[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 190 (Friday, October 1, 2010)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 60709-60710]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-24697]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 660
RIN 0648-BA01
Fisheries Off West Coast States; Notice of Availability for
Amendments 16-5 and 23 to the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery
Management Plan
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Availability of amendments to a fishery management plan;
request for comments.
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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the Pacific Fishery Management Council
(Council) has submitted Amendments 16-5 and 23 to the Pacific Coast
Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Secretarial review.
Amendment 16-5 would modify the FMP to implement an overfished species
rebuilding plan for petrale sole and revise existing overfished species
rebuilding plans. In addition, Amendment 16-5 would modify the default
proxy values for FMSY and BMSY as they apply to the flatfish species,
including petrale sole; and the harvest control rule policies.
Amendment 23 introduces a new framework for fishery specifications and
other measures for establishing Annual Catch Limits (ACLs) as required
by the recent amendments to the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation
and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act).
DATES: Comments on Amendments 16-5 and 23 must be received on or
before November 30, 2010.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by RIN 0648-BA01, by
any of the following methods:
Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic public
comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal, at http://www.regulations.gov.
Fax: 206-526-6736; Attn: Becky Renko.
Mail: William Stelle, Regional Administrator, Northwest
Region, NMFS, 7600 Sand Point Way NE., Seattle, WA 98115-0070; Attn:
Becky Renko
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 (if submitting comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking
portal, enter ``N/A'' in the relevant required fields if you wish to
remain anonymous). Attachments to electronic comments will be accepted
in Microsoft Word or Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe PDF file formats
only.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Becky Renko (Northwest Region, NMFS),
phone: 206-526-6110; fax: 206 526 6736; and e mail:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Electronic Access
This Federal Register document is also accessible via the internet
at the website of the Office of the Federal Register: http://www.access.gpo.gov/su-docs/aces/aces140.html.
The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires that each regional fishery
management council submit any FMP or plan amendment it prepares to NMFS
for review and approval, disapproval, or partial approval. The
Magnuson-Stevens Act also requires that NMFS, upon receiving an FMP or
amendment, immediately publish a notice that the FMP or amendment is
available for public review and comment. NMFS will consider the public
comments received during the comment period described above in
determining whether to approve Amendments 16-5 and 23 to the FMP.
Petrale sole was declared overfished on February 9, 2010. Amendment
16-5 adds a new rebuilding plan for petrale sole to the FMP and revises
the seven existing overfished species rebuilding plans consistent with
the Magnuson-Stevens Act. The following groundfish species have been
declared as overfished and are currently being managed under rebuilding
plans: bocaccio in the Monterey and Conception areas; canary rockfish;
cowcod south of Point Conception to the U.S. Mexico boundary;
darkblotched rockfish, Pacific Ocean Perch (POP), widow rockfish, and
yelloweye rockfish.
In the FMP, MSY refers to a constant harvest rate (F) control rule
that is assumed to produce the maximum average yield over time while
protecting the spawning potential of the stock. The constant F control
rule is generally the proxy for the MSY control rule. The long-term
average biomass associated with fishing at FMSY is
BMSY. Fishing rates above FMSY eventually result
in
[[Page 60710]]
biomass smaller than BMSY and produce less harvestable fish
on a sustainable basis. The Council uses default FMSY
proxies for species groups. If sufficient information becomes available
to develop more appropriate values of FMSY, BMSY,
and harvest control rules for individual species or species groups the
FMP allows those more specific values to be used. Amendment 16-5
revises the proxy FMSY value for all flatfish species from
F40% to F30%.
BMSY (or its proxy) is used as a reference point for
rebuilding for overfished stocks, such as petrale sole. Amendment 16-5
revises the proxy BMSY value for all flatfish species from B40%
to B25%. A rebuilding analysis is used to project the status
of the overfished resource into the future under a variety of
alternative harvest strategies to determine the probability of
recovering to BMSY within a specified time-frame. The
overfished threshold is also being revised. The overfished threshold or
minimum stock size threshold (MSST) is the estimated biomass level of
the stock relative to its unfished biomass (i.e., depletion level),
below which the stock is considered overfished. Amendment 16-5 revises
the default proxy MSST for the assessed flatfish species from B25%
to B12.5%, which is 50 percent of the BMSY target of
B25%.
Amendment 16-5 adds to the FMP a new harvest control rule referred
to as the 25-5 harvest control rule for stocks with a BMSY
proxy of 25 percent (B25%). When the estimated biomass has
fallen below B25% and when the stock is not managed under an
overfished species rebuilding plan, the 25-5 harvest control rule would
be applied. Under the 25-5 harvest control rule, a precautionary
adjustment is made to the ACL when the stock's depletion drops below
B25% and at B5%, the ACL is set to zero. The 25-5
harvest control rule is designed to prevent stocks from becoming
overfished.
On January 16, 2009, NMFS adopted revisions to its guidelines
implementing Magnuson-Stevens Act National Standard 1 (74 FR 3178) to
prevent and end overfishing and rebuild fisheries. In particular, the
revised guidelines provide guidance on implementation of the new
statutory requirement for annual catch limits (ACLs). The revised
guidelines also include new requirements for accountability measures
(AMs) and other provisions regarding preventing and ending overfishing
and rebuilding fisheries. To comply with the statute and these new
guidelines Amendment 23 to the FMP redefines several existing terms and
reference points to make them consistent with the new guidelines;
provides a framework for the specification of the overfishing limit
(OFL), acceptable biological catch (ABC) and ACLs, including control
rules for determining the ABC; describes AMs; addresses the formation
of stock complexes; and otherwise ensures that the FMP is consistent
with the revised guidelines. Further, Amendment 23 removes dusky and
dwarf-red rockfish from the FMP because these stocks are not considered
to be in the fishery as there are no historical records of them being
landed.
NMFS welcomes comments on the proposed FMP amendments through the
end of the comment period. A proposed rule to implement Amendments 16-5
and 23 has been submitted for Secretarial review and approval. NMFS
expects to publish and request public review and comment on proposed
regulations to implement Amendments 16-5 and 23, along with the
groundfish specifications and management measures for 2011 and 2012, in
the near future. Public comments on the proposed rule must be received
by the end of the comment period on the amendment to be considered in
the approval/disapproval decision on the amendment. All comments
received by the end of the comment period for the amendment, whether
specifically directed to the amendment or the proposed rule, will be
considered in the approval/disapproval decision.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: September 24, 2010.
Carrie Selberg,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2010-24697 Filed 9-28-10; 4:15 pm]
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