[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 164 (Tuesday, August 25, 2015)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 51476-51478]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-20957]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 300

[Docket No. 150406346-5700-02]
RIN 0648-BF03


International Fisheries; Western and Central Pacific Fisheries 
for Highly Migratory Species; Fishing Effort Limits in Purse Seine 
Fisheries for 2015

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

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: This rule makes final an interim rule that established a 
fishing effort limit for calendar year 2015 for U.S. purse seine 
vessels in the U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and on the high seas 
between the latitudes of 20[deg] N. and 20[deg] S. in the area of

[[Page 51477]]

application of the Convention on the Conservation and Management of 
Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean 
(Convention Area). The limit is 1,828 fishing days. This action is 
necessary for the United States to implement provisions of a 
conservation and management measure (CMM) adopted by the Commission for 
the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the 
Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPFC or Commission) and to satisfy 
the obligations of the United States under the Convention on the 
Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the 
Western and Central Pacific Ocean (Convention), to which it is a 
Contracting Party.

DATES: This rule is effective on August 25, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Copies of supporting documents prepared for this final rule, 
including the regulatory impact review (RIR) and the environmental 
assessment (EA) and supplemental EA prepared for the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) purposes, as well as the interim rule, 
are available via the Federal e-rulemaking Portal, at 
www.regulations.gov (search for Docket ID NOAA-NMFS-2015-0058). Those 
documents are also available from NMFS at the following address: 
Michael Tosatto, Regional Administrator, NMFS, Pacific Islands Regional 
Office (PIRO), 1845 Wasp Blvd., Building 176, Honolulu, HI 96818.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Emily Crigler, NMFS PIRO, 808-725-
5036.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On May 21, 2015, NMFS published an interim 
rule in the Federal Register (80 FR 29220) to establish a limit on 
fishing effort by U.S. purse seine vessels in the U.S. EEZ and on the 
high seas between the latitudes of 20[deg] N. and 20[deg] S. in the 
Convention Area for the calendar year 2015. This area is known in U.S. 
fishing regulations as the Effort Limit Area for Purse Seine, or ELAPS. 
The limit established in the interim rule is 1,828 fishing days. The 
interim rule was open for public comment until June 5, 2015.
    The 2015 purse seine fishing effort limit for the ELAPS was 
formulated as in previous rules to establish limits for the ELAPS: The 
applicable limit for the U.S. EEZ portion of the ELAPS, 558 fishing 
days per year, is combined with the applicable limit for the high seas 
portion of the ELAPS, 1,270 fishing days per year, resulting in a 
combined limit of 1,828 fishing days in the ELAPS for calendar year 
2015.
    As established in existing regulations for purse seine fishing 
effort limits in the ELAPS, NMFS monitors the number of fishing days 
spent in the ELAPS using data submitted in logbooks and other available 
information. On June 8, 2015, NMFS issued a temporary rule in the 
Federal Register announcing that the purse seine fishery in the ELAPS 
would close as a result of reaching the limit of 1,828 fishing days (80 
FR 32313). The closure took effect June 15, 2015, and will remain in 
effect through December 31, 2015.
    This final rule is issued under the authority of the WCPFC 
Implementation Act (16 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.), which authorizes the 
Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the Secretary of State and 
the Secretary of the Department in which the United States Coast Guard 
is operating (currently the Department of Homeland Security), to 
promulgate such regulations as may be necessary to carry out the 
obligations of the United States under the Convention, including the 
decisions of the Commission. The authority to promulgate regulations 
has been delegated to NMFS. The preamble to the interim rule provides 
background information on a number of matters, including the Convention 
and the Commission, the provisions of the WCPFC decisions being 
implemented in this rule, and the bases for the proposed regulations, 
which are not repeated here.

The Action

    This final rule makes final the interim rule that established the 
limit of 1,828 fishing days for the calendar year 2015.

