[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 203 (Friday, October 19, 2012)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 64305-64308]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-25809]
[[Page 64305]]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 120905422-2521-01]
RIN 0648-BC50
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast
Multispecies Fishery; Exempted Fishery for the Cape Cod Spiny Dogfish
Fishery
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Proposed rule, request for comments.
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SUMMARY: NMFS proposes to modify the regulations implementing the
Northeast (NE) Multispecies Fishery Management Plan (FMP) to allow
vessels to fish with gillnet and longline gear from June through
December, and with handline gear from June through August, in a portion
of inshore Georges Bank (GB) each year, outside of the requirements of
the NE multispecies fishery. This action would allow vessels to harvest
spiny dogfish and other non-groundfish species in a manner that is
consistent with the bycatch reduction objectives of the FMP.
DATES: Comments must be received no later than 5 p.m., eastern daylight
time, on November 5, 2012.
ADDRESSES: An environmental assessment (EA) was prepared for the
Secretarial Amendment that describes the proposed action and other
considered alternatives, and provides an analysis of the impacts of the
proposed measures and alternatives. Copies of the Secretarial
Amendment, including the EA and the Initial Regulatory Flexibility
Analysis (IRFA), are available on request from John K. Bullard,
Regional Administrator, Northeast Regional Office, 55 Great Republic
Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930. These documents are also available online
at http://www.nero.noaa.gov.
You may submit comments, identified by FDMS docket number NOAA-
NMFS-2012-0195, by any one of the following methods:
Written comments (paper, disk, or CD-ROM) should be sent
to Paul J. Howard, Executive Director, New England Fishery Management
Council, 50 Water Street, Mill 2, Newburyport, MA 01950. Mark the
outside of the envelope, ``Comments on Spiny Dogfish Exempted
Fishery.''
Comments also may be sent via facsimile (fax) to (978)
465-3116.
Submit all electronic public comments via the Federal e-
Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
Instructions: Comments will be posted for public viewing as they
are received. 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
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.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Travis Ford, Fishery Policy Analyst,
978-281-9233; fax 978-281-9135; email: travis.ford@noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Current regulations, implementing Framework Adjustment 9 (60 FR
19364, April 18, 1995) and expanded under Amendment 7 to the FMP (61 FR
27710, May 31, 1996), contain a NE multispecies fishing mortality and
bycatch reduction measure that is applied to the Gulf of Maine (GOM),
GB, and Southern New England (SNE) Exemption Areas found in Sec.
648.80. A vessel may not fish in these areas unless it is fishing under
a NE multispecies or a scallop DAS allocation, is fishing on a sector
trip, is fishing with exempted gear, is fishing under the Small Vessel
Handgear (A or B) or Party/Charter permit restrictions, or is fishing
in an exempted fishery. The procedure for adding, modifying, or
deleting fisheries from the list of exempted fisheries is found in
Sec. 648.80(a)(8). A fishery may be exempted by the NMFS Regional
Administrator (RA), after consultation with the New England Fishery
Management Council (Council), if the RA determines, based on available
data or information, that the bycatch of regulated species is, or can
be reduced to, less than 5 percent by weight of the total catch and
that such exemption will not jeopardize the fishing mortality
objectives of the FMP.
Representatives from the NE multispecies sector fleet submitted two
exempted fishery requests to the RA in December 2011, requesting we
consider an exempted fishery for gillnet, longline, and handline
vessels targeting dogfish in portions of the GOM and GB. Sector vessels
targeting spiny dogfish in the requested areas are currently required
to fish on a declared NE multispecies trip. Vessels are charged a
discard rate for regulated species bycatch that is determined by the
NMFS Northeast Fisheries Observer Program (NEFOP) and at-sea monitoring
(ASM) discard data. The discard rate is based on the sector, area
fished, and gear type, and is referred to as a discard stratum. Because
the specified target species (groundfish) is not a distinctive part of
each discard stratum, vessels that are targeting spiny dogfish (and
catching very little to no groundfish) are being charged the same
discard rate as all other declared groundfish trips in that discard
stratum. This leads to applying higher than observed discard rates of
groundfish when targeting spiny dogfish. Forfeiting the value of these
calculated discards, that otherwise could be available for catching and
landed for sale on directed regulated species trips, has created an
economic burden for sector fishermen. This has particularly affected
the sector's ``choke stocks,'' i.e., fish for which the sector has a
small amount of quota, either because of a low catch history or a small
annual catch limit (ACL) for the stock.
