[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 154 (Wednesday, August 9, 2000)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 48671-48674]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-20162]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 635

[Docket No.000629197-0197-01; I.D. 032900A]
RIN 0648-AN06


Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; Billfish Size Limits; 
Monitoring of Recreational Landings; Post-Release Mortality

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

ACTION: Advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR); request for 
comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS is requesting comments on options for rulemaking to 
reduce United States recreational landings of Atlantic blue marlin 
(BUM) to comply with recommendations of the International Commission 
for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). NMFS also requests 
comments on options to improve the monitoring of recreationally landed 
billfish and swordfish. In addition, NMFS is seeking comments on 
prohibiting retention of Atlantic billfish onboard any U.S.-flagged 
vessels that have been issued a commercial fishing permit for any 
Atlantic Highly Migratory Species

[[Page 48672]]

(HMS). Finally, NMFS requests comment on the use of circle hooks or 
other gear modifications to reduce mortality of released fish, and on 
the allowance of exemptions to the minimum size for those anglers 
seeking fly rod/light tackle records from certifying organizations.

DATES: Written comments on this ANPR must be received on or before 
September 25, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Comments on this ANPR should be mailed to, and copies of 
documents supporting this action may be obtained from, the Highly 
Migratory Species Division, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, NMFS, 1315 
East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Buck Sutter or Jill Stevenson, 727-
570-5447, fax: 727-570-5656; or Christopher Rogers, 301-713-2347, fax: 
301-713-1917 or visit our website at www.nmfs.gov/sfa/hmspg.html.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Atlantic HMS are managed under the Fishery Management Plan for 
Atlantic Billfish (Atlantic Billfish FMP) and the Fishery Management 
Plan for Atlantic Tunas, Swordfish, and Sharks (HMS FMP). The FMPs are 
implemented under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 
Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) at 50 CFR part 
635. In addition, billfish, swordfish (SWO), and tunas are managed 
throughout the Atlantic Ocean by ICCAT, to which the United States is a 
contracting party. The Secretary of Commerce has the responsibility, 
under the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act (ATCA), to implement ICCAT 
recommendations.
    Stock assessments for BUM and Atlantic white marlin (WHM) indicate 
that biomass of these species has been below a level associated with 
maximum sustainable yield (MSY) for about three decades under both 
total Atlantic and north Atlantic stock scenarios. Consequently, the 
Standing Committee for Research and Statistics (SCRS) for ICCAT 
consider both BUM and WHM in the Atlantic Ocean as over-exploited. The 
SCRS similarly consider North Atlantic SWO as over-exploited. The 
September 1997 NMFS report to Congress on the status of U.S. fisheries 
listed BUM, WHM, and North Atlantic SWO as overfished.
    In 1997, ICCAT recommended a reduction of Atlantic BUM and WHM 
landings by at least 25 percent from 1996 levels, starting in 1998, to 
be accomplished by 1999, thereby reducing mortality levels of billfish 
stocks in the Atlantic Ocean. A 1998 ICCAT recommendation continued the 
requirement for a reduced level of marlin landings through 2000. Also, 
a 1999 ICCAT recommendation requires the United States to reduce 
landings (recreational and commercial) of north Atlantic swordfish 
consistent with a 10-year stock rebuilding program. A history of the 
past actions that NMFS has taken to address ICCAT recommendations and 
to satisfy the objectives of the Atlantic Billfish FMP and the HMS FMP 
follows:

