[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 73 (Friday, April 15, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-9093]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: April 15, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
[I.D. 030194C]

 

Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska

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

ACTION: Approval of a fishery management plan amendment.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces approval of Amendment 32 to the Fishery 
Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska (FMP). This 
amendment establishes a plan to rebuild stocks of the rockfish Pacific 
ocean perch (POP) (Sebastes alutus) in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This 
action is necessary to improve the conservation and management of POP 
and is intended to further the goals and objectives of the FMP.

EFFECTIVE DATE: March 31, 1994.

ADDRESSES: Copies of Amendment 32, the environmental assessment (EA), 
and the economic analyses prepared for the amendment are available from 
the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, P.O. Box 103136, 
Anchorage, AK 99510; telephone 907-271-2809.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Susan J. Salveson, NMFS, Alaska 
Region, 907-586-7228.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: POP is a highly valued groundfish that has 
been commercially harvested in the GOA since the early 1960's. Annual 
harvest amounts of this species peaked in 1965 when foreign trawl 
operations took an estimated 350,000 metric tons (mt). Since then, 
harvests of POP have declined drastically and the 1993 domestic catch 
of POP totaled just over 2,000 mt. The current spawner biomass is 
estimated to be 15-20 percent of the level observed during the 1960's.
    The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) believes 
that increasing the biomass of POP is necessary to achieve optimum 
yield in the POP fishery. During 1992, the Council requested the 
development of an FMP amendment that would establish a plan to rebuild 
POP stocks. In spite of increasingly conservative management, these 
stocks remain below optimum levels. At its September 1993 meeting, the 
Council reviewed the resultant EA and approved Amendment 32 for review 
by the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) under section 304(b) of the 
Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson Act).
    A Notice of Availability of Amendment 32, which described the 
proposed action and solicited comments from the public until March 7, 
1994, was published in the Federal Register (59 FR 295, January 4, 
1994). Due to a miscalculation in the comment period deadline of March 
7, 1994, the Office of the Federal Register subsequently published a 
correction in the Federal Register (59 FR 4978, February 2, 1994) that 
adjusted the comment period deadline to February 28, 1994, the end of 
the 60-day comment period provided for FMP amendments under section 
304(a)(1)(C) of the Magnuson Act.
    NMFS received a request to extend the 60-day comment period to 
allow time for consideration of preliminary results of the NMFS 1993 
Triennial Trawl Survey of GOA groundfish resources, including POP. NMFS 
agreed that 1993 survey information on POP stocks should be considered 
prior to the final decision by the Secretary and extended the comment 
period through March 11, 1994 (59 FR 10612, March 7, 1994). Three 
letters of comments were received through March 11 and are summarized 
and responded to in the ``Response to Comments'' section of this 
preamble. After review under the Magnuson Act, the Secretary determined 
that Amendment 32 is consistent with the Magnuson Act and other 
applicable laws and approved Amendment 32 on March 31, 1994. Additional 
information on the POP rebuilding strategy set forth under Amendment 32 
is contained in the January 4, 1994, Notice of Availability (59 FR 
295).

Implementation of the Amendment

    No regulatory changes are necessary to implement this FMP 
amendment. POP stocks will be considered to be rebuilt when the total 
biomass of mature females is equal to or greater than BMSY 
(currently estimated at 150,000 mt). Annual total allowable catch (TAC) 
amounts for POP established for the GOA regulatory areas will be based 
on procedures set forth under Amendment 32 and will be specified 
annually under existing regulations at Sec. 672.20(a)(2).

