[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 83 (Friday, April 29, 2011)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 23904-23906]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-10479]



[[Page 23904]]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 622

[Docket No. 110103005-1255-02]
RIN 0648-BA48


Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; 
Reef Fish Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico; Greater Amberjack Management 
Measures

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

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: NMFS issues this final rule to implement a regulatory 
amendment to the Fishery Management Plan for the Reef Fish Resources of 
the Gulf of Mexico (FMP) prepared by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery 
Management Council (Council). This final rule establishes a June 
through July seasonal closure of the recreational sector for greater 
amberjack in or from the Gulf of Mexico (Gulf) exclusive economic zone 
(EEZ). The intended effect of this final rule is to mitigate the social 
and economic impacts associated with implementing in-season closures. 
This rule also revises codified text to clarify the definition of a 
venting device used to deflate the abdominal cavity of a Gulf reef 
fish.

DATES: This rule is effective May 31, 2011.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the regulatory amendment, which includes an 
environmental assessment and a regulatory impact review, may be 
obtained from the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, 2203 North 
Lois Avenue, Suite 1100, Tampa, FL 33607; telephone 813-348-1630; fax 
813-348-1711; e-mail [email protected]; or may be downloaded 
from the Council's Web site at http://www.gulfcouncil.org/.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rich Malinowski, 727-824-5305; fax: 
727-824-5308.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The reef fish fishery of the Gulf of Mexico 
is managed under the FMP. The FMP was prepared by the Council and is 
implemented through regulations at 50 CFR part 622 under the authority 
of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 
(Magnuson-Stevens Act).
    On January 24, 2011, NMFS published a proposed rule for the greater 
amberjack regulatory amendment and requested public comment (76 FR 
4084). On March 10, 2011, NMFS extended the comment period for an 
additional 15 days (76 FR 13122) in order to ensure that the public 
fully understood the intent of the greater amberjack regulatory 
amendment. The proposed rule and the regulatory amendment outline the 
rationale for the measures contained in this final rule. The final rule 
establishes a 2-month seasonal closure (June and July each year) of the 
recreational sector for greater amberjack within the Gulf reef fish 
fishery. During the closure, harvest and possession of recreational 
greater amberjack is prohibited in or from the EEZ.
    This final rule also revises the definition of ``venting device'' 
to more accurately characterize the part of a fish's anatomy where the 
venting device should be utilized.

Comments and Responses

    The following is a summary of the comments NMFS received on the 
proposed rule and the greater amberjack regulatory amendment, and 
NMFS's respective responses. During the initial comment period, NMFS 
received 64 submissions on the proposed rule. During the second comment 
period, NMFS received an additional 57 submissions. All submissions 
were from private or for-hire fishers. Overall, NMFS received 10 
comments that expressed general support of the action contained in this 
final rule. The remainder of the comments either did not support the 
proposed action or suggested alternative management approaches. These 
comments are grouped in the comments addressed below.
    Comment 1: Allowing fishing during June and July is very important 
for the economy of Gulf coast communities; this is the major time of 
year for both private and for-hire fishing trips. Marinas, charter 
boats, fishing tournaments, bait and tackle shops, hotels, and 
restaurants will be hurt by this closure. People will start limiting 
their trips to the Gulf coast because of the limited opportunity to 
keep the fish they catch during a trip. If a closure must be 
implemented to protect greater amberjack from overfishing, it should 
occur either earlier or later in the year when fishing effort is 
reduced. A spring spawning season closure or a winter seasonal closure 
would be preferable.
    Response: In 2009, the recreational sector met its greater 
amberjack quota in August. In early 2010, NMFS projected that the 2010 
and 2011 quotas would also be met between August and October. Even with 
the extensive fishery closures that were in place in 2010 because of 
the Deepwater Horizon MC252 oil spill, preliminary recreational 
landings data indicate the recreational quota was met. The Council 
recognized that these projected lengthy and early in-season closures 
could cause economic and social disruption to for-hire businesses, 
private anglers, and shoreside support facilities, such as marinas, 
bait shops, hotels, and restaurants.
    The Council considered several closure options, including spring 
and fall closures, but determined the 3-to 5-month closed periods 
needed in the spring and fall to adequately constrain harvest to the 
quota were too long, and would create an economic burden to the 
recreational sector through the longer duration seasonal closure. Thus, 
they selected a shorter closure period during the peak of fishing 
effort, which is expected to constrain harvest, and allow fishing for 
the other 10 months of the year. During the Council's deliberations, 
many for-hire operators indicated a June-July closure was a preferred 
option, as it occurs during the red snapper recreational sector open 
season, thereby allowing them to market greater amberjack as a trophy 
fish during the other approximately 10 months their preferred target 
species of red snapper was unavailable.
    Comment 2: Greater amberjack are closer to shore and more abundant 
during the summer, whereas in the winter they are farther offshore and 
more dispersed, thus making them more difficult to catch than in the 
summer. The most favorable summer weather is during June and July, 
allowing small-boat fishermen greater opportunity to go fishing as a 
result of the ocean conditions. Forcing fishermen to fish for greater 
amberjack during other times of the year will mean traveling farther 
offshore, decreasing vessel safety because of distance from shore and 
less favorable weather, and/or reduce fishing opportunities because of 
bad weather. Discards will increase because of the summer closure.
    Response: NMFS and the Council recognize that there may be reduced 
opportunities to fish for greater amberjack during off-peak periods 
because of weather or other circumstances. However, the social and 
economic impacts of a June-July closure will be less than an early in-
season closure, as described in the response to Comment 1. NMFS and the 
Council also recognize that discards will occur during the closed 
season. However, by ending the targeting of greater amberjack during 
the closure, overall removals are expected to decrease. Release 
mortality

