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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 30 / Wednesday, February 17, 2021 / Proposed Rules
Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal.
1. Go to www.regulations.gov/
!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-20200152, 2. Click the Comment Now! icon, complete the required fields, and 3. Enter or attach your comments.
Instructions: 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 part of the public record and will generally be posted for public viewing on www.regulations.gov without change. All personal identifying information e.g., name, address, etc., 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. If you are unable to submit your comment through www.regulations.gov, contact Laura Hansen, Fishery Management Specialist.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Laura Hansen, Fishery Management Specialist, 9782819225.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Atlantic Surfclam and Ocean Quahog Fishery Management Plan FMP
requires that NMFS, in consultation with the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, set quotas for surfclam and ocean quahog for up to a 3-year period. It is the policy of the
Council that the catch limit allow for sustainable fishing to continue at that level for at least 10 years for surfclams, and 30 years for ocean quahogs. The Council policy also considers the economic impact of the quotas.
Regulations implementing Amendment 10 to the FMP 63 FR 27481; May 19, 1998 added Maine ocean quahogs locally known as Maine mahogany quahogs to the management unit and provided for a small artisanal fishery for ocean quahogs in the waters north of 4350 N lat. The Maine ocean quahog quota is allocated separately from the quota for the ocean quahog fishery.
Regulations implementing Amendment 13 to the FMP 68 FR 69970; December 16, 2003 established the ability to propose multi-year quotas with an annual quota review to be conducted by the Council to determine if the multiyear quota specifications remain appropriate for each year. NMFS then publishes the annual final quotas in the Federal Register. The fishing quotas must ensure overfishing will not occur.
In recommending these quotas, the Council considered the most recent stock assessments, conducted in June 2020, and other relevant scientific information.
In August 2020, the Council voted to maintain status quo quota levels of 5.36
million bushels bu; 285 million Liters L for the ocean quahog fishery, 3.40
million bu 181 million L for the Atlantic surfclam fishery, and 100,000
Maine bu 3.52 million L for the Maine ocean quahog fishery for 20212026.

The Council recommended that specifications be set for 2021 and proposed for years 20222026 to create administrative efficiencies as a result of the new stock assessment process, which is expected to assess surfclam and ocean quahog on a 4 and 6 year cycle, respectively.
The regulations at 50 CFR 648.72a allow for setting of sections for up to 3
years. Through this action, we would only set 2021 specifications and include the projected specifications for 2022
2026 to inform the public. The Council approved a regulatory change in the Excessive Shares Amendment that would allow us to set specifications for the maximum number of years needed to be consistent with the Northeast Region Coordinating Council-approved stock assessment schedule, which currently anticipates assessments for both stocks every 6 years. Although the FMP currently authorizes specifications to be set for multiple years, we are still required to publish a final rule each year to formally set the specifications for the coming year. We expect the timing change in the Amendment will be implemented within the next year, well before years 4 and 5 fishing years 2025 and 2026 are finalized. However, if for some reason the Amendment is not approved, the Council would adopt new specifications for 2025 and 2026.
The proposed and projected quotas for the 20212026 Atlantic surfclam and ocean quahog fishery are shown in Tables 1 and 2.

TABLE 1PROPOSED ATLANTIC SURFCLAM MEASURES 20212026
20222026 Projected Allowable biological catch ABC
mt
Year
Annual catch limit ACL
mt
Annual catch target ACT
mt
Commercial quota
Atlantic Surfclam 2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
2026

47,919
44,522
42,237
40,946
40,345
40,264

47,919
44,522
42,237
40,946
40,345
40,264

29,363
29,363
29,363
29,363
29,363
29,363

3.4
3.4
3.4
3.4
3.4
3.4

million million million million million million
bushels bushels bushels bushels bushels bushels
181
181
181
181
181
181

million million million million million million
L.
L.
L.
L.
L.
L.

TABLE 2PROPOSED OCEAN QUAHOG MEASURES 20212026

jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with PROPOSALS

20222026 Projected Allowable biological catch ABC
mt
Year
2021

VerDate Sep<11>2014

16:07 Feb 16, 2021

Jkt 253001

PO 00000

Annual catch limit ACL
mt
44,031

Frm 00019

Fmt 4702

44,031

Sfmt 4702

Annual catch target ACT
mt 25,924

Commercial quota
Maine quota: 100,000 Maine bu 3.52
million L; Non-Maine quota: 5.36 million bu 285 million L.

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