[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 170 (Thursday, September 2, 1999)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 48113-48114]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-22816]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 660

RIN 0648-AM20
[Docket No. 990823233-9233-01; I.D. 072799C]


Fisheries off West Coast States and in the Western Pacific; 
Northern Anchovy Fishery; Quotas for the 1999-2000 Fishing Year

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

ACTION: Interim final quotas.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces the interim final harvest quotas for the 
northern anchovy fishery in the exclusive economic zone south of Point 
Reyes, California, for the 1999-2000 fishing year. These quotas were 
established according to the current regulations implementing the 
Northern Anchovy Fishery Management Plan (FMP). Amendment 8 to the FMP, 
which was partially approved by NMFS on June 10, 1999, will change the 
methodology of establishing the quota. However, the final rule 
implementing Amendment 8 was not published by August 1, when the 
fishery began. Therefore, existing regulations must be used to set the 
quotas for the 1999-2000 fishing season. The intended effect of this 
action is to establish allowable harvest levels for the central 
subpopulation of northern anchovy.

DATES: Effective August 27, 1999. Comments will be accepted until 
September 27, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments on the interim final quotas to Rodney R. 
McInnis, Acting Administrator, Southwest Region, (Regional 
Administrator), NMFS, 501 West Ocean Blvd., Suite 4200, Long Beach, CA 
90802-4213. Administrative Reports LJ-95-11 and LJ-97-08 are available 
from this same address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James J. Morgan, Southwest Region, 
NMFS, (562) 980-4030.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In consultation with the California 
Department of Fish and Game and with the NMFS Southwest Fisheries 
Science Center, the Administrator, Southwest Region, NMFS, has decided 
to use the 1995 estimate of 388,000 metric tons (mt) spawning biomass 
for the central subpopulation of northern anchovy, Engraulis mordax, to 
set interim harvest

[[Page 48114]]

