[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 159 (Wednesday, August 18, 1999)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 44884-44885]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-21468]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 622

[I.D. 072699D]
RIN 0648-AL81


Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; 
Compliance with Sustainable Fisheries Act Provisions for Management 
Plans in the Gulf of Mexico; Generic Amendment to the Fishery 
Management Plans of the Gulf of Mexico Region

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

ACTION: Notice of availability of a generic amendment to fishery 
management plans for the Gulf of Mexico Region; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management 
Council (Council) has submitted to NMFS its Generic Sustainable 
Fisheries Act Amendment (SFA Amendment) to the fishery management plans 
of the Gulf of Mexico for review, approval, and implementation. This 
amendment would set standards regarding overfishing levels and stock 
rebuilding on which future management measures will be based. Written 
comments are requested from the public.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before October 18, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Comments must be mailed to the Southeast Regional Office, 
NMFS, 9721 Executive Center Drive N., St. Petersburg, FL 33702.
    Requests for copies of the amendment, which includes a regulatory 
impact review and an environmental assessment, should be sent to the 
Gulf of Mexico Management Council, The Commons at Rivergate, 3018 U.S. 
Highway 301 North, Suite 1000, Tampa, FL 33619-2266; phone: 813-228-
2815; fax: 813-225-7015.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Roy Crabtree, NMFS; phone: 727-570-
5305; fax 727-570-5583.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation 
and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) requires Regional Fishery 
Management Councils to submit proposed fishery management plans (plans) 
or amendments to NMFS for review and approval, disapproval, or partial 
approval. The Magnuson-Stevens Act also requires that NMFS, upon 
receiving a plan or amendment from a Council, immediately publish a 
document in the Federal Register stating that the plan or amendment is 
available for public review and comment. This document constitutes such 
notice for the SFA Amendment.
    In 1998, NMFS published the National Standard Guidelines to assist 
Regional Fishery Management Councils in: Describing fisheries and 
fishing communities; establishing criteria to determine when a stock is 
overfished; proposing measures to prevent or end overfishing and 
rebuild overfished stocks: and assessing bycatch and proposing measures 
to minimize bycatch (63 FR 24212, May 1, 1998). The Council developed 
its SFA Amendment based on these guidelines.
    The SFA Amendment describes Gulf of Mexico fishing communities; 
these descriptions are based on existing U.S. Census data and 
information about regional landings and about fishing participants in 
various fisheries for each of the Gulf of Mexico coastal states. The 
Council believes that these community descriptions are based on the 
best available information and comply with the national standard 
guidelines.
    The SFA Amendment describes bycatch in Gulf fisheries and reflects 
the Council's conclusion that measures currently in place already 
minimize bycatch and bycatch mortality to the extent practicable. Under 
the Fishery Management Plan for the Shrimp Fishery of the Gulf of 
Mexico, the Council has required bycatch reduction devices to minimize 
bycatch of red snapper and other species in shrimp trawls fished in the 
exclusive economic zone west of Cape San Blas, Florida. Under the FMP 
for stone crab, the Council's SFA Amendment proposes changes in the 
construction of stone crab pots intended to reduce finfish bycatch. 
Under the Fishery Management Plan for the Reef Fish Resources of the 
Gulf of Mexico, the Council is phasing out fish traps in the reef fish 
fishery by 2007, in part to reduce bycatch. Under the Fishery 
Management Plan for Coastal Migratory Pelagic Species of the Gulf of 
Mexico and South Atlantic, minimum mesh sizes are required for gillnets 
in the coastal migratory pelagics fishery to reduce bycatch.
    NMFS' Marine Recreational Fisheries Statistics Survey provides 
information on bycatch in the recreational fisheries. The SFA Amendment 
discusses additional measures to improve bycatch reporting. The Council 
anticipates that cooperative state-Federal programs developed or under 
development by the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission will provide 
adequate information on bycatch for all fisheries within the Council's 
area of jurisdiction. NMFS intends to improve bycatch reporting by 
requiring it in all commercial logbooks by January 1, 2001.
    The SFA Amendment specifies fishing targets and overfishing 
thresholds for each FMP. For stocks other than shrimp and spiny 
lobster, static spawning potential ratio (SPR) proxies are used to 
define maximum sustainable yield (MSY), optimal yield (OY), and maximum 
fishing mortality thresholds (MFMT). For penaeid shrimp, MSY, OY, and 
MFMT are specified in numbers of spawning individuals remaining after 
the fishery. For royal red shrimp, MSY is specified as a range in 
pounds/kilograms, as recommended by the Crustacean Stock Assessment 
Panel; however, in its discussion of MSY, the Council expresses its 
view that the proposed MSY may be an underestimate of the true MSY. For 
spiny lobster, MSY, OY, and MFMT are specified as transitional SPR 
based on spawning biomass per recruit rather than based on fecundity. 
For stone crab, SPR is identified as realized egg production per 
recruit as a percentage of potential egg production in the unfished 
state. In general, SPR proxies for OY are greater than those for MSY, 
and MFMT is a fishing mortality rate set at the SPR rate equal to MSY 
(i.e. FMSY). The SPR proxies for the parameters MSY, OY, and 
MFMT within each of the following fisheries--shrimp, red drum, Nassau 
grouper, jewfish, and stone crab--are the same. The SPR values for the 
three parameters for the above listed species are higher than those for 
other stocks, i.e., they are more conservative than those for other 
stocks. For shrimp, MSST is specified as the number of spawning 
individuals remaining after the annual fishery; for stone crab an SPR 
proxy is specified for MSST. MSST is not specified for other stocks but 
will be incorporated through the framework procedures of the Council's 
FMPs as MSST estimates are derived.
    The SFA Amendment would establish rebuilding periods for red 
snapper (period of 1999-2033) and Gulf-group king mackerel (period of 
1999-2009). The Council states that data are insufficient to develop 
rebuilding schedules for Nassau grouper, jewfish, or red drum but that 
such schedules would be specified and implemented through the framework 
procedures of its FMPs as such schedules are developed.
    The SFA Amendment briefly addresses the Magnuson-Stevens Act 
requirement to describe fishing sectors and to quantify trends in 
landings by

