[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 119 (Tuesday, June 22, 2010)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 35432-35435]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-15061]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 635

[Docket No. 100315147-0233-01]
RIN 0648-XV31


Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; North and South Atlantic 
Swordfish Quotas

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

ACTION: Proposed rule; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: This proposed rule would adjust the North and South Atlantic 
swordfish quotas for the 2010 fishing year to account for 2009 
underharvest and implement International Commission for the 
Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) recommendations 09-02 and 09-03, 
which maintain the U.S. allocation of the international total allowable 
catch (TAC). This rule could affect commercial and recreational fishing 
for swordfish in the Atlantic Ocean, including the Caribbean Sea and 
Gulf of Mexico, by establishing annual quotas.

DATES:  Comments on this proposed rule may be submitted by July 22, 
2010.

ADDRESSES:  You may submit comments, identified by 0648-XV31, by any 
one of the following methods:
     Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic public 
comments via the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov
     Fax: 301-713-1917, Attn: Delisse Ortiz
     Mail: 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910
    Instructions: No comments will be posted for public viewing until 
after the comment period has closed. 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  Delisse Ortiz or Karyl Brewster-Geisz 
by phone: 301-713-2347 or by fax: 301-713-1917.
    Copies of the supporting documents--including the 2007 
Environmental Assessment (EA), Regulatory Impact Review (RIR), Final 
Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (FRFA), and the 2006 Consolidated 
Atlantic Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Fishery Management Plan (FMP)--
are available from the HMS website at http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfa/hms/
.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The U.S. Atlantic swordfish fishery is 
managed under the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP. Implementing regulations 
at 50 CFR part 635 are issued under the authority of the Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), 
16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq., and the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act (ATCA), 
16 U.S.C. 971 et seq. Regulations issued under the authority of ATCA 
carry out the recommendations of ICCAT.

North Atlantic Swordfish Quota

    ICCAT recommendation 06-02 established a North Atlantic swordfish 
TAC of 14,000 metric tons (mt) whole weight (ww) through 2008. Of this 
TAC, the U.S. baseline quota was 3,907.3 mt ww (2,937.6 mt dw). ICCAT 
recommendation 08-02 extended

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recommendation 06-02 through 2009. ICCAT recommendation 09-02 reduced 
this TAC to 13,700 mt ww through 2010. Of the 13,700 mt ww, the United 
States continues to be allocated 3,907.30 (2,937.6 mt dw). ICCAT 
recommendation 06-02 (extended through 2010 by ICCAT recommendation 09-
02) also limits the amount of North Atlantic swordfish underharvest 
that can be carried forward by all Contracting Parties, non-Contracting 
Cooperating Parties, Entities and Fishing Entities (CPCs) to 50 percent 
of the baseline quota allocation. Therefore, the United States could 
carry over a maximum of 1,468.8 mt dw of underharvests from the 
previous year to be added to the baseline quota. In addition, ICCAT 
recommendation 06-02 established an annual transfer of 18.8 mt dw of 
U.S. quota to Canada in the North Atlantic.
    This proposed rule would adjust the total available quota for the 
2010 fishing year to account for the 2009 underharvests and transfer 
18.8 mt dw to Canada from the reserve category in the North Atlantic. 
The 2010 North Atlantic swordfish baseline quota is 2,937.6 mt dw. The 
preliminary North Atlantic swordfish underharvest for 2009 was 2,524.2 
mt dw, which exceeds the maximum carryover cap of 1,468.8 mt dw. 
Therefore, NMFS is proposing to carry forward the allowable amount per 
the ICCAT recommendation. The baseline quota plus the underharvest 
carryover maximum of 1,468.8 mt dw equals a proposed adjusted quota of 
4,406.4 mt dw for the 2010 fishing year. The directed category would be 
allocated 3,658.3 mt dw (Table 1) that would be split equally into two 
seasons in 2010 (January through June and July through December). The 
incidental category, which includes recreational landings, would be 
allocated 300 mt dw, and the reserve category would be reduced from a 
quota of 466.9 mt dw to 448.1 mt dw due to the transfer of 18.8 mt dw 
to Canada (Table 1). The 2009 landings are based on preliminary data. 
As late reports are received and the data are quality controlled, some 
data may change. Any changes will be described in the final rule, as 
appropriate.

