[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 66 (Friday, April 5, 2002)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 16359-16362]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-8189]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 622

[Docket No. 020325070-2070-01; I.D. 031202B]
RIN 0648-AP82


Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; 
Shrimp Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico; Suspension of the 2002 Texas 
Closure

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

ACTION: Proposed rule; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the framework procedure contained in the 
Fishery Management Plan for the Shrimp Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico 
(FMP), NMFS proposes to suspend, for the 2002 fishing year, the 
seasonal prohibition of shrimp trawling in the exclusive economic zone 
(EEZ) off Texas (the Texas closure). This action would enable fishermen 
to harvest marketable-sized shrimp from an area that would otherwise be 
closed. The intended effect of this action is to increase revenues to 
the shrimping industry and to mitigate short-term adverse impacts 
associated with additional closures of state waters off Texas.

DATES: Comments must be received no later than 4:30 p.m., eastern 
standard time, on April 22, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Written comments on the proposed rule should be sent to Dr. 
Steven Branstetter, Southeast Regional Office, NMFS, 9721 Executive 
Center Drive N., St. Petersburg, FL 33702. Comments also may be sent 
via fax to 727-570-5583. Comments will not be accepted if submitted via 
e-mail or Internet.
    Requests for copies of the environmental assessment, regulatory 
impact review (RIR), and initial regulatory flexibility analysis (IRFA) 
should be sent to the same address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Steve Branstetter, telephone: 727-
570-5305, fax: 727-570-5583, e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The fishery for shrimp in the Gulf of Mexico 
EEZ is managed under the FMP. The FMP was prepared by the Gulf of 
Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council), approved by NMFS, and 
implemented under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 
Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) by regulations 
at 50 CFR part 622.

Background

    Under the FMP, the Texas closure was established as part of a 
cooperative closure with the State of Texas that also involves the 
seasonal closure of Texas' state waters to trawling. The Texas closure 
is established by regulations at 50 CFR 622.34(h) to be from 30 minutes 
after official sunset on May 15 to 30 minutes after official sunset on 
July 15, each year. During that time frame, trawling (except for 
trawling for royal red shrimp beyond the 100-fathom (183-m) contour) is 
prohibited in the EEZ off Texas. In accordance with the FMP, the NMFS 
Southeast Regional Administrator (RA) may adjust the closing and/or 
opening date of the Texas closure, but the closure may not exceed 90 
days nor be less than 45 days. Additionally, the framework procedures 
established in the FMP, and modified in Amendment 5 in 1991, provide 
the RA with the opportunity, after determining that benefits may be 
increased or adverse impacts decreased, to either: (1) modify the 
geographical scope of the extent of the Texas closure, or (2) eliminate 
the Texas closure for one season.
    The intent behind the cooperative closures off Texas, in both state 
and Federal waters, has been to enhance yield in the fishery by 
deferring the harvest of shrimp until they reach a larger, more 
valuable size. In all years that cooperative seasonal closures have 
been implemented off Texas, simulation analyses have demonstrated a 
resulting increase in yield per recruit, thus meeting the Council's 
objectives of enhancing economic value to the shrimp fishery. However, 
over time, several other regulations have been implemented that, 
according to the shrimp industry, have reduced the benefits (and need 
for) the Texas closure.
    The State of Texas recently prohibited shrimping at certain times, 
within a large area of its territorial waters. The Northern Shrimp 
Zone, extending from Corpus Christi Pass (27 deg.40'34" N. lat.) to the 
Louisiana state boundary, is closed year-round to night-time shrimping 
within 5 nautical miles of the coastline, and it is also closed during 
the day from December 1 through February 15 within 5 nautical miles of 
the coastline. The Southern Shrimp Zone, extending south from Corpus 
Christi Pass (27 deg.40'34" N. lat.) to the Mexican border and within 5 
nautical miles of the coastline, is closed year-round to all night-time 
shrimp trawling, and from December 1 through May 15, the area is 
entirely closed to shrimp trawling. Brown and pink shrimp are fished by 
trawling at night; thus, the year-round nighttime closures preclude 
brown shrimp fishing in the nearshore Texas waters. Pink shrimp are 
only found off southern Texas, and more commonly occur in nearshore 
waters; thus, the nighttime closure entirely eliminates the pink shrimp 
fishery from Texas waters. The daytime closure of the Northern Shrimp 
Zone from December 1 through February 15 and the Southern Shrimp Zone 
closure from December 1 through May 15 also restrict the fishery from 
harvesting white shrimp that are found in nearshore waters during that 
time frame. Texas implemented these closures to protect shrimp stocks, 
with an ancillary benefit of reducing shrimp trawler interactions with 
endangered sea turtles, especially Kemp's Ridley sea turtles, which are 
known to frequent this area. These closures, in combination with the 
complete closure of Texas territorial waters from May 15 through July 
15, result in much of Texas' state waters being closed to shrimping 
from December 1 through July 15. Should the Federal 200-nautical mile 
Texas closure be imposed from May 15 through July 15, shrimp vessels 
would be effectively excluded from fishing in an even greater portion 
of the western Gulf of Mexico between May 15 and July 15.

