Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; Reef Fish Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico; Greater Amberjack Management Measures

NMFS issues this final temporary rule to promulgate emergency measures, due to recently discovered circumstances that present serious conservation issues for the greater amberjack stock in the Gulf of Mexico (Gulf). As requested by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council), NMFS issues this final temporary rule to reduce overfishing, conserve the resource of greater amberjack in the Gulf, and reduce the likelihood of adverse socio-economic impacts that would occur if additional reductions in harvest were required to rebuild the stock. This final temporary rule modifies the greater amberjack recreational fixed closed season for the 2022-2023 fishing year in the Gulf exclusive economic zone (EEZ) to be August 1-31, 2022, and November 1, 2022-July 31, 2023 (open September 1, 2022-October 31, 2022). The final temporary rule will be effective for 180 days unless superseded by subsequent rulemaking; however, the rule's effectiveness may be extended for an additional 186 days, pursuant to provisions in the Magnuson-Stevens Act. The purpose of this emergency action for Gulf greater amberjack is to protect the greater amberjack resources by reducing the likelihood of overfishing and helping ensure that the greater amberjack stock rebuilds within the current rebuilding time, as well as to reduce the severity of any post-season recreational accountability measure overage adjustment as a result of the recreational annual catch limit (ACL) being exceeded.