[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 71 (Friday, April 14, 2017)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 17964-17966]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-07567]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 170316276-7276-01]
RIN 0648-XF300


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Black Sea Bass 
Fishery; 2017 and Projected 2018 Specifications

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

ACTION: Proposed rule; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS proposes revised black sea bass specifications for the 
2017 fishing year and projected specifications for 2018. In addition, 
this rule proposes to remove an accountability measure implemented at 
the start of the fishing year designed to account for commercial sector 
overages in 2015. Updated scientific information regarding the black 
sea bass stock indicates that higher catch limits should be implemented 
to obtain optimum yield, and that the accountability measure is no 
longer necessary or appropriate. This action is intended to inform the 
public of the proposed specifications for the 2017 fishing year and 
projected specifications for 2018.

DATES: Comments must be received by 5 p.m. local time, on May 1, 2017.

ADDRESSES: An environmental assessment (EA) was prepared for this 
action and describes the proposed measures and other considered 
alternatives, and provides an analysis of the impacts of the proposed 
measures and alternatives. Copies of the Specifications Document, 
including the EA and the Regulatory Flexibility Act Analysis, are 
available on request from Dr. Christopher M. Moore, Executive Director, 
Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, Suite 201, 800 North State 
Street, Dover, DE 19901. These documents are also accessible via the 
Internet at http://www.mafmc.org.
    You may submit comments on this document, identified by NOAA-NMFS-
2017-0023, by either of the following methods:
    Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public comments via 
the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal.
    1. Go to www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2017-0023,
    2. Click the ``Comment Now!'' icon, complete the required fields,
    3. Enter or attach your comments.

--OR--
    Mail: Submit written comments to John Bullard, Regional 
Administrator, National Marine Fisheries Service, 55 Great Republic 
Drive, Gloucester, MA, 01930. Mark the outside of the envelope, 
``Comments on the Proposed Rule for Revised Black Sea Bass 
Specifications.''
    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 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).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cynthia Hanson, Fishery Management 
Specialist, (978) 281-9180.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

General Background

    The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council and the Atlantic States 
Marine Fisheries Commission cooperatively manage the summer flounder, 
scup, and black sea bass fisheries. The Summer Flounder, Scup, and 
Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan (FMP) and its implementing 
regulations outline the Council's process for establishing 
specifications. Specifications in these fisheries include various catch 
and landing subdivisions, such as the commercial and recreational 
sector annual catch limits (ACLs), annual catch targets (ACTs), and 
sector-specific landing limits (i.e., the commercial fishery quota and 
recreational harvest limit). Annual specifications may be proposed for 
three-year periods, with the Council reviewing the specifications each 
year to ensure that previously established multi-year specifications 
remain appropriate. Following review, NMFS publishes the final annual 
specifications in the Federal Register. The FMP also contains formulas 
to divide the specification catch limits into commercial and 
recreational fishery allocations, state-by-state quotas, and quota 
periods, depending on the species in question. Rulemaking for measures 
used to manage the recreational fisheries (minimum fish sizes, open 
seasons, and bag limits) for these three species occurs separately, and 
typically takes place in the spring of each year.
    On December 28, 2015, NMFS published a final rule implementing the 
Council's recommended specifications for the black sea bass fishery (80 
FR 80689). The Council intended to reconsider the specifications set 
for fishing year 2017 following completion of the next black sea bass 
benchmark assessment.
    The assessment was completed in late 2016 and was peer reviewed by 
the Stock Assessment Workshop/Stock Assessment Review Committee (SAW/
SARC 62) in December 2016. The benchmark assessment was effective in 
determining stock status, biological reference points and proxies, and 
in projecting probable short-term trends. The assessment successfully 
cleared the SAW/SARC 62 peer review process, addressing many of the 
significant concerns raised during peer reviews of earlier assessments. 
The assessment indicates that the black sea bass stock north of Cape 
Hatteras is not overfished and overfishing is not occurring. The 
spawning stock biomass in 2015 was estimated to be 2.3 times higher 
than the target and the fishing mortality rate (F) was 25 percent below 
the FMSY proxy. Table 1 outlines the updated biological 
reference points and 2015 stock information.

[[Page 17965]]



          Table 1--Updated Black Sea Bass Biological Reference Points (BRPs) and 2015 Stock Information
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                                     Proxy         BRP (mil lb)      BRP (mt)      2015 (mil lb)     2015 (mt)
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FMSY.........................  F40%.............            0.36            0.36            0.27            0.27
Stock Biomass Target.........  SSB40%...........            21.3           9,667            48.9          22,176
Stock Biomass Threshold......  1/2SSB40%........            10.7           4,834             N/A             N/A
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Proposed Specifications