Analysis and Justification

    At its January meeting each year, the Council reviews the results 
(e.g., benefits and impacts) of the Texas closure for the preceding 
year. At its January 2002 meeting, the Council received public 
testimony identifying several issues regarding the Texas closure. The 
Council heard testimony that there is now a surplus of large-sized 
shrimp (26-30 and 31-35 count-per-pound tails) in cold storage and that 
imports of shrimp into Texas had increased substantially in 2001 to 775 
million lb (352 million kg) compared to 620 million lb (281 million kg) 
in 2000. Thus, there is a lesser demand and price for larger shrimp, 
and a greater opportunity for the industry to market their catch if the 
shrimp are a smaller size. Participants in the shrimp fishery indicated 
that the economic impacts imposed by other state-mandated closures off 
Texas would be exacerbated by an additional closure of the EEZ off 
Texas, which would result in the capture of even more large shrimp. 
Therefore, the industry would prefer to suspend the Texas closure for 
2002, and

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have the opportunity to harvest smaller shrimp.

Biological and Fishery Impacts

    The distribution of shrimp catch from Texas offshore waters to 
various ports throughout the Gulf of Mexico has not significantly 
changed since 1977. For Texas, lower Texas ports land approximately 35 
percent of the shrimp, followed by middle Texas ports at 30 percent, 
and upper Texas ports land about 20 percent of the shrimp; the 
remainder of Texas-caught shrimp are landed in other states. This 
relationship has held true during full 200-nautical mile closures 
(1981-1985 and 1989-2001) and during 15-nautical mile closures (1986-
1988). During 2001, about 86 percent of the shrimp taken from Texas 
waters (statistical zones 18-21) were landed at Texas ports. Similarly, 
for the May through August period, the landings in both Texas and 
Louisiana have remained constant, with an average of about 33 percent 
of all shrimp landings occurring in Texas and 47 percent of all 
landings occurring in Louisiana.
    Penaeid shrimp resources in the Gulf of Mexico are not overfished 
nor is overfishing occurring. Brown shrimp are, in general, an annual 
crop. The size of the stock and recruitment are more likely influenced 
by natural environmental factors (temperature, salinity, rainfall) than 
by fishing mortality. Previous NMFS' studies concluded that seasonal 
and area closures do not diminish overall effort; such closures defer 
or redirect effort where target and bycatch species are still 
vulnerable to the gear. These studies documented that shrimp effort 
reduction due to the 200-nautical mile closure versus the 15-nautical 
mile closures implemented in the late 1980s was less than 3 percent.
    In evaluating the differences between a full 200-nautical mile 
closure and the 15-nautical mile closures of 1986-1988, NMFS concluded 
that any increases in catch-per-unit effort that were shown during the 
initial full closure years (1981-1985) were lost during the limited 
closure years. Thus, the potential increase in harvest of larger shrimp 
was exchanged for access to offshore waters in May and June during 
those 3 years.
    Thus, the RA has determined that the proposed action would not 
impact the stocks of target and non-target species. The species that 
are vulnerable to the fishery have distributional ranges that encompass 
areas much broader than the EEZ off Texas, and, thus, fishing mortality 
on the various stocks would remain relatively constant.

