[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 1 (Friday, January 2, 2009)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 67-68]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-31235]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 697

[Docket No. 0812121592-81605-01]
RIN 0648-AX40


Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act Provisions; 
American Lobster Fishery; Control Date for American Lobster

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

ACTION: Advance notice of proposed rulemaking; Consideration of a 
control date for the American lobster fishery.

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SUMMARY:  NMFS announces that it is considering, and is seeking public 
comment on a proposed rulemaking that would limit or restrict future 
access to the American lobster (Homarus americanus) trap fishery in the 
Federal waters of Lobster Management Area 1 (Area 1), the inshore Gulf 
of Maine, based upon a permit holder's ability to document a history of 
fishing with lobster traps in Area 1 prior to the date of this notice . 
This notice should discourage American lobster non-trap vessels from 
entering the lobster trap fishery, and discourage American lobster trap 
vessels fishing in other lobster management areas from entering the 
Area 1 lobster trap fishery, based upon economic speculation while 
NMFS, in consultation with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries 
Commission (Commission), considers whether and how access and effort 
should be controlled. This document, therefore, gives the public two-
fold notification: first, that interested participants should locate 
and preserve records that substantiate and verify their past 
participation in the American lobster trap fishery in Federal waters; 
and second, that new participants to the Area 1 lobster trap fishery 
may be restricted from fishing in Area 1 with traps in the future 
depending upon the limited access criteria developed if, in fact, NMFS 
proceeds forward in this rulemaking.

DATES:  Comments must be received no later than 5 p.m. eastern standard 
time on or before February 2, 2009.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by RIN number 0648-AX40, 
by any of the following methods:
     Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic public 
comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking portal http://www.regulations.gov.
     Fax: (978) 281-9117, Attn: Bob Ross.
     Mail: Harold Mears, Director, State, Federal and 
Constituent Programs Office, Northeast Regional Office, NMFS, 55 Great 
Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930-2276. Mark the outside of the 
envelope: ``Comments on Lobster Control Date.''
    Instructions: All comments received are part of the public record 
and will generally be posted to http://www.regulations.gov without 
change. All Personal Identifying Information (for example, name, 
address, etc.) voluntarily submitted may be publicly accessible. Do not 
submit confidential business information or otherwise sensitive or 
protected information.
    NMFS will accept anonymous comments (enter N/A in the required 
fields if you wish to remain anonymous). Attachments to electronic 
comments will be accepted via Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, 
WordPerfect, or Adobe PDF file formats only.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  Bob Ross, Supervisory Fishery 
Management Specialist, 978-281-9234.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The American lobster fishery in the United 
States takes place from North Carolina to Maine. Over three-quarters of 
all American lobsters are landed in Maine, with most of the other 
landings occurring in or from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Long Island 
Sound, and Georges Bank. The majority of American lobsters are taken in 
state waters, which extend from the coast to 3 nautical miles (5.56 
kilometers) from shore. The offshore trap fishery, which occurs 
primarily in the offshore canyon areas at the edge of the continental 
shelf, has developed in the past 25 years and accounts for most of the 
remaining landings. The American lobster fishery is a year-round 
fishery in the United States, including the summer and fall months when 
the lobsters are molting. Approximately 96 percent of lobsters are 
taken in lobster traps. The rest are taken in trawls, gillnets, 
dredges, and by divers.
    The Commission develops fishery conservation and management 
strategies for certain coastal species and coordinates the efforts of 
the states and Federal Government toward concerted sustainable ends. 
The Commission, under the provisions of the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries 
Cooperative Management Act (Atlantic Coastal Act), decides upon a 
management strategy and then forwards that strategy to the states and 
Federal Government, along with a recommendation that the states and 
Federal Government take action (e.g., enact regulations) in furtherance 
of this strategy. The Federal Government is obligated by statute to 
support the Commission's American Lobster Interstate Fishery Management 
Plan (ISFMP) and overall fishery management efforts. At its October 
2008 Annual Meeting, the Commission voted to initiate an addendum to 
the ISFMP that includes options for a limited entry program for Area 1. 
In the same motion, the Commission voted to request the Secretary of 
Commerce publish a control date in the Federal Register that may be 
used to limit future participation in the Area 1 Federal American 
lobster trap fishery to those Federal permit holders who could document 
trap fishing history prior to the control date. The control date is the 
publication date of this advance notice of proposed rulemaking in the 
Federal Register.
    There has been a dramatic increase in fishing effort since the 
1970s and effort

