[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 122 (Monday, June 25, 2018)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 29461-29463]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-13583]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 660

[Docket No. 180320301-8551-02]
RIN 0648-XG121


Fisheries Off West Coast States; Coastal Pelagic Species 
Fisheries; Annual Specifications

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

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: NMFS issues this rule to implement annual management measures 
and catch limits for the northern subpopulation of Pacific sardine, for 
the fishing year lasting from July 1, 2018, through June 30, 2019. This 
action includes a prohibition on directed commercial fishing for 
Pacific sardine off the U.S. West Coast, except in the live bait, 
tribal, or minor directed fisheries. This action is intended to 
conserve and manage the Pacific sardine stock off the U.S. West Coast.

DATES: Effective July 1, 2018, through June 30, 2019.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joshua Lindsay, West Coast Region, 
NMFS, (562) 980-4034, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS manages the Pacific sardine fishery in 
the U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off the West Coast (California, 
Oregon, and Washington) in accordance with the Coastal Pelagic Species 
(CPS) Fishery Management Plan (FMP). The FMP and its implementing 
regulations require NMFS to set annual catch levels for the Pacific 
sardine fishery based on the annual specification framework and control 
rules in the FMP. These control rules include the harvest guideline 
(HG) control rule, which, in conjunction with the overfishing limit 
(OFL) and acceptable biological catch (ABC) rules in the FMP, are used 
to manage harvest levels for Pacific sardine, in accordance with the 
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-
Stevens Act). Annual specifications published in the Federal Register 
establish these catch limits and management measures for each Pacific 
sardine fishing year.
    The purpose of this final rule is to implement the annual catch 
levels and reference points for the 2018-2019 fishing year. This final 
rule adopts, without changes, the catch levels and

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restrictions that NMFS proposed in the rule published on May 25, 2018 
(83 FR 24269), including the OFL and ABC that takes into consideration 
uncertainty surrounding the current estimate of biomass for Pacific 
sardine in the U.S. EEZ off the U.S. West Coast. The proposed rule for 
this action included additional background on specifications and the 
details of how the Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) derived 
its recommended specifications for Pacific sardine. Those details are 
not repeated here. For additional information, please refer to the 
proposed rule for this action.

                                 Table 1--Reference Points for the 2018-2019 Pacific Sardine Fishing Year in Metric Tons
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                                                                                                                                           Tribal set-
                          Biomass estimate                                 OFL              ABC               HG              ACL             aside
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52,065.............................................................          11,324            9,436                0            7,000              800
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    This final rule implements an OFL of 11,324 metric tons (mt), an 
ABC of 9,436 mt, and a prohibition on Pacific sardine catch, unless it 
is harvested as part of the live bait, tribal, or minor directed 
fisheries, or as incidental catch in other fisheries (Table 1). 
Additionally, this rule implements an ACL of 7,000 mt, as well as 
restrictions on the incidental catch of Pacific sardine by other 
fisheries.
    The incidental catch of Pacific sardine in other CPS fisheries will 
be managed with the following automatic inseason actions to reduce the 
potential for both targeting and discard of Pacific sardine in these 
fisheries:
     An incidental per landing by weight allowance of 40 
percent Pacific sardine in non-treaty CPS fisheries until a total of 
2,500 mt of Pacific sardine has been landed; and
     A reduction of the incidental per landing allowance to 20 
percent for the remainder of the 2018-2019 fishing year once 2,500 mt 
Pacific sardine has been landed.
    Pacific sardine is known to comingle with other CPS stocks; thus, 
these incidental allowances are established to allow for the continued 
prosecution of these other important CPS fisheries and reduce the 
potential discard of sardine. Additionally, this final rule implements 
an incidental per landing allowance of up to 2 mt per trip in non-CPS 
fisheries.
    The NMFS West Coast Regional Administrator will publish a notice in 
the Federal Register to announce when catch reaches the incidental 
limits as well as any changes to allowable incidental catch 
percentages. Additionally, to ensure that the regulated community is 
informed of any closure, NMFS will make announcements through other 
means available, including fax, email, and mail to fishermen, 
processors, and state fishery management agencies.
    As explained in the proposed rule, the Quinault Indian Nation 
requested a set-aside for tribal harvest of 800 mt (the same amount 
that was requested and approved for the 2017-2018 fishing season). 
Consistent with this request, NMFS is setting aside 800 mt of the 2018-
2019 ACL for tribal harvest (Table 1).
    At the April 2018 meeting, the Council voted in support of two 
exempted fishing permit (EFP) proposals requesting an exemption from 
the prohibition to directly harvest Pacific sardine. The ACL 
implemented in this action accounts for the potential of NMFS approval 
of up to 610 mt of the ACL to be harvested for EFP activities.

