[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 81 (Thursday, April 26, 2018)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 18260-18261]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-08784]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 665

[Docket No. 180202114-8361-01]
RIN 0648-BH60


Pacific Island Fisheries; 5-Year Extension of Moratorium on 
Harvest of Gold Corals

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

ACTION: Proposed rule; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: This proposed rule would extend the current region-wide 
moratorium on the harvest of gold corals in the U.S. Pacific Islands 
through June 30, 2023. NMFS intends this proposed rule to prevent 
overfishing and to stimulate research on gold corals.

DATES: NMFS must receive comments by May 11, 2018.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on this document, identified by 
NOAA-NMFS-2018-0018, by either of the following methods:
     Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public 
comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to https://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2018-0018, click the 
``Comment Now!'' icon, complete the required fields, and enter or 
attach your comments.
     Mail: Send written comments to Michael D. Tosatto, 
Regional Administrator, NMFS Pacific Islands Region (PIR), 1845 Wasp 
Blvd., Bldg. 176, Honolulu, HI 96818.
    Instructions: NMFS may not consider comments sent by any other 
method, to any other address or individual, or received after the end 
of the comment period. All comments received are a part of the public 
record and will generally be posted for public viewing on https://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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kate Taylor, NMFS PIR Sustainable 
Fisheries, 808-725-5182.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Jewelry designers use small amounts of 
precious corals to adorn their products. The precious corals fishery in 
the U.S. Pacific Islands includes black, pink, bamboo, and gold corals. 
They are slow-growing and have low rates of natural mortality and 
recruitment. Unexploited populations are relatively stable, and a wide 
range of age classes is generally present. Due to the great longevity 
of individuals and the associated slow population turnover rates, a 
long period of reduced fishing effort is required to restore a stock's 
ability to produce at the maximum sustainable yield if a stock has been 
over-exploited. Fishermen harvest precious corals by various methods, 
including hand-harvesting and submersibles.
    Gold corals are suspension feeders, and live in deep water (100-
1,500 meters (m)) on hard substrates where bottom currents are strong, 
such as seamounts, ledges, pinnacles, walls, and cliffs. Prior fishing 
effort harvested gold corals by submersible or tangle net dredges. 
There are several beds of gold corals (Gerardia spp., Callogorgia 
gilberti, Narella spp., and Calyptrophora spp.) in the U.S. Exclusive 
Economic Zone (EEZ, generally 3-200 nautical miles from shore) around 
Hawaii. Gold coral distribution and abundance are unknown in the region 
beyond Hawaii, but they likely occur in the EEZ around American Samoa, 
the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the Pacific 
Remote Island Areas (PRIA: Baker Island, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, 
Wake Atoll, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Midway Atoll, and Palmyra 
Atoll).
    NMFS and the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) 
manage precious coral fisheries in the U.S. Pacific Islands under 
fishery ecosystem plans (FEPs) for American Samoa, Hawaii, the Mariana 
Archipelago, and the PRIA. The FEPs and associated Federal regulations 
at 50 CFR part 665 require permits and data reporting, and allow 
harvesting of precious corals only with selective gear (e.g., 
submersibles, remotely-operated vehicles, or by hand). There are also 
bed-specific quotas, refuges from fishing, and size limits. The fishery 
for gold corals, like most deepwater precious corals, has remained 
dormant since 2001.
    The Council considered past and current research on gold corals 
growth rates and recruitment. Past research on gold corals indicated 
that the linear growth rate of gold corals is approximately 6.6 
centimeters/year, suggesting a relatively young age for large coral 
colonies. However, updated research using radiocarbon dating revealed 
that gold corals in Hawaii could have a growth rate of 0.14-0.40 
centimeters/year and that colony ages ranged from 450-2,740 years. 
Additional research also identified previously unknown habitat 
requirements for gold coral, specifically that gold corals may depend 
on bamboo corals to provide required substrate for gold coral larvae.
    Because of these uncertainties, the Council and NMFS established a 
5-year moratorium on harvesting gold corals in 2008 (73 FR 47098, 
August 13, 2008). They extended the moratorium for another five years 
in 2013 (78 FR 32181, May 29, 2013). These moratoria have prevented the 
potential for overharvesting gold corals from a renewed fishery and 
allowed for research on gold coral biology. The current moratorium is 
scheduled to expire on June 30, 2018.
    The Council continues to be concerned about uncertainties related 
to the growth rates and habitat requirements for gold coral, and 
recognizes that fishery managers need more research to inform 
appropriate measures for this fishery. This proposed rule would extend 
the moratorium through June 30, 2023. The proposed action would prevent 
the potential for overfishing and allow such further research on gold 
corals that could inform sustainable management models and reference 
points for appropriate gold coral management measures.
    NMFS must receive any public comments on this proposed rule by the 
close of business on May 11, 2018, and will not consider late comments.

