[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 221 (Tuesday, November 17, 1998)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 63819-63822]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-30692]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 981106278-8278-01; I.D. 101598B]
RIN 0648-AL76


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Mackerel, 
Squid, and Butterfish Fisheries; 1999 Specifications

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

ACTION: Proposed rule and proposed 1999 initial specifications; request 
for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS proposes initial specifications for the 1999 fishing year 
for Atlantic mackerel, squid, and butterfish (MSB). Regulations 
governing these fisheries require NMFS to publish specifications for 
the upcoming fishing year and to provide an opportunity for the public 
to comment. This action is intended to fulfill this requirement and 
promote the development and conservation of the U.S. MSB fisheries. 
This action also proposes making an inseason adjustment of as much as 
15,000 mt to the 1999 mackerel joint venture processing (JVP) annual 
specifications. Further, it proposes to grant the Administrator, 
Northeast Region, NMFS (Regional Administrator), the authority to 
prohibit incidental catches of Loligo, Illex, or butterfish when the 
Regional Administrator determines that closure of the incidental 
fishery is necessary to assure that the Loligo, Illex, or butterfish 
annual specifications will not be exceeded.

DATES: Public comments must be received on or before December 14, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council's 
quota paper and recommendations, the Environmental Assessment, and 
Regulatory Impact Review (RIR)/Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 
(IRFA), are available from: Jon C. Rittgers, Acting Regional 
Administrator, National Marine Fisheries Service, One Blackburn Drive, 
Gloucester, MA 01930-2298.
    Comments should be sent to Jon C. Rittgers, Acting Regional 
Administrator, Northeast Region Office, NMFS, 1 Blackburn Drive, 
Gloucester, MA 01930. Please mark the envelope, ``Comments--1999 MSB 
specifications.''

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul H. Jones, Fishery Policy Analyst, 
978-281-9273.

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 require NMFS to publish a 
proposed rule 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. 
Regulations implementing Amendment 4 to the FMP allow the Council to 
recommend specifications for these fisheries for up to 3 consecutive 
years. Procedures for determining the initial annual amounts are found 
in Sec. 648.21.
    The following table contains the proposed initial specifications 
for the 1999 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, 1999                                      
                                                      [mt]                                                      
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               Squid                                            
                 Specifications                  --------------------------------    Atlantic       Butterfish  
                                                      Loligo           Illex         Mackerel                   
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Max OY..........................................          26,000          24,000         \1\ N/A          16,000
ABC.............................................          21,000          19,000         383,000           7,200
IOY.............................................          21,000          19,000      \2\ 75,000           5,900
DAH.............................................          21,000          19,000      \3\ 75,000           5,900
DAP.............................................          21,000          19,000          50,000           5,900
JVP.............................................               0               0          10,000               0
TALFF...........................................               0               0               0              0 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Not applicable.                                                                                             
\2\ OY may be increased during the year, but the total will not exceed 383,000 mt.                              
\3\ Includes 15,000 mt of Atlantic mackerel recreational allocation.                                            

1999 Proposed Specifications

Atlantic Mackerel

    The FMP provides that 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 minus the estimated catch in Canadian waters, while 
still maintaining a spawning stock size in the year following the year 
for which catch estimates and quotas are being prepared, equal to, or 
greater than, 900,000 mt or a catch associated with F0.1, 
whichever is less. Therefore, the ABC specification for Atlantic 
mackerel is proposed at 383,000 mt. This level of ABC is the catch 
associated with a fishing mortality rate of F0.1 while 
taking into account a projected Canadian catch of 22,000 mt. The 
proposed IOY for the 1999 Atlantic mackerel fishery is set at 75,000 
mt, equal to the proposed DAH plus TALFF. The specification for DAH is 
computed by adding the estimated recreational catch, the proposed DAP 
and JVP. The recreational component of DAH is estimated to be 15,000 
mt. DAP and JVP components of DAH have historically been estimated 
using the Council's annual processor survey. However, for the years 
1994 through 1998, response was low and did not contain projections 
from the large, known processors. In addition, inquiries regarding the 
utilization of displaced New England

