[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 181 (Monday, September 19, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 57945-57946]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-23988]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 660

RIN 0648-BA55


Fisheries Off West Coast States; West Coast Salmon Fisheries; 
Notice of Availability for Amendment 16 to the Salmon Fishery 
Management Plan

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

ACTION: Availability of amendment to a fishery management plan; request 
for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the Pacific Fishery Management Council

[[Page 57946]]

(Council) has submitted Amendment 16 to the Pacific Coast Salmon 
Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Secretarial review. Amendment 16 
would modify the FMP to implement National Standard 1 Guidelines 
(NS1Gs) adopted by NMFS under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation 
and Management Reauthorization Act (MSRA). These guidelines are 
intended to prevent and end overfishing and rebuild fisheries through 
implementation of status determination criteria, overfishing limits, 
annual catch limits, and accountability measures. Amendment 16 would 
also set new conservation objectives and de minimis fishing rate 
provisions.

DATES: Comments on Amendment 16 must be received on or before November 
18, 2011.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by NOAA-NMFS-2011-0227, 
by any one of the following methods:
     Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic public 
comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal http://www.regulations.gov. To submit comments via the e-Rulemaking Portal, 
first click the ``Submit a Comment'' icon, then enter NOAA-NMFS-2011-
0227 in the keyword search. Locate the document you wish to comment on 
from the resulting list and click on the ``Submit a Comment'' icon on 
the right of that line.
     Mail: William W. Stelle, Jr., Regional Administrator, 
Northwest Region, NMFS, 7600 Sand Point Way, NE., Seattle, WA 98115-
0070 or to Rod McInnis, Regional Administrator, Southwest Region, NMFS, 
501 West Ocean Boulevard, Suite 4200, Long Beach, CA 90802-4213.
     Fax: 206-526-6736 Attn: Peggy Busby, or 562-980-4047 Attn: 
Heidi Taylor.
    Instructions: Comments must be submitted by one of the above 
methods to ensure that the comments are received, documented, and 
considered by NMFS. Comments sent by any other method, to any other 
address or individual, or received after the end of the comment period, 
may not be considered. All comments received are a part of the public 
record and will generally be posted for public viewing on http://www.regulations.gov without change. All personal identifying 
information (e.g., name, address, etc.) submitted voluntarily by the 
sender will 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 in Microsoft Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe PDF file 
formats only.
    Electronic copies of the amendment may be obtained from the Council 
Web site at http://pcouncil.org.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Peggy Busby at 206-526-4323, or Heidi 
Taylor at 562-980-4039.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The ocean salmon fisheries in the exclusive 
economic zone off Washington, Oregon, and California are managed under 
a ``framework'' fishery management plan entitled the Pacific Coast 
Salmon Fishery Management Plan (FMP). The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 
Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act of 2006 (MSRA) requires 
that each regional fishery management council submit any FMP or plan 
amendment it prepares to NMFS for review and approval, disapproval, or 
partial approval. The MSRA also requires that NMFS, upon receiving an 
FMP or amendment, immediately publish a notice that the FMP or 
amendment is available for public review and comment. NMFS will 
consider the public comments received during the comment period 
described above in determining whether to approve Amendment 16 to the 
FMP.
    On January 16, 2009 (74 FR 3178), NMFS adopted revisions to its 
guidelines implementing MSRA National Standard 1 (NS1Gs) to prevent and 
end overfishing and rebuild fisheries. In particular, the revised 
guidelines provide guidance on implementation of the new statutory 
requirement for annual catch limits (ACLs). The revised guidelines also 
include new requirements for accountability measures (AMs) and other 
provisions regarding preventing and ending overfishing and rebuilding 
fisheries. To comply with the statute and these new guidelines, 
Amendment 16 to the Salmon FMP would reorganize and classify stocks in 
the FMP to conform with requirements of the NS1Gs, to establish status 
determination criteria, establish a framework for defining reference 
points related to overfishing limits (OFL), acceptable biological catch 
(ABC), and annual catch limits (ACLs), and establish appropriate 
accountability measures (AM) necessary to prevent the ACLs from being 
exceeded, and to mitigate any overages that may occur. Amendment 16 
would also set new conservation objectives for Klamath River fall 
Chinook salmon and Sacramento River fall Chinook salmon, and would 
specify de minimis fishing rate provisions to address management in 
years of low abundance. Other conservation objectives would also be 
revised and updated as needed to conform with the best available 
science.
    NMFS welcomes comments on the proposed FMP amendment through the 
end of the comment period. A proposed rule to implement Amendment 16 
has been submitted for Secretarial review and approval. NMFS expects to 
publish and request public review and comment on proposed regulations 
to implement Amendment 16 in the near future. Public comments on the 
proposed rule must be received by the end of the comment period on the 
amendment to be considered in the approval/disapproval decision on the 
amendment. All comments received by the end of the comment period for 
the amendment, whether specifically directed to the amendment or the 
proposed rule, will be considered in the approval/disapproval decision.

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

    Dated: September 14, 2011.
 Steven Thur,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-23988 Filed 9-16-11; 8:45 am]
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