SUMMER FLOUNDER COMMERCIAL ISSUES AND GOALS AND OBJECTIVES AMENDMENT AMENDMENT 21 TO THE SUMMER FLOUNDER, SCUP, AND BLACK SEA BASS FISHERY MANAGEMENT PLAN Final Environmental Impact Statement

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, in consultation with NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service, proposes to adopt and implement Amendment 21 to the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan (FMP), also known as the Summer Flounder Commercial Issues Amendment, pursuant to the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA). This Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) presents a range of alternatives under consideration in this amendment, which address the amendment purposes outlined in the document. The proposed action is to modify the state allocation of summer flounder commercial quota. This amendment also proposes revisions to the FMP objectives for summer flounder (applicable to both the recreational and commercial summer flounder fisheries). This amendment also considers additional commercial summer flounder fishery management issues, including federal commercial moratorium permit qualification criteria for summer flounder and modifying the list of framework provisions within the FMP; however, the preferred management alternatives include making no changes to these issues. This document also includes a detailed description of the affected environment and valued ecosystem components, and analyses of the impacts of the measures under consideration on the affected environment. It addresses the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the MSA, the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), and other applicable laws.