§ 648.293 - Tilefish accountability measures.

§ 648.293 Tilefish accountability measures.

Cross Reference

Link to an amendment published at 83 FR 10807, Mar. 13, 2018.

(a) Golden tilefish -

(1) Commercial incidental fishery closure. See § 648.295(a)(23).

(2) Commercial ACL overage evaluation. If the golden tilefish ACL is exceeded, the amount of the ACL overage that cannot be directly attributed to IFQ allocation holders having exceeded their IFQ allocation will be deducted from the golden tilefish ACL in the following fishing year. All overages directly attributable to IFQ allocation holders will be deducted from the appropriate IFQ allocation(s) in the subsequent fishing year, as required by § 648.294(f).

(b) Blueline tilefish -

(1) Commercial fishery closure. See § 648.295(b)(2).

(2) Commercial ACL overage evaluation. The commercial sector ACL will be evaluated based on a single-year examination of total catch (landings and discards).

(i) Commercial landings overage repayment. Landings in excess of the commercial ACL will be deducted from the commercial ACL for the following year.

(ii) Non-landing accountability measure. In the event that the commercial ACL has been exceeded and the overage has not been accommodated through the landings-based AM, then the exact amount by which the commercial ACL was exceeded, in pounds, will be deducted, as soon as possible, from the applicable subsequent single fishing year commercial ACL.

(3) Recreational ACL overage evaluation. The recreational sector ACL will be evaluated based on a three-year moving average comparison of total catch (landings and discards). Both landings and dead discards will be evaluated in determining if the three-year average recreational sector ACL has been exceeded. The three-year moving average will be phased in over the first three years, beginning with 2017: Total recreational total catch from 2017 will be compared to the 2017 recreational sector ACL; the average total catch from both 2017 and 2018 will be compared to the average of the 2017 and 2018 recreational sector ACLs; the average total catch from 2017, 2018, and 2019 will be compared to the average of the 2017, 2018, and 2019 recreational sector ACLs and, for all subsequent years, the preceding three-year average recreational total catch will be compared to the preceding three-year average recreational sector ACL.

(4) Recreational accountability measures (AM). If the recreational ACL is exceeded, then the following procedure will be followed:

(i) If biomass is below threshold, the stock is under rebuilding, or biological reference points are unknown. If the most recent estimate of biomass is below the B_MSY threshold (i.e., B/B_MSY is less than 0.5), the stock is under a rebuilding plan, or the biological reference points (B or B_MSY) are unknown, and the recreational ACL has been exceeded, then the exact amount, in pounds, by which the most recent year's recreational catch estimate exceeded the most recent year's recreational ACL will be deducted in the following fishing year, or as soon as possible thereafter, once catch data are available, from the recreational ACT, as a single-year adjustment. Changes to management measures would also be considered through the specifications process to avoid future overages.

(ii) If biomass is above the threshold, but below the target, and the stock is not under rebuilding. If the most recent estimate of biomass is above the biomass threshold (B/B_MSY is greater than 0.5), but below the biomass target (B/B_MSY is less than 1.0), and the stock is not under a rebuilding plan, then the following AMs will apply:

(A) If the recreational ACL has been exceeded. If the Recreational ACL has been exceeded, then adjustments to the recreational management measures, taking into account the performance of the measures and conditions that precipitated the overage, will be made in the following fishing year, or as soon as possible thereafter, once catch data are available, as a single-year adjustment.

(B) If the ABC has been exceeded. If the ABC has been exceeded, then a single-year adjustment to the recreational ACT will be made in the following fishing year, or as soon as possible thereafter, once catch data are available, as described below. In addition, adjustments to the recreational management measures, taking into account the performance of the measures and conditions that precipitated the overage, will be made in the following year.

(1) Adjustment to recreational ACT. If an adjustment to the following year's recreational ACT is required, then the ACT will be reduced by the exact amount, in pounds, of the product of the overage, defined as the difference between the recreational catch and the recreational ACL, and the payback coefficient.

(2) Payback coefficient. The payback coefficient is the difference between the most recent estimate of biomass and B_MSY (i.e., B_MSY-B) divided by one-half of B_MSY.

(iii) If biomass is above target. If the most recent estimate of biomass is above B_MSY (i.e., B/B_MSY is greater than 1.0), then adjustments to the recreational management measures, taking into account the performance of the measures and conditions that precipitated the overage, will be made in the following fishing year, or as soon as possible thereafter, once catch data are available, as a single-year adjustment.

[82 FR 52859, Nov. 15, 2017, as amended at 83 FR 10807, Mar. 13, 2018]