[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 45 (Tuesday, March 9, 1999)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 11390-11391]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-5797]
[[Page 11390]]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 679
[I.D. 111798A]
RIN 0648-AL89
Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Revision of
Definitions of Overfishing, Maximum Sustainable Yield, and Optimum
Yield for the Crab and Scallop Fisheries
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Approval of fishery management plan amendments.
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SUMMARY: NMFS announces the approval of Amendment 7 to the Fishery
Management Plan (FMP) for the Commercial King and Tanner Crab Fisheries
in the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands (BSAI crab FMP) and Amendment 6 to
the FMP for the Scallop Fishery Off Alaska (scallop FMP). These
amendments revise definitions of overfishing, maximum sustainable yield
(MSY), and optimum yield (OY) for the crab and scallop fisheries. These
actions are necessary to ensure that conservation and management
measures continue to be based on the best scientific information
available and are intended to advance the Council's ability to achieve,
on a continuing basis, the OY from fisheries under its geographical
area of authority.
DATES: The amendments were approved on March 3, 1999.
ADDRESSES: Copies of Amendment 7 to the BSAI crab FMP, Amendment 6 to
the scallop FMP, and the Environmental Assessment (EA) prepared for
each amendment are available from the North Pacific Fishery Management
Council, 605 West 4th Ave., Suite 306, Anchorage, AK 99501-
2252; telephone 907-271-2809.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gretchen Harrington, 907-586-7228 or
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
National standard 1 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation
and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) requires that conservation
and management measures shall prevent overfishing while achieving, on a
continuing basis, the optimum yield from fisheries in Federal waters.
The Magnuson-Stevens Act, in section 303(a)(10), requires that each FMP
specify objective and measurable criteria for identifying when stocks
or stock complexes covered by an FMP are overfished and for rebuilding
overfished stocks. NMFS published national standard guidelines (50 CFR
part 600) to provide comprehensive guidance for the development of FMPs
and FMP amendments that comply with the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
NMFS is required to notify a regional fishery management council
once NMFS determines that overfishing is occurring, a stock or stock
complex is overfished, a stock or stock complex is approaching its
minimum stock size threshold (MSST), or the rate or level of fishing
mortality for a stock or stock complex is approaching maximum fishing
mortality threshold (MFMT). The regional fishery management council
then must develop a rebuilding plan within 1 year.
In June 1998, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council
(Council) took final action on amendments to bring the BSAI crab and
scallop FMPs into compliance with the Magnuson-Stevens Act and the
national standard guidelines (50 CFR part 600). Each of these
amendments would redefine overfishing, MSY, and OY based on the biology
of the stock, the fishing history, and the available scientific and
fishery data.
A notice of availability for the proposed Amendment 7 to the BSAI
crab FMP and proposed Amendment 6 to the scallop FMP, which described
the proposed amendments and invited comments from the public, was
published in the Federal Register on December 1, 1998 (63 FR 66112).
Comments were invited until February 1, 1999. NMFS received two letters
of no comment, one from the U.S. Coast Guard and one from the U.S.
Department of State.
Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands King and Tanner Crabs
Amendment 7 to the BSAI crab FMP improves management of the BSAI
crab fisheries by: (1) Preventing overfishing; (2) achieving OY on a
continuing basis; and (3) updating the crab FMP with new information.
Amendment 7 establishes criteria for estimating OY and overfishing
levels for BSAI crab stocks. These criteria were developed by the BSAI
Crab Plan Team based on species life history characteristics and trends
in stock biomass estimates. The OY, MSY, and threshold levels in
Amendment 7 are based on the Magnuson-Stevens Act and the national
standard guidelines.
Currently, the Bering Sea C. bairdi Tanner crab spawning biomass is
below the MSST, and is deemed ``overfished,'' under Amendment 7. The
Council is required to develop a rebuilding plan for this stock within
1 year.
Update the BSAI Crab FMP
The 1989 BSAI Crab FMP does not provide the reader with a clear
understanding of conservation and management measures that have been
implemented for the BSAI crab fisheries. The updated version of the FMP
incorporates: Six FMP amendments; catch data and other scientific
information from the past 10 years; and changes due to amendments to
the Magnuson-Stevens Act and other laws, a Russian/U.S. boundary
agreement, and a Federal/State Action Plan.
Scallops
Amendment 6 to the scallop FMP improves management of the scallop
fisheries by: (1) Preventing overfishing; (2) achieving OY on a
continuing basis; and (3) minimizing bycatch. Amendment 6 will amend
the scallop FMP by redefining overfishing, OY, and MSY, to bring the
FMP into compliance with the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
This amendment also adds information to the FMP on State of Alaska
bycatch monitoring and reduction programs. The Magnuson-Stevens Act
national standard 9 emphasizes the importance of minimizing bycatch
effects. Accordingly, Amendment 6 to the scallop FMP identifies
implemented bycatch reduction and monitoring measures: at-sea catch
sampling, area closures, bycatch limits, and gear restrictions.
The Council prepared an EA for each amendment that describes the
management background, the purpose and need for the action, the
management action alternatives, and the environmental and socio-
economic impacts of the alternatives. A copy of each EA can be obtained
from the Council (see ADDRESSES).
The Director, Alaska Fisheries Science Center, NMFS, certified with
reservations that the definitions of overfishing for the crab and
scallop fisheries comply with the provisions of the national standard
guidelines at 50 CFR 600.310(d)(5). These guidelines require that
overfishing definitions (1) have sufficient scientific merit, (2) are
likely to result in effective Council action to protect the stock from
closely approaching or reaching an overfished status, (3) provide a
basis for objective measurement of the status of the stock against the
criteria, and (4) are operationally feasible. The crab and scallop
overfishing definitions satisfy
[[Page 11391]]
criteria (1), (3), and (4). However, insufficient information exists to
determine if the overfishing definitions satisfy criterion (2). Data
currently available for species covered by these FMPs are inadequate to
determine if the selected MSSTs are greater than the minimum stock size
at which rebuilding to the MSY level would be expected to occur within
10 years if the stock or stock complex were exploited at the MFMT.
NMFS determined that Amendment 7 to the BSAI crab FMP and Amendment
6 to the scallop FMP are consistent with the Magnuson-Stevens Act and
other applicable laws and approved Amendments 7 and 6 on March 3, 1999.
Additional information on this action is contained in the December 1,
1998, Notice of Availability (63 FR 66112).
No regulatory changes are necessary to implement these FMP
amendments.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: March 3, 1999.
Gary C. Matlock,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 99-5797 Filed 3-8-99; 8:45 am]
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