[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 28 (Monday, February 11, 2008)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 7676-7678]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-2485]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 622

[Docket No. 070709302-8019-02]
RIN 0648-AV17


Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; 
Coastal Migratory Pelagic Resources of the Gulf of Mexico and South 
Atlantic; Atlantic Group Spanish Mackerel Commercial Trip Limit in the 
Southern Zone; Change in Start Date

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

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the framework procedure for adjusting 
management measures of the Fishery Management Plan for the Coastal 
Migratory Pelagic Resources of the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic 
(FMP), NMFS changes the start date of the commercial trip limit for 
Atlantic migratory group Spanish mackerel in the southern zone to March 
1. The intended effect of this final rule is to conform the trip limit 
to the beginning of the fishing year for Atlantic migratory group 
Spanish mackerel.

DATES: This final rule is effective March 12, 2008.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the final regulatory flexibility analysis (FRFA) 
and the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council's framework procedure 
for adjustment of the start date of the commercial trip limit for 
Atlantic migratory group Spanish mackerel in the southern zone and 
related matters may be obtained from the South Atlantic Fishery 
Management Council, 4055 Faber Place, Suite 201, North Charleston, SC 
29405; phone: 843-571-4366, toll free 866-SAFMC-10; fax: 843-769-4520; 
e-mail: [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Susan Gerhart, telephone: 727-824-
5305, fax: 727-824-5308, e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The fisheries for coastal migratory pelagic 
resources are regulated under the FMP. The FMP was prepared jointly by 
the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic Fishery Management Councils and 
is implemented under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 
Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) by regulations 
at 50 CFR part 622. In accordance with the framework procedures of the 
FMP, the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) 
recommended and the Regional Administrator, Southeast Region, NMFS 
approved, a regulatory change relating to Atlantic migratory group 
Spanish mackerel. The change is within the scope of the management 
measures that may be adjusted under the framework procedure, as 
specified in 50 CFR 622.48(c).
    On January 3, 2008, NMFS published a proposed rule to change the 
start date of the commercial trip limit for Atlantic migratory group 
Spanish mackerel and requested public comment (73 FR 439). Two public 
comments were received on the proposed rule. Both comments were in 
favor of the proposed regulatory action, therefore no changes were made 
in the final rule as a result of such comments. The rationale for this 
measure is contained in the Council's framework action and in the 
preamble to the proposed rule and is not repeated here.

Classification

    The Administrator, Southeast Region, NMFS, determined that this 
regulatory change is consistent with the Council's framework action and 
is necessary for the conservation and management of the Coastal 
Migratory Pelagic Resources of the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic 
and is consistent with the Magnuson-Stevens Act and other applicable 
laws.
    This final rule has been determined to be not significant for 
purposes of E.O. 12866.
    A FRFA was prepared for this action. The FRFA incorporates the 
initial regulatory flexibility analysis (IRFA), a summary of 
significant economic issues raised by public comments, NMFS responses 
to those comments, and a summary of the analyses completed to support 
the action. A copy of the full analysis is available from the Council 
(see ADDRESSES). A summary of the analysis follows.
    This rule will change the start date for the 3,500-lb (1,588-kg) 
trip limit in the southern zone for Atlantic migratory group Spanish 
mackerel to March 1. The purpose of this action is to correct an 
unintended inconsistency created by Amendment 15 to the FMP, effective 
August 8, 2005 (70 FR 39187, July 5, 2005), which redefined the fishing 
year for Atlantic migratory group king mackerel and Spanish mackerel 
from April-March to March-February, but did not specify the Spanish 
mackerel trip limit for March.
    No comments were received on the IRFA or on the economic impacts of 
the

[[Page 7677]]