South Atlantic Swordfish Quota

    ICCAT recommendation 06-03 established the South Atlantic swordfish 
TAC at 17,000 mt ww for 2007, 2008, and 2009. Of this, the United 
States received 100 mt ww (75.2 mt dw). ICCAT recommendation 09-03 
reduced the overall TAC to 15,000 mt ww through 2012. Of the 15,000 mt 
ww TAC, the United States continues to be allocated 100 mt ww (75.2 mt 
dw). As with the North Atlantic swordfish recommendation, ICCAT 
recommendation 06-03 establishes a cap on the amount of underharvest 
that can be carried forward. For South Atlantic swordfish, the United 
States is limited to carrying forward 100 mt ww (75.2 mt dw). However, 
under ICCAT recommendation 09-03, 100 mt ww (75.2 mt dw) of U.S. quota 
was transferred to other countries. Under this recommendation, 50 mt ww 
(37.6 mt dw) was transferred to Namibia, 25 mt ww (18.8 mt dw) to Cote 
d' Ivore, and 25 mt ww (18 mt dw) to Belize. The United States is 
transfering the 75 mt dw from the available underharvest in the South 
Atlantic swordfish quota. As a result, the proposed 2010 South Atlantic 
swordfish quota is 75 mt dw (Table 1).

 Impacts

    In recent years, the United States has not caught its entire 
swordfish quota. Beginning in 2007, the amount of underharvest that was 
available for carryover was capped at 50 percent of the quota for North 
Atlantic swordfish, and 100 percent for South Atlantic swordfish. The 
proposed adjusted quota for the North Atlantic swordfish, after 
accounting for the 2009 underharvests and annual transfer to Canada, 
would be the same in 2010 as the 2007 adjusted quota specifically 
examined in the Environmental Assessment (EA) that was prepared for the 
2007 Swordfish Quota Specification Final Rule published on October 5, 
2007 (72 FR 56929). The proposed adjusted quota for the South Atlantic 
swordfish, after accounting for the underharvest transfer to other 
countries, would also be the same as the 2007 baseline quota examined 
in the EA. The quota adjustments would not increase overall quotas and 
are not expected to increase fishing effort or protected species 
interactions beyond those considered in the EA mentioned above. 
Therefore, because there would be no changes to the swordfish 
management measures in this proposed rule, or any additional effect on 
the environment, or any environmental consequences that have not been 
previously analyzed, NMFS has determined that the proposed rule and 
impacts to the human environment as a result of the quota adjustments 
would not require additional NEPA analysis.
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    If you would like to request a public hearing for the proposed 
rule, please contact Delisse Ortiz or Karyl Brewster-Geisz by phone at 
301-713-2347.

Classification

    The Assistant Administrator for Fisheries has determined that this 
proposed rule is consistent with the2006 Consolidated HMS FMP, the 
Magnuson-Stevens Act, ATCA, and other applicable law, subject to 
further consideration after public comment.
    This proposed 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 that this proposed rule, if adopted, would not have a 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. 
The certification reads:
    NMFS published a final rule on October 5, 2007 (72 FR 56929) 
that established the 2,937.6 metric tons (mt) dressed weight (dw) 
and 75.2 mt dw yearly baseline quotas for the North and South 
Atlantic swordfish, respectively; created an underharvest carryover 
cap of 50 percent of the baseline quota for North Atlantic swordfish 
and 100 percent of the baseline quota for South Atlantic swordfish; 
and transferred 18.8 mt dw of quota to Canada from the reserve 
category. These actions were based upon ICCAT recommendations 06-02 
for North Atlantic swordfish and 06-03 for South Atlantic swordfish. 
The North Atlantic swordfish provisions in recommendation 06-02 were 
extended through 2010 (recommendation 09-02). The South Atlantic 
provisions in recommendation 06-03 were extended through 2012 
(recommendation 09-03). In addition, ICCAT recommendation 09-03 
states that a total of a 100 mt ww (75 mt dw) be transferred to 
other countries from the 2009 75.2 mt dw U.S. South Atlantic 
Swordfish quota. The United States is transferring the 75 mt dw from 
the 2009 underharvest available in the South Atlantic swordfish 
quota. These transfers are 50 mt ww (37.6 mt dw) to Namibia, 25 mt 
ww (18.8 mt dw) to Cote d' Ivore, and 25 mt ww to Belize.
    These 2010 annual specifications are necessary to implement the 
2009 ICCAT quota recommendations, as required by ATCA, and to 
achieve domestic management objectives under the Magnuson-Stevens 
Act. This proposed rule would adjust the 2010 baseline quotas for 
the North and South Atlantic swordfish fisheries for the 2010

