[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 186 (Monday, September 26, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 59375-59377]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-24676]
[[Page 59375]]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 622
RIN 0648-AY55
Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic;
Amendments to the Queen Conch and Reef Fish Fishery Management Plans of
Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The Caribbean Fishery Management Council (Council) has
submitted Amendment 2 to the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for the
Queen Conch Resources of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands and
Amendment 5 to the FMP for the Reef Fish Fishery of Puerto Rico and the
U.S. Virgin Islands (Amendments 2 and 5) for review, approval, and
implementation by NMFS. These amendments would establish annual catch
limits (ACLs) and accountability measures (AMs) for queen conch and all
reef fish units or complexes that are classified as undergoing
overfishing or that contain sub-units which are classified as
undergoing overfishing (i.e. snapper, grouper and parrotfish); allocate
ACLs among island management areas and, in Puerto Rico only, among the
commercial and recreational sectors; revise the composition of the
snapper and grouper complexes; prohibit fishing for and possession of
three parrotfish species (midnight, blue, rainbow); establish
recreational bag limits for snappers, groupers, and parrotfishes; and
establish framework procedures for queen conch and reef fish species.
Amendments 2 and 5 would also revise management reference points and
status determination criteria for queen conch, snappers, groupers, and
parrotfishes. The intended effects of Amendments 2 and 5 are to prevent
overfishing of queen conch and reef fish species while maintaining
catch levels consistent with achieving optimum yield (OY).
DATES: Written comments must be received on or before November 25,
2011.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on Amendments 2 and 5, identified by
``NOAA-NMFS-2010-0028'' by any of the following methods:
Electronic Submissions: Submit electronic public comments
via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow
the instructions for submitting comments.
Mail: Bill Arnold, Southeast Regional Office, NMFS, 263
13th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701.
Instructions: All comments received are a part of the public record
and will generally be posted to http://www.regulations.gov without
change. All Personal Identifying Information (for example, name,
address, etc.) voluntarily submitted by the commenter may be publicly
accessible. Do not submit Confidential Business Information or
otherwise sensitive or protected information.
To submit comments through the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal:
http:www.regulations.gov, click on ``submit a comment,'' then enter
``NOAA-NMFS-2010-0028'' in the keyword search and click on ``search.''
To view posted comments during the comment period, enter ``NOAA-NMFS-
2010-0028'' in the keyword search and click on ``search''. NMFS will
accept anonymous comments (enter N/A in the required fields if you wish
to remain anonymous). You may submit attachments to electronic comments
in Microsoft Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe PDF file formats only.
Comments received through means not specified in this notice will
not be considered.
Electronic copies of Amendments 2 and 5, which include a Final
Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS), an initial regulatory
flexibility analysis (IRFA), a regulatory impact review (RIR), and a
fishery impact statement may be obtained from the Southeast Regional
Office Web site at http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bill Arnold, Southeast Regional
Office, NMFS, telephone: 727-824-5305, e-mail: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation
and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) requires each regional
fishery management council to submit any fishery management plan or
amendment to NMFS for review and approval, disapproval, or partial
approval. The Magnuson-Stevens Act also requires that NMFS, upon
receiving a plan or amendment, publish an announcement in the Federal
Register notifying the public that the plan or amendment is available
for review and comment.
In the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the U.S. Caribbean, the
queen conch fishery is managed under the Fishery Management Plan (FMP)
for Queen Conch Resources of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands
(USVI) and the reef fish fishery is managed under the Reef Fish FMP of
Puerto Rico and the USVI. The two FMPs being revised by Amendments 2
and 5 were prepared by the Council and are implemented through
regulations at 50 CFR part 622 under the authority of the Magnuson-
Stevens Act.
Background
The 2006 revisions to the Magnuson-Stevens Act require that, by
2010, FMPs for the fisheries determined by the Secretary of Commerce to
be subject to overfishing must establish a mechanism of specifying ACLs
at a level that prevents overfishing and does not exceed the fishing
level recommendations of the Council's Scientific and Statistical
Committee (SSC) or other established peer-review processes.
