NOAA Fisheries Announces Proposed 2021 Bluefish Specifications

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NOAA Fisheries - New England - Mid Atlantic Bulletin

November 5, 2020

NOAA Fisheries Announces Proposed 2021 Bluefish Specifications

NOAA Fisheries is proposing the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s recommended catch specifications for the 2021 bluefish fishery. These proposed catch limits are mostly status quo, with only slight changes in the final recreational harvest limit to account for most recent (2019) recreational catch data. A summary of the Council’s recommended specifications is shown in Table 1.

Table 1. Summary of Current 2020 and Proposed 2021 Bluefish Specifications (million lb).

 

 2020 (Current)

  2021 (Proposed)

Overfishing Limit

37.98

37.98

ABC = ACL

16.28

16.28

Commercial ACT

2.77

2.77

Recreational ACT

13.51

13.51

Commercial Discards

0

0

Recreational Discards

4.03

5.17

Commercial TAL

2.77

2.77

Recreational TAL

          9.48

            8.34

Sector Transfer

             0

              0

Commercial Quota

         2.77

            2.77

Recreational Harvest Limit

         9.48

           8.34

The commercial fishery state allocations for 2021 (Table 2) are based on the final coast-wide commercial quota, and the allocated percentages defined in the Bluefish Fishery Management Plan. No states exceeded their state allocated quota in 2019 or are projected to do so in 2020, so no adjustments are necessary for the 2021 commercial fishery.

Table 2. Proposed 2021 Bluefish State Commercial Quota Allocations.

State

Percent Share 

 Proposed Quota (lb)

Maine

0.67

18,503

New Hampshire

0.41

11,473

Massachusetts

6.72

185,904

Rhode Island

6.81

188,434

Connecticut

1.27

35,049

New York

10.39

287,438

New Jersey

14.82

410,082

Delaware

1.88

51,985

Maryland

3.00

83,084

Virginia

11.88

328,800

North Carolina

32.06

887,377

South Carolina

0.04

974

Georgia

0.01

263

Florida

10.06

278,432

Total

100.00

2,767,793

All other management measures and requirements, including the recreational daily bag limit of 3 fish per person for private anglers and to 5 fish per person for for-hire (charter/party) vessels, would remain unchanged.

For more details on the proposed specifications, read the proposed rule as published in the Federal Register, and submit your comments through the online portal. The comment period is open through November 20, 2020.

Questions?

Fishermen: Contact Cynthia Ferrio, Sustainable Fisheries Division, 978-281-9180

Media: Contact Jennifer Goebel, Regional Office, 978-281-9175