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is not well documented, but is thought to be low, so mortality is 
expected to be reduced during the closure.
    Comment 3: A seasonal closure for greater amberjack is not 
necessary. The stock is healthy off Alabama and Louisiana; the oil and 
gas platforms are teeming with large greater amberjack. The data used 
in the stock assessment are incorrect and do not represent what 
fishermen and divers observe every day when on a fishing trip. No 
additional regulations should be implemented until the data collection 
process has been improved. The Deepwater Horizon MC252 oil spill led to 
an extensive area closed to all fishing during the peak of the fishing 
season. This reduced fishing pressure during 2010 should be considered 
in allowing harvest for 2011.
    Response: The seasonal closure helps constrain the recreational 
harvest to the allowable catch, which in turn prevents overfishing. The 
recreational sector has demonstrated the continued ability to harvest 
the quota within the fishing year. As noted in Comment 1, the quota was 
met in August of 2009, and even with the extensive fishery closures 
during 2010 because of the Deepwater Horizon MC252 oil spill, 
preliminary recreational landings data for 2010 indicate the quota was 
met. The closure is intended to constrain recreational harvest to 
within the quota while providing the longest duration fishing season 
possible, thus minimizing social and economic disruptions.
    Comment 4: It seems inconsistent to state that a closure is a way 
to increase recreational fishing opportunities.
    Response: As noted in Comments 1 and 3, without additional action 
to constrain recreational catch and effort, the recreational sector met 
its fishing year quota in August 2009, met its quota in 2010, even with 
the extensive fishery closures during 2010 because of the Deepwater 
Horizon MC252 oil spill, and is projected to meet its recreational 
quota by August 2011, for the current fishing year. To minimize the 
social and economic impacts of lengthy and early in-season quota 
closures, the Council selected the shortest duration seasonal closure 
that is projected to constrain recreational harvest to the quota while 
still allowing harvest to occur through the end of the fishing year. 
During the Council's public hearing process, many for-hire operators 
indicated a June-July closure was preferred, because this seasonal 
closure period would allow them to market greater amberjack as a trophy 
fish during the fall and winter months when their preferred target of 
red snapper was unavailable as a result of the recreational season 
being closed.
    Comment 5: Recreational harvest of greater amberjack is not the 
problem; commercial fishermen harvest much more fish than recreational 
fishermen do. Recreational fishermen account for only a small part of 
the total catch. Commercial fishing is depleting this resource.
    Response: Regulations allocate the Gulf greater amberjack total 
allowable catch between the commercial and recreational sectors. Total 
annual allowable catch for greater amberjack in the Gulf of Mexico is 
1,871,000 lb (848,671 kg), whole weight. The recreational quota, 
allocated at 73 percent of the total allowable catch, is 1,368,000 lb 
(620,514 kg), whole weight. The commercial quota, which is 27 percent 
of the total allowable catch is 503,000 lb (228,157 kg), whole weight.
    Comment 6: Several alternative management options were suggested in 
lieu of a closure. These included issuing tags to allow recreational 
fishermen to harvest specific numbers of fish, reducing the 
recreational bag limit from one per person to one per vessel or one per 
