[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 239 (Wednesday, December 11, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 65192-65194]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-31376]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 961126330-6330-01; I.D. 110796H]
RIN 0648-XX72


Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Fisheries; 1997 
Specifications

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

[[Page 65193]]

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Proposed 1997 initial specifications; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS proposes initial specifications for the 1997 fishing year 
for Atlantic mackerel, squid, and butterfish (SMB). Regulations 
governing these fisheries require NMFS to publish specifications for 
the upcoming fishing year and provide an opportunity for the public to 
comment. This action is intended to promote the development of the U.S. 
SMB fisheries.

DATES: Public comments must be received on or before January 6, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council's 
quota paper and recommendations and the Environmental Assessment are 
available from David R. Keifer, Executive Director, Mid-Atlantic 
Fishery Management Council, Room 2115, Federal Building, 300 South New 
Street, Dover, DE 19901. Comments should be sent to Dr. Andrew A. 
Rosenberg, Regional Administrator, Northeast Region, NMFS, 1 Blackburn 
Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930. Please mark the envelope ``Comments--1997 
SMB specifications.''

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Myles Raizin, 508-281-9104.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Regulations implementing the Fishery 
Management Plan for Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish Fisheries 
(FMP) prepared by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) 
appear at 50 CFR part 648. These regulations stipulate that NMFS 
publish a document specifying the initial annual amounts of the initial 
optimum yield (IOY) as well as the amounts for allowable biological 
catch (ABC), domestic annual harvest (DAH), domestic annual processing 
(DAP), joint venture processing (JVP), and total allowable levels of 
foreign fishing (TALFF) for the species managed under the FMP. No 
reserves are permitted under the FMP for any of these species. 
Procedures for determining the initial annual amounts are found in 
Sec. 648.21. Proposed Council Actions Affecting 1997 Specifications
    The Council adopted two amendments to the FMP that may affect the 
final specifications as described below.
    Atlantic mackerel--The Council adopted a revision to a measure 
disapproved under Amendment 5 to the FMP (Resubmitted Amendment 5), 
which, if approved by the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) will 
further restrict ABC for Atlantic mackerel. This measure proposes to 
define overfishing as catch (U.S. and Canadian) in excess of F0.1. 
The Northeast Fisheries Science Center has certified that this 
overfishing definition is consistent with the NOAA Guidelines for 
Fishery Management Plans. The Council recommended that the 1997 
Atlantic mackerel ABC specification be restricted to 383,000 mt 
consistent with this proposed measure. However, the ABC specification 
for Atlantic mackerel will be 1,178,000 mt under the current FMP and 
would become 383,000 mt only if the proposed measure is approved by the 
Secretary.
    Atlantic squids--In response to the management advice from the 21st 
Northeast Stock Assessment Workshop (SAW 21), the Council has adopted, 
and submitted for Secretarial review, Amendment 6 to the FMP that would 
establish revised overfishing thresholds and target fishing mortality 
rates for both Illex and Loligo squid. SAW 21 recommended, and 
Amendment 6 proposes, overfishing thresholds of Fmax for Loligo 
and F20 for Illex, and Maximum OY (Max OY) would be redefined in 
the FMP to correspond to these thresholds. The resulting Max OY would 
be 26,000 mt for Loligo and 24,000 mt for Illex. The Council's current 
submission, however, must utilize the definition of Max OY presently 
specified in the FMP (36,000 mt for Loligo, 30,000 mt for Illex). In 
making recommendations for ABC, however, the Council has used the 
target fishing mortality rate (F50) recommended by SAW 21 in 
response to the concerns emanating from SAW 21 as a result of the 
determination that both species have a life span of only 1 year.
    The following table contains the proposed initial specifications 
for the 1997 Atlantic mackerel, Loligo and Illex squids, and butterfish 
fisheries as recommended by the Council.

   Preliminary Initial Annual Specifications for Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish for the Fishing Year  
                                       January 1 through December 31, 1997                                      
                                                      [mt]                                                      
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               Squid                                            
                 Specifications                  --------------------------------    Atlantic       Butterfish  
                                                      Loligo           Illex         Mackerel                   
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Max OY \1\......................................      \2\ 36,000      \3\ 30,000             N/A          16,000
ABC.............................................          21,000          19,000   \4\ 1,178,000           7,200
IOY \5\.........................................          21,000          19,000          90,000           5,900
DAH.............................................          21,000          19,000      \6\ 90,000           5,900
DAP.............................................          21,000          19,000          50,000           5,900
JVP.............................................               0               0          25,000               0
TALFF...........................................               0               0               0              0 
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\1\ Maximum optimum yield (OY) equals Maximum Sustainable Yield.                                                
\2\ 26,000 mt if overfishing threshold in Amendment 6 is approved.                                              
\3\ 24,000 mt if overfishing threshold in Amendment 6 is approved.                                              
\4\ 383,000 = (405,000 mt less 22,000 mt) if overfishing definition is approved that was submitted as part of   
  Council's resubmission of measures disapproved in Amendment 5.                                                
\5\ IOY can increase to this amount.                                                                            
\6\ Contains 15,000 estimated recreational catch.                                                               