[[Page 35435]]

fishing year (January 1, 2010, through December 31, 2010) to account 
for 2009 underharvests per 50 part 635.27(c) and transfer 18.8 mt dw 
to Canada from the reserve category of North Atlantic swordfish 
quota and 75.2 mt dw to other countries from the 2009 U.S. 
underharvest available in the South Atlantic swordfish quota. 
Consistent with Federal regulation (50 CFR part 635.27(c)(1)), the 
2010 North Atlantic swordfish directed baseline quotas plus the 2009 
underharvests would be divided equally between the semiannual 
periods of January through June and July through December, 2010. The 
2010 adjusted quotas are 4,406.4 mt dw for North Atlantic swordfish 
and 75.2 mt dw for South Atlantic swordfish.
    The commercial swordfish fishery is comprised of fishermen who 
hold a swordfish directed, incidental, or handgear limited access 
permit (LAP) and the related industries including processors, bait 
houses, and equipment suppliers, all of which NMFS considers to be 
small entities according to the size standards set by the Small 
Business Administration. As of October 2009, there were 
approximately 187 fishermen with a directed swordfish LAP, 72 
fishermen with an incidental swordfish LAP, and 81 fishermen with a 
handgear LAP for swordfish. Based on the 2009 swordfish ex-vessel 
price per pound of $3.49, the 2010 North Atlantic swordfish baseline 
quota could result in gross revenues of $22,602,049.68 (6,476,232 
lbs dw * $3.49) and $578,589.65 (165,785 lbs dw * $3.49) for South 
Atlantic quota if the quota was fully utilized. However, in both the 
North and South Atlantic swordfish fisheries, the United States has 
not caught the full baseline quota since the 1997 fishing year. The 
2009 total underharvest for North Atlantic swordfish was 2,524.2 mt 
dw and 75.2 mt dw for South Atlantic swordfish. The underharvest 
carryover amount has been capped, for the North Atlantic swordfish, 
at 1,468.8 mt dw (323,811 lbs dw) and at 75.2 mt dw (165,785 lbs dw) 
for South Atlantic swordfish. However, under ICCAT recommendation 
09-03, 100 mt ww (75.2 mt dw) of 2009 U.S. underharvest of the South 
Atlantic swordfish quota was transferred to other countries. The 
proposed 2010 adjusted quota for the North and South Atlantic 
swordfish would be 4,406.4 mt dw and 75.2 mt dw, respectively. In 
this proposed action, the 2010 baseline quotas would be adjusted to 
account for the 2009 underharvest, which could result in additional 
total revenues for the North Atlantic swordfish fisheries of 
$33,903,079.54 for a fully utilized adjusted quota. Potential 
revenues on a per vessel basis, considering a total of 340 swordfish 
permit holders, could be $99,714.94 for the North Atlantic swordfish 
fishery and $1,701.73 for the South Atlantic swordfish fishery. 
Because the United States is not expected to catch its entire quota, 
and the quota adjustments are the same in 2010 as they were in 2007, 
2008, and 2009, NMFS does not expect these quota adjustments to have 
a significant economic impact on a large number of small entities.

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. and 16 U.S.C. 971 et seq.

    Dated: June 16, 2010.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2010-15061 Filed 6-21-10; 8:45 am]
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