[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 2 (Tuesday, January 4, 2000)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 275-278]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-84]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 991228355-9355-01; I.D. 110999C]
RIN 0648-AM50


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Proposed 2000 
Fishing Quotas for Atlantic Surf Clams, Ocean Quahogs, and Maine 
Mahogany Quahogs

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

ACTION: Proposed 2000 fishing quotas for Atlantic surf clams, ocean 
quahogs, and Maine mahogany quahogs; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS issues proposed quotas for the Atlantic surf clam, ocean 
quahog, and Maine mahogany quahog fisheries

[[Page 276]]

for 2000. Regulations governing these fisheries require NMFS to propose 
for public comment specifications for the 2000 fishing year. The intent 
of this action is to propose allowable harvest levels of Atlantic surf 
clams and ocean quahogs from the exclusive economic zone and an 
allowable harvest level of Maine mahogany quahogs from the waters north 
of 43 deg.50'N. lat. in 2000.

DATES: Comments must be received at the appropriate address or fax 
number (see ADDRESSES) no later than 5:00 p.m., eastern standard time, 
on February 2, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Copies of supporting documents, including the Environmental 
Assessment, Regulatory Impact Review, Initial Regulatory Flexibility 
Analysis (EA/RIR/IRFA), and the Essential Fish Habitat Assessment, are 
available from: Patricia A. Kurkul, Regional Administrator, Northeast 
Region, National Marine Fisheries Service, One Blackburn Drive, 
Gloucester, MA 01930-2298. The EA/RIR/IRFA is accessible via the 
Internet at http:/www.nero.gov/ro/doc/nr.htm.
    Written comments on the proposed specifications should be sent to: 
Patricia A. Kurkul, Regional Administrator, Northeast Region, NMFS, One 
Blackburn Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930-2298. Mark on the outside of the 
envelope, ``Comments--2000 Clam and Quahog Specifications.'' Comments 
may also be sent via facsimile (fax) to (978)281-9371. Comments will 
not be accepted if submitted via e-mail or the Internet.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Myles Raizin, Fishery Policy Analyst, 
978-281-9104.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Fishery Management Plan for the Atlantic 
Surf Clam and Ocean Quahog Fisheries (FMP) directs NMFS, in 
consultation with the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council 
(Council), to specify quotas for surf clams and ocean quahogs on an 
annual basis from a range that represents the optimum yield (OY) for 
each fishery. It is the policy of the Council that the levels selected 
allow fishing to continue at that level for at least 10 years for surf 
clams and 30 years for ocean quahogs. While staying within this 
constraint, the Council policy is to also consider the economic 
benefits of the quotas. Regulations implementing Amendment 10 to the 
FMP published on May 19, 1998 (63 FR 27481), added Maine mahogany 
quahogs to the management unit and provides that a small artisanal 
fishery for that species in the waters north of 43 deg.50' N. lat. will 
have an annual quota with an initial amount of 100,000 Maine bu (35,240 
hectoliters (hL)) within a range of 17,000 to 100,000 Maine bu (5,991 
hL to 35,240 hL). As specified in Amendment 10, the Maine mahogany 
quahog quota is in addition to the quota specified for the ocean quahog 
fishery. The fishing quotas must be in compliance with overfishing 
definitions for each species. The overfishing definition for ocean 
quahogs is based on a control rule, which requires biomass target = \1/
2\ virgin biomass or 2 billion lb (907,200 mt) of meats (200 million 
bu), fishing mortality rate (F) target = F0.1 = 0.02, 
biomass threshold = \1/2\ biomass target or 1 billion lb (453,600 mt) 
of meats (100 million bu), and fishing mortality threshold of 
F25% = 0.042. The current biomass is estimated to be 3 
billion lb (1,360,800 mt) of meats (300 million bu) or 3/4 virgin 
biomass and current F is estimated to be 0.021. NMFS approved the 
overfishing definition for ocean quahogs contained in Amendment 12 to 
the FMP, but disapproved the proposed overfishing definition for surf 
clams because it was based only on surf clams from the Northern New 
Jersey area and did not take into account the broad range of the 
resource. Therefore, the Council used the existing overfishing 
definition for surf clams, which is a fishing mortality rate of 
F20% = 0.180 in establishing the 2000 specifications. 
Current F for surf clams is estimated to be 0.0180 for the entire 
fishery and 0.041 for the Northern New Jersey Area, where the heaviest 
exploitation occurs. The Council has been advised that an FMP amendment 
is required to revise overfishing definitions consistent with the 
requirements of the Sustainable Fisheries Act.
    In proposing these quotas, the Council considered the available 
stock assessments, data reported by harvesters and processors, and 
other relevant information concerning exploitable biomass and spawning 
biomass, fishing mortality rates, stock recruitment, projected effort 
and catches, and areas closed to fishing. This information was 
presented in a written report prepared by the Council staff. The 
proposed quotas for the 2000 Atlantic surf clam, ocean quahog, and 
Maine mahogany quahog fisheries are shown here. All three quotas would 
be unchanged from the 1999 level.