Comments and Responses

    On May 25, 2018, NMFS published a proposed rule for this action and 
solicited public comments (83 FR 24269), with a public comment period 
that ended on June 11, 2018. NMFS received one comment letter from the 
environmental advocacy organization Oceana during the comment period. 
After consideration of the public comment, no changes were made from 
the proposed rule. NMFS summarizes and responds to the comment letter 
below.
    Comment 1: Oceana supported the prohibition on non-tribal directed 
commercial sardine fishing, but opposed the proposed ACL level of 7,000 
mt. Oceana instead requested that NMFS set an ACL of no more than 2,000 
mt. Oceana commented that the proposed ACL of 7,000 mt is excessive and 
not commensurate with the decline in sardine biomass and that NMFS 
should reduce the ACL to 2,000 mt.
    Response: NMFS disagrees that it is necessary to set the ACL lower 
than 7,000 mt. The ACL should be viewed in the context of the approved 
northern subpopulation of Pacific Sardine OFL (11,324 mt) and ABC 
(9,436 mt), which has been reduced from the OFL to account for 
scientific uncertainty. The Council's SSC endorsed the OFL and ABC, 
which are derived from control rules in the FMP, as the best scientific 
information available. The CPS FMP defines overfishing as catch 
exceeding the OFL. By definition, if catch approaches either the ACL or 
ABC, which are set below the OFL, overfishing would not be occurring. 
This rule conservatively limits harvest levels by all sources with an 
ACL of 7,000 mt, which is below both the OFL and ABC. All incidental 
catch, live bait, minor directed, and tribal harvest of sardine are 
managed to stay at or below the ACL. Additionally, as a direct result 
of the decline in the estimated biomass from the last fishing year, the 
OFL and ABC implemented through this action are respectively 
approximately 33 and 40 percent lower than those implemented last year.
    Small pelagic species, such as sardine, undergo wide natural 
fluctuations in abundance related to environmental conditions, even in 
the absence of fishing pressure. Given that environmental conditions 
are a strong driver for small pelagic species biomass, and the fact 
that 7,000 mt is only about 13 percent of the 2018 biomass estimate, it 
is highly unlikely that reducing the ACL from 7,000 mt to 2,000 mt 
would measurably contribute to the potential for Pacific sardine 
abundance to increase. Even in the absence of any fishing mortality, 
unfavorable environmental conditions could keep the sardine population 
at a low level. Based on the recent stock assessments and NMFS 
research, low recent recruitment (i.e., the number of young fish 
maturing into the spawning population) is the primary cause of the 
current downward trend in overall population size. Research suggests 
recruitment is strongly related to environmental conditions, 
particularly large-scale oceanographic phenomena.
    Comment 2: Oceana also commented that the OFL is not based on the 
best scientific information available because Oceana construes new 
research from NMFS Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC) as 
demonstrating that the temperature-recruitment relationship based on 
data from the California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations 
(CalCOFI) survey used to inform the OFL is no longer applicable.

[[Page 29463]]

    Response: NMFS is committed to using the best scientific 
information available, and the SWFSC is continuing research to improve 
our understanding of the relationship between Pacific Sardine 
productivity and environmental conditions. The new research referenced 
by Oceana is still under development, has not been formally reviewed, 
and therefore is not yet a valid rationale to cease using CalCOFI data 
to gauge the temperature-recruitment relationship. At this time, the 
CalCOFI-based temperature relationship is still the best scientific 
information available science to set the OFL.
    Comment 3: In addition to commenting on the proposed rule, Oceana's 
comment requested reconsideration of various aspects of sardine 
management that are not considered in this action, including changing 
the start date of the fishery, revision of the Minimum Stock Size 
Threshold value, and various modifications to the OFL, ABC and HG 
control rules.
    Response: Changes to the management framework of Pacific sardine 
and to the sardine harvest control rules are set in the CPS FMP and are 
beyond the scope of this rulemaking. NMFS will take these comments into 
consideration during related future management planning for the Pacific 
sardine stock, and recommends Oceana continue to bring these concerns 
to the attention of the Council as that body deliberates about the 
management framework for sardine.

Classification

    Pursuant to section 304(b)(1)(A) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the 
NMFS Assistant Administrator has determined that this final rule is 
consistent with the CPS FMP, other provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens 
Act, and other applicable law. There is good cause under 5 U.S.C. 
553(d)(3) to waive the 30-day delay in effectiveness of these final 
harvest specifications for the 2018-2019 Pacific sardine fishing 
season. In accordance with the FMP, this rule was recommended by the 
Council at its meeting in April 2018 the contents of which were based 
on the best available new information on the population status of 
Pacific sardine that became available at that time. Making these final 
specifications effective on July 1, the first day of the fishing 
season, is necessary for the conservation and management of the Pacific 
sardine resource because last year's restrictions on harvest are not 
effective after June 30. The FMP requires a prohibition on directed 
fishing for Pacific sardine for the 2018-2019 fishing year because the 
sardine biomass has dropped below the CUTOFF. The purpose of the CUTOFF 
in the FMP, and for prohibiting a directed fishing when the biomass 
drops below this level, is to protect the stock when biomass is low and 
provide a buffer of spawning stock that is protected from fishing and 
can contribute to rebuilding the stock. A delay in the effectiveness of 
this rule for a full 30 days would result in the re-opening the 
directed commercial fishery on July 1.
    Delaying the effective date of this rule beyond July 1 would be 
contrary to the public interest because it would jeopardize the 
sustainability of the Pacific sardine stock. Furthermore, most affected 
fishermen are aware that the Council recommended that directed 
commercial fishing be prohibited for the 2018-2019 fishing year and are 
fully prepared to comply with the prohibition.
    This final 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 during the proposed rule stage that this action would 
not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small 
entities. The factual basis for the certification was published in the 
proposed rule and is not repeated here. No comments were received 
regarding this certification. As a result, a regulatory flexibility 
analysis was not required and none was prepared.
    Pursuant to Executive Order 13175, this final rule was developed 
after meaningful consultation and collaboration with the tribal 
representative on the Council who has agreed with the provisions that 
apply to tribal vessels.
    This action does not contain a collection-of-information 
requirement for purposes of the Paperwork Reduction Act.

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

    Dated: June 20, 2018.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2018-13583 Filed 6-22-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P