[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 239 (Friday, December 12, 2003)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 69373-69374]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-30796]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 031126296-3296-01; I.D. 111903B]
RIN 0648-AQ84


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Herring 
Fishery

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

ACTION: Proposed 2004 specifications for the Atlantic herring fishery; 
request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NOAA Fisheries proposes specifications for the 2004 Atlantic 
herring fishery. The regulations for the Atlantic herring fishery 
require NMFS to publish specifications for the upcoming year and to 
provide an opportunity for public comment. The intent of the 
specifications is to conserve and manage the Atlantic herring resource 
and provide for a sustainable fishery.

DATES: Comments must be received no later than 5 p.m., Eastern Standard 
Time, on January 12, 2004.

ADDRESSES: Copies of supporting documents, including the Environmental 
Assessment, Regulatory Impact Review, Initial Regulatory Flexibility 
Analysis (EA/RIR/IRFA), Essential Fish Habitat Assessment, and the 
Stock Assessment and Fishery Evaluation (SAFE) Report for the 2001 
Atlantic Herring Fishing Year are available from Paul J. Howard, 
Executive Director, New England Fishery Management Council, 50 Water 
Street, Mill 2, Newburyport, MA 01950. The EA/RIR/IRFA is accessible 
via the Internet at http://www.nero.nmfs.gov/ro/doc/nero.html.
    Written comments on the proposed specifications should be sent to 
Patricia A. Kurkul, Regional Administrator, National Marine Fisheries 
Service, 1 Blackburn Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930. Mark on the outside 
of the envelope: ``Comments--2004 Herring Specifications.'' Comments 
may also be sent via facsimile (fax) to (978) 281-9135. Comments will 
not be accepted if submitted via e-mail or the Internet.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eric Jay Dolin, Fishery Policy 
Analyst, (978) 281-9259, e-mail at [email protected], fax at (978) 
281-9135.

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 
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), U.S. at-sea processing (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.

Proposed 2004 Specifications

    Taking into account existing scientific data and the ongoing 
activity to develop Amendment 1 to the Atlantic Herring Fishery 
Management Plan, the Council recommended at its May 2003 meeting that 
the 2003 specifications should be maintained for 2004, consistent with 
the PDT's recommendation. Based on the Council's recommendations, NMFS 
proposes the specifications and Area TACs contained in the following 
table.

   Specifications and Area TACs for the 2004 Atlantic Herring Fishery
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 Specification                  Proposed Allocation (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
                                                     (January 1 May 31,
                                                 landings cannot exceed
                                                                 6,000)
TAC - Area 1B                                                    10,000
TAC - Area 2                                                     50,000
                                                                    (TAC reserve: 70,000)
TAC - Area 3                                                     60,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Maintaining the 2003 specifications for the 2004 fishing year is 
prudent and is unlikely to have significant biological consequences to 
the herring stock or its subcomponents in the short term. The 
Transboundary Resource Assessment Committee (TRAC) met in St. Andrew's, 
New Brunswick, from February 10-14, 2003. Both a U.S. and a Canadian 
assessment of the herring resource were presented and reviewed at the 
meeting. The two assessments diverged greatly and no consensus was 
reached regarding which assessment was more accurate or how the two 
could be reconciled. Because of this discrepancy, the TRAC information 
cannot be utilized at this time to support the development of different 
specifications for the 2004 fishing year. The expectation is that the 
analysis and evaluation of the TRAC results will continue and that the 
resulting information will inform the development of Amendment 1.

Classification

    This proposed rule has been determined to be exempt from review 
under E.O. 12866.
    The Council and NMFS prepared an initial regulatory flexibility 
analysis (IRFA) as required under section 603 of the Regulatory 
Flexibility Act. The IRFA describes the economic impact that this 
proposed rule, if adopted, would have on small entities. A summary of 
the analysis follows:
    A description of the reasons why this action is being considered, 
and the objectives of this proposed rule can be found in the preamble 
to this proposed rule and are not repeated here. This action does not 
contain any collection-