               PROPOSED 2000 SURF CLAM/OCEAN QUAHOG QUOTAS
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                            2000 final      2000 final
                 Fishery                    quotas (bu)     quotas (hL)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Surf clam\1\                                   2,565,000       1,366,000
Ocean quahog\2\                                4,500,000       2,396,000
Maine mahogany quahog\2\                         100,000          35,240
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ 1 bushel = 1.88 cubic ft. = 53.24 liters
\2\ 1 bushel = 1.2445 cubic ft. = 35.24 liters

Surf Clams

    The Council recommended a 2000 quota of 2.565 million bu (1.366 
million hL) for surf clams, a level unchanged since 1995. This level of 
quota was estimated as corresponding to the F that would be required to 
harvest the annual surplus production for Northern New Jersey. The vast 
majority of the catch (greater than 80 percent) is currently derived 
from the Northern New Jersey area, which contains about 36 percent of 
the coast-wide resource. Sufficient recruitment is evident and the age 
structure of the population is such that this level of quota will not 
harm the long-term sustainability of the resource. The F in 1997 
associated with a quota of 2.565 million bu (1.366 million hL) was 
approximately 0.04 for the Northern New Jersey area.
    The proposed quota takes into account analysis of surf clam 
abundance that was part of the 26th Northeast Regional Stock Assessment 
Workshop (SAW 26). SAW 26 utilized data from the 1997 surf clam survey, 
which included work to estimate dredge efficiency. Although SAW 26 
showed a significant increase in surf clam biomass, the Council chose 
not to recommend a quota increase for 2000 because of three major 
factors: (1) The vast majority of the catch (greater than 80 percent) 
continues to be derived from the Northern New Jersey area, and the net 
productivity of that area appears to be at an equilibrium with the 
current

[[Page 277]]

catches; (2) the 1998 Federal surf clam landings were 8 percent less 
than the 1998 quota and preliminary data for 1999 also indicate that 
landings will be below the 1999 quota level; and (3) SAW 26 utilized a 
host of new techniques and methodologies, key among them being a new 
dredge efficiency estimate that resulted in a sharp increase in the 
estimate of surf clam biomass. The differences in methodology relative 
to prior work result in this assessment effectively representing a 
single point estimate in time; hence, it is prudent to take a risk-
averse approach to setting the annual quota until more data from 
different years are available using the new dredge efficiency estimate. 
A new clam survey of the continental shelf between Cape Hatteras and 
Georges Bank was conducted in the summer of 1999, and a stock 
assessment is to be developed and reviewed at the NMFS-sponsored Stock 
Assessment Review Committee in December 1999. Therefore, the Council 
decided to maintain current quotas until these additional data are 
available to corroborate SAW 26 results.
    The Council continues to assume that none of the Georges Bank 
resource (approximately one quarter of the total resource) will be 
available during the next 10 years for harvesting because of paralytic 
shellfish poisoning. This area has been closed to the harvest of clams 
and other shellfish since 1989, and the Council and NMFS have no reason 
to believe that it will reopen in the near future.

