Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; 2024-2026 Specifications for the Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Fishery Management Plan

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE <SUBAGY>National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration</SUBAGY> <CFR>50 CFR Part 648</CFR> <DEPDOC>[Docket No. 240408-0102]</DEPDOC> <RIN>RIN 0648-BM79</RIN> <SUBJECT>Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; 2024-2026 Specifications for the Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Fishery Management Plan</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce. <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Proposed rule, request for comments. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> NMFS proposes the 2024-2026 specifications for the Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Fishery Management Plan as recommended by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council. This action proposes to set the 2024 <E T="03">Illex</E> squid and 2024-2026 longfin squid specifications and reaffirms the 2024 chub mackerel and butterfish specifications. The implementing regulations for the Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Fishery Management Plan require us to publish specifications every fishing year for each of these species and to provide an opportunity for public comment. The proposed specifications are intended to establish allowable harvest levels that will prevent overfishing, consistent with the most recent scientific information. </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> Public comments must be received by May 20, 2024. </EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">ADDRESSES:</HD> Copies of supporting documents used by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, including the draft Supplemental Information Report (SIR) and the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) analysis are available from: Dr. Christopher M. Moore, Executive Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, 800 North State Street, Suite 201, Dover, DE 19901, telephone (302) 674-2331. A plain language summary of this proposed rule is available at <E T="03">https://www.regulations.gov/docket/NOAA-NMFS-2023-0154.</E> You may submit comments on this document, identified by NOAA-NMFS-2023-0154, by the following method: • <E T="03">Electronic Submission:</E> Submit all electronic public comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Visit <E T="03">https://www.regulations.gov</E> and NOAA-NMFS-2023-0154 in the Search box. Click on the “Comment” icon, complete the required fields, and enter or attach your comments. <E T="03">Instructions:</E> 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 <E T="03">https://www.regulations.gov</E> without change. All personal identifying information ( <E T="03">e.g.,</E> name, address, <E T="03">etc.</E> ), 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). <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> Louis Forristall, Fishery Management Specialist, (978) 281-9321. </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Background</HD> This rule proposes specifications, which are the combined suite of commercial and recreational catch levels established for one or more fishing years, for longfin and <E T="03">Illex</E> squid, and reaffirms previously announced projected specifications for butterfish and chub mackerel. Section 302(g)(1)(B) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) states that the Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) for each regional fishery management council shall provide its Council ongoing scientific advice for fishery management decisions, including recommendations for acceptable biological catch (ABC), preventing overfishing, ensuring maximum sustainable yield, and achieving rebuilding targets. The ABC is a level of catch that accounts for the scientific uncertainty in the estimate of the stock's defined overfishing limit (OFL). The regulations implementing the fishery management plan (FMP) require the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council's (Council) Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Monitoring Committee to develop specification recommendations for each species based upon the ABC advice of the Council's SSC. The FMP regulations also require the specification of annual catch limits (ACL) and accountability measure (AM) provisions for butterfish. Both squid species are exempt from the ACL/AM requirements because they have a life cycle of less than one year. In addition, the regulations require the specification of domestic annual harvest (DAH), the butterfish mortality cap in the longfin squid fishery, and initial optimum yield (IOY) for both squid species. On July 27, 2023 (88 FR 48389), NMFS published a final rule in the <E T="04">Federal Register</E> implementing the 2023 specifications for the chub