[[Page 68]]

continues at historically high levels. NMFS estimates that each 
American lobster trap remains in the water about 30 percent longer than 
in 1970 before being hauled. Current fishing effort removes a large 
proportion of lobsters before they have had a chance to spawn even 
once, and the average size of lobsters landed continues to drop. The 
most recent peer-reviewed lobster stock assessment, completed in 2005, 
showed that the American lobster resource presents a mixed picture (see 
the Commission Stock Assessment Report No. 06-03, published January 
2006 at www.asmfc.org). One theme throughout the assessment was the 
high fishing effort and high mortality rates in all three stock areas. 
The assessment indicated that there is stable abundance for the Georges 
Bank (GBK) stock and much of the Gulf of Maine (GOM) stock and 
decreased abundance and recruitment, yet continued high fishing 
mortality rates, for the Southern New England (SNE) stock and in 
Statistical Area 514 (Massachusetts Bay and Stellwagen Bank) in the GOM 
stock. Of particular concern in the 2005 stock assessment report is the 
SNE stock, where depleted stock abundance and recruitment coupled with 
high fishing mortality rates over the past few years led the stock 
assessment and peer review panel to recommend additional harvest 
restrictions. The SNE stock encompasses all of Areas 4, 5, and 6, and 
part of Areas 2 and 3. Overall, stock abundance in the GOM is 
relatively high with recent fishing mortality comparable to the past. 
The GOM stock encompasses all of Area 1, and part of both Area 3 and 
the Outer Cape Management Area. Currently, high lobster fishing effort 
levels in GOM continue in concert with high stock abundance, although 
high effort levels are not likely to be supportable if abundance 
returns to long-term median levels. The GBK stock seems stable, with 
current abundance and fishing mortality similar to the 20-year average. 
The GBK stock encompasses part of Areas 2, 3, and the Outer Cape 
Management Area. While the assessment noted the female proportion of 
the GBK stock is increasing slightly, it also cautioned that further 
increases in effort are not advisable, hence, the need for additional 
effort reduction and broodstock protection.
    NMFS is also aware that recent constraints on participation in 
several traditional otter trawl fisheries, including the Mid-Atlantic 
summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass fisheries and the New England 
multispecies fisheries, and broader use of area closures may result in 
a shift in non-trap lobster fishing effort to the lobster trap fishery 
by vessels that have traditionally harvested lobsters by non-trap 
methods. Further, limited access programs in other lobster management 
areas have the potential to cause fishermen who do not qualify in that 
area to shift trap fishing operations to Area 1, the last remaining 
open access area. An unchecked increase in effort in the lobster trap 
fishery, as a result of a shift from non-trap to trap gear and/or as a 
result of an influx of fishing operations from other areas to Area 1, 
may jeopardize current efforts to achieve the objectives of the ISFMP 
and rebuild stocks.
    For these reasons, NMFS, in consultation with the Commission, is 
considering proposed rulemaking to address whether and how to limit 
entry of vessels which have not fished with traps in Area 1 in the past 
from fishing in Area 1 with traps in the future, or which have not 
fished with traps in the past from fishing with traps in the future. 
The proposed rulemaking may include potential eligibility criteria that 
would prove trap fishing history or trap fishing history in Area 1 
prior to the date of this notice. Such proof might include, but is not 
necessarily limited to documentation of fishing for lobster with traps, 
documentation of the purchase of lobster trap tags, and/or the election 
of Area 1 on their Federal lobster vessel permit. Further, proof may or 
may not be required for multiple years preceding the date of this 
notice, for example, proof of Area 1 trap fishing history for the 2008, 
2007 and/or 2006 fishing seasons.
    Consideration of a control date does not commit the Commission or 
NMFS to any particular management regime or criteria for entry into the 
fishery. Fishermen would not be guaranteed future participation in the 
fishery regardless of their entry date or intensity of participation in 
the fishery before or after the control date under consideration. NMFS, 
in consultation with the Commission, may choose to use a different 
control date, or to give variably weighted consideration to fishermen 
active in the fishery before and after the control date. NMFS 
subsequently may choose a different control date or may choose a 
management regime that does not make use of a control date. Other 
qualifying criteria, such as, but not limited to, documentation of 
landings and sales, may be applied for entry. NMFS may also choose to 
take no further action to control entry or access into the lobster 
management areas or address the shift in effort from non-trap to trap 
gear, in which case the control date may be rescinded. Any action will 
be taken pursuant to the requirements established under the Atlantic 
Coastal Act. This document, therefore, gives the public notification 
that interested participants should locate and preserve records that 
substantiate and verify their participation in the American lobster 
fishery in Federal waters.

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1851 note; 16 U.S.C. 5101 et seq.

    Dated: December 24, 2008.
John Oliver,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Operations, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E8-31235 Filed 12-31-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S