[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 135 (Wednesday, July 15, 2015)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 41472-41473]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-17334]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 622

RIN 0648-BE38


Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; 
Snapper-Grouper Fishery and Golden Crab Fishery of the South Atlantic, 
and Dolphin and Wahoo Fishery of the Atlantic

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

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.

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

SUMMARY: The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) has 
submitted Amendment 34 to the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for the 
Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region, Amendment 9 to 
the FMP for the Golden Crab Fishery of the South Atlantic Region, and 
Amendment 8 to the FMP for the Dolphin and Wahoo Fishery of the 
Atlantic; collectively referred to as the Generic Accountability 
Measures (AMs) and Dolphin Allocation Amendment (Generic AM Amendment) 
for review, approval, and implementation by NMFS. If approved by the 
Secretary of Commerce, the Generic AM Amendment would revise the 
commercial and recreational AMs for numerous snapper-grouper species 
and golden crab. This amendment would also revise commercial and 
recreational sector allocations for dolphin in the Atlantic. The 
proposed actions are intended to make the AMs consistent for the 
snapper-grouper species addressed in this amendment and for golden 
crab, and revise the allocations between the commercial and 
recreational sectors for dolphin.

DATES: Written comments on the Generic AM Amendment must be received on 
or before September 14, 2015.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on the proposed amendment and 
environmental assessment identified by ``NOAA-NMFS-2013-0181'' by 
either of the following methods:
     Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic comments via 
the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2013-0181, click the ``Comment Now!'' icon, 
complete the required fields, and enter or attach your comments.
     Mail: Submit all written comments to Mary Janine Vara, 
NMFS Southeast Regional Office (SERO), 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).
    Electronic copies of the Generic AM Amendment may be obtained from 
www.regulations.gov or the Southeast Regional Office Web site at http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov. The Generic AM Amendment includes an environmental 
assessment, initial regulatory flexibility analysis (IRFA), regulatory 
impact review, and fishery impact statement.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary Janine Vara, NMFS SERO, 
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 notifying the public that the plan or amendment is available 
for review and comment.

Actions Contained in the Generic AM Amendment

Modifications to AMs for Snapper-Grouper Species and Golden Crab

    This amendment would revise the AMs for golden tilefish, snowy 
grouper, gag, red grouper, black grouper, scamp, the shallow-water 
grouper complex, greater amberjack, the other jacks complex, bar jack, 
yellowtail snapper, mutton snapper, the other snappers complex, gray 
triggerfish, wreckfish (recreational sector), Atlantic spadefish, 
hogfish, red porgy, the other porgies complex, and golden crab 
(commercial sector).
    Currently, the snapper-grouper species and golden crab addressed in

[[Page 41473]]

this amendment have slightly different AMs in place compared to other 
snapper-grouper species. The Generic AM Amendment intends to modify the 
AMs for these species and species complexes to make them consistent 
with the majority of AMs already in place for other snapper-grouper 
species. Specifically, the recreational AMs would be updated to allow 
NMFS to close the recreational sectors in-season when the recreational 
ACLs are met or projected to be met. The proposed action would also 
modify the AMs to trigger post-season reductions in the following 
year's catch limit in the commercial and recreational sectors if the 
species, or one or more species in a species complex, is overfished and 
the total (commercial and recreational combined) ACL has been exceeded. 
Additionally, for the recreational sector, the fishing season may also 
be shortened to compensate for a total ACL overage in the previous year 
if the species or one or more species in a species complex is 
overfished. Modifying the AMs in this manner would create regulatory 
consistency among most federally managed species in the South Atlantic 
region.

Modifications to Commercial and Recreational Sector Allocations for 
Dolphin

    The Generic AM Amendment revises the sector allocations for 
dolphin. The current sector allocations for dolphin are 92.46 percent 
for the recreational sector and 7.54 percent for the commercial sector. 
The Council chose these allocations using a sector allocation formula 
where 50 percent of the sector allocations are based on landings from a 
longer time series (1999-2008) and 50 percent of the sector allocations 
are based on landings from a shorter time series (2006-2008). This 
results in the current annual catch limits (ACL) of 1,157,001 lb 
(524,807 kg), round weight, for the commercial sector and 14,187,845 lb 
(6,435,498 kg), round weight, for the recreational sector. The Generic 
AM Amendment would revise the sector allocation formula for dolphin to 
be based on the average of the percentages of the total catch for 2008-
2012. The recreational sector allocation for dolphin would be 90 
percent with an ACL of 13,810,361 lb (6,264,274 kg), round weight, and 
the commercial sector allocation would be 10 percent with an ACL of 
1,534,485 lb (696,031 kg), round weight.
    The Council has submitted the Generic AM Amendment for Secretarial 
review, approval, and implementation. The decision to approve, 
partially approve, or disapprove the Generic AM Amendment will be 
based, in part, on consideration of comments, recommendations, and 
information received during the comment period on this notice of 
availability.

Proposed Rule for the Generic AM Amendment

    A proposed rule that would implement the Generic AM Amendment 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 laws. 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 September 14, 2015 will be considered by NMFS 
in the 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.

    Dated: July 10, 2015.
Emily H. Menashes,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2015-17334 Filed 7-14-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P