sector could 

not occur based on those data, resulting 

in a significantly reduced commercial 

quota for 2009. Any amount of transfer 

would likely have caused the TAL to be 

exceeded. This option, therefore, 

represents the preferred alternative 

recommended by the Council in its 

specifications document. 

However, the Council also 

recommended that, if later projections 

based on more complete data indicate 

that recreational harvest is below 83 

percent of the TAL, the difference be 

transferred to the commercial sector in 

the final specifications. NMFS Northeast 

Regional Office staff recently updated 

the recreational harvest projection using 

Marine Recreational Fisheries Statistics 

Survey (MRFSS) data through Wave 5 of 

2008, and estimated the recreational 

harvest to be approximately 19.528 

million lb (8,858 mt), or 67 percent of 

the TAL. Following the Council’s 

recommendation, this would allow for a 

transfer to the commercial fishery of 

4.838 million lb (2,194 mt), increasing 

the commercial quota from 4.991 

million lb (2,227 mt) to 9.828 million lb 

(4,458 mt). This commercial quota is 27 

percent greater than the 2008 quota, and 

86 percent greater than actual 2008 

commercial landings. 

RSA 

A request for proposals was published 

to solicit research proposals to utilize 

RSA in 2008 based on research 

priorities identified by the Council 

(February 8, 2008; 73 FR 7528). 

Oneresearch project that would utilize 

bluefish RSA has been preliminarily 

approved by the RA and forwarded to 

the NOAA Grants Office. Therefore, a 

97,750–lb (44,339–kg) RSA quota is 

proposed for use by this project, or other 

potential research projects, during 2009. 

This proposed rule does not represent 

NOAA’s approval of any RSA-related 

grant award, which will be included in 

a subsequent action. Consistent with the 

allocation of the bluefish RSA, the 

proposed commercial quota for 2009 

would be adjusted to 9.731 million lb 

(4,414 mt) and the proposed RHL to 

19.528 million lb (8,858 mt). Therefore, 

NMFS proposes a commercial quota of 

9.731 million lb (4,414 mt), an RHL of 

19.528 million lb (8,858 mt), and an 

RSA quota of 97,750 lb (44,339 kg) for 

the 2009 bluefish fishery. 

Proposed Recreational Possession Limit 

The Council recommends, and NMFS 

proposes, to maintain the current 

recreational possession limit of up to 15 

fish per person to achieve the RHL. 

Proposed State Commercial Allocations 

The proposed state commercial 

allocations for the recommended 2009 

commercial quota are shown in Table 1, 

based on the percentages specified in 

the FMP. These quotas do not reflect 

any adjustments for quota overages that 

may have occurred in some states in 

2008. Any potential deductions for 

states that exceeded their quota in 2008 

will be accounted for in the final rule. 

TABLE 1. PROPOSED BLUEFISH COMMERCIAL STATE-BY-STATE ALLOCATIONS FOR 2009 (INCLUDING RSA 

DEDUCTIONS). 

State Percent 

Share 

2009 Commercial 

Quota (lb) 

2009 Commercial 

Quota (kg) 

ME 0.6685 65,049 29,506 

NH 0.4145 40,333 18,295 

MA 6.7167 653,575 296,462 

RI 6.8081 662,469 300,496 

CT 1.2663 123,219 55,892 

NY 10.3851 1,010,533 458,378 

NJ 14.8162 1,441,702 653,956 


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1Some of these vessels were identified in the 

Northeast dealer data; therefore, double counting is 

possible. 

TABLE 1. PROPOSED BLUEFISH COMMERCIAL STATE-BY-STATE ALLOCATIONS FOR 2009 (INCLUDING RSA 

DEDUCTIONS).—Continued 

State Percent 

Share 

2009 Commercial 

Quota (lb) 

2009 Commercial 

Quota (kg) 

DE 1.8782 182,760 82,900 

MD 3.0018 292,093 132,493 

VA 11.8795 1,155,945 524,337 

NC 32.0608 3,119,709 1,415,100 

SC 0.0352 3,425 1,554 

GA 0.0095 924 419 

FL 10.0597 978,869 444,015 

Total 100.0001 9,730,601 4,413,801 

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 Atlantic Bluefish FMP, other 

provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens 

Act, and other applicable law, subject to 

further consideration after public 

comment. 

This action is exempt from review 

under E.O. 12866. 

An initial regulatory flexibility 

analysis (IRFA) was prepared, as 

required by section 603 of the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA). The 

IRFA describes the economic impact 

this proposed rule, if adopted, would 

have on small entities. A description of 

the action, why it is being considered, 

and the legal basis for this action are 

contained at the beginning of this 

preamble and in the SUMMARY. A 

summary of the analysis follows. A copy 

of this analysis is available from the 

Council (see ADDRESSES). 