Billfish Minimum Sizes

    During the 1998 recreational billfish fishing season, NMFS issued 
an interim rule (63 FR 14030, March 24, 1998) to increase the size 
limit for BUM from 86 inches (218 cm) to 96 inches (244 cm) lower jaw-
fork length (LJFL), and for WHM from 63 inches (160 cm) to 66 inches 
(168 cm) LJFL. The intent of the interim rule was to reduce U.S. 
landings by the required 25 percent within the 2-year time frame 
required. Size limits established in the interim rule were based on the 
best available information at the time. Subsequent data indicated that 
the minimum size limit for WHM was sufficient; however, the minimum 
size for BUM may not have been adequate to achieve the required 25-
percent reduction. Therefore, the size limit for BUM was further 
increased to 99 inches (251 cm) LJFL through a September 29, 1998, 
interim rule (63 FR 51859).
    In April 1999, NMFS published Amendment 1 to the Atlantic Billfish 
FMP (Amendment 1). In that document, NMFS indicated that minimum size 
limits would be the primary fishery management strategy to control 
recreational billfish landings in compliance with the 1997 and 1998 
ICCAT marlin recommendations. The final rule implementing Amendment 1 
(64 FR 29090, May 28, 1999) included minimum sizes of 99 inches (251 
cm) LJFL for BUM and 66 inches (168 cm) LJFL for WHM. It was projected 
that the increased minimum sizes would reduce recreational landings, by 
weight, by over 32 percent for BUM and by 42 percent for WHM. However, 
Amendment 1 noted that NMFS would implement further changes in minimum 
size limits through proposed and final rules if monitoring of landings 
indicated that current minimum size limits were insufficient to avoid 
exceeding BUM and/or WHM landing targets, as outlined in the framework 
provisions of the FMP amendment.
    Compilation of preliminary 1999 recreational landings of BUM and 
WHM has recently been completed by the NMFS Southeast Fishery Science 
Center (SEC). While the compliance with the reduction in landings 
should be based on fishing year landings for 1999 (June 1 to May 31), 
as outlined in Amendment 1, these data are not yet available. NMFS is 
proceeding with a cross-year comparison based on calendar year 1999 
pending availability of complete data for the 1999 fishing year. This 
will ensure that necessary measures are implemented in a timely fashion 
to demonstrate NMFS' efforts to comply with the international 
management recommendations.
    A total of 157 billfish tournaments submitted reports to NMFS for 
fishing activities during 1999 (Table 1). Although numbers of BUM 
landed during 1999 (N=173) were reduced 20 percent from 1996 levels 
(N=217), compliance with ICCAT recommendations requires a 25-percent 
reduction in weight of marlin landed, not the number of fish. Despite 
the increased minimum size and the reduced number of BUM landed, 
harvest declined only 3.6 percent by weight due to increased average 
weights of landed fish. Conversely, WHM landings were reduced by nearly 
58 percent, by weight, from 1996 levels.

                       Table 1. Reported Tournament Landings of BUM and WHM for 1996 (116 tournaments) and 1999 (157 tournaments)
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                                                                                 Number        Estimated       Target Landings    Actual Reduction from
                              Species                                  Year      Landed      Landings (mt)           (mt)                  1996
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Blue Marlin                                                             1996          217               33.2
                                                                        1999          173               32.0               24.9              3.6 percent
White Marlin                                                            1996           72               1.95
                                                                        1999           36               0.82                1.5             57.9 percent
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[[Page 48673]]

Reducing Post-Release Mortality

    Preliminary evidence from the NMFS SEC indicates that the use of 
circle hooks reduces bleeding and injury in catch-and-release 
recreational billfish fisheries when used with live and dead bait. 
Reducing physical damage from the recreational hooking event would 
likely increase post-release survival rates. NMFS' SEC staff have been 
engaged in outreach programs to encourage the voluntary use of circle 
hooks. Further, reducing incidental mortalities associated with capture 
and release will enhance other management actions directed toward 
rebuilding of overfished stocks.

Landings Monitoring

    Amendment 1 and the HMS FMP established new requirements for 
registration of, and reporting by, tournaments scoring billfish, 
swordfish, tunas and sharks. Consequently, the number of billfish 
tournaments that reported in 1999 (N=157) was greater than those that 
reported in 1996 (N=116). Registration of shark and tuna tournaments is 
also improving in response to the new regulations. While landings 
reporting for HMS tournaments is becoming more comprehensive, a 
significant amount of recreational fishing effort for Atlantic HMS 
occurs outside the tournament context. Also, after a lengthy period of 
relatively low activity, the recreational SWO fishery has re-emerged as 
a nighttime fishery over the last few years along the East Coast. In 
1999, NMFS committed to counting recreationally caught north Atlantic 
SWO against the incidental catch quota in the HMS FMP.
    Monitoring HMS recreational fisheries outside tournaments can be a 
challenge due to the nature of these fisheries (i.e., fewer boats 
fishing offshore than inshore and success rates may be lower for large 
pelagics than for inshore species), the timing of landings (e.g., late-
day returns from offshore trips), and the wide geographic range of 
landings (i.e., Texas to Maine and the Caribbean). Trips landing large 
pelagic fish, such as SWO, BUM, WHM, and sailfish are intercepted 
relatively infrequently within the scope of NMFS' current recreational 
statistical programs (Marine Recreational Fisheries Statistics Survey 
and Large Pelagics Survey), thus the precision of recreational landings 
estimates is a matter of concern.

Billfish Retention by Commercial Vessels

    Since the Atlantic Billfish FMP and implementing regulations were 
issued in 1988, retention of billfish in the U.S. Exclusive Economic 
Zone has been limited to persons in the recreational fishery, and sale 
of billfish from the management unit has been prohibited. This 
significant element of the Atlantic Billfish FMP (i.e., no commercial 
fishery) was preserved in Amendment 1 upon consideration of input from 
the Billfish Advisory Panel. The original FMP regulations were drafted 
under the presumption that no gear other than rod and reel would be 
used in the recreational fishery and that rod-and-reel gear would not 
be used in a commercial fishery that would take billfish.
    Since that time, NMFS has consolidated billfish regulations with 
those issued for other Atlantic HMS, and NMFS has received comment that 
vessels issued permits in the commercial tuna, swordfish, or shark 
fisheries, even though using rod-and-reel gear, should be prohibited 
from retaining billfish. Although billfish taken by persons aboard 
these vessels cannot be lawfully sold, there is a concern that billfish 
are targeted from such commercial vessels or that incidental catch, if 
retained, could illegally enter into commerce.

