Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fisheries; Interim 2012 Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Specifications; 2012 Research Set-Aside Projects

NMFS is implementing interim catch levels and management measures, called specifications, for the 2012 summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass fisheries, and is also providing notice of projects likely to request research set-aside related to exempted fishing permits. Interim specifications are necessary to ensure that fishing quotas for the summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass fisheries are in place at the start of the fishing year on January 1, 2012, to ensure the three species are not overfished or subject to overfishing in 2012. Notice of exempted fishing permit requests is necessary to allow public comment on the fishing regulation exemptions requested by research set- aside participants.