[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 2 (Thursday, January 3, 2008)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 439-441]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-25583]
[[Page 439]]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 622
[Docket No. 070709302-7309-01]
RIN 0648-AV17
Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic;
Coastal Migratory Pelagic Resources of the Gulf of Mexico and South
Atlantic; Atlantic Group Spanish Mackerel Commercial Trip Limit in the
Southern Zone; Change in Start Date
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Proposed rule, request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: In accordance with the framework procedure for adjusting
management measures of the Fishery Management Plan for the Coastal
Migratory Pelagic Resources of the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic
(FMP), NMFS proposes to change the start date for the commercial trip
limit for Atlantic migratory group Spanish mackerel in the southern
zone to March 1. The intended effect of this proposed rule is to
conform the trip limit to the beginning of the fishing year for
Atlantic migratory group Spanish mackerel.
DATES: Written comments must be received on or before January 18, 2008.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by RIN 0648-AV17, by any
one of the following methods:
Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic public
comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal http://www.regulations.gov.
Fax: 727-824-5308, Attn: Susan Gerhart.
Mail: Susan Gerhart, Southeast Regional Office, NMFS, 263
13th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701.
Instructions: All comments received are a 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. Attachments to electronic
comments will be accepted in Microsoft Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or
Adobe PDF file formats only.
Copies of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council's framework
recommendation for adjustment of the start date of the commercial trip
limits for Atlantic group Spanish mackerel in the southern zone and
related matters may be obtained from the South Atlantic Fishery
Management Council, 4055 Faber Place, Suite 201, North Charleston, SC
29405; phone: 843-571-4366 or 866-SAFMC-10 (toll free); fax: 843-769-
4520; e-mail: [email protected].
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Susan Gerhart, telephone: 727-824-
5305, fax: 727-824-5308, e-mail: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The fisheries for coastal migratory pelagic
resources are regulated under the FMP. The FMP was prepared jointly by
the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic Fishery Management Councils and
is implemented under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) by regulations
at 50 CFR part 622. In accordance with the framework procedures of the
FMP, the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) made a
recommendation to the Regional Administrator, Southeast Region, NMFS
(RA), relating to Atlantic migratory group Spanish mackerel. The
recommended change is within the scope of the management measures that
may be adjusted under the framework procedure, as specified in 50 CFR
622.48(c).
Background
Amendment 15 to the FMP revised the fishing year for Atlantic
migratory group Spanish mackerel from April through March to March
through February. However, the start date for the trip limit in the
southern zone was not similarly changed from April 1 to March 1.
The commercial sectors of the king and Spanish mackerel fisheries
are managed under both quotas and trip limits. Currently, the
commercial trip limits for Atlantic group Spanish mackerel south of the
Georgia/Florida boundary are as follows: From April 1 through November
30 - 3,500 lb (1,588 kg); from December 1 until 75 percent of the
adjusted quota is taken, Mondays through Fridays--unlimited, and
Saturdays and Sundays--1,500 lb (680 kg); after 75 percent of the
adjusted quota is taken until 100 percent of the adjusted quota is
taken, 1,500 lb (680 kg); and after 100 percent of the adjusted quota
is taken through the end of the fishing year, 500 lb (227 kg). The
adjusted quota is currently 3.62 million lb (1.64 million kg), which is
the quota for Atlantic migratory group Spanish mackerel reduced by an
amount calculated to allow continued harvests of Atlantic migratory
group Spanish mackerel at the rate of 500 lb (227 kg) per vessel per
day for the remainder of the fishing year after the adjusted quota is
reached.
As proposed by the Council for the commercial fishery off Florida,
the trip limit of 3,500 lb (1,588 kg) would apply March 1 in lieu of
April 1, without other change. The proposed change would conform to the
current fishing year, which starts March 1, and would allow fishermen
to fish for Spanish mackerel during March when there are few other
fishing opportunities. It would also assure that Spanish mackerel can
be harvested during Lent when ex-vessel prices are typically at their
highest during the year.
Classification
Pursuant to section 304(b)(1)(A) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the
NMFS Assistant Administrator has determined that this proposed rule is
consistent with the FMP, other provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Act,
and other applicable law, subject to further consideration after public
comment.