Ocean Quahogs

    The Council recommended a 2000 quota of 4.5 million bu (2.396 
million hL) for ocean quahogs. This quota would be identical to that 
adopted for 1999, but an increase of 13 percent from the 1998 quota 
level. The FMP specifies that the quota level must comply with the 
ocean quahog overfishing definition.
    The 1997 quota yielded an F of approximately 0.02 compared to the F 
threshold of 0.04 contained in the overfishing definition. The specific 
F associated with the 2000 quota will be calculated when the new 
assessment is complete, but is expected to be close to the F in 1997, 
because a similar proportion of the biomass remains unexploited 
compared to 1997.
    The Atlantic surf clam and ocean quahog quotas are specified in 
standard bushels of 53.24 liters per bushel, while the Maine mahogany 
quahog quota is specified in ``Maine'' bushels of 35.24 liters per 
bushel. Because Maine mahogany quahogs are the same species as ocean 
quahogs, both fisheries are combined and share the same ocean quahog 
overfishing definition. When the two quota amounts are added, the total 
allowable harvest is still lower than the level that would result in 
overfishing for the entire stock, as previously defined in the ocean 
quahog overfishing definition.
    The Council proposed a 2000 ocean quahog quota based on the 
analysis of abundance for that species found in the 27th Northeast 
Regional Stock Assessment Workshop (SAW 27) concluded in 1998. Similar 
to surf clams, SAW 27 included work to estimate dredge efficiency and 
showed a significant increase in the estimate of ocean quahog biomass. 
Although 30 percent of the resource is located on Georges Bank, SAW 27 
did not question whether Georges Bank would ever be reopened. However, 
SAW 27 showed that using the entire resource, with a harvest level of 
only 4 million bu (2.130 million hL), would produce a supply-year 
harvest equivalent to 76 years. This estimate is significantly longer 
than the period specified in the Council's policy of at least 30 years. 
The resource is of sufficient size overall that the proportion of ocean 
quahogs that exists on Georges Bank is not necessary to meet the 
Council's 30-year supply policy.
    Although SAW 27 showed that the ocean quahog quota could have been 
increased beyond the 1999 quota level, the Council did not recommend 
any change for 2000 because of four major factors: (1) The 1998 quota 
was not constraining to industry; (2) most industry members supported 
the 4.5 million bushel (2.396 million hL) harvest level; (3) repeated 
concern was expressed by industry over the continued lack of apparent 
ocean quahog recruitment south of Georges Bank; and (4) as with surf 
clams, although SAW 27 utilized new methodologies and a new dredge 
efficiency estimate to derive a sharp increase in ocean quahog biomass, 
this assessment represents only one point in time. As with surf clams, 
the Council decided to take no further action on the quota until the 
additional data are available.
    The Council recommended that the Maine mahogany quahog quota remain 
unchanged from the 1999 quota level at 100,000 Maine bu (35,240 hL) for 
2000. Because management measures for this fishery have only been in 
place since May 19, 1998, data from the federally managed fishery is 
just beginning to be compiled. There has been no attempt yet to develop 
and conduct a scientific survey of the extent of the resource. From the 
information currently available, maintaining the quota at its current 
level for another year will not constrain the fishery or endanger the 
resource, because the total quota was not harvested and catch-per-unit-
of-effort has not changed substantially.

Classification

    This action is authorized by 50 CFR part 648 and has been 
determined to be not significant for purposes of E.O. 12866.
    The Council prepared an Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis in 
section 5.0 of the RIR that describes the economic impacts this 
proposed rule, if adopted, would have on small entities. A description 
of the action, why it is being considered, and the legal basis for this 
action are contained at the beginning of this section of the preamble 
and in the SUMMARY section of the preamble. A summary of that analysis 
follows:

Vessels

    In 1998, a total of 47 vessels reported harvesting surf clams or 
ocean quahogs from Federal waters under an Individual Transferable 
Quota (ITQ) system. Average 1998 gross income for surf clam harvests 
was $650,919 per vessel, and $685,573 per vessel for ocean quahog 
harvests. In the small artisanal fishery for ocean quahogs in Maine, 39 
vessels reported harvests in the clam logbooks, with an average value 
of $48,629 per boat. All of these vessels readily fall within the 
definition of a small business. The Council recommends no change in the 
2000 quotas for surf clams, ocean quahogs, or mahogany quahogs from 
their present 1999 quotas of 2.656, 4.500, and 0.100 million bushels, 
respectively. Since 1998 harvest levels of 2.365, 3.897, 0.082 million 
bushels, for surf clams, ocean quahogs, and mahogany quahogs, 
respectively, are below the 2000 proposed quotas and the Council 
assumes no changes in fishing effort or yield-to-effort will take place 
in 1999, the Council believes that the 2000 proposed quotas will yield 
a surplus quota available to vessels participating in all three 
fisheries. In the case of a surplus quota, vessels would not be 
constrained from harvesting additional product, thus, increasing 
revenues. This assumes that the demand for these shellfish is price 
elastic and vessels would equally share in increases or decreases to 
total revenues earned by the fishery.
    The Council analyzed 4 ocean quahog quota alternatives, in addition 
to the preferred, for including 4.000, 4.250, 4.750, and 6.000 million 
bushels. The minimum allowable quota specified in the current OY range 
is 4.0 million

