[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 44 (Monday, March 7, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-5125]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: March 7, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
50 CFR Part 625

[Docket No. [940262-4062; I.D. 012194A]]

 

Summer Flounder Fishery

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Final specifications for the 1994 summer flounder fishery.

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SUMMARY: NMFS issues this notification of final specifications to 
implement the commercial catch quota and other restrictions for the 
1994 summer flounder fishery. The intent of this notification is to 
comply with implementing regulations for this fishery that require the 
Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) to publish measures for the upcoming 
fishing year that will prevent overfishing of the summer flounder 
resource.

EFFECTIVE DATE: March 2, 1994.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the Environmental Assessment prepared for this 
action are available from Richard B. Roe, Regional Director, National 
Marine Fisheries Service, One Blackburn Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930-
3799. Copies of supporting documents used by the Monitoring Committee 
are available from David R. Keifer, Chairman, Summer Flounder 
Monitoring Committee, Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, Room 
2115, Federal Building, 300 S. New Street, Dover, DE 19901-6790.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Hannah Goodale, 508-281-9101.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Fishery Management Plan for the Summer 
Flounder Fishery (FMP) was developed jointly by the Atlantic States 
Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) and the Mid-Atlantic Fishery 
Management Council (Council) in consultation with the New England and 
South Atlantic Fishery Management Councils. The management unit for the 
FMP is summer flounder (Paralichthys dentatus) in U.S. waters of the 
Atlantic Ocean from the southern border of North Carolina northward to 
the Canadian border. Implementing regulations for the fishery are found 
at 50 CFR part 625.
    Section 625.20 outlines the process for determining the annual 
commercial catch quota and other restrictions for the summer flounder 
fishing year. Pursuant to Sec. 625.20, certain management measures have 
been adopted for calendar year 1994 to ensure achievement of the 
appropriate fishing mortality rate. These measures include: (1) A 
coastwide harvest limit of 26,675,934 million pounds (12.1 million kg); 
(2) a coastwide commercial quota of 16,005,560 million pounds (7.3 
million kg); (3) a coastwide recreational harvest limit of 10,670,374 
million pounds (4.8 million kg); (4) a minimum commercial fish size of 
13 inches (33 cm)(no change from present minimum); (5) a minimum mesh 
size of 5-1/2-inch (14.0-cm) diamond or 6-inch (15.2 cm) square (no 
change from present minimum); and (6) a minimum recreational fish size 
of 14 inches (35.6 cm)(no change in present minimum). These measures 
are unchanged from the proposed specifications, which were published in 
the Federal Register on December 7, 1993 (58 FR 64393). Recreational 
catch data for 1993 are not yet available, and the Committee will 
consider modifications to the recreational possession limit and 
recreational season after a review of that information.
    Table 1 presents the 1994 commercial quota (16,005,560 million 
pounds (7.3 million kg)) apportioned among each state according to the 
percentage shares specified by Amendment 4 to the FMP (58 FR 49937; 
September 24, 1993). These state allocations do not reflect the 
adjustments required under Sec. 625.20 if 1993 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, 
after final 1993 commercial landing values are available.

                 Table 1.--1994 State Commercial Quotas                 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                    Share     1994 Quota
                     State                        (percent)    (pounds) 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
ME.............................................     0.04756        7,612
NH.............................................     0.00046           74
MA.............................................     6.82046    1,091,653
RI.............................................    15.68298    2,510,149
CT.............................................     2.25708      361,258
NY.............................................     7.64699    1,223,943
NJ.............................................    16.72499    2,676,928
DE.............................................     0.01779        2,847
MD.............................................     2.03910      326,369
VA.............................................    21.31676    3,411,867
NC.............................................    27.44584   4,392,860 
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Comments and Responses

