[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 55 (Wednesday, March 21, 2001)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 15812-15813]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-7021]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

 50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 010313064-1064-01; I.D. 022001C]
RIN 0648-XA64


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast 
Multispecies Fishery; Notification of Annual Adjustment to the 
Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan

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

ACTION: Notification of 2001 target total allowable catch (TAC) levels.

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SUMMARY: NMFS establishes target TAC levels for the Northeast 
multispecies fisheries and announces that the multispecies management 
measures currently in effect will remain unchanged for the fishing year 
beginning May 1, 2001.

DATES: Effective May 1, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the Multispecies Monitoring Committee Report for 
2000 may be obtained from the New England Fishery Management Council, 
50 Water Street, Mill 2, Newburyport, MA 01950; telephone (978) 465-
0492.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David M. Gouveia, Fishery Policy 
Analyst, (978) 281-9280, fax (978) 281-9135, e-mail 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Northeast Multispecies Fishery 
Management Plan (FMP) specifies a procedure for setting annual target 
TAC levels for Georges Bank (GB) cod, GB haddock, GB yellowtail 
flounder, Gulf of Maine (GOM) cod, Southern New England (SNE) 
yellowtail flounder and an aggregate TAC for the remaining regulated 
multispecies. The New England Fishery Management Council's (Council) 
Multispecies Monitoring Committee (MMC) reviews the best available 
scientific information, and recommends annual target TAC levels for 
several key groundfish stocks and management options to achieve the FMP 
objectives. Adjustment of annual target TAC levels is often necessary 
to attain the fishing mortality rates (F) specified by Amendment 7 to 
the FMP to allow cod, haddock, and yellowtail flounder stocks to 
rebuild and maintain current potential yield for the other regulated 
multispecies.
    The MMC developed recommendations for target TACs for the 2001 
fishing year that are consistent with the rebuilding targets specified 
in Amendment 7 to the FMP (61 FR 27710, May 31, 1996). While the 
Council revised the overfishing definitions for these stocks in 
Amendment 9 to the FMP (64 FR 55821, October 15, 1999), it has not yet 
developed any new rebuilding program associated with those definitions. 
The Council is developing Amendment 13 to specify new rebuilding 
programs, but until that time, the Amendment 7 rebuilding targets and F 
goals are the basis for establishing annual target TACs and any changes 
to management measures. Calculation of the annual TAC levels is based 
on the biological reference points of Fmax for GOM cod and 
F0.1 for the remaining stocks of cod, haddock, and 
yellowtail flounder. However, as was the case for fishing year 2000, 
the Council directed the MMC to also estimate the TAC associated with 
F0.1 for GOM cod for reference purposes.
    The MMC utilized the assessment results from the Stock Assessment 
Workshop's Northern Demersal and Southern Demersal Working Groups' 2000 
annual report to estimate the target TAC levels for various fish stocks 
for fishing year 2001. In its report delivered at the November 14-16, 
2000, Council meeting, the MMC found that the stock status of GB cod, 
GB haddock, GB yellowtail flounder, and SNE yellowtail flounder has 
continued to improve. In 1999, F for these stocks was below the level 
defined as overfishing and near or below the Amendment 7 F targets. GB 
haddock and GB yellowtail flounder F values are below the Amendment 7 F 
targets, while the GB cod and SNE yellowtail F value are slightly above 
their Amendment 7 F targets. The differences between the projected GB 
cod and SNE yellowtail flounder F values for 1999 and the F targets, 
respectively, are not significant. Spawning stock biomass (SSB) has 
increased for these stocks but, with the exception of GB yellowtail, 
remains below Amendment 7 SSB thresholds. In general, recruitment 
through 1999 has been poor for GB cod and SNE yellowtail; near average 
for GB haddock; and above average for GB yellowtail.
    The status of GOM cod is not clear because of the difficulty 
characterizing discards in the fishery in 1999 and 2000. F declined to 
0.78 in 1998, but was still well above the overfishing definition 
(F20%=0.41) and Amendment 7 F target (Fmax=0.27). 
Depending on the magnitude of discards, F in 1999 continued to decline 
and may have ranged from 0.29 (assuming no discards) to 0.76 (assuming 
2,500 metric tons (mt) discards). The MMC report noted that better 
estimates of F in 1999 and 2000 for GOM cod will be available after the 
33rd Stock Assessment Review Committee (SARC 33) in June 2001. The SSB 
for GOM cod hit a record low in 1998, but increased slightly in 1999 
under all discard assumptions. Recruitment for GOM cod has also been 
poor in 1999 despite early indications that suggest that the 1998 year 
class is above average.
    Based on projected 2001 stock sizes and Amendment 7's F targets, 
the MMC recommended an increase to the target TAC levels for the 2001 
fishing year for GB haddock, GB cod, and GB yellowtail flounder, and a 
slight decrease for SNE yellowtail flounder. However, because of the 
uncertainty about 1999 and 2000 discard levels, the MMC could not 
recommend any changes for target TACs for GOM cod in 2001. The Council 
voted to use the same target TACs in 2001 as in fishing year 2000 (for 
Fmax and F0.1) to prevent exploitation from 
increasing. These target TACs will be used until the updated assessment 
is available following SARC 33. Maintaining the 2000 GOM cod target TAC 
also means that the conditional closure of Cashes Ledge in November 
2001, and a portion of Massachusetts Bay in January 2002, will be 
required if preliminary landings data through July 21, 2001, indicate 
that more than 1.67 million lb (759 mt) of GOM cod have been landed. An 
aggregate target TAC for the remaining regulated multispecies was not 
provided in the 2000 MMC annual report.
    At its November 2000 meeting, the Council voted to approve the MMC 
recommendations to increase the target TAC levels for fishing year 2001 
for GB cod, GB haddock, GB yellowtail flounder, and SNE yellowtail 
flounder, and voted to maintain the Fmax and F0.1 
target TAC levels from fishing year 2000 as target TAC levels for GOM 
cod for fishing year 2001. The Regional Administrator, Northeast 
Region, NMFS, concurs with the Council's recommendations. The target 
TAC levels for the 2001 fishing year are as follows:

