[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 210 (Monday, October 31, 2011)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 67092-67098]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-28043]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 660

[Docket No. 100804324-1265-02]
RIN 0648-BB47


Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; Fisheries Off West Coast States; 
Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; Biennial Specifications and 
Management Measures; Inseason Adjustments

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

ACTION: Final rule; inseason adjustments to biennial groundfish 
management measures; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: This final rule announces inseason changes to management 
measures in the commercial Pacific Coast groundfish fisheries. These 
actions, which are authorized by the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery 
Management Plan (FMP), are intended to allow fisheries to access more 
abundant groundfish stocks while protecting overfished and depleted 
stocks.

DATES: Effective 0001 hours (local time) November 1, 2011. Comments on 
this final rule must be received no later than November 30, 2011.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by FDMS docket number 
NOAA-NMFS-2010-0194 by any one of the following methods:
     Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic public 
comments via the Federal eRulemaking Portal http://www.regulations.gov.
     Fax: (206) 526-6736, Attn: Gretchen Hanshew.
     Mail: William W. Stelle, Jr., Regional Administrator, 
Northwest Region, NMFS, 7600 Sand Point Way NE., Seattle, WA 98115-
0070, Attn: Gretchen Hanshew.
    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

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anonymous). You may submit attachments to electronic comments in 
Microsoft Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe PDF file formats only.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gretchen Hanshew (Northwest Region, 
NMFS), (206) 526-6147, fax: (206) 526-6736, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Electronic Access

    This final rule is accessible via the Internet at the Office of the 
Federal Register's Web site at http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/index.html. 
Background information and documents are available at the Pacific 
Fishery Management Council's Web site at http://www.pcouncil.org/.

Background

    The Pacific Coast Groundfish FMP and its implementing regulations 
at title 50 in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), part 660, 
subparts C through G, regulate fishing for over 90 species of 
groundfish off the coasts of Washington, Oregon, and California. 
Groundfish specifications and management measures are developed by the 
Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council), and are implemented by 
NMFS. On November 3, 2010, NMFS published a proposed rule to implement 
the 2011-2012 harvest specifications and management measures for the 
Pacific Coast groundfish fishery (75 FR 67810). The final rule to 
implement the 2011-2012 harvest specifications and management measures 
for the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery was published on May 11, 2011 
(76 FR 27508). This final rule was subsequently amended by inseason 
actions on June 30, 2011 (76 FR 38313). Additional changes to the 2011-
2012 specifications and management measures were made in a final rule 
on May 19, 2011 (76 FR 28897), an interim final rule on June 15, 2011 
(76 FR 34910), and in a correcting amendment on September 2, 2011 (76 
FR 54713). These specifications and management measures are codified in 
the CFR (50 CFR part 660, subparts C through G).
    Changes to current groundfish management measures implemented by 
this action were recommended by the Council at its September 12-19, 
2011 meeting in San Mateo, California. The Council recommended 
adjustments to current groundfish management measures to respond to 
updated fishery information and other inseason management needs. The 
adjustments to fishery management measures are not expected to result 
in greater impacts to overfished species than originally projected 
through the end of 2011. Estimated mortality of overfished and target 
species are the result of management measures designed to achieve, to 
the extent possible, but not exceed, ACLs of target species while 
fostering the rebuilding of overfished stocks by remaining within their 
rebuilding ACLs.

Sablefish Daily Trip Limit Fishery South of 36[deg] N. lat.

