[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 181 (Monday, September 19, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 57945-57946]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-23988]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 660
RIN 0648-BA55
Fisheries Off West Coast States; West Coast Salmon Fisheries;
Notice of Availability for Amendment 16 to the Salmon Fishery
Management Plan
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Availability of amendment to a fishery management plan; request
for comments.
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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the Pacific Fishery Management Council
[[Page 57946]]
(Council) has submitted Amendment 16 to the Pacific Coast Salmon
Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Secretarial review. Amendment 16
would modify the FMP to implement National Standard 1 Guidelines
(NS1Gs) adopted by NMFS under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation
and Management Reauthorization Act (MSRA). These guidelines are
intended to prevent and end overfishing and rebuild fisheries through
implementation of status determination criteria, overfishing limits,
annual catch limits, and accountability measures. Amendment 16 would
also set new conservation objectives and de minimis fishing rate
provisions.
DATES: Comments on Amendment 16 must be received on or before November
18, 2011.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by NOAA-NMFS-2011-0227,
by any one of the following methods:
Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic public
comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal http://www.regulations.gov. To submit comments via the e-Rulemaking Portal,
first click the ``Submit a Comment'' icon, then enter NOAA-NMFS-2011-
0227 in the keyword search. Locate the document you wish to comment on
from the resulting list and click on the ``Submit a Comment'' icon on
the right of that line.
Mail: William W. Stelle, Jr., Regional Administrator,
Northwest Region, NMFS, 7600 Sand Point Way, NE., Seattle, WA 98115-
0070 or to Rod McInnis, Regional Administrator, Southwest Region, NMFS,
501 West Ocean Boulevard, Suite 4200, Long Beach, CA 90802-4213.
Fax: 206-526-6736 Attn: Peggy Busby, or 562-980-4047 Attn:
Heidi Taylor.
Instructions: Comments must be submitted by one of the above
methods to ensure that the comments are received, documented, and
considered by NMFS. Comments sent by any other method, to any other
address or individual, or received after the end of the comment period,
may not be considered. All comments received are a part of the public
record and will generally be posted for public viewing on http://www.regulations.gov without change. All personal identifying
information (e.g., name, address, etc.) submitted voluntarily by the
sender will be publicly accessible. Do not submit confidential business
information or otherwise sensitive or protected information. NMFS will
accept anonymous comments (enter N/A in the required fields if you wish
to remain anonymous). Attachments to electronic comments will be
accepted in Microsoft Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe PDF file
formats only.
Electronic copies of the amendment may be obtained from the Council
Web site at http://pcouncil.org.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Peggy Busby at 206-526-4323, or Heidi
Taylor at 562-980-4039.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The ocean salmon fisheries in the exclusive
economic zone off Washington, Oregon, and California are managed under
a ``framework'' fishery management plan entitled the Pacific Coast
Salmon Fishery Management Plan (FMP). The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act of 2006 (MSRA) requires
that each regional fishery management council submit any FMP or plan
amendment it prepares to NMFS for review and approval, disapproval, or
partial approval. The MSRA also requires that NMFS, upon receiving an
FMP or amendment, immediately publish a notice that the FMP or
amendment is available for public review and comment. NMFS will
consider the public comments received during the comment period
described above in determining whether to approve Amendment 16 to the
FMP.
On January 16, 2009 (74 FR 3178), NMFS adopted revisions to its
guidelines implementing MSRA National Standard 1 (NS1Gs) to prevent and
end overfishing and rebuild fisheries. In particular, the revised
guidelines provide guidance on implementation of the new statutory
requirement for annual catch limits (ACLs). The revised guidelines also
include new requirements for accountability measures (AMs) and other
provisions regarding preventing and ending overfishing and rebuilding
fisheries. To comply with the statute and these new guidelines,
Amendment 16 to the Salmon FMP would reorganize and classify stocks in
the FMP to conform with requirements of the NS1Gs, to establish status
determination criteria, establish a framework for defining reference
points related to overfishing limits (OFL), acceptable biological catch
(ABC), and annual catch limits (ACLs), and establish appropriate
accountability measures (AM) necessary to prevent the ACLs from being
exceeded, and to mitigate any overages that may occur. Amendment 16
would also set new conservation objectives for Klamath River fall
Chinook salmon and Sacramento River fall Chinook salmon, and would
specify de minimis fishing rate provisions to address management in
years of low abundance. Other conservation objectives would also be
revised and updated as needed to conform with the best available
science.
NMFS welcomes comments on the proposed FMP amendment through the
end of the comment period. A proposed rule to implement Amendment 16
has been submitted for Secretarial review and approval. NMFS expects to
publish and request public review and comment on proposed regulations
to implement Amendment 16 in the near future. Public comments on the
proposed rule must be received by the end of the comment period on the
amendment to be considered in the approval/disapproval decision on the
amendment. All comments received by the end of the comment period for
the amendment, whether specifically directed to the amendment or the
proposed rule, will be considered in the approval/disapproval decision.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: September 14, 2011.
Steven Thur,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-23988 Filed 9-16-11; 8:45 am]
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