[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 49 (Wednesday, March 13, 2002)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 11276-11279]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-6070]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 020215032-2032-01; I.D. 110701D]
RIN 0648-AP59


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Proposed 2002 
Specifications for the Atlantic Bluefish Fishery

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

ACTION: Proposed 2002 specifications for the Atlantic bluefish fishery; 
request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS proposes 2002 specifications for the Atlantic bluefish 
fishery, including total allowable landings (TAL), state-by-state 
commercial quotas, and recreational harvest limits and possession 
limits for Atlantic bluefish off the East Coast of the United States. 
The intent of the specifications is to conserve and manage the bluefish 
resource and provide for sustainable fisheries.

DATES: Public comments must be received no later than 5 p.m., Eastern 
Standard Time, on March 28, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Copies of supporting documents, including the Environmental 
Assessment (EA), Preliminary Regulatory Economic Evaluation (PREE), 
Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (IRFA), and Essential Fish 
Habitat Assessment (EFHA) are available from: Daniel Furlong, Executive 
Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, Room 2115, Federal 
Building, 300 South New Street, Dover, DE 19904-6790. The EA, PREE, 
IRFA, and EFHA are accessible via the Internet at http:/www.nero.gov/ro/doc/nr. htm.
    Comments on the proposed specifications should be sent to: Patricia 
A. Kurkul, Regional Administrator, Northeast Regional Office, NMFS, One 
Blackburn Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930-2298. Please mark the envelope, 
``Comments--2002 Bluefish Specifications.'' Comments also may be sent 
via facsimile (fax) to 978-281-

[[Page 11277]]

9135. Comments will not be accepted if submitted via e-mail or 
Internet.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Myles A. Raizin, Fishery Policy 
Analyst, (978) 281-9273, e-mail at [email protected], fax at 
(978) 281-9135.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Regulations implementing the Atlantic 
Bluefish Fishery Management Plan (FMP) prepared by the Mid-Atlantic 
Fishery Management Council (Council) appear at 50 CFR part 648, 
subparts A and J. Regulations requiring annual specifications are found 
at Sec. 648.160. The FMP requires that the Council recommend, on an 
annual basis, a TAL, which is composed of a commercial quota and a 
recreational harvest limit. The FMP also requires that: (1) the TAL for 
any given year be set based on the fishing mortality rate (F) resulting 
from the stock rebuilding schedule contained in the FMP, or the 
estimated F in the most recent fishing year, whichever is lower; and 
(2) a total of 17 percent of the TAL be allocated to the commercial 
fishery, as a quota, with the remaining 83 percent allocated as a 
recreational harvest limit, with the stipulation that if 17 percent of 
the TAL is less than 10.50 million lb (4.8 million kg) and the 
recreational fishery is not projected to land its harvest limit for the 
upcoming year, the commercial fishery may be allocated up to 10.50 
million lb (4.8 million kg) as its quota, provided that the combination 
of the projected recreational landings and the commercial quota does 
not exceed TAL.
    The Council's recommendations must include supporting 
documentation, as appropriate, concerning the environmental, economic, 
and social impacts of the recommendations. NMFS is responsible for 
reviewing these recommendations to ensure that they achieve the FMP 
objectives, and may modify them if they do not. NMFS then publishes 
proposed specifications in the Federal Register. After considering 
public comment, NMFS will publish final specifications in the Federal 
Register.

Proposed 2002 Specifications

Proposed TAL

    On August 9, 2001, the Council adopted specifications for the 2002 
Atlantic bluefish fishery. NMFS has reviewed documents submitted by the 
Council in support of its recommendation for the 2002 specifications 
and has found that the Council has complied with the FMP objectives and 
other applicable law. Therefore, NMFS is proposing to implement the 
Council's recommended specifications. For the 2002 fishery, the stock 
rebuilding program in the FMP would restrict F to 0.41. However, the 
2000 fishery produced an F of only 0.326. So, in accordance with the 
FMP, the TAL proposed for 2002 was set to achieve F=0.326. The 
resulting Total Allowable Catch (TAC) recommended by the Council and 
proposed by NMFS is 29.1 million lb (13.2 million kg). The TAL is 
calculated by deducting discards, estimated at 2.2 million lb (0.99 
million kg) for 2002, from the TAC. Therefore, the proposed TAL for 
2002 is 26.866 million lb (12.19 million kg).

