Draft Amendment 53 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Reef Fish Fishery in the Gulf of Mexico: Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) Red Grouper Allocations and Annual Catch Levels and Targets

This DEIS is prepared pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act to assess the environmental impacts associated with a reasonable range of alternatives intended to modify the sector allocation, overfishing limit, acceptable biological catch, annual catch limits, and annual catch targets of red grouper in the Gulf of Mexico. This DEIS is being prepared using the 1978 CEQ NEPA Regulations. NEPA reviews initiated prior to the effective date of the 2020 CEQ regulations may be conducted using the 1978 version of the regulations. The effective date of the 2020 CEQ NEPA Regulations was September 14, 2020. This review began on April 21, 2020, and the agency has decided to proceed under the 1978 regulations. Grant no. NA15NMF4410011