[[Page 44885]]

sector. The SFA Amendment states that with the exception of the charter 
sector, trends in landings have been previously quantified for all FMPs 
except those for stone crab and spiny lobster. The amendment includes 
recently prepared descriptions of the Florida west-coast stone crab 
fishery and the Florida spiny lobster fishery.
    The SFA Amendment would adopt the construction characteristics of 
stone crab traps set forth in Chapter 46-13.002(2)(a) of Florida law.
    The SFA Amendment would modify the existing Council FMPs' framework 
procedures for regulatory adjustments. These framework procedures 
provide a streamlined rulemaking process that allows the Council to 
propose additional or modified measures under an FMP and for NMFS to 
approve and implement them without an FMP amendment. The amendment 
would add the following measures to those that can be implemented under 
the framework procedures: Biomass-based estimates for MSY, OY, and 
MSST; new estimates of MFMT; and rebuilding schedules for reef fish. 
The Council would use the modified framework procedures when estimates 
of these added measures are provided by NMFS, reviewed by the Stock 
Assessment Panels, and adopted by the Council.
    In accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens Act, NMFS is evaluating the 
proposed rule to determine whether it is consistent with the SFA 
Amendment, the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and other applicable law. Comments 
received by October 18, 1999, whether specifically directed to the 
amendment or the proposed rule, will be considered by NMFS in its 
decision to approve, disapprove, or partially approve the SFA 
Amendment. NMFS will not consider comments received after that date in 
this decision. NMFS will address in the final rule all comments 
received on the amendment or the proposed rule during their respective 
comment periods.

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

    Dated: August 12, 1999.
Bruce C. Morehaed,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 99-21468 Filed 8-17-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F