Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; Snapper-Grouper Fishery off the Southern Atlantic States; Amendment 17B

Resumo

NMFS issues this proposed rule to implement Amendment 17B to the Fishery Management Plan for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region (FMP), as prepared and submitted by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council). This proposed rule would, for South Atlantic snapper-grouper, establish annual catch limits (ACLs), and accountability measures (AMs) for eight snapper- grouper species undergoing overfishing; modify management measures to limit total mortality of those species to the ACL; and add ACLs, annual catch targets (ACTs), and AMs to the management measures that may be amended via the framework procedure. This proposed rule is intended to address overfishing of eight snapper-grouper species while maintaining catch levels consistent with achieving optimum yield.