The original requests from industry proposed a year-round exempted
fishery in statistical areas 514, 515, and 521 for vessels using
gillnet gear with large and extra-large mesh (>6.5-inches (16.5-cm)),
longline, and handline gear. Due to relatively higher groundfish
bycatch in large portions of these requested areas, this action
proposes to exempt vessels from the NE multispecies regulations in a
smaller portion of statistical area 521 off the coast of Cape Cod, MA.
We further modified the time for the exemption to only during the
months of June through December for vessels using gillnet and longline
gear. In addition, this action proposes to exempt handline gear in the
same smaller portion of statistical area 521 for June through August.
NEFOP and ASM data from all declared groundfish trips using large
and extra-large mesh gillnets (>6.5-inch (16.5-cm) mesh), longline, and
handline gears from 2010 to 2011 were analyzed. The area and months
were revised based on information that shows, of a total of 642
observed trips using the proposed gears in fishing years (FY) 2010 and
2011, the average percentage of groundfish caught was 0.09 percent for
this proposed alternative (Alternative 1, as referred to in the
Environmental Assessment). Further, observed trip data
[[Page 64306]]
for Alternative 1 show no trips that caught greater than 5 percent
regulated groundfish.
The majority of groundfish bycatch species in the spiny dogfish
fishery are GB cod and pollock. In a 2012 operational assessment, GB
cod was determined to be overfished and experiencing overfishing. In
the Stock Assessment Review Committee 50 assessment in 2010, it was
determined that pollock was not overfished and was not subject to
overfishing.
For the trips analyzed under Alternative 1, no single month's
average NE multispecies catch exceeded 0.38 percent of the total catch.
On the 642 trips analyzed, a total of 798.6 lb (362.2 kg) of cod and
324.8 lb (147.3 kg) of pollock were caught. This represents an average
of 1.24 lb (0.56 kg) and 0.51 lb (0.23 kg) per trip, respectively.
Based on these very low observed amounts, the discards expected from
this exemption should not cause the ACL for these species to be
exceeded.
We assessed a second alternative exemption for gillnet, longline,
and handline gears in the same modified area year-round. The data
indicate that Alternative 2 (the non-preferred alternative) would
likely result in a higher percentage of groundfish catch because
several handline trips caught greater than 5 percent multispecies from
September through December. In addition, the RA could not make a
determination as to whether regulated groundfish bycatch was < 5
percent during the months of January through May, given little to no
observer data were available from the area during this time.
Although this action would exempt vessels using these gears in this
area and from the NE multispecies regulations, this action is not
likely to increase effort in the spiny dogfish fishery. The existing
spiny dogfish fishery is limited by an annual quota and a 3,000-lb
(1,360.78-kg) trip limit. Therefore, this action itself is not expected
to jeopardize mortality objectives of any stock, but rather ease some
of the burden on vessels participating in the NE multispecies fishery.
Proposed Measures
Cape Cod Spiny Dogfish Exemption Area
The RA has determined that an exempted spiny dogfish fishery in a
specifically defined portion of inshore GB area meets the exemption
requirements in Sec. 648.80(a)(8)(i) because, based on an analysis of
available data, the bycatch of regulated species by vessels that would
fish under this exemption is less than 5 percent, by weight, of the
total catch and is not expected to jeopardize the fishing mortality
objectives of the NE Multispecies FMP. Therefore, this rule proposes to
implement an exempted fishery for eligible vessels when using 6.5-inch
(16.5-cm) mesh or greater gillnet gear, and longline gear in a portion
of inshore Georges Bank off of Cape Cod, MA, from June through December
of each year. In addition, this action proposes to exempt handline gear
in the same area in June through August. The area of this proposed
exempted fishery would be referred to as the Cape Cod Spiny Dogfish
Exemption Area.
The Cape Cod Spiny Dogfish Exemption Area is defined by the
straight lines connecting the following points in the order stated
(copies of a chart depicting the area are available from the RA upon
request):
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Point N. lat. W. long.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CCD 1.......................... 42/00' 70/00'
CCD 2.......................... 42/00' 69/47.5'
CCD 3.......................... 41/40' 69/47.5'
CCD 4.......................... 41/29.5' 69/35.5'
CCD 5.......................... 41/29.5' 69/23'
CCD 6.......................... 41/26' 69/20'
CCD 7.......................... 41/20' 69/20'
CCD 8.......................... 41/20' (\1\)
CCD 9.......................... (\2\) 70/00'
CCD 10......................... (\3\) 70/00'
CCD 11......................... (\4\) 70/00'
CCD 1.......................... 42/00' 70/00'
------------------------------------------------------------------------
(1) The eastern coastline of Nantucket, MA at 41[deg]20' N. lat.