[[Page 69374]]

of-information, reporting, or recordkeeping requirements. It would not 
duplicate, overlap, or conflict with any other Federal rules.
    All of the affected businesses (fishing vessels) are considered 
small entities under the standards described in NOAA Fisheries 
guidelines because they have gross receipts that do not exceed $3.5 
million annually. Based on 2002 data, there are an estimated 140 
vessels prosecuting the fishery, 37 of which average more than 2000 lb 
of herring per trip. In assessing economic impacts for the 2004 
specifications, landings from the 2002 fishery were used as a proxy for 
2003 landings since 2002 was the last year in which a complete set of 
data was available. In addition, landings in the 2002 fishery are 
utilized as a baseline to determine impacts of the 2004 fishery. This 
presumes no significant change in production between the 2002 and 2003 
fisheries. Since vessel level data are not readily available, changes 
in revenue are viewed as a proxy for changes in vessel profitability.
    The specification of 250,000 mt for OY and DAH was approved for the 
2003 fishery and is recommended for the 2004 fishery. At this level, 
there could be an increase of up to 158,169 mt in herring landings or 
$22,618,167 in revenue based on a market price of $143/mt, thus, 
allowing individual vessels to increase their profitability under the 
2004 specifications. For the 2003 specifications, the Council also 
considered OY alternatives of 300,000 and 1,000,000 mt. At 
these OY level there would be increased potential revenues to a greater 
extent than the proposed 2004 alternative of 250,000 mt. In addition, 
at these levels there could be risks to the health of the herring 
stock. An additional alternative for DAH of 230,000 mt would also 
increase potential profits for the herring fleet although not to the 
extent of the proposed DAH.
    Based on the proposed 2004 DAP specification of 226,000 mt, there 
could be an increase of up to 134,169 mt in herring landings or 
$19,186,167 in revenue based on $143/mt as compared to 2002 actual 
landings and revenue. Revenues to the fleet would also increase under 
the Council's proposed 2003 DAP alternatives of 236,000 mt and 176,000 
mt. This would be true of any alternative greater than 91,831 mt, the 
total harvest for the 2002 fishery. However, the magnitude of economic 
impact of the DAP will rely on the processing sector's ability to 
expand markets and increase capacity to handle larger amounts of 
herring in 2004.
    Overall, if the full amount of the JVP (10,000 mt) is harvested, 
revenues to the participating U.S. vessels would be approximately $1.4 
million, based on an average price of $143/mt. However, little of the 
10,000 mt JVP allocation was utilized in 2002, and the JVP allocation 
in 2003 is not expected to be fully utilized. As of June 2003, no JVP 
activity for herring has occurred during the 2003 fishing year. There 
is no indication at this time that demand for the JVP allocation will 
increase in 2004. As a result, no substantial economic impacts are 
expected in 2004 from continuing the 2003 specification of 10,000 mt 
for JVP. The Council also considered a JVP alternative of 5,000 mt for 
the 2003 specifications. This specification could yield an increase in 
revenue to participating US vessels since the specification is greater 
than what was actually harvested in the 2002 fishery. However, 
potential benefits would be far less than those estimated for a 10,000 
mt JVP.
    Approximately 6,132 mt of the 10,000 mt allocation of IWP was 
utilized in 2002. There is no indication at this time that demand for 
the IWP allocation will increase in 2004. As a result, no significant 
economic impacts are expected in 2004 from continuing the 2003 
specifications for IWP.
    The rollover of 2003 specifications should allow vessels to 
continue to expand into Areas 2 and 3, resulting in economic gains for 
individual vessels. The Area 1A and 1B TACs of 60,000 and 10,000 mt, 
respectively, have remained unchanged since the 2000 fishery. In 2002, 
the Area 1A TAC for the directed herring fishery was fully utilized and 
is expected to be fully utilized for the 2004 fishery. Therefore, no 
change is expected in profitability of vessels from the 2004 Area 1A 
specification, all other things being equal. Since only 7,416 mt of 
herring were harvested in Area 1B in 2002, the proposed 2004 
specification of 10,000 mt should allow for increased economic benefits 
to individual vessels prosecuting the 2004 specification. Since the 
allocation of 20,000 mt to USAP has never been utilized, continuing to 
keep it at 20,000 mt in 2004 (or to keep it as a separate category) 
will not result in economic impacts in the short-term. The long-term 
implication of keeping USAP as a separate specification that gets an 
allocation, even though the allocation has never been utilized, is that 
it discourages investment in a form of processing that may be better 
able to respond to changing market and stock conditions, and it may 
have encouraged investment in more permanent onshore processing 
capacity.
    The Council, in its 2003 EA/RIR/IRFA document, 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.

    Dated: December 8, 2003.
Rebecca Lent,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 03-30796 Filed 12-11-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S