Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; Queen Conch Fishery of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands; Queen Conch Management Measures

This final rule implements measures to address overfishing of Caribbean queen conch in the U.S. Caribbean. This rule extends the queen conch seasonal closure from 3 months to 5 months, and prohibits fishing for and possession of queen conch in or from the Caribbean exclusive economic zone (EEZ) east of 64[deg]34' W. longitude, which includes Lang Bank east of St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI), when harvest and possession of queen conch is prohibited in St. Croix territorial waters as a result of a territorial quota closure. The intended effects of this final rule are to prevent additional fishing pressure on queen conch in the U.S. Caribbean, and to improve enforcement of regulations affecting the queen conch resource by improving compatibility among Federal and territorial regulations.