[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 162 (Thursday, August 21, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49500-49501]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-19843]


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

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XD436


New England and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Councils; Public 
Comment

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

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

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

SUMMARY: The New England and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Councils, 
in cooperation with the NMFS Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries 
Office, seek public comment on a draft amendment to all the fishery 
management plans under their purview. The omnibus amendment would 
modify provisions limiting changes to vessel size and horsepower 
specifications in limited access fleets.

DATES: Comments must be received by September 22, 2014.

ADDRESSES: You may submit written comments by any of the following 
methods.
     Email: [email protected]. Include in the subject 
line ``Comments on draft Baseline Amendment.''
     Mail: John K. Bullard, Regional Administrator, NMFS, 
Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, 55 Great Republic Drive, 
Gloucester, MA 01930. Mark the outside of the envelope ``Comments on 
draft Baseline Amendment.''
     Fax: (978) 281-9135.
    Copies of the draft amendment may be obtained by contacting the 
NMFS Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office at the above address. 
The documents are also available via the internet at: 
www.greateratlantic.fisheries.noaa.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Melissa Hooper, Fishery Policy 
Analyst, (978) 281-9166.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Fishing vessel baseline specifications and 
upgrade restrictions have been used as a tool in Northeast limited 
access fisheries to promote conservation of fish species by limiting 
potential increases in the harvest capacity of the fleet. To reduce 
fishing mortality and fishing effort, the New England and Mid-Atlantic 
Fishery Management Councils have used various effort controls, such as 
limits on the amount of time (numbers of days-at-sea (DAS)) that can be 
fished, trip limits, state-by-state quota allocations, and moratoria on

[[Page 49501]]

issuance of new permits. Vessel upgrade restrictions were intended to 
control the potential increase in effort and catch that could occur if 
an individual vessel increased in size or horsepower and, therefore, 
was able to catch more fish for a given amount of effort. For example, 
if a vessel were able to land more fish per DAS fished because of an 
increased size or horsepower, it could undermine the purpose of 
matching the total DAS allocation to a target total allowable catch. In 
the case of hard quotas, a vessel's catch rate per trip could increase 
because of an upgrade to its size or horsepower, accelerating the rate 
the quota is taken and increasing the race to fish. A permit's 
``baseline vessel'' was generally the vessel that was first issued the 
limited access permit for the fishery. The specifications of this first 
permitted vessel (length, horsepower, gross tonnage, and net tonnage) 
became the permit's ``baseline specifications'' and restrictions were 
placed on how much a future vessel holding the permit could deviate 
from these specifications. In this way, baseline specifications and 
upgrade restrictions limit potential future increases in harvest 
capacity and prevent them from undermining other management measures 
targeted at controlling fishing mortality. However, since the time 
baseline specifications were adopted, many fisheries have implemented 
other effort controls and annual catch limits (ACLs), which restrict 
effort and put a cap on total harvest. In addition, replacement and 
upgrade restrictions can be a costly and time-consuming administrative 
burden for both the industry and NMFS.
    In light of these circumstances, the New England and Mid-Atlantic 
Fishery Management Councils, in cooperation with the NMFS Greater 
Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, have developed the Omnibus 
Amendment to Simplify Vessel Baselines. The objective of this amendment 
is to eliminate certain baseline restrictions to reduce the 
administrative and cost burden to industry and NMFS, while maintaining 
the benefits to conservation and fleet diversity that baseline measures 
provide. This action would apply to all limited access fisheries within 
the Councils' jurisdiction: The Atlantic Herring Fishery Management 
Plan (FMP); the Atlantic Sea Scallop FMP; the Atlantic Deep-Sea Red 
Crab FMP; the Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish FMP; the Monkfish FMP; 
the Northeast Multispecies FMP; the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black 
Sea Bass FMP; the Surfclam and Ocean Quahog FMP; and the Tilefish FMP. 
The Baseline Amendment considers alternatives to (1) maintain the 
status quo baseline regulations; (2) eliminate the one-time limit on 
vessel upgrades; (3) eliminate gross and net tonnages from vessel 
baselines; and (4) eliminate both the one-time limit on vessel upgrades 
and tonnage specifications. Under all of the alternatives, the 10-
percent limit on vessel size upgrades and 20-percent of vessel 
horsepower upgrades would remain.
    The Councils considered adding alternatives that would make more 
substantial changes to baseline regulations or eliminate them entirely. 
However, the Councils opted to keep this action limited in scope in 
order to expedite its implementation. The Councils are currently 
discussing initiating another omnibus amendment that would consider 
more substantial changes for a future fishing year and where that 
action would fall among the Councils' priorities.
    The Councils selected Alternative 4 to eliminate the restrictions 
on both the one-time limit on vessel upgrades and tonnage 
specifications as their preferred alternative in this action. NMFS and 
the Councils will consider all comments received on the draft baseline 
amendment and the alternatives for incorporation into the final 
document until the end of the comment period on September 22, 2014. The 
public will have several additional opportunities to comment on the 
amendment. The final amendment will be considered for approval by the 
Councils at public meetings in late 2014. Once submitted to NMFS, the 
final Baseline Amendment will be made available for public review and 
comment, and regulations will be proposed for review and comment.

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

    Dated: August 18, 2014
Alan D. Risenhoover,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2014-19843 Filed 8-20-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P