[[Page 63820]]

groundfish trawlers for possible entry into the Atlantic mackerel 
fishery have led the Council to recommend no change to the DAP for the 
1999 fishery. This led to the Council recommendation that JVP be 
reduced to 10,000 mt in 1999 (reduced from 15,000 mt in 1998 and from 
25,000 mt in 1997). The Council position was that, even though joint 
venture (JV)-caught mackerel could negatively effect U.S. processing 
and exports, some specification of JVP was necessary to support U.S. 
harvesters who are currently restrained by the limited capacity of the 
U.S. processing sector. Several years ago, the Council concluded that, 
even though JVs are necessary in the short term, the long-term policy 
should be to eliminate JVP to promote the development of the U.S. 
processing and export industry for Atlantic mackerel, which is one of 
the primary objectives of the current FMP.
    The Council has recommended and NMFS proposes an initial 
specification of 10,000 mt of JVP for the 1999 fishery. The Council 
also recommended and NMFS proposes a DAP of 50,000 mt yielding a DAH of 
75,000 mt, which includes the 15,000 mt recreational component.
    Current MSB regulations allow for inseason adjustments of the 
annual specifications. These regulations authorize the Regional 
Administrator, in consultation with the Council, to make adjustments 
during the fishing year by publication in the Federal Register stating 
the reasons for such action and providing a 30-day public comment 
period. Therefore, in conjunction with this proposed initial annual 
specifications action, the Regional Administrator is seeking Council 
input and public comment on a proposed inseason adjustment to the 1999 
mackerel JVP annual specifications of as much as 15,000 mt (with a 
resultant increase to as much as 15,000 mt in IOY and DAH), in the 
event additional JV applications are submitted. NMFS believes that 
announcing this inseason adjustment during this proposed rule process 
will facilitate more timely use of the existing regulatory provision, 
allowing inseason increases to specifications including JVP. This 
action could provide another opportunity for U.S. vessels to 
participate in JV fisheries without any negative impacts on the 
Council's long-term goal to Americanize the fishery. If additional JV 
applications are received, the 1999 mackerel JVP specifications may be 
increased by as much as 15,000 mt by publication of a final rule in the 
Federal Register without further consultation with the Council.
    An IOY level that keeps TALFF at zero is recommended for the 1999 
Atlantic mackerel fishery. The Fisheries Act of 1995, P.L. 104-43, 
prohibits a specification of TALFF unless recommended by the Council 
and proposed by NMFS. In 1992, the Council used testimony from both the 
domestic fishing and processing industries and the analysis of nine 
economic factors found at Sec. 648.21(b)(2)(iii) to determine that 
mackerel produced from directed foreign fishing would directly compete 
with U.S. processed products, thus limiting markets available to U.S. 
processors. The industry was nearly unanimous in its assessment that a 
specification of TALFF would impede the growth of the U.S. fishery. The 
Council sees no evidence that this evaluation has changed. Further, the 
Council believes that an expanding mackerel market and uncertainty 
regarding world supply, due to the economic and political restructuring 
in Eastern Europe and to the recent declines in the North Sea mackerel 
stock, has resulted in increased opportunities for U.S. producers to 
increase sales to new markets abroad. The U.S. industry has been 
successful in capturing an increased market share for mackerel in the 
Caribbean, North Africa, and Japan over the past several years, and a 
number of factors indicate that market expansion for U.S. Atlantic 
mackerel is likely to continue. The U.S. Atlantic mackerel stock 
abundance remains high. Also, the continued low abundance of several 
important groundfish stocks in the Gulf of Maine, southern New England, 
and Georges Bank is causing further restrictions in fishing effort for 
those species. This increases the need for many fishermen to redirect 
their effort to underutilized species. Atlantic mackerel is considered 
a prime candidate for innovation in harvesting, processing, and 
marketing.
    As a supplement to the quota paper for the 1993 and 1994 fisheries, 
benefit-cost and sensitivity analyses were prepared by the Council and 
NMFS. Results of the analyses indicated that, in the long term, a 
specification of zero TALFF will yield positive benefits to the fishery 
and to the Nation. In its 1998 and 1999 quota papers, the Council 
provided additional analyses of the costs and benefits of directed 
foreign fishing which indicated that the conclusions reached in prior 
analyses of zero TALFF have not changed.
    The Council also recommended and NMFS proposes that four special 
conditions imposed in previous years continue to be imposed on the 1999 
Atlantic mackerel fishery as follows: (1) JVs are 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 383,000 mt; and (4) applications from a particular nation for a 
JV for 1999 will not be decided on until the Regional Administrator 
determines, based on an evaluation of performances, that the Nation's 
purchase obligations for previous years have been fulfilled.