limits for the 1999-2000 fishing year. This is the same biomass 
estimate that was used for the 1995-96 through 1998-99 fishing years, 
and is being used because no new assessment of the resource has been 
made. Indices of relative abundance from airplane fish-spotter logs and 
egg production from research cruises in 1997 (Administrative Report LJ-
97-08) indicated that the biomass remained at or above that estimated 
in 1995.
    The biomass estimate was derived from a stock assessment model 
using spawning biomass estimated by five indices of abundance. 
Documentation of the spawning biomass is described in Administrative 
Report LJ-95-11, published by the Southwest Fisheries Science Center, 
NMFS (see ADDRESSES). Information on the status of the resource was 
last provided at a public meeting of the Pacific Fishery Management 
Council's (Council) Coastal Pelagic Species Plan Development Team 
(Planning Team) and Advisory Subpanel in Long Beach, CA, on June 11, 
1998. At that time, a review of the status of the anchovy resource was 
presented by the Planning Team, and NMFS requested estimates of 
domestic processing needs from the fishing industry so that a basis 
could be established for setting annual quotas. The industry estimated 
that 13,000 mt would meet the needs of the reduction industry.
    No meeting between the Planning Team and the AdvisorySubpanel was 
held in 1999, because no new information on the anchovy resource was 
available and harvests have been consistently low.
    Existing regulations establish optimum yield at 100 percentof the 
amount of the biomass above 300,000 mt (88,000 mt) for reduction 
fishing plus 7,000 mt for nonreduction fishing. In allocations for 
reduction and nonreduction fishing, 70 percent is allocated to the U.S. 
fishery and 30 percent is set aside to account for the Mexican fishery.
    The Council reviewed the information available at its public 
meeting in Portland, OR, on June 22, 1999. The Council acknowledged 
that the domestic reduction harvest will be low and recommended that 
the reduction allocation should comprise an amount consistent with 
recent allocations for reduction fishing (13,000 mt) and the 3,000 mt 
that the Council recommended as a limit for harvest by two vessels 
participating in an experimental fishery in the Farallon Islands Closed 
Area off San Francisco. This would result in a Domestic Allowable 
Harvest (DAH) of 16,000 mt.
    The Council recommended that the total allowable level offoreign 
fishing (TALFF) be zero; however, the existing regulations require that 
the amount not allocated to the domestic fishery be reserved for TALFF.
    According to the formula in the FMP, the U.S. optimum yield (OY) is 
66,500 mt (70 percent of the 95,000-mt international OY). The U.S. OY 
includes 61,600 mt, which is allocated to reduction fisheries, plus 
4,900 mt for non-reduction fisheries. There is no agreement with Mexico 
on the management of northern anchovy; a portion of the biomass (30 
percent) above 300,000 mt is designated as the amount to account for 
this unregulated harvest. TALFF constitutes any portion of U.S. OY that 
U.S. fishermen will not use, minus the amount harvested by Mexican 
vessels in excess of that assumed in the FMP. The Mexican harvest 
increased significantly in 1995, but dropped to a moderate level in 
1996. In recent years, the Mexican harvest has not exceeded the catch 
levels defined in the FMP.
    After considering the above, the Regional Administrator made the 
following determinations for the 1999-2000 fishing year by applying the 
formulas in the FMP and in 50 CFR 660.509(b).
    1. The total U.S. OY for northern anchovy is 66,500 mt.
    2. The total U.S. harvest quota for reduction purposesis 16,000 mt.
    a. Of the total reduction harvest quota, 1,600 mt is reserved for 
the reduction fishery in Subarea A (the northern portion of the Pacific 
anchovy fishery area (PAFA) between 38 deg. N. lat., (Point Reyes), and 
a southern limit at 35 deg.14 N. lat. (Point Buchon)). The FMP requires 
that 10 percent of the U.S. reduction quota or 9,072 mt, whichever is 
less, be reserved for the northern fishery. This is not a special 
quota, but only a reduction in the amount allocated to the southern 
fishery south of Pt. Buchon Subarea B (the southern portion of the PAFA 
between 35 deg.14' N. lat. (Point Buchon), and the United States-Mexico 
International Boundary. After the northern fishery has harvested 1,600 
mt, any unused portion of the Subarea B allocation may also be 
harvested north of Pt. Buchon.
    b. The reduction quota for subarea B (south of Pt. Buchon) is 
14,400 mt.
    3. The U.S. harvest quota for non-reduction fishing(i.e., fishing 
for anchovy for use as dead bait or human consumption) is 4,900 mt (as 
set by Sec. 660.509(b)).
    4. There is no U.S. harvest limit for the live baitfishery.
    5. The domestic annual processing capacity (DAP) is16,000 mt.
    6. The amount allocated to joint venture processing(JVP) is zero, 
because there is no history of, nor are there applications for, joint 
ventures.
    7. Domestic annual harvest capacity (DAH) is 16,000mt. DAH is the 
sum of DAP and joint venture processing.
    8. The TALFF is 45,600 mt.
    The fishery will be monitored during the year and evaluated with 
respect to the OY and the estimated needs of the fishing industry.

Classification

    This action is authorized by 50 CFR 660.509 and is exempt from 
review under E.O. 12866.
    The Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA (AA) finds for good 
cause under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B) that providing prior notice and an 
opportunity for public comment on this action is unnecessary because 
establishing the quota is a ministerial act, determined by applying a 
formula in the FMP. Accordingly, providing prior notice and an 
opportunity for public comment would serve no useful purpose.
    Because this rule merely establishes a quota and does not require 
any participants in the fishery to take action or to come into 
compliance, the AA finds for good cause under 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3) that 
delaying the effective date of this rule for 30 days is unnecessary. 
Accordingly, the AA makes the quota effective upon the date of filing 
for public inspection with the Office of the Federal Register.

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

    Dated: August 27, 1999.
Gary C. Matlock,
Acting Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 99-22816 Filed 8-27-99; 5:03 pm]
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