NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service is proposing this action pursuant to the authorities under sections 303(c) and 304(b) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission jointly manage summer flounder, scup, black sea bass, and bluefish as a part of the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan (FMP) and Bluefish FMP. At their joint meeting in April 2025, the Council and the Commission’s Interstate Fisheries Management Program Policy Board are scheduled to approve the Recreational Measures Setting Process (RMS) Framework Adjustment for the FMPs. The proposed RMS Framework would replace the current Harvest Control Rule Framework, which will sunset at the end of 2025. Like the current framework, the RMS framework would consider factors other than historical harvest to determine how management measures should be adjusted. These factors include how past harvest compares to future harvest, evaluation of biomass, and fishing mortality estimates. This action would be relieving regulatory restrictions to allow increased flexibility in how the recreational fisheries for these species are managed. If there is no new framework in place once the current framework sunsets, then the management process would default to the old, more restrictive regulations. These prior regulations would likely result in negative economic impacts to the recreational fisheries.