Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; Shrimp Fishery Off the Southern Atlantic States; Amendment 2

NMFS issues this final rule to implement Amendment 2 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Shrimp Fishery of the South Atlantic Region (FMP). Amendment 2 adds brown and pink shrimp to the FMP's fishery management unit, defines overfishing for brown and pink shrimp, defines optimum yield (OY) for brown and pink shrimp, requires the use of certified bycatch reduction devices (BRDs) in all penaeid shrimp trawls in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the South Atlantic, and establishes a framework procedure for adding to the list of certified BRDs or modifying their specifications. The intended effects are to minimize the bycatch of finfish in shrimp trawling operations in the South Atlantic and to implement consistent, and therefore more enforceable, Federal and state management measures requiring the use of BRDs for reducing finfish bycatch in the penaeid shrimp fishery.