This proposed rule has been determined to be not significant for
purposes of E.O. 12866.
The Council prepared an IRFA, as required by section 603 of the
Regulatory Flexibility Act, for this proposed rule. The IRFA describes
the economic impact this proposed rule, if adopted, would have on small
entities. A description of the action, why it is being considered, and
the legal basis for this action are contained at the beginning of this
section in the preamble and in the SUMMARY section of the preamble. A
copy of the full analysis is available from the Council (see
ADDRESSES). A summary of the IRFA follows.
The proposed rule would change the start date for the 3,500-pound
trip limit in the southern zone for Atlantic migratory group Spanish
mackerel to March 1. This action would correct an unintended
inconsistency created by Amendment 15 to the FMP, effective August 8,
2005, which redefined the fishing year for Atlantic migratory group
king mackerel and Spanish mackerel from April-March to March-February,
but did not specify the Spanish mackerel trip limit for March. The
Magnuson-Stevens Act provides the statutory basis for the proposed
rule.
No duplicative, overlapping, or conflicting Federal rules have been
[[Page 440]]
identified. This proposed rule would not alter existing reporting,
record-keeping, or permitting requirements.
The proposed rule would affect all federally permitted commercial
vessels that harvest Atlantic migratory group Spanish mackerel off the
Florida east coast. As of January 2006, 1,333 vessels possessed Federal
commercial Spanish mackerel permits. However, only 532 of these vessels
had homeports on the Atlantic coast (Maine through Miami-Dade County,
Florida), of which 300 vessels had homeports on the Florida east coast,
and only 312 vessels reported landings of Atlantic migratory group
Spanish mackerel in the required Federal logbook system for the 2005-
2006 fishing year. Additional vessels may fish exclusively within state
waters, where neither a Federal permit nor logbook reporting is
required. While these vessels would not directly be subject to the
proposed rule, Florida commercial trip limits for Spanish mackerel have
to date been adjusted to mirror those of adjacent Federal waters.
Although the total number of vessels that operate in the Atlantic
migratory group Spanish mackerel fishery, as well as their production
characteristics, varies from year to year, information on the 312
vessels that reported landings of this species in the 2005-2006 fishing
year were used to determine average revenue characteristics for this
fishery. Most of the vessels that operate in the Spanish mackerel
fishery have permits and participate in other commercial fisheries,
king mackerel and snapper-grouper. During the 2005-2006 fishing season,
these vessels harvested, on average, 5,391 pounds of Atlantic group
Spanish mackerel. This accounted for 24 percent, approximately $5,300
(2006 dollars), of the estimated average annual gross revenue,
approximately $22,200 (2006 dollars), from all logbook-reported
landings. The annual vessel maximum estimated gross revenue from all
species harvested by vessels operating in the Spanish mackerel fishery
ranged from approximately $182,000 to $342,000 (2006 dollars) for the
fishing years 2001-2002 through 2005-2006.
The Atlantic migratory group Spanish mackerel fishery has been
managed via staged trip limits since November 1992 for Florida's east
coast, starting with a 3,500-pound trip limit in April through
November, unlimited week-day limits and 1,500-pound weekend limits from
December 1 until 75 percent of the adjusted quota is harvested,
followed by a 1,500-pound trip limit on all days until 100 percent of
the adjusted quota is harvested, and a 500-pound limit thereafter until
the end of the fishing year. The trip limit elsewhere (Georgia through
New York) remains at 3,500 pounds all year. Over the past decade, the
Florida east coast has accounted for over 70 percent of the fishery's
landings.
Under these trip limits, very few logbook-reported trips in the
fishery as a whole have reached 3,500 pounds, usually accounting for
less than one percent of all trips each year since the 1998-1999
fishing season. The average Atlantic migratory group Spanish mackerel
harvest per trip since the 1998-1999 fishing season has been
approximately 500-700 pounds, and the median harvest approximately 100-
300 pounds. Over this period, Atlantic migratory group Spanish mackerel
accounted for on average approximately 60-72 percent of the estimated
gross revenue from all species harvested by these fishermen.