(2) The northern coastline of Nantucket, MA at 70[deg]00' W. long.
(3) The southern coastline of Cape Cod, MA at 70[deg]00' W. long., then
along the eastern coastline of Cape Cod, MA to CCD 11.
(4) The northern coastline of Cape Cod, MA at 70[deg]00' W. long.
As required by existing regulations, vessels intending to land
spiny dogfish under this exemption would need to hold a Federal spiny
dogfish permit and comply with existing spiny dogfish per trip and
annual quota limits. A participating vessel may possess and land up to
3,000 lb (1,360.78 kg) of spiny dogfish per trip. In addition, vessels
would be limited by the spiny dogfish annual quota that is divided into
two seasons to help maintain availability throughout the fishing year.
Establishing the proposed Cape Cod Spiny Dogfish Exemption Area
should result in a more accurate discard calculation for spiny dogfish
and NE multispecies DAS and sector trips. Because these trips would be
exempt from NE multispecies regulations, discards of regulated NE
multispecies associated with these trips would no longer be deducted
from sector or common pool sub-ACLs that make up the commercial
groundfish sub-ACL. Instead, the calculated discards would be deducted
from the ``other subcomponents'' sub-ACL.
In the NE multispecies fishery, discard rates for regulated species
are calculated over an entire discard stratum, i.e., sector, area, and
gear type. Currently, when spiny dogfish vessels are fishing on
declared groundfish trips, they are charged a calculated discard rate
equivalent to trips targeting groundfish in the same discard stratum.
For example, a spiny dogfish vessel catching 3,000 lb (1,360.78 kg) of
spiny dogfish is charged a groundfish discard rate as if that vessel
caught 3,000 lb (1,360.78 kg) of groundfish. These discards are
deducted from the sector or common pool sub-ACL. The data analyzed from
observed trips under Alternative 1, however, showed that these trips
averaged a catch of 0.09 percent of multispecies (an average of 2.65 lb
(1.20 kg) per trip). Calculating discards using this more accurate rate
results in a lower deduction from the sub-ACL than applying the
groundfish discard rate to 3,000 lb (1,360.78 kg) of catch. Granting
this exemption would provide vessels the opportunity to catch the
groundfish on groundfish targeted trips that was formerly counted as
discarded on spiny dogfish trips. Conversely, because the lower
multispecies discards observed on spiny dogfish targeted trips will no
longer be included when determining the groundfish discard rate for
targeted groundfish trips, the actual amounts discarded on declared
groundfish trips would likely be more accurately reflected. The
increase in the calculated discard rate for targeted groundfish trips
is not expected to be significant.
Classification
This proposed rule is consistent with the NE Multispecies FMP,
other provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and other applicable law,
subject to further consideration after public comment.
This proposed rule has been determined to be not significant for
purposes of Executive Order 12866.
Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 603, an IRFA has been prepared, which
describes the economic impacts that this proposed rule, if adopted,
would have on small entities. A description of the reasons why this
action is being considered, as well as the objectives of and legal
basis for this proposed rule, can be found in the preamble to this
proposed rule and are not repeated here. There are no Federal rules
that duplicate, overlap, or conflict with the proposed rule. This
[[Page 64307]]
proposed rule does not include any new reporting, recordkeeping or
other compliance requirements. This action proposes to create a new
spiny dogfish exemption area for gillnet, longline, and handline
vessels off the coast of Cape Cod, MA. Vessels participating in this
exemption would declare ``out-of-fishery'' on their Vessel Monitoring
Systems.
This action was compared to two different alternatives for the
exemption. Alternatives to the proposed exemption include exempting the
same area for a longer period of time, i.e., year-round, and a No
Action Alternative, which would continue to require vessels fishing in
this area to be on a declared NE multispecies trip from June through
December and therefore subject to the NE multispecies discard rate for
such trips.
Description and Estimate of the Number of Small Entities To Which This
Proposed Rule Would Apply
All of the potentially affected businesses are considered small
entities under the standards described in NOAA Fisheries guidelines
because they have gross receipts that do not exceed $4 million
annually.
