[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 77 (Friday, April 20, 2012)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 23652-23654]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-9600]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 622

[Docket No. 120409403-2403-01]
RIN 0648-BB93


Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; 
Comprehensive Annual Catch Limit Amendment Supplement

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

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ACTION: Supplemental proposed rule; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS proposes to supplement the regulations implementing the 
Comprehensive Annual Catch Limit Amendment (Comprehensive ACL 
Amendment) for the Fishery Management Plan for the Snapper-Grouper 
Fishery of the South Atlantic Region (Snapper-Grouper FMP), as prepared 
and submitted by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council 
(Council). The Comprehensive ACL Amendment specified, in part, annual 
catch limits (ACLs) and accountability measures (AMs) for species in 
the Snapper-Grouper FMP. A final rule implementing the Comprehensive 
ACL Amendment was published in the Federal Register on March 16, 2012, 
and is effective on April 16, 2012. However, after publishing the final 
rule, NMFS discovered that the commercial quota for greater amberjack 
(commercial ACL for greater amberjack), which was specified in the 
Comprehensive ACL Amendment, was inadvertently not specified in the 
proposed or final rules. The intent of this supplemental proposed rule 
is to specify the commercial ACL for greater amberjack, while 
maintaining catch levels consistent with achieving optimum yield (OY) 
for the resource.

DATES: Written comments on this proposed rule must be received no later 
than May 7, 2012.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on the supplemental proposed rule 
identified by ``NOAA-NMFS-2012-0039'' 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: Rick DeVictor, Southeast Regional Office, NMFS, 263 
13th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701.
    Instructions: Comments are specifically sought on the action 
contained in the supplemental proposed rule to revise the greater 
amberjack commercial sector quota. 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-2012-0039'' in the keyword search and click on ``search''. To view 
posted comments during the comment period, enter ``NOAA-NMFS-2012-
0039'' 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 through means not specified in this rule will not be 
accepted.
    Electronic copies of the Comprehensive ACL Amendment, which 
includes a final environmental impact statement (FEIS), a regulatory 
flexibility analysis, and a regulatory impact review, may be obtained 
from the Southeast Regional Office Web site at http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/sf/pdfs/Comp%20ACL%20Am%20101411%20FINAL.pdf.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rick DeVictor, Southeast Regional 
Office, NMFS, telephone: 727-824-5305; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The fishery for snapper-grouper is managed 
under the Snapper-Grouper FMP. The FMP is 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).

Background

    Greater amberjack managed under the FMP is neither overfished nor 
undergoing overfishing, and is not in a rebuilding plan. The 2006 
revisions to the Magnuson-Stevens Act require that by 2011, for 
fisheries determined by the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) to not be 
subject to overfishing, ACLs and AMs must be established at a level 
that prevents overfishing and helps to achieve OY. 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.
    An ACL is the level of annual catch of a stock or stock complex 
that is set to prevent overfishing from occurring. An ACL that is met 
or exceeded serves as the basis for triggering an AM. ACLs may 
incorporate management and scientific uncertainty, and take into 
account the amount of data available and level of vulnerability to 
overfishing for each species. Separate ACLs may be established for each 
sector of a fishery, i.e., commercial and recreational. However, the 
combined total of both sector ACLs may not exceed the total ACL for a 
species or stock complex.
    As specified in the Comprehensive ACL Amendment, the total ACL for 
greater amberjack is 1,968,000 lb (892,670 kg), round weight. Within 
the snapper-grouper fishery of the South Atlantic, the harvest of 
greater amberjack is divided between the commercial and recreational 
sectors; the total ACL is also so divided. The commercial sector ACL 
for greater amberjack is 800,163 lb (362,948 kg), round weight, or 
769,388 lb (348,989 kg), gutted weight, and the recreational sector ACL 
is 1,167,837 lb (529,722 kg), round weight. The commercial quota for 
greater amberjack is specified in the regulations in gutted weight, 
because the fishermen are accustomed to the quota being specified in 
gutted weight. The greater amberjack commercial sector quota proposed 
through this rulemaking also serves as the greater amberjack commercial 
sector ACL, set forth in the Comprehensive ACL Amendment.
    However, although it is set out in the Comprehensive ACL Amendment, 
the commercial quota for greater amberjack was inadvertently omitted 
from the proposed and final rules implementing the Comprehensive ACL. 
On October, 20, 2011, NMFS published a notice of availability for the 
Comprehensive ACL Amendment and requested public comment (76 FR 65153). 
On December 1, 2011, NMFS published a proposed rule for the 
Comprehensive ACL Amendment and requested public comment (76 FR 74757). 
Additionally, on December 30, 2011, NMFS published an amended proposed 
rule for the Comprehensive ACL Amendment specific to a revised 
allowable biological catch (ABC) and a corresponding reduction to the 
commercial and recreational sector ACLs for wreckfish and requested 
public comment (76 FR 82264). The Secretary of Commerce approved the 
Comprehensive ACL Amendment on January 18, 2012. The final rule to 
implement the Comprehensive ACL Amendment was published on March 16, 
2012 (77 FR 15916).
    In the proposed rule, the revised commercial quota for greater 
amberjack referenced in 50 CFR 622.49(b)(11)(i)(A) was inadvertently 
left unrevised in the commercial quota section in 50 CFR 622.42(e)(3). 
Therefore the final rule also left the commercial quota for greater 
amberjack unrevised. This supplemental proposed rule would

