Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; 2025 Specifications for the Summer Flounder, Scup, Black Sea Bass, and Bluefish Fisheries

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

General Background

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (Commission) cooperatively develop management measures for the summer flounder, scup, black sea bass, and bluefish fisheries. The Council, pursuant to the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) develops recommendations regarding fisheries in Federal waters seaward of New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina. The Commission, pursuant to the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act, addresses fisheries in state waters from Florida to Maine. These bodies work together in the development of complementary fishery management plans (FMP) for species like summer flounder, scup, black sea bass, and bluefish that are harvested in both Federal and state waters, and each year these bodies work together to develop specifications for these fisheries. The Council provides its recommendations to NMFS, and NMFS engages in a Federal rulemaking process by which the agency adopts specifications that become binding on the Federal fisheries. Specifications in these fisheries include various catch and landing subdivisions, such as the commercial and recreational sector annual catch limits (ACL), annual catch targets (ACT), and sector-specific landing limits ( i.e., the commercial fishery quota and recreational harvest limit (RHL)) established for 1 to 3 years at a time. Adjustments to commercial management measures are also considered in the specifications process. The process for measures used to manage the recreational fisheries ( i.e., minimum fish sizes, seasonal closures, and possession restrictions) for these four species occurs separately and is not discussed further in this proposed rule.

The Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass FMP and the Bluefish FMP and their implementing regulations establish the process for establishing specifications for each of those four species. All requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, including the 10 national standards, also apply to specifications. The FMPs also contain formulas to divide the catch limits into commercial and recreational fishery allocations, state-by-state quotas, and quota periods, depending on the species in question. This proposed rule outlines the application of the existing allocation provisions for each species and provides the resulting allocations by state and sector, as appropriate, for each species.

The Council's Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) met on July 23-25, 2024, to recommend acceptable biological catches (ABC) for the summer flounder, scup, black sea bass, and bluefish fisheries. The FMPs' implementing regulations require the involvement of a monitoring committee in the specification process for each species. The Monitoring Committees recommend any reduction in catch limits from the SSC-recommended ABCs to offset management uncertainty and other commercial management measures ( e.g., mesh requirements, minimum commercial fish sizes, gear restrictions, possession restrictions, and area restrictions) needed for these four fisheries. The Monitoring Committees met on August 1 and 2, 2024, to develop specification-related recommendations for each fishery.

Following the SSC and Monitoring Committee meetings, the Council and the Commission's Summer Flounder, Scup, Black Sea Bass, and Bluefish Management Boards considered the recommendations of the SSC, the Monitoring Committees, and public comments and made their specification recommendations at a meeting held on August 12-15, 2024. While the Boards' actions were finalized at the August meeting, the Council's recommendations must be reviewed by NMFS to ensure that they comply with the FMPs, implementing regulations, and applicable law. NMFS also must conduct notice-and-comment rulemaking to propose and implement the final specifications.

Proposed 2025 Specifications

Summer Flounder Specifications

Consistent with the statutory scheme described above, NMFS is proposing the Council and Board-recommended 2025 summer flounder catch and landings limits shown in table 1.