Classification

    Pursuant to section 304(b)(1)(A) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the 
NMFS Assistant Administrator has determined that this proposed rule is 
consistent with the FEPs for American Samoa, the PRIA, Hawaii, and the 
Mariana Archipelago, other provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and 
other applicable law, subject to further consideration after public 
comment.
    This proposed rule has been determined to be not significant for 
purposes of Executive Order 12866.

[[Page 18261]]

Certification of Finding of No Significant Impact on Substantial Number 
of Small Entities

    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 proposed rule would extend the current gold coral harvest 
moratorium for five years. The current moratorium is scheduled to 
expire on June 30, 2018. The Western Pacific Fishery Management Council 
(Council) recommended extending the moratorium through June 30, 2023.
    The proposed action would potentially affect any entity possessing 
a Federal western Pacific precious corals permit, because those 
entities would be permitted to harvest or land gold corals, in addition 
to black, bamboo, pink, and red corals. Only one entity, based in the 
state of Hawaii, currently possesses a permit (http://www.fpir.noaa.gov/SFD/SFD_permits_index.html, accessed: February 2, 
2018). NMFS believes that this entity would be considered a small 
entity because the permit holder is engaged in the business of fish 
harvesting, independently owned or operated, not dominant in their 
field of operation, and has annual gross receipts not in excess of $11 
million.
    Although NMFS believes that the permit holder would be considered a 
small entity, it is unlikely that the permit holder would begin to 
harvest gold corals in the absence of a moratorium. The Pacific Islands 
gold coral fishery had been dormant when the current moratorium went 
into effect in 2008, and extended in 2013. Gold coral harvesting had 
occurred infrequently during the past 50 years. In the late 1970s, 
harvesters used a manned submersible to selectively take several 
thousand kilograms of gold coral off eastern Oahu, Hawaii. From 1999-
2001, a second harvester took a small amount of gold coral, along with 
other deepwater precious corals, from exploratory areas off Hawaii.
    Extending the moratorium on gold coral harvests will not likely 
cause immediate economic impact to the entity permitted to harvest gold 
corals. Furthermore, this fishery is still characterized by high 
equipment and operating costs, continued safety concerns and other 
logistical constraints. Gold coral market prices are not high enough to 
offset those risks and expenses. Because of these challenges to 
entities wishing to harvest and land gold corals, interest in this 
fishery will likely remain low even without the moratorium. However, 
extending the moratorium for another five years would ensure that no 
harvesting of gold corals would occur until at least 2023. Additional 
research may better inform future management decisions regarding 
sustainable harvest of this resource.
    The proposed rule does not duplicate, overlap, or conflict with 
other Federal rules and is not expected to have significant impact on 
small entities (as discussed above), organizations or government 
jurisdictions. There does not appear to be disproportionate economic 
impacts from the proposed rule based on home port, gear type, or 
relative vessel size. The proposed rule will not place a substantial 
number of small entities, or any segment of small entities, at a 
significant competitive disadvantage to large entities. As a result, an 
initial regulatory flexibility analysis is not required, and none has 
been prepared.

List of Subjects in 50 CFR 665

    Administrative practice and procedure, American Samoa, Deep sea 
coral, Fisheries, Fishing, Guam, Hawaii, Northern Mariana Islands, 
Pacific Remote Island Areas, Precious coral.

    Dated: April 23, 2018.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
    For the reasons set out in the preamble, NMFS proposes to amend 50 
CFR part 665 as follows:

PART 665--FISHERIES IN THE WESTERN PACIFIC

0
1. The authority citation for 50 CFR part 665 continues to read as 
follows:

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

0
2. Revise Sec.  665.169 to read as follows:


Sec.  665.169  Gold coral harvest moratorium.

    Fishing for, taking, or retaining any gold coral in any precious 
coral permit area is prohibited through June 30, 2023.
0
3. In Sec.  665.269, revise note 2 to the table in paragraph (d) to 
read as follows:


Sec.  665.269  Quotas.

* * * * *
    (d) * * *

    Notes: 
    1. No fishing for coral is authorized in refugia.
    2. A moratorium on gold coral harvesting is in effect through 
June 30, 2023.

0
4. Revise Sec.  665.270 to read as follows:


Sec.  665.270  Gold coral harvest moratorium.

    Fishing for, taking, or retaining any gold coral in any precious 
coral permit area is prohibited through June 30, 2023.
0
5. Revise Sec.  665.469 to read as follows:


Sec.  665.469  Gold coral harvest moratorium.

    Fishing for, taking, or retaining any gold coral in any precious 
coral permit area is prohibited through June 30, 2023.
0
6. Revise Sec.  665.669 to read as follows:


Sec.  665.669  Gold coral harvest moratorium.

    Fishing for, taking, or retaining any gold coral in any precious 
coral permit area is prohibited through June 30, 2023.

[FR Doc. 2018-08784 Filed 4-25-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P