[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 25 (Thursday, February 6, 2003)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 6088-6090]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-2798]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 021101264-3016-02; I.D. 101802D]
RIN 0648-AQ33


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Herring 
Fishery

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

ACTION:  Final rule, 2003 specifications.

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SUMMARY:  NMFS announces final specifications for the 2003 Atlantic 
herring fishery. There are two changes from the 2002 specifications 
approved by NMFS for the 2003 fishery: A transfer of 10,000 mt from 
Area 2 total allowable catch (TAC) reserve to the Area 3 TAC resulting 
in an Area 3 TAC of 60,000 mt and an Area 2 TAC reserve of 70,000 mt; 
and a restriction on U.S. at-sea processing (USAP) vessels to fish in 
Areas 2 and 3, only. The intent of this final rule is to promote the 
development and conservation of the Atlantic herring resource.

DATES:  Effective February 6, 2003, through December 31, 2003.

ADDRESSES:  Copies of supporting documents, including the Environmental 
Assessment (EA) and Regulatory Impact Review (RIR), Final Regulatory 
Flexibility Analysis (FRFA), and the Stock Assessment and Fishery 
Evaluation (SAFE) Report for the 2001 Atlantic Herring Fishing Year are 
available from Patricia A. Kurkul, Regional Administrator, Northeast 
Regional Office, NMFS, One Blackburn Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930-2298. 
The EA/RIR/FRFA/SAFE are accessible via the Internet at http://www. 
nero.nmfs.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  Paul H. Jones, Fishery Policy 
Analyst, 978-281-9273, fax 978-281-9135, e-mail [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Regulations implementing the Atlantic 
Herring Fishery Management Plan (FMP) require 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

[[Page 6089]]

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), USAP, border transfer (BT), total 
allowable level of foreign fishing (TALFF), and reserve (if any). The 
PDT and PRT also recommend the total allowable catch (TAC) for each 
management area and subarea 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. To the extent that these 
recommendations are adopted by NMFS, they serve as the basis for the 
allocations.
    Proposed 2003 initial specifications were published on November 15, 
2002 (67 FR 69181). Public comments were accepted through December 16, 
2002. The final specifications are unchanged from those that were 
proposed.

2003 Final Initial Specifications

    The following table contains the final initial specifications for 
the 2003 Atlantic herring fishery.

Final Specifications and Area TACs for the 2003 Atlantic Herring Fishery
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                        Final Allocation
                    Specification                             (mt)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
ABC..................................................            300,000
OY...................................................            250,000
DAH..................................................            250,000
DAP..................................................            226,000
JVPt.................................................             20,000
JVP..................................................             10,000
                                                           (Area 2 and 3
                                                                   only)
IWP..................................................             10,000
USAP.................................................             20,000
                                                           (Area 2 and 3
                                                                   only)
BT...................................................              4,000
TALFF................................................                  0
Reserve..............................................                  0
TAC-Area 1A..........................................             60,000
TAC-Area 1B..........................................             10,000
TAC-Area 2...........................................             50,000
                                                           (Area 2 and 3
                                                                   only)
TAC-Area 3...........................................             60,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    There are two changes from the specifications approved by NMFS for 
the 2002 fishery: A transfer of 10,000 mt from the Area 2 TAC reserve 
to the Area 3 TAC resulting in an Area 3 TAC of 60,000 mt and an Area 2 
TAC reserve of 70,000 mt; and a restriction on USAP vessels to fish in 
Areas 2 and 3 only. A complete discussion of the development of these 
changes appears in the recommendations from the Council and the 
preamble to the proposed rule and is not repeated here.

Comments and Responses

    Three members of the public submitted comments on the proposed 
specifications. One of the three commenters submitted general comments 
about Atlantic herring management, which is not the subject of this 
rulemaking and will not be responded to here .
    Comment 1: One commenter supported the proposed restriction of USAP 
activity from Area 1, the proposed increase in Area 3 TAC, and the 
proposed USAP specification of 20,000 mt.
    Response 1: This final rule implements the proposed measures.
    Comment 2: One commenter opposed restricting USAP activity to Areas 
2 and 3. He argued USAP should be allowed throughout the management 
area and that allowing USAP vessels in the area provides fishing 
opportunities for vessels that lack refrigerated sea water and holding 
tanks needed to deliver fish to shore.
    Response 2: There are no expected biological impacts on the 
Atlantic herring stock from restricting potential USAP vessel activity 
to Areas 2 and 3. If a USAP vessel has the opportunity to operate in or 
near Area 1 at a lower cost (for fuel, maintenance, or other 
operational expenses) than it would incur from fishing in Area 2 or 3, 
and it is restricted from doing so, then the economic profitability of 
the USAP vessel would be reduced. However, there has been no USAP 
activity, so such concern is hypothetical at this time. The prohibition 
on harvesting Area 1 fish for delivery to USAP vessels would leave more 
fish available to shoreside processors and bait dealers operating on 
the coasts of Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts, the three states 
that border Area 1A (the inshore portion of Area 1). The quota in Area 
1A was taken prior to the end of both the 2000 and 2001 fishing years, 
and the period 1 (January through June) quota implemented in 2002 was 
taken by April. Therefore, based on recent fishing activity in Area 1, 
restricting USAP activity from Area 1 seems to result in net benefits 
to the fishery.
    As a result, the Council recommended, and NMFS is implementing, the 
restriction of USAP activity from Area 1.