    The Council's Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) met on 
January 25, 2017, to discuss the assessment results and identify an 
updated acceptable biological catch (ABC) level for 2017, and project 
ABCs for the 2018 and 2019 fishing years. Based on the new information 
provided by the assessment, the SSC accepted the overfishing limits 
(OFLs) estimated by the assessment and recommended using a coefficient 
of variation (CV) associated with the OFL of 60 percent. This marked a 
change from the default 100-percent values that had been used in the 
past, which had resulted in more precautionary specifications. Using 
the Council's risk policy with a CV of 60 percent around the OFL, the 
SSC recommended ABCs for the 2017 through 2019 fishing years (Table 2). 
The adjusted 2017 ABC is 57 percent higher than the currently 
established 2017 ABC; however, there is a pattern of declining ABCs 
over the next three years. This decline is in part due to the passage 
of the large 2011 year class out of the fishery. The SSC intends to 
review its ABC recommendation again next summer and determine if 
adjustments need to be made for 2018.
    Following the SSC meeting, the Monitoring Committee met on January 
26, 2017, to discuss ACLs, ACTs, commercial quotas, and recreational 
harvest limits for the 2017 through 2019 fishing years. The Monitoring 
Committee determined that no additional reductions were necessary to 
account for management uncertainty. Commercial landings have been very 
close to the quota over the last five years and recreational overages 
occurred when the stock was rapidly growing and availability to anglers 
was high, but the recreational harvest limits were set at levels not 
reflective of stock size. As a result, the Monitoring Committee 
recommended that ACTs for the commercial and recreational sectors 
should equal their respective ACLs. After removing the sector-specific 
estimated discards, the black sea bass commercial quotas and 
recreational harvest limits would be those shown in Table 2. The 
Monitoring Committee believed the calculation for projecting discards 
for 2017 is appropriate, but will reconsider discard projections and 
apportionments for 2018. The Monitoring Committee did not recommend any 
changes to the current commercial measures, including the 11-inch 
minimum fish size, mesh size requirements and seasonal possession limit 
thresholds, or pot/trap gear requirements. As previously mentioned, we 
are separately proposing an action to address 2017 black sea bass 
recreational management measures.
    The Council and the Commission's Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black 
Sea Bass Management Board met jointly on February 15, 2017, to consider 
the SSC and Monitoring Committees' recommendations, receive public 
comments on those recommendations, and to formalize recommendations for 
catch limit specifications and commercial and recreational management 
measures. The Council and Board ultimately adopted the Monitoring 
Committee's recommendations for 2017 ACLs, ACTs, quotas, and harvest 
limits; as well as the projected specifications for 2018. Due to the 
Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP) transition timeline that 
would incorporate re-estimated historical catch estimates into stock 
assessments, currently scheduled for completion in 2018, the Council 
did not want to project specifications past 2018. The Council's 
recommendations represent a 53-percent increase in the 2017 commercial 
quota established in 2015 and a 52-percent increase in the 2017 
recreational harvest limit. The Council will revisit its decision on 
the projected 2018 specifications following the SSC's review next 
summer. By providing projected specifications for 2018, NMFS hopes to 
assist fishery participants in planning ahead. Final 2018 
specifications will be published in the Federal Register before the 
start of the 2018 fishing year (January 1, 2018) based on the Council's 
review.

                               Table 2--Council-Recommended Black Sea Bass Specifications for 2017 and Projected for 2018
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                                                                                           Black sea bass specifications
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                                                                  2017 (current)                  2017 (revised)                 2018 (projected)
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                                                              mil lb            mt            mil lb            mt            mil lb            mt
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OFL.....................................................             n/a             n/a           12.05           5,467           10.29           4,669
ABC.....................................................            6.67           3,025           10.47           4,750            8.94           4,057
Commercial ACL..........................................            3.15           1,428            5.09           2,311            4.35           1,974
Commercial ACT..........................................          * 3.15         * 1,428            5.09           2,311            4.35           1,974
Commercial Discards.....................................            0.44             198            0.97             442            0.83             377
Commercial Quota........................................          * 2.71         * 1,226            4.12           1,869            3.52           1,596
Recreational ACL........................................            3.52           1,597            5.38           2,439            4.59           2,083
Recreational ACT........................................            3.52           1,597            5.38           2,439            4.59           2,083
Recreational Discards...................................            0.70             317            1.09             494            0.93             422
Recreational Harvest Limit..............................            2.82           1,280            4.29           1,945            3.66           1,661
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* At the start of the fishing year, the 2017 commercial ACT and commercial quota were further reduced to 2.3 million lb (1,043 mt) and 1.86 million lb
  (845 mt), respectively, as accountability measures due to a perceived 2015 overage.


[[Page 17966]]

    Consistent with the black sea bass regulations, the sum of the 
recreational and commercial sector ACLs is equal to the ABC for each 
fishing year. To derive the ACLs, the sum of the sector-specific 
projected discards are removed from the ABCs to derive the landing 
allowances. For black sea bass, 49 percent of the landing allowance for 
each fishing year is allocated to the commercial fishery and 51 percent 
to the recreational fishery. Using this method ensures that each sector 
is accountable for its respective discards, rather than simply 
apportioning the ABCs by the allocation percentages to derive the 
sector ACLs. Although the derived ACLs are not split exactly according 
to the allocations specified in the FMP, the landing portions of the 
ACLs preserve the appropriate allocation split, consistent with the 
FMP. This process results in the commercial and recreational ACLs, 
commercial quotas, and recreational harvest limits shown in Table 2.

