New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 7 - ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION › Chapter 25 - DIVISION OF FISH AND WILDLIFE RULES › Subchapter 14 - CRAB AND LOBSTER MANAGEMENT › Section 7:25-14.19 - Administrative notice

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
(a) The Commissioner, with the approval of the New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council, may modify the seasons, annual quota allocation, including modifying gear categories and the quota allocation by gear-type, minimum or maximum size limits, pot and trap limits, trip limits, quotas, possession limits, or reporting requirements in this subchapter by notice in order to maintain compliance with any fishery management plan approved by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission pursuant to 16 U.S.C. §
										5104(b) or to maintain consistency with any Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, New England Fishery Management Council, or South Atlantic Fishery Management Council plan adopted by the National Marine Fisheries Service or any plan implemented by the National Marine Fisheries Service. The Commissioner, with the approval of the New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council, may modify the seasons, annual quota allocation, including modifying gear categories and the quota allocation by gear-type, minimum or maximum size limits, pot and trap limits, trip limits, possession limits, or daily, weekly, or monthly reporting requirements in this subchapter by notice in order to provide for the optimal utilization of any quotas specified in this subchapter. Additionally, where seasons, annual quota allocation, including modifying gear categories and the quota allocation by gear-type, minimum or maximum size limits, pot and trap limits, trip limits, possession limits, or daily, weekly, or monthly reporting requirements have been developed in accordance with (a)1 below and differ from those specified in the fishery management plan, but have been approved by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, New England Fishery Management Council, South Atlantic Fishery Management Council, and/or the National Marine Fisheries Service through the conservation equivalency process as achieving the same quantified level of conservation for the fishery governed by that plan, such seasons, annual quota allocation, including modifying gear categories and the quota allocation by gear-type, minimum or maximum size limits, pot and trap limits, trip limits, possession limits, or daily, weekly, or monthly reporting requirements may be modified by notice. The Commissioner will review the catch rate for a particular species in relation to the season quota and, if harvest data indicate that upward adjustments in harvest control measures are warranted, to maximize utilization of the available quota within a specific season for a specific fishery, the Commissioner may adjust the above specified control measures to achieve optimal utilization of the total allowable catch. The Department shall publish notice of any such modification by filing and publishing a notice of administrative change in the New Jersey Register, on the Department's website, and a notice in the Division's commercial regulation publication or in the New Jersey Marine Digest. All such notices shall be effective when the Department files the notice with the Office of Administrative Law, or as specified otherwise in the notice.
1. Proposed seasons, annual quota allocation, including modifying gear categories and the quota allocation by gear-type, minimum or maximum size limits, pot and trap limits, trip limits, possession limits, or daily, weekly, or monthly reporting requirements to be included in a submission to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, New England Fishery Management Council, South Atlantic Fishery Management Council, and/or the National Marine Fisheries Service as being conservationally equivalent to the criteria determined to be eligible for conservation equivalency, as specified in the applicable fishery management plan, shall be established as follows:
i. The Commissioner shall consider the following factors in a conservation equivalency proposal:
(1) The temporal and spatial distributions of the species in State waters;
(2) The species' life history characteristics;
(3) The potential impact on the number of participants able to participate in the fishery;
(4) The ability of supporting industries to provide necessary services to optimize participation, for example, charter and day-fishing fleet availability;
(5) Consideration for the open seasons for other recreational and/or commercial fisheries; and
(6) Enforcement efficiency.