    Comments were received on the proposed management measures from 
Seafarers International Union of North America (SIU) and the Atlantic 
Coast Conservation Association of Virginia (ACCA). Comments concerning 
the recommended 1994 management measures are addressed below.
    Comment: The SIU believes that the recommended commercial quota is 
overly conservative and was adopted without question by the Council.
    Response: The summer flounder stock assessment was intensively 
reviewed in October 1992 and May 1993 by the Southern Demersal Working 
Group, which is composed of biologists from both Federal and state 
agencies. The Council staff's initial recommendation of management 
measures was based on the assessment, which concluded that the resource 
is at a low biomass level and is overexploited. This initial 
recommendation was reviewed and debated by the Summer Flounder 
Monitoring Committee (Committee), the Council's Demersal Species 
Committee, and the ASMFC's Policy Board before adoption of the 
management measures by the Council and ASMFC.
    Comment: The SIU believes that the proposed quota ignores the fact 
that fishing mortality in 1993 was below the 0.53 target.
    Response: The basis for the SIU comment is unclear. In the absence 
of actual data for 1993, the assessment used as the basis of the 1994 
quota recommendation makes several assumptions that the SIU may have 
misinterpreted to be statements of fact. These assumptions are: That 
the target fishing mortality is not exceeded, the overall 1993 quota is 
not exceeded, discards do not increase, and all landings are reported. 
All of these assumptions are incorporated into the specified quota 
level.
    Comment: The SIU believes that the estimates of discard mortality 
in the analysis are too high. It cites a study conducted by the 
Commonwealth of Massachusetts that showed a 94-percent survival rate 
for summer flounder.
    Response: The Massachusetts study provides data of interest to the 
Committee and to NMFS, and there is interest in further study. However, 
the study was limited in both scope and sample size, and the results 
cannot be extrapolated to the summer flounder commercial fishery as a 
whole.
    Comment: The SIU believes that the Council should consider a higher 
commercial quota, in part because the SIU believes that data indicate 
that the stock was recovering before implementation of the current 
management measures.
    Response: The assessment results indicate that recruitment has 
improved since 1988, but that it remains at or below an average level. 
The fishery is dependent upon incoming recruitment because of the 
limited number of ages of fish in the population. Given the uncertainty 
of stock size estimates for 1993, the assessment recommends a cautious 
strategy in setting the 1994 quota.
    Comment: The SIU believes that the target fishing mortality rate 
for 1996 of Fmax will not be 0.23. The SIU believes that the 
management measures enacted under the FMP during the period 1993 
through 1995 will result in a recalculated Fmax, which will be 
higher. Therefore, SIU believes that the Council should not be 
influenced by concern about the 1996 reduction in target fishing 
mortality rate.
    Response: Fmax is a biological reference point, which could 
require recalculation if the production parameters of the stock change 
significantly. The production parameters to consider are growth rate, 
natural mortality rate, and partial recruitment. There is no evidence 
of change in any of these parameters, but partial recruitment will be 
monitored in case change occurs in response to the implementation of 
the management measures in the FMP. If change is detected and 
determined to be both significant and sustained, recalculation of 
Fmax could be required. Unless such change occurs, the target 
fishing mortality specified in the FMP for 1996 is 0.23. It is 
appropriate for the Council to consider this when establishing annual 
management measures.
    Comment: The ACCA opposes any increase in the commercial quota for 
1994 because it believes Amendment 2 requires the Council and NMFS to 
err in favor of resource conservation if there is uncertainty about the 
status of the resource.
    Response: Amendment 2 requires the Council, ASMFC, and NMFS, to 
adopt management measures that balance the probability of reaching the 
target fishing mortality rate against reasonable impacts on the 
industry. The commercial quota was set after an examination of stock 
projections for 1994 that were conducted using low, mean, and high 
estimates of recruitment and the number of age-1 fish. The adopted 
management measures are based upon the low estimate of recruitment in 
order to proceed conservatively due to several sources of uncertainty 
in the assessment.
    Comment: The ACCA questions the way in which state survey data were 
used to estimate age-0 fish. They believe the assessment should have 
relied on the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) index, which 
indicates poor recruitment.
    Response: The stock assessment incorporates the results of five 
state surveys to estimate age-0 fish. Each of the state surveys is 
limited in area and indicates recruitment trends locally. The overall 
analysis combines all of the surveys and produces a moderate estimate 
that is lower than the mean over the past 5 years. The uncertainty 
concerning this estimate is one of the reasons cited by the Council and 
ASMFC for the conservative quota adopted.
    Comment: The ACCA questions the assumption that the 1993 commercial 
quota will not be exceeded and states that the 1994 quota should not be 
set until final 1993 landings figures are available. ACCA supports the 
FMP provision that requires state landings in excess of the 1993 quota 
to be deducted from state quota allocations for 1994.
    Response: The FMP requires the Summer Flounder Monitoring Committee 
to make a recommendation concerning management measures for the 
upcoming year by August 15. Clearly, the Council was aware that it 
would be impossible to incorporate landings data from one year into the 
recommendations for the following year. The assumption that the 1993 
quota is not exceeded is not unreasonable since the FMP requires weekly 
dealer reports and gives NMFS the authority to close states to the 
landing of summer flounder when a state quota is attained. If final 
1993 landings exceed a state quota, the 1994 state quota will be 
decreased by the overage amount.
    Comment: The ACCA believes the 1994 quota recommendation does not 
take into account the additional reduction in target fishing mortality 
that the FMP requires in 1996.
    Response: As stated in the proposed specifications, a conservative 
quota level was selected for 1994 in part in anticipation of the FMP 
requirement for reduction of the target fishing mortality rate to 0.23 
in 1996. If a conservative quota level is implemented in 1994, and if 
recruitment in 1993/94 exceeds the assumed level, then spawning stock 
biomass is expected to increase at a rate faster than estimated. Larger 
stock sizes in 1996 would allow for a quota level that would minimize 
the impacts of the additional reduction on fishermen.

Classification

    This action is authorized by 50 CFR part 625.

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 625

    Fisheries, reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

(Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.)

    Dated: March 1, 1994.

Samuel W. McKeen,
Acting Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 94-5125 Filed 3-2-94; 3:28 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P