Economic Impacts of This Proposed Action
Compared to the No Action Alternative, the Preferred Alternative
(Alternative 1) is expected to benefit the local fishing communities
that have historically depended on the spiny dogfish fishery off Cape
Cod, MA. This exemption was requested by members of the NE multispecies
fishing industry, specifically sector members. The cost of fishing for
spiny dogfish has become increasingly high primarily due to the
deduction of calculated discards from each vessel's sector annual catch
entitlement (ACE) when fishing on a sector trip. Thus, the proposed
action would allow vessels to fish under this exemption outside of the
groundfish regulations, which proposes to prevent discards from being
deducted from a sector's ACE at a higher rate than is actually
occurring. The EA for this proposed action estimates that the exemption
could save vessels fishing under this proposed exemption approximately
$24,000 a year in discards alone.
With the elimination of these low groundfish discard trips from the
sector's discard stratum, the overall discard rate for the sector will
likely increase because the spiny dogfish targeted trips that were
observed were keeping the discard rate for trips targeting groundfish
artificially low. While this change will result in an increase of the
overall sector's discard rate on groundfish targeted trips, the
increase would not represent a significant cost to the sector vessels
that are not participating in the exemption. In addition, the
calculated discard rates for both groundfish vessels and spiny dogfish
vessels would be more accurate as a result of the exemption; more
accurate discards are not expected to have an economic effect on the
fishing community as a whole. Further, participation in this exemption
is voluntary. A vessel may still choose to target spiny dogfish during
the exemption period while on a declared groundfish trip should it be
to their benefit.
Economic Impacts of Alternatives to the Proposed Action
The impacts of Alternative 2, which extends the exemption for the
entire year, would be expected to be similar to the impacts of the
Preferred Alternative, but the expanded time would allow more vessels a
greater opportunity to participate in the exempted fishery. The EA for
this action estimates that Alternative 2 would save the industry an
additional $877.93 compared to Alternative 1. However, the data
indicate that Alternative 2 would likely result in a higher percentage
of groundfish catch because several handline trips caught greater than
5 percent multispecies from September through December. In addition,
the RA could not make a determination as to whether regulated
groundfish bycatch was <5 percent during the months of January through
May, given little to no observer data were available from the area
during this time for all of the gear types. Providing an exemption for
trips that caught over 5 percent groundfish, or in areas where no data
are available, would be contrary to the purpose and requirements of the
Magnuson Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and the NE
multispecies regulations. Therefore, this alternative was not selected.
The No Action Alternative would have a negative economic impact on
spiny dogfish vessels relative to the Preferred Alternative. Under the
No Action Alternative, sector fishermen targeting spiny dogfish would
continue fishing on declared groundfish trips only to be charged a
higher than observed groundfish discard rate for their trip targeting
spiny dogfish. The spiny dogfish fishery is a valuable resource. The
groundfish discards that are attributed to these trips come directly
out of the vessel's sector's ACE, which takes away the opportunity to
catch these fish in the future. Thus, sectors requested an exemption
because of the economic burden that the cost of multispecies discards
applied to these trips had on sector fishermen targeting other stocks
(i.e., spiny dogfish). As described above, it is estimated that this
proposed action could save vessels fishing under this exemption
approximately $24,000 a year in discards alone, compared to the No
Action alternative.
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 648
Fisheries, Fishing, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
Dated: October 15, 2012.
Alan D. Risenhoover,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, performing the functions and
duties of the Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs,
National Marine Fisheries Service.
For the reasons stated in the preamble, 50 CFR part 648 is proposed
to be amended as follows:
PART 648--FISHERIES OF THE NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES
1. The authority citation for part 648 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
2. In Sec. 648.14, paragraph (k)(5)(i) is revised to read as
follows:
Sec. 648.14 Prohibitions.
* * * * *
(k) * * *
(5) * * *
(i) Violate any of the provisions of Sec. 648.80, including
paragraphs (a)(5), the Small-mesh Northern Shrimp Fishery Exemption
Area; (a)(6), the Cultivator Shoal Whiting Fishery Exemption Area;
(a)(9), Small-mesh Area 1/Small-mesh Area 2; (a)(10), the Nantucket
Shoals Dogfish Fishery Exemption Area; (a)(11), the GOM Scallop Dredge
Exemption Area; (a)(12), the Nantucket Shoals Mussel and Sea Urchin
Dredge Exemption Area; (a)(13), the GOM/GB Monkfish Gillnet Exemption
Area; (a)(14), the GOM/GB Dogfish Gillnet Exemption Area; (a)(15), the
Raised Footrope Trawl Exempted Whiting Fishery; (a)(16), the GOM Grate
Raised Footrope Trawl Exempted Whiting Fishery; (a)(18), the Great
South Channel Scallop Dredge Exemption Area; (a)(19), the Cape Cod
Spiny Dogfish Exemption Area; (b)(3), exemptions (small mesh); (b)(5),
the SNE Monkfish and Skate Trawl Exemption Area; (b)(6), the SNE
Monkfish and Skate Gillnet Exemption Area; (b)(8), the SNE Mussel and
Sea Urchin Dredge Exemption Area; (b)(9),
[[Page 64308]]
the SNE Little Tunny Gillnet Exemption Area; (b)(11), the SNE Scallop
Dredge Exemption Area; or (b)(12), the SNE Skate Bait Trawl Exemption
Area. Each violation of any provision in Sec. 648.80 constitutes a
separate violation.
