Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; Comprehensive Annual Catch Limit Amendment for the South Atlantic

Resumen

NMFS issues this final rule to implement the Comprehensive Annual Catch Limit Amendment (Comprehensive ACL Amendment) to the Fishery Management Plans (FMPs) for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region (Snapper-Grouper FMP), the Golden Crab Fishery of the South Atlantic Region (Golden Crab FMP), the Dolphin and Wahoo Fishery off the Atlantic States (Dolphin and Wahoo FMP), and the Pelagic Sargassum Habitat of the South Atlantic Region (Sargassum FMP) as prepared and submitted by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council). This final rule specifies annual catch limits (ACLs) and accountability measures (AMs) for species in the Snapper-Grouper, Dolphin and Wahoo, and Golden Crab FMPs. This final rule also describes the current terminology and measures in place in the Sargassum FMP that are equivalent to ACLs and AMs. For Sargassum, this final rule does not specifically set an ACL because there is currently a commercial quota in place which functions as an ACL, and there are commercial closure provisions in the event the quota is met or projected to be met which functions as an AM. To implement the Snapper-Grouper FMP, this final rule revises the snapper-g