[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 128 (Tuesday, July 3, 2012)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 39460-39462]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-16341]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 622
RIN 0648-BB97
Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic;
Reef Fish Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico; Amendment 35
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 Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council) has
submitted Amendment 35 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Reef Fish
Resources of the Gulf of Mexico (FMP) for review, approval, and
implementation by NMFS. Amendment 35 proposes to modify the greater
amberjack rebuilding plan; establish greater amberjack sector annual
catch limits (ACLs) and sector annual catch targets (ACTs); establish a
commercial trip limit for greater amberjack; and revise the sector
accountability measures (AMs) for greater amberjack. The intent of
Amendment 35 is to end overfishing of greater amberjack, modify the
greater amberjack rebuilding plan and help achieve optimum yield (OY)
for the greater amberjack resource in accordance with the requirements
of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act
(Magnuson-Stevens Act).
DATES: Written comments must be received on or before September 4,
2012.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on the amendment identified by
``NOAA-NMFS-2012-0107'' by any of the following methods:
Electronic submissions: Submit electronic comments via the
Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the
``Instructions'' for submitting comments.
Mail: Rich Malinowski, 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. NMFS will accept
anonymous comments (enter N/A in the required field if you wish to
remain anonymous).
To submit comments through the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov, enter ``NOAA-NMFS-2012-0107'' in the search field
and click on ``search.'' After you locate the document ``Fisheries of
the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; Reef Fish Fishery of
the Gulf of Mexico; Amendment 35,'' click the ``Submit a Comment'' link
in that row. This will display the comment Web form. You can then enter
your submitter information (unless you prefer to remain anonymous), and
type your comment on the Web form. You can also attach additional files
(up to 10MB) in Microsoft Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe PDF file
formats only.
Comments received through means not specified in this notice will
not be considered.
For further assistance with submitting a comment, see the
``Commenting'' section at http://www.regulations.gov/#!faqs or the Help
section at http://www.regulations.gov.
Electronic copies of the amendment may be obtained from the
Southeast Regional Office Web site at http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rich Malinowski, Southeast Regional
Office, NMFS, telephone 727-824-5305; email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Reef fish fishery of the Gulf of Mexico
(Gulf) is managed under the FMP. The FMP was prepared by the Council
and is implemented through regulations at 50 CFR part 622 under the
authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. 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. All greater amberjack
weights discussed in this notice are in round weight.
Background
The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires NMFS and regional fishery
management councils to prevent overfishing and achieve, on a continuing
basis, the OY from federally managed fish stocks. These mandates are
intended to ensure fishery resources are managed for the greatest
overall benefit to the nation, particularly with respect to providing
food production and recreational opportunities, and protecting marine
ecosystems. To further this goal, the
[[Page 39461]]
Magnuson-Stevens Act requires fishery managers to specify their
strategy to rebuild overfished stocks to a sustainable level within a
certain time frame, to minimize bycatch and bycatch mortality to the
extent practicable, and to establish AMs for a stock to ensure ACLs are
not exceeded. Amendment 35 addresses these issues for greater
amberjack.
Since 1990, the Council and NMFS have implemented a series of
management measures to prevent overfishing of the greater amberjack
stock and achieve OY. Amendment 1 to the FMP added greater amberjack to
the list of species in the FMP, set a recreational minimum size limit
of 28 inches (71 cm), established a three-fish recreational bag limit,
and set a commercial minimum size limit of 36 inches (91 cm)(55 FR
2079, January 22, 1990). Amendment 12 to the FMP reduced the greater
amberjack recreational bag limit to one fish per person per day (61 FR
65983, December 16, 1996).
Greater amberjack were first determined to be overfished and
undergoing overfishing in 2000. Secretarial Amendment 2 established a
rebuilding plan for greater amberjack, starting in 2003, based on a
stock assessment conducted in 2000 (68 FR 39898, July 3, 2003). A 2006
SEDAR benchmark stock assessment (SEDAR 9 2006c) determined that the
greater amberjack stock was still overfished and undergoing
overfishing. Amendment 30A to the FMP set the greater amberjack stock
total allowable catch at 1,871,000 lb (848,671 kg), for the 2008
through 2010 fishing years. Using an allocation of 73 percent for the
recreational sector and 27 percent for the commercial sector, Amendment
30A to the FMP established a recreational quota of 1,368,000 lb
(620,514 kg), and a commercial quota of 503,000 lb (228,157 kg)(73 FR
38139, July 3, 2008). Amendment 30A also established greater amberjack
AMs. These AMs state that if a sector's landings reach, or are
projected to reach the applicable quota, the sector would be closed for
the remainder of the fishing year. Additionally, in the event of a
quota overage, the respective sector's quota will be reduced in the
following fishing year by the amount of the respective sector's quota
overage in the prior fishing year.
Status of Stock
In 2010, the Southeast Data, Assessment, and Review (SEDAR) stock
assessment update (SEDAR 9 Update) was conducted for greater amberjack.
