[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 171 (Wednesday, September 4, 2013)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 54442-54443]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-21479]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
RIN 0648-BD40
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act
Provisions; Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Annual Catch
Limits and Accountability Measures
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Availability of proposed fishery management plan amendments;
request for comments.
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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management
Council has submitted the Recreational Accountability Measures Omnibus
Amendment incorporating a draft Environmental Assessment, for review by
the Secretary of Commerce. NMFS is requesting comments from the public
on the Recreational Accountability Measures Omnibus Amendment, which
was developed by the Council to modify the accountability measures for
the Atlantic mackerel, Atlantic bluefish, summer flounder, scup, and
black sea bass recreational fisheries.
DATES: Public comments must be received on or before November 4, 2013.
ADDRESSES: A draft environmental assessment (EA) was prepared for the
Recreational Accountability Measures (AM) Omnibus Amendment 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 the Recreational AM Omnibus Amendment,
including the draft EA, are available on request from Dr. Christopher
M. Moore, Executive Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council
(Council), 800 North State Street, Suite 201, Dover, DE 19901. This
document is also available online at http://www.mafmc.org.
You may submit comments on this document, identified NOAA-NMFS-
2013-0108, by any of the following methods:
Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public
comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to
www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2013-0108, click the
``Comment Now!'' icon, complete the required fields, and enter or
attach your comments.
Fax: (978) 281-9135, Attn: Comments on Recreational
Omnibus Amendment, NOAA-NMFS-2013-0108.
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 Recreational Omnibus Amendment.''
Instructions: 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 by NMFS. All comments received are a part of the
public record and will generally be posted for public viewing on
www.regulations.gov without change. All personal identifying
information (e.g., name, address, etc.), confidential business
information, or otherwise sensitive information submitted voluntarily
by the sender will be publicly accessible. NMFS will accept anonymous
comments (enter ``N/A'' in the required fields if you wish to remain
anonymous). Attachments to electronic comments will be accepted in
Microsoft Word, Excel, 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
In 2011, the Council adopted, and NMFS implemented, an Omnibus
Annual Catch Limit (ACL) and AM Amendment to establish AMs for the
commercial and recreational fisheries that catch Atlantic mackerel,
butterfish, Atlantic bluefish, summer flounder, scup, black sea bass,
golden tilefish, ocean quahog, and Atlantic surfclams. The AMs for the
recreational fisheries included in-season closure authority for the
Regional Administrator when landings were known to have reached the
recreational harvest limit (RHL) and pound-for-pound payback of any
overage. In 2012, the recreational black
[[Page 54443]]
sea bass fishery significantly exceeded its RHL. The pound-for-pound
payback requirement would drastically limit the recreational black sea
bass fishery in fishing year 2014. As a result, the Council decided to
review the recreational fishery AMs to determine if a different
approach to recreational accountability would be more appropriate.
Specifically, the Council wanted to develop AMs that took into account
the status of the stock and the biological consequences, if any,
resulting from a recreational sector overage.
Proposed Measures
The Recreational AM Omnibus Amendment proposes measures intended to
respond to concerns that in-season closure and a pound-for-pound
payback are not the most effective AMs for the recreational fisheries.
First, the Council considered modifying the annual catch target (ACT)
process to more formally consider incorporating uncertainty in
recreational catch estimates; however, the Amendment proposes to
maintain the existing ACT process. Second, the Amendment proposes to
remove the in-season closure authority for recreational fisheries.
Third, the Amendment proposes to use the 3-year moving average of the
lower bound of the confidence interval of the recreational catch
estimate to determine if an ACL has been exceeded. Fourth, measures are
proposed that would result in a payback if (1) the stock is overfished
(i.e., the most recent estimate of biomass (B) is below the threshold,
or B/BMSY < \1/2\), or under a rebuilding plan and the ACL
was exceeded, or (2) if biomass is below the target, but above the
threshold (i.e., \1/2\< B/BMSY <1) and the acceptable
biological catch (ABC) is exceeded. Otherwise, adjustments to the
management measures would be used as an AM. In addition, measures are
being proposed that would scale the amount of any payback to the stock
status. The scale would work such that for stocks that are below the
biomass threshold or under a rebuilding plan, payback would be equal to
the full amount of the overage; for stocks that are above the biomass
target, there would be no payback, regardless of the size of the
overage. Stocks for which the biomass is in between the threshold and
the target would have a payback amount equal to the product of the
difference between recreational catch and the ACL and the payback
coefficient. The payback coefficient would be equal to the difference
between the biomass estimate and the target divided by one-half the
biomass target. Finally, the Council considered reevaluating the catch
limits after the fact to determine if, based on updated information,
those catch limits were still appropriate. However, the Council
determined that the necessary information and resources to support that
type of reevaluation does not currently exist.
Public comments on the Recreational AM Omnibus Amendment 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 the Recreational AM Omnibus Amendment 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 the Recreational AM Omnibus
Amendment to be considered in the approval/disapproval decision on the
amendment. All comments received by November 4, 2013, whether
specifically directed to the Recreational AM Omnibus Amendment or the
proposed rule for the Recreational AM Omnibus Amendment, will be
considered in the approval/disapproval decision on the Recreational AM
Omnibus Amendment. Comments received after that date will not be
considered in the decision to approve or disapprove the Recreational AM
Omnibus Amendment. 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: August 29, 2013.
Kelly Denit,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2013-21479 Filed 9-3-13; 8:45 am]
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