[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 93 (Friday, May 14, 1999)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 26328-26329]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-12270]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 660

[Docket No. 990219053-9114-02; I.D. 011999B]
RIN 0648-AK83


Fisheries off West Coast States and in the Western Pacific; West 
Coast Salmon Fisheries; Amendment 13

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

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: NMFS issues this final rule to implement Amendment 13 to the 
Pacific Coast Salmon Plan (FMP) in accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens 
Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). 
Amendment 13 changes the management of Oregon coastal natural (OCN) 
coho salmon (coho), Oncorhynchus kisutch, by disaggregating the OCN 
stock into four components, restricting total harvest exploitation 
rates to a maximum of 35 percent, and linking increases in harvest 
rates to increases in marine survival and proven reproductive success 
of the present brood year. The only regulatory change that is required 
is a technical change to a provision regarding coho allocation south of 
Cape Falcon to make it consistent with the new OCN harvest levels. The 
intended effect of the final rule is to make the requisite technical 
change.
DATES: Effective June 14, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the amendment, including the environmental 
assessment and the regulatory impact review/regulatory flexibility 
analysis are available from Lawrence D. Six, Executive Director, 
Pacific Fishery Management Council, Metro Center, Suite 420, 2000 SW. 
First Avenue, Portland, OR 97201-5344.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William L. Robinson at 206- 526-6140, 
Svein Fougner at 562-980-4040, or Lawrence D. Six at 503-326-6352.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) developed the FMP, 
and the Secretary approved it under the Magnuson-Stevens Act, 16 U.S.C. 
1801 et seq., in 1978. Since then, the FMP has been amended 12 times, 
with implementing regulations codified at 50 CFR part 660, subpart H. 
From 1979 to 1983, the FMP was amended annually. In 1984, a framework 
amendment was implemented that provided the mechanism for making 
preseason and inseason adjustments in the regulations without annual 
amendments.
    The Council prepared Amendment 13 to the FMP under the provisions 
of the Magnuson-Stevens Act and submitted it on January 15, 1999, for 
Secretarial review. NMFS published a notice of availability for 
Amendment 13 in the Federal Register on January 27, 1999 (64 FR 4065), 
announcing a public 60-day comment period. The proposed rule was 
published on March 4, 1999 (64 FR 10439). The public comment period for 
the proposed rule ended on April 5, 1999; one comment was received. 
Amendment 13 was approved on April 28, 1999.
    The amendment resulted from an intensive effort by the State of 
Oregon, led by the Governor, to develop the Oregon Coastal Salmon 
Restoration Initiative (OCSRI). The OCSRI was intended to restore 
coastal coho populations and to prevent the need for listing the stock 
under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). While the OCN coho have since 
been listed as threatened, NMFS considers the OCSRI important for the 
recovery of the stock. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife 
(ODFW) proposed Amendment 13 to the Council to implement the fisheries 
management provisions of the OCSRI throughout both state and Federal 
waters wherever OCN coho are harvested. The amendment changes the 
management basis for OCN coho from maintaining spawner objectives to 
meeting exploitation rates. The determination of appropriate 
exploitation rates is based on the habitat production potential, 
incorporating the effects on the stocks of the condition of both 
freshwater and marine environments. This determination relies heavily 
on habitat-based assessment and modeling of OCN coho production. One of 
the amendment's primary goals is to remove fishery-related impacts as a 
significant impediment to the recovery of depressed OCN coho and to 
allow rebuilding the component population subgroups to higher levels.
    Although Amendment 13 changes the management goals for OCN coho, 
the major provisions of this amendment are not codified because the 
salmon escapement goals are in the FMP rather than in the codified 
regulations. Therefore, the modification of the OCN escapement goals 
required only a minor modification of the regulations that explain that 
the coho allocation provisions for south of Cape Falcon apply only when 
coho abundance allows a directed harvest of coho. The existing 
regulatory language is tied to the existing level of harvest allowed on 
OCN coho. Implementation of Amendment 13 requires minor changes to the 
regulatory language in 50 CFR part 660 to make it more generic and 
accurate.

