[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 63 (Tuesday, April 2, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19649-19651]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-07630]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648-XC528
Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic;
Reef Fish Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico; Exempted Fishing Permit
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of receipt of an application for an exempted fishing
permit; request for comments.
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[[Page 19650]]
SUMMARY: NMFS announces the receipt of an application for an exempted
fishing permit (EFP) from the Gulf Headboat Cooperative (Cooperative).
The Cooperative proposes to evaluate the efficacy of an allocation-
based management system, using a limited number of headboats in a 2-
year pilot study. This study, to be conducted in the exclusive economic
zone (EEZ) of the Gulf of Mexico (Gulf), is intended to assess whether
such a system can better achieve conservation goals established in the
Fishery Management Plan for the Reef Fish Resources of the Gulf of
Mexico; evaluate the effectiveness of a more timely electronic data
reporting system; and evaluate the potential social and economic
benefits of an alternative management strategy for the headboat segment
of the recreational fishing sector within the Gulf reef fish fishery.
DATES: Comments must be received no later than 5 p.m., eastern time, on
May 2, 2013.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on the application, identified by
RIN 0648-XC528, by any of the following methods:
Email: [email protected]. Include in
the subject line of the email comment the following document
identifier: ``Headboat IFQ''.
Mail: Steve Branstetter, Southeast Regional Office, NMFS,
263 13th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701.
The application and related documents are available for review upon
written request to any of the above addresses.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Steve Branstetter, 727-824-5305;
email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The EFP is requested under the authority of
the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C.
1801 et seq.) (Magnuson-Stevens Act), and regulations at 50 CFR
600.745(b) concerning exempted fishing.
Overall Program Concept
The described research program is being proposed by a sub-set of
the headboat fleet in the Gulf reef fish fishery. A headboat is a for-
hire vessel that charges a fee on an individual angler (per head)
basis. These headboats have formed a Cooperative to conduct a pilot
study to evaluate the efficacy of an allocation-based management
strategy, which if proven successful, could potentially be implemented
by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council) for the
entire reef fish headboat fleet in the Gulf.
Currently, headboats operate under a common set of management
measures, such as recreational bag limits, size limits, and open
fishing seasons. According to the Cooperative, regulatory responses to
overharvesting of reef fish in the recreational sector and the need for
more timely harvest data have resulted in shorter fishing seasons,
reduced bag limits, and other factors that make it difficult to operate
successful headboat businesses. Because headboat operators can now only
fish for certain species during brief seasons in each year, there are
increased regulatory discards during the closed seasons, and boats
often lose out on potential customers during periods of high tourist
traffic along the Gulf coast that do not coincide with those open
fishing seasons. In addition, even long-time customers are losing
confidence that if they book a headboat trip in advance, the fishing
seasons for their target reef fish species will be open when their
fishing trip occurs. This lack of certainty makes customers reluctant
to book headboat fishing trips.
The Cooperative is requesting that they be issued an EFP
authorizing their members to harvest a specific amount of red snapper
and gag anytime during the 2014 and 2015 fishing years. The amount of
fish that would be authorized for harvest by the Cooperative would be
based on the Cooperative participants' 2011 aggregate landings of red
snapper and gag reported through the Southeast Regional Headboat Survey
(SRHS) program relative to the total recreational landings of red
snapper and gag in 2011. That percentage would then be applied to the
2014 and 2015 red snapper recreational quota and gag recreational
allocation to determine the amount of fish authorized under the EFP to
be harvested by the Cooperative.
The Cooperative would be responsible for distributing the allotted
fish to individual headboats in the program. Final distribution would
be in numbers of fish, calculated from the proportional landings data,
which are reported in weight. The Cooperative would then be responsible
for reporting their landings electronically to the NMFS Southeast
Regional Office.
NMFS would establish an electronic account for the Cooperative
manager before the start of the 2014 fishing season. Vessel accounts
would also be established by NMFS for each vessel participating in the
EFP. NMFS would provide the Cooperative Manager and participating Gulf
charter-headboat for reef fish permit holders each with a unique UserID
and Personal Identification Number (PIN) to log-in to their accounts.
The amount of fish authorized for harvest under the EFP would be
deposited in the Cooperative manager's electronic account on January 1,
each year. The Cooperative manager would then transfer fish to and from
headboat vessel accounts. The number of fish each vessel receives would
be determined by the Cooperative and not NMFS. Vessel account holders
would be able to view the number of fish available for harvest at any
point in time through their account. Landed fish would be deducted from
the vessel account after each recorded trip. After all fish have been
harvested, the vessel would either need to obtain additional fish from
the Cooperative manager to continue landing fish or no longer harvest
red snapper and gag for the remainder of the fishing year.
Data Collection and Reporting
The Cooperative has proposed to provide a transparent real-time
monitoring system. All vessels in the program would be required to
purchase, install, activate, and maintain a Vessel Monitoring System
(VMS) unit in accordance with NMFS Office of Law Enforcement
procedures. A participating captain would ``hail out'' using the VMS
device or by telephone as the vessel leaves the dock, notifying NMFS of
the fishing trip. In return, the captain would receive a confirmation
number for that particular trip. When returning to port, the vessel
would be required to ``hail in'' using the VMS or by telephone at least
1 hour prior to landing, alerting law enforcement and port agents to
his/her return. This would provide sufficient notice to allow a
dockside intercept if deemed necessary by enforcement and headboat port
samplers.
