NOAA Fisheries announces a proposed rule that would adjust quotas and retention limits and establish the opening date for the 2022 fishing year for the Atlantic commercial shark fisheries in 2022. The rule would also propose opening dates and retention limits for the 2022 fishing year.
What will it do?
This action proposes adjustments to 2022 quotas to account for underharvests from the 2021 fishing year as allowable under existing regulations, which take into account stock status. NOAA Fisheries proposes a January 1, 2022 opening date with a retention limit of 55 LCS other than sandbar sharks per vessel per trip in both the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico regions.
Quotas and other provisions in the proposed rule are subject to change in the final rule. The proposed rule uses landings data received as of July 9, 2021. The final rule will be based on public comment and updated data received in dealer reports by late October to mid-November 2021. We anticipate that dealer reports received after the date of the final rule would be used to adjust the 2023 quotas, as appropriate.
Who is affected?
This action could affect:
- Any commercial shark fishermen in the northwestern Atlantic Ocean, including the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea.
- Any dealers who buy or sell sharks or shark products in these areas.
Submit Comments by September 6, 2021:
Written comments, identified by “NOAA-NMFS-2021-0056”, may be submitted electronically via the Federal eRulemaking Portal. All comments received are a part of the public record and will generally be posted to the Federal eRulemaking Portal without change. All Personal Identifying Information (for example, name, address, etc.) voluntarily submitted by the commenter may be publicly accessible. Do not submit Confidential Business Information or otherwise sensitive or protected information. We will accept anonymous comments (enter N/A in the required fields, if you wish to remain anonymous). You may submit attachments to electronic comments in Microsoft Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe PDF file formats only.
For further information on this proposed rule and its requirements, contact Lauren Latchford, Derek Kraft, or Karyl Brewster-Geisz at (301)-427-8503.
This notice is a courtesy to the HMS fishery participants to help keep you informed about the fishery.
More information can be found in the Federal Register notice.