Atlantic Squids

    The proposed maximum OY (Max OY) for Loligo squid is 26,000 mt. It 
represents the harvest level associated with a fishing mortality rate 
of F50, which is the management target adopted in Amendment 
6 to the FMP (F50 is defined as the fishing mortality rate 
that results in 50 percent of the maximum spawning potential of the 
stock). The Council recommended and NMFS proposes an IOY of 21,000 mt, 
which is equal to ABC. In Amendment 5 to the FMP, the Council concluded 
that U.S. vessels have the capacity to, and will harvest the OY on an 
annual basis: so DAH equals OY. The Council also concluded that U.S. 
fish processors, on an annual basis, can harvest that portion of the OY 
that will be harvested by U.S. commercial fishing vessels: so DAP 
equals DAH and JVP equals zero. Since U.S. fishing vessels have the 
capacity to harvest the entire OY, there is no portion of the OY that 
can be made available for foreign fishing: so TALFF equals zero. These 
determinations were made in Amendment 5 to the FMP. The proposed IOY/
DAH/DAP of 21,000 mt for the 1999 fishery represents no change from the 
final 1998 IOY/DAH/DAP specifications.
    The FMP sets the Max OY for Illex squid at 24,000 mt. The Council 
recommended and NMFS proposes an ABC of 19,000 mt (unchanged from 
1998), which is equal to the quota associated with the target fishing 
mortality rate of F50 proposed by the 21st Stock Assessment 
Workshop (SAW 21) and adopted by the Council in Amendment 6 to the FMP. 
This amendment changed the definitions of overfishing for the squids 
and butterfish. SAW 21 recommended that the management target for Illex 
squid be a harvest associated with a fishing mortality of 
F50 (a fishing mortality rate that produces 50 percent of 
the maximum spawning potential of the stock). This recommendation is 
due, in

[[Page 63821]]

part, to the conclusion that Illex squid has a life span of only 1 year 
and is, therefore, susceptible to recruitment overfishing. This level 
of fishing is analogous to the Falkland Islands Illex squid management 
target of 40 percent proportional escapement. SAW 21 recommended that a 
real-time management system will be necessary to maximize the 
utilization of the U.S. squid stocks while preventing recruitment 
overfishing of the stock. A real-time management system will take 
several years to develop and implement. In the interim, the management 
strategy is to specify the allowable harvest for Loligo and Illex 
squids at a level associated with F50, which should be 
sustainable over a wide range of stock levels.
    SAW 21 concluded that the U.S. Illex squid stock is now fully 
exploited. As in the case of Loligo squid, Amendment 5 eliminated the 
possibility of JVP and TALFF for the Illex squid fishery.

