Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast Multispecies Fishery; Approval of 2021 and 2022 Sector Operations Plans and Allocation of 2021 Northeast Multispecies Annual Catch Entitlements
This final rule approves sector operations plans and contracts, grants 19 regulatory exemptions for fishing years 2021 and 2022, allocates Northeast multispecies annual catch entitlements to approved sectors for fishing year 2021 including default specifications for seven stocks, and makes regulatory amendments necessary to administer electronic monitoring. This action is intended to allow limited access permit holders to continue to operate or form sectors and to exempt sectors from certain effort control regulations to improve the efficiency and economics of sector vessels. Approval of sector operations plans and contracts is necessary to allocate annual catch entitlements to the sectors in order for sectors to operate.