[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 238 (Friday, December 11, 2015)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 76924-76925]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-31236]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 660

RIN 0648-BF15


Fisheries Off West Coast States; Comprehensive Ecosystem-Based 
Amendment 1; Amendments to the Fishery Management Plans for Coastal 
Pelagic Species, Pacific Coast Groundfish, U.S. West Coast Highly 
Migratory Species, and Pacific Coast Salmon

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: NMFS announces that the Pacific Fishery Management Council 
(Council) has submitted Comprehensive Ecosystem-Based Amendment 1 (CEBA 
1) for Secretarial review. CEBA 1 would bring new ecosystem component 
species (collectively, ``Shared EC Species'') into each of the 
Council's four fishery management plans (FMPs) through amendments to 
those FMPs, and would prohibit the future development of new directed 
commercial fisheries for Shared EC Species within the U.S. West Coast 
Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

DATES: Comments on CEBA 1 must be received on or before February 9, 
2016.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on CEBA 1, identified by NOAA-NMFS-
2015-0123, 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-2015-0123, click the 
``Comment Now!'' icon, complete the required fields, and enter or 
attach your comments.
     Mail: Submit written comments to William W. Stelle, Jr., 
Regional Administrator, West Coast Region, NMFS, 7600 Sand Point Way 
NE., Seattle, WA 98115-0070; Attn: Yvonne deReynier.
    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 CEBA 1 may be obtained from the Council Web 
site at http://www.pcouncil.org.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Yvonne deReynier, 206-526-6129, 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Ocean fisheries in the EEZ off Washington, 
Oregon, and California are managed under the CPS, Groundfish, HMS, and 
Salmon FMPs. CEBA 1 includes the following amendments to the Council's 
FMPs: Amendment 15 to the CPS FMP, Amendment 25 to the Pacific Coast 
Groundfish FMP, Amendment 3 to the FMP for U.S. West Coast HMS, and 
Amendment 19 to the Pacific Coast Salmon FMP. All FMPs are implemented 
under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act (MSA), 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq., by regulations at 50 CFR 
part 660. The MSA requires that each regional fishery management 
council submit any FMP or amendment to NMFS for review and approval, 
partial approval, or disapproval. The MSA 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. NMFS will consider the public comments received 
during the comment period described above in determining whether to 
approve the FMP amendments that would implement CEBA 1.

Background

    The Council maintains a Fishery Ecosystem Plan, which includes an 
ecosystem initiative process for reviewing fisheries management issues 
that may affect multiple FMPs and for developing policies and 
regulations to address those issues under the authority of its FMPs. 
Under the ecosystem initiative process, the Council has reviewed 
trophic connections between the West Coast EEZ's unfished forage fish 
species and the EEZ's predator species managed under the MSA, the 
Endangered Species Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and the 
Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Through that review, the Council determined 
that it wanted to bring a suite of unfished and unmanaged forage fish 
species into its FMPs as ecosystem component (EC)

[[Page 76925]]

species, and to prohibit directed commercial fisheries for those 
species.
    The Council has recommended including the following species as 
Shared EC Species in all four of its FMPs: Round herring (Etrumeus 
teres) and thread herring (Opisthonema libertate and O. medirastre); 
mesopelagic fishes of the families Myctophidae, Bathylagidae, 
Paralepididae, and Gonostomatidae; Pacific sand lance (Ammodytes 
hexapterus); Pacific saury (Cololabis saira); silversides (family 
Atherinopsidae); smelts of the family Osmeridae; and pelagic squids 
(families: Cranchiidae, Gonatidae, Histioteuthidae, Octopoteuthidae, 
Ommastrephidae except Humboldt squid (Dosidicus gigas), 
Onychoteuthidae, and Thysanoteuthidae). Under Federal regulations at 50 
CFR 600.310(d)(5)(iii), a species may be included in an FMP as an EC 
species: For data collection purposes; to inform the understanding of 
ecosystem considerations related to specification of OY for the 
associated fishery; to assist in the development of conservation and 
management measures for the associated fishery; or to address other 
ecosystem issues. The Council recommended including the suite of Shared 
EC Species in its FMPs as EC species to address ``other ecosystem 
issues,'' because these species are broadly used as prey by marine 
mammals, seabird, and fish of the U.S. West Coast EEZ. The Council also 
noted that Shared EC Species are among the known prey of fishery 
management unit species of all four of the Council's FMPs; therefore, 
Shared EC Species support predator species' growth and development and 
may also be identified as EC species ``for ecosystem considerations 
related to specification of optimum yield for the associated fishery.''
    CEBA 1, through its implementing FMP amendments and regulations, 
would prohibit the future development of fisheries for Shared EC 
Species within the U.S. West Coast EEZ until the Council has had an 
adequate opportunity to assess the scientific information relating to 
any proposed directed fishery and to consider potential impacts to 
existing fisheries, fishing communities, and the greater marine 
ecosystem. The Council deemed this action necessary to proactively 
protect unmanaged, unfished forage fish of the U.S. West Coast EEZ, in 
recognition of the importance of these forage fish to the species 
managed under the Council's FMPs and to the larger California Current 
Ecosystem. This action would not supersede tribal or state fishery 
management for these species.

Consideration of Public Comments

    NMFS welcomes comments on CEBA 1 and the proposed FMP amendments 
through the end of the comment period. CEBA 1 is available on the 
Council's Web site (www.pcouncil.org). The Council also transmitted a 
proposed rule to implement CEBA 1 for Secretarial review and approval. 
NMFS expects to publish and request public review and comment on that 
rule in the near future. Public comments on the proposed rule must be 
received by the end of the comment period for CEBA 1 in order to be 
considered in the approval/disapproval decision on the FMP amendments. 
All comments received by the end of the CEBA 1 comment period, whether 
specifically directed to the FMP amendments or the proposed rule, will 
be considered in the approval/disapproval decision.

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

    Dated: December 8, 2015.
Alan D. Risenhoover,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2015-31236 Filed 12-10-15; 8:45 am]
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