[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 155 (Wednesday, August 12, 2015)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 48285-48286]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-19822]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 622

RIN 0648-BE93


Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; 
Shrimp Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico; Amendment 15

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 Gulf of Mexico (Gulf) Fishery Management Council (Council) 
has submitted Amendment 15 to the Fishery Management Plan for the 
Shrimp Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico

[[Page 48286]]

(FMP) for review, approval, and implementation by NMFS. Amendment 15 
includes actions to revise the maximum sustainable yield (MSY), 
overfishing threshold, and overfished threshold definitions and values 
for three species of penaeid shrimp, and to revise the FMP framework 
procedures.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before October 13, 2015.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on Amendment 15, identified by 
``NOAA-NMFS-2015-0097'' 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-2015-0097, click the 
``Comment Now!'' icon, complete the required fields, and enter or 
attach your comments.
     Mail: Submit written comments to Susan Gerhart, 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).
    Electronic copies of Amendment 15, which includes an environmental 
assessment, a Regulatory Flexibility Act analysis, and a regulatory 
impact review, may be obtained from the Southeast Regional Office Web 
site at http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/sustainable_fisheries/gulf_fisheries/shrimp/2015/Am%2015/index.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Susan Gerhart, 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 FMP 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.
    The FMP being revised by Amendment 15 was prepared by the Council 
and implemented through regulations at 50 CFR part 622 under the 
authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

Background

    Amendment 15 would revise the MSY, overfishing threshhold, and the 
overfished threshold definitions and values for brown, white, and pink 
shrimp in the Gulf. MSY is the largest average catch that can 
continuously be taken from a stock under existing environmental 
conditions. Overfishing occurs when the rate of removal is too high and 
jeopardizes the capacity of a stock or stock complex to produce MSY on 
a continuing basis. A stock or stock complex is considered overfished 
when its biomass has declined below the capacity of the stock or stock 
complex to produce MSY on a continuing basis.
    The criteria and values for MSY, overfishing threshold, and 
overfished threshold for penaeid shrimp were established in Amendment 
13 to the FMP (71 FR 56039, September 26, 2006). Historically, Gulf 
penaeid shrimp stocks were assessed with a virtual population analysis 
(VPA), which reported output in terms of number of parents. However, 
the 2007 pink shrimp stock assessment VPA incorrectly determined pink 
shrimp were undergoing overfishing because the model could not 
accommodate low effort. In 2009, NMFS stock assessment analysts 
determined that the stock synthesis model was the best choice for 
modeling Gulf shrimp populations. The Council's Scientific and 
Statistical Committee accepted the stock synthesis model as best 
scientific information available and Amendment 15 modifies the stock 
status determination criteria to match the biomass-based outputs of the 
stock synthesis model. These revisions to the penaeid shrimp stock 
status criteria are expected to have little to no change in the 
biological, physical, or ecological environments because these changes 
are only to the stock status reference points and will not have a 
direct impact on the actual harvest of penaeid shrimp.
    Amendment 15 would also revise the FMP framework procedures. 
Framework procedures for a FMP allow changes in specific management 
measures and parameters that can be made more efficiently than changes 
made through a FMP plan amendment. Amendment 15 would make changes to 
the framework procedures to allow for modification of accountability 
measures under the standard documentation process of the open framework 
procedure. Also, outdated terminology, such as ``total allowable 
catch'' would be removed. Additionally, the phrase ``transfer at sea 
provisions'' would be removed from the list of framework procedures 
because this phrase was inadvertently included in the final rule for 
the Generic Annual Catch Limit Amendment (76 FR 82044, December 29, 
2011).
    A proposed rule that would implement measures outlined in Amendment 
15 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

    The Council has submitted Amendment 15 for Secretarial review, 
approval, and implementation. Comments received by October 13, 2015, 
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.

    Dated: August 7, 2015.
Alan D. Risenhoover,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2015-19822 Filed 8-11-15; 8:45 am]
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