[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 181 (Wednesday, September 18, 2013)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 57337-57339]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-22730]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 622

RIN 0648-BD05


Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; 
Snapper-Grouper Fishery Off the Southern Atlantic States; Amendment 27

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

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) has 
submitted Amendment 27 (Amendment 27) to the Fishery Management Plan 
for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region (FMP) for 
review, approval, and implementation by NMFS. Amendment 27 would extend 
the South Atlantic Council's jurisdiction for management of Nassau 
grouper into the Gulf of Mexico (Gulf) exclusive economic zone (EEZ); 
increase the number of allowable crew members to four on dual-permitted 
snapper-grouper vessels (i.e., vessels holding a South Atlantic Charter 
Vessel/Headboat Permit for Snapper-Grouper and a commercial South 
Atlantic Unlimited or a 225-Pound Trip Limit Snapper-Grouper Permit) 
that are fishing commercially; remove the prohibition on retaining any 
fish under the aggregate bag limit for grouper and tilefish or the 
vermilion snapper bag limit by captain and crew of federally-permitted 
for-hire vessels; modify the snapper-grouper framework procedures to 
allow acceptable biological catch levels (ABCs), annual catch limits 
(ACLs), and annual catch targets (ACTs) to be adjusted via an 
abbreviated framework process; and remove blue runner from the FMP.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before November 18, 
2013.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on the amendment identified by 
``NOAA-NMFS-2013-0085'' by any of the following methods:
     Electronic submissions: Submit electronic comments via the 
Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Go to 
www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2013-0085, click the 
``Comment Now!'' icon, complete the required fields, and enter or 
attach your comments.
     Mail: Kate Michie, Southeast Regional Office, NMFS, 263 
13th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701.
    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.
    Electronic copies of Amendment 27 may be obtained from the 
Southeast Regional Office Web site at http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov. 
Amendment 27 includes a Regulatory Impact Review and a Fishery Impact 
Statement.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kate Michie, telephone: 727-824-5305, 
or email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation 
and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) requires each regional 
fishery management council to submit any fishery management plan or 
amendment to NMFS for review and approval, partial approval, or 
disapproval. The Magnuson-Stevens Act also requires that NMFS, upon 
receiving a plan or amendment, publish an announcement in the Federal 
Register

[[Page 57338]]

notifying the public that the plan or amendment is available for review 
and comment.

Actions Contained in Amendment 27

Extension of Management Authority for Nassau Grouper to the South 
Atlantic Council

    Amendment 27 includes an action to extend the South Atlantic 
Council's jurisdiction for management of Nassau grouper into the Gulf. 
On December 16, 2011, NMFS published a notice of agency action (76 FR 
78245) designating the South Atlantic Council as the responsible 
Council to manage Nassau grouper in the Gulf, pursuant to requests by 
the South Atlantic and Gulf Fishery Management Councils. Therefore, 
through Amendment 27, the South Atlantic Council would assume 
management responsibility for Nassau grouper in Federal waters of the 
Gulf. The current restrictions on the harvest or possession of Nassau 
grouper in the Gulf EEZ and South Atlantic EEZ would continue if 
Amendment 27 is approved for implementation.

Increase in Crew Member Limit for Dual-Permitted Vessels

    Currently, there is a crew size limit of three for vessels with 
both a South Atlantic Charter Vessel/Headboat Permit for Snapper-
Grouper and a South Atlantic Unlimited or 225-Pound Permit for Snapper-
Grouper (referred to as ``dual-permitted'' vessels) that are fishing 
commercially. For commercial spearfishing operations, this crew size 
limit prevents fishermen from diving in pairs using the buddy system 
while having a standby diver and captain at the surface as recommended 
by the U.S. Coast Guard diving operations manual. Therefore, Amendment 
27 would increase the crew size from three to four, which would allow 
two persons to remain on the vessel while there are two divers in the 
water.