Comments and Responses

    NMFS received two sets of comments on the interim rule. The 
comments are summarized below, followed by responses from NMFS.
    Comment 1: Our oceans are seriously overfished and are on the verge 
of collapse due to warming, acidification, toxins, and plastics, etc. 
Limits need to be placed upon fisheries. Economic gain of the fisheries 
has got to be curtailed now to save all ocean life.
    Response: NMFS acknowledges the comment.
    Comment 2: Due to the fact that U.S. purse seine fleet located in 
Pago Pago, American Samoa, is already under duress because of low fish 
prices and high access fees for fishing in the waters of the Parties to 
the Nauru Agreement (PNA), closing the U.S. EEZ and high seas to U.S. 
purse seine fishing will only add to the demise of the U.S. fleet in 
American Samoa.
    Response: NMFS acknowledges the concerns expressed by the 
commenter. However, this final rule establishes limits adopted by the 
Commission in Conservation and Management Measure (CMM) 2014-01. We 
believe that taking this action to implement the 1,828 day limit in the 
ELAPs is necessary to satisfy the obligations of the United States 
under the Convention and CMM 2014-01.
    No changes from the interim rule have been made in this final rule.

Petition for Rulemaking

    On May 12, 2015, as the interim rule was being finalized for 
publication, NMFS received a petition for rulemaking from Tri Marine 
Management Company, LLC (Tri Marine). The company requested, first, 
that NOAA undertake an emergency rulemaking to implement the 2015 limit 
on fishing effort by U.S. purse seine vessels on the high seas and in 
the U.S. exclusive economic zone in the Convention Area, and second, 
that NOAA issue a rule exempting from that limit any U.S. purse seine 
vessel that, pursuant to contract or declaration of intent, delivers or 
will deliver at least half its catch to tuna processing facilities in 
American Samoa. This final rule addresses the first part of the 
petition by implementing the 2015 limit on fishing effort for U.S. 
purse seiners on the high seas and in the U.S. EEZ. On July 17, 2015, 
NMFS published a notice of receipt of, and request for comment on, the 
Tri Marine petition (80 FR 42464). Any action taken by NMFS in response 
to the second petitioned action will be taken separately from the 
rulemaking in this document, after consideration of public comment on 
the notice of receipt of the petition.

Fishing Restrictions During Closure Periods

    The regulations at 50 CFR 300.223 implementing the ELAPS closure 
prohibit U.S. purse seine vessels from conducting bunkering operations 
in the ELAPS during the closure period, since bunkering is included in 
the definition of fishing (see 50 CFR 300.211). During the ELAPS 
closure, the U.S. purse seine fleet generally continues to be allowed 
to fish under the South Pacific Tuna Treaty in some foreign EEZs; 
however, the vessels are not necessarily authorized by those nations to 
conduct bunkering activities in their waters. Consequently, they are 
effectively forced to conduct bunkering operations in foreign waters or 
ports, which can result in substantial costs to fishing businesses. In 
a separate, but related rulemaking (RIN 0648-BF23), which is

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being published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register, NMFS 
is removing, through an interim rule, the restrictions on bunkering 
operations, if otherwise authorized by applicable laws and regulations, 
in the ELAPS during the closure period.

Classification

    The Administrator, Pacific Islands Region, NMFS, has determined 
that this final rule is consistent with the WCPFC Implementation Act 
and other applicable laws.

Administrative Procedure Act

    NMFS may waive the 30-day delay in effectiveness required under the 
Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. 553(d), upon a finding of good 
cause that the delay is impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the 
public interest. NMFS finds that it would be contrary to the public 
interest to delay the effective date of this final rule. The 
requirements have been in effect through the interim rule since May 21, 
2015, and the ELAPS has been closed to fishing by U.S. purse seiners 
since June 15, 2015. If this final rule does not enter into effect 
immediately, there could be public confusion as to whether the ELAPS is 
reopened to fishing until the rule enters into effect. Thus, this final 
rule is effective upon publication in the Federal Register so there is 
no perceived regulatory gap in the implementation of the fishing effort 
limit in the ELAPS for 2015.

Executive Order 12866

    This final rule has been determined to be not significant for 
purposes of Executive Order 12866.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    Because prior notice and opportunity for public comment were not 
required for the interim rule by 5 U.S.C. 553, or any other law, the 
analytical requirements of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601 
et seq., are inapplicable. Therefore, no final regulatory flexibility 
analysis was required and none has been prepared.

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 300

    Administrative practice and procedure, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, 
Marine resources, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Treaties.

    Authority:  16 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.

    Dated: August 19, 2015.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.

PART 300--INTERNATIONAL FISHERIES REGULATIONS

Subpart O--Western and Central Pacific Fisheries for Highly 
Migratory Species

0
Accordingly, the interim rule revising Sec.  300.223, paragraph (a)(1), 
which was published at 80 FR 29220 on May 21, 2015, is adopted as a 
final rule without change.

[FR Doc. 2015-20957 Filed 8-24-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P