Reconsideration of the 2017 Accountability Measure for the Commercial 
Fishery

    In our final rule announcing the revisions to the summer flounder 
specifications for 2017 and 2018, we also announced an accountability 
measure (AM) applicable to the black sea bass commercial fishery. This 
AM was an automatic pound-for-pound payback, as required by the 
regulations, which resulted from overages in 2015. During that fishing 
year, the commercial fishery caught slightly more (3.8 percent) than 
their commercial quota, which generally would have resulted in just a 
pound-for-pound payback from their 2017 commercial quota. However, 2015 
discard estimates were much higher than originally projected, 
accounting for 44.4 percent of the total commercial catch in 2015. As a 
result, the regulations require that the total overage (i.e., 849,000 
lb (385 mt)) be taken from a future year's commercial ACL and the 2017 
commercial quota was reduced by approximately 30 percent (i.e., from 
2.71 million lb (1,230 mt) to 1.86 million lb (845 mt)).
    The new 2016 benchmark assessment has provided updated information 
on the condition of the stock, particularly for 2015, the year when the 
overages occurred. If the current assessment had been available to set 
2015 specifications, analysis indicates the 2015 ABC would have been 
more than double what was implemented and the 2015 ACL would not have 
been exceeded. Higher 2015 commercial discards, above those projected 
for the implemented 2015 ACL, were estimated and used in the assessment 
and did not impact the stock status. Even accounting for the 
unexpectedly high discards, fishing mortality in 2015 was the lowest in 
the time series, 25 percent below the overfishing threshold. The new 
2016 stock assessment provides a much more comprehensive and robust 
picture of the stock in 2015, and represents the best available science 
to guide management decisions. As a result, the Council has recommended 
pursuant to 50 CFR 648.142(b) that the specific AM be removed. We agree 
that it is not necessary, and we intend to remove the AM from the 2017 
commercial fishery.
    As for the 3.8-percent overage (i.e., about 81,500 lb (37 mt)) of 
the commercial fishery's quota, which generally would have resulted in 
a pound-for-pound payback against the 2017 quota, preliminary 2016 
catch data indicate that the fishery had approximately 209,400 lb (95 
mt) of unharvested quota. Had we known of the 2015 commercial quota 
overage and implemented a pound-for-pound reduction in 2016, we would 
not have exceeded the 2016 quota. As is consistent with how we handle 
summer flounder catch accounting, that payback could have been 
accounted for in 2016 (i.e., total 2016 landings plus the 2015 overage 
amount did not exceed the 2016 commercial quota). As a result, this 
overage does not need to be applied to the 2017 quota.
    As for AMs in the recreational fishery, with the new benchmark 
stock assessment information, analysis indicates that recreational 
harvest limits during the last few years would have been significantly 
higher (i.e., approximately double those implemented) if they had been 
set using the recent assessment model, and previous overages would 
likely not have occurred to the same degree, if at all. Based on this 
new information, the Monitoring Committee determined that no AMs are 
necessary for 2017 in the recreational fishery.

Classification

    Pursuant to section 304(b)(1)(A) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the 
Assistant Administrator has determined that this proposed rule is 
consistent with the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass FMP, 
other provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and other applicable law, 
subject to further consideration after public comment.
    This proposed rule is exempt from the procedures of E.O. 12866 
because this action contains no implementing regulations.
    The Chief Counsel for Regulation of the Department of Commerce 
certified to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business 
Administration that this proposed rule, if adopted, would not have a 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. 
The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council conducted an evaluation of 
the potential socioeconomic impacts of the proposed measures in 
conjunction with an EA. According to the commercial ownership database, 
609 affiliate firms landed black sea bass during the 2013-2015 period, 
with 603 of those business affiliates categorized as small businesses 
and 6 categorized as large businesses. Black sea bass represented 
approximately 2.58 percent of the average receipts of the small 
entities considered and 0.51 percent of the average receipts of the 
large entities considered over this time period.
    The ownership data for the for-hire fleet indicate that there were 
411 for-hire affiliate firms generating revenues from fishing 
recreationally for various species during the 2013-2015 period, all of 
which are categorized as small businesses. Although it is not possible 
to derive what proportion of the overall revenues came from specific 
fishing activities, given the popularity of black sea bass as a 
recreational species it is likely that revenues generated from black 
sea bass is important for some if not all of these firms.
    The proposed measure would increase both the commercial quota and 
the recreational harvest limit by over 50 percent, resulting in 
positive economic impacts on regulated entities. Because this rule will 
not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small 
entities, an initial regulatory flexibility analysis is not required 
and none has been prepared.
    There are no new reporting or recordkeeping requirements contained 
in any of the alternatives considered for this action.

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

    Dated: April 11, 2017.
Alan D. Risenhoover,
Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National 
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2017-07567 Filed 4-13-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P