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

Résumé

NMFS issues this final rule to supplement the regulations implementing the Comprehensive Annual Catch Limit Amendment (Comprehensive ACL Amendment) for the Fishery Management Plan for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region (Snapper-Grouper FMP), as prepared and submitted by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council). The Comprehensive ACL Amendment specified, in part, annual catch limits (ACLs) and accountability measures (AMs) for species in the Snapper-Grouper FMP. A final rule implementing the Comprehensive ACL Amendment published on March 16, 2012, and became effective on April 16, 2012. However, after publishing that final rule, NMFS discovered that the commercial quota (ACL) for greater amberjack, which was specified in the Comprehensive ACL Amendment, was inadvertently not specified in the proposed or final rules to implement that amendment. The intent of this supplemental final rule is to implement the commercial ACL for greater amberjack, while maintaining catch levels consistent with achieving optimum yield for the resource.