Revisions to Framework Adjustment 66 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan and Sector Annual Catch Entitlements; Updated Annual Catch Limits for Sectors and the Common Pool for Fishing Year 2024

<RULE> DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE <SUBAGY>National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration</SUBAGY> <CFR>50 CFR Part 648</CFR> <DEPDOC>[241112-0290; RTID 0648-XE416]</DEPDOC> <SUBJECT>Revisions to Framework Adjustment 66 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan and Sector Annual Catch Entitlements; Updated Annual Catch Limits for Sectors and the Common Pool for Fishing Year 2024</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; adjustment to specifications. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> Under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA), this final rule: adjusts the 2024 fishing year allocations to sectors and the common pool specified in Framework Adjustment 66 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan (Framework 66); makes minor adjustments to common pool limits based on final 2023 fishing year catch information; and distributes sector annual catch entitlements carried over from fishing year 2023 into fishing year 2024 as required by regulation. The revisions are necessary to account for changes to 2024 sub-annual catch limits based on final 2024 sector rosters and to respond to a 2023 overage of Gulf of Maine (GOM) cod in the common pool. These adjustments are routine and formulaic, aiming to ensure that final allocations are determined using the most reliable scientific information available. </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> Effective November 18, 2024, through April 30, 2025. </EFFDATE> <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> Anjali Bhardwaj, Fishery Management Specialist, (978) 281-9293. </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Background</HD> Framework 66 was approved on May 2, 2024 (89 FR 35755), setting specifications for 8 of the 20 Northeast multispecies stocks including redfish, northern windowpane flounder, and southern windowpane flounder for fishing years 2024-2026; and Georges Bank (GB) cod, GB haddock, Gulf of Maine (GOM) haddock, GB yellowtail flounder, and white hake for fishing years 2024-2025. The framework also adjusted commercial management measures for Atlantic halibut and modified sea scallop accountability measure implementation for GB yellowtail flounder. These changes were made to prevent overfishing, ensure rebuilding, and help achieve optimal yield in the commercial and recreational groundfish fisheries. Framework 66 included preliminary allocations for sectors and the common pool based on the fishing year 2024 catch limits and preliminary sector rosters. A sector receives an allocation of each stock, or annual catch entitlement (ACE or allocation), based on the sum of its members' catch histories' and Potential Sector Contributions (PSC) as described at 50 CFR 648.87(b)(1)(i). State-operated permit banks in New Hampshire and Maine also receive an allocation that can be transferred to qualifying sector vessels. The sum of all sector and State-operated permit bank allocations is known as the sector sub-annual catch limit (sub-ACL). The remaining groundfish allocations after sectors and State-operated permit banks receive their allocations are subsequently allocated to the common pool ( <E T="03">i.e.,</E> vessels not enrolled in a sector), which is referred to as the common pool sub-ACL. The MSA at section 305(d) gives the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) the authority and “responsibility to carry out any fishery management plan or amendment approved or prepared by him, in accordance with the provisions of this Act” (16 U.S.C. 1855(d)). The Secretary may promulgate such regulations as may be necessary to discharge such responsibility or to carry out any other provision of the MSA. The Secretary delegates this authority to NMFS. Using this authority, this rule adjusts the 2024 fishing year sector and common pool sub-ACLs and sector ACEs based on final sector rosters as of May 1, 2024. Permits enrolled in a sector and the vessels associated with those permits have until April 30, the last day before the beginning of a new fishing year, to withdraw from a sector and fish in the common pool. As a result, the actual sector enrollment for the new fishing year is unknown when the final specifications are published. Each year, NMFS subsequently publishes an adjustment rule modifying sector and common pool allocations based on final sector enrollment, ACE carryover each sector is allowed to bring in from the previous fishing year, and any ACL or sub-ACL overages that the fishery must mitigate under the accountability measures of the FMP through payback. The process of validating fishery catch from the previous fishing year is completed following the end of the fishing year (April 30), and it may take several months to complete and reconcile commercial data, receive of State fishery catch data and complete recreational fishing