Northeast Multispecies (Groundfish) Fishing Year 2020 Regulations

July 28, 2020

Effective Date: July 28, 2020

Bulletin |

New England/Mid-Atlantic

New England, Mid-Atlantic

We approved Framework Adjustment 59 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan and are announcing final quotas for fishing year 2020. These quotas replace those that were in effect at the beginning of the fishing year. The common pool possession limits announced for May 1, 2020, are not changed by this action.

More detailed information can be found in the Framework 59 final rule.

Fishing Year 2020 Catch Limits

Framework 59 sets or adjusts the 2020-2022 catch limits for 19 of the 20 groundfish stocks. The U.S./Canada quotas are shown in Table 1. The 2020 annual catch limits (ACL) are listed in Table 2. Sector annual catch entitlements (ACE) are shown in Table 3.

Sector and common pool allocations are based on the final fishing year 2020 rosters. After we finalize fishing year 2019 catch information, we will subtract any sector or common pool overages in an adjustment action, if necessary.

**Table 1. 2020 Fishing Year U.S./Canada Quotas (mt, live weight) and Percent of Quota Allocated to Each Country**
Quota	Eastern GB Cod	Eastern GB Haddock	GB Yellowtail Flounder
Quota	Eastern GB Cod	Eastern GB Haddock	GB Yellowtail Flounder	Total Shared Quota	650	30,000	162
U.S. Quota	188.5 (29%)	16,200 (54%)	120 (74%)
Canadian Quota	461.5 (71%)	13,800 (46%)	42 (26%)

**Table 2. Fishing Year 2020 Catch Limits (mt, live weight)**

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Stock	Total ACL	Groundfish sub-ACL	Final Sector sub-ACL	Final Common Pool sub-ACL	Recreational sub-ACL	Midwater Trawl Fishery	Scallop Fishery	Small-Mesh Fisheries	State Waters sub- component	Other sub-component
Stock	A to H	A+B+C	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H
GB Cod	1,234	1,073	1,041	31	-	-	-	-	19	142
GOM Cod	523	468	267	9	193	-	-	-	48	7
GB Haddock	124,969	121,864	119,410	2,454	-	2,447	-	-	0	658
GOM Haddock	18,580	18,267	11,754	303	6,210	183	-	-	65	65
GB Yellowtail Flounder	116	95	92	3	-	-	18.6	2.2	0.0	0.0
SNE/MA Yellowtail Flounder	21	15	12	3	-	-	2	-	0	4
CC/GOM Yellowtail Flounder	787	688	656	32	-	-	-	-	58	41
American Plaice	3,000	2,937	2,859	78	-	-	-	-	32	32
Witch Flounder	1,414	1,310	1,275	35	-	-	-	-	44	59
GB Winter Flounder	545	522	502	21	-	-	-	-	0	22
GOM Winter Flounder	432	287	272	14	-	-	-	-	139	7
SNE/MA Winter Flounder	699	539	475	63	-	-	-	-	36	124
Redfish	11,351	11,231	11,085	147	-	-	-	-	60	60
White Hake	2,041	2,019	1,995	24	-	-	-	-	11	11
Pollock	26,184	23,989	23,752	236	-	-	-	-	1,098	1,098
N. Windowpane Flounder	55	38	na	38	-	-	12	-	1	5
S. Windowpane Flounder	412	48	na	48	-	-	143	-	26	196
Ocean Pout	120	92	na	92	-	-	-	-	1	27
Atlantic Halibut	102	77	na	77	-	-	-	-	21	4
Atlantic Wolffish	84	82	na	82	-	-	-	-	1	1

na: not allocated to sectors. ACL = annual catch limit, GB = Georges Bank, GOM = Gulf of Maine, SNE/MA = Southern New England/Mid-Atlantic, CC/GOM = Cape Cod/Gulf of Maine, N = northern, S = southern.

**Table 3. ACE (in 1,000 lb), by stock, for each sector for fishing year 2020#^**

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Sector Name	GB Cod East	GB Cod West	GOM Cod	GB Haddock East	GB Haddock West	GOM Haddock	GB Yellowtail Flounder	SNE/MA Yellowtail Flounder	CC/GOM Yellowtail Flounder	Plaice	Witch Flounder	GB Winter Flounder	GOM Winter Flounder	SNE/MA Winter Flounder	Redfish	White Hake	Pollock
Fixed Gear Sector	52	244	4	685	4,469	55	2	0	33	34	34	1	80	14	141	47	1,790
Maine Coast Community Sector	10	45	72	1,121	7,311	2,391	4	1	56	795	280	12	24	22	2,125	588	6,676
Maine Permit Bank	49	231	20	1,331	8,680	807	1	0	39	50	50	10	16	27	657	258	2,879
Mooncusser Sector	1	3	7	16	103	299	0	0	5	75	21	0	3	0	204	74	896
NEFS 2	27	127	163	3,817	24,897	5,974	4	1	381	721	421	37	155	50	3,825	417	7,844
NEFS 4	31	144	68	2,078	13,552	2,359	5	1	97	616	256	8	47	12	1,652	368	3,631
NEFS 5	2	9	0	291	1,900	1	3	7	3	28	16	5	0	143	4	4	22
NEFS 6	13	62	19	1,281	8,354	1,171	7	2	69	297	175	20	32	23	1,687	201	1,940
NEFS 7	12	56	5	838	5,467	482	14	1	19	195	61	91	2	35	637	95	903
NEFS 8	35	163	7	2,766	18,038	193	36	2	99	211	106	275	31	115	226	48	637
NEFS 10	2	10	15	63	412	341	0	0	65	70	59	0	58	7	83	29	404
NEFS 11	2	8	75	12	81	763	0	0	38	110	48	0	13	0	481	200	4,710
NEFS 12	3	12	17	33	218	269	0	0	119	33	16	0	48	3	56	13	410
NEFS 13	49	230	5	7,314	47,707	258	73	8	99	552	267	200	14	186	1,086	99	1,399
New Hampshire Permit Bank	0	0	7	0	0	9	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	5	4	59
Sustainable Harvest Sector 1	9	44	18	810	5,284	1,016	2	0	33	347	112	65	21	9	741	197	1,422
Sustainable Harvest Sector 2	10	48	29	443	2,889	824	7	1	63	219	86	42	27	41	769	265	3,306
Sustainable Harvest Sector 3	97	455	55	12,096	78,895	8,702	46	4	229	1,949	804	340	30	362	10,060	1,491	13,436
Common Pool	12	57	19	719	4,692	668	7	6	70	172	78	46	32	140	324	54	521
Sector Total	403	1,892	588	34,996	228,257	25,914	203	27	1,447	6,304	2,810	1,106	600	1,048	24,437	4,398	52,365

# Numbers are rounded to the nearest thousand pounds. In some cases, this table shows an allocation of 0, but that sector may be allocated a small amount of that stock in tens or hundreds pounds.

^ The data in the table represent the total allocations to each sector.

This bulletin serves as a Small Entity Compliance Guide, complying with section 212 of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996.