    The Council recommended and NMFS is implementing a modest increase 
for the open access sablefish fishery trip limits south of 36[deg] N. 
lat.
    There is no formal allocation of sablefish between the limited 
entry fixed gear and open access sablefish daily trip limit (DTL) 
fisheries south of 36[deg] N. lat. The Council designed 2011 trip 
limits for these two commercial groundfish non-trawl fisheries south of 
36[deg] N. lat. that were anticipated to allow slightly more overall 
harvest of sablefish by the limited entry fixed gear fishery. 2011 trip 
limits were also designed so that, when catches in each sector are 
combined, total impacts of these two fisheries are anticipated to 
approach but not exceed the 2011 non-trawl allocation for sablefish 
south of 36[deg] N. lat.
    Catch of sablefish in the limited entry fixed gear sablefish DTL 
fishery south of 36[deg] N. lat. has been higher than anticipated. 
Based on the most recent fishery information, if no action is taken and 
catch remains higher than expected, landings of sablefish in this 
fishery through the end of the year would be 440 mt. This level of 
catch would exceed the sablefish harvest target of 373 mt for this 
fishery by approximately 12 percent. However, catch of sablefish in the 
open access sablefish DTL fisheries south of 36[deg] N. lat. has been 
lower than anticipated. Based on the most recent fishery information, 
if no action is taken and catch remains lower than expected, landings 
of sablefish through the end of the year would be 203 mt. This level of 
catch would be approximately 64 percent below the sablefish harvest 
target for this fishery of 319 mt.
    The Council considered several combinations of trip limit changes 
in the limited entry fixed gear and open access sablefish DTL fisheries 
south of 36[deg] N. lat. to maintain fishing opportunities through the 
remainder of 2011 where possible, while keeping catch within the 2011 
sablefish ACL for the area south of 36[deg] N. lat.
    Since there is no formal allocation between the limited entry fixed 
gear and open access sablefish DTL fisheries south of 36[deg] N. lat. 
and since one fishery had a small projected overage and the other had a 
large projected underage, the Council recommended a modest increase in 
the open access sablefish DTL fishery trip limits for the end of 2011. 
With this increase in sablefish trip limits for Period 6 (November-
December) for the open access sablefish DTL fishery, and retention of 
the current trip limits in the limited entry fixed gear sablefish DTL 
fishery, projected catches in these two fisheries combined is 652 mt, 
60 mt below the 2011 non-trawl allocation for sablefish south of 36 N. 
lat. of 712 mt adjusted for discard mortality.
    West Coast Groundfish Observer data indicate that impacts to 
overfished species in the commercial fixed gear sablefish fisheries 
south of 36[deg] N. lat. are extremely low. Therefore, increases to 
trip limits to raise projected impacts closer to the 2011 sablefish 
non-trawl allocation and the ACL are not anticipated to result in 
changes to impacts to co-occurring overfished groundfish species.
    Therefore, the Council recommended and NMFS is implementing an 
increase for the open access fishery trip limits south of 36[deg] N. 
lat. from ``300 lb (136 kg) per day, or 1 landing per week of up to 
1,200 lb (544 kg), not to exceed 2,400 lb (1089 kg) per 2 months'' to 
``300 lb (136 kg) per day, or 1 landing per week of up to 1,500 lb (680 
kg), not to exceed 3,000 lb (1361 kg) per 2 months'' beginning in 
period 6, on November 1, through the end of the year.

Shallow Nearshore Rockfish South of 40[deg]10' N. lat.

    The Council recommended and NMFS is implementing trip limit 
increases for shallow nearshore rockfish in the limited entry fixed 
gear and open access fishery south of 40[deg]10' N. lat.
    At its September meeting, the Council considered how catches in the 
nearshore fishery as a whole south of 40[deg]10' N. lat. have been 
lower in 2011 than in previous years, and considered modest increases 
to allow additional harvest opportunities for shallow nearshore 
rockfish while keeping total catch within the applicable harvest 
guidelines.
    Modest increases to the shallow nearshore rockfish trip limits in 
the limited entry fixed gear and open access fisheries in Period 6 
(November 1 through December 31) are not projected to increase impacts 
to co-occurring overfished rockfish.
    Therefore, the Council recommended and NMFS is implementing trip 
limit changes for shallow nearshore rockfish in the limited entry fixed 
gear and open access fishery south of 40[deg]10.00' N. lat.:

[[Page 67094]]

from ``600 lb (272 kg) per 2 months'' south of 40[deg]10.00' N. lat. in 
Period 6 (November-December) to ``1,000 lb (454 kg) per 2 months'' 
beginning in Period 6, on November 1, through the end of the year.