Landings would be reported at the end of the trip using a software
application (iSnapper) developed by Texas A&M University's Harte
Research Institute. The software application was pilot-tested by the
for-hire fleet in the Gulf during 2011 and 2012. Before returning to
the dock, the headboat captain would enter the species and number of
fish retained during the trip, approximate GPS location to identify
fishing zones, and social and economic information regarding the
customers on each trip. At the end of the trip, the captain would use
the iSnapper data to print out a receipt for each individual customer,
which would include summary information such as species and number of
fish landed, the date of the trip, and the name of the vessel. This
receipt would be used at the dock to track the fish that had been
landed on the Cooperative vessel participating in the EFP.
[[Page 19651]]
By using this electronic reporting methodology, the Cooperative
would maintain a real-time, internet-based tracking system to ensure
accounting of each fish landed. The data would be collected on remote
servers and sent to NMFS. The Cooperative would maintain an electronic
account with NMFS, specifying the numbers of red snapper and gag
grouper that could be landed. As fish are landed, they would be
deducted from the headboat's vessel account. Finally, headboat captains
would continue submitting completed NMFS SRHS logbook data for each
trip in compliance with 50 CFR 622.5.
Socio-Economic Study
The pilot project, if approved, offers an opportunity to evaluate
the impacts of an alternative management system on the economic
performance of the Gulf reef fish headboat industry. It also provides a
valuable opportunity to customize data collection to maximize
usefulness of the data for answering important management questions.
Academic researchers, in collaboration with the Cooperative, would
conduct a socio-economic study of the anticipated effects of the change
in headboat cooperative management using currently available data
sources. Simultaneously, the academic researchers and the Cooperative
would develop additional survey instruments to gather economic data for
a post-EFP analysis of the effects of the pilot project on Cooperative
vessels after its first and second years. Data collection would
emphasize post-EFP impacts of the pilot project. A partial list of
impacts to assess in the study includes:
1. How has the pilot project changed the temporal and spatial
distributions of fishing by Cooperative members?
2. How has the number of anglers/customers changed as a result of
Cooperative members being able to better target their trips to the
seasonality of demand specific to red snapper and gag?
3. Do headboat owners utilize increased flexibility to provide a
more differentiated recreational product to customers?
4. How has the pilot project affected the cost and net revenue
associated with a representative trip?
Data collection would include trip-level catch and effort
characteristics (e.g., retained and discarded catch, spatial location,
and number of customers), trip and season-level variable revenues and
costs (e.g., trip pricing, gear, bait, ice, fuel, and maintenance
expenditures), and labor employment and compensation information. Many
trip-level data would be collected using the iSnapper application,
whereas seasonal data would be collected through supplementary survey
instruments.
The public and the Council questioned if the establishment of an
allocation-based system for the Cooperative could be considered the
establishment of an individual fishing quota (IFQ) program, which would
require approval via a referendum. Section 303A(c)(6)(D), 16 U.S.C.
1853a(c)(6)(D), of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, requires a referendum to
approve or implement a fishery management plan or plan amendment that
creates an IFQ program for any species in the Gulf. Although the
allocation-based system requested by the Cooperative might reasonably
be considered to create such an IFQ program, the mere issuance of an
EFP to test the program on a limited basis does not trigger the
referendum requirement. The statutory language is explicit that the
referendum is only required to approve a fishery management plan or
plan amendment that would implement such a program. An EFP is neither a
fishery management plan nor a plan amendment, and does not implement
any new requirements for all or a portion of recreational participants.
If issued, the EFP would only establish specific requirements for the
members of the voluntary Cooperative who have requested the EFP.
Therefore, NMFS has determined that no referendum is required.
Currently, the recreational red snapper fishing season begins on
June 1 of each year, and is closed when NMFS projects the recreational
quota will be landed. As noted above, the recreational seasons have
become shorter each year, impacting the ability of headboats to operate
in an efficient and economically viable manner. If this EFP is
authorized, identified Gulf reef fish headboats in the Cooperative
would be able to use their allocation to fish during the open
recreational season, but also would be able to select days outside the
designated season where they could use their red snapper allocation to
meet specific customer demands. Nevertheless, in accordance with
section 407(d)(1) (16 U.S.C. 1883(d)) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, when
NMFS determines the recreational red snapper fishing quota is reached,
NMFS is required to prohibit the retention of red snapper caught during
the rest of the fishing year. Should NMFS determine that the
recreational red snapper quota is reached prior to the end of the 2014
or 2015 fishing year, including consideration of fish already harvested
by the Cooperative, headboats participating under the EFP would have to
cease retaining red snapper, even if the Cooperative still has
allocation of red snapper available.
The Council reviewed the Cooperative's initial application at its
April 2012 meeting, and recommended that NMFS approve the application.
NMFS finds this application does warrant further consideration.
Possible conditions the agency may impose on this permit, if it is
indeed granted, include but are not limited to, a prohibition of
conducting research within marine protected areas, marine sanctuaries,
or special management zones, without additional authorization. A report
on the research would be due at the end of the collection period, to be
submitted to NMFS and reviewed by the Council.
A final decision on issuance of the EFP will depend on NMFS's
review of public comments received on the application, the Council's
recommendation, consultations with the affected states, and the U.S.
Coast Guard, as well as a determination that it is consistent with all
applicable laws.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: March 28, 2013.
Kara Meckley,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2013-07630 Filed 4-1-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P