Economic and Social Impacts

    Assuming 1996-2000 conditions persist in the fishery for the 2002 
fishing season, the suspension of the Texas closure in the EEZ is 
forecast to result in a net increase of approximately $15-$19 million 
in discounted total producer surplus, defined as total revenues minus 
total variable costs, for the 2002 fishing season of the Gulf of Mexico 
shrimp fishery. Total harvest and revenues are forecast to decline, 
consistent with the intent of the original closure, i.e., that the 
closure would allow larger shrimp to be harvested, producing greater 
revenues. The reverse, therefore, would be expected upon forgoing the 
closure. However, producer surplus increases even though revenues 
decline because of a redistribution of benefits within the fishery. 
Over the course of the entire year and over the entire Gulf of Mexico, 
catches shift toward mid-depth waters (0-10 fathoms)(0-18.3 m) and away 
from deeper waters (>10 fathoms)(>18.3 m), resulting from increased 
participation by smaller boats and decreased participation by larger 
boats. Since fishing effort by smaller boats is less costly than that 
of larger boats, variable costs decline. The reduction in variable 
costs is more than sufficient to compensate for the lost revenues; 
hence, the increase in industry producer surplus.
    The suspension of the 2002 Texas closure is projected to increase 
full-time equivalent (FTE) vessels by approximately 2,800. This number, 
however, does not represent actual individual vessels and instead 
represent a standardized unit of effort necessary to run the projection 
model. The increase indicates that core participating vessels in the 
fishery will have the opportunity to increase their level of 
participation (become less part time).
    The effects of suspending the closure in the EEZ on consumer prices 
is unknown due to the absence of suitable price models. The action is 
projected to affect dockside (ex-vessel) prices by 1-3 percent.
    The increased participation opportunities by small boats will 
enhance employment opportunities for this sector and associated 
industries. From a crew-day perspective (days fished times the average 
number of crew per vessel), the small vessel fleet will gain 
approximately 119,000 crew-day opportunities (57,000 fishing days times 
2.1 crew/day) as a result of not implementing the closure (under the 
100-percent large shrimp price scenario). The converse, of course, will 
be true for the large boats. Although the shrimp fishery overall is 
dominated by small boats, since the large boats carry more crew per 
vessel, total crew-day opportunities in the large vessel fleet have 
exceeded those in the small vessel fleet under the closure. Allowing 
the EEZ off Texas to remain open would be expected to reduce large 
vessel crew-day opportunities by approximately 219,000 days (62,500 
days times 3.5 crew/day). Significant income may accrue to these large 
vessel participants since they are typically paid as a percentage of 
gross revenues. The net outcome of the small vessel gains and large 
vessel losses on employment opportunities is unknown, though the 
preponderance of small vessels would suggest that the small vessel 
fishery employs more individuals, and the net effect of allowing the 
EEZ off Texas to remain open would be fewer individuals seeking other 
employment when not shrimping. Potential enhanced employment 
opportunities and increased producer surplus should enhance community 
structures associated with the shrimp fishery. Regional variances are 
likely to occur.

