Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Mid-Atlantic Blueline Tilefish and Golden Tilefish Fisheries; 2024 Specifications

<RULE> DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE <SUBAGY>National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration</SUBAGY> <CFR>50 CFR Part 648</CFR> <DEPDOC>[Docket No. 240315-0081]</DEPDOC> <RIN>RIN 0648-BM55</RIN> <SUBJECT>Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Mid-Atlantic Blueline Tilefish and Golden Tilefish Fisheries; 2024 Specifications</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce. <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Final rule. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> This final rule implements status quo harvest limits for the 2024 golden tilefish and blueline tilefish fisheries north of the North Carolina/Virginia border, shifts the recreational season for blueline tilefish to May 15 through November 14, and modifies regulations to reflect the January 1 start date of the golden tilefish fishing year. The action is necessary to establish allowable harvest levels and other management measures to prevent overfishing while allowing optimum yield, consistent with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and the Tilefish Fishery Management Plan. </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> This rule is effective April 19, 2024. </EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">ADDRESSES:</HD> Copies of the supporting documents for this action are available from Dr. Christopher M. Moore, Executive Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, 800 North State Street, Suite 201, Dover, DE 19901. These documents are also accessible via the internet at <E T="03">https://www.mafmc.org.</E> <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> Douglas Potts, <E T="03">douglas.potts@noaa.gov,</E> 978-281-9241. </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Background</HD> The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (the Council) manages the golden tilefish and blueline tilefish fisheries north of the North Carolina/Virginia border under the Tilefish Fishery Management Plan (FMP), which outlines the Council's process for establishing annual specifications. The Tilefish FMP requires the Council to recommend the acceptable biological catch (ABC), annual catch limit (ACL), annual catch target (ACT), total allowable landings (TAL), and other management measures for the commercial and recreational sectors of the fisheries. Detailed information about the development of these specifications was provided in the specifications proposed rule (88 FR 77944, November 14, 2023). That information is not repeated here. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Specifications</HD> The 2024 specifications for blueline tilefish and golden tilefish are detailed in tables 1 and 2. The regulations at 50 CFR 648.293(b)(2) specify that commercial landings of blueline tilefish in excess of the commercial ACL will be deducted from the commercial ACL the following year. NMFS closed the 2023 commercial blueline tilefish fishery on September 5, 2023 (88 FR 60597), because 100 percent of the commercial TAL was projected to have been caught. Total commercial blueline tilefish landings in 2023 were 31,339 pounds (lb) (14,215 kilograms (kg)), which exceeded the 2023 commercial ACL by 4,470 lb (2,028 kg). Therefore, that amount is deducted from the 2024 commercial ACL. <GPOTABLE COLS="2" OPTS="L2,nj,p1,8/9,i1" CDEF="s100,xs100"> <TTITLE>Table 1—Blueline Tilefish 2024 Specifications</TTITLE> <CHED H="1"> </CHED> <CHED H="1"> </CHED> <ROW> <ENT I="01">ABC—North of NC/VA line</ENT> <ENT>100,520 lb (45.6 mt).</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Recreational ACL/ACT</ENT> <ENT>73,380 lb (33.3 mt).</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Commercial ACL/ACT</ENT> <ENT>27,140 lb (12.3 mt).</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">2023 Overage Adjustment</ENT> <ENT>−4,470 lb (−2.0 mt).</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Adjusted Commercial ACL</ENT> <ENT>22,670 lb (10.3 mt).</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Recreational TAL</ENT> <ENT>71,912 lb (32.6 mt).</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Commercial TAL</ENT> <ENT>22,399 lb (10.2 mt).</ENT> </ROW> </GPOTABLE> <GPOTABLE COLS="2" OPTS="L2,nj,p1,8/9,i1" CDEF="s100,xs100"> <TTITLE>Table 2—Golden Tilefish 2024 Specifications</TTITLE> <CHED H="1"> </CHED> <CHED H="1"> </CHED> <ROW> <ENT I="01">ABC</ENT> <ENT>1,964,319 lb (891 mt).</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">ACL</ENT> <ENT>1,964,319 lb (891 mt).</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">IFQ * fishery ACT</ENT> <ENT>1,763,478 lb (800 mt).</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Incidental fishery ACT</ENT> <ENT>92,815 lb (42 mt).</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">IFQ fishery TAL = IFQ ACT (no discards permitted in fishery)</ENT> <ENT>1,763,478 lb (800 mt).</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Incidental fishery TAL = Incidental fishery ACT−discards</ENT> <ENT>75,410 lb (42 mt).</ENT> </ROW> <TNOTE>* IFQ = Individual Fishing Quota.