Classification

    This final rule has been determined to be not significant for 
purposes of E.O. 12866.
    This action establishes TACs and related management measures for 
the Atlantic herring fishery. If implementation of the TACs and other 
management measures is delayed, NMFS will be prevented from carrying 
out its function of preventing overfishing of the species. The Atlantic 
herring fishery will begin making landings on January 1, 2003. If a 
delay in effectiveness is required, and a quota were to be harvested 
during a delayed effectiveness period, the lack of effective quota 
specifications would prevent NMFS from closing the fishery. Of 
particular concern would be the impact if the Area 1A TAC allocated for 
the period January-June is overharvested. NMFS must close Area 1A when 
95 percent of the TAC allocated to the first seasonal period is reached 
or exceeded. The quota in Area 1A was taken prior to the end of the 
2000, 2001, and 2002 fishing years. The Period 1 quota for 2002 was 
taken earlier (April) than in 2001, and that trend might continue in 
2003. If Period 1 is not closed prior to reaching 95 percent of the TAC 
allocated to this period, then there would be distributional effects on 
the fishery for the remainder of the fishing year and would likely 
reduce economic gains for some of the industry participants who 
traditionally harvest Atlantic herring in Area 1A during Period 2 (June 
through December). Therefore, the Assistant Administrator for 
Fisheries, NOAA, finds good cause under 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3) to waive the 
30-day delayed effectiveness period for the quotas and other management 
measures.
    NMFS prepared a FRFA for this action. The FRFA includes a summary 
of the analyses in support of these specifications. A copy of the FRFA 
is available from NMFS (see ADDRESSES).

[[Page 6090]]

 A summary of the FRFA, which includes the IRFA and applicable sections 
of the 2003 specifications package, follows:
    The reasons why this action is being taken by the agency, and the 
objectives of this final rule are explained in the preamble to the 
proposed rule and are not repeated here. This action does not contain 
any collection-of-information, reporting, recordkeeping, or other 
compliance requirements. This action is taken under authority of the 
Magnuson-Stevens Act and regulations at 50 CFR part 648.
    Three comments were submitted on the proposed rule, but none of 
them were specific to the initial regulatory flexibility analysis. 
However, one individual commented on the economic impacts of the 
measures on the fishing industry; NMFS has responded to the comment 
(Comment 2) in the Comments and Responses section of the preamble to 
this final rule. No changes were made to the final rule as a result of 
the comments received.
    All of the affected businesses (fishing vessels and dealers) are 
considered small entities under the standards described in NMFS 
guidelines because they have profits that do not exceed $3 million 
annually. The last full year of data available for the Atlantic herring 
fishery is for 2001. There were 146 vessels, 6 processors, and 190 
dealers participating in the fishery in 2001. Given that vessels caught 
less than half the OY in 2001, the status quo OY should not result in a 
negative economic impact on the revenues of vessels, producer surplus, 
or consumer surplus.
    The increase in the Area 3 TAC from 50,000 to 60,000 mt, and 
concomitant decrease in the Area 2 TAC reserve from 80,000 to 70,000 
mt, should have a positive impact on vessels and processors. Landings 
from Area 3 increased from 12,884 mt in 2000 to 34,510 mt in 2001. The 
Council thus sought to provide additional opportunity for the industry 
to increase its activity in Area 3. The Council did not consider 
transferring any TAC from Area 1 because that is the area in which the 
fishery has historically concentrated its activity. In fact, in 2001, 
landings from Area 1A and Area 1B totaled 68,130 mt, nearly attaining 
the combined TAC for both areas of 70,000 mt. Landings from Area 2 in 
2001 were only 15,388 mt out of a combined Area 2 TAC and Area 2 TAC 
Reserve of 120,000 mt. Thus, the transfer of 10,000 mt from the Reserve 
will still leave a substantial amount of TAC for the fishery to expand 
its activity in Area 2. If the TAC transfer is fully utilized, an 
additional 10,000 mt would produce additional revenues of $1.2M 
(assuming $120/mt) to vessels and a proportionate increase in profits 
to processors.
    As noted above, landings from Area 1 in 2001 neared the total TAC 
for the area. The Council was concerned that future USAP activity, if 
allowed in Area 1, would have a negative impact on firms that have 
historically harvested Area 1 fish for sale to shoreside processors. If 
the Area 1 TACs were attained, harvesting vessels that sell their catch 
to shoreside processors would have to fish farther offshore, increasing 
their operating costs and potentially reducing their profitability. The 
economic impact on USAP vessels from the prohibition on receiving fish 
harvested in Areas 1A and 1B cannot be directly measured since there is 
no history of over-the-side purchases upon which to base economic 
impacts.
    The Council considered a Committee recommendation to reduce USAP by 
5,000 mt, but rejected it based on comments that a vessel may enter the 
fishery in 2003 that could fully utilize the 20,000 mt specification. 
The reduction of the specification to 15,000 mt would reduce potential 
profits of USAP operations when compared to the status quo 
specification of 20,000 mt, although as yet, no part of USAP has been 
utilized.

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

    Dated: January 30, 2003.
Rebecca Lent,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 03-2798 Filed 1-31-03; 3:43 pm]
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