(a) Purse seine incidental catch allowance. A vessel in the EEZ, or having fished in the EEZ, with a purse seine on board will not be considered as fishing, or having fished, for king or Spanish mackerel in violation of a prohibition of purse seines under § 622.375(b), in violation of the possession limits under § 622.375(b)(3), or, in the case of king mackerel from the Atlantic migratory group, in violation of a closure effected in accordance with § 622.8(b), provided the king mackerel on board does not exceed 1 percent, or the Spanish mackerel on board does not exceed 10 percent, of all fish on board the vessel. Incidental catch will be calculated by number and/or weight of fish. Neither calculation may exceed the allowable percentage. Incidentally caught king or Spanish mackerel are counted toward the quotas provided for under § 622.384 and are subject to the prohibition of sale under § 622.384(e)(2).

(b) Shark gillnet incidental catch allowance. A vessel in the Atlantic EEZ with a valid Federal Atlantic commercial shark directed permit and a valid Federal king mackerel commercial permit that is engaged in directed shark fishing with gillnets that are not an authorized gear for Atlantic migratory group king mackerel (See § 622.375(a)(1)(i)), may retain and sell a limited number of king mackerel. Any king mackerel retained must be sold to a dealer with a valid Federal Gulf and South Atlantic dealer permit.

(1) Northern zone. No more than three king mackerel per crew member may be retained or sold per trip (See § 622.385(a)(1)(i) for the commercial trip limit for directed king mackerel trips using authorized gillnets (in the Atlantic EEZ north of 34°37.3′ N. lat., the latitude of Cape Lookout, NC)).

(2) Southern zone. No more than two king mackerel per crew member may be retained or sold per trip.

[82 FR 17397, Apr. 11, 2017, as amended at 82 FR 35660, Aug. 1, 2017]