[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 203 (Friday, October 19, 2012)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 64303-64304]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-25824]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
RIN 0648-BC48
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast
Multispecies; Amendment 19
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of availability of a fishery management plan amendment;
request for comments.
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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the New England Fishery Management Council
has submitted Amendment 19 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery
Management Plan, incorporating a draft Environmental Assessment and an
Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis, for review and approval by the
Secretary of Commerce. NMFS is requesting comments from the public on
Amendment 19, which was developed by the Council to modify management
measures that govern the small-mesh multispecies fishery, including
accountability measures, year-round possession limits, and the total
allowable landings process.
DATES: Public comments must be received on or before December 18, 2012.
ADDRESSES: A draft environmental assessment (EA) was prepared for
Amendment 19 that describes the proposed action and other considered
alternatives, and provides a thorough analysis of the impacts of the
proposed measures and alternatives. Copies of Amendment 19, including
the draft EA and the Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (IRFA),
are available on request from Paul J. Howard, Executive Director, New
England Fishery Management Council (Council), 50 Water Street,
Newburyport, MA 01950. These documents are also available online at
http://www.nefmc.org.
You may submit comments, identified by NOAA-NMFS-2012-0170, by any
one of the following methods:
Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic public
comments via the
[[Page 64304]]
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-2012-0170 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.
Fax: (978) 281-9135, Attn: Comments on Whiting Amendment
19, NOAA-NMFS-2012-0170.
Mail and Hand Delivery: John K. Bullard, Regional
Administrator, NMFS, Northeast Regional Office, 55 Great Republic
Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930. Mark the outside of the envelope:
``Comments on Whiting Amendment 19.''
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 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: Moira Kelly, Fishery Policy Analyst,
(978) 281-9218; fax: (978) 281-9135.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
This amendment affects the part of the New England groundfish
fishery known as the small-mesh fishery. The small-mesh fishery is
composed of a complex of five stocks of three species of hakes
(northern silver hake, southern silver hake, northern red hake,
southern red hake, and offshore hake), and the fishery is managed
through a series of exemptions from the other provisions of the
Northeast (NE) Multispecies Fishery Management Plan (FMP). It is
managed separately from the other stocks of groundfish such as cod,
haddock, and flounders primarily because it is prosecuted with much
smaller mesh and does not generally result in the catch of these other
stocks.
The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) initiated
Amendment 19 to bring the small-mesh multispecies portion of the FMP
into compliance with the annual catch limit (ACL) and accountability
measure (AM) requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation
and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). However, development of
Amendment 19 was delayed, and it was apparent that the amendment would
not be submitted until well after the 2011 statutory deadline for
implementing mechanisms for establishing ACLs and AMs. To ensure that
ACLs and AMs for the small-mesh fishery were implemented closer to the
statutory deadline, NOAA initiated, developed, and implemented, with
the concurrence of the Council, a Secretarial Amendment (March 30,
2012; 77 FR 19138). The Secretarial Amendment built upon measures
already developed by the Council in the initial stages of Amendment 19.
Amendment 19 proposes measures intended to respond to changing
conditions in the fishery and opportunities to improve efficiency and
accuracy. First, measures are proposed to streamline the specifications
setting process, establish new overfishing definitions, and to define
the roles and responsibilities of monitoring the fishery on an annual
basis. Second, a measure is proposed to require vessels fishing for
small-mesh multispecies to submit weekly vessel trip reports. Third, a
measure is proposed to modify the total allowable landings (TAL)
structure that was implemented through the Secretarial Amendment for
the southern stock area. Implementing this measure would result in
quarterly TALs in the southern stock area after landings in a given
year exceed two-thirds of the TAL. Fourth, a measure is proposed that
would increase the incidental possession limit for northern silver hake
and southern whiting (silver and offshore hake, combined) that was
implemented through the Secretarial Amendment from 1,000 lb (453.6 kg)
to 2,000 lb (907.2 kg). The incidental possession limits would be
triggered if 90 percent of a stock's TAL is projected to be harvested.
Fifth, the amendment proposes to change the post-season AM from a
pound-for-pound payback of an ACL overage to a system where the
incidental possession limit trigger (i.e., the 90-percent described
above) would be reduced by the same percentage by which the ACL was
exceeded. For example, if a stock's ACL were exceeded by 5 percent in
2013, then starting in 2015, the incidental possession limit would be
triggered when 85 percent of that stock's TAL is projected to be
harvested rather than 90 percent. Finally, Amendment 19 proposes two
measures dealing with year-round trip limits. For red hake, a measure
is proposed that would establish a 5,000-lb (2,268-kg) trip limit for
all gear types in all areas. For whiting (silver and offshore hake,
combined) in the southern stock area, the trip limit for vessels
fishing with mesh that is 3 inches (7.6 cm) or greater would be
increased from 30,000 lb (13,607.8 kg) to 40,000 lb (18,143.7 kg). The
increase in the whiting possession limit would only be applicable to
vessels fishing exclusively in the Southern New England or Mid-Atlantic
Exemption Areas.
Public comments on Amendment 19 and its incorporated documents may
be submitted through the end of the comment period stated in this
notice of availability. A proposed rule to implement Amendment 19 will
be published in the Federal Register for public comment. Public
comments on the proposed rule must be received by the end of the
comment period provided in this notice of availability of Amendment 19
to be considered in the approval/disapproval decision on the amendment.
All comments received by December 18, 2012, whether specifically
directed to Amendment 19 or the proposed rule for Amendment 19, will be
considered in the approval/disapproval decision on Amendment 19.
Comments received after that date will not be considered in the
decision to approve or disapprove Amendment 19. To be considered,
comments must be received by close of business on the last day of the
comment period.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: October 16, 2012.
Emily H. Menashes,
Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2012-25824 Filed 10-18-12; 8:45 am]
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