[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 231 (Friday, December 2, 1994)] [Unknown Section] [Page 0] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 94-29695] [[Page Unknown]] [Federal Register: December 2, 1994] ======================================================================= ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 50 CFR Part 625 [Docket No. 941127-4327; I.D. No. 103194A] Summer Flounder Fishery AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce. ACTION: Proposed specifications for the 1995 summer flounder fishery; request for comments. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: NMFS proposes specifications for the 1995 summer flounder fishery, which include commercial catch quotas and other restrictions. The implementing regulations for the fishery require NMFS to publish specifications for the upcoming fishing year and provide an opportunity for the public to comment. The intent of these measures is to prevent overfishing of the summer flounder resource. DATES: Comments must be received on or before December 29, 1994. ADDRESSES: Copies of the draft Environmental Assessment (EA) and supporting documents used by the Summer Flounder Monitoring Committee are available from: Executive Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, Room 2115, Federal Building, 300 S. New Street, Dover, DE 19901-6790. Comments on the proposed specifications should be sent to: Director, Northeast Region, NMFS (Regional Director), One Blackburn Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930-2298. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Hannah Goodale, 508-281-9101. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Background Section 625.20 of the regulations implementing the Fishery Management Plan for the Summer Flounder Fishery (FMP) specifies the process for setting annual management measures in order to achieve the fishing mortality rates of 0.53 for the years 1993-95, and 0.23 in 1996 and thereafter, to prevent overfishing of the resource. The regulations establish a Summer Flounder Monitoring Committee (Monitoring Committee) consisting of representatives from the Atlantic State Marine Fisheries Commission ASMFC, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) and the New England Fishery Management Council, and NMFS, which recommends an annual commercial catch quota and other restrictions to achieve the specified fishing mortality rate. The Monitoring Committee is required to review and base its recommendations of annual measures on: (1) Commercial and recreational catch data, (2) Estimates of fishing mortality, (3) Stock status, (4) Estimates of recruitment, (5) Virtual population analysis (VPA), (6) Levels of regulatory noncompliance by fishermen or individual states, (7) Impact of fish size and net mesh regulations, (8) Impact of gear other than otter trawls on the mortality of summer flounder, and (9) Other relevant information. After reviewing the required information, the Monitoring Committee may recommend, in addition to the coastwide quota, modifications to the commercial minimum fish size and minimum mesh size, modifications to the recreational minimum fish size, possession limit and season, and restrictions on gear other than otter trawls. The Council's Demersal Species Committee (Demersal Committee) considers the recommendations of the Monitoring Committee, as well as any public comments and, in turn, makes its recommendation to the full Council. Committee and Council Recommendations The annual management measures are based upon stock projections derived from VPA results. Overfishing has reduced the summer flounder age structure to primarily ages 0 through 2. Stock projections, therefore, rely heavily on estimated recruitment levels. Stock projections for 1995 were conducted using low, mean, and high estimates of recruitment. For each estimate, the coastwide harvest limit was calculated that would meet the 0.53 target mortality rate. The Monitoring Committee recommended a commercial quota of 9.67 million lb (4.38 million kg), a 40-percent reduction from the 1994 quota. This recommendation was based on the low-recruitment estimate and represents a 70-percent probability of achieving the target fishing mortality rate. The Monitoring Committee also recommended that the commercial size limit be increased from 13 inches (33 cm) to 14 inches (35.6 cm), that the minimum mesh size be increased by \1/2\ inch (1.27 cm), and that the commercial size limit be applied to scallop dredge gear. The Demersal Committee's recommendation, which the full Council adopted, took into account considerable testimony received from the industry and public at Council meetings, describing the potential negative economic impacts of this decrease in harvest limits. Industry representatives testified that a 40-percent reduction from the 1994 quota level would be severely damaging to their businesses. Most industry commenters believed that the 1995 quota level, mesh, and size limits should remain unchanged from 1994. In addition, the Demersal Committee and Council considered data from the North Carolina trawl survey that indicates an above-average year class has been produced in 1994. While other surveys have yet to confirm this, the North Carolina survey has tracked abundance very well in past years. After considering these factors, the Demersal Committee and Council recommended setting the quota and other restrictions based upon the mean-level stock projection, rather than the low-level stock projection used as the basis for recommendations made by the Monitoring Committee. This resulted in a recommended quota level that is 27 percent lower than that implemented in 1994, and is comparable to the quota level implemented in 1993. The probability of achieving the target fishing mortality rate by this quota level is 50 percent. Continuation of 1994 mesh and fish size limits was also recommended. The Council made its recommendations to the Regional Director at its meeting of September 28-29, 1994. The Regional Director has reviewed the recommended specifications and has determined preliminarily that they are necessary to assure that the fishing mortality rates specified in Sec. 625.20 are not exceeded. Comments are specifically requested on: (1) A coastwide harvest limit of 19.4 million lb (8.8 million kg), (2) a coastwide commercial quota of 11.6 million lb (5.3 million kg), (3) a coastwide recreational harvest limit of 7.8 million lb (3.5 million kg), (4) no change from the present minimum commercial fish size of 13 inches (33 cm), and (5) no change in the present minimum-mesh restrictions of 5\1/2\ inch (14.0 cm) diamond or 6 inch (15.2 cm) square. NMFS is concerned that the quota recommended by the Council may be too high. NMFS invites comments on the Council's proposed quota and whether it will reasonably assure that the 1995 mortality goals can be achieved. If these specifications are adopted, the commercial quota allocated to each state according to the percentage shares specified in Sec. 625.20(d)(1), would be the amounts depicted in Table 1 below. These state allocations do not reflect the adjustments required under Sec. 625.20, if 1994 landings exceed the quota for any state. A notification of allocation adjustment will be published in the Federal Register, if such an adjustment is necessary. The Council recommended the specifications before the November 4, 1994, Opinion and Order of the District Court in Fishermen's Dock Cooperative v. Brown, No. 2:94cv338 (E.D. Va.), which ordered the 1994 commercial quota increased from 16.0 million lb (7.26 million kg) to 19.05 million lb (8.64 million kg). The Council's recommended specifications for 1995 do not account for the possible increase in mortality that could occur as a result of this upward adjustment of the quota. Consequently, a re-examination of the factors in Sec. 625.20 that must be considered in setting the annual quota will have to be undertaken to assess what quota level in 1995 will assure attainment of the fishing mortality reduction goal of 0.53. If the adjusted quota in 1994 is completely harvested, the current recommended quota for 1995 will have to be adjusted downward. Table 1.--1995 State Commercial Quotas (Proposed) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Share 1995 Quota State (percent) (pounds) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ME............................................. 0.04756 5,536 NH............................................. .00046 53 MA............................................. 6.82046 793,929 RI............................................. 15.68298 1,825,563 CT............................................. 2.25708 262,733 NY............................................. 7.764699 890,141 NJ............................................. 16.72499 1,946,857 DE............................................. .01779 2,071 MD............................................. 2.03910 237,359 VA............................................. 21.31676 2,481,358 NC............................................. 27.44584 3,194,807 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The FMP calls for proposed specifications of the commercial quota, recreational harvest limit, and additional measures for the commercial fishery, to be published in the Federal Register by October 15. However, due to the lateness of the Council meeting (September 28-29) during which the recommendations were made, publication of the specifications was delayed. Classification This action is authorized by 50 CFR part 625. These proposed specifications are exempt from review under E.O. 12866. Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. Dated: November 28, 1994. Gary Matlock, Program Management Officer, National Marine Fisheries Service. [FR Doc. 94-29695 Filed 11-29-94; 2:37 pm] BILLING CODE 3510-22-P