Proposed Commercial Quota and Recreational Harvest Limit

    If the TAL for the 2002 fishery were allocated based on the 
percentages specified in the FMP, the commercial quota would be 4.567 
million lb (2.07 million kg) with a recreational harvest limit of 
22.299 million lb (10.12 million kg). However, actual recreational 
landings from the last several years were much lower than this 
allocation, ranging between 8.30 and 14.3 million lb (3.76 and 6.49 
million kg). There is no reason to expect that recreational landings in 
2002 will exceed this range from prior years. Thus, the recreational 
fishery is not projected to land a 22.299 million-lb (10.12 million kg) 
harvest limit in 2002. As such, the FMP and the implementing 
regulations authorize the specification of a commercial quota of up to 
10.5 million lb (4.76 million kg) for 2002. NMFS proposes to transfer 
5.933 million lb from the initial 2002 recreational allocation of 
22.299 million lb (10.12 million kg), resulting in 16.365 million lb 
(7.42 million kg) for the proposed 2002 recreational harvest limit and 
a proposed 2002 commercial quota of 10.5 million lb (4.76 million kg). 
The proposed 2002 commercial quota would be an increase from the 2001 
quota (9.58 million lb (4.35 million kg)) implemented by NMFS and the 
states under the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's 
(Commission) Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Bluefish. 
A recreational possession limit of 15 fish/person and a 2-percent TAL 
research set-aside are also proposed. The FMP allows the Council to set 
a bag limit of between 5 and 20 fish that would allow the recreational 
fishery to harvest an amount of fish that does not exceed the proposed 
harvest limit. From the implementation of the FMP in 1989, until 2001, 
the bag limit remained at 10 fish. In 2001, the Council determined that 
a 15-fish bag limit would increase recreational harvest by only 5 
percent when compared to the 10-fish bag limit. Since the recreational 
harvest is estimated to remain low relative to the recreational harvest 
limit, the Council has concluded that continuing the 15-fish bag limit 
is appropriate to protect the bluefish stock. Some or all of the 
research set-aside amount will be allocated if research proposals to 
utilize it are approved. A Request for Proposals was published to 
solicit proposals for 2002, based on research priorities identified by 
the Council (66 FR 38636, July 25, 2001, and 66 FR 45668, August 29, 
2001). The deadline for submission was September 14, 2001, and 
proposals are currently under review. If all of the bluefish research 
set-aside is allocated, the commercial quota would be 10.290 million lb 
(4.67 million kg) and the recreational harvest limit would be 16.038 
million lb (7.28 million kg). The quota set-asides, the commercial 
quota, and the recreational harvest limit will be adjusted in the final 
rule establishing the annual specifications for the bluefish fishery, 
if necessary, to reflect set-aside allocations to projects forwarded to 
the NOAA Grants Office for award. If the awards are not made for any 
reason, NMFS will publish a notification in the Federal Register to 
restore the unused set-aside amount to the annual commercial and 
recreational allocations.

Proposed State Commercial Allocations

    Proposed state commercial allocations for the recommended 2002 
commercial quotas are shown in the table below, based on the 
percentages specified in the FMP and subtracting the proposed 2-percent 
research set-aside.

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                                                                  2002         2002         2002         2002
                     State                        % of quota   Commercial   Commercial   Commercial   Commercial
                                                               Quota (lb)   Quota (kg)   Quota (lb)   Quota (kg)
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                                                                                           With 2 %     With 2 %
                                                                                           Research     Research
                                                                                         Set -Aside   Set -Aside
ME                                                    0.6685       70,193       31,839       68,789       31,202

[[Page 11278]]

 
NH                                                    0.4145       43,523       19,741       42,652       19,347
MA                                                    6.7167      705,254      319,898      691,148      313,500
RI                                                    6.8081      714,851      324,251      700,553      700,553
CT                                                    1.2663      132,962       60,310      130,302       59,104
NY                                                   10.3851    1,090,436      494,613    1,068,627      484,721
NJ                                                   14.8162    1,555,701      705,654    1,524,587      691,541
DE                                                    1.8782      197,211       89,453      193,267       87,664
MD                                                    3.0018      315,189      142,967      308,885      140,108
VA                                                   11.8795    1,247,348      565,787    1,222,401      554,472
NC                                                   32.0608    3,366,384    1,526,966    3,299,056    1,496,427
SC                                                    0.0352        3,696        1,676        3,622        1,643
GA                                                    0.0095          998          452          978          443
FL                                                   10.0597    1,056,269      479,115    1,035,143      469,533
Total                                               100.0000   10,500,000    4,762,720   10,290,000    4,667,465
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Classification