The SEDAR 9 Update indicated that the greater amberjack stock was both
overfished and undergoing overfishing. In January 2011, the Council's
Science and Statistical Committee (SSC) reviewed the update assessment,
determined the assessment to be the best scientific information
available, and accepted its conclusions that the stock was undergoing
overfishing and is overfished. However, the SSC rejected as unreliable
the absolute values that resulted in the conclusions and rejected the
assessment's yield projections. Therefore, instead of relying on
assessment projections to set the greater amberjack overfishing limit
(OFL) and acceptable biological catch (ABC), the SSC used the ABC
control rule adopted by the Council in the Generic Annual Catch Limit/
Accountability Measure Amendment (Generic ACL Amendment (76 FR 82044,
December 29, 2011)). The SSC recommended that the greater amberjack ABC
for the next 3 years (2011-2013) be set at 1,780,000 lb (807,394 kg),
which is 75 percent of the 2000-2009 commercial and recreational
landings mean. The Council was notified of the greater amberjack stock
status determination in October of 2011. A new benchmark assessment for
greater amberjack is scheduled to occur in 2013.
Actions Contained in Amendment 35
Amendment 35 proposes to modify the greater amberjack rebuilding
plan, establish greater amberjack sector ACLs and ACTs (which are
expressed as quotas in the regulatory text), revise the greater
amberjack sector AMs, and establish a greater amberjack commercial trip
limit.
Modifications to the Greater Amberjack Rebuilding Plan
The 10-year greater amberjack rebuilding plan ends in 2012. This
action would modify the rebuilding plan in response to the results from
the SEDAR 9 Update (2010), subsequent SSC review and SSC
recommendations for the greater amberjack ABC.
After reviewing the SEDAR 9 Update (2010) and to emphasize the need
for a new benchmark stock assessment, the SSC recommended a constant
ABC of 1,780,000 lb (807,394 kg), for a 3-year time period starting in
2011. The new stock ACL that would be established in Amendment 35 would
equal the ABC and remain in effect unless changed in a subsequent
amendment or framework action, but not prior to the next assessment
which occurs in 2013. NMFS believes that ABC recommendation and
management measures implemented by the Council will provide the
reduction in greater amberjack fishing mortality necessary to end
overfishing and rebuild the greater amberjack stock. When the new stock
assessment is completed NMFS and the Council will be able to confirm
that the greater amberjack stock has met its rebuilding schedule.
ACLs and ACTs
An ACT is a management target established for a fishery to account
for management uncertainty in controlling the actual catch at or below
the ACL and is used to assist in the ACL not being exceeded. Therefore,
a sector ACT should be set with a buffer below the sector ACL, so that
the appropriate sector may be closed when the ACT is projected to be
reached.
Amendment 35 would establish the greater amberjack ACL equal to the
ABC, and set the ACT less than the ACL to account for management
uncertainty. The greater amberjack stock ACL would be set at 1,780,000
lb (807,394 kg), and the stock ACT would be set at 1,539,000 lb
(698,079 kg). Based on a 27 percent commercial and a 73 percent
recreational allocation, the commercial sector ACL would be set at
481,000 lb (218,178 kg), and the recreational sector ACL would be set
at 1,299,000 lb (589,116 kg), respectively. The commercial ACT would be
set at 409,000 lb (185,519 kg), based on a 15 percent reduction of the
ACL to account for management uncertainty. The recreational ACT would
be set at 1,130,000 lb (512,559 kg), based upon a 13 percent reduction
of the ACL to account for management uncertainty.
AMs
Amendment 35 proposes to modify the greater amberjack AMs, based on
the sector ACLs and ACTs. Through Amendment 35, if the sector ACT is
reached or projected to be reached, the appropriate sector would be
closed to fishing for the remainder of the fishing year. Post-season
AMs, such as overage adjustments, would only occur if the respective
sector ACL was exceeded. Any ACL overage by a sector would then reduce
both the respective sector's ACL and ACT the following year by the
amount of the sector ACL overage in the prior fishing year.
Other Recreational Management Measures
Amendment 35 also contains actions to consider a modification to
the greater amberjack recreational minimum size limit and recreational
sector's closed season. As decided by the Council, the current greater
amberjack recreational sector minimum size limit of 30 inches (76 cm)
and the recreational sector
[[Page 39462]]
closed season of June through July would not be modified in Amendment
35.
Other Commercial Management Measures
Amendment 35 contains actions to modify the commercial closed
season and establish a commercial trip limit. In Amendment 35, the
Council decided not to modify the current March through May commercial
seasonal closure that was established to protect spawning aggregations
of greater amberjack. However, Amendment 35 would establish a 2,000-lb
(907-kg), commercial trip limit to help extend the commercial sector
fishing season.
Proposed Rule for Amendment 35
A proposed rule that would implement Amendment 35 has been drafted.
In accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens Act, NMFS is evaluating
Amendment 35 to determine whether it is consistent with the FMP, 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.
Consideration of Public Comments
The Council submitted Amendment 35 for Secretarial review,
approval, and implementation. NMFS' decision to approve, partially
approve, or disapprove Amendment 35 will be based, in part, on
consideration of comments, recommendations, and information received
during the comment period on this notice of availability.
Public comments received by 5 p.m. eastern time, on September 4,
2012, will be considered by NMFS in the approval/disapproval decision
regarding Amendment 35.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: June 28, 2012.
James P. Burgess,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2012-16341 Filed 7-2-12; 8:45 am]
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