[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 119 (Wednesday, June 22, 2005)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 36053-36054]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-12367]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 660

[Docket No. 041130335-5154-02; I.D. 112404B]
RIN 0648-AS17


Fisheries Off West Coast States and in the Western Pacific; 
Coastal Pelagic Species Fisheries; Annual Specifications

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

ACTION: Final rule.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: NMFS issues a regulation to implement the annual harvest 
guideline for Pacific sardine in the U.S. exclusive economic zone off 
the Pacific coast for the fishing season January 1, 2005, through 
December 31, 2005. This action adopts a harvest guideline and initial 
subarea allocations for Pacific sardine off the Pacific coast that have 
been calculated according to the regulations implementing the Coastal 
Pelagic Species (CPS) Fishery Management Plan (FMP).

DATES: Effective July 22, 2005.

ADDRESSES: The report Assessment of the Pacific Sardine Stock for U.S. 
Management in 2005 may be obtained from Rodney R. McInnis, Regional 
Administrator, Southwest Region, NMFS, 501 W. Ocean Boulevard, Suite 
4200, Long Beach, CA 90802. An environmental assessment/regulatory 
impact review may be obtained at this same address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tonya Wick , Southwest Region, NMFS, 
562-980-4036.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FMP, which was implemented by 
publication of the final rule in the Federal Register on December 15, 
1999 (64 FR 69888), divides management unit species into two 
categories: actively managed and monitored. Harvest guidelines for 
actively managed species (Pacific sardine and Pacific mackerel) are 
based on formulas applied to current biomass estimates. Biomass 
estimates are not calculated for species that are only monitored (jack 
mackerel, northern anchovy, and market squid).
    At a public meeting held each year, the biomass for each actively 
managed species is reviewed by the Pacific Fishery Management Council's 
(Council) Coastal Pelagic Species Management Team (Team). The biomass, 
harvest guideline, and status of the fisheries are then reviewed at a 
public meeting of the Council's CPS Advisory Subpanel (Subpanel). This 
information is also reviewed by the Council's Scientific and 
Statistical Committee (SSC). The Council reviews reports from the Team, 
Subpanel, and SSC and after providing time for public comment, makes 
its recommendation to NMFS. The annual harvest guideline and season 
structure are published by NMFS in the Federal Register as soon as 
practicable before the beginning of the appropriate fishing season. The 
Pacific sardine season begins on January 1 and ends on December 31 of 
each year.
    Team and Subpanel meetings took place at the Southwest Regional 
Office in Long Beach, California, on September 28, 29, and 30, 2004 (69 
FR 55144, September 13, 2004). The Council reviewed the report at its 
November, 2004, meeting in Portland, Oregon, when it also heard 
comments from its advisory bodies and the public.
    Based on a biomass estimate of 1,193,515 metric tons (mt)(in U.S. 
and Mexican waters) and using the FMP formula, NMFS calculated a 
harvest guideline of 136,179 mt for Pacific sardine in U.S. waters for 
January 1, 2005, through December 31, 2005. The biomass estimate is 
nearly 10 percent higher than last year's estimate because the estimate 
of 2004 recruitment (age 0) was at a high level, and these recruits 
entered the fishable biomass (ages 1+) in 2005.
    Under the FMP, the harvest guideline is allocated one-third for 
Subarea A, which is north of 39[deg]00' N. lat. (Pt. Arena, California) 
to the Canadian border, and two-thirds for Subarea B, which is south of 
39[deg] 00' N. lat. to the Mexican border. Under this final rule, the 
northern allocation for 2005 would be 45,393 mt, and the southern 
allocation would be 90,786 mt. In 2004, the northern allocation was 
40,916 mt, and the southern allocation was 81,831 mt.
    An incidental landing allowance of Pacific sardine in landings of 
other CPS fisheries would become effective if the harvest guideline for 
Pacific sardine is reached and the fishery closed. An incidental 
landing allowance of Pacific sardine up to 45 percent by weight of any 
landing of CPS is authorized by the FMP; therefore, this is the 
incidental landing allowance for 2005. An incidental landing allowance 
prevents fishermen from being cited for a violation when Pacific 
sardine are landed with other CPS, and it minimizes wasteful bycatch of 
Pacific sardine if they are inadvertently caught while fishing for 
other CPS. An incidental landing allowance also helps to reduce 
processing costs by reducing the amount of time necessary to sort 
Pacific sardine that are landed with other CPS.
    The Pacific sardine population was estimated using a newly modified 
version of the integrated stock assessment model called Age-structured 
Assessment Program (ASAP). This new ASAP model was recommended by the 
Coastal Pelagic Species Stock Assessment Review panel held in June 2004 
in La Jolla, California. It replaces the old Catch-at-Age-Analysis of 
Sardine-Two Area Model (CANSAR-TAM, a forward-casting, age-structured 
analysis) used in previous years. ASAP is a flexible forward-simulation 
that allows for the efficient and reliable estimation of a large number 
of parameters. ASAP uses fishery dependent and fishery independent data 
to obtain annual estimates of sardine abundance, year-class strength, 
and age-specific fishing mortality for 1983 through 2004. The ASAP 
model allows one to account for the expansion of the Pacific sardine 
stock northward to include waters off the northwest Pacific coast and 
for the incorporation of data from the Mexican sardine fishery. 
Information on the fishery and the stock assessment is found in the 
report Assessment of the Pacific Sardine Stock for U.S. Management in 
2005 (see ADDRESSES).
    The formula in the FMP uses the following factors to determine the 
harvest guideline:
    1. The biomass of age one sardine and above. For 2005, this 
estimate is 1,193,515 mt.
    2. The cutoff. This is the biomass level below which no commercial 
fishery is allowed. The FMP established this level at 150,000 mt.
    3. The portion of the sardine biomass that is in U.S. waters. For 
2005, this estimate is 87 percent, based on the average of larval 
distribution obtained from scientific cruises and on the distribution 
of the resource obtained from logbooks of fish-spotters.
    4. The harvest fraction. This is the percentage of the biomass 
above 150,000

