[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 171 (Wednesday, September 4, 2013)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 54442-54443]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-21479]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

RIN 0648-BD40


Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 
Provisions; Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Annual Catch 
Limits and Accountability Measures

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

ACTION: Availability of proposed fishery management plan amendments; 
request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management 
Council has submitted the Recreational Accountability Measures Omnibus 
Amendment incorporating a draft Environmental Assessment, for review by 
the Secretary of Commerce. NMFS is requesting comments from the public 
on the Recreational Accountability Measures Omnibus Amendment, which 
was developed by the Council to modify the accountability measures for 
the Atlantic mackerel, Atlantic bluefish, summer flounder, scup, and 
black sea bass recreational fisheries.

DATES: Public comments must be received on or before November 4, 2013.

ADDRESSES: A draft environmental assessment (EA) was prepared for the 
Recreational Accountability Measures (AM) Omnibus Amendment that 
describes the proposed action and other considered alternatives, and 
provides a thorough analysis of the impacts of the proposed measures 
and alternatives. Copies of the Recreational AM Omnibus Amendment, 
including the draft EA, are available on request from Dr. Christopher 
M. Moore, Executive Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council 
(Council), 800 North State Street, Suite 201, Dover, DE 19901. This 
document is also available online at http://www.mafmc.org.
    You may submit comments on this document, identified NOAA-NMFS-
2013-0108, by any of the following methods:
     Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public 
comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to 
www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2013-0108, click the 
``Comment Now!'' icon, complete the required fields, and enter or 
attach your comments.
     Fax: (978) 281-9135, Attn: Comments on Recreational 
Omnibus Amendment, NOAA-NMFS-2013-0108.
     Mail and Hand Delivery: John K. Bullard, Regional 
Administrator, NMFS, Northeast Regional Office, 55 Great Republic 
Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930. Mark the outside of the envelope: 
``Comments on Recreational Omnibus Amendment.''
    Instructions: 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 by NMFS. All comments received are a part of the 
public record and will generally be posted for public viewing on 
www.regulations.gov without change. All personal identifying 
information (e.g., name, address, etc.), confidential business 
information, or otherwise sensitive information submitted voluntarily 
by the sender will be publicly accessible. 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, or Adobe PDF file formats only.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Moira Kelly, Fishery Policy Analyst, 
(978) 281-9218; fax: (978) 281-9135.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    In 2011, the Council adopted, and NMFS implemented, an Omnibus 
Annual Catch Limit (ACL) and AM Amendment to establish AMs for the 
commercial and recreational fisheries that catch Atlantic mackerel, 
butterfish, Atlantic bluefish, summer flounder, scup, black sea bass, 
golden tilefish, ocean quahog, and Atlantic surfclams. The AMs for the 
recreational fisheries included in-season closure authority for the 
Regional Administrator when landings were known to have reached the 
recreational harvest limit (RHL) and pound-for-pound payback of any 
overage. In 2012, the recreational black

[[Page 54443]]

sea bass fishery significantly exceeded its RHL. The pound-for-pound 
payback requirement would drastically limit the recreational black sea 
bass fishery in fishing year 2014. As a result, the Council decided to 
review the recreational fishery AMs to determine if a different 
approach to recreational accountability would be more appropriate. 
Specifically, the Council wanted to develop AMs that took into account 
the status of the stock and the biological consequences, if any, 
resulting from a recreational sector overage.

Proposed Measures

    The Recreational AM Omnibus Amendment proposes measures intended to 
respond to concerns that in-season closure and a pound-for-pound 
payback are not the most effective AMs for the recreational fisheries. 
First, the Council considered modifying the annual catch target (ACT) 
process to more formally consider incorporating uncertainty in 
recreational catch estimates; however, the Amendment proposes to 
maintain the existing ACT process. Second, the Amendment proposes to 
remove the in-season closure authority for recreational fisheries. 
Third, the Amendment proposes to use the 3-year moving average of the 
lower bound of the confidence interval of the recreational catch 
estimate to determine if an ACL has been exceeded. Fourth, measures are 
proposed that would result in a payback if (1) the stock is overfished 
(i.e., the most recent estimate of biomass (B) is below the threshold, 
or B/BMSY < \1/2\), or under a rebuilding plan and the ACL 
was exceeded, or (2) if biomass is below the target, but above the 
threshold (i.e., \1/2\< B/BMSY <1) and the acceptable 
biological catch (ABC) is exceeded. Otherwise, adjustments to the 
management measures would be used as an AM. In addition, measures are 
being proposed that would scale the amount of any payback to the stock 
status. The scale would work such that for stocks that are below the 
biomass threshold or under a rebuilding plan, payback would be equal to 
the full amount of the overage; for stocks that are above the biomass 
target, there would be no payback, regardless of the size of the 
overage. Stocks for which the biomass is in between the threshold and 
the target would have a payback amount equal to the product of the 
difference between recreational catch and the ACL and the payback 
coefficient. The payback coefficient would be equal to the difference 
between the biomass estimate and the target divided by one-half the 
biomass target. Finally, the Council considered reevaluating the catch 
limits after the fact to determine if, based on updated information, 
those catch limits were still appropriate. However, the Council 
determined that the necessary information and resources to support that 
type of reevaluation does not currently exist.
    Public comments on the Recreational AM Omnibus Amendment and its 
incorporated documents may be submitted through the end of the comment 
period stated in this notice of availability. A proposed rule to 
implement the Recreational AM Omnibus Amendment will be published in 
the Federal Register for public comment. Public comments on the 
proposed rule must be received by the end of the comment period 
provided in this notice of availability of the Recreational AM Omnibus 
Amendment to be considered in the approval/disapproval decision on the 
amendment. All comments received by November 4, 2013, whether 
specifically directed to the Recreational AM Omnibus Amendment or the 
proposed rule for the Recreational AM Omnibus Amendment, will be 
considered in the approval/disapproval decision on the Recreational AM 
Omnibus Amendment. Comments received after that date will not be 
considered in the decision to approve or disapprove the Recreational AM 
Omnibus Amendment. To be considered, comments must be received by close 
of business on the last day of the comment period.

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

    Dated: August 29, 2013.
Kelly Denit,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National 
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2013-21479 Filed 9-3-13; 8:45 am]
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