Response to Comments

    Three letters of comments were received within the comment period 
that ended March 11, 1994. Two letters were supportive of the POP stock 
rebuilding strategy proposed under Amendment 32 and one letter opposed 
it. A summary of comments and NMFS's response follow.
    Comment 1. The proposed Rockfish Rebuilding Plan is supported 
because it provides a good framework within which the Council can 
manage the POP stocks.
    Response: NMFS concurs and has approved the amendment.
    Comment 2. The results of the 1993 Triennial Trawl Survey in the 
GOA are encouraging. The new survey data and age structure data in NMFS 
stock assessment models should show the POP stock much closer to the 
target biomass of 150,000 mt. Under Amendment 32, the optimal target 
biomass should be reached even sooner than projected.
    Response: Preliminary analysis of data collected during the 1993 
Triennial Trawl Survey of the GOA groundfish resource indicates an 
increase in POP biomass relative to 1990 survey results. NMFS notes 
that the length-frequency samples collected during the 1993 survey show 
a relatively unimodal size composition with no obvious evidence of new 
recruitment which would account for the biomass increase from 1990. 
NMFS is cautious about placing too much emphasis on the results of the 
1993 survey as the only indication of a strong recovery of the POP 
resource in the GOA, given the apparent lack of significant recruitment 
since 1990, the difficulties in assessing the biomass of rockfish 
resources, and the large uncertainty associated with estimating the 
biomass of POP (plus or minus 45 percent based on the 1993 trawl survey 
data). Additional data will need to be collected and assessed before 
definitive statements about the apparent recovery of the POP resource 
can be supported.
    Comment 3. The POP stock rebuilding strategy proposed under 
Amendment 32 is inappropriate given the NMFS 1993 Triennial Trawl 
Survey data, which support vastly increased biomass estimates relative 
to those available to the Council when it adopted Amendment 32. Using 
data from the 1993 Triennial Survey and a 95 percent confidence 
interval, NMFS preliminarily estimates the POP biomass to be within the 
255,000 mt to 666,000 mt range. This biomass estimate exceeds the 
target biomass of 150,000 mt and indicates that the costly rebuilding 
strategies proposed under Amendment 32 are unnecessary.
    Response: Increasing the biomass of POP is necessary to achieve 
optimum yield in the POP fishery. The Council justified the lower POP 
harvests and resultant foregone revenues under the POP stock rebuilding 
strategy set forth under Amendment 32 as being necessary to rebuild 
stock biomass to the desired target level (BMSY = 150,000 mt 
mature females) within a reasonable period of time (14 years).
    Although the results of the 1993 Triennial Survey appear promising, 
NMFS does not recommend that resource abundance trends be projected 
from the results of a single survey (see the response to Comment 2). As 
a point of clarification, the preliminary biomass estimate from the 
1993 survey data (255-666 thousand mt) is calculated for all POP in the 
GOA, not just the component of the POP resource comprised of mature 
females. Additional analyses will need to be completed to estimate the 
biomass of mature females based on data collected during the 1993 
Triennial Trawl Survey and to assess the status of this component of 
the POP resource relative to the target BMSY. NMFS, in 
consultation with the Council and its Scientific and Statistical 
Committee, will continue to assess the status of the POP stocks and 
will adjust the management of the resource consistent with the intent 
of Council's rebuilding policy set forth under Amendment 32.
    Comment 4. Rather than pursue unnecessary and costly POP stock 
rebuilding strategies under Amendment 32, a more appropriate action 
would be to foster better understanding of POP population dynamics 
through resource funded annual survey programs, similar to the pilot 
project conducted during the summer of 1993.
    Response: NMFS acknowledges that greater understanding of POP 
population dynamics generally would provide better stock assessments 
and biomass projections for this fishery resource. As a result, NMFS 
will continue to consider research projects that are designed to 
collect additional data on GOA fishery resources in addition to the 
triennial trawl surveys. However, NMFS believes that the POP stock 
rebuilding strategy set forth under Amendment 32 is a prudent 
conservation policy that should be pursued until analyses of data 
collected through either the NMFS triennial surveys or other research 
indicate that the target abundance level recommended by the Council has 
been reached.

    Dated: April 11, 1994.
David S. Crestin,
Acting Director, Office of Fisheries Conservation and Management, 
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 94-9093 Filed 4-14-94; 8:45 am]
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