    This action is authorized by 50 CFR part 648 and has been 
determined to be not significant for purposes of Executive Order 12866.
    NMFS prepared an initial regulatory flexibility analysis that 
describes the economic impact 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 in the preamble and in the SUMMARY section of 
the preamble. A summary of the analysis follows
     The analysis considered three alternatives. Analysis of the 
Preferred Alternative examined the impacts on industry that would 
result from a TAL of 26.87 million lb (12.19 million kg), with 10.50 
million lb (4.76 million kg) allocated to the commercial sector of the 
fishery, which represents the maximum allowed under the FMP, and 16.37 
million lb (7.42 million kg) allocated to the recreational sector with 
a 15-fish possession limit. Analysis of Alternative 2 considered a TAL 
of 26.87 million lb (12.19 million kg) with a commercial allocation of 
4.57 million lb (2.07 million kg); 22.30 million lb (10.11 million kg) 
recreational; and a 15-fish recreational possession limit. Analysis of 
Alternative 3 considered a TAL of 26.87 million lb (12.19 million 
kg);9.58 million lb (4.35 million kg) commercial, which represents the 
commercial status quo ; 17.28 million lb (7.84 million kg) 
recreational; and a 15-fish possession limit.
    There is very little information available to empirically estimate 
how sensitive the affected party/charter boat anglers might be to the 
proposed fishing regulations. However, given the level of the 
recreational harvest limit for 2002 and recreational landings in recent 
years it is not anticipated that this management measure will affect 
the demand for party/charter boat trips. Given that the recreational 
harvest limit is over 61% higher than the 2000 landings, the possession 
limit is expected to increase angler satisfaction and is not expected 
to result in landings in excess of the recreational harvest limit.
     The analysis assumed that in the absence of cost data, gross 
revenue was a sufficient proxy for profitability. Furthermore, the 
analysis identified all participants as small entities; therefore, 
there are no negative effects on those small businesses from 
disproportionate competitiveness with large entities. Results of their 
analysis indicate that based on 2000 landings, on a coastwide basis, 
the Preferred Alternative would yield a 1.10-percent increase in 
revenue to the commercial sector, Alternative 2 would yield a 60.79 
percent decrease, and Alternative 3 would yield an 8.45 percent 
decrease.
     The Council, in analyzing the impacts of the three alternatives on 
fishermen in individual states, concluded that the increase in revenues 
under the Preferred Alternative and Alternative 3 would occur in all 
states except New York and North Carolina. Under Alternative 2, all 
states would show decreases in revenue. The Council's analysis was 
based on the FMP requirement that an overage of the quota for an 
individual state in 2001 be subtracted from the quota for that state in 
the following year. At the time the Council prepared their analysis, 
both New York and North Carolina had exceeded their quota, and the 
Council based their analysis on the premise that quotas would be 
reduced in these states for the 2002 fishery. The Council assumed that 
preexisting overages in 2001 could force reductions in available quota 
to the states of New York and North Carolina in 2002 at the rates of 
71.86 percent and 10.76 percent, respectively.
     The Council further indicated that under the Preferred Alternative 
and Alternative 3, the significantly negative economic impacts to the 
states of New York and North Carolina could easily be mitigated by a 
transfer of commercial quota from another state, as allowed under the 
FMP, making the impacts negligible. This was accomplished under the FMP 
for the 2001 fishery, thus, making their initial analysis regarding the 
impacts of 2001 overages on the 2002 fishery moot.
     In sum, in the absence of perfect information regarding transfers 
for the 2001 fishery, the Council offered 2 scenarios-- one with 
transfers, in which they concluded there would be negligible economic 
impacts, and one without transfers, in which they concluded that 
significantly negative economic impacts would occur due to the 
requirement to reduce 2002 quotas to account for 2001 overages. 
However, the Council did not take into account that fishermen in the 
states of North Carolina and New York have recorded landings in 2001 
that far exceed the proposed 2002 quotas for those States. This 
presents a quandary since it is uncertain as to whether transfers will 
take place in 2002 and if they do, to what extent those transfers will 
affect total 2002 landings. A comparison of actual 2001 state landings 
and the proposed 2002 state quotas and a discussion of their impacts is 
found below.
     New information gathered by NMFS has made it possible to more 
accurately predict economic impacts of the proposed 2002 specifications 
to New York and North Carolina by comparing actual 2001 landings to 
proposed 2002 state allocations of the bluefish TAL. The Council did 
not have complete 2001 landings data at the time it prepared its PREE.
     The Preferred Alternative of 10.50 million lb of bluefish TAL 
would