mackerel, butterfish, longfin squid, and <E T="03">Illex</E> squid fisheries. This included projected 2024 specifications for butterfish and projected 2024-2025 specifications for chub mackerel. The Council's SSC met in March, May, and July 2023 to reevaluate the longfin squid, <E T="03">Illex</E> squid, chub mackerel, and butterfish 2024 specifications based upon the latest information. At those meetings, the SSC concluded that no adjustments to these species' ABCs were warranted. <HD SOURCE="HD2">Proposed 2024-2026 Longfin Squid Specifications</HD> NMFS proposes to maintain the 2023 longfin squid ABC of 23,400 metric tons (mt) for the 2024 fishing year, and projects the same ABC for the 2025-2026 fishing years. The background for this ABC is discussed in the proposed rule to implement the 2021-2022 squid and butterfish specifications (86 FR 38586, July 22, 2021) and is not repeated here. The IOY, DAH, and domestic annual processing (DAP) are calculated by deducting an estimated discard rate from the ABC. At its July 2023 meeting, the Mackerel, Squid and Butterfish Monitoring Committee recommended to increase the discard rate from 2 percent to 2.16 percent, therefore increasing the discard set-aside from 468 mt to 506.3 mt. This results in a 2024 IOY, DAH, and DAP of 22,893.7 mt (see table 1), which is a .17 percent decrease from the 2023 IOY, DAH and DAP of 22,932 mt. The Council adopted these recommendations at its August 2023 meeting, and NMFS concurs. NMFS and the Council will review these specifications during future annual specifications processes following data updates each spring. The 2025 specifications could change if new information becomes available. <GPOTABLE COLS="3" OPTS="L2,i1" CDEF="s50,12,12"> <TTITLE>Table 1—2024-2026 Longfin Squid Specifications in Metric Tons</TTITLE> <CHED H="1">Specification</CHED> <CHED H="1">2024</CHED> <ENT>22,893.7</ENT> <ENT>22,893.7</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">DAH/DAP</ENT> <ENT>22,893.7</ENT> <ENT>22,893.7</ENT> </ROW> </GPOTABLE> <GPOTABLE COLS="3" OPTS="L2,i1" CDEF="s50,12,12"> <TTITLE>Table 2—2024-2026 Longfin Quota Trimester Allocations</TTITLE> <CHED H="1">Trimester</CHED> <CHED H="1">Percent</CHED> <CHED H="1">Metric tons</CHED> <ROW> <ENT I="01">I (Jan-Apr)</ENT> <ENT>43</ENT> <ENT>9,861</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">II (May-Aug)</ENT> <HD SOURCE="HD2">Proposed 2024 Illex Squid Specifications</HD> NMFS proposes to maintain the 2023 <E T="03">Illex</E> squid ABC of 40,000 mt for the fishing year 2024, in alignment with the Council's recommendation. Based on the Council's recommendation, NMFS proposed that the rate used to calculate the discard set-aside be reduced from 4.53 percent to 3.42 percent, based on bycatch data from fishing years 2018-2019. Fishing years 2018-2019 were used because those were the most recent years where the full <E T="03">Illex</E> quota was caught. This results in a 2024 IOY, DAH, and DAP of 38,631 mt (table 3), which is a slight increase from the 2023 IOY, DAH, and DAP of 38,192 mt. <GPOTABLE COLS="2" OPTS="L2,i1" CDEF="s50,12"> <TTITLE> Table 3—Proposed 2024 <E T="03">Illex</E> Squid Specifications in Metric Tons </TTITLE> <CHED H="1">Specification</CHED> <CHED H="1">2024</CHED> <ROW> <ENT I="01">OFL</ENT> <ENT>Unknown</ENT> <HD SOURCE="HD2">Reaffirmation of 2024 Butterfish Specifications</HD> As part of the 2023-2025 multiyear specifications for butterfish, NMFS implemented projected specifications that would decrease the ABC by 12.7 percent, from 17,267 mt in 2023 to 15,764 mt in 2024, and the available quota from 11,271 mt in 2023 to 9,844 mt in 2024. Even with this reduction, the proposed 2024 butterfish quota is still above recent catch levels. After reviewing recent biological data, fishery performance, and recommendations from staff, the Mackerel, Squid, Butterfish Advisory Panel, and the SSC, the Council decided to reaffirm the previously-set 2024 specifications at its June 2023 meeting, and NMFS proposes to reaffirm the 2024 specifications in this rule. <GPOTABLE COLS="2" OPTS="L2,i1" CDEF="s50,12"> <TTITLE>Table 4—Proposed 2024 Butterfish Specifications in Metric Tons</TTITLE> <CHED H="1">Specification</CHED> <CHED H="1">2024</CHED> <ROW> <ENT I="01">OFL</ENT> <ENT>16,096</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">ABC/ACL</ENT> <ENT>15,764</ENT> <ENT I="01">Annual Catch Target (ACT)</ENT> <ENT>14,976</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Assumed discards</ENT> <ENT>1,248</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Total discards</ENT> <ENT>5,132</ENT> <ENT I="01">Butterfish cap in longfin</ENT> <ENT>3,884</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">DAH</ENT> <ENT>9,844</ENT> </ROW> </GPOTABLE> <HD SOURCE="HD2">Reaffirmation of 2024 Atlantic Chub Mackerel Specifications</HD> Amendment 2 ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 16k characters. 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