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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 44 / Tuesday, March 9, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
commercially fishing for sharks in the western Gulf of Mexico sub-region.
DATES: The commercial fishery for the aggregated LCS and hammerhead shark management groups in the western Gulf of Mexico sub-region are closed effective 11:30 p.m. local time March 8, 2021, until the end of the 2021 fishing season on December 31, 2021, or until and if NMFS announces via a notice in the Federal Register that additional quota is available and the season is reopened.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Lauren Latchford, lauren.latchford@
noaa.gov, and Derek Kraft derek.kraft@
noaa.gov at 3014278503; fax 301
7131917.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Atlantic shark fisheries are managed under the 2006 Consolidated Atlantic Highly Migratory Species HMS Fishery Management Plan FMP, its amendments, and implementing regulations 50 CFR part 635 issued under authority of the MagnusonStevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq..
Under 635.5b1, dealers must electronically submit reports on sharks that are first received from a vessel on a weekly basis through a NMFSapproved electronic reporting system.
Reports must be received by no later than midnight, local time, of the first Tuesday following the end of the reporting week unless the dealer is otherwise notified by NMFS. Under 635.28b4, the quotas of certain species and/or management groups are linked. If quotas are linked, when the specified quota threshold for one management group or species is reached and that management group or species is closed, the linked management group or species closes at the same time 635.28b3. The quotas for the aggregated LCS and hammerhead shark management groups in the western Gulf of Mexico sub-region are linked 635.28b4iii.
Under 635.28b3, when NMFS
calculates that the landings for any linked species and/or management group have reached or are projected to reach a threshold of 80 percent of the available quota, and are projected to reach 100 percent of the relevant quota by the end of the fishing season, NMFS
will file for publication with the Office of the Federal Register a notice of an overall, regional, and/or sub-regional closure, as applicable, for the linked species and/or management groups that will be effective no fewer than 4 days from date of filing for public inspection.
From the effective date and time of the
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closure until and if NMFS announces, via a notice in the Federal Register, that additional quota is available and the season is reopened, the fisheries for all linked species and/or management groups are closed, even across fishing years.
On December 1, 2020 85 FR 77007, NMFS announced that for 2021, the commercial western Gulf of Mexico aggregated LCS sub-regional quota was 72.0 metric tons mt dressed weight dw 158,724 pounds lb dw and the western Gulf of Mexico hammerhead sharks sub-regional quota was 11.9 mt dw 26,301 lb dw. Dealer reports received through March 3, indicate that 81 percent 58.2 mt dw of the available western Gulf of Mexico aggregated LCS
management group sub-regional quota has been landed and that less than 6
percent <1.0 mt dw of the available western Gulf of Mexico hammerhead sharks sub-regional quota has been landed. Dealer reports, however also indicate that daily landing rates of aggregated LCS in the sub-region are increasing. Based on these dealer reports, the western Gulf of Mexico aggregated LCS management group subregional quota has exceeded 80 percent of the available quota on March 3, 2021.
Thus, closure of the commercial western Gulf of Mexico aggregated LCS fishery is warranted at this time under the regulations. While the western Gulf of Mexico hammerhead shark sub-regional quota has reached less than 6 percent of the available quota, it is linked to the aggregated LCS fishery, and therefore, under the regulations closes when the aggregated LCS management group in the western Gulf of Mexico sub-region closes. Accordingly, NMFS is closing the commercial aggregated LCS and hammerhead shark management groups in the western Gulf of Mexico subregion as of 11:30 p.m. local time March 8, 2021.
All other shark species or management groups in the western Gulf of Mexico sub-region that are currently open remain open at this time, including the commercial blacktip sharks, non-blacknose small coastal sharks, blue sharks, smoothhound sharks, and pelagic sharks other than porbeagle or blue sharks.
The boundary between the Gulf of Mexico region and the Atlantic region is defined at 635.27b1 as a line beginning on the East Coast of Florida at the mainland at 2520.4 N lat, proceeding due east. Any water and land to the south and west of that boundary is considered for the purposes of monitoring and setting quotas, to be within the Gulf of Mexico region. The boundary between the western and
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eastern Gulf of Mexico sub-regions is drawn along 8800 W long 635.27b1ii. Persons fishing aboard vessels issued a commercial shark limited access permit LAP under 635.4 may still retain sharks in the aggregated LCS and/or hammerhead shark management groups in the eastern Gulf of Mexico sub-region east of 8800
W long.
During the closure, retention of sharks in the aggregated LCS and/or hammerhead shark management groups in the western Gulf of Mexico subregion is prohibited for persons fishing aboard vessels issued a commercial shark LAP under 635.4. However, persons aboard a commercially permitted vessel that is also properly permitted to operate as a charter vessel or headboat for HMS, has a shark endorsement, and is engaged in a forhire trip could fish under the recreational retention limits for sharks and no sale provisions 635.22 c.
Persons aboard a commercially permitted vessel that possesses a valid shark research permit under 635.32
may continue to harvest and sell aggregated LCS and/or hammerhead sharks in the western Gulf of Mexico sub-region pursuant to the terms and conditions of the shark research permit, if a NMFS-approved observer is onboard and the shark research fishery, as applicable, is open.
During this closure, a shark dealer issued a permit pursuant to 635.4 may not purchase or receive aggregated LCS
and/or hammerhead sharks in the western Gulf of Mexico sub-region from a vessel issued an Atlantic shark LAP, except that a permitted shark dealer or processor may possess aggregated LCS
and/or hammerhead sharks in the western Gulf of Mexico sub-region that were harvested, off-loaded, and sold, traded, or bartered prior to the effective date of the closure and were held in storage consistent with 635.28b6.
Additionally, a permitted shark dealer may possess aggregated LCS and/or hammerhead sharks in the western Gulf of Mexico sub-region that were harvested by a vessel issued a valid shark research fishery permit per 635.32 with a NMFS-approved observer onboard during the trip the sharks were taken on as long as the LCS
research fishery quota remains open.
Similarly, a shark dealer issued a permit pursuant to 635.4 may, in accordance with relevant State regulations, purchase or receive aggregated LCS and/
or hammerhead sharks in the western Gulf of Mexico sub-region if the sharks were harvested, off-loaded, and sold, traded, or bartered from a vessel that fishes only in State waters and that has
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