[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 43 (Monday, March 5, 2001)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 13279-13281]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-5261]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Parts 600 and 648

[Docket No. 010220043-1043-01; I.D. 120400D]
RIN 0648-AN65


Foreign Fishing and Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; 
Proposed 2001 Specifications for the Atlantic Herring Fishery and 
Foreign Fishing Restrictions

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

ACTION: Proposed 2001 specifications for the Atlantic herring fishery; 
request for comments.

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SUMMARY:  NMFS proposes specifications for the 2001 Atlantic herring 
fishery. The intent of the specifications is to conserve and manage the 
herring resource and provide for sustainable fisheries, and to comply 
with the provisions in the Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Herring 
(FMP), which require annual specifications for the fishery.

DATES:  Comments must be received no later than 5 p.m., Eastern 
Standard Time, on April 4, 2001.

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 
the Regional Administrator at the above address. Mark on the outside of 
the envelope: ``Comments-2001 Herring Specifications.'' Send comments 
on any ambiguity or unnecessary complexity arising from the language 
used in these proposed specifications to the Regional Administrator. 
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, e-mail at [email protected], fax at (978) 281-9135.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Regulations implementing the FMP appear at 
50 CFR part 648, subpart K. Regulations governing foreign fishing 
appear at 50 CFR part 600, subpart F. The FMP requires the New England 
Fishery Management Council's (Council) Atlantic Herring Plan 
Development Team (PDT) to meet at least annually, no later than July 
each year, with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's 
(Commission) Atlantic Herring Plan Review Team (PRT) to develop and 
recommend the following specifications for consideration by the 
Council's Atlantic Herring Oversight Committee: Allowable biological 
catch (ABC), optimum yield (OY), domestic annual harvest (DAH), 
domestic annual processing (DAP), total foreign processing (JVPt), 
joint venture processing (JVP), internal waters processing (IWP), U.S. 
at-sea processing (USAP), border transfer (BT), total allowable level 
of foreign fishing

[[Page 13280]]

(TALFF), and reserve (if any). The PDT and PRT also recommend the total 
allowable catch (TAC) for each management area and sub-area identified 
in the FMP. As the basis for its recommendations, the PDT reviews 
available data pertaining to: Commercial and recreational catch; 
current estimates of fishing mortality; stock status; recent estimates 
of recruitment; virtual population analysis results and other estimates 
of stock size; sea sampling and trawl survey data or, if sea sampling 
data are unavailable, length frequency information from trawl surveys; 
impact of other fisheries on herring mortality; and any other relevant 
information. Recommended specifications are presented to the Council 
for adoption and recommendation to NMFS.

Proposed 2001 Specifications

    The Council, at its August 2000 meeting, adopted recommendations 
for the 2001 specifications for the Atlantic herring fishery. 
Specifications approved for the 2000 fishery were published in the 
Federal Register on December 11, 2000 (65 FR 77450). In a notification 
action published in the same edition of the Federal Register, NMFS 
adjusted the 2000 annual specifications for JVP, IWP, USAP, and the TAC 
for Areas 1A and 1B. The adjusted specifications are contained in Table 
1. Proposed specifications for the 2001 fishery are contained in Table 
2. Changes from the 2000 specifications include increases in OY, DAH, 
TALFF, DAP, and the TAC reserve for Area 2, which are discussed in this 
preamble.

        Table 1. 2000 Atlantic Herring Specifications (adjusted)
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                 Specification                         Amount (mt)
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ABC                                                              300,000
OY                                                               224,000
DAH                                                              224,000
 TALFF                                                                 0
DAP                                                              180,000
USAP                                                              20,000
BT                                                                 4,000
JVPt                                                              20,000
JVP- Area 2 and Area 3                                            10,000
IWP                                                               10,000
Reserve                                                                0
TAC -Area 1A                                                      60,000
TAC- Area 1B                                                      10,000
TAC- Area 2                                                       50,000
                                                    (54,000 TAC reserve)
TAC- Area 3                                                       50,000
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        Table 2. Recommended 2001 Atlantic Herring Specifications
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                 Specification                         Amount (mt)
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ABC                                                              300,000
OY                                                               250,000
DAH                                                              245,000
 TALFF                                                             5,000
DAP                                                              221,000
USAP                                                              20,000
BT                                                                 4,000
JVPt                                                              20,000
JVP- Area 2 and Area 3                                            10,000
IWP                                                               10,000
Reserve                                                                0
TAC- Area 1A                                                      60,000
TAC- Area 1B                                                      10,000
TAC - Area 2                                                      50,000
                                                   (80, 000 TAC reserve)
TAC- Area 3                                                       50,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------

TALFF

     The Council recommends the specification of 5,000 metric tons (mt) 
of TALFF for the 2001 fishery, because it concluded that a sufficiently 
large stock of herring exists in Areas 2 and 3 to allow directed 
foreign fishing. The Council recommended restricting fishing under a 
TALFF allocation to these areas. The Council recommended setting TALFF 
largely to enhance the probability that foreign vessels would engage in 
JVP, thus benefitting U.S. fishermen who have had difficulty in 
procuring markets for herring. TALFF would benefit foreign vessels 
fishing under a joint venture (JV) by ensuring a supply of herring for 
processing if domestic vessels are not able to supply herring due to 
bad weather.
     The Council met in September 2000 and recommended conditions and 
restrictions for TALFF. Those recommendations include: A restriction on 
direct foreign fishing landward of 20 nautical miles from shore; a 
restriction limiting gear to midwater trawls; a condition that foreign 
vessels be allowed to harvest 25 percent of their TALFF allocation up 
front but, before release of additional TALFF, a foreign vessel must 
receive 25 percent of its JVP allocation or provide proof for why this 
was not possible; a restriction on direct mealing by the foreign 
vessel; a restriction on fishing in regulated multispecies closed 
areas; and a prohibition on foreign fishing in Area 1 (Gulf of Maine). 
These conditions and restrictions are intended to strictly control any 
foreign fishing for TALFF to the benefit of the domestic fishery and in 
conformance with the objectives of the FMP. NMFS would consider these 
recommendations prior to authorizing TALFF.