Butterfish

    The FMP sets the Max OY for butterfish at 16,000 mt. Based on the 
most current stock assessments, the Council recommends and NMFS 
proposes an ABC of 7,200 mt for the 1999 fishery, unchanged since 1996. 
Commercial landings of butterfish have been low at 2,013 mt, 3,489 mt, 
and 2,798 mt for the 1995 through 1997 fisheries, respectively. Lack of 
market demand and the difficulty in locating schools of market size 
fish have caused severe reductions in the supply of butterfish. Discard 
data from the offshore fishery is lacking, and high discard rates could 
be reducing potential yield.
    The Council recommended and NMFS proposes an IOY and DAH for 
butterfish of 5,900 mt. Amendment 5 eliminated the possibility of JVP 
or TALFF specifications for butterfish except for a bycatch TALFF 
specification if TALFF is specified for Atlantic mackerel. However, 
since the Council recommended and NMFS proposes no TALFF for Atlantic 
mackerel, no bycatch TALFF is necessary for butterfish.

Closure of the Fishery

    Current MSB regulations allow the Assistant Administrator for 
Fisheries, NOAA, to close the directed fishery in the EEZ for Loligo 
squid, Illex squid, or butterfish when 95 percent of DAH has been 
harvested. The closure would remain in effect for the remainder of the 
fishing year, with incidental catches allowed. On August 25, 1998, NMFS 
determined that 95 percent of the DAH for Illex squid had been 
harvested and closed the directed fishery for Illex squid (63 FR 45763, 
August 27, 1998). An incidental catch trip limit of 5,000 lb (2.27 mt) 
was then instituted for all vessels issued Federal permits for Illex 
squid. Since the closure, the landings of Illex squid have exceeded 100 
percent of the DAH for Illex squid. During the August 1998 Council 
meeting, the majority of the Council members agreed by consensus that 
the provisions for closure of the fishery should also allow for the 
prohibition of incidental catches when the entire DAH is harvested. 
Current regulations do not provide for the prohibition of incidental 
catches of Loligo squid, Illex squid, or butterfish when 100 percent of 
the DAH has been harvested. Therefore, in conjunction with this 
proposed initial annual specifications action, NMFS is seeking public 
comment on a regulatory change to authorize the Regional Administrator 
to prohibit incidental catches through publication in the Federal 
Register when the Regional Administrator determines that closure of the 
incidental Loligo squid, Illex squid, or butterfish fishery is 
necessary to assure that 100 percent of DAH will not be exceeded.