two people onboard, creating a slot limit, increasing the size limit, 
or regionalized management.
    Response: The Council has a variety of management options available 
to constrain harvest of any fishing sector, including those identified 
in the comments. The for-hire fishing industry provided input to the 
Council during their development of the greater amberjack regulatory 
amendment. They requested seasonal closures to help them properly plan 
for their fishing activities so that for-hire bookings are not 
unexpectedly cancelled because of early in-season quota closures. The 
Council considered both spring and fall closures, ranging from 3 to 5 
months in length but determined these longer closures resulted in 
greater social and economic impact. In addition, early in-season quota 
closures affect many fishing tournaments held during the fall of the 
year. With the establishment of a fixed closed season, such tournaments 
can be scheduled around the fixed closed season.
Classification
    The Regional Administrator, Southeast Region, NMFS has determined 
that this regulatory amendment is necessary for the conservation and 
management of Gulf greater amberjack, to reduce the social and economic 
impacts to the Gulf greater amberjack recreational sector, and is 
consistent with the Magnuson-Stevens Act and other applicable laws.
    This proposed rule has been determined to be not significant for 
purposes of Executive Order 12866.
    A final regulatory flexibility analysis (FRFA) was prepared for 
this rule. The FRFA incorporates the initial regulatory flexibility 
analysis (IRFA), a summary of the significant economic issues raised by 
public comments, NMFS' responses to those comments, and a summary of 
the analyses completed to support the action. The FRFA follows.
    No public comments specific to the IRFA or that have socioeconomic 
implications were received and therefore no comments are addressed in 
this FRFA, although the response to Comment 4 addressed the economic 
impacts of the final rule more generally and may be referred to for 
additional information. No changes in the final rule were made in 
response to public comments.
    The Magnuson-Stevens Act provides the statutory basis for this 
final rule. This final rule will not establish any new reporting, 
record-keeping, or other compliance requirements. No duplicative, 
overlapping, or conflicting Federal rules have been identified.
    The preamble of this final rule and the previously published 
proposed rule provides a statement of the need for and objectives of 
this rule, and it is not repeated here.
    The final rule is expected to directly affect for-hire fishing 
vessels that harvest greater amberjack in the Gulf. The for-hire sector 
is comprised of charterboats, which charge a fee on a vessel basis, and 
headboats, which charge a fee on an individual angler (head) basis. 
For-hire vessels are required to have a Gulf reef fish for-hire permit 
to harvest greater amberjack in the Gulf. The Small Business 
Administration has established size criteria for all major industry 
sectors in the U.S. including fish harvesters. A for-hire 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 annual receipts 
not in excess of $7.0 million (NAICS code 713990, recreational 
industries).
    In 2009, there were 1,422 unique for-hire vessels that were 
permitted to operate in the Gulf reef fish recreational sector. These 
vessels were distributed as follows: 140 vessels in Alabama, 877 
vessels in Florida, 101 vessels in Louisiana, 54 vessels in 
Mississippi, and 232 vessels in Texas. The Federal for-hire permit does 
not distinguish between headboats and charter boats, but in 2009, the 
headboat survey program included 79 headboats. The

