Dear NACO Member,
NMFS issued final specifications for the 2008 summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass fisheries. This final rule specifies allowed
harvest limits for both commercial and recreational fisheries. This action prohibits federally permitted commercial vessels from landing summer flounder in Delaware in 2008 due to continued quota repayment from previous years' overages.
DATES: Effective January 1, 2008, through December 31, 2008.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the specifications document, including the Environmental Assessment (EA), Regulatory Impact Review (RIR), Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (IRFA), and other supporting documents used by the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Monitoring Committees are available from Daniel Furlong, Executive Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, Room 2115, Federal Building , 300 South Street , Dover , DE 19901-6790 . The specifications document is also accessible via the Internet at
http://www.nero.noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
The summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass fisheries are managed cooperatively under the provisions of the FMP developed by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (Commission), in consultation with the New England and South Atlantic Fishery Management Councils. The management units specified in the FMP include summer flounder in U.S. waters of the Atlantic Ocean from the southern border of North Carolina (NC) northward to the U.S./Canada border, and scup and black sea bass in U.S. waters of the Atlantic Ocean .
States manage summer flounder within 3 nautical miles of their coasts, under the Commission's plan for summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass. The Federal regulations govern vessels fishing in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ), as well as vessels possessing a Federal fisheries permit, regardless of where they fish.
The regulations outline the process for specifying the annual catch limits for the summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass for commercial and recreational fisheries, as well as other management measures for these fisheries. The measures are intended to achieve the annual targets set forth for each species in the FMP, specified either as an F or an exploitation rate (i.e., the proportion of fish available at the beginning of the year that may be removed by fishing during the year). Once the catch limits are established, they are divided into quotas based on formulas contained in the FMP.
NMFS will establish the 2008 recreational management measures for summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass by publishing proposed and final rules in the Federal Register at a later date, following receipt of the Council's recommendations as specified in the FMP.
Summer Flounder
The FMP requires that annual fishing levels (i.e., Total Allowable Landings or TAL) must achieve at least a 50-percent probability of
constraining harvests to an F rate that produces the maximum yield per recruit, or FMAX. FMAX for 2008 is 0.28. However, the best available scientific information also indicates that, for 2008, a TAL set lower than the FMAX level is needed to ensure that the rebuilding objective of 197.2 million lb spawning stock biomass (SSB) can be attained by the rebuilding period end date of January 1, 2013.
The TAL associated with the target F is allocated 60 percent to the commercial sector and 40 percent to the recreational sector by the FMP. The commercial quota is allocated to the coastal states based upon percentage shares specified in the FMP. The recreational harvest limit is specified on a coastwide basis. Recreational measures will be the subject of a separate rulemaking early in 2008.
This final rule implements the specifications contained in the November 14, 2007, proposed rule--a summer flounder TAL of 15.77
million lb for 2008. This TAL has a 75-percent probability of achieving the FREBUILD target of 0.199, and a 99-percent probability that the overfishing threshold, FMAX=0.28, will not be exceeded in 2008.
Three research projects that would utilize the full summer flounder research set-aside (RSA) of 233,192 lb have been conditionally
approved by NMFS and are currently awaiting notice of award. After deducting this RSA, the TAL is divided into a commercial quota of
9,322,085 lb and a recreational harvest limit of 6,214,723 lb. If a proposed project is not approved by the NOAA Grants Office, the research quota associated with the disapproved proposal will be restored to the summer flounder TAL through publication in the Federal Register.
Scup
The 2008 fishing season is year 1 of the 7-year, constant F strategy scup rebuilding plan implemented by Amendment 14 to the FMP. The target exploitation rate for scup in 2008 is 9 percent, which will result in an F=0.10, as called for under the rebuilding plan. The FMP specifies that the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) associated with a given exploitation rate be allocated 78 percent to the commercial sector and 22 percent to the recreational sector. Scup discard estimates are deducted from both sectors' TACs to establish TALs for each sector, i.e., TAC minus discards equals TAL.
The recreational harvest limit is allocated on a coastwide basis. Recreational measures will be the subject of a separate rulemaking early in 2008. This final rule implements the specifications contained in the November 14, 2007, proposed rule: A 9.9-million-lb scup TAC and a 7.34-million-lb scup TAL.
The TAC is divided into the commercial (78 percent) and recreational (22 percent) allocations, in accordance with the FMP; then the respective discard estimates are subtracted to yield the preliminary TAL. After deducting 214,000 of RSA for the three approved research projects, the initial TAL is a commercial quota of 5,248,000 lb and a recreational harvest limit of 1,830,920 lb. If a proposed project is not approved by the NOAA Grants Office, the research quota associated with the disapproved proposal will be restored to the scup TAL through publication in the Federal Register.
Black Sea Bass
For 2008, the target exploitation rate for black sea bass is 25 percent. The FMP specifies that the TAL associated with a given exploitation rate be allocated 49 percent to the commercial sector and 51 percent to the recreational sector. The recreational harvest limit is allocated on a coastwide basis. Recreational measures will be the subject of a separate rulemaking early in 2008.
This final rule implements the specifications contained in the November 14, 2007, proposed rule: A 4.22-million-lb black sea bass TAL. After deducting 85,790 lb of RSA for the three approved research projects, the TAL is divided into a commercial quota of 2,025,763 lb and a recreational harvest limit of 2,108,447 lb. If a proposed project is not approved by the NOAA Grants Office, the research quota associated with the disapproved proposal will be restored to the black sea bass TAL through publication in the Federal Register. Consistent with the revised quota setting procedures for the FMP, black sea bass overages are determined based upon landings
for the period January-September 2007, plus any previously unaccounted for landings from January-December 2006. There were no overages for either period; thus, no overage deduction adjustment to the 2008 commercial quota is necessary.
Keeping You Informed
National Association of Charterboat Operators
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