[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 203 (Friday, October 19, 2012)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 64237-64239]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-25821]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 622
[Docket No. 120416008-2525-02]
RIN 0648-BB72
Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic;
Reef Fish Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico; Amendment 34
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: NMFS issues this final rule to implement management measures
described in Amendment 34 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Reef
Fish Resources of the Gulf of Mexico (FMP) prepared by the Gulf of
Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council). This rule removes the
income qualification requirements for renewal of Gulf of Mexico (Gulf)
commercial reef fish permits and increases the maximum crew size to
four for dual-permitted vessels (i.e. vessels that possess both a
charter vessel/headboat permit for Gulf reef fish and a commercial
vessel permit for Gulf reef fish) that are fishing commercially. The
intent of this rule is to remove permit requirements that NMFS views as
no longer applicable to current commercial fishing practices and to
improve safety-at-sea in the Gulf reef fish fishery.
DATES: This rule is effective November 19, 2012.
ADDRESSES: Electronic copies of Amendment 34, which includes an
environmental assessment and a regulatory impact review, may be
obtained from the Southeast Regional Office Web site at http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/sf/GrouperSnapperandReefFish.htm.
Comments regarding the burden-hour estimates or other aspects of
the collection-of-information requirements contained in this final rule
may be submitted in writing to Anik Clemens, Southeast Regional Office,
NMFS, 263 13th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701; and to OMB, by
email at OIRA [email protected], or by fax to 202-395-7285.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cynthia Meyer, Southeast Regional
Office, NMFS, telephone 727-824-5305; email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS and the Council manage the Gulf reef
fish fishery under the FMP. The Council prepared the FMP and NMFS
implements the FMP under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act (Magunson-Stevens Act) by regulations
at 50 CFR part 622.
On July 10, 2012, NMFS published a notice of availability for
Amendment 34 and requested public comment (77 FR 40561). NMFS published
a proposed rule for Amendment 34 on July 18, 2012, and requested public
comment (77 FR 42251). The purpose and rationale for the actions
contained in this final rule can be found in the proposed rule and are
not repeated here.
Management measures implemented through this final rule eliminate
the income qualification requirements for renewal of commercial Gulf
reef fish permits and increase the maximum crew size from three to four
for dual-permitted vessels.
Comments and Responses
The following is a summary of the comments NMFS received on the
[[Page 64238]]
proposed rule and NMFS' respective responses. During the comment
period, NMFS received 11 comment letters, including nine from private
citizens and two from fishing organizations. Of these comment letters,
10 were in support of the proposed rule and one opposed the proposed
rule. Three of the comment letters were an identical form.
Comment 1: The comments supporting the proposed rule insisted that
the income requirement was no longer needed due to other existing
regulations for the reef fish fishery. The comment letter opposing the
proposed rule suggested that by removing the income requirement, there
would be no incentive to report catch.
Response: NMFS agrees that the income requirement is no longer
needed in the reef fish fishery. Currently, to obtain or renew a
commercial vessel permit for reef fish, more than 50 percent of the
applicant's earned income must have been derived from commercial
fishing or from charter fishing during either of the 2 calendar years
preceding the application. Due to recent regulatory changes in the
commercial sector including establishment of individual fishing quotas
(IFQs) for the most commercially sought after species, NMFS views
existing income qualification requirements as no longer necessary. The
regulations for the reef fish fishery require dealer reporting and the
IFQ programs require trip declarations, 3-hour notifications, and
detailed reporting. These requirements and the potential enforcement
measures are considered adequate incentives for fishermen to accurately
report their catches in the absence of the income requirement.
Further, the relative ease of fulfilling or circumventing income
requirement provisions has rendered them largely meaningless.
Currently, NMFS requires only that applicants submit affidavits
attesting that they meet the minimum income requirements. These
affidavits are not routinely validated by NMFS, because doing so is
difficult and costly. In addition, business entities such as
corporations and partnerships are the most common form of permitted
entity, and their operations are easily structured so as satisfy the
income requirement. Removing these requirements will streamline the
permit renewal process and eliminate ineffective regulations.
Comment 2: Regarding the increase in crew size for dual-permitted
vessels, the comments supporting this change were based on improving
safety-at-sea and allowing compliance with current Occupational Safety
and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations for commercial diving
operations. The comment opposing the change suggests that increasing
the crew size would result in overfishing by spear fishermen.
Response: The rule increases the maximum crew size regulations from
three to four people for dual-permitted vessels without a certificate
of inspection when fishing commercially. Historically, limiting the
crew size on a dual-permitted vessel when fishing commercially was
intended to prevent a vessel from taking out a number of passengers
under the pretense of making a charter trip, but subsequently selling
the catch. In addition to the implementation of the IFQ programs for
most of the commercially harvested species, all commercial reef fish
vessels are required to be equipped with vessel monitoring systems.
Vessel monitoring systems (VMSs) track the location of individual
vessels in the fleet. Having a VMS on board makes it clear when a
vessel is operating as a commercial vessel. Dual-permitted commercial
spear fishermen requested an increase in crew size to allow two divers
in the water, diving as a buddy pair, while two crew members remain
aboard the vessel. This conforms to safe operating procedures for
commercial diving (according to OSHA regulations) and directly promotes
the safety of human life at sea. The change in crew size could slightly
increase the vessel's efficiency in overall fishing effort by allowing
the crew to rest in between shifts. Spearfishing is a minor component
of the Gulf reef fish fishery and any increase in efficiency would be a
small percentage of overall harvest. If the dual-permitted vessels do
increase the overall fishing effort, then the regulations for the
commercial reef fish fishery requiring detailed monitoring and
reporting including VMS, trip declaration, and landing notifications
would provide the catch information. Additionally, other management
measures such as quotas and associated closures are tailored to prevent
overfishing of species in the reef fish fishery and there is no
evidence that an increase in crew size would lead to overfishing.