Gear use in the fishery has changed since the mid-1990s. Prior to
the mid-1990s, gillnets were the leading gear in the fishery. Since the
implementation of Federal regulations that limit the use of gillnets in
Federal waters in 1994 and the prohibition of the use of gillnets in
Florida state waters in 1995, fishermen have adjusted their fishing
practices resulting in cast nets becoming the predominant gear on the
Florida east coast. Hand lines have challenged gillnets for second
place, and the proportion of logbook reported landings from the Florida
east coast has declined from approximately 70-80 percent of total
logbook reported Spanish mackerel landings in the early 2000's to 50-60
percent in more recent years.
Little data are available since the start of the fishing year was
changed to March 1. While the inconsistency between the fishing year
and trip limits created the opportunity for unlimited harvests in
March, to date the fishery has not responded with increased harvests
relative to previous years, with March harvests in 2006 and 2007 less
than those of either 2004 or 2005.
Some fleet activity may exist in the commercial fishery for
Atlantic migratory group Spanish mackerel, but the extent of such
activity is unknown. Additional permits, both state and Federal, and
associated revenues may be linked to an entity through affiliation
rules, but such affiliation links cannot be made using existing data.
Therefore, all vessels operating in the Atlantic migratory group
Spanish mackerel fishery are assumed to represent independent entities
for the purpose of this analysis.
The Small Business Administration (SBA) has established size
criteria for all major industry sectors in the U.S. including fish
harvesters, for-hire operations, fish processors, and fish dealers. A
business involved in fish harvesting is classified as a small business
if it is independently owned and operated, is not dominant in its field
of operation (including its affiliates), and has combined annual
receipts not in excess of $4.0 million (NAICS code 114111, finfish
fishing) for all affiliated operations worldwide. Based on the annual
averages and maximums for estimated gross revenue per vessel provided
above, it is determined that, for purpose of this analysis, all
entities that would be affected by the proposed rule are small business
entities.
No direct or indirect adverse economic effects on any affected
entities have been identified or are expected to occur as a result of
this proposed rule. Although the current inconsistency between the
start of the Atlantic migratory group Spanish mackerel fishing year and
the specification of the commercial trip limit created the opportunity
for increased harvests in March, available data do not indicate this
has altered fishing behavior that would be adversely impacted by the
establishment of a 3,500-pound trip limit. Further, even if the
proposed rule were to result in a harvest reduction of and reduced
revenues from Spanish mackerel for some entities, the intent of the
action is to enable access to and larger harvests of Spanish mackerel
in the months prior to March, when harvests of other species, notably
snapper-grouper species, are constrained due to recent regulatory
change. Allowing unlimited trip limits for Spanish mackerel at the
start of the season increases the likelihood of quota-triggered lower
limits at the end of the fishing year, leading to reduced alternative
fishing opportunities and lower profits for fishermen subject to
reduced harvest opportunities in the snapper-grouper fishery. Improving
access to Spanish mackerel at the end of the fishing year, as would be
accomplished by limiting harvest in March, would, therefore, be
expected to result in increased total harvest opportunities and net
benefits (profits) to the participants in these fisheries. These
increased benefits, however, cannot be quantified with available data.
One alternative to the proposed action, the status quo, was
considered. The status quo would not establish a trip limit for the
Florida east coast in March and would not, therefore, achieve the
Council's objective. No other alternatives to the proposed action were
considered because no other start date for the trip limit would be
reasonable other than the beginning of the fishing
[[Page 441]]
year. Current rules already establish trip limits for April 1-end of
February, so this amendment only applies to March.
This proposed rule does not contain a collection-of-information
requirement subject to review and approval by OMB under the Paperwork
Reduction Act.
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 622
Fisheries, Fishing, Puerto Rico, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Virgin Islands.
Dated: December 27, 2007
John Oliver,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Operations, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
For the reasons set out in the preamble, 50 CFR part 622 is
proposed to be amended as follows:
PART 622--FISHERIES OF THE CARIBBEAN, GULF, AND SOUTH ATLANTIC
1. The authority citation for part 622 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
2. In Sec. 622.44, paragraph (b)(1)(ii)(A) is revised to read as
follows:
Sec. 622.44 Commercial trip limits.
* * * * *
(b) * * *
(1) * * *
(ii) * * *
(A) From March 1 through November 30, in amounts exceeding 3,500 lb
(1,588 kg).
* * * * *
[FR Doc. E7-25583 Filed 1-2-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S