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In response to action by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) proposes regulations to implement Dolphin Wahoo Amendment 12.  The Council requested that NMFS add bullet mackerel and frigate mackerel to the Fishery Management Plan for the Dolphin and Wahoo Fishery of the Atlantic and designate them as ecosystem component (EC) species.  The purpose of Dolphin Wahoo Amendment 12 is to acknowledge the ecological role of bullet mackerel and frigate mackerel as forage fish and achieve ecosystem management objectives.  The Council noted that the two mackerel species have been documented as important forage species particularly for wahoo and, to a lesser extent, for dolphin.  NMFS and the Council determined that bullet mackerel and frigate mackerel are currently not in need of conservation and management, making them eligible for consideration as EC species under provisions found within the National Standard Guidelines (50 CFR 600.305(c)(1)) and complying with the requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and other applicable laws.