Amendment 14 to the 2006 Consolidated HMS Fishery Management Plan: Shark Quota Management
Summary
NOAA Fisheries is exploring options for implementing management measures to be consistent with the current National Standard 1 policy guidelines for Atlantic sharks in Draft Amendment 14 to the 2006 Consolidated Atlantic Highly Migratory Species Fishery Management Plan.
What is Draft Amendment 14?
Draft Amendment 14 will establish a new framework action for the establishment of acceptable biological catch (ABCs) and annual catch limits (ACLs) for Atlantic shark fisheries. The Preferred management options are below.
| Topic | Preferred Options |
|---|---|
| ABC control rule |
Management Option A3 Create a tiered ABC control rule. |
| Phase-in ABC control rule |
Management Option B2 Allow consideration of phase-in ABC control rules for any modifications in ABC. |
| ACL development |
Management Option C2 Actively manage all sector ACLs (commercial and recreational). |
|
Management Option C5 Establish an ACL for each Atlantic shark management group, without commercial ACL quota linkages. |
|
| Carry-over |
Management Option D6 Allow carry-over, and only for underharvest of the commercial quotas (landings only) under certain conditions. |
| Multi-year overfishing status determination criteria |
Management Option E3 Compare a three-year average of fishing mortality estimates to the overfishing limit to determine overfishing status. |
This amendment does not contain a proposed rule or regulatory text. It does not change any fishery quotas or implement any new HMS fishery management measures. It does not consider any management changes for prohibited shark species. Any operational changes to HMS fishery management measures as a result of Amendment 14 will be considered in future rulemakings, as appropriate.
Supplement to Draft Amendment 14
The Supplement to Draft Amendment 14 provides more details regarding the preferred Management Option A3 on the tiered acceptable biological catch (ABC) control rule. Based on public comments, NOAA Fisheries reworked Management Option A3 so the tiers apply to all sharks that have a stock status of healthy (i.e., not subject to overfishing and not overfished), experiencing overfishing, or unknown. Shark stocks that are: (1) under a rebuilding plan, (2) assessed (or could be assessed) by the scientific body of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), or (3) in the prohibited shark complex would be outside of these tiers.
| Tier Level | Description of Tier |
|---|---|
| Tier 1 |
Condition of Use: Accepted data-rich stage-structured stock assessment approach that includes, at a minimum, reliable time series of catch, size or age composition, and index of abundance OFL (or the OFL proxy) = catch at MFMT (or the MFMT proxy) ABC = OFL (or the OFL proxy) as reduced (buffered) as needed to account for scientific uncertainty and reflecting the acceptable probability of overfishing |
| Tier 2 |
Condition of Use: Accepted data-moderate stock assessment approach that includes two of the three time series listed in Tier 1. OFL (or the OFL proxy) = catch at MFMT (or the MFMT proxy) ABC = OFL (or the OFL proxy) as reduced (buffered) as needed to account for scientific uncertainty and reflecting the acceptable probability of overfishing; ABC reduction would be greater than Tier 1 |
| Tier 3 |
Condition of Use: Accepted stock assessment available but the data used are relatively limited and do not meet the standards set for Tiers 1 and 2. OFL (or the OFL proxy) = catch at MFMT (or the MFMT proxy) ABC = OFL (or the OFL proxy) as reduced (buffered) as needed to account for scientific uncertainty and reflecting the acceptable probability of overfishing; ABC reduction would be greater than Tiers 1 and 2 |
| Tier 4 |
Condition of Use: No accepted assessment available, and, therefore, data quality and data availability have not been fully vetted through an assessment process OFL proxy = mean of reference period catch multiplied by a scalar ≤ 3, as refined per life history characteristics, susceptibility to fishing pressure, or other appropriate considerations ABC ≤ 90% of OFL proxy as determined by scientific uncertainty |
Half-Day Advisory Panel Webinar
A half-day HMS AP webinar is scheduled for Friday February 11 from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Public Webinar
Wednesday Feb 23, 2022 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
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