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station’s Internet Web site, the licensee’s 

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publicly accessible. In the former case, 

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broadcast disclosures is sufficient. In 

the latter case, the station shall 

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identify the complete, direct Web site 

address where the terms are posted each 

time the station mentions or advertises 

the contest. Material contest terms that 

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* * * * * 

[FR Doc. 2014–29633 Filed 12–18–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Parts 622 

RIN 0648–BE20 

Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of 

Mexico, and South Atlantic; SnapperGrouper Fishery Off the Southern 

Atlantic States; Amendment 32 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of availability; request 

for comments. 

SUMMARY: The South Atlantic Fishery 

Management Council (Council) has 

submitted Amendment 32 to the Fishery 

Management Plan for the SnapperGrouper Fishery of the South Atlantic 

Region (FMP) for review, approval, and 

implementation by NMFS. Amendment 

32 proposes actions to remove blueline 

tilefish from the deep-water complex; 

revise definitions of management 

thresholds for blueline tilefish; establish 

blueline tilefish commercial and 

recreational sector annual catch limits 

(ACLs), accountability measures (AMs), 

and recreational annual catch targets 

(ACTs); establish a blueline tilefish 

commercial trip limit; revise the 

blueline tilefish recreational bag limit; 

and revise the deep-water complex 

ACLs, AMs, and recreational ACT. The 

purpose of Amendment 32 is to specify 

ACLs and AMs for blueline tilefish to 

end overfishing of the stock and 

maintain catch levels consistent with 

achieving optimum yield (OY) for the 

blueline tilefish and deep-water 

complex resource. 

DATES: Written comments must be 

received on or before February 17, 2015. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

on Amendment 32, identified by 

‘‘NOAA–NMFS–2014–0145’’ by any of 

the following methods: 

• Electronic Submission: Submit all 

electronic public comments via the 

Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to 

www.regulations.gov/

#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2014- 

0145, click the ‘‘Comment Now!’’ icon, 

complete the required fields, and enter 

or attach your comments. 

• Mail: Submit written comments to 

Rick DeVictor, Southeast Regional 

Office, NMFS, 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, 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). Attachments to 

electronic comments will be accepted in 

Microsoft Word, Excel, or Adobe PDF 

file formats only. 

Electronic copies of Amendment 32, 

which includes an environmental 

assessment, an initial regulatory 

flexibility analysis (IRFA), and a 

regulatory impact review, may be 

obtained from the Southeast Regional 

Office Web site at http://

sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/sustainable_

fisheries/s_atl/sg/2014/am32/

index.html. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rick 

DeVictor, telephone: 727–824–5305, or 

email: rick.devictor@noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

snapper-grouper fishery of the South 

Atlantic is managed under the FMP. The 

FMP was prepared by the Council and 

is implemented through regulations at 

50 CFR part 622 under the authority of 

the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act 

(Magnuson-Stevens Act). 

Background 

A benchmark assessment for the 

blueline tilefish stock in the South 

Atlantic was conducted through the 

Southeast, Data, Assessment, and 

Review (SEDAR) process in 2013 

(SEDAR 32). At its October 2013 

meeting, the Council’s Scientific and 

Statistical Committee (SSC) and the 

Council determined the 2013 stock 

assessment was based on the best 

scientific information available and 

considered the assessment to be 

appropriate for management decisions. 

The assessment determined that the 

blueline tilefish stock is undergoing 

overfishing in the South Atlantic. As 

required by the Magnuson-Stevens Act, 

the Council must therefore implement 

measures to end overfishing within 2 

years of notification of an overfishing 

status. NMFS notified the Council of the 

blueline tilefish stock status on 

December 6, 2013. 

The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires 

that ACLs and AMs be implemented to 

prevent overfishing and achieve the OY 

from a fishery. An ACL is the level of 

annual catch of a stock that if exceeded, 

triggers AMs. AMs are management 

controls to prevent ACLs from being 

exceeded and to correct any overages of 

ACLs if they occur. Two examples of 

AMs include an in-season closure if 

landings reach or are projected to reach 

the ACL, and a post-season overage 

adjustment which would reduce the 

ACL if an overage occurred during the 

previous fishing year. 

