[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 46 (Friday, March 9, 2007)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 10628-10629]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-4259]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 665

[I.D 020807A]
RIN 0648-AV24


Fisheries off West Coast States; Highly Migratory Species 
Fishery; Amendment 1 to the Fishery Management Plan for U.S. West Coast 
Fisheries for Highly Migratory Species

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 1 to the Fishery Management 
Plan for U.S. West Coast Fisheries for Highly Migratory Species (HMS 
FMP) for review by the Secretary of Commerce. Amendment 1, in 
combination with the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council's 
(Western Pacific Council) proposed Amendment 14, address overfishing of 
bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus) Pacific-wide as required under the 
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). The 
specific actions to end overfishing would be implemented by 
multilateral cooperation through appropriate regional fishery 
management organizations (RFMOs) - the Inter-American Tropical Tuna 
Commission (IATTC) in the Eastern Pacific Ocean (EPO) and the Western 
and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) in the Western and 
Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO). Specifically, Amendment 1 would recommend 
that fishing mortality on Pacific bigeye in the EPO by longline vessels 
be reduced immediately by 30 percent and by purse seine fishing vessels 
by 38 percent from 2003-2004 fishing levels, and in the WCPO by 
longline and purse seine vessels by 20 percent from 2001-2003 levels 
for each gear type. Taken together, these proposed reductions in 
fishing mortality would end overfishing of Pacific bigeye tuna. 
Amendment 1 would also reorganize the West Coast HMS FMP to create a 
more user-friendly document as the current FMP is combined with a 
lengthy Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS).

DATES: Comments on Amendment 1 must be received by May 8, 2007.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on this action identified by [I.D. 
0220807A], by any of the following methods:
     E-mail: [email protected]. Include the I.D. number in 
the subject line of the message.
     Federal e-Rulemaking portal: http.//www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     Mail: Rodney R. McInnis, Regional Administrator, Southwest 
Region, NMFS, 501 West Ocean Blvd., Suite 4200, Long Beach, CA 90802.
     Fax: (562)980-4047
    Copies of Amendment 1 are available by contacting Donald O. 
McIsaac, Executive Director, Pacific Fishery Management Council, 7700 
NE Ambassador Place, Suite 200, Portland, OR 97220-1384. Copies of 
Amendment 14 to the Pelagics FMP, and the Environmental Assessment (EA) 
for Amendment 14, which addresses potential effects for actions 
proposed under both Amendments 1 and 14, may be obtained by contacting 
Kitty M. Simonds, Executive Director, Western Pacific Fishery 
Management Council, 1164 Bishop St., Suite 1400, Honolulu, HI 96813.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Heidi Taylor, Sustainable Fisheries 
Division, NMFS, at 562-980-4039, or Christopher Dahl, Pacific Fishery 
Management Council, at 503-820-2280.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The HMS fishery in the Exclusive Economic 
Zone off the West Coast is managed under the HMS FMP, which was 
developed by the Pacific Council pursuant to the Magnuson-Stevens Act. 
The HMS FMP was approved by the Secretary of Commerce and implemented 
by regulation at 50 CFR part 660.
    The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires each regional fishery management 
council to submit any amendment to an FMP to NMFS for review and 
approval, disapproval, or partial approval. The Magnuson-Stevens Act 
also requires that NMFS, upon receiving an amendment to an FMP, publish 
notification in the Federal Register that the amendment is available 
for public review and comment. NMFS will consider public comment 
received during the comment period in determining whether to approve, 
disapprove, or partially approve Amendment 1.
    Amendment 1 to the HMS FMP was developed by the Pacific Council, in 
coordination with the development of Amendment 14 to the Western 
Pacific Council's Pelagics FMP. Both Amendments have been submitted to 
NMFS for review under the Magnuson-Stevens Act, 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. 
This document announces that Amendment 1 is available for public review 
and comment. A similar announcement for Amendment 14 was published on 
February 15, 2007, in the Federal Register.
    On December 15, 2004, NMFS notified both Councils that overfishing 
was occurring on bigeye tuna Pacific-wide. As required by the Magnuson-
Stevens Act, the Councils were requested to take appropriate action to 
end overfishing. The Pacific Council, having fisheries for bigeye tuna 
in the EPO only, and the Western Pacific Council, having fisheries in 
both the EPO and the WCPO, worked to develop an international strategy 
that addresses overfishing Pacific-wide.
    According to the guidelines for National Standard 1 of the 
Magnuson-Stevens Act, fishery stock status is assessed to determine if 
the stock is

[[Page 10629]]