estimates. In the case of this adjustment rule, the 2023 fishing year information was finalized in early October 2024 and is the basis of the carryover and payback adjustments in the rule. The proposed and final rules for Framework 66 both explained that sector enrollments may change and that there would be a need to adjust the sub-ACLs and sector ACEs in accordance with the final rosters and the resulting sector PSCs. Table 1 shows the changes to the sub-ACLs between Framework 66 and this adjustment rule in metric tons (mt), and table 2 shows changes to the sub-ACLs between Framework 66 and this adjustment rule in pounds (lb). This action adjusts sub-ACLs and ACEs for the common pool and sectors, distributes unused sector quota carried over from fishing year 2023 to fishing year 2024, and revises the GOM cod common pool sub-ACL in response to an overage that occurred in fishing year 2023. <GPOTABLE COLS="5" OPTS="L2,nj,i1" CDEF="s50,15,15,13,14"> <TTITLE>Table 1—Sub-ACL Comparison Between Framework 66 Final Rule and Adjustment Rule</TTITLE> [mt] <CHED H="1">Stock</CHED> <ENT I="01">SNE/MA Yellowtail Flounder</ENT> <ENT I="01">CC/GOM Yellowtail Flounder</ENT> <TNOTE>Final Adjusted Sector Sub-ACLs include changes from both finalized rosters and carryover.</TNOTE> </GPOTABLE> <GPOTABLE COLS="5" OPTS="L2,nj,i1" CDEF="s50,15,15,13,14"> <TTITLE>Table 2—Sub-ACL Comparison Between Framework 66 Final Rule and Adjustment Rule </TTITLE> [lbs] <CHED H="1">Stock</CHED> <ENT I="01">SNE/MA Yellowtail Flounder</ENT> <ENT I="01">CC/GOM Yellowtail Flounder</ENT> <ENT>1,943</ENT> <ENT>1,937</ENT> <ENT>87</ENT> <ENT>97</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">American Plaice</ENT> <ENT>11,718</ENT> <ENT>11,730</ENT> <TNOTE>Final Adjusted Sector Sub-ACLs include changes from both finalized rosters and carryover.</TNOTE> </GPOTABLE> <HD SOURCE="HD1">2023 Correction to Sector Carryover</HD> Sector regulations at 50 CFR 648.87(b) require NMFS to adjust ACE carryover to ensure that the total unused ACE combined with the overall sub-ACL does not exceed the acceptable biological catch (ABC) for the fishing year in which the carryover may be harvested. NMFS completed 2023 fishing year data reconciliation with sectors and determined final 2023 fishing year sector catch and the amount of allocation that sectors may carry over from the 2023 to the 2024 fishing year. A sector may carry over up to 10 percent of unused ACE for each stock, except in instances where the amount of unused ACE was reduced so as not to exceed the ABC. Accordingly, carryover for all stocks is capped by the ABC and reduced to a value below the full 10-percent of the original quota allocation from the fishing year 2023, consistent with carryover accounting requirements at 50 CFR 648.87. Complete details on carryover reduction percentages can be found at: <E T="03">https://www.greateratlantic.fisheries.noaa.gov/ro/fso/reports/h/groundfish_catch_accounting.</E> Table 3 includes the final amount of ACE that sectors may carry over from the 2023 to the 2024 fishing year. Table 4 includes the <E T="03">de minimis</E> amount of carryover for each sector for the 2024 fishing year. If the overall ACL for any allocated stock is exceeded for the 2024 fishing year, the allowed carryover harvested by a sector, minus the pounds in the sector's <E T="03">de minimis</E> amount, will be counted against its allocation to determine whether an overage subject to an accountability measure occurred. Table 5 lists the final ACE available to sectors and permit banks for the 2024 fishing year, based on final rosters and including finalized carryover amounts for each sector, as adjusted down when necessary to equal each stock's ABC. <GPH SPAN="3" DEEP="640"> <GID>ER19NO24.008</GID> </GPH> <GPH SPAN="3" DEEP="640"> <GID>ER19NO24.009</GID> </GPH> <GPH SPAN="3" DEEP="640"> <GID>ER19NO24.010</GID> </GPH> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Gulf of Maine Cod Common Pool Sub-Annual Catch Limit and Final ACLs for All Stocks</HD> If the common pool sub-ACL for any stock is exceeded, 50 CFR 648.82(n)(2)(iii) requires reducing the common pool sub-ACL by the amount of the overage in the next fishing year. The fishing year 2023 common pool sub-ACL for GOM cod was exceeded by 0.3 mt. Therefore, this action reduces the fishing year 2024 GOM cod common pool sub-ACL by 0.3 mt resulting in a sub-ACL of 9.5 mt. The revised trimester total allowable catch (TAC) based on the overage deduction is provided in table 6. No other changes were made other than slight adjustments to sub-ACLs to account for final sector rosters. <GPOTABLE COLS="4" OPTS="L2,i1" CDEF="s100,r40,r40,xs72"> <TTITLE>Table 6—Initial and Revised Gulf of Maine Cod Trimester TACs</TTITLE> <CHED H="1"> </CHED> <CHED H="1">Trimester 1</CHED> <CHED H="1">Trimester 2</CHED> <CHED H="1">Trimester 3</CHED> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Allocation Pe ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 15k characters. Full document text is stored and available for version comparison. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━