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majority of headboats were located in Florida (43), followed by Texas 
(22), Alabama (10), and Louisiana (4). It cannot be determined with 
available data how many of the 1,422 for-hire vessels permitted to 
operate in the Gulf reef fish fishery harvest greater amberjack, so all 
permitted for-hire vessels are assumed to comprise the universe of 
potentially affected vessels. The average charterboat is estimated to 
earn approximately $88,000 (2008 dollars) in annual revenues, while the 
average headboat is estimated to earn approximately $461,000 (2008 
dollars).
    Based on these revenue estimates, all for-hire vessels expected to 
be directly affected by this final rule are determined for the purpose 
of this analysis to be small business entities. Some fleet activity 
(i.e., multiple vessels owned by a single entity) may exist in the for-
hire sector but its extent is unknown, and all vessels are treated as 
independent entities in this analysis.
    All entities expected to be directly affected by the final rule are 
determined for the purpose of this analysis to be small business 
entities, so no disproportionate effects on small entities relative to 
large entities are expected because of this action.
    The final rule establishes a June 1 through July 31 seasonal 
closure of the recreational greater amberjack sector of the Gulf reef 
fish fishery. On the other hand, the no action alternative would likely 
result in a recreational sector closure commencing on approximately 
August 27, 2011, as a result of the quota being met or exceeded. 
Relative to the no action alternative, the final rule is expected, for 
the first year, to result in an increase in profits by $52,526 for the 
charterboat sector as a whole, or by $39 per charterboat. On the other 
hand, the final rule is expected, for the first year, to result in a 
decrease in profits by $59,832 for the headboat sector as a whole, or 
by $757 per headboat. Relative to the average revenues of $88,000 per 
charterboat and $461,000 per headboat, the estimated effects of the 
final rule may be deemed relatively small. Considering the effects on 
charterboats and headboats as a whole, the final rule is expected, in 
the first year, to result in a net decrease in overall for-hire vessel 
profits of $7,306. This net amount is deemed small, particularly when 
spread over all 1,422 for-hire vessels. In addition, it is expected 
that net profits for both charterboats and headboats would not 
deteriorate as much as they would under an unplanned quota closure 
associated with the no action alternative. Based on the resulting net 
effects on profits, it is concluded that the final rule would not have 
a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small 
entities.
    Four alternatives, including the final action, were considered in 
this amendment. The first alternative to the final action is the no 
action alternative. This alternative, which would not establish a 
recreational seasonal closure, resulted in a quota closure and overages 
in 2009, prompting a reduction in the following year's (2010) quota. In 
April 2010, the recreational sector requested that the Council consider 
a seasonal closure to minimize the adverse effects of the quota 
closure. The second alternative to the final action would establish a 
March through May seasonal closure. This alternative would be expected 
to result in larger overall adverse economic effects than the final 
action. While this alternative would result in lower headboat profit 
reductions of $32,713 for the first year, the charterboat profit 
reductions would be substantially larger at $516,062 for the first 
year. The third alternative to the final action would establish a May 
through June seasonal closure. This third alternative would likely 
result in larger adverse economic effects than the final action. 
Similar to the second alternative to the final action, this third 
alternative would result in lower headboat profit reductions of $29,844 
for the first year but substantially larger charterboat reductions of 
$252,017 for the first year.
    The provision contained in this final rule that corrects the 
definition of venting device would have no additional economic effects 
on small entities because this tool is already required to be used, and 
this correction merely clarifies how it should be used.
    Section 212 of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness 
Act of 1996 states that, for each rule or group of related rules for 
which an agency is required to prepare a FRFA, the agency shall publish 
one or more guides to assist small entities in complying with the rule, 
and shall designate such publications as small entity compliance 
guides. As part of the rulemaking process, NMFS prepared a fishery 
bulletin, which also serves as a small entity compliance guide. The 
fishery bulletin will be sent to all vessel permit holders for the Gulf 
reef fish for-hire sector as well as other interested parties.

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 622

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

    Dated: April 26, 2011.
John Oliver,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Operations, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.

    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.  622.2, the definition for ``venting device'' is revised to 
read as follows:


Sec.  622.2  Definitions and acronyms.

* * * * *
    Venting device means a device intended to deflate the abdominal 
cavity of a fish to release the fish with minimum damage.
* * * * *

0
3. In Sec.  622.34, paragraph (o) is added to read as follows:


Sec.  622.34  Gulf EEZ seasonal and/or area closures.

* * * * *
    (o) Seasonal closure of the recreational sector for greater 
amberjack. The recreational sector for greater amberjack in or from the 
Gulf EEZ is closed from June 1 through July 31, each year. During the 
closure, the bag and possession limit for greater amberjack in or from 
the Gulf EEZ is zero.
* * * * *

0
4. In Sec.  622.41, the first sentence of paragraph (m)(3) is revised 
to read as follows:


Sec.  622.41  Species specific limitations.

* * * * *
    (m) * * *
    (3) Venting tool. At least one venting tool is required and must be 
used to deflate the abdominal cavities of Gulf reef fish to release the 
fish with minimum damage. * * *
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2011-10479 Filed 4-28-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P