No large entities participate in this 

fishery, as defined in section 601 of the 

RFA. Therefore, there are no 

disproportionate effects on small versus 

large entities. Information on costs in 

the fishery are not readily available and 

individual vessel profitability cannot be 

determined directly. Therefore, changes 

in gross revenues were used as a proxy 

for profitability. In the absence of 

quantitative data, qualitative analyses 

were conducted. 

The participants in the commercial 

sector were defined using two sets of 

data. First, the Northeast dealer reports 

were used to identify any vessel that 

reported having landed 1 lb (0.45 kg) or 

more of bluefish during calendar year 

2007 (the last year for which there is 

complete data). These dealer reports 

identified 709 vessels that landed 

bluefish in states from Maine to North 

Carolina. However, this database does 

not provide information about fishery 

participation in South Carolina, Georgia, 

or Florida. South Atlantic Trip Ticket 

reports were used to identify 856 

vessels1 that landed bluefish in North 

Carolina and 586 vessels that landed 

bluefish on Florida’s east coast. Bluefish 

landings in South Carolina and Georgia 

were near zero, representing a negligible 

proportion of the total bluefish landings 

along the Atlantic Coast in 2007. In 

recent years, approximately 2,063 party/ 

charter vessels may have been active in 

the bluefish fishery and/or have caught 

bluefish. 

The IRFA in the Draft EA analyzed 

three alternatives (including the no 

action/status quo alternative) for 

allocating the TAL between the 

commercial and recreational sectors of 

the fishery. Consistent with the FMP’s 

rebuilding schedule and the status of 

the resource as assessed by the revised 

SARC–41 report and the updated model 

projections, Alternative 1 was based on 

an overall TAL of 29.356 million lb 

(13,316 mt) and included an RSA quota 

of 97,750 lb (44,339 kg). Alternative 2 

applies F = 0.17 based on a rebuilt 

bluefish stock, resulting in a TAL of 

32.205 million lb (14,608 mt). 

Alternative 3, the no action/status quo 

alternative, includes an overall TAL of 

28.156 million lb (12,771 mt). The 

preferred NMFS alternative, not 

analyzed in the Draft EA, also applies 

the TAL used in the Council’s preferred 

alternative: 29.356 million lb (13,316 

mt). Outside of the difference in the 

overall TAL specification, the 

alternatives differed only in the manner 

in which the TAL was allocated 

between the commercial and 

recreational sectors. 

Alternative 1 would allocate 4.974 

million lb (2,256 mt) to the commercial 

sector and 24.285 million lb (11,015 mt) 

to the recreational sector, reflecting the 

percentage allocations specified in the 

FMP (i.e., the 17–percent commercial/ 

83–percent recreational sector split). 

Alternative 2 would allocate 7.486 

million lb (3,396 mt) to the commercial 

sector and 24.719 million lb (11,212 mt) 

to the recreational sector. Alternative 3 

would allocate 7.678 million lb (3,483 

mt) to the commercial sector and 20.380 

million lb (9,244 mt) to the recreational 

sector, reflecting the commercial harvest 

level that was in place in 2008 (i.e., 

status quo). The NMFS preferred 

alternative, not included in the Draft 

EA, would allocate 9.731 million lb 

(4,414 mt) to the commercial sector and 

19.528 million lb (8,858 mt) to the 

recreational sector (Table 2), consistent 

with the Council’s recommendation to 

utilize the recent updated projection for 

2009 recreational harvest. 

TABLE 2. PROPOSED 2009 ATLANTIC BLUEFISH SPECIFICATION ALTERNATIVES FOR TAL, COMMERCIAL QUOTA, AND RHL 

(MILLION LB). 

TAL Commercial Quota RHL 

Alternative 1 29.356 (13,316 mt) 4.974 (2,256 mt) 24.285 (11,015 mt) 

Alternative 2 32.205 (14,608 mt) 7.486 (3,396 mt) 24.719 (11,212 mt) 

Alternative 3 28.156 (12,771 mt) 7.678 (3,483 mt) 20.380 (9,244 mt) 

NMFS Preferred 29.356 (13,316 mt) 9.731 (4,414 mt) 19.528 (8,858 mt) 

For the commercial sector, the 

recommended coast-wide quota is 

approximately 26 percent higher than 

the 2008 commercial quota, and 86 

percent higher than 2008 commercial 

landings. Based on available data, 

approximately 32 percent of the TAL 

was not harvested during the 2008 

fishing year. Only one state, New York, 

fully harvested its initial bluefish quota 

and received allocation transfers from 

other states in 2008. Four additional 

states, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, 

New Jersey, and North Carolina, 

harvested more than 50 percent of their 

bluefish quotas, while the remaining 

states only harvested between 0 and 40 

percent of their allocations. Given these 

recent trends in landings, it is unlikely 

that the proposed TAL will be fully 

harvested in 2009, resulting in no 

overall coastwide economic impacts on 

the bluefish fishery. The economic 

impacts of the NMFS preferred 


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alternative are therefore likely to be 

neutral or positive relative to the status 

quo and other alternatives. For states 

that did not harvest their quotas in 

2008, the proposed 2009 quotas are also 

not expected to result in any 

detrimental impacts. For states that 

exceeded their initial quota allocations 

in 2008, but received quota transfers 

from other states, the apparent 

economic losses would likely be 

mitigated by quota transfers during 

2009, therefore resulting in no overall 

impacts. For states that exceeded their 

post-transfer quota allocations in 2008, 

any economic impacts would be solely 

due to the overage in landings. 