Additionally, AMs must be designed that are implemented when an ACL is
exceeded. According to the 2010 NMFS' Report on the Status of the U.S.
Fisheries, Caribbean queen conch is undergoing overfishing, as are
Grouper Units 1 and 4, Snapper Unit 1, and Parrotfish.
Actions Contained in the Amendment
Amendments 2 and 5 modify the species compositions in the reef fish
fishery management unit (FMU). The amendments also revise management
reference points to transition U.S. Caribbean reef fish and queen conch
management from that established in the Comprehensive Sustainable
Fisheries Amendment (Caribbean SFA Amendment) of 2005 to that mandated
by the revised Magnuson-Stevens Act. Additionally, Amendments 2 and 5
would establish the necessary procedures for determining and
implementing ACLs for the U.S. Caribbean island groups, including
Puerto Rico, St. Croix in the USVI, and the island group of St. Thomas
and St. John in the USVI. Management measures are also proposed to
implement harvest prohibitions for three parrotfish species (midnight,
blue, rainbow). Recreational bag limits for reef fish are proposed and
an additional harvest reduction for parrotfish only for St. Croix would
be established. The amendment also establishes AMs to respond to and
manage future harvest with respect to the ACLs. Finally, the amendment
establishes framework provisions for reef fish and queen conch.
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Amend the Stock Complexes in the Reef Fish Fishery Management Unit
The snapper and grouper complexes included within the Reef Fish FMP
are currently composed of four grouper and four snapper units. At the
present time, unit composition excludes several species of commonly
harvested fish and does not aggregate species in an ecologically
consistent manner.
The black grouper is currently not included in any of the reef fish
species units although this species is frequently caught by
recreational anglers. The Council and NMFS propose to add black grouper
to Grouper Unit 4 with other grouper species that share common habitat
and depth preferences. Both misty and yellowedge grouper are presently
included in Grouper Unit 4, but these two species are found at water
depths much greater than are the other members currently in Grouper
Unit 4. Therefore, Amendments 2 and 5 propose to create a new Grouper
Unit 5 that would contain both misty and yellowedge grouper. Finally,
the creole-fish is rarely caught by commercial or recreational fishers
and is proposed to be removed from Grouper Unit 3.
The cardinal snapper is commonly caught by commercial fishers but
is not included in any current snapper unit. The amendment proposes to
add cardinal snapper to Snapper Unit 2 because of similarities with the
queen snapper in landings records and depth distribution. In contrast,
the wenchman is presently included as a member of Snapper Unit 2 but
clusters most closely with members of Snapper Unit 1 based upon depth
and habitat preferences and is therefore proposed to be moved into that
unit.
Revision of Management Reference Points
The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires that FMPs specify a number of
reference points for managed fish stocks, including maximum sustainable
yield (MSY), OY, and stock status determination criteria (including
overfished and overfishing thresholds). These reference points are
determined for the entire U.S. Caribbean and are intended to provide
the means to measure the status and performance of fisheries relative
to established goals. Available data in the U.S. Caribbean are not
sufficient to support direct estimation of these parameters. Thus, the
amendment proposes to use average landings as a proxy for MSY for all
units or complexes except queen conch and parrotfish. The MSY proxy of
queen conch and parrotfish would be set equal to the fishing level
recommendation specified by the Council's Scientific and Statistical
Committee (SSC) (i.e. the allowable biological catch (ABC)) for those
species. The overfishing threshold of all species will be defined as
the overfishing limit (OFL), which would equal the MSY proxy. For most
units or complexes, OY is proposed to equal the MSY proxy multiplied by
a reduction factor to account for uncertainty in the scientific and
management process, the proposed reduction factor being 0.85. The OY of
queen conch would not be reduced below the MSY proxy. Specifically for
Nassau grouper, goliath grouper, rainbow parrotfish, blue parrotfish,
and midnight parrotfish, the rule proposes to set the OY equal to zero.