Effects on Endangered and Threatened Species and Marine Mammals

    The expected change in fishing patterns by allowing the EEZ off 
Texas to remain open are unlikely to alter significantly the impact of 
the fishery on endangered species. Five species of sea turtle species 
are known to occur in the area (Kemp's ridley, loggerhead, green, 
hawksbill, and leatherback). Previous NMFS studies indicate turtle 
interactions are low in the offshore waters of the western Gulf of 
Mexico, and because state waters off Texas will continue to be closed, 
protection would still be afforded to turtles where they are more 
commonly encountered in nearshore areas. Amendment 9 to the FMP 
contains detailed summaries of the section 7 consultations and 
biological opinions that have been issued for the shrimp fishery in the 
Gulf of Mexico since 1980. These consultations and opinions generally 
concluded that the management actions that have affected the shrimp 
fishery were not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of any 
endangered species. An informal section 7 consultation on this proposed 
rule concluded that the proposed 1-year suspension of the Texas closure 
in the EEZ is not likely to change the level of interaction of the 
shrimp fishery with listed species and, therefore, does not change the 
basis for the no-jeopardy conclusion of the existing biological opinion 
prepared on March 24, 1998. NMFS will prepare a biological opinion on a 
final turtle excluder device (TED)

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rule considering the likely effects of that rule and the latest 
information on the status of listed species. While that major 
consultation for the shrimp fishery is ongoing, approval of this 
proposed action would not constitute an irretrievable or irreversible 
commitment of resources that would affect the formulation of any 
reasonable and prudent alternative measures in that consultation.

