Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; Snapper-Grouper Fishery off the Southern Atlantic States; Amendment 12

NMFS issues this final rule to implement Amendment 12 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region (FMP). This rule limits the harvest and possession of red porgy in or from the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off the southern Atlantic states to specified incidental catch amounts, adds to the parameters that may be established or modified via the FMP's framework procedure for regulatory adjustments (framework procedure), and modifies the snapper-grouper limited access system to allow transfers of a trip-limited permit among vessels owned by the same person regardless of vessel size (length and tonnage). The intended effect is to protect and rebuild the currently overfished red porgy resource; to facilitate timely implementation of measures for the protection of snapper-grouper essential fish habitat (EFH) and essential fish habitat areas of particular concern (EFH HAPCs) through the framework procedure; and to remove an unnecessary restriction on the transfer of snapper-grouper trip-limited permits.