[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 205 (Tuesday, October 23, 2018)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 53440-53441]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-23123]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
RIN 0648-XG543
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act
Provisions; Small-Mesh Multispecies Fishery; Public Comment Period for
Amendment 22 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The New England Fishery Management Council requests public
comment on Amendment 22 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery
Management Plan, including a Draft Environmental Impact Statement. To
meet the purpose and need, this amendment proposes alternatives that
would initiate a limited access program for the small-mesh multispecies
fishery, adjust whiting and red hake possession limits, and modify
permit types and characteristics to make them consistent with limited
access.
The Council recently solicited comments and held a series of public
hearings on the draft amendment. Due to an inconsistency in the
information available during the comment period, the Council will
solicit comments for an additional 30 days and hold an informational
webinar to explain the data inconsistency and review the alternatives
in the amendment and Draft Environmental Impact Statement.
DATES: We must receive written comments on or before November 23, 2018.
The informational webinar will take place on Wednesday, November 14,
2018 at 3 p.m. at the following web address: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/843126117, or by telephone at (872) 240-
3311, using Access Code 43-126-117.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on this document, identified by
NOAA-NMFS-2013-0169 by any of the following methods:
[ssquf] Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public
comments directly to the Council at [email protected] or by fax to
(978) 465-3116, with ``Comments on Whiting Amendment 22'' on the
subject line.
[ssquf] Mail: Submit written comments to Thomas A. Nies, Executive
Director,
[[Page 53441]]
New England Fishery Management Council, 50 Water Street, Mill 2,
Newburyport, MA 01950. Mark the outside of the envelope, ``Comments on
Whiting Amendment 22.''
Instructions: You must submit comments by one of the above methods
to ensure that the comments are received, documented, and considered by
Council. The Council 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 the Council's
website at www.nefmc.org without change. All personal identifying
information (e.g., name, address, etc.) submitted voluntarily by the
sender will be publicly accessible. Do not submit confidential business
information, or otherwise sensitive or protected information. The
Council will accept attachments to electronic comments only in
Microsoft Word or Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe PDF file formats.
The hearing documents are accessible electronically via the
internet at https://www.nefmc.org/library/amendment-22 or by request to
Thomas A. Nies, Executive Director, New England Fishery Management
Council, 50 Water Street, Mill 2, Newburyport, MA 01950, telephone
(978) 465-0492.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Andrew Applegate, Senior Fisheries
Analyst, (978) 465-0492, ext. 114.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The small-mesh multispecies complex consists of five stocks:
Northern silver hake, southern silver hake, and offshore hake, all
collectively referred to as whiting; along with northern and southern
red hake. The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) manages
these stocks as part of the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management
Plan (FMP). Fishermen targeting whiting and hake use small-mesh trawl
gear. The Council manages the fishery through multiple small-mesh
exemptions to the northeast multispecies (also called groundfish)
regulations. The small-mesh multispecies fishery is open access,
meaning any vessel may obtain a permit to fish with small-mesh gear to
target whiting and hake.
Based on specifications set forth by the Council, NMFS sets annual
catch levels for each of the small-mesh multispecies stocks. The
fishery routinely harvests a small fraction of the allowable silver
hake landings each year, due to high bycatch levels of red hake that
reduce the possession limits to incidental levels once a certain
percentage of the red hake annual catch limits are reached. Northern
whiting and hake stocks are healthy, but southern red hake is
overfished and experiencing overfishing. Southern whiting biomass has
been declining for several years and is below the target, but is not
considered overfished.
Although the fishery does not harvest optimum yield, there are
concerns that it could become more difficult to manage if continued
open access results in bycatch levels could prematurely close the
directed small-mesh multispecies fishery. In response, the Council
developed Amendment 22 to the FMP. The amendment considers multiple
alternatives for a limited access program, along with various options
for possession limits and permit conditions should the Council
ultimately choose to limit access in the fishery. The Council's
preferred alternative is to maintain open access.
Amendment 22 includes a Draft Environmental Impact Statement
(DEIS), which analyzes the impacts of the various management
alternatives. In July of 2018, the Council hosted a series of public
hearings and solicited comments on the DEIS and amendment. Along with
the DEIS, the Council prepared a separate public hearing document to
summarize the impacts of alternatives, which included the estimated
number of vessels that would qualify under each limited access
alternative. After the public hearings, and while discussing potential
final action, the Council discovered a discrepancy between the numbers
in the public hearing document and the DEIS. Upon further
investigation, it concluded that the DEIS analyses were based on the
correct information, while the information in the summary section of
the DEIS and the public hearing document were based on preliminary
analyses that had been conducted in early development of the amendment.
The correct results were available to the public and Council when the
Council approved the range of alternatives in June 2017 and chose
preferred alternatives in December 2017.
Given the discrepancy between the summary information and the DEIS,
the Council announced that it will provide the public with an
additional 30-day comment period and hold an informational webinar
using the most up-to-date information to explain the data discrepancy
and afford additional opportunity for comment.
The Council will accept comments until 1 p.m. on November 23, 2018.
See the DATES section for the timing of the webinar and how you may
participate. The Council's Small-Mesh Fishery Committee and Advisory
Panel will review the public comments and make recommendations for
action to the Council. The Council will consider these recommendations
and take final action on Amendment 22 during its December 2018 meeting.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.; 16 U.S.C. 5101 et seq.
Dated: October 17, 2018.
Karen H. Abrams,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2018-23123 Filed 10-22-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P