</TNOTE> </GPOTABLE> The 2024 fishing year for golden tilefish and blueline tilefish began on January 1, 2024. The regulations include rollover provisions for both species that allow the fisheries to operate under status quo specifications until this action is effective. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Blueline Tilefish Recreational Season</HD> This action shifts the recreational fishing season for blueline tilefish by two weeks. The recreational fishing season for blueline tilefish will now be May 15 through November 14. The blueline tilefish recreational possession limits are not changed and depend on the type of fishing vessel used. Anglers fishing from a private vessel that has been issued a valid Federal Tilefish Private Recreational Permit are allowed to keep up to three blueline tilefish per person per trip. Anglers fishing from a for-hire vessel that has been issued a valid Federal Tilefish Party/Charter Permit, but does not have a current U.S. Coast Guard safety inspection sticker, can retain up to five blueline tilefish per person per trip. Finally, anglers on for-hire vessels that have both a valid Federal Tilefish Party/Charter Permit and a current U.S. Coast Guard safety inspection sticker can retain up to seven blueline tilefish per person per trip. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Corrections</HD> The final rule to implement Framework Adjustment 7 to the Tilefish FMP (87 FR 67830, November 10, 2022) moved the start of the fishing year for golden tilefish from November 1 to January 1. However, the rule did not change the following ancillary dates in the regulations that derive from the start of the fishing year, including: (1) the date by which an IFQ permit application must be submitted to ensure the IFQ permit is issued before the start of the fishing year; (2) the date when an IFQ permit ceases to be valid ( <E T="03">i.e.,</E> the last day of the fishing year); and (3) the cut-off date for submitting an IFQ transfer application for the current fishing year. This rule adjusts those dates in the regulations based on January 1 being the start of the fishing year. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Comments</HD> On November 14, 2023, we published a proposed rule (88 FR 77944) requesting comment on these measures. The comment period was open through December 14, 2023. We received three comments. Two comments were from members of the for-hire fishing industry, and one comment was submitted anonymously. <E T="03">Comment 1:</E> Two comments were submitted by head boat operators in New York and New Jersey. Both commenters disagree with the rationale for changing the blueline tilefish recreational season. In their experience, the bycatch of black sea bass on fishing trips targeting blueline tilefish that prompted the Council to recommend the change only occurs farther south, primarily in the waters off Virginia. They also mention that for-hire fishing trips for blueline tilefish in the first two weeks of May are important to their businesses because there are few other species available during that time. <E T="03">Response:</E> The type and extent of bycatch and incidental catch often varies based on numerous factors including location and fishing method. The Council used an analysis of the coast-wide bycatch of black sea bass in blueline tilefish recreational trips to assess the need for, and likely effect of, changing the recreational season. While this analysis may not fully reflect the conditions observed at a given location, it can be useful in understanding the likely impact of a management change overall. Based on that analysis, adjusting the recreational season for blueline tilefish is likely to reduce the number of black sea bass discarded by anglers who are fishing for blueline tilefish. NMFS and the Council will continue to monitor the blueline tilefish recreational fishery and may make further adjust measures in the future, including the recreational season, if warranted. <E T="03">Comment 2:</E> One commenter asserted that specifications need to be revised in light of the development of offshore wind projects. However, the commenter did not specify how they believe offshore wind development might affect blueline tilefish and golden tilefish populations or what changes to the specifications might be necessary. <E T="03">Response:</E> NMFS is closely involved in assessing the potential impact of offshore wind development on a broad range of marine resources. No specific impacts on blueline tilefish and golden tilefish populations from the construction or operation of offshore wind turbines have been identified and, therefore, no changes to current specifications are necessary. If an issue does arise, NMFS will work with the Council to make any needed changes to management measures. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Changes From Proposed Rule</HD> The commercial blueline tilefish ACL and TAL have each been reduced by 4,470 lb (2,028 kg) from what appeared in the proposed rule. This change reflects the small overage that occurred in 2023 and the requirement of § 648.2 ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 15k characters. Full document text is stored and available for version comparison. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━