[[Page 36054]]

mt that may be harvested. The fraction used varies (5-15 percent) with 
current ocean temperatures. A higher fraction is used for warmer ocean 
temperatures, which favor the production of Pacific sardine, and a 
lower fraction is used for cooler temperatures. For 2005, the fraction 
was 15 percent based on three seasons of sea surface temperature at 
Scripps Pier, California.
    As indicated above, the harvest guideline for U.S. waters is 
allocated one-third (45,393 mt) to Subarea A and two-thirds (90,786 mt) 
to Subarea B.
    A proposed rule for the specification of the harvest guideline and 
initial allocations was published on December 8, 2004 (69 FR70973). The 
public comment period ended on December 23, 2004. NMFS received one 
comment that generally criticized commercial fishing rules suggesting a 
decrease in the harvest guideline by 50 percent and that overfishing is 
occurring. This comment did not yield information that would provide a 
basis for changing the 2005 Pacific sardine harvest guideline as the 
Pacific sardine stock is currently defined as not being overfished, 
there is no overfishing occurring, and the spawning stock biomass 
appears to be healthy based on the most recent stock assessment 
completed in 2004. Thus NMFS has decided not to change the final rule 
based on this one comment.

Classification

    The Assistant Administrator for Fisheries determined that 
implementing the harvest guideline is necessary for the conservation 
and management of the Pacific sardine fishery and that it is consistent 
with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and 
other applicable laws.
    This final rule has been determined to be not significant for 
purposes of Executive Order 12866.
    The Chief Counsel for Regulation of the Department of Commerce 
certified to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business 
Administration during the proposed rule stage that this action would 
not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small 
entities. The factual basis for the certification was published in the 
proposed rule and is not repeated here. No comments were received 
regarding the economic impacts of this rule. As a result, a regulatory 
flexibility analysis was not prepared.

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

    Dated: June 16, 2005.
John Oliver,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Operations, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 05-12367 Filed 6-21-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S