[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 117 (Friday, June 18, 2004)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 34116-34118]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-13730]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 660

[I.D. 061404A]
RIN 0648-AS26


Fisheries Off West Coast States and in the Western Pacific; 
Notice of Availability of Amendment 16-3 to the Pacific Coast 
Groundfish Fishery Management Plan

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 16-3 to the Pacific Coast 
Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Secretarial review.

[[Page 34117]]

 Amendment 16-3 would amend the FMP to include overfished species 
rebuilding plans for bocaccio, cowcod, widow rockfish, and yelloweye 
rockfish. Amendment 16-3 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 16-3 is also intended to respond, in part, to a 
Court order in which NMFS was ordered to provide Pacific Coast 
groundfish rebuilding plans as FMPs, FMP amendments, or regulations, as 
required by the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

DATES: Comments on Amendment 16-3 must be received on or before August 
17, 2004.

ADDRESSES: Copies of Amendment 16-3 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.
    You may submit comments on Amendment 16-3 or supporting documents, 
identified by [RIN 0648-AS26], by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     E-mail: [email protected]. Include the RIN 
number in the subject line of the message.
     Fax: 206-526-6736, Attn: Jamie Goen.
     Mail: D. Robert Lohn, Administrator, Northwest Region, 
NMFS, 7600 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA 98115-0070; or Rod McInnis, 
Acting Administrator, Southwest Region, NMFS, 501 West Ocean Blvd, 
Suite 4200, Long Beach, CA 90802-4213.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jamie Goen (Northwest Region, NMFS), 
phone: 206-526-4646; fax: 206-526-6736; or 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 comment 
period described above in determining whether to approve, partially 
approve, or disapprove the fishery management plan or plan amendment.
    This notice of availability announces an amendment, Amendment 16-3, 
to the FMP to include overfished species rebuilding plans for bocaccio, 
cowcod, widow rockfish, and yelloweye rockfish. NMFS declared the 
bocaccio stock overfished on March 3, 1999 in a letter from NMFS to the 
Pacific Council announcing partial approval of Amendment 11 to the 
groundfish FMP, which approved the overfishing definition. Cowcod was 
declared overfished on January 4, 2000 (65 FR 221), widow rockfish on 
January 11, 2001 (66 FR 2338) and yelloweye rockfish on January 11, 
2002 (67 FR 1555). 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 need to be implemented to return 
the stocks to their maximum sustainable yield biomass levels (target 
biomass).
    The rebuilding plans being adopted under Amendment 16-3 were 
approved by the Pacific Council at its April 2004 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. Amendment 16-3 is 
based on the policies and rebuilding parameters established by 
Amendment 16-1.
    On August 18, 2003 (68 FR 49415), NMFS published a notice of 
availability for Amendment 16-1 to the FMP and approved the amendment 
on November 14, 2003. The final rule to codify provisions of Amendment 
16-1 was published in the Federal Register on February 26, 2004 (69 FR 
8861). Amendment 16-1 amended the FMP by requiring that Pacific Coast 
groundfish overfished species rebuilding plans be added into the FMP 
via FMP amendment and 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 
(B0) and target biomass (BMSY), the year the 
stock would be rebuilt in the absence of fishing (TMIN), the 
year the stock would be rebuilt if the maximum time period permissible 
under the national standard guidelines were applied (TMAX), 
the target year in which the stock would be rebuilt under the adopted 
rebuilding plan (TTARGET), and a harvest control rule. Other 
relevant information listed in Amendment 16-1 will also be included in 
the FMP, including the probability of the stock attaining BMSY 
by TMAX (PMAX).
    As required by the standards in Amendment 16-1, the rebuilding 
plans under Amendment 16-3 for bocaccio, cowcod, widow rockfish, and 
yelloweye rockfish 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, the 
target year in which the stock would be rebuilt under the adopted 
rebuilding plan, and the harvest control rule for each species. 
Amendment 16-3 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.
    In addition, the final rule to Amendment 16-1 requires that the two 
rebuilding parameters needed to establish annual or biennial optimum 
yields (OYs) for overfished species be codified in Federal regulations 
(69 FR 8861, February 26, 2004). 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 in which 
there is a 50 percent probability that the stock will be rebuilt with a 
given mortality rate. 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.

[[Page 34118]]

    An approved rebuilding plan will be implemented through setting OYs 
and establishing management measures necessary to maintain the fishing 
mortality within the OYs and to achieve objectives related to 
rebuilding requirements.
    Public comments on Amendment 16-3 must be received by August 17, 
2004, to be considered by NMFS in the decision whether to approve, 
disapprove, or partially approve Amendment 16-3. A proposed rule to 
implement Amendment 16-3 has been submitted for Secretarial review and 
approval. NMFS expects to publish and request public comments on 
proposed regulations to implement Amendment 16-3 in the near future.

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

    Dated: June 14, 2004.
Alan D. Risenhoover,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 04-13730 Filed 6-17-04; 8:45 am]
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