[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 187 (Tuesday, September 29, 2009)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 49845-49847]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-23463]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 660

[Docket No. 0909111273-91274-01]
RIN 0648-XR09


Fisheries Off West Coast States; Coastal Pelagic Species 
Fisheries; Annual Specifications

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

ACTION:  Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY:  NMFS proposes a regulation to implement the annual harvest 
guideline (HG) for Pacific mackerel in the U.S. exclusive economic zone 
(EEZ) off the Pacific coast. This HG is proposed according to the 
regulations implementing the Coastal Pelagic Species (CPS) Fishery 
Management Plan (FMP) and establishes allowable harvest

[[Page 49846]]

levels for Pacific mackerel off the Pacific coast. The proposed total 
HG for the 2009-2010 fishing year is 10,000 metric tons (mt) and is 
proposed to be divided into a directed fishery HG of 8,000 mt and an 
incidental fishery of 2,000 mt.

DATES:  Comments must be received by October 29, 2009.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on this proposed rule identified by 
0648-XR09 by any one of the following methods:
     Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic public 
comments via the Federal eRulemaking Portal http://www.regulations.gov
     Mail: Rodney R. McInnis, Regional Administrator, Southwest 
Region, NMFS, 501 West Ocean Blvd., Suite 4200, Long Beach,
    CA 90802.
     Fax: (562)980-4047, Att: Joshua Lindsay
    Instructions: All comments received are a 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 by the commenter 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). You may submit attachments to 
electronic comments in Microsoft Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe PDF 
file formats only.
    Copies of the report Pacific Mackerel (Scomber japonicus) Stock 
Assessment for U.S. Management in the 2009-2010 Fishing Year may be 
obtained from the Southwest Regional Office (see ADDRESSES).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  Joshua Lindsay, Southwest Region, 
NMFS, (562) 980-4034.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The CPS FMP, which is implemented by 
regulation at 50 CFR part 660, subpart I, divides management unit 
species into two categories: actively managed and monitored. The HGs 
for actively managed species (Pacific sardine and Pacific mackerel) are 
based on formulas applied to current biomass estimates.
    During public meetings each year, the biomass for each actively 
managed species within the CPS FMP is presented to the Pacific Fishery 
Management Council's (Pacific Council) Coastal Pelagic Species 
Management Team (Team), the Council's Coastal Pelagic Species Advisory 
Subpanel (Subpanel) and the CPS Subcommitee of the Scientific and 
Statistical Committee (SSC). At that time, the biomass, the acceptable 
biological catch (ABC) and the status of the fisheries are reviewed and 
discussed. This information is then presented to the Council along with 
HG recommendations and comments from the Team and Subpanel. Following 
review by the Council and after hearing public comments, the Council 
makes its HG recommendation to NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service 
(NMFS). The annual HG is published in the Federal Register as close as 
practicable to the start of the fishing season.
    For the 2009-2010 Pacific mackerel management season a full 
assessment for Pacific mackerel was conducted and then reviewed by a 
Stock Assessment Review (STAR) Panel in May 2009. This most recent full 
assessment for Pacific mackerel estimates the current biomass to be 
282,049 mt. Based on this estimated biomass, the harvest control rule 
in the CPS FMP produces an ABC of 55,408 mt.
    At the June 2009 Pacific Council Meeting, the Council reviewed the 
current Pacific mackerel stock assessment, biomass numbers, ABC and 
STAR Panel Report, as well as heard statements/reports from the SSC, 
Team and Subpanel. Although the assessment for Pacific mackerel was 
reviewed by a STAR Panel and was approved by the SSC as the best 
available science for use in management, concerns were expressed by all 
the advisory groups regarding the data sources that informed the 
assessment and the uncertainty in the assessment results. Taking into 
consideration these reports and statements, the Council adopted the 
most recent assessment for Pacific mackerel along with the calculated 
ABC, but recommended setting an overall HG for the July 1, 2009 through 
June 30, 2010 fishing season at 10,000 mt. The Council also recommended 
that 8,000 mt of this total HG be allocated for a directed fishery and 
2,000 mt be set-aside for incidental Pacific mackerel landings in other 
fisheries should the 8,000 mt directed fishery HG be attained. Should 
the directed Pacific mackerel fishery attain landings of 8,000 mt, the 
Council recommends that NMFS close the directed fishery and establish a 
45 percent incidental catch allowance when Pacific mackerel are landed 
with other CPS (no more than 45% by weight of the CPS landed per trip 
may be Pacific mackerel), except that up to 1 mt of Pacific mackerel 
can be landed without landing any other CPS.
    Information on the fishery and the stock assessment can be found in 
the report Pacific mackerel (Scomber japonicus) Stock Assessment for 
U.S. Management in the 2009-10 Fishing Season (see ADDRESSES).
    The harvest control rule formula in the FMP uses the following 
factors to determine the ABC:
    1. Biomass. The estimated stock biomass of Pacific mackerel age one 
and above for the 2009-2010 management season is 282,049 mt.
    2. Cutoff. This is the biomass level below which no commercial 
fishery is allowed. The FMP established this level at 18,200 mt.
    3. Distribution. The portion of the Pacific mackerel biomass 
estimated in the U.S. EEZ off the Pacific coast is 70 percent and is 
based on the average historical larval distribution obtained from 
scientific cruises and the distribution of the resource according to 
the logbooks of aerial fish-spotters.
     4. Fraction. The harvest fraction is the percentage of the biomass 
above 18,200 mt that may be harvested. The FMP established this at 30 
percent.