NMFS published an emergency rule 

on April 17, 2014 (79 FR 21636) that 

implemented temporary measures to 

reduce overfishing of blueline tilefish 

while Amendment 32 was being 

developed. Those measures were 

extended through a temporary rule on 

October 14, 2014 (79 FR 61262, October 

10, 2014) and are effective through April 

18, 2015, while Amendment 32 and its 

associated rulemaking are under review. 

The temporary measures of the 

emergency action include the following: 

Removal of blueline tilefish from the 

deep-water complex, specification of 

sector ACLs and AMs for blueline 

tilefish, and revision to the deep-water 

complex ACL to reflect the removal of 

blueline tilefish from the complex. 

Amendment 32 proposes to remove 

blueline tilefish from the deep-water 

complex; revise definitions of 

management thresholds for blueline 

tilefish; establish blueline tilefish 

commercial and recreational sector 

ACLs, AMs, and recreational ACTs; 

establish a blueline tilefish commercial 

trip limit; revise the blueline tilefish 

recreational bag limit; and revise the 

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deep-water complex ACLs, AMs, and 

recreational ACT. 

Removal of Blueline Tilefish From the 

Deep-Water Complex 

Amendment 32 would remove 

blueline tilefish from the deep-water 

complex. In 2012, the Comprehensive 

ACL Amendment established a deepwater complex that contained the 

following eight species: Blueline 

tilefish, yellowedge grouper, silk 

snapper, misty grouper, queen snapper, 

sand tilefish, black snapper, and 

blackfin snapper (77 FR 15916, March 

16, 2012). The Comprehensive ACL 

Amendment also specified ACLs and 

AMs for the complex where the 

complex’s ACLs were based upon an 

acceptable biological catch (ABC) 

recommendation provided by the 

Council’s SSC. In the absence of stock 

assessments, the ABCs for these and 

other unassessed species in the 

Comprehensive ACL Amendment were 

based on median or average catch. The 

Council placed most unassessed 

snapper-grouper species into complexes 

because many unassessed snappergrouper species are data-limited stocks 

that are known to have issues with 

species identification and/or extreme 

fluctuations in relative landings through 

time due to rarity, or lack of targeted 

fishing effort. 

As a result of blueline tilefish being 

assessed through SEDAR 32 and the 

Council’s SSC providing an assessmentbased ABC recommendation for blueline 

tilefish, the Council decided to remove 

blueline tilefish from the deep-water 

complex and establish individual ACLs 

and AMs for the blueline tilefish stock. 

The Council has determined that 

sufficient information to establish ACLs 

and AMs is now available for blueline 

tilefish and the rationale for grouping 

the species with other data-limited 

species in the deep-water complex no 

longer applies. 

Modify the Definitions for Blueline 

Tilefish Management Thresholds 

Definitions of maximum sustainable 

yield (MSY) and OY were established 

for blueline tilefish in Amendment 11 to 

the FMP (64 FR 59126, November 2, 

1999). Amendment 32 would revise 

these definitions based upon the most 

recent scientific information contained 

in SEDAR 32. Amendment 32 would 

revise the MSY value for blueline 

tilefish and set the OY equal to ACL as 

described later in this notice. 

Blueline Tilefish Commercial and 

Recreational ACLs, AMs, and 

Recreational ACTs 

Amendment 32 would implement 

individual blueline tilefish commercial 

and recreational ACLs and AMs (based 

on the revised ABC for blueline tilefish 

specified in Amendment 32) to end 

overfishing of the stock. In Amendment 

32, the Council defines the blueline 

tilefish stock ACL equal to 98 percent of 

the ABC. Due to improved data 

reporting, the Council has consistently 

chosen to set ACL equal to ABC for 

snapper-grouper species. However, for 

blueline tilefish in Amendment 32, the 

Council decided to set the stock ACL at 

98 percent of the proposed ABC to 

account for landings that occur north of 

the Council’s area of jurisdiction. 

