[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 231 (Friday, December 2, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-29695]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: December 2, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 625

[Docket No. 941127-4327; I.D. No. 103194A]

 

Summer Flounder Fishery

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

ACTION: Proposed specifications for the 1995 summer flounder fishery; 
request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS proposes specifications for the 1995 summer flounder 
fishery, which include commercial catch quotas and other restrictions. 
The implementing regulations for the fishery require NMFS to publish 
specifications for the upcoming fishing year and provide an opportunity 
for the public to comment. The intent of these measures is to prevent 
overfishing of the summer flounder resource.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before December 29, 1994.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the draft Environmental Assessment (EA) and 
supporting documents used by the Summer Flounder Monitoring Committee 
are available from: Executive Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management 
Council, Room 2115, Federal Building, 300 S. New Street, Dover, DE 
19901-6790. Comments on the proposed specifications should be sent to: 
Director, Northeast Region, NMFS (Regional Director), One Blackburn 
Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930-2298.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Section 625.20 of the regulations implementing the Fishery 
Management Plan for the Summer Flounder Fishery (FMP) specifies the 
process for setting annual management measures in order to achieve the 
fishing mortality rates of 0.53 for the years 1993-95, and 0.23 in 1996 
and thereafter, to prevent overfishing of the resource. The regulations 
establish a Summer Flounder Monitoring Committee (Monitoring Committee) 
consisting of representatives from the Atlantic State Marine Fisheries 
Commission ASMFC, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) 
and the New England Fishery Management Council, and NMFS, which 
recommends an annual commercial catch quota and other restrictions to 
achieve the specified fishing mortality rate.
    The Monitoring Committee is required to review and base its 
recommendations of annual measures on:
    (1) Commercial and recreational catch data,
    (2) Estimates of fishing mortality,
    (3) Stock status,
    (4) Estimates of recruitment,
    (5) Virtual population analysis (VPA),
    (6) Levels of regulatory noncompliance by fishermen or individual 
states,
    (7) Impact of fish size and net mesh regulations,
    (8) Impact of gear other than otter trawls on the mortality of 
summer flounder, and
    (9) Other relevant information.
    After reviewing the required information, the Monitoring Committee 
may recommend, in addition to the coastwide quota, modifications to the 
commercial minimum fish size and minimum mesh size, modifications to 
the recreational minimum fish size, possession limit and season, and 
restrictions on gear other than otter trawls.
    The Council's Demersal Species Committee (Demersal Committee) 
considers the recommendations of the Monitoring Committee, as well as 
any public comments and, in turn, makes its recommendation to the full 
Council.