TAC Reserve for Area 2

     The Council recommended an increase in the TAC reserve for Area 2 
of 26,000 mt, which would increase the reserve to 80,000 mt. This 
results in 130,000 mt of available TAC in Area 2 (50,000 mt of TAC plus 
80,000 mt of TAC reserve). It is unlikely that any portion of this 
reserve will be utilized, since the fishery has never harvested more 
than the TAC of 50,000 mt from Area 2. The Council's recommendation for 
the increase is intended to communicate to the industry that there is a 
significant opportunity for growth in the fishery without compromising 
the status of the resource.

ABC, OY, DAH, and DAP

     The preferred ABC specification of 300,000 mt (661,200,000 lb) was 
chosen over an alternative that would have utilized an 
FTarget yielding over 1 million mt (2204 million lb) of ABC. 
The conservative approach in setting the ABC takes into account the 
uncertainty about current stock size, which may be overestimated, and 
addresses the need to retain stability in the year-to-year estimate of 
ABC in the event of a sudden shift in the terminal year estimate of 
biomass. In addition, recognizing that herring is a key forage resource 
for a number of recreational finfish species such as striped bass and 
bluefish, and possibly some species of cetaceans, it is critical that 
allowable catch levels be conservatively set. Harvest of the entire 
preferred ABC would allow the herring stock to increase although it is 
close to carrying capacity at present.
    Recommended increases in OY, DAH, and DAP are a direct result of 
recommended increases in TALFF and TAC reserve in Area 2. The TAC 
reserve increase would increase both the amount harvested by U.S. 
vessels as DAH and the amount processed by U.S. industry as DAP. The 
difference between OY and DAH represents the amount recommended for 
TALFF. OY is recommended at 250,000 mt, well under the ABC of 300,000 
mt.

Classification

    This proposed rule has been determined to be not significant for 
purposes of E.O. 12866.
    The Council and NMFS prepared an IRFA that describes the economic 
impact this proposed rule, if adopted, would have on small entities. A 
summary of the analysis follows:
     A description of the reasons why action by the agency is being 
considered and the objectives of the proposed rule are explained in the 
preamble to this

[[Page 13281]]

rule and are not repeated here. This action does not contain any 
collection-of-information, reporting, or recordkeeping requirements. It 
will not duplicate, overlap, or conflict with any other Federal rules. 
This action is taken under authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Act and 
regulations at 50 CFR part 648.
    All of the affected businesses (fishing vessels and dealers) 
qualify as small entities under the standards described in NMFS 
guidelines. There were 2,215 vessels, 6 known processors, and 72 known 
dealers participating in the fishery in 1999. The proposed increase in 
OY of 26,000 mt would provide additional opportunities for increased 
harvests. It cannot reasonably be expected to cause a significant 
increase in catch, however, given that vessels caught less than half 
the current OY in 1999. Therefore, the proposed increase in OY is not 
likely to result in any significant impact on the revenues of vessels, 
producer surplus or consumer surplus. Other alternatives considered and 
rejected, either ``no-action'' or increasing the allowable biological 
catch, would have a similar impact.
    If foreign vessels avail themselves of the opportunity to harvest 
some or all of the TALFF, and those vessels are obligated to engage in 
JVs with U.S. fishing vessels, there would be a positive impact on the 
revenues of those U.S. vessels participating. Since the number of 
vessels that would be involved in the JVs and the specifics of the 
financial arrangements between the harvesters and foreign processor are 
not known, the per-vessel revenue impacts cannot be estimated. If the 
full amount of the JVP (10,000 mt) is harvested, revenues to the 
participating vessels would approximate $1.2 million, based on an 
average price of $120/mt. This would represent an increase in overall 
fleet revenues of 10-12 percent. While this represents a maximum dollar 
benefit, the net economic benefit would have to take into account 
opportunity costs in the form of revenues that could have been earned 
by delivering herring to shoreside processors, assuming that there is 
coincidental shoreside demand. In comparison, setting TALFF at 0 mt 
(the ``no-action'' alternative) would not provide as much incentive for 
foreign vessels to establish operations in the exclusive economic zone 
and would likely preclude the utilization of JVP, based on the activity 
in the fishery during the past 2 years. Alternatively, setting TALFF at 
a higher level, as considered by the Herring Committee, would have 
essentially the same economic impact as the proposed action because the 
economic benefits to the domestic fishery are realized through, and 
limited by, the utilization of the JVP specification (which is not 
changed), not the TALFF.
    While a higher specification of TALFF may provide a greater 
incentive to foreign participants, there is no experience on which to 
base an estimate of this effect. The economic impact to shoreside 
processors from JVP (enhanced by a specification of TALFF) is 
uncertain. A reduction in supply to shoreside processors could result 
in an increase in the cost of herring to shoreside processors or bait 
dealers. Conversely, if domestic vessels concentrate on increasing 
supply of herring to shoreside processors, a decrease in cost could 
occur.
     The President has directed Federal agencies to use plain language 
in their communications with the public, including regulations. To 
comply with this directive, we seek public comment on any ambiguity or 
unnecessary complexity arising from the language used in this proposed 
rule. Such comments should be sent to the Northeast Regional 
Administrator (see ADDRESSES).

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

    Dated: February 26, 2001.
William T. Hogarth,
Acting Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 01-5261 Filed 3-2-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S