Island Specific Management
This amendment also proposes island-specific management to enable
determination of ACLs and application of AMs in response to harvesting
activities on a single island (Puerto Rico, St. Croix) or island group
(St. Thomas/St. John) without affecting fishing activities on the other
islands or island groups. This amendment proposes to implement
geographical boundaries between islands and island groups based upon an
equidistant approach that uses the mid-point to divide the EEZ among
islands. The three proposed island management areas are Puerto Rico,
St. Croix, and St. Thomas/St. John.
Annual Catch Limits and Accountability Measures
This amendment proposes to establish ACLs and AMs for queen conch
and for all snapper, grouper, and parrotfish units or complexes in the
Caribbean Reef Fish FMP. Separate sector ACLs (commercial and
recreational) would be established for the Puerto Rico management area
where landings data are available for both the commercial and
recreational sectors. The other island management areas have only
commercial data available and therefore, ACLs would be established for
the St. Croix and St. Thomas/St. John management areas based on
commercial landings data only.
The ACLs proposed in Amendments 2 and 5 are derived from the OFL
(MSY proxy) (or SSC-recommended ABC) and most are reduced by 15 percent
to buffer against scientific and management uncertainty, reducing the
probability that overfishing will occur. The portion of the parrotfish
ACL allocated St. Croix is reduced by an additional 5.8822 percent to
further reduce the impacts of parrotfish harvest on Acropora coral
species in St. Croix waters, where parrotfish harvest is particularly
intense. This amendment specifies an ACL of zero for Nassau grouper,
goliath grouper, rainbow parrotfish, blue parrotfish, and midnight
parrotfish. The amendment also proposes an ACL equal to the ABC
recommended by the SSC for queen conch, which is far below recent
average landings.
Management Measures
Amendments 2 and 5 propose to establish a recreational bag limit
for the harvest of snapper, grouper and parrotfish. This amendment also
proposes a vessel limit on snapper, grouper, and parrotfish.
Accountability Measures
Accountability measures are designed to prevent fishermen from
exceeding the snapper, grouper, parrotfish and queen conch ACLs. The
amendment proposes to implement AMs if an ACL has been exceeded based
upon a moving multi-year average of landings. Post-season AMs are
proposed that would ensure the ACL is not exceeded in the year
following a reported ACL overage based on a moving-year evaluation of
landings and a subsequent reduction in the length of the fishing season
in the following year. If it is determined that the overage occurred
because data collection and monitoring improved rather than because
catches actually increased, AMs may not be applied.
Framework Measures
Amendments 2 and 5 propose framework measures for both the reef
fish and queen conch FMPs. Management measures proposed to be adjusted
through the framework procedure include quotas, closures, limits, gear
rules, and reference point modifications. The purpose of the framework
is to allow the Council to expeditiously adjust these reference points
and management measures in response to changing fishery conditions.
Consideration of Public Comments
A proposed rule that would implement measures outlined in
Amendments 2 and 5 has been received from the Council. In accordance
with the Magnuson-Stevens Act, NMFS is evaluating the proposed rule to
determine whether it is consistent with the FMPs, the Magnuson-Stevens
Act, and other applicable law. If the determination is affirmative,
NMFS will publish the proposed rule in the Federal Register for public
review and comment.
Comments received by November 25, 2011, whether specifically
directed to the amendment or the proposed rule,
[[Page 59377]]
will be considered by NMFS in its decision to approve, disapprove, or
partially approve the amendment. Comments received after that date will
not be considered by NMFS in this decision. All comments received by
NMFS on the amendment or the proposed rule during their respective
comment periods will be addressed in the final rule.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: September 21, 2011.
Emily H. Menashes,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-24676 Filed 9-23-11; 8:45 am]
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