Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; Amendments to the Queen Conch and Reef Fish Fishery Management Plans of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands

NMFS issues this final rule to implement Amendment 2 to the Fishery Management Plan for Queen Conch Resources of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Amendment 5 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Reef Fish Fishery of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands (Amendments 2 and 5), prepared by the Caribbean Fishery Management Council (Council). This final rule: Establishes annual catch limits (ACLs) and accountability measures (AMs) for queen conch and for all reef fish units or sub-units that are classified as undergoing overfishing (i.e., snapper, grouper and parrotfish); allocates ACLs among island management areas; revises the composition of the snapper and grouper complexes; prohibits fishing for and possession of three parrotfish species; establishes recreational bag limits for snappers, groupers, and parrotfishes; and establishes framework procedures for the queen conch and reef fish fishery management plans. Amendments 2 and 5 also revise management reference points and status determination criteria. The intended effect of the rule is to prevent overfishing of queen conch and reef fish species while maintaining catch levels consistent with achieving optimum yield (OY).