December 18, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
NOAA Fisheries announces final quota specifications for the 2021 mid-Atlantic golden tilefish fishery and projected specifications for 2022. These catch limits are mostly status quo, with only a slight change in the final incidental quota to account for updated discard estimates.
ABC=Acceptable Biological Catch, ACL=Annual Catch Limit, ACT=Annual Catch Target, TAL=Total Allowable Landings
Additionally, we are implementing the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s request for emergency action to allow a one-time 5-percent carryover of unharvested individual fishing quota (IFQ) into the 2021 fishing year. This carryover allowance will help mitigate the adverse impact of regional closures of restaurants and fish markets during 2020. We will send IFQ quota shareholders a letter indicating how much quota they may carryover.
All other management measures and requirements remain unchanged. This includes the incidental landing limit of 500 lb (whole weight) or 50 percent (by weight) of all fish being landed, including tilefish, whichever is less. The recreational trip limit of eight fish per angler is also unchanged.
For more details on these specifications, read the final rule as filed in the Federal Register and our bulletin.