[[Page 278]]

bushels of ocean quahogs. Adoption of this quota would represent a 12% 
decrease from the current 4.5 million bushel quota, and, assuming the 
entire quota is harvested, a 2.6-percent increase in harvest from the 
1998 harvest level of 3.897 million bushels. This alternative would 
take the most conservative approach to managing the fishery that is 
currently available to the Council. Adopting the maximum allowable 
quota of 6.000 million bushels for ocean quahogs would represent a 33-
percent increase in allowable harvest and a 54% increase in landings 
from 1998 assuming all the quota is taken. The industry does not have a 
market available to absorb such a massive increase in landings and may 
not have the vessel capacity necessary to harvest a quota this large. 
(Two of the most productive ocean quahog vessels sank in January 1999, 
and have not been replaced). Since all alternatives would yield 
increases, the same result as in the case of preferred alternative, 
namely increased revenues, would be likely to occur.
    The Council identified 4 surf clam quota alternatives in addition 
to the preferred alternative including 1.850, 2.365, 2.700, 3.400. The 
minimum allowable quota specified in the current OY range is 1.850 
million bushels of surf clams. Adoption of this quota would represent a 
28-percent decrease from the current 2.565 million bushel quota, and a 
22-percent decrease from the 1998 harvest level of 2.365 million 
bushels. Assuming that demand is price elastic, a reduction in quota of 
this magnitude would have a substantially negative impact on overall 
exvessel revenues. Adoption of the 2.365 million bushel quota would 
most likely have no impact on small entities since it is identical to 
1998 base year landings of 2.365 million bushels. Adopting the maximum 
allowable quota of 3.40 million bushels for surf clams would allow for 
a 33-percent increase in harvest. Other alternatives could yield 
increases in revenues, but are not likely, because the quota has not 
been reached over the last few years. In summation, the Council 
determined that the only alternative that would negatively impact 
revenues to vessels is the 1.850-million-bushel alternative for surf 
clams. All other alternatives including the preferred, would have a 
positive impact on revenues.
    The quota for mahogany quahogs is specified at 100,000 bushels and 
the FMP specifies that adjustments to the quota would require a stock 
assessment of the mahogany quahog resource. Since none has been done, 
the Council did not look at alternative quotas for this fishery. 
However, in general, any quota the Council would have specified below 
the 1998 landing level of 72,466 bushels would most likely cause a 
decrease in revenues to individual vessels while a quota greater than 
that level could cause an increase. However, this is unlikely, given 
recent landings values for this fishery.

Processors

    Nine to twelve processors participate in the surf clam and ocean 
quahog fisheries. However, 3 firms are responsible for the vast 
majority of purchases in the exvessel market and sale of processed clam 
products in appropriate wholesale markets. Impacts to surf clams and 
ocean quahog processors would most likely mirror the impacts of the 
various quotas to vessels as discussed here. Revenues earned by 
processors would be derived from the wholesale market for clam 
products, and since a large number of substitute products (i.e., other 
food products) are available, the demand for processed clam products is 
likely to be price elastic and revenues would increase or decrease with 
changes in price.

Allocation Holders

    In 1999, surf clam allocation holders totaled 107 while 64 firms or 
individuals held ocean quahog allocation. If the recommended quotas are 
accepted, i.e., no change from 1999, it is likely that impacts to 
allocation holders or buyers will be minimal. Theoretically, increases 
in quota would most likely benefit those who must purchase quota 
through lower prices (values) and negatively impact sellers of quota 
because it would reduce in value. Decreases in quota would most likely 
have an opposite effect.

Reporting and Recordkeeping Requirements

    This proposed rule would not impose any new reporting, 
recordkeeping, or other compliance requirements. Therefore, the costs 
of compliance would remain unchanged.
    The RIR/IRFA is available from NMFS (see ADDRESSES).

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

    Dated: December 28, 1999.
Penelope D. Dalton,
Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 00-84 Filed 1-3-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F