The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), is issuing a correcting amendment to a previous rule concerning fishery management plans for Puerto Rico, St. Croix, and St. Thomas and St. John. This amendment is fixing an error from a rule published in 2022 that accidentally removed the banded rudderfish from a species list. The correction re-inserts the banded rudderfish into the South Atlantic snapper-grouper species table, ensuring proper management of this fish under the existing fishery management plan. The amendment bypasses the usual 30-day waiting period and public commentary since it's merely correcting an oversight, and the change takes effect on March 31, 2025.
Simple Explanation
The people in charge of ocean rules made a mistake last time and forgot to include a fish called the "banded rudderfish" in an important fish list. Now, they're fixing it and adding the fish back to the list so they can take care of it properly.