Removal of Captain and Crew Bag Limit Retention Restrictions for 
Snapper-Grouper Species

    Amendment 16 to the FMP (Amendment 16) prohibited the captain and 
crew of vessels operating as a charter vessel or headboat (i.e., 
vessels with a valid South Atlantic Charter Vessel/Headboat Permit for 
Snapper-Grouper) from retaining gag, black grouper, red grouper, scamp, 
red hind, rock hind, coney, graysby, yellowfin grouper, yellowmouth 
grouper, yellowedge grouper, snowy grouper, misty grouper, vermilion 
snapper, sand tilefish, blueline tilefish, and golden tilefish to help 
end overfishing of gag and vermilion snapper. Subsequent to the 
implementation of Amendment 16, ACLs and AMs for all of these species 
have been established to end and/or prevent overfishing from occurring.
    Analysis contained in Amendment 27 indicates allowing captain and 
crew to retain bag limit quantities of the species listed above would 
not negatively impact snapper-grouper stocks, including vermilion 
snapper and gag. Therefore, Amendment 27 would remove the current 
restriction for captain and crew on a vessel operating as a charter 
vessel or headboat to retain the bag limits of these snapper-grouper 
species.

Modify the Framework Procedures in the FMP

    Currently, the Framework Procedures in the FMP allow ABCs, ACLs, 
and ACTs to be modified for snapper-grouper species via the regulatory 
amendment process, which can be lengthy. The lag time between when new 
scientific information becomes available and when catch levels can be 
adjusted has the potential to result in adverse impacts on the economic 
and biological environments of the snapper-grouper fishery. Therefore, 
Amendment 27 would allow ABCs, ACLs, and ACTs, to be modified using an 
abbreviated framework procedure, whereby after the South Atlantic 
Council has taken final action to change an ABC, ACL, or ACT, the 
Council would submit a letter with supporting data and information to 
the NMFS Southeast Regional Administrator (RA) requesting the desired 
changes to those applicable harvest parameters.
    The RA would determine whether or not the requested modification 
may be warranted. If the modification may be warranted, NMFS would 
develop the appropriate documentation and analysis to comply with the 
National Environmental Policy Act and other applicable laws and propose 
the action through rulemaking. NMFS anticipates this expedited process 
will shorten the time it would take to make routine changes to harvest 
limits in response to new information.

Remove Blue Runner From the FMP

    Blue runner was originally included in the FMP because it was 
thought to co-occur with other, more economically desirable species. 
Amendment 27 reevaluated the need for Federal management of blue runner 
based on updated information. The majority (99 percent) of commercial 
and recreational blue runner harvest occurs off the state of Florida 
(in Federal and state waters combined), with 76 percent of blue runner 
landings harvested in state waters (using landings data from 2005-2011) 
and a large portion of the recreational landings harvested from shore. 
Florida manages blue runner in state waters and blue runner is 
primarily used as bait, is not commonly retained for human consumption, 
and is exempt from any Federal bag and possession limit restrictions.
    Based on this new information, the South Atlantic Council 
determined blue runner could be removed from the FMP without 
jeopardizing the health or sustainability of the stock. Therefore, 
Amendment 27, if approved, would remove blue runner from the FMP.
    The Council has submitted Amendment 27 for Secretarial review, 
approval, and implementation. NMFS' decision to approve, partially 
approve, or disapprove Amendment 27 will be based, in part, on 
consideration of comments, recommendations, and information received 
during the comment period on this notice of availability. After 
consideration of these factors, and consistent with the Magnuson-
Stevens Act and other applicable law, NMFS will publish a notice of 
agency action in the Federal Register announcing the Agency's decision 
to approve, partially approve, or disapprove Amendment 27.

Proposed Rule for Amendment 27

    A proposed rule that would implement Amendment 27 has been drafted. 
In accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens Act, NMFS is evaluating the 
proposed rule to determine whether it is consistent with the FMP, 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.

Consideration of Public Comments

    Comments received by November 18, 2013, 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.


[[Page 57339]]


    Dated: September 13, 2013.
Kelly Denit,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National 
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2013-22730 Filed 9-17-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P