[[Page 23654]]

revise the commercial quota for greater amberjack.

Management Measure Contained in This Proposed Rule

Greater Amberjack Commercial Quota

    The final rule to implement the Comprehensive ACL Amendment (77 FR 
15916, March 16, 2012) implemented ACLs and AMs for greater amberjack. 
However, as noted above, NMFS inadvertently failed to revise the 
commercial quota for greater amberjack. Because the commercial quota 
serves as the commercial sector ACL, which acts as the trigger for the 
commercial sector's AM, without the revised commercial quota, the 
commercial sector ACL is incomplete. This rule would revise the greater 
amberjack commercial quota to accurately reflect the actions within the 
amendment and meet the intent of the Council. This rule reduces the 
current commercial sector quota of 1,169,931 lb (530,672 kg), gutted 
weight, to 769,388 lb (348,989 kg), gutted weight.

Classification

    Pursuant to section 304(b)(1)(A) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the 
NMFS Assistant Administrator has determined that this proposed rule is 
consistent with the Comprehensive ACL Amendment, other provisions of 
the Magnuson-Stevens Act, 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 the final rule to implement the Comprehensive ACL 
Amendment would not have a significant economic impact on a substantial 
number of small entities. The purpose of this proposed rule, as 
described in the preamble, is to revise the commercial greater 
amberjack quota that was inadvertently not revised in the final rule 
implementing the Comprehensive ACL Amendment (77 FR 15916, March 16, 
2012), consistent with the intent of the Council. The effects of the 
commercial quota, 800,163 lb (362,948 kg), round weight, or 769,388 lb 
(348,989 kg), gutted weight, were fully described in the Comprehensive 
ACL Amendment. This revised commercial quota is approximately 400,000 
lb (181,437 kg), gutted weight, less than the existing commercial 
quota. However, the average annual commercial greater amberjack harvest 
for 2005 to 2009 was only 690,725 lb (313,308 kg), gutted weight, which 
is substantially less than the existing commercial quota, and which is 
still less than the quota proposed here. Because the new commercial 
quota would be more than the average annual commercial greater 
amberjack harvest, the specification of the new quota is not expected 
to have any direct adverse economic effects on the commercial 
harvesters of greater amberjack or associated industries. These results 
and conclusions were provided in the Comprehensive ACL Amendment. The 
Classification section of the proposed rule (76 FR 74757, December 1, 
2011) and the final rule (77 FR 15916, March 16, 2012) implementing the 
Comprehensive ACL Amendment, however, focused on the actions which were 
expected to have direct adverse economic effects on small entities. 
Because the revision of the greater amberjack commercial quota 
(commercial ACL) is not expected to have any direct adverse economic 
effects on small entities, no reference to, or discussion of the 
expected economic effects of this revision was included in the 
Classification sections of these two rules.
    In summary, this proposed rule, if implemented, would simply 
correct an administrative oversight in a previous rulemaking. For the 
reasons above, if implemented this rule will not have a significant 
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 622

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

    Dated: April 17, 2012.
Alan D. Risenhoover,
Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National 
Marine Fisheries Service.

    For the reasons set out in the preamble, 50 CFR part 622 is 
proposed to be amended as follows:

PART 622--FISHERIES OF THE CARIBBEAN, GULF, AND SOUTH ATLANTIC

    1. The authority citation for part 622 continues to read as 
follows:

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

    2. In Sec.  622.42, paragraph (e)(3) is revised to read as follows:


Sec.  622.42  Quotas.

* * * * *
    (e) * * *
    (3) Greater amberjack--769,388 lb (348,989 kg).
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2012-9600 Filed 4-19-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P