Impacts on individual commercial 

vessels were assessed by conducting a 

threshold analysis using the dealer 

reports for the 709 vessels that landed 

bluefish from Maine through North 

Carolina in 2007. For Alternative 1, the 

2009 commercial quota would be 

approximately 35 percent lower than in 

2008. The analysis projected that there 

would be no revenue change for 36 

vessels, while 602 vessels could incur 

slight revenue losses of less than 5 

percent. Approximately 71 vessels 

would incur revenue losses of more 

than 5 percent, including 16 vessels that 

would incur revenue losses of at least 40 

percent. The majority of these vessels 

have home ports in New York and New 

Jersey. Of the 71 vessels that may 

experience revenue losses of at least 5 

percent, 30 percent had gross sales of 

$1,000 or less, and 58 percent had gross 

sales of $10,000 or less, indicating that 

dependence on income from fishing for 

some of these vessels is very small. 

The impacts of Alternative 1 on 

commercial vessels in the South 

Atlantic were assessed using trip ticket 

data. The analysis concluded that, as a 

consequence of the 2009 allocation 

compared to 2007 landings, there would 

be revenue losses of 3.1 percent for 

vessels that land bluefish in North 

Carolina, but no loss of revenue for 

vessels that land in Florida. 

The analysis of Alternative 2, which 

includes a 2.5–percent reduction in the 

commercial quota from 2008, concluded 

that there would be no revenue change 

for 147 vessels, while 513 vessels could 

incur slight revenue losses (less than 5 

percent). Another 46 vessels could incur 

revenue losses of between 5 percent and 

29 percent, while 3 vessels could incur 

revenue losses of greater than 29 

percent. Most of the vessels projected to 

incur revenue losses of greater than 5 

percent had home ports in New York 

and New Jersey. The analysis of impacts 

of Alternative 2 on commercial vessels 

in the South Atlantic concluded that no 

revenue reduction would be expected 

for vessels that land bluefish in North 

Carolina or Florida. 

The analysis of Alternative 3, which 

maintains the status quo for commercial 

quota, concluded that there would be no 

change in revenue for 147 vessels, while 

517 vessels could incur slight revenue 

losses (less than 5 percent). Another 45 

vessels could incur revenue losses of 

between 5 percent and 49 percent, and 

zero vessels would incur revenue losses 

of greater than 49 percent. The analysis 

of impacts of Alternative 3 on vessels in 

the South Atlantic concluded that no 

revenue reduction would be expected 

for vessels that land bluefish in North 

Carolina or Florida. 

For the recreational sector of the 

fishery, there were no negative revenue 

impacts projected to occur with regard 

to the RHL, because the level considered 

in each alternative is equal to or above 

the recreational landings projected for 

2009 (19.528 million lb (8,858 mt)). The 

recommended RHL is lower than the 

other alternatives, and lower than the 

RHL implemented in 2007 (21.163 

million lb (9,599 mt)) and 2008 (20.414 

million lb (9,260 mt)). This reduction in 

RHL, however, is commensurate with an 

apparent decline in recreational bluefish 

harvest during 2008, and projected to 

continue in 2009. Although there is very 

little empirical evidence regarding the 

sensitivity of charter/party anglers to 

regulation, it is anticipated that the 

proposed harvest levels will not affect 

the demand for charter/party boat trips. 

The IRFA also analyzed the impacts 

on revenues of the proposed RSA 

amount and found that the social and 

economic impacts are minimal. 

Assuming that the full RSA of 97,750 lb 

(44,339 kg) is landed and sold to 

support the proposed research project (a 

supplemental finfish survey in the MidAtlantic), then all of the participants in 

the fishery would benefit from the 

anticipated improvements in the data 

underlying the stock assessments. 

Because the recommended overall 

commercial quota is higher than 2008 

landings, no overall negative impacts 

are expected in the commercial sector. 

Based on recent trends in the 

recreational fishery, recreational 

landings will more than likely remain 

below the recommended harvest level in 

2009. 

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

Dated: February 23, 2009. 

Samuel D. Rauch III, 

Deputy Assistant Administrator For 

Regulatory Programs, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. E9–4284 Filed 2–27–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 


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