Classification

    This proposed rule has been determined to be not significant for 
purposes of Executive Order 12866.
    NMFS prepared an IRFA, based on the RIR, that describes the 
economic impact this proposed rule, if adopted, would have on small 
entities. A summary of the IRFA follows.
    The Magnuson-Stevens Act provides the statutory basis for the rule. 
The proposed rule would suspend, for 2002, the regulations at 50 CFR 
622.34(h) that establish the annual (i.e. closure to shrimp trawling in 
the EEZ off Texas), Texas closure. The objective of the proposed rule 
is to increase the opportunity of the fishery to achieve greater 
profits from the increased marketability of smaller shrimp.
    The objective and legal basis of this proposed rule are described 
in the preamble of this document.
    Modeling results indicate that suspension of the Texas closure for 
the 2002 fishing season is expected to increase producer surplus, 
defined as total revenues minus total variable costs, for the Gulf of 
Mexico shrimp fishery by $15-$19 million, consistent with industry 
expectations. Although days fished, pounds landed, and total revenues 
will decline as a result of the suspension, the suspension will 
redistribute benefits within the fishery. Catches shift toward mid-
depth waters (0-10 fathoms, 0-18.3m) and away from deeper waters (>10 
fathoms, >18.3 m), resulting from increased participation by smaller 
boats and decreased participation by larger boats. Since fishing effort 
by smaller boats is less costly than that of larger boats, variable 
costs decline. Fishing opportunities for small vessels increase such 
that total variable costs for the fishery decline sufficient to produce 
the net increase in producer surplus. Full-time equivalent (FTE), which 
is a standardized vessel unit, vessel numbers for all size classes will 
increase by 2,600-2,800. However, this increase is composed of a 3,600-
3,900 increase in FTE vessels for the small vessel sector, and a 1,000-
1,100 decrease in FTE vessels for the large vessel sector. Fishing days 
decline overall, but the small vessel fleet is projected to experience 
a 51,000-57,000 increase in fishing days, while the large vessel fleet 
is projected to experience a 56,000-63,000 decline in fishing days. 
Estimates of FTE vessels and fishing days, however, represent 
standardized units, as firm-level statistics cannot be estimated due to 
data limitations and the structural arrangements of the model employed.
    Generally, a fish-harvesting business is considered a small 
business if it is independently owned and operated and not dominant in 
its field of operation, and if it has annual receipts not in excess of 
$3.5 million. Approximately 18,000 fishing craft, over all size 
categories, participate in the Gulf of Mexico shrimp fishery. More 
direct effects as a result of the proposed action might be expected to 
accrue to those craft recorded in some manner as located in or fishing 
off Texas and Louisiana, due to the geographic proximity to the waters 
in question. These craft number in excess of 10,000. An additional 
unknown number of large vessels from other states are known to 
traditionally fish off Texas whenever the closure is lifted. The 
average gross revenues for all shrimp craft has been estimated at 
approximately $82,000 (1999 dollars), with a one standard deviation 
range of $16,000 to $425,000. Average annual revenues by vessel length 
were reported at $4,000 for vessels less than 25 feet (7.6 m), $23,000 
for vessels between 25 and 50 feet (7.6 m and 15.2 m) and, $198,000 for 
vessels greater than 50 feet (15.2 m). By homeport state, the average 
annual revenues for Gulf of Mexico shrimp vessels were $112,000 for 
Alabama, $106,000 for Florida, $9,000 for Louisiana, $45,000 for 
Mississippi, and $192,000 for Texas. All of these operations would be 
considered small business entities. Thus, business operations operating 
in this fishery consist solely of small business entities.
    Total producer surplus, defined as total revenue minus total 
variable costs and used as a proxy for profit, for the whole fishery is 
projected to increase for the 2002 fishing season as a result of the 
proposed action and all vessel operations in the fishery are considered 
small business entities. However, differential impacts occur by vessel 
size category, with the small vessel sector (vessels less than 60 ft 
(18.3 m) in length) experiencing an increase in producer surplus/
profits, while the large vessel sector (vessels greater than 60 ft 
(18.3 m) in length) experiences a decline. While total producer 
surplus/profits for the small vessel fleet is expected to increase, 
that of the large vessel sector is projected to decline from $101 
million under status quo closure to $71 million under the proposed 
action. On the assumption that a stable population of vessels, allowing 
for a natural flow of vessels to enter and exit the fishery each year, 
constitutes the core of the fleet and that this core equals 3,500 
vessels, average producer surplus/profits for the large vessel fleet 
would decline from approximately $28,900 to approximately $20,300, a 
decrease of $8,600 per vessel, or 30 percent. Although the precise 
number in this core is unknown, the use of an alternative number would 
preserve this rate of reduction since the number of vessels is not 
intrinsic to the determination of producer surplus.
    Two alternatives to the proposed rule have been considered. One 
alternative would allow status quo operation of the fishery. The second 
alternative would decrease the geographic extent of the closure. 
Maintenance of the status quo would forego the impacts the proposed 
action would impose on the large vessel fleet, but would preserve the 
foregone producer surplus and FTE vessel opportunities for small 
business entities and the projected net benefit the fishery as a whole 
is projected to receive. The second alternative would substantially 
mitigate, but not eliminate, the negative impacts the proposed action 
would impose on the large vessel fleet. The decline in producer surplus 
for the large vessel sector would be reduced from $31 million relative 
to the status quo to approximately $2 million, or approximately 2 
percent per core vessel. Similar to the status quo, however, this 
alternative would substantially forego the potential increased benefits 
to the small vessel fleet and the fishery as a whole associated with 
the proposed rule.
    This proposed rule would not duplicate, overlap or conflict with 
any other Federal Rule.
    Copies of the IRFA and RIR are available (see ADDRESSES).

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 622

    Fisheries, Fishing, Puerto Rico, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements, Virgin Islands.

    Dated: March 29, 2002.
Rebecca Lent,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.

    For the reasons set out in the preamble, 50 CFR part 622 is 
proposed to be amended as follows:

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PART 622--FISHERIES OF THE CARIBBEAN, GULF, AND SOUTH ATLANTIC

    1. The authority citation for part 622 continues to read as 
follows:

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


Sec. 622.34  [Amended]

    2. Effective May 15, 2002, through July 15, 2002, in Sec. 622.34, 
paragraph (h) is suspended.
[FR Doc. 02-8189 Filed 4-4-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S