Classification
NMFS determined that this final rule and Amendment 34 are necessary
for the conservation and management of the Gulf reef fish fishery and
are consistent with the Magnuson-Stevens Act and other applicable law.
This final rule has been determined to be not significant for
purposes of Executive Order 12866.
The Chief Counsel for Regulation of the Department of Commerce
certified to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business
Administration during the proposed rule stage that this rule would not
have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small
entities. The factual basis for this determination was published in the
proposed rule and is not repeated here. No comments were received
regarding the certification and NMFS has not received any new
information that would affect its determination. As a result, a
regulatory flexibility analysis was not required and none was prepared.
This final rule contains collection-of-information requirements
subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) and which have been
approved by the Office of management and Budget (OMB) under control
number 0648-0205. NMFS has determined the removal of the income
qualification requirements for commercial Gulf reef fish permit holders
will result in a net decrease in the time to complete the Federal
Permit Application (for all applicants), however, the current burden
estimate (20 minutes per applicant) to complete the application form
would not decrease because the time to complete the Income
Qualification Affidavit is minimal compared to the time to complete the
entire application. These estimates of the public reporting burden
include the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data
sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and
reviewing the collection-of-information. Send comments regarding the
burden estimate or any other aspect of the collection-of-information
requirement, including suggestions for reducing the burden, to NMFS and
to OMB (see ADDRESSES).
Notwithstanding any other provision of the law, no person is
required to respond to, and no person shall be subject to penalty for
failure to comply with, a collection of information subject to the
requirements of the PRA, unless that collection of information displays
a currently valid OMB control number.
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 622
Fisheries, Fishing, Puerto Rico, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Virgin Islands.
[[Page 64239]]
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 set out in the preamble, 50 CFR part 622 is amended
as follows:
PART 622--FISHERIES OF THE CARIBBEAN, GULF, AND SOUTH ATLANTIC
0
1. The authority citation for part 622 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
0
2. In Sec. 622.2, the definition for ``charter vessel'' is revised to
read as follows:
Sec. 622.2 Definitions and acronyms.
* * * * *
Charter vessel means a vessel less than 100 gross tons (90.8 mt)
that is subject to the requirements of the USCG to carry six or fewer
passengers for hire and that engages in charter fishing at any time
during the calendar year. A charter vessel with a commercial permit, as
required under Sec. 622.4(a)(2), is considered to be operating as a
charter vessel when it carries a passenger who pays a fee or when there
are more than three persons aboard, including operator and crew, except
for a charter vessel with a commercial vessel permit for Gulf reef
fish. A charter vessel that has a charter vessel permit for Gulf reef
fish and a commercial vessel permit for Gulf reef fish is considered to
be operating as a charter vessel when it carries a passenger who pays a
fee or when there are more than four persons aboard, including operator
and crew. A charter vessel that has a charter vessel permit for Gulf
reef fish, a commercial vessel permit for Gulf reef fish, and a valid
Certificate of Inspection (COI) issued by the USCG to carry passengers
for hire will not be considered to be operating as a charter vessel
provided--
(1) It is not carrying a passenger who pays a fee; and
(2) When underway for more than 12 hours, that vessel meets, but
does not exceed the minimum manning requirements outlined in its COI
for vessels underway over 12 hours; or when underway for not more than
12 hours, that vessel meets the minimum manning requirements outlined
in its COI for vessels underway for not more than 12-hours (if any),
and does not exceed the minimum manning requirements outlined in its
COI for vessels that are underway for more than 12 hours.
* * * * *
0
3. In Sec. 622.4, the introductory text for paragraph (a)(2)(v) is
revised; paragraphs (m)(3), (m)(4), and (m)(5) are removed; paragraph
(m)(6) is redesignated as paragraph (m)(3); and paragraph (m)(2) is
revised to read as follows:
Sec. 622.4 Permits and fees.
(a) * * *
(2) * * *
(v) Gulf reef fish. For a person aboard a vessel to be eligible for
exemption from the bag limits, to fish under a quota, as specified in
Sec. 622.42(a)(1), or to sell Gulf reef fish in or from the Gulf EEZ,
a commercial vessel permit for Gulf reef fish must have been issued to
the vessel and must be on board. If Federal regulations for Gulf reef
fish in subparts A, B, or C of this part are more restrictive than
state regulations, a person aboard a vessel for which a commercial
vessel permit for Gulf reef fish has been issued must comply with such
Federal regulations regardless of where the fish are harvested. See
paragraph (a)(2)(ix) of this section regarding an IFQ vessel account
required to fish for, possess, or land Gulf red snapper or Gulf
groupers and tilefishes and paragraph (a)(2)(xiv) of this section
regarding an additional bottom longline endorsement required to fish
for Gulf reef fish with bottom longline gear in a portion of the
eastern Gulf. See paragraph (m) of this section regarding a limited
access system for commercial vessel permits for Gulf reef fish.
* * * * *
(m) * * *
(2) A permit holder may transfer the commercial vessel permit for
Gulf reef fish to another vessel owned by the same entity. A permit
holder may also transfer the commercial vessel permit for Gulf reef
fish to the owner of another vessel or to a new vessel owner when he or
she transfers ownership of the permitted vessel.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2012-25821 Filed 10-18-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P