[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 186 (Monday, September 26, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 59373-59374]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-24701]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 622

RIN 0648-AY22


Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; 
Generic Annual Catch Limits/Accountability Measures Amendment for the 
Gulf of Mexico

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

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management 
Council (Council) has submitted a Generic Annual Catch Limits/
Accountability Measures Amendment (Generic ACL Amendment) to the 
Fishery Management Plans (FMPs) for Reef Fish Resources, Red Drum, 
Shrimp, and Coral and Coral Reefs for the Gulf of Mexico (Gulf) for 
review, approval, and implementation by NMFS. The amendment proposes 
actions to allow management of selected species by other Federal and/or 
state agencies; remove species not currently in need of Federal 
management from the FMPs; develop species groups for management; 
establish acceptable biological catch (ABC) control rules; establish 
annual catch limits (ACLs) and ACL control rules; modify framework 
procedures; and establish accountability measures (AMs).

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before November 25, 
2011.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on the amendment identified by NOAA-
NMFS-2011-0143 by any of the following methods:
     Electronic submissions: Submit electronic comments via the 
Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments.
     Mail: Rich Malinowski, Southeast Regional Office, NMFS, 
263 13th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701.
    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.
    To submit comments through the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov, click on ``submit a comment,'' then enter ``NOAA-
NMFS-2011-0143'' in the keyword search and click on ``search.'' To view 
posted comments during the comment period, enter ``NOAA-NMFS-2011-
0143'' in the keyword search and click on ``search.'' NMFS will accept 
anonymous comments (enter N/A in the required field if you wish to 
remain anonymous). You may submit attachments to electronic comments in 
Microsoft Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe PDF file formats only.
    Comments received through means not specified in this rule will not 
be considered.
    Electronic copies of the amendment may be obtained from the 
Southeast Regional Office Web site at http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rich Malinowski, telephone: 727-824-
5305, or e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation 
and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) requires each regional 
fishery management council to submit any FMP or amendment to NMFS for 
review and approval, disapproval, or partial approval. The Magnuson-
Stevens Act also requires that NMFS, upon receiving a plan or 
amendment, publish an announcement in the Federal Register notifying 
the public that the plan or amendment is available for review and 
comment.
    The four FMPs being revised by this Generic ACL Amendment were 
prepared by the Council and implemented through regulations at 50 CFR 
parts 622 under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

Background

    The 2006 revisions to the Magnuson-Stevens Act require that, in 
2011, for fish stocks determined by the Secretary to not be subject to 
overfishing, ACLs must be established at a level that prevents 
overfishing and helps to achieve optimum yield (OY) within a fishery. 
The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires NMFS and regional fishery management 
councils to prevent overfishing and achieve, on a continuing basis, the 
OY from federally managed stocks. These mandates are intended to ensure 
fishery resources are managed for the greatest overall benefit to the 
nation, particularly with respect to providing food production and 
recreational opportunities, and protecting marine ecosystems.

Actions Contained in the Amendment

    The Generic ACL Amendment proposes to identify those fish stocks in 
need of ACLs; identify stocks that do not need Federal management and 
can therefore be removed from their respective FMPs; delegate 
management of selected stocks to other management agencies; and combine 
selected stocks into species groupings for more effective management. 
Additionally, the amendment would establish the necessary procedures 
for determining and implementing ACLs and associated management 
measures by creating an ABC control rule, an ACL/annual catch target 
(ACT) control rule, and framework procedures for implementing 
management changes in a timelier manner. The Generic ACL Amendment 
would establish ACLs, and optionally ACTs, for fish stocks or stock 
groups. The Generic ACL Amendment also defines the apportionment for 
three selected stocks across the jurisdictional boundary between the 
Gulf Council and the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (South 
Atlantic Council), and allocates the harvest of black grouper between 
the commercial and recreational sectors within the reef fish fishery in 
the Gulf. Finally, the Generic ACL Amendment establishes AMs intended 
to respond to and manage future harvest should a stock or stock groups 
ACL be exceeded.

[[Page 59374]]

Transfer Management of Selected Stocks to Other Agencies

    The presence of some stocks in Gulf Federal waters is uncommon and 
their occurrence is predominately within the jurisdiction of the South 
Atlantic Council. National Standard 7 of the Magnuson-Stevens Act 
states that, to the extent practicable, conservation and management 
measures shall avoid unnecessary duplication. The Generic ACL Amendment 
proposes to remove Nassau grouper from the Reef Fish FMP; the Council 
will request that the Secretary of Commerce designate the South 
Atlantic Council as the responsible council for Nassau grouper. The 
South Atlantic Council has agreed to manage this species throughout its 
range in the South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico regions. Similarly, the 
Generic ACL Amendment would remove octocorals from the Coral and Coral 
Reefs FMP. The majority of harvest of octocorals occurs in waters under 
the jurisdiction of the South Atlantic Council, and they will continue 
to manage octocorals in their region. Octocoral harvest in the Gulf 
occurs primarily in Florida territorial waters. Florida manages 
octocorals in its state waters, and has notified the Council that it 
will assume management of octocorals in Gulf Federal waters as well.