Classification

    This final rule makes routine inseason adjustments to groundfish 
fishery management measures based on the best available information and 
is taken pursuant to the regulations implementing the Pacific Coast 
Groundfish FMP.
    These actions are taken under the authority of 50 CFR 660.60(c) and 
are exempt from review under Executive Order 12866.
    These inseason adjustments are taken under the authority of the 
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-
Stevens Act), and are in accordance with 50 CFR part 660, subparts C 
through G, the regulations implementing the FMP. These actions are 
based on the most recent data available. The aggregate data upon which 
these actions are based are available for public inspection at the 
Office of the Administrator, Northwest Region, NMFS, (see ADDRESSES) 
during business hours.
    For the following reasons, NMFS finds good cause to waive prior 
public notice and comment on the revisions to biennial groundfish 
management measures under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B) because notice and comment 
would be impracticable and contrary to the public interest. Also, for 
the same reasons, NMFS finds good cause to waive the 30-day delay in 
effectiveness pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3), so that this final rule 
may become effective as quickly as possible.
    The recently available data upon which these recommendations were 
based was provided to the Council, and the Council made its 
recommendations, at its September 12-19, 2011, meeting in San Mateo, 
California. The Council recommended that these changes be implemented 
by November 1, 2011 or as quickly as possible thereafter. There was not 
sufficient time after that meeting to draft this document and undergo 
proposed and final rulemaking before these actions need to be in 
effect. For the actions to be implemented in this final rule, affording 
the time necessary for prior notice and opportunity for public comment 
would prevent the Agency from managing fisheries using the best 
available science to approach, without exceeding, the ACLs for 
federally managed species in accordance with the FMP and applicable 
laws. The adjustments to management measures in this document affect 
commercial fisheries off Washington, Oregon, and California.
    Changes to trip limits for sablefish in the open access sablefish 
DTL fishery south of 36[deg] N. lat. and for shallow nearshore rockfish 
in the limited entry fixed gear and open access fisheries south of 
40[deg] 10' N. lat. will allow fishermen additional harvest 
opportunities for sablefish and for species within the shallow 
nearshore rockfish complex. These changes are necessary to relieve a 
restriction by allowing additional harvest opportunities, while staying 
within ACLs. These changes must be implemented in a timely manner, as 
quickly as possible, so that fishermen are allowed increased 
opportunities to harvest available healthy stocks while preventing 
stocks from exceeding their ACLs. These changes are intended to meet 
the goal of the Pacific Coast Groundfish FMP to achieve maximum 
biological yield while keeping within the constraints of overfished 
species rebuilding requirements. It would be contrary to the public 
interest to wait to implement these changes until after public notice 
and comment, because that would prevent fishermen from taking these 
fish at the time they are available, preventing additional harvest in 
fisheries that are important to coastal communities.

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 660

    Fisheries, Fishing, Indian fisheries.

    Dated: October 25, 2011.
Galen R. Tromble,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.

    For the reasons set out in the preamble, 50 CFR part 660 is amended 
as follows:

PART 660---FISHERIES OFF WEST COAST STATES

0
1. The authority citation for part 660 continues to read as follows:

    Authority:  16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq., 16 U.S.C. 773 et seq., and 
16 U.S.C. 7001 et seq.


0
2. Table 2 (South) to part 660, subpart E, is revised to read as 
follows:
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P

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[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TR31OC11.001


0
3. Table 3 (South) to part 660, subpart F, is revised to read as 
follows:

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[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TR31OC11.002


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[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TR31OC11.003

[FR Doc. 2011-28043 Filed 10-28-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-C