[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 216 (Friday, November 7, 2003)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 63053-63054]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-28131]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 660

[I.D. 110303A]
RIN 0648-AR35


Fisheries off West Coast States and in the Western Pacific; 
Notice of Availability of FMP Amendment

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 
(Pacific Council) has submitted Amendment 16-2 to the Pacific Coast 
Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Secretarial review. 
Amendment 16-2 would amend the FMP to include overfished species 
rebuilding plans for lingcod, canary rockfish, darkblotched rockfish, 
and Pacific ocean perch (POP). Amendment 16-2 is intended to address 
the requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) to protect and rebuild overfished 
species managed under a Federal FMP. Amendment 16-2 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 16-2 must be received on or before January 
6, 2004.

ADDRESSES: Comments on Amendment 16-2 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, attn: Becky Renko
    Copies of Amendment 16-2 and the Environmental Impact Statement/
Regulatory Impact Review/Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis for 
the amendment are available from Donald McIsaac, Executive Director, 
Pacific Fishery Management Council, 7700 NE Ambassador Place, Portland, 
OR 97220.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Becky Renko (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: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/index.html.

Background

    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

[[Page 63054]]

comment period described above in determining whether to approve, 
partially approve, or disapprove the fishery management plan or plan 
amendment.
    NMFS declared the POP and lingcod stocks overfished on March 3, 
1999. This was followed by canary rockfish, which was declared 
overfished on January 4, 2000 (65 FR 221) and darkblotched rockfish, 
which was declared overfished on January 11, 2001 (66 FR 2338). Because 
the spawning stock biomass levels for these stocks were determined to 
be below the minimum stock size threshold defined by the FMP, 
rebuilding plans had to be implemented to return the stocks to their 
maximum sustainable yield biomass levels (target biomass). Amendment 
16-2, would revise the FMP to include overfished species rebuilding 
plans for lingcod, canary rockfish, darkblotched rockfish, and POP.
    The rebuilding plans being adopted under Amendment 16-2 were 
approved by the Pacific Council at its June 2003 meeting. These 
rebuilding plans specify rebuilding parameters for individual stocks 
and are intended to address the Magnuson-Stevens Act requirement to 
protect and rebuild overfished species, in particular National Standard 
1 on overfishing and section 304(e). When making the recommendation to 
implement these rebuilding plans, the Pacific Council sought to balance 
the rebuilding risks to each stock with the short and long-term socio-
economic costs borne by groundfish buyers, commercial harvesters, and 
recreational operators as a result of constraining the fisheries to 
reduce total mortality of these overfished species.
    On August 18, 2003 (68 FR 49415), NMFS published a notice of 
availability for Amendment 16-1 to the FMP. Amendment 16-1 will amend 
the FMP to require that Pacific Coast groundfish overfished species 
rebuilding plans be added into the FMP via FMP amendment, and then 
implemented through Federal regulations. For each approved overfished 
species rebuilding plan, the following parameters are to be specified 
in the FMP: estimates of unfished biomass and target biomass, the year 
the stock would be rebuilt in the absence of fishing, the year the 
stock would be rebuilt if the maximum time period permissible under the 
National Standard Guidelines were applied, and the target year in which 
the stock would be rebuilt under the adopted rebuilding plan.
    As required by the standards proposed in Amendment 16-1, the 
rebuilding plans under Amendment 16-2 for lingcod, canary rockfish, 
darkblotched rockfish, and POP include estimates of unfished biomass 
and target biomass, the year the stock would be rebuilt in the absence 
of fishing, the year the stock would be rebuilt if the maximum time 
period permissible under the National Standard Guidelines were applied, 
and the target year in which the stock would be rebuilt under the 
adopted rebuilding plan for each species. Amendment 16-2 would add 
these parameters to section 4.5.4. of the FMP. Other relevant 
information on each of these overfished stocks, such as stock 
distribution, fishery interaction, and the rebuilding strategy would 
also be added to section 4.5.4 of the FMP. The information described 
above would be included in the FMP to serve as management benchmarks.
    NMFS plans to publish a proposed rule that would codify in Federal 
regulations the two rebuilding parameters needed to establish annual or 
biannual optimum yields (OYs). These parameters are the target year for 
rebuilding and the harvest control rule that is to be used during the 
rebuilding period. The target rebuilding year is the year the stock 
will have been rebuilt under the adopted rebuilding plan. The harvest 
control rule expresses a given fishing mortality rate that is to be 
used over the course of rebuilding, unless modified in a subsequent 
rulemaking.
    An approved rebuilding plan will be implemented through setting OYs 
and establishing management measures necessary to maintain the fishing 
mortality within the OYs to achieve objectives related to rebuilding 
requirements.
    Public comments on Amendment 16-2 must be received by January 6, 
2004, to be considered by NMFS in the decision whether to approve, 
disapprove, or partially approve amendment 16-2. A proposed rule to 
implement Amendment 16-2 has been submitted for Secretarial review and 
approval. NMFS expects to publish and request public comments on 
proposed regulations to implement Amendment 16-2 in the near future.

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

    Dated: November 4, 2003.
Bruce C. Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 03-28131 Filed 11-6-03; 8:45 am]
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