Approximately 2 percent of the total 

blueline tilefish harvested were landed 

north of the North Carolina/Virginia 

border. Therefore, this amendment 

would establish blueline tilefish stock 

ACLs (combined commercial and 

recreational ACLs, equivalent to a total 

ACL), of 35,632 lb (16,162 kg) for 2015, 

53,457 lb (24,248 kg) for 2016, 71,469 lb 

(32,418 kg) for 2017, and 87,974 lb 

(39,904 kg) for 2018, and subsequent 

fishing years. All ACL weights are 

expressed in round weight. 

Additionally, Amendment 32 would 

establish sector specific ACLs for the 

blueline tilefish commercial and 

recreational sectors based upon the 

Council’s previously established 

blueline tilefish allocations of 50.07 

percent and 49.93 percent for the 

commercial and recreational sectors, 

respectively. The commercial ACLs 

would be 17,841 lb (8,093 kg) for 2015, 

26,766 lb (12,141 kg) for 2016, 35,785 lb 

(16,232 kg) for 2017, and 44,048 lb 

(19,980 kg) for 2018, and subsequent 

fishing years. The recreational ACLs 

would be 17,791 lb (8,070 kg) for 2015, 

26,691 lb (12,107 kg) for 2016, 35,685 lb 

(16,186 kg) for 2017, and 43,925 lb 

(19,924 kg) for 2018, and subsequent 

fishing years. 

Amendment 32 would implement 

commercial and recreational sector inseason AMs for blueline tilefish. If 

commercial or recreational landings for 

blueline tilefish reach or are projected to 

reach the applicable ACL, then the 

commercial or recreational sector, as 

applicable, would be closed for the 

remainder of the fishing year. The 

recreational sector would not have an 

in-season closure if the Regional 

Administrator (RA) determines, using 

the best scientific information available, 

that a closure would be unnecessary. 

Additionally, if the total ACLs are 

exceeded in a fishing year, then during 

the following fishing year, the 

commercial and recreational sectors will 

not have an increase in their respective 

sector ACLs. 

Amendment 32 would also 

implement post-season ACL overage 

adjustments (paybacks) for blueline 

tilefish. For the commercial sector, if 

commercial landings exceed the 

commercial ACL, and the combined 

commercial and recreational ACL (stock 

ACL) is exceeded, and blueline tilefish 

are overfished, then during the 

following fishing year the commercial 

ACL would be reduced for that 

following year by the amount of the 

commercial ACL overage in the prior 

fishing year. For the recreational sector, 

if recreational landings for blueline 

tilefish exceed the applicable 

recreational ACL, and the combined 

commercial and recreational ACL (stock 

ACL) is exceeded, and blueline tilefish 

are overfished, then the recreational 

fishing season in the following fishing 

year would be reduced to ensure 

recreational landings do not exceed the 

recreational ACL the following fishing 

year. Additionally, the recreational ACL 

would be reduced by the amount of the 

recreational ACL overage from the prior 

fishing year. However, the recreational 

fishing season and recreational ACL 

would not be reduced if the RA 

determines, using the best scientific 

information available that no reduction 

is necessary. 

Amendment 32 would also establish 

recreational ACTs for blueline tilefish. 

The ACT is the amount of annual catch 

of a stock or stock complex that is the 

management target of the fishery and 

accounts for management uncertainty in 

controlling the actual catch below the 

ACL so that the ACL is not exceeded. 

The Council is using the ACT as a 

management reference point to track 

performance of the management 

measures imposed on the recreational 

sector, and no AMs are triggered if 

recreational landings reach the 

recreational ACT. The recreational ACT 

is set less than the recreational ACL so 

that if, in the future, the Council chose 

to limit recreational harvest to the 

recreational ACT, it could serve as an 

in-season AM for the recreational sector. 

The recreational ACT could then help to 

reduce or possibly eliminate the need to 

close or implement post-season 

recreational AMs that are meant to 

correct for ACL overages. 