proposed rule. Therefore, no changes were made in the final rule as a 
result of such comments.
    This rule is expected to affect all federally permitted commercial 
vessels that harvest Atlantic migratory group Spanish mackerel off the 
Florida east coast. As of January 2006, 1,333 vessels possessed Federal 
commercial Spanish mackerel permits. However, only 532 of these vessels 
had homeports on the Atlantic coast (Maine through Miami-Dade County, 
Florida), of which 300 vessels had homeports on the Florida east coast, 
and only 312 vessels reported landings of Atlantic migratory group 
Spanish mackerel in the required Federal logbook system for the 2005-
2006 fishing year. Additional vessels may fish exclusively within state 
waters, where neither a Federal permit nor logbook reporting is 
required. While these vessels would not directly be subject to this 
rule, the State of Florida's commercial trip limits for Spanish 
mackerel have, to date, been adjusted to mirror those for adjacent 
Federal waters.
    Although the total number of vessels that operate in the Atlantic 
migratory group Spanish mackerel fishery, as well as their production 
characteristics, varies from year to year, data on the 312 vessels that 
reported landings of this species in the 2005-2006 fishing year were 
used to determine average revenue characteristics for this fishery. 
Most of the vessels that operate in the Spanish mackerel fishery have 
permits for and participate in king mackerel, snapper-grouper, and 
other commercial fisheries. During the 2005-2006 fishing season, these 
vessels harvested, on average, 5,391 lb (2,445 kg) of Atlantic group 
Spanish mackerel. This accounted for 24 percent, approximately $5,300 
(2006 dollars), of the estimated average annual gross revenue, 
approximately $22,200 (2006 dollars), from all logbook-reported 
landings. The annual vessel maximum estimated gross revenue from all 
species harvested by vessels operating in the Spanish mackerel fishery 
ranged from approximately $182,000 to $342,000 (2006 dollars) for the 
fishing years 2001-2002 through 2005-2006.
    The Atlantic migratory group Spanish mackerel fishery has been 
managed via staged trip limits since November 1992 for Florida's east 
coast, starting with a 3,500-lb (1,588-kg) trip limit from April 
through November. There is an unlimited weekday limit and a 1,500-lb 
(680-kg) weekend limit from December 1 until 75 percent of the adjusted 
quota is harvested. This is followed by a 1,500-lb (680-kg) trip limit 
on all days until 100 percent of the adjusted quota is harvested, and a 
500-lb (227-kg) trip limit thereafter until the end of the fishing 
year. The trip limit elsewhere (Georgia through New York) remains at 
3,500 lb (1,588 kg) all year. During the past decade, the Florida east 
coast has accounted for more than 70 percent of the fishery's landings.
    Very few logbook-reported trips in the fishery as a whole have 
reached 3,500 lb (1,588 kg), usually less than 1 percent of all trips 
each year since the 1998-1999 fishing season. The average harvest of 
Atlantic migratory group Spanish mackerel per trip has been 
approximately 500-700 lb (227-318 kg), and the median harvest, 
approximately 100-300 lb (45-136 kg). Over this period, Atlantic 
migratory group Spanish mackerel accounted for on average approximately 
60-72 percent of the estimated trip gross revenue from all species 
harvested.
    Gear use in the fishery has changed since the mid-1990s. Prior to 
the mid-1990s, gillnets were the leading gear in the fishery. Since the 
implementation of Federal regulations that limit the use of gillnets in 
Federal waters in 1994 and the prohibition of the use of gillnets in 
Florida state waters in 1995, fishermen have adjusted their fishing 
practices, and cast nets have become the predominant gear on the 
Florida east coast. Hand lines have challenged gillnets for second 
place.
    Little data are available since the start of the fishing year was 
changed to March 1. While the inconsistency between the fishing year 
and trip limits created the opportunity for unlimited harvests in 
March, to date, the fishery has not responded with increased harvests 
relative to previous years, with March harvests in 2006 and 2007 being 
less than those of either 2004 or 2005.
    Some fleet activity may exist in the commercial fishery for 
Atlantic migratory group Spanish mackerel, but the extent of such 
activity is unknown. Additional permits, both state and Federal, and 
associated revenues may be linked to an entity through affiliation 
rules, but such affiliation links cannot be made using existing data. 
Therefore, all vessels operating in the Atlantic migratory group 
Spanish mackerel fishery are assumed to represent independent entities 
for the purpose of this analysis.
    The Small Business Administration (SBA) has established size 
criteria for all major industry sectors in the U.S. including fish 
harvesters, for-hire operations, fish processors, and fish dealers. A 
business involved in fish harvesting is classified as a small business 
if it is independently owned and operated, is not dominant in its field 
of operation (including its affiliates), and has combined average 
annual receipts not in excess of $4.0 million (NAICS code 114111, 
finfish fishing) for all affiliated operations worldwide. Based on the 
annual averages and maximums for estimated gross revenue per vessel 
provided above, it is determined that, for purposes of this analysis, 
all entities that would be affected by this rule are small business 
entities.
    No direct or indirect adverse economic effects on any affected 
entities have been identified or are expected to occur as a result of 
this rule. Although the current inconsistency between the start of the 
Atlantic migratory group Spanish mackerel fishing year and the 
specification of the commercial trip limit created the opportunity for 
increased harvests in March, available data do not indicate this has 
altered fishing behavior such that it would be adversely impacted by 
the establishment of a 3,500-lb (1,588-kg) trip limit. Further, even if 
this rule were to result in reduction in harvest and revenues from 
Spanish mackerel for some entities, the intent of the action is to 
enable larger harvests of Spanish mackerel in the months prior to 
March, when harvests of other species, notably snapper-grouper species, 
are constrained due to recent regulatory change. Allowing unlimited 
trip limits for Spanish mackerel at the start of the season increases 
the likelihood of quota-triggered lower limits at the end of the 
fishing year, leading to reduced alternative fishing opportunities and 
lower profits for fishermen subject to reduced harvest opportunities in 
the snapper-grouper fishery. To the extent that access to Spanish 
mackerel at the end of the fishing year is improved by limiting harvest 
in March, this rule would, therefore, be expected to result in 
increased total harvest opportunities and net benefits (profits) to the 
participants in these fisheries. These increased benefits, however, 
cannot be quantified with available data.
    This rule will not alter existing reporting, record-keeping, or 
permitting requirements.
    One alternative to this action, the status quo, was considered. The 
status quo would not establish a trip limit for the Florida east coast 
in March and would not, therefore, achieve the Council's objective. No 
other alternatives to this action were considered because no other 
start date for the trip limit would be reasonable other than the 
beginning of the fishing year, March 1. To start the trip limit on any 
other day in March would continue to allow unlimited harvest of the 
species on those days and continue to increase the possibility of an 
early closure with

[[Page 7678]]

associated economic disruptions. Current rules already establish trip 
limits for April 1 to the end of February, so this amendment only 
applies to March.

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 622

    Fisheries, Fishing, Puerto Rico, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements, Virgin Islands.

    Dated: February 6, 2008.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator For RegulatoryPrograms, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.

0
For the reasons set out in the preamble, 50 CFR part 622 is amended as 
follows:

PART 622--FISHERIES OF THE CARIBBEAN, GULF, AND SOUTH ATLANTIC

0
1. The authority citation for part 622 continues to read as follows:

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

0
2. In Sec.  622.44, paragraph (b)(1)(ii)(A) is revised to read as 
follows:


Sec.  622.44  Commercial trip limits.

* * * * *
    (b) * * *
    (1) * * *
    (ii) * * *
    (A) From March 1 through November 30, in amounts exceeding 3,500 lb 
(1,588 kg).
* * * * *
[FR Doc. E8-2485 Filed 2-8-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S