[[Page 15813]]



------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                     2001 Target TAC    2000 Target TAC
           Species/area               (metric tons)      (metric tons)
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Georges Bank cod..................              4,900              4,145
Georges Bank haddock..............             11,680              6,252
Georges Bank yellowtail flounder..              6,805              4,618
Southern New England yellowtail                   949                951
 flounder.........................
Gulf of Maine cod (Fmax)..........              1,918              1,918
Gulf of Maine cod (F0.1)..........              1,118              1,118
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In addition to setting the target TAC levels, the MMC report 
generally provides the Council with specific management options and 
recommendations to keep the target TAC levels from being exceeded. As 
described here, actual F values for GB cod, GB haddock, GB yellowtail, 
and SNE yellowtail stocks were near or below the Amendment 7 fishing 
mortality targets in 1999, and below the level defined as overfishing. 
The status of GOM cod is less clear because the MMC could not determine 
the fishing mortality rates in 1999 and 2000.
    Because the MMC was directed to develop recommendations for the 
2001 fishing year that are consistent with the rebuilding targets 
specified in Amendment 7, the MMC concluded that current measures 
should be adequate for the 2001 fishing year to ensure that recommended 
target TACs for 2001 are not exceeded. The MMC did not recommend any 
changes to the current measures specific to GOM cod because of the 
uncertainty of the magnitude of reduction needed to achieve the 
Amendment 7 objectives (Fmax). Accordingly, the Council 
recommended maintaining the 2000 management measures for fishing year 
2001. However, as discussed here, the MMC noted that further 
information, including GOM cod discard levels, is expected to be 
available after the SARC 33 review in June 2001. Upon completion of 
SARC 33, further adjustments in management measures may be necessary to 
meet Amendment 7 objectives for GOM cod.

Classification

    This action is required by 50 CFR part 648 and is exempt from 
review under Executive Order 12866.

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

    Dated: March 9, 2001.
Bruce Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 01-7021 Filed 3-20-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S