Additional Blueline Tilefish 

Management Measures 

Amendment 32 would implement a 

commercial trip limit and revise the 

recreational bag limit for blueline 

tilefish. This amendment would 

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establish a commercial trip limit of 100 

lb (45 kg), gutted weight; 112 lb (51 kg), 

round weight. The trip limit is expected 

to slow the rate of harvest, potentially 

lengthening the commercial season 

during a fishing year, and reduce the 

risk of the commercial ACL from being 

exceeded. 

For the recreational bag limit, blueline 

tilefish are currently part of the 

aggregate grouper and tilefish bag limit 

of 3 fish per person per day. 

Amendment 32 would revise the 

blueline tilefish bag limit within the 

aggregate to set a specific blueline 

tilefish bag limit of one per vessel per 

day for the months of May through 

August. There would be no retention of 

blueline tilefish by the recreational 

sector from January through April and 

from September through December each 

year. A bag limit of one blueline tilefish 

per vessel per day and an 8-month 

annual closure was determined to best 

meet the needs of ending overfishing, 

reducing recreational harvest, and 

potentially reducing blueline tilefish 

discards if blueline tilefish are targeted 

less during the open season because of 

the lower bag limit. The Council 

determined that the shortened summer 

seasonal opening could provide 

increased stability for planning 

purposes to recreational fishermen as it 

could minimize the risk of an in-season 

closure and the recreational ACL being 

exceeded, which may require postseason AMs in the following fishing 

year. In addition, the Council 

determined that an opening during the 

summer months could increase safety at 

sea by allowing fishing to occur in the 

generally calmer summer weather 

compared to a January 1 season opening 

during the winter. The vessel limit and 

fishing season dates for the blueline 

tilefish recreational sector would match 

what is being proposed by the Council 

for snowy grouper through Regulatory 

Amendment 20 to the FMP. The Council 

determined that similar recreational 

management measures and fishing 

seasons would be beneficial to the fish 

stocks as both species are caught at the 

same depths and have similar high 

release mortality rates. 

Deep-Water Complex Commercial and 

Recreational ACLs, AMs, and 

Recreational ACT 

Amendment 32 would revise the 

ACLs and AMs for the deep-water 

complex (composed of yellowedge 

grouper, silk snapper, misty grouper, 

queen snapper, sand tilefish, black 

snapper, and blackfin snapper). The 

ACLs are being revised for two reasons. 

First, as Amendment 32 proposes to 

remove blueline tilefish from the deepwater complex, this amendment would 

remove the current blueline tilefish 

portion from the complex total ACL. 

The permanent blueline tilefish portion 

of the complex ACL is 631,341 lb 

(286,371 kg), round weight, and the total 

deep-water complex ACL is 711,025 lb 

(322,516 kg), round weight. The 

emergency rule set both a new, separate 

blueline tilefish ACL of 224,100 lb 

(101,650 kg), round weight and a 

revised deep-water complex ACL 

without blueline tilefish of 79,684 lb 

(36,144 kg), round weight. Second, 

through Amendment 29 to the FMP, 

which is currently in rulemaking, the 

Council is proposing a revision to the 

ABC control rule for data-poor species 

based on recommendations from the 

SSC. If Amendment 29 is approved and 

implemented, the portion of the deepwater complex ABC for silk snapper and 

yellowedge grouper would change. The 

Council submitted Amendment 29 to 

the Secretary of Commerce on October 

14, 2014, the notice of availability for 

the amendment was published in the 

Federal Register on November 24, 2014 

(79 FR 69819), and the proposed rule 

published in the Federal Register on 

December 8, 2014 (79 FR 72567). 

Therefore, Amendment 32 would 

change the deep-water complex total 

ACL (both sectors without blueline 

tilefish but with the increased catch 

levels for silk snapper and yellowedge 

grouper resulting from Amendment 29), 

to 170,278 lb (77,237 kg), round weight. 

