Title 50

SECTION 648.291

648.291 Tilefish Annual Catch Targets (ACT).

§ 648.291 Tilefish Annual Catch Targets (ACT).

(a) Golden tilefish. The Tilefish Monitoring Committee shall identify and review the relevant sources of management uncertainty to recommend ACTs for the individual fishing quota (IFQ) and incidental sectors of the fishery as part of the golden tilefish specification process. The Tilefish Monitoring Committee recommendations shall identify the specific sources of management uncertainty that were considered, technical approaches to mitigating these sources of uncertainty, and any additional relevant information considered in the ACT recommendation process.

(1) ACT allocation. (i) The ACT shall be less than or equal to the ACL.

(ii) The Tilefish Monitoring Committee shall include the fishing mortality associated with the recreational fishery in its ACT recommendations only if this source of mortality has not already been accounted for in the ABC recommended by the SSC.

(iii) The Tilefish Monitoring Committee shall allocate 5 percent of the ACT to the incidental sector of the fishery and the remaining 95 percent to the IFQ sector.

(2) Periodicity. ACTs may be established on an annual basis for up to three years at a time, dependent on whether the SSC provides single or multiple-year ABC recommendations.

(b) Blueline tilefish. The Tilefish Monitoring Committee shall identify and review the relevant sources of management uncertainty to recommend ACTs for the commercial and recreational fishing sectors as part of the blueline tilefish specification process. The Tilefish Monitoring Committee recommendations shall identify the specific sources of management uncertainty that were considered, technical approaches to mitigating these sources of uncertainty, and any additional relevant information considered in the ACT recommendation process.

(1) Sectors. Commercial and recreational specific ACTs shall be less than or equal to the sector-specific ACLs. The Tilefish Monitoring Committee shall recommend any reduction in catch necessary to address sector-specific management uncertainty, consistent with paragraph (b) of this section.

(2) Periodicity. ACTs may be established on an annual basis for up to three years at a time, dependent on whether the SSC provides single or multiple-year ABC recommendations.

(c) Performance review. The Tilefish Monitoring Committee shall conduct a detailed review of golden tilefish and blueline tilefish fishery performance relative to the appropriate ACTs in conjunction with any ACL performance review, as outlined in § 648.290(c)(1) through (3).

[82 FR 52857, Nov. 15, 2017, as amended at 83 FR 10806, Mar. 13, 2018]

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