Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; Snapper-Grouper Fishery off the Southern Atlantic States; Amendment 14

NMFS issues this final rule to implement Amendment 14 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region (FMP), as prepared and submitted by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council). This rule establishes eight marine protected areas (MPAs) in which fishing for or possession of South Atlantic snapper-grouper are prohibited. The prohibition on possession does not apply to a person aboard a vessel that is in transit with fishing gear appropriately stowed. The proposal in Amendment 14 to prohibit shark bottom longlines within these MPAs has been implemented by NMFS in a separate rulemaking. The intended effects of this final rule are to protect a portion of the population and habitat of long-lived, slow growing, deepwater snapper-grouper from fishing pressure to achieve a more natural sex ratio, age, and size structure within the proposed MPAs, while minimizing adverse social and economic effects.