Removal of Stocks From Reef Fish Fishery Management Plan

    Approximately 50 species of fish are under consideration for 
management actions in the Generic ACL Amendment. Many uncommonly 
harvested species were originally placed in fishery management plans 
for data monitoring purposes, rather than because they were considered 
to be in need of Federal management. The Generic ACL Amendment would 
remove ten of the less frequently landed species in the Reef Fish FMP, 
after the Council determined these species are not in need of Federal 
management. Species proposed for removal include those species for 
which average landings are less than 15,000 lb (6,804 kg) annually, or 
that are harvested primarily in state waters, and include: Anchor 
tilefish, misty grouper, sand perch, dwarf sand perch, blackline 
tilefish, schoolmaster, red hind, rock hind, dog snapper, and mahogany 
snapper.

Species Groupings

    In some cases, groups of stocks share a common habitat and are 
caught with the same gear in the same area at the same time. Some 
species groupings already exist in management, i.e., shallow-water 
grouper, deep-water grouper, and tilefishes. The Council determined 
that grouping species that share similar fishery characteristics would 
allow for more effective management of those lesser caught species 
where there is insufficient individual single species information.

ABC Control Rules

    Standard methods for determining the appropriate ABC would allow 
the Council's Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) to determine 
an objective and efficient assignment of ABC at or less than the 
overfishing limit. The SSC's selection of an ABC takes into account 
scientific uncertainty regarding the harvest levels that would lead to 
overfishing. The quality and quantity of landings information varies 
according to the stock in question, thus separate control rules are 
needed for data-adequate and data-poor stocks. In some cases, the 
nature of the fishery or other management considerations may require a 
separate control rule for a given stock.

ACL/ACT Control Rules

    Under the Magnuson-Stevens Act, ACTs are optional management 
targets intended to help constrain harvest to levels so that the ACL is 
not exceeded. Establishing control rules for setting these catch levels 
would provide guidance to the Council on setting an objective and 
efficient assignment of ACLs that take into account the potential for 
management uncertainty. As with the ABC control rule, different levels 
of landings information about catch levels and management of stocks may 
require separate control rules for data-adequate and data-poor stocks. 
In some cases, the nature of the fishery or other management 
considerations may require a separate control rule for a given stock.

Generic Framework Procedures

    To facilitate timely adjustments to harvest parameters and other 
management measures, the Council has added the ability to adjust ACLs 
and AMs, and establish and adjust total allowable catch, to the current 
framework procedures. These adjustments or additions may be 
accomplished through a regulatory amendment which is less time 
intensive than an FMP amendment. By including ACLs, AMs, ACTs, and 
other management criteria in the framework procedures, the Council and 
NMFS would have the flexibility to more promptly alter those harvest 
parameters as new scientific information becomes available. The 
proposed addition of other management options into the framework 
procedures would also add flexibility and the ability to more timely 
respond to certain future Council decisions through the framework 
procedures.

Specification of ACLs

    The Generic ACL Amendment would assign initial ACLs, and optionally 
ACTs, for each of the stocks retained for Federal management in the 
amendment. Additionally, the Generic ACL Amendment would apportion 
harvest levels of black grouper, yellowtail snapper, and mutton snapper 
stocks between the Gulf Council and South Atlantic Council. Finally, 
this measure would establish commercial and recreational harvest 
allocations for black grouper for the Gulf.

Accountability Measures

    In-season and post-season AMs are proposed that would maintain 
catch levels within the proposed ACLs or to restore catch levels to 
those limits if exceeded. These AMs would take into account the 
timeliness of the catch data for in-season monitoring, as well as 
whether the stock is under a rebuilding plan.

Consideration of Public Comments

    A proposed rule that would implement measures outlined in the 
Generic ACL Amendment has been received from the Council. In accordance 
with the Magnuson-Stevens Act, NMFS is evaluating the proposed rule to 
determine whether it is consistent with the FMPs, the Magnuson-Stevens 
Act, and other applicable law. If that determination is affirmative, 
NMFS will publish the proposed rule in the Federal Register for public 
review and comment.
    Comments received by November 25, 2011, whether specifically 
directed to the amendment or the proposed rule, will be considered by 
NMFS in its decision to approve, disapprove, or partially approve the 
amendment. Comments received after that date will not be considered by 
NMFS in this decision. All comments received by NMFS on the amendment 
or the proposed rule during their respective comment periods will be 
addressed in the final rule.

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

    Dated: September 21, 2011.
Emily H. Menashes,
Acting Director,
    Office of Sustainable Fisheries,
    National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-24701 Filed 9-23-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P