[[Page 11279]]

allocate 1,090,436 lb (494,613 kg) of bluefish to New York and 
3,366,384 lb (1,526,966 kg) to North Carolina. Actual 2001 landings 
amounted to 1,186,843 lb (538,495 kg) for New York and 3,584,627 lb 
(1,626,418 kg) for North Carolina. All other states landed less in 2001 
than their proposed 2002 allocation of the total bluefish TAL, and, 
therefore, would not be impacted.
     Under the assumption that 2002 allocations for New York and North 
Carolina represent harvest constraints to those fisheries, there would 
be an 8-percent reduction in bluefish revenues in New York and a 6-
percent reduction in North Carolina associated with the Preferred 
Alternative when compared to 2001 landings, 16 and 14-percent 
reductions associated with Alternative 3, and 60-and 59-percent 
reductions associated with Alternative 2. Under Alternative 2, even 
with transfers of quota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, and 
Massachusetts would show a significant decrease in revenues for a 
substantial number of vessels according to the PREE. Implicit in this 
analysis is the assumption that when a state's quota is reached and the 
fishery is closed, the state will not be able to take advantage of a 
transfer provision under the FMP that allows states that have a surplus 
quota to transfer a portion or all of that quota to a state that has or 
will reach its quota. The transfer provision was implemented by 
Amendment 1 to the FMP as a tool to mitigate the adverse economic 
effects of prematurely closing a fishery when surplus quota exists.
     The Council, in its analysis, was correct in assuming that it is 
highly unlikely that reductions in revenues would occur since 
allocations to the states can be adjusted inseason through transfers. 
Based on historical evidence, under the 2000 and 2001 bluefish 
fisheries, and, prior to 2000, under the Interstate Management Plan for 
Atlantic Bluefish, states have been cooperative in transferring 
commercial bluefish quota when needed by states running a deficit. In 
fact, to harvest more than their allotted quota, New York and North 
Carolina received 200,000 and 1,134,000 lb (90,744 and 514,599 kg) of 
quota in 2001, respectively, from states that had surpluses. Given that 
commercial coastwide landings have averaged 7.685 million lb (3.487 
million kg) for the years 1998 through 2001, and the 2002 proposed TAL 
is 10.500 million lb (4.768 million kg), the Council had a strong basis 
to assume that transfers will again take place in 2002, thus reducing 
impacts to vessels in New York and North Carolina or other states that 
may require additional quota to avoid a closure.
     For all three alternatives, the Council notes that there is very 
little information available to estimate how sensitive the affected 
party/charter boat anglers might be to the proposed fishing 
regulations. However, since the 2002 harvest limits are 61, 120, and 70 
percent greater than 2000 recreational harvest, it can be assumed that 
there would be no negative impacts on party/charterboats from the 2002 
specifications.

Estimate of the Number of Small Entities

    An active participant in the commercial sector was defined as being 
any vessel that reported having landed one or more lb of bluefish in 
the Dealer data during calendar year 2000. These data cover activity by 
unique vessels. Of the active vessels reported in 2000, 829 vessels 
landed bluefish from Maine to North Carolina. The Dealer data do not 
cover vessel activity in the South Atlantic. The Dealer data indicate 
that 126 federally permitted vessels landed bluefish in North Carolina 
in 2000. However, the North Carolina landings data for bluefish may be 
incomplete in this data system. Trip Ticket Report data indicate that 
1,088 vessels landed bluefish in North Carolina in 2000 (Lees Sabo, 
North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries, pers. comm., 2001). Some 
of these vessels may be included in the 126 vessels identified as 
landing bluefish in the Dealer data. As such, double counting is 
possible. In addition, 136 vessels landed bluefish in Florida's east 
coast in 1999. Bluefish landings in South Carolina and Georgia are 
negligible compared to the total bluefish landing along the Atlantic 
coast in 2000. As such, it was assumed there was no vessel activity for 
those two states. In addition, it was estimated that in recent years 
approximately 2,063 party/charter vessels may have been active and/or 
caught bluefish.

Alternatives which Minimize any Significant Economic Impact of the 
Proposed Rule on Small Entities

    The Council and NMFS included a provision in the FMP that would 
minimize economic impacts to vessels in states that faced closure by 
allowing a transfer of quota within the coastwide allocation. However, 
under certain circumstances where state surplus quotas are not 
available, there are no alternatives to mitigate significant economic 
impact. It is more likely that this scenario would occur under 
Alternative 2 where the coastwide and state quotas are less than half 
the proposed quotas. The Preferred Alternative provides a commercial 
coastwide quota that would not put constraints on total landings based 
on previous years' total landings, thus allowing for transfers to take 
place. Also, the Preferred Alternative provides a recreational harvest 
limit that exceeds previous years' recreational harvest.
    Thus, the Preferred Alternative offers the best opportunity for 
minimizing any negative impact on small entities.
    This action is not controversial. This proposed rule does not 
contain any collection-of-information, reporting, or recordkeeping 
requirements. It will not duplicate, overlap, or conflict with any 
other Federal rules.

    Dated: March 7, 2002.
Rebecca Lent
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 02-6070 Filed 3-12-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S