[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 41 (Monday, March 3, 2003)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 9967-9968]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-4886]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 600

[Docket No. 030128024-3024-01; I.D. 121002A]
RIN 0648-AQ63


Fisheries of the United States; National Standard 1

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

ACTION: Advance notice of proposed rulemaking; consideration of 
revision to national standard 1 guidelines; extension of comment 
period.

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SUMMARY: NMFS extends the public comment period on an advanced notice 
of proposed rulemaking that announces that the agency is considering 
revisions to the national standard guidelines for national standard 1 
that specify criteria for determining overfishing and establishing 
rebuilding schedules. Because the scientific community, fisheries 
managers, the fishing industry, and environmental groups expressed 
concern about the appropriateness of some aspects of national standard 
1 guidelines, particularly in light of new issues arising from 
rebuilding programs that have been underway for several years, this 
action solicits public input on the effectiveness and appropriateness 
of the these guidelines in complying with the requirements of the 
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-
Stevens Act).

DATES: Comment period is extended from March 17, 2003, to April 16, 
2003.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to Mr. John H. Dunnigan, Director, 
Office of Sustainable Fisheries, Room 13362, 1315 East-West Highway, 
Silver Spring, MD 20910; or faxed to 301-713-1193. Comments will not be 
accepted if submitted via e-mail or Internet.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mark R. Millikin, at 301-713-2341 or 
via e-mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The preamble of the advance notice of 
proposed rulemaking (ANPR)(68 FR 7492, February 14, 2003) is 
republished here in its entirety for the convenience of the public. 
This action extends the public comment period of the ANPR another 30 
days, from March 17, 2003, to April 16, 2003.
    National standard 1 reads, ``Conservation and management measures 
shall prevent overfishing while achieving, on a continuing basis, the 
optimum yield from each fishery for the United States fishing 
industry.'' In 1996, the Sustainable Fisheries Act (SFA) amended the 
Magnuson-Stevens Act (16 U.S.C. 1801, et seq.) to, among other things, 
provide definitions for ``overfishing'' and modify the definition of 
``optimum yield.'' The Magnuson-Stevens Act, in section 303(a)(10), now 
requires each fishery management plan (FMP) to ``specify objective and 
measurable criteria for identifying when the fishery to which the FMP 
applies is overfished.'' In addition, section 304(e) specifies 
requirements for rebuilding overfished fisheries. The revised national 
standard guidelines, including national standard 1, were proposed at 62 
FR 41907, August 4, 1997, and published as final guidelines at 63 FR 
24212, May 1, 1998.
    As they currently exist, the national standard 1 guidelines provide 
definitions and require determination, to the extent possible, of 
maximum sustainable yield (MSY), or an acceptable surrogate; 
specification of status determination criteria including a maximum 
fishing mortality threshold and a minimum stock size threshold; ending 
overfishing and rebuilding overfished stocks; and specification of 
optimum yield (OY) in fisheries.
    In response to the SFA, these national standard guidelines were 
implemented in 1998, over 5 years ago. Since that time, we have 
developed new perspectives, new issues, and new problems regarding 
their application. Concerns that have been identified for possible 
revision include, but are not limited to, the following:
    1. The definition and use of the minimum stock size threshold 
(MSST) for determining when a stock is

[[Page 9968]]

overfished. There has been considerable discussion about the utility of 
the concept of MSST, the definition of MSST contained in the 
guidelines, difficulties in estimating the MSST (especially in data-
poor situations), and identifying appropriate proxies for MSST.
    2. Calculation of rebuilding targets appropriate to the prevailing 
environmental regime. Currently, the guidelines do not address how 
rebuilding targets should accommodate changing environmental 
conditions. Rebuilding rates based upon current stock productivity may 
be inconsistent with rebuilding targets based upon historical stock 
productivity when there are persistent, long-term changes in 
environmental conditions.
    3. Calculation of maximum permissible rebuilding times for 
overfished fisheries. The SFA established a maximum allowable 10-year 
rebuilding time for a fishery, except where the biology of the fish 
will not allow it or the fishery is managed under an international 
agreement. If the minimum time for a fishery to rebuild is 10 years or 
greater, the maximum allowable rebuilding time under the guidelines 
becomes the time to rebuild in the absence of any fishing mortality, 
plus one mean generation time. This has created a discontinuity where 
the difference in allowable rebuilding times between a stock with a 
minimum rebuilding time of 9 years and another stock with a minimum 
rebuilding time of 11 years, may be several decades in the case of 
long-lived species. This results in the need for much more restrictive 
management measures in the first case compared to the second, even 
though there is not much difference between them in terms of rebuilding 
potential.
    4. The definitions of overfishing as they relate to a fishery as a 
whole or a stock of fish within that fishery. There are currently over 
900 fish stocks identified for the purpose of determining their status 
with regard to overfishing, many of which are caught in small amounts 
and whose status is unknown. Combining assessments and status 
determination criteria for assemblages of minor stocks may make more 
sense biologically and economically than attempting to assess and 
manage them one by one. Further guidance is needed on the most 
ecologically sound and economically expedient ways to manage these 
fisheries.
    5. Procedures to follow when rebuilding plans require revision 
after initiation, especially with regard to modification of the 
rebuilding time frame. The guidelines do not currently address what to 
do when observed rebuilding rates are greater or lower than expected or 
when new assessments change estimates of rebuilding targets or other 
parameters.
    NMFS solicits input from the public regarding: (1) whether or not 
the national standard 1 guidelines should be revised and (2) if 
revisions are desired, what parts of the national standard 1 guidelines 
should be revised, how they should be revised, and why. NMFS will use 
the information in determining whether to proceed with a revision to 
the existing guidelines, and if so, the issues to be addressed.
    The ANPR was published in the Federal Register on February 14, 2003 
(68 FR 7492). The comment period for that action was scheduled to end 
on March 17, 2003. NMFS decided to extend the comment period for the 
ANPR for another 30 days to give the public additional time to review 
the national standard guidelines in 50 CFR part 600 as they pertain to 
national standard 1.
    This advance notice of proposed rulemaking has been determined to 
be significant for the purposes of Executive Order 12866.

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

    Dated: February 25, 2003.
Rebecca Lent,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 03-4886 Filed 2-26-03; 2:55 pm]
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