Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; 2024 Atlantic Shark Commercial Fishing Year

This proposed rule would adjust quotas and retention limits and establish the opening date for the 2024 fishing year for the Atlantic shark commercial fisheries. Within this proposed rule, NMFS also considers options for the 2024 and future fishing years to automatically open the commercial fishing year on January 1 of each year under the base quotas and default retention limits, and to increase the default commercial retention limit for the large coastal shark (LCS) fisheries. Quotas would be adjusted as required or allowable based on any underharvests from the previous fishing years. The proposed measures could affect fishing opportunities for commercial shark fishermen in the northwestern Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean Sea.