* * * * *
3. In Sec. 648.80, paragraph (a)(3)(vi) is revised, and paragraph
(a)(19) is added to read as follows:
Sec. 648.80 NE Multispecies regulated mesh areas and restrictions on
gear and methods of fishing.
* * * * *
(a) * * *
(3) * * *
(vi) Other restrictions and exemptions. A vessel is prohibited from
fishing in the GOM or GB Exemption Area as defined in paragraph (a)(17)
of this section, except if fishing with exempted gear (as defined under
this part) or under the exemptions specified in paragraphs (a)(5)
through (7), (a)(9) through (a)(16) and (a)(18) through (a)(19), (d),
(e), (h), and (i) of this section; or if fishing under a NE
multispecies DAS; or if fishing on a sector trip; or if fishing under
the Small Vessel or Handgear A permit specified in Sec. 648.82(b)(5)
and (6), respectively; or if fishing under a Handgear B permit
specified in Sec. 648.88(a); or if fishing under the scallop state
waters exemptions specified in Sec. 648.54 and paragraph (a)(11) of
this section; or if fishing under a scallop DAS in accordance with
paragraph (h) of this section; or if fishing pursuant to a NE
multispecies open access Charter/Party or Handgear permit specified in
Sec. 648.88; or if fishing as a charter/party or private recreational
vessel in compliance with Sec. 648.89. Any gear used by a vessel in
this area must be authorized under one of these exemptions. Any gear on
a vessel that is not authorized under one of these exemptions must be
stowed as specified in Sec. 648.23(b).
* * * * *
(19) Cape Cod Spiny Dogfish Exemption Area. Vessels issued a
limited access permit that have declared out of the DAS program as
specified in Sec. 648.10, or that have used up their DAS allocations,
may fish in the Cape Cod Spiny Dogfish Exemption Area as defined under
paragraph (a)(19)(i) of this section, when not under a NE multispecies
or scallop DAS, provided the vessel complies with the requirements
specified in paragraph (a)(19)(ii) of this section.
(i) Area definition. The Cape Cod Spiny Dogfish Exemption Area is
defined by the straight lines connecting the following points in the
order stated (copies of a chart depicting the area are available from
the Regional Administrator upon request):
Cape Cod Spiny Dogfish Exemption Area
[June 1 through December 31, unless otherwise specified in paragraph
(a)(19)(ii)(C) of this section]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Point N. lat. W. long.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CCD 1.......................... 42/00' 70/00'
CCD 2.......................... 42/00' 69/47.5'
CCD 3.......................... 41/40' 69/47.5'
CCD 4.......................... 41/29.5' 69/35.5'
CCD 5.......................... 41/29.5' 69/23'
CCD 6.......................... 41/26' 69/20'
CCD 7.......................... 41/20' 69/20'
CCD 8.......................... 41/20' (\1\)
CCD 9.......................... (\2\) 70/00'
CCD 10......................... (\3\) 70/00'
CCD 11......................... (\4\) 70/00'
CCD 1.......................... 42/00' 70/00'
------------------------------------------------------------------------
(\1\) The eastern coastline of Nantucket, MA at 41[deg]20' N. lat.
(\2\) The northern coastline of Nantucket, MA at 70[deg]00' W. long.
(\3\) The southern coastline of Cape Cod, MA at 70[deg]00' W. long.,
then along the eastern coastline of Cape Cod, MA to Point 11.
(ii) Requirements. (A) A vessel fishing in the Cape Cod Spiny
Dogfish Exemption Area specified in this paragraph (a)(19) may not fish
for, possess on board, or land any NE regulated species.
(B) Vessels may use gillnet gear, as specified in Sec.
648.80(a)(4)(iv) or longline gear as specified in Sec. 648.80(a)(4)(v)
from June 1 through December 31.
(C) Vessels may use handline gear from June 1 through August 31.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2012-25809 Filed 10-18-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P