Classification

    Pursuant to section 304(b)(1)(A) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the 
NMFS Assistant Administrator has determined that this proposed rule is 
consistent with the CPS FMP, other provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens 
Act, and other applicable law, subject to further consideration after 
public comment.
    These proposed specifications are exempt from review under 
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 that this proposed rule, if adopted, would not have a 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities 
as follows:
    The purpose of this proposed rule is to implement the 2009-2010 
HG for Pacific mackerel in the U.S. EEZ off the Pacific coast. The 
CPS FMP and its implementing regulations require NMFS to set an 
annual HG for the Pacific mackerel fishery based on the harvest 
formula in the FMP. The harvest formula is applied to the current 
stock biomass estimate to determine the ABC, from which the HG is 
then derived.
    Pacific mackerel harvest is one component of CPS fisheries off 
the U.S. West Coast which primarily includes the fisheries for 
Pacific sardine, northern anchovy, jack mackerel and market squid. 
Pacific mackerel are principally caught off southern California 
within the limited entry portion (south of 39 N. latitude; Point 
Arena, California) of the fishery. Sixty vessels are currently 
permitted in the Federal CPS limited entry fishery off California. 
These vessels are considered small business entities by the U.S. 
Small Business Administration since the vessels do not have annual 
receipts in excess of $4.0

[[Page 49847]]

million. This proposed rule has an equal effect on all of these 
small entities. Therefore, there would be no disporportionate 
impacts on large and small business entities under the proposed 
action.
    The profitability of these vessels as a result of this proposed 
rule is based on the average Pacific mackerel ex-vessel price per 
mt. NMFS used average Pacific mackerel ex-vessel price per mt to 
conduct a profitability analysis because cost data for the 
harvesting operations of CPS finfish vessels was unavailable.
    During the 2007/2008 fishing year 6,200 mt of Pacific mackerel 
were landed with an estimated ex-vessel value of $900,000 and during 
the 2008/2009 fishing year approximately 4,000 mt were landed with 
an estimated exvessel value of $780,000. The proposed HG for the 
2009/2010 Pacific mackerel fishing season (July 1, 2008 through June 
30, 2009) is 10,000 mt. If the fleet were to take the entire 2009/
2010 HG, and assuming no change in the coastwide average ex-vessel 
price per mt of $200, the potential revenue to the fleet would be 
approximately $2 million.
    The amount of Pacific mackerel caught each year depends greatly 
on market forces within the fishery, as well as the other CPS 
fisheries, and on the regional availability of the species to the 
fleet and the fleets' ability to easily find schools relatively 
close to port. If there is no change in market conditions (i.e., a 
lack in demand for Pacific mackerel product), it is not likely that 
the full HG will be taken during the 2009-2010 fishing year, in 
which case profits will be lower than if the entire HG were taken. 
Additionally, the potential lack of regional availability of the 
resource to the fleet can cause a reduction in the amount of Pacific 
mackerel that is harvested, in turn, potentially reducing the total 
revenue to the fleet.
    The annual average U.S. Pacific mackerel harvest from 2001/2002 
to 2008/2009 is 5,584 mt with an average annual exvessel revenue of 
$929,419. Based on this catch and revenue history for Pacific 
mackerel over the last nine years NMFS does not anticipate a drop in 
profitability based on this rule, as the 2009/2010 available harvest 
(10,000 mt) is nearly twice the average catch during that time.
    In addition, the revenue derived from harvesting Pacific 
mackerel is only one factor determining the overall revenue of the 
CPS fleet and therefore the economic impact to the fleet from the 
proposed action cannot be viewed in isolation. CPS vessels typically 
harvest a number of other species, including Pacific sardine, market 
squid, northern anchovy, and tuna, with the focus on Pacific 
sardine, which had an estimated ex-vessel of $14.5 million in 2008 
and market squid which had an estimated ex-vessel of $26 million in 
2008. Therefore Pacific mackerel is only a small component of this 
multi-species CPS fishery.
    Based on the disproportionality and profitability analysis 
above, this rule if adopted, will not have a significant economic 
impact on a substantial number of these small entities.
    As a result, an Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis is not 
required and none has been prepared.

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

    Dated: September 23, 2009.
John Oliver,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Operations, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E9-23463 Filed 9-28-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S