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This rule would implement Amendment 62 to the Gulf Council’s Reef Fish Fishery Management Plan. Amendment 62 considers updates to management measures for red grouper in the Gulf of America (Gulf).  The Gulf Council is developing Amendment 62 to consider changes to the overfishing limit, acceptable biological catch, the total and sector annual catch limits (ACL), and the sector annual catch targets for red grouper based on the most recent assessment of the stock (Southeast Data, Assessment, and Review 88).  Amendment 62 also considers removing the red grouper allocation between the commercial and recreational sectors and removing the shallow-water grouper February-March recreational closure.  The measures considered in the amendment are consistent with the authority in section 303(a) and 303(b)(3)(A) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) would issue this rule consistent with the authority in Magnuson-Stevens Act section 304(b).  This rulemaking would address most recent information on the status of the red grouper stock and the change in method used to estimate recreational harvest from the Marine Recreational Information Program Fishing Effort Survey to the Florida State Reef Fish Survey (SRFS). This rulemaking would also address a constraint on recreational fishing that may no longer serve its intended purpose.  The need for this action is to use the best scientific information available to increase catch limits and reduce economic hardship on the commercial and recreational Gulf red grouper sectors, consistent with the authority under the Magnuson-Stevens Act.