Committee and Council Recommendations

    The annual management measures are based upon stock projections 
derived from VPA results. Overfishing has reduced the summer flounder 
age structure to primarily ages 0 through 2. Stock projections, 
therefore, rely heavily on estimated recruitment levels. Stock 
projections for 1995 were conducted using low, mean, and high estimates 
of recruitment. For each estimate, the coastwide harvest limit was 
calculated that would meet the 0.53 target mortality rate.
    The Monitoring Committee recommended a commercial quota of 9.67 
million lb (4.38 million kg), a 40-percent reduction from the 1994 
quota. This recommendation was based on the low-recruitment estimate 
and represents a 70-percent probability of achieving the target fishing 
mortality rate. The Monitoring Committee also recommended that the 
commercial size limit be increased from 13 inches (33 cm) to 14 inches 
(35.6 cm), that the minimum mesh size be increased by \1/2\ inch (1.27 
cm), and that the commercial size limit be applied to scallop dredge 
gear.
    The Demersal Committee's recommendation, which the full Council 
adopted, took into account considerable testimony received from the 
industry and public at Council meetings, describing the potential 
negative economic impacts of this decrease in harvest limits. Industry 
representatives testified that a 40-percent reduction from the 1994 
quota level would be severely damaging to their businesses. Most 
industry commenters believed that the 1995 quota level, mesh, and size 
limits should remain unchanged from 1994. In addition, the Demersal 
Committee and Council considered data from the North Carolina trawl 
survey that indicates an above-average year class has been produced in 
1994. While other surveys have yet to confirm this, the North Carolina 
survey has tracked abundance very well in past years.
    After considering these factors, the Demersal Committee and Council 
recommended setting the quota and other restrictions based upon the 
mean-level stock projection, rather than the low-level stock projection 
used as the basis for recommendations made by the Monitoring Committee. 
This resulted in a recommended quota level that is 27 percent lower 
than that implemented in 1994, and is comparable to the quota level 
implemented in 1993. The probability of achieving the target fishing 
mortality rate by this quota level is 50 percent. Continuation of 1994 
mesh and fish size limits was also recommended.
    The Council made its recommendations to the Regional Director at 
its meeting of September 28-29, 1994. The Regional Director has 
reviewed the recommended specifications and has determined 
preliminarily that they are necessary to assure that the fishing 
mortality rates specified in Sec. 625.20 are not exceeded. Comments are 
specifically requested on: (1) A coastwide harvest limit of 19.4 
million lb (8.8 million kg), (2) a coastwide commercial quota of 11.6 
million lb (5.3 million kg), (3) a coastwide recreational harvest limit 
of 7.8 million lb (3.5 million kg), (4) no change from the present 
minimum commercial fish size of 13 inches (33 cm), and (5) no change in 
the present minimum-mesh restrictions of 5\1/2\ inch (14.0 cm) diamond 
or 6 inch (15.2 cm) square.
    NMFS is concerned that the quota recommended by the Council may be 
too high. NMFS invites comments on the Council's proposed quota and 
whether it will reasonably assure that the 1995 mortality goals can be 
achieved.
    If these specifications are adopted, the commercial quota allocated 
to each state according to the percentage shares specified in 
Sec. 625.20(d)(1), would be the amounts depicted in Table 1 below. 
These state allocations do not reflect the adjustments required under 
Sec. 625.20, if 1994 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.
    The Council recommended the specifications before the November 4, 
1994, Opinion and Order of the District Court in Fishermen's Dock 
Cooperative v. Brown, No. 2:94cv338 (E.D. Va.), which ordered the 1994 
commercial quota increased from 16.0 million lb (7.26 million kg) to 
19.05 million lb (8.64 million kg). The Council's recommended 
specifications for 1995 do not account for the possible increase in 
mortality that could occur as a result of this upward adjustment of the 
quota. Consequently, a re-examination of the factors in Sec. 625.20 
that must be considered in setting the annual quota will have to be 
undertaken to assess what quota level in 1995 will assure attainment of 
the fishing mortality reduction goal of 0.53. If the adjusted quota in 
1994 is completely harvested, the current recommended quota for 1995 
will have to be adjusted downward.

            Table 1.--1995 State Commercial Quotas (Proposed)           
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                    Share     1995 Quota
                     State                        (percent)    (pounds) 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
ME.............................................     0.04756        5,536
NH.............................................      .00046           53
MA.............................................     6.82046      793,929
RI.............................................    15.68298    1,825,563
CT.............................................     2.25708      262,733
NY.............................................    7.764699      890,141
NJ.............................................    16.72499    1,946,857
DE.............................................      .01779        2,071
MD.............................................     2.03910      237,359
VA.............................................    21.31676    2,481,358
NC.............................................    27.44584    3,194,807
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The FMP calls for proposed specifications of the commercial quota, 
recreational harvest limit, and additional measures for the commercial 
fishery, to be published in the Federal Register by October 15. 
However, due to the lateness of the Council meeting (September 28-29) 
during which the recommendations were made, publication of the 
specifications was delayed.

Classification

    This action is authorized by 50 CFR part 625.
    These proposed specifications are exempt from review under E.O. 
12866.

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

    Dated: November 28, 1994.
Gary Matlock,
Program Management Officer, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 94-29695 Filed 11-29-94; 2:37 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P