Classification

    This action is authorized by 50 CFR Part 648 and complies with the 
National Environmental Policy Act.
    This proposed rule has been determined to be not significant for 
purposes of E.O. 12866.
    NMFS has completed an IRFA for this proposed rule, pursuant to 5 
U.S.C. 603. The IRFA indicates that the proposed rule could have a 
significant impact on a substantial number of small entities. A summary 
of this IRFA follows. A copy of the complete IRFA can be obtained from 
the Northeast Regional Office of NMFS (see ADDRESSES).
    The IRFA assumes that all vessels prosecuting these fisheries would 
be impacted by these quota specifications. Therefore, the substantial 
number (greater than 20 percent) criteria would be met. For Loligo 
squid, butterfish, and Atlantic mackerel, gross revenues are not 
expected to decrease as a consequence of the proposed actions. In 1997, 
Loligo squid landings were 16,203 mt. The proposed IOY specification 
for Loligo squid in 1999 would be 21,000 mt. In 1997, butterfish 
landings were 2,797 mt. The proposed IOY specification for butterfish 
in 1999 would be 5,900 mt. In the case of Atlantic mackerel, the 1999 
IOY was reduced from 80,000 mt in 1998 to the proposed level of 75,000 
mt in 1999. Both specifications far exceed recent harvest of Atlantic 
mackerel in the 1997 fishery of 15,406 mt. In addition, the proposed 
reduction in IOY in 1999 is due to a reduction in the JV specification 
by 5,000 mt. The only JV activity in recent years was in 1998, when the 
JV operation was not able to harvest the entire JV allocation of 10,000 
mt. Therefore, the Council concluded that the proposed reduction in the 
initial JV specification should not affect revenues in the fishery. In 
addition, the measure to allow an inseason increase in the 
specification would moderate any unanticipated affects.
    In 1997, Illex squid landings were 13,632 mt valued at $6.1 
million. The proposed ABC specification for Illex squid in 1999 is 
19,000 mt. In past years, a surplus existed between the 1998 ABC 
specification and what has been landed. However, due to overharvesting 
in 1998, 22,610 mt of Illex squid have been harvested as of September 
1998. This means that the 1999 proposal equates to a decrease of 7.9 
million lb (3,585 mt) from 1998, valued at $1.975 million. The 
Council's Amendment 5 document indicates that the directed fishery 
accounts for 99.7 percent of the total landings, meaning that 
$1,969,000 of the revenue associated with the quota overage would be 
attributed to moratorium vessels and only $6,000 to incidental catch 
vessels. According to 1998 NMFS permit records, 75 vessels hold Illex 
squid moratorium permits and 64 had Illex squid landings in 1998; 1,504 
hold incidental catch permits. This would mean that each moratorium 
vessel could have revenue losses of $31,000 and each incidental catch 
vessel would have negligible revenue losses. This raises the question 
of the significance of the impact on the moratorium vessels. When 
dividing the 1998 overage value of $1.975 million by the 64 moratorium 
vessels, this leads to an ex-vessel price of $551 per mt. Multiplying 
that value by the total harvest in 1998 of 22,610 mt of Illex leads to 
revenues of $12,458,110. When divided by the 64 moratorium vessels this 
leads to $195,000. Dividing the revenue losses of $31,000 of each 
moratorium vessel by this value equates to a 16% loss in average gross 
revenues. Therefore, this loss is anticipated to have a substantial 
impact on most moratorium vessels, as defined by the Regulatory 
Flexibility Act (RFA). In light of this impact, the RFA requires 
alternatives to be considered to moderate the impact. However, while 
several alternatives were analyzed, they were rejected because the 
target in the FMP would be exceeded resulting in overfishing. 
Overfishing cannot be allowed to continue despite the obvious benefits 
of higher landings.

[[Page 63822]]

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 648

    Fisheries, Fishing, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

    Dated: November 10, 1998.
Andrew A. Rosenberg,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.

    For the reasons set out in the preamble, 50 CFR part 648 is 
proposed to be amended as follows:

PART 648--FISHERIES OF THE NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

    1. The authority citation for part 648 continues to read as 
follows:

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

    2. In Sec. 648.22, paragraph (a) is revised to read as follows:


Sec. 648.22  Closure of the fishery.

    (a) General. The Assistant Administrator shall close the directed 
mackerel fishery in the EEZ when U.S. fishermen have harvested 80 
percent of the DAH of that fishery if such closure is necessary to 
prevent the DAH from being exceeded. The closure shall remain in effect 
for the remainder of the fishing year, with incidental catches allowed 
as specified in paragraph (c) of this section, until the entire DAH is 
attained. When it is projected that DAH will be attained for mackerel, 
the Assistant Administrator may close the mackerel fishery in the EEZ, 
and the incidental catches specified for mackerel in paragraph (c) of 
this section may be prohibited. The Assistant Administrator shall close 
the directed fishery in the EEZ for Loligo, Illex, or butterfish when 
95 percent of DAH has been harvested. The closure of the directed 
fishery shall be in effect with incidental catches allowed as specified 
in paragraph (c) of this section, until the entire DAH is attained. 
When it is projected that DAH will be attained for Loligo, Illex, or 
butterfish, the Assistant Administrator may close the Loligo, Illex, or 
butterfish fishery in the EEZ, and the incidental catches specified for 
Loligo, Illex, or butterfish in paragraph (c) of this section may be 
prohibited.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 98-30692 Filed 11-12-98; 4:43 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P