Additionally, this amendment would 

establish sector specific ACLs for the 

deep-water complex based on the 

allocations for species in the deep-water 

complex that were established in the 

Comprehensive ACL Amendment (77 

FR 15916, March 16, 2012). The 

commercial ACL for the complex would 

be 131,634 lb (59,708 kg), round weight 

and the recreational ACL for the 

complex would be 38,644 lb (17,529 kg), 

round weight. 

Amendment 32 would revise the AMs 

for the deep-water complex. The 

amendment would retain the current 

commercial in-season AM, revise the 

commercial post-season AM, and 

implement revised recreational AMs for 

the deep-water complex. In Amendment 

32, if commercial or recreational 

landings for the deep-water complex 

reach or are projected to reach their 

applicable ACL, then the commercial or 

recreational sector, as applicable, would 

be closed for the remainder of the 

fishing year. The recreational sector 

would not have an in-season closure if 

the RA determined, using the best 

scientific information available, that a 

closure was unnecessary. The Council 

decided that the in-season AM for both 

sectors is necessary to reduce the risk 

that landings exceed the ACL. 

Amendment 32 would also modify 

the post-season ACL overage 

adjustments for the deep-water 

complex. Currently, if deep-water 

complex commercial landings exceed 

the ACL and at least one species in the 

complex is overfished, the commercial 

ACL is reduced in the following year by 

the overage amount. The amendment 

would modify the commercial postseason AMs as follows: If commercial 

landings exceed the commercial ACL, 

and the combined commercial and 

recreational ACL (total ACL) is 

exceeded, and at least one species in the 

deep-water complex is overfished, then 

during the following fishing year the 

complex commercial ACL would be 

reduced for that following year by the 

amount of the complex’s commercial 

ACL overage in the prior fishing year. 

Currently, if recreational landings for 

the deep-water complex exceed the 

recreational ACL, then during the 

following fishing year, recreational 

landings will be monitored for a 

persistence in increased landings and, if 

necessary, the length of the following 

recreational fishing season will be 

reduced by the amount necessary to 

ensure recreational landings do not 

exceed the recreational ACL in the 

following fishing year. Amendment 32 

would modify the recreational postseason AMs as follows: For the 

recreational sector, if recreational 

landings for the deep-water complex 

exceed the applicable recreational ACL, 

and the combined commercial and 

recreational ACL is exceeded, and at 

least one species in the complex is 

overfished, then the length of the 

recreational fishing season in the 

following fishing year would be reduced 

to ensure that recreational landings do 

not exceed the recreational ACL the 

following fishing year. Additionally, the 

recreational ACL would be reduced by 

the amount of the recreational ACL 

overage from the prior fishing year. 

However, the recreational fishing season 

and recreational ACL would not be 

reduced if the RA determined, using the 

best scientific information available that 

no reduction is necessary. 

Amendment 32 also revises the deepwater complex recreational ACTs to 

reflect the removal of blueline tilefish 

from the complex and the change in the 

deep-water complex ABC as described 

above. These ACTs are management 

reference points to track performance of 

the management measures but do not 

trigger AMs. 

A proposed rule that would 

implement measures outlined in 

Amendment 32 has been drafted. In 

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accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens 

Act, NMFS is evaluating the proposed 

rule to determine whether it is 

consistent with the FMP, the MagnusonStevens Act, and other applicable law. 

If that determination is affirmative, 

NMFS will publish the proposed rule in 

the Federal Register for public review 

and comment. 

Consideration of Public Comments 

The Council submitted Amendment 

32 for Secretarial review, approval, and 

implementation on November 14, 2014. 

Comments received by February 17, 

2015, whether specifically directed to 

the amendment or the proposed rule, 

will be considered by NMFS in its 

decision to approve, disapprove, or 

partially approve the amendment. 

Comments received after that date will 

not be considered by NMFS in this 

decision. All comments received by 

NMFS on the amendment or the 

proposed rule during their respective 

comment periods will be addressed in 

the final rule. 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 180 et seq. 

Dated: December 15, 2014. 

Emily H. Menashes, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2014–29726 Filed 12–18–14; 8:45 am] 

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