[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 159 (Monday, August 18, 2003)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 49415-49416]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-21069]



[[Page 49415]]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 660

[I.D. 081103A]
RIN 0648-AR36


Fisheries off West Coast States and in the Western Pacific; 
Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; Amendment 16-1

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

ACTION: Notice of availability of an amendment to a fishery management 
plan; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the Pacific Fishery Management Council 
(Council) has submitted Amendment 16-1 to the Pacific Coast Groundfish 
Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Secretarial review. Amendment 16-1 
would set a process and standards by which the Council will specify 
rebuilding plans for groundfish stocks declared overfished by the 
Secretary of Commerce. Amendment 16-1 is intended to ensure that 
Pacific coast groundfish overfished species rebuilding plans meet the 
requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) in particular National Standard 1 
on overfishing and Sec.  304(e), which addresses rebuilding overfished 
fisheries. Amendment 16-1 is also intended to partially respond to a 
Court order in which NMFS was ordered to provide Pacific Coast 
groundfish rebuilding plans as FMPs, FMP amendments, or regulations, 
per the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

DATES: Comments on Amendment 16-1 must be received on or before October 
17, 2003.

ADDRESSES: Comments on Amendment 16-1 or supporting documents should be 
sent to D. Robert Lohn, Administrator, Northwest Region, National 
Marine Fisheries Service, Sand Point Way NE., BIN C15700, Seattle, WA 
98115-0070; or to Rodney McInnis, Acting Administrator, Southwest 
Region, National Marine Fisheries Service, 7700 NE Ambassador Place, 
Portland, OR 97220, phone: 503-820-2280.
    Copies of Amendment 16-1 and the Environmental Assessment/ 
Regulatory Impact Review/Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (EA/
RIR/IRFA) are available from Donald McIsaac, Executive Director, 
Pacific Fishery Management Council, 2130 SW Fifth Ave., Suite 224, 
Portland, OR 97201.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Yvonne deReynier (Northwest Region, 
NMFS), phone: 206-526-6150; fax: 206-526-6736 and; e-mail: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Electronic Access

    This Federal Register document is also accessible via the internet 
at the website of the Office of the Federal Register's website at: 
http://www/access/gpo.gov/su_docs/aces140.html.
    The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires each regional fishery management 
council to submit fishery management plans or plan amendments to NMFS 
for review and approval, disapproval, or partial approval. The 
Magnuson-Stevens Act also requires NMFS, immediately upon receiving a 
fishery management plan or plan amendment, to publish notification in 
the Federal Register that the fishery management plan or plan amendment 
is available for public review and comment. At the end of the comment 
period, NMFS considers the public comments received during the comment 
period described above in determining whether to approve, partially 
approve, or disapprove the fishery management plan or plan amendment.
    Amendment 16-1 would set a process and standards by which the 
Council will specify rebuilding plans for groundfish stocks declared 
overfished by the Secretary of Commerce. Amendment 16-1 is intended to 
ensure that Pacific Coast groundfish overfished species rebuilding 
plans meet the requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Act in particular 
National Standard 1 on overfishing and Sec.  304(e), which addresses 
rebuilding overfished fisheries. Amendment 16-1 is also intended to 
partially respond to a Court order in Natural Resources Defense 
Council, Inc. v. Evans, 168 F. Supp. 2d 1149 (N.D. Cal 2001,) in which 
NMFS was ordered to provide Pacific Coast groundfish rebuilding plans 
as FMPs, FMP amendments, or regulations, per the Magnuson-Stevens Act. 
Amendment 16-1 will be followed by Amendment 16-2, which was adopted by 
the Council at its June 2003 meeting. If approved, Amendment 16-2 would 
implement rebuilding plans for canary rockfish, darkblotched rockfish, 
lingcod, and Pacific ocean perch.
    Under Amendment 16-1, initial rebuilding plans for overfished 
species would be incorporated into the FMP via FMP amendments and 
implemented through Federal regulations. The two rebuilding parameters 
that control the establishment of the annual or biennial optimum yield 
of each overfished species would be codified in the Code of Federal 
Regulations. If, after a new stock assessment, the Council and NMFS 
conclude that these should be revised, the revision will be done 
through a notice and comment rulemaking, and the updated values 
codified in the Code of Federal Regulations. Amendment 16-1 would also 
set standards for the frequency of Council review of rebuilding plans 
such that whenever the species in question has a new stock assessment, 
the plan will be reviewed for whether it is expected to achieve the 
population size and structure to support maximum sustainable yield 
within the plan's rebuilding period. Rebuilding plans would be reviewed 
at least every 2 years for their effects on fishing communities, for 
their distribution of conservation burdens, for the need to protect 
habitat, and for public awareness of rebuilding programs. Individual 
species rebuilding plans would also identify plan-specific standards 
for determining whether and when the progress of rebuilding for that 
particular species has been adequate. Finally, Amendment 16-1 requires 
that, if a species managed under a rebuilding plan is listed under the 
Endangered Species Act (ESA), jeopardy standards or a recovery plan 
under the ESA would take precedence over the rebuilding plan if they 
were to establish higher rebuilding and/or recovery standards than 
those in the rebuilding plans. Beyond these substantive revisions to 
the FMP, Amendment 16-1 also includes a series of lesser, primarily 
editorial, changes to the FMP. These minor technical additions, 
corrections, and changes update FMP definitions, update references to 
management parameters, re-arrange portions of different FMP chapters so 
that they read more logically, and update different sections of the FMP 
to require in the FMP, rather than just in Federal regulations, the 
existing federal observer program for groundfish fisheries.
    Public comments on Amendment 16-1 must be received by October 17, 
2003, to be considered by NMFS in the decision whether to approve, 
disapprove, or partially approve Amendment 16-1. A proposed rule to 
implement Amendment 16-1 has been submitted for Secretarial review and 
approval. NMFS expects to publish and request public comments on 
proposed regulations to implement Amendment 16-1 in the near future.

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


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    Dated: August 13, 2003.
Bruce C. Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 03-21069 Filed 8-15-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S