Potential Management Alternatives

    If additional management measures are deemed necessary to reduce 
landings, enhance survival of recreational releases, and improve 
monitoring of landings BUM, WHM, and SWO associated with U.S. fishing 
activities in order to meet the ICCAT recommendations and to satisfy 
the objectives of the HMS FMP and Amendment 1, the following 
alternatives and others may be considered:
    (1) Increase the minimum size limit for BUM from the current 99 
inch (251 cm) LJFL minimum size. Projected reductions in landings 
associated with a range of increased minimum size limits are provided 
in Table 2.

   Table 2. Projected BUM Landings Reductions for a Given Increase in
                              Minimum Size
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                                           Projected Reduction from 1996
           Minimum Size (LJFL)                        Landings
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102 inches (259 cm)                                43 percent by weight
104 inches (264 cm)                                51 percent by weight
106 inches (269 cm)                                62 percent by weight
108 inches (274 cm)                                72 percent by weight
110 inches (279 cm)                                79 percent by weight
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (2) Establish a mandatory catch-and-release format for all Atlantic 
billfish tournaments. The 1988 Atlantic Billfish FMP included a ``no-
kill'' tournament alternative in the management options considered. 
Although it was ultimately rejected as being overly restrictive at the 
time, the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council strongly 
recommended that all tournaments adopt the no-kill format. Many 
tournaments have adopted strategies to reduce or eliminate landings, 
including offering prizes for released fish; of the 157 billfish 
tournaments that registered during 1999, 76 (48 percent) reported that 
they were ``release-only'' events. However, the remaining tournaments 
are responsible for blue marlin landings during 1999 (Table 1) that are 
in excess of the levels necessary for compliance with the ICCAT 
recommendation.
    (3) Require the use of circle hooks for recreational fisheries 
targeting billfish and swordfish with live or dead bait to reduce post-
release mortality, thereby enhancing rebuilding efforts of overfished 
billfish stocks in the Atlantic Ocean.
    (4) Require that a landing tag be affixed to all recreationally 
landed billfish and SWO. Information supplied by a landing tag program 
could provide NMFS with improved catch data for HMS landings outside 
the tournament context and could help monitor recreational landings 
against U.S. catch quota levels.
    (5) Prohibit retention of billfish aboard all vessels issued a 
commercial HMS permit to facilitate enforcement of the no-sale 
regulation and, to the extent incidental catch can be released alive, 
to reduce billfish mortality. However, such an expanded prohibition 
could restrict certain vessels from occasionally landing billfish as 
part of the recreational fishery due to part-time status as commercial 
vessels.

Request for Comments

    NMFS requests comments on whether additional measures are needed to 
meet the ICCAT recommendations and to satisfy the objectives of the HMS 
FMP and Amendment 1. If additional measures are needed, NMFS also 
solicits comments on the potential management alternatives discussed 
earlier, or other management alternatives.
    Implementation of Amendment 1 and the HMS FMP resulted in increased 
minimum sizes for BUM, WHM, and sailfish and the first-time 
implementation of minimum sizes in the recreational fishery for sharks. 
NMFS has received comments from a recreational fishing organization as 
well

[[Page 48674]]

as individual anglers regarding their desire to allow exceptions to the 
minimum size regulations when anglers are using fly gear or light 
tackle, or when a line class record for a species is currently below 
the minimum size. Therefore, NMFS also solicits comments on the 
feasibility of implementing these exceptions, including the impact on 
ICCAT compliance, and the various options for implementation. The 
latter could include issuance of an Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP) to 
anglers who wish to fish with a fly rod or light tackle. The 
authorization by the EFP could be subject to the angler obtaining 
recognition from a certifying organization (e.g., International Game 
Fish Association) that the landed fish established a record. Other 
options include limiting such exemptions to fishing tournaments or 
issuing anglers a notice of violation, which could be dismissed if the 
record certification is issued by a recognized association.
    Comments received on this ANPR will assist NMFS in determining the 
options for rulemaking to implement the requirements of international 
agreements and other relevant laws.

Classification

    This advance notice of proposed rulemaking has been determined to 
be significant for purposes of Executive Order 12866.

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 971 et seq.

    Dated: August 2, 2000.
William T. Hogarth,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 00-20162 Filed 8-8-00; 8:45 am]
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