Atlantic Mackerel

    ABC in U.S. waters for the upcoming fishing year is that quantity 
of mackerel that could be caught in U.S. and Canadian waters while 
maintaining a spawning stock size in the year following the year for 
which quotas are being prepared that is equal to or greater than 
900,000 mt. An estimate of Canadian catch is then deducted to calculate 
ABC. For 1997, this calculation results in an ABC of 1,178,000 mt, 
assuming a beginning stock size of 2.1 million mt and a Canadian catch 
in 1997 of 22,000 mt.
    IOY is a modification of ABC that reflects social and economic 
factors. IOY is comprised of two components:

[[Page 65194]]

DAH and TALFF. DAH is the sum of a recreational catch estimate, DAP and 
JVP. The Council estimates that the 1997 recreational catch will be 
15,000 mt and DAP will be 50,000 mt. The Council also recommends that 
IOY be set at a level that provides for a JVP of 25,000 mt and TALFF of 
zero. The resulting recommended IOY is 90,000 mt.
    DAP has historically been estimated using the Council's annual 
processor survey. However, for the years 1994 through 1996, response 
was low and did not contain projections from the large, known 
processors. Therefore, in order to estimate the expected processing 
capacity for 1997, the Council used the survey responses from those 
firms that provided estimates for both 1996 and 1997. For these firms, 
projected amount of fish needed increased 96 percent in 1997. In 
addition, numerous inquiries concerning entry of displaced New England 
groundfish trawlers into the Atlantic mackerel fishery have led the 
Council to recommend no change to the DAP for the 1997 fishery.
    The 1997 JVP specification was reduced from 1996 to reflect the 
concern that the Council has about the negative effect that joint 
ventures could have on the further development of the U.S. export 
market. Furthermore, the North Sea mackerel quota was reduced by 55 
percent for 1996, and this reduced quota may be extended and reduced 
further through 1997. These reductions may provide an opportunity for 
U.S. producers to sell additional mackerel on the international market. 
The Council intends to proceed on a policy course that recognizes the 
need for JVs in the short term to allow U.S. harvesters to take 
mackerel at levels in excess of current U.S. processing capacity. 
However, in the longer term the Council intends to eliminate JVs as 
U.S. processing and export capacity increases.
    An IOY that results in zero TALFF is recommended for the 1997 
Atlantic mackerel fishery. The Fisheries Act of 1995 prohibits a 
specification of TALFF unless recommended by the Council.
    The Council also recommended that four special conditions imposed 
in previous years continue to be imposed on the 1997 Atlantic mackerel 
fishery as follows: (1) Joint ventures would be allowed south of 
37 deg.30' N. lat., but river herring bycatch may not exceed 0.25 
percent of the over-the-side transfers of Atlantic mackerel; (2) the 
Regional Administrator should ensure that impacts on marine mammals are 
reduced in the prosecution of the Atlantic mackerel fishery; (3) the 
mackerel OY may be increased during the year, but the total should not 
exceed ABC; and (4) applications from a particular nation for a joint 
venture for 1997 will not be decided on until the Regional 
Administrator determines, based on an evaluation of performances, that 
that nation's purchase obligations for previous years have been 
fulfilled.

Atlantic Squids

    The FMP sets the Max OY for Loligo at 36,000 mt. The recommended 
ABC for the 1997 Loligo fishery is 21,000 mt, representing a decrease 
of 9,000 mt from the 1996 ABC. The level specified for 1997 represents 
the harvest level associated with a fishing mortality rate of F50, 
which was recommended by SAW 21 as an appropriate target harvest level 
for this species. The Council recommended that IOY should equal ABC.
    The FMP sets the Max OY for Illex squid at 30,000 mt. The Council 
recommended an ABC of 19,000 mt, which represents the harvest level 
associated with a fishing mortality rate of F50. This is similar 
to the SAW 21 recommendation of F50 as an appropriate target 
harvest level for both Illex and Loligo. The Council recommended that 
the IOY for Illex be set equal to ABC.

Butterfish

    The FMP sets the Max OY for butterfish at 16,000 mt. The most 
recent stock assessment was done in 1994 (SAW 17) and advised that the 
stock may not be able to sustain landings in excess of the long term 
historical average (1965-92) of 7,200 mt. Based on this advice, the 
Council recommends maintaining ABC at 7,200 mt (unchanged from 1996). 
The Council also recommended maintaining IOY and DAH at 1996 levels 
(5,900 mt) to reflect the uncertainty that exists regarding the level 
of discards in the directed fishery.
    As a result of the approval of Amendment 5, the FMP specifies that 
there will be no JVP or TALFF specified for Loligo, Illex, or 
butterfish, except that a butterfish bycatch TALFF will be specified if 
TALFF is specified for Atlantic mackerel. Since the Council recommended 
no TALFF for Atlantic mackerel, no bycatch TALFF is required for 
butterfish.

Classification

    This action is authorized by 50 CFR part 648, and these proposed 
specifications are exempt from review under E.O. 12866.

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

    Dated: December 4, 1996.
Charles Karnella,
Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 96-31376 Filed 12-5-96; 3:27 pm]
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