Comments and Responses

    NMFS received no comments on the proposed rule, but received one 
comment regarding the Amendment.
    Comment: The National Audubon Society and Oregon Trout in a joint 
letter supported the overall direction of the Amendment, but commented 
that the Council should have adopted the alternative using the fishery 
impact limit and spawning rebuilding criteria of full seeding of 
spawning habitat. The comment also maintained that the estimated 
production potential parameters for freshwater habitat derived from the 
Habitat-Based Life Cycle Model developed by Nickelson and Lawson (1996) 
overestimates egg-to-spawner parr survival.
    Response: NMFS has some of the same concerns. However, the 
framework of the Amendment was designed to be flexible so that when new 
information is produced from the various monitoring and data collection 
activities required under the Amendment, the results would be 
incorporated into the management regime. The whole process is scheduled 
for a comprehensive adaptive review in 2000.

Classification

    The Administrator, Northwest Region, NMFS, determined that the FMP 
Amendment 13 is necessary for the conservation and management of the 
ocean salmon fisheries and that it is consistent with the Magnuson-
Stevens Act and other applicable law.
    This rule has been determined to be not significant for purposes of 
E.O. 12866.
    The Assistant General Counsel for Legislation and Regulation of the 
Department of Commerce certified to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of 
the Small Business Administration when this rule was proposed that it 
would not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of 
small entities. No comments were received on that certification. The 
basis for certification has not changed.
    A formal section 7 consultation under the Endangered Species Act 
was conducted on the effects of Amendment 13 and the Pacific Coast 
Salmon Plan on three distinct population segments, or evolutionarily 
significant units (ESU), of coho: The central California Coastal

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(CCC) ESU, the Southern Oregon Northern California Coastal (SONCC) ESU, 
and the Oregon Coastal (OC) ESU (61 FR 56138, October 31, 1996; 62 FR 
43937 August 18, 1997; 63 FR 42587, August 10, 1998). The biological 
opinion issued by NMFS dated April 28, 1999, states that fishing 
activities under the FMP and Amendment 13 and its implementing 
regulations are not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of the 
OC coho ESU, but because of the lack of specific conservation goals in 
the FMP for either SONCC coho or CCC coho, ocean salmon fisheries 
conducted in accordance with the FMP and Amendment 13 are likely to 
jeopardize the continued existence of SONCC and CCC coho ESUs. The 
biological opinion included Reasonable and Prudent Alternatives (RPAs) 
that would avoid jeopardy. The FMP requires that annual management 
measures must comply with NMFS jeopardy standards. Therefore, fisheries 
to be conducted under the Amendment will be crafted to meet the RPAs of 
the biological opinion, and thus will avoid jeopardy.

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 660

    Administrative practice and procedure, American Samoa, Fisheries, 
Fishing, Guam, Hawaiian Natives, Indians, Northern Marianas Islands, 
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

    Dated: May 10, 1999.
Penelope D. Dalton,
Assitant Adminstrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
    For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 50 CFR part 660 is 
amended as follows:

PART 660--FISHERIES OFF WEST COAST STATES AND IN THE WESTERN 
PACIFIC

    1. The authority citation for part 660 continues to read as 
follows:

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

    2. In Sec. 660.408, paragraph (c)(2)(iv) is revised to read as 
follows:


Sec. 660.408  Annual actions.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *
    (2) * * *
    (iv) Oregon coastal natural coho. The allocation provisions in 
paragraph (c)(2) of this section provide guidance only when coho 
abundance permits a directed coho harvest, not when the allowable 
harvest impacts are insufficient to allow coho retention south of Cape 
Falcon. At such low levels, allowable harvest impacts will be allocated 
during the Council's preseason process.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 99-12270 Filed 5-13-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F