[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 57 (Thursday, March 24, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 16595-16596]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-7025]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
RIN 0648-BA71
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act
Provisions; Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Sea
Scallop Fishery; Amendment 15 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery
Management Plan
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of availability of a fishery management plan amendment;
request for comments.
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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the New England Fishery Management Council
(Council) has submitted Amendment 15 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop
Fishery Management Plan (FMP) (Amendment 15), incorporating the Final
Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) and the Initial Regulatory
Flexibility Analysis (IRFA), for review by the Secretary of Commerce.
NMFS is requesting comments from the public on Amendment 15, which was
developed primarily to implement annual catch limits (ACLs) and
accountability measures (AMs) to bring the Scallop FMP into compliance
with new requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and
Management Act (MSA). Amendment 15 includes additional measures
recommended by the Council, including an adjustment to the overfishing
definition, modification of the essential fish habitat (EFH) closed
areas under the Scallop FMP, adjustments to measures for the Limited
Access General Category fishery, adjustments to the scallop research
set aside program, and additions to the list of measures that can be
adjusted by framework adjustments.
DATES: Comments must be received by 5 p.m., Eastern Standard Time, on
May 23, 2011.
ADDRESSES: An FEIS was prepared for Amendment 15 that describes the
proposed action and its alternatives and provides a thorough analysis
of the impacts of proposed measures and their alternatives. Copies of
Amendment 15, including the FEIS and the IRFA, are available from Paul
J. Howard, Executive Director, New England Fishery Management Council,
50 Water
[[Page 16596]]
Street, Newburyport, MA 01950. These documents are also available
online at http://www.nefmc.org.
You may submit comments, identified by 0648-BA71, by any one of the
following methods:
Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic public
comments via the Federal eRulemaking Portal http://www.regulations.gov.
Fax: (978) 281-9135, Attn: Peter Christopher.
Mail: Patricia A. Kurkul, Regional Administrator, NMFS,
Northeast Regional Office, 55 Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA
01930. Mark the outside of the envelope, ``Comments on Scallop
Amendment 15.''
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.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Peter Christopher, Fishery Policy
Analyst, phone 978-281-9288, fax 978-281-9135.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Background: In January 2007, the MSA was
reauthorized and included a new provision requiring each FMP to use
ACLs to prevent overfishing, including measures to ensure
accountability should the ACLs be exceeded. For fishery resources that
were determined to be overfished, the reauthorized MSA required that
such measures must be implemented by 2010. For fishery resources that
were not overfished, the reauthorized MSA required that such measures
must be implemented by 2011. Scallop fishery management measures to
comply with the reauthorized MSA's ACL and AM requirements were
required for 2011 because the scallop resource is not overfished. To
meet this requirement, the Council initiated development of Amendment
15 when, on March 5, 2008, it published a Notice of Intent to develop
Amendment 15 (73 FR 11888) and prepare and EIS to analyze the impacts
of the proposed management alternatives. The Council intended that
Amendment 15 would address three goals: (1) Bring the Scallop FMP into
compliance with new requirements of the re-authorized MSA; (2) address
excess capacity in the limited access scallop fishery; and (3) consider
measures to adjust several aspects of the overall program to make the
scallop management plan more effective. Following the public comment
period that ended on August 23, 2010, the Council adopted Amendment 15
on September 29, 2010. The Council voted to exclude permit stacking and
leasing alternatives that were designed to address excess capacity
after considering extensive written and oral public comment on the
measures. Ultimately the Council rejected these measures due to
concerns that the measures would have unacceptable negative economic
and social impacts on the scallop fleet and fishing communities. As
adopted by the Council, Amendment 15 includes the following measures:
An acceptable biological catch (ABC) control rule that
would set ABC at a level that has a 25-percent probability of exceeding
the overfishing limit to account for scientific uncertainty in the
assessment of the status of the scallop resource;
Incidental and Northern Gulf of Maine (NGOM) catch limits;
Separate scallop ACLs and AMs for the limited access and
LAGC fleets;
An annual catch target for the limited access fleet;
A ``Limited Access Disclaimer'' that would retract an
impending limited access fleet AM if the fishery has not exceeded the
fishing mortality rate associated with ABC, and an associated provision
to re-allocate catch to the LAGC fleet if the Disclaimer provision is
implemented;
A sub-ACL for yellowtail flounder coordinated with the
Council's Northeast (NE) Multispecies FMP and AMs for the scallop
fishery if the scallop fishery's yellowtail flounder sub-ACL is
exceeded;
Modification of the overfishing definition for scallops to
make it more compatible with rotational area management and to be
consistent with the most recent formal scallop resource stock
assessment;
An increase in the possession limit for limited access
general category (LAGC) vessels from 400 to 600 lb per trip;
An allowance for carryover of unused individual fishing
quota (IFQ) for LAGC vessels;
A provision to enable LAGC vessel owners to permanently
transfer all or some IFQ separate from the vessel's LAGC permit;
Revision of the essential fish habitat (EFH) closures
under the Scallop FMP to make them consistent with EFH closed areas
under the NE Multispecies FMP;
Inclusion of third year default management measures under
the biennial framework adjustment process;
Additions to the list of frameworkable measures; and
Several changes to the scallop research set aside program.
Amendment 15 would establish the mechanism for implementing ACLs
and AMs, which would be the basis for scallop fishery specifications,
including days-at-sea, access area trip allocations, and IFQs.
Amendment 15 does not include actual limits and fishery specifications.
These specifications would be established under Framework 22 to the FMP
for fishing years 2011, 2012, and 2013. Framework 22 has been adopted
and submitted by the Council for NMFS review.
Public comments are being solicited on Amendment 15 and its
incorporated documents through the end of the comment period stated in
this notice of availability. A proposed rule that would implement
Amendment 15 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
Amendment 15 to be considered in the approval/disapproval decision on
the amendment. All comments received by May 23, 2011, whether
specifically directed to Amendment 15 or the proposed rule for
Amendment 15, will be considered in the approval/disapproval decision
on Amendment 15. Comments received after that date will not be
considered in the decision to approve or disapprove Amendment 15. To be
considered, comments must be received by close of business on the last
day of the comment period; that does not mean postmarked or otherwise
transmitted by that date.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: March 21, 2011.
Margo Schulze-Haugen,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-7025 Filed 3-23-11; 8:45 am]
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