subject to ``overfishing.'' Overfishing occurs when the maximum fishing 
mortality threshold (MFMT) is exceeded for one year or more and when 
the ratio of the current fishing mortality Fcurrent to 
Fmaximum sustainable yield (MSY), or Fcurrent/
FMSY, exceeds one. Stock assessments leading up to the 
overfishing determination for bigeye tuna in the Pacific concluded that 
current fishing mortality on the bigeye stock exceeded MFMT, that is, 
the ratio of Fcurrent/FMSY has been exceeded for 
one year or more. Therefore, the Secretary of Commerce determined that 
overfishing is occurring on bigeye tuna throughout the Pacific.
    The Pacific Council adopted Amendment 1 to the HMS FMP at its 
November 2006 Council meeting following a lengthy process that fully 
considered various drafts of an alternatives analysis. The Pacific 
Council also considered actions taken by the Western Pacific Council, 
input from Council advisory bodies, and public comment before adopting 
Amendment 1. Because bigeye tuna are targeted by many nations, 
including the United States, and taking into consideration the 
comparatively small proportion of total fishing mortality on the stock 
contributed by the United States, no Federal regulations to limit 
fishing effort by West Coast vessels managed under the HMS FMP have 
been proposed. Rather, Amendment 1 would revise the HMS FMP to include 
a multilateral strategy where the Pacific Council would transmit 
recommendations for the immediate reduction in fishing mortality of 
bigeye tuna in the EPO to the U.S. delegation to the IATTC. A similar 
international strategy has been proposed in Amendment 14 for the WCPO, 
and thus any combined fishery conservation and management 
recommendation from the Pacific and Western Pacific Councils to the 
relevant RFMOs, will end overfishing of bigeye tuna Pacific-wide.
    Amendment 1 outlines general principals that would be adhered to 
when proposing management measures to the U.S. delegation to the IATTC 
intended to meet the goal of ending overfishing. For example, 
conservation and management recommendations would focus on fisheries 
with the greatest impacts and on regions with the highest catch rate 
and on spawning areas; reducing surplus capacity; restrict the use of 
purse seines fishing on fish aggregating devices; and support the 
identification of those measures that will have a measurable impact on 
bigeye tuna conservation.
    The Pacific Council would develop management goals, to the extent 
practicable, that are consistent with IATTC staff scientist 
recommendations. Specifically, Amendment 1 would recommend that fishing 
mortality on Pacific bigeye be reduced immediately: (1) in the EPO, by 
longline vessels by 30 percent and by purse seine fishing vessels by 38 
percent from 2003-2004 fishing levels; and (2) in the WCPO, by longline 
and purse seine vessels by 20 percent from 2001-2003 levels for each 
gear type. However, as part of its strategy the Pacific Council 
recognizes that conservation and management goals may need to be 
revised to reflect changes in stock status and the best available 
science. These recommendations would be communicated to the relevant 
U.S. delegations to RFMOs and thus comprise the international strategy 
to end overfishing of bigeye tuna Pacific-wide.
    Amendment 1 is consistent with section 406 of the Magnuson-Stevens 
Reauthorization Act (MSRA, Public Law 109-479), which added section 
304(i) to the Magnuson-Stevens Act. This section requires the Secretary 
to, among other things, in cooperation with the Secretary of State, 
immediately take appropriate action at the international level to end 
overfishing for fisheries that NMFS has determined: (a) to be 
overfished or approaching a condition of being overfished due to 
excessive international fishing pressure, and (b) for which there are 
no management measures to end overfishing under an international 
agreement to which the United States is a party. NMFS interprets ``no 
management measures'' to mean the absence of management measures that 
are adequate to stop overfishing for purposes of the Magnuson-Stevens 
Act and its implementing regulations. NMFS has made a determination 
that both of these conditions are present, and therefore subsection 
304(i) governs the MSA mandate to end overfishing in the case of 
Pacific bigeye tuna.
    Pacific bigeye tuna are fished in waters under U.S. jurisdiction, 
waters under the jurisdiction of other nations, and on the high seas by 
foreign fishing fleets. U.S. fisheries account for only a small 
percentage of the Pacific bigeye tuna harvests. Thus, fishing mortality 
of the bigeye stock stems predominantly from non-U.S. fleets in the 
region, and any unilateral management to end overfishing by the U.S. 
would have a proportionally small effect in terms of reducing fishing 
mortality and ending overfishing.
    Since 1998, the U.S. has addressed the relative impacts of U.S. 
fishing on Pacific bigeye tuna by implementing annual or multi-annual 
conservation and management resolutions under the Tuna Conventions Act 
(16 U.S.C. 951-961 and 971 et seq.). Additionally, in Amendment 1, the 
Pacific Council proposes to recommend to NMFS and the Secretary of 
State, international management actions to end overfishing in fisheries 
for Pacific bigeye tuna. Finally, NMFS, in collaboration with the 
Pacific and Western Pacific Councils and Department of State, is 
working to end overfishing through the RFMOs.
    Existing HMS and Pelagics FMP measures for bigeye tuna have been 
implemented to address the relative impact of U.S. fishing vessels 
within the meaning of the MSRA section 304(i)(2)(A). Depending on the 
region, these measures include limited access programs, mandatory data 
collection, scientific observers, vessel size limits and gear 
specifications, and a vessel monitoring system.
    Amendment 1 would also reorganize the original HMS FMP in a manner 
that calls attention to elements specific to the FMP and would move 
much of the lengthy background material in the original FMP/FEIS to a 
series of appendices. Amendment 1 thus includes new chapters and 
headings for the FMP. Cross references to chapters, sections, tables, 
and figures would be renumbered to reflect the reorganization proposed 
without referencing such changes in the text. The preface of Amendment 
1 further explains the reorganization of the HMS FMP. The original FMP/
FEIS will remain a publicly available document.
    Though Amendment 1 incorporates elements of Amendment 14, it does 
not require NMFS to promulgate implementing regulations. NMFS seeks 
public comment on Amendment 1, which must be received by May 8, 2007 to 
be considered by NMFS in the decision whether to approve, partially 
approve, or disapprove the Amendment 1.

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

    Dated: March 5, 2007.
James P. Burgess,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E7-4259 Filed 3-8-07; 8:45 am]
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