[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 94 (Wednesday, May 15, 2019)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 21723-21726]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-09915]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 190207082-9433-02]
RIN 0648-XG800
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Spiny Dogfish
Fishery; 2019 and Projected 2020-2021 Specifications
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: NMFS issues final specifications for the 2019 spiny dogfish
fishery, and projected specifications for fishing years 2020 and 2021.
The specifications are necessary to establish allowable harvest levels
and other management measures to prevent overfishing while allowing
optimum yield, consistent with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act and the Spiny Dogfish Fishery
Management Plan. This rule is also intended to inform the public of
these specifications for the 2019 fishing year and projected
specifications for 2020 and 2021.
DATES: Effective May 15, 2019 through April 30, 2020.
ADDRESSES: Copies of these specifications, including the Environmental
Assessment (EA), Regulatory Flexibility Act Analyses, and other
supporting documents for the action, are available upon request from
Dr. Christopher M. Moore, Executive Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery
Management Council, Suite 201, 800 N. State Street, Dover, DE 19901.
These documents are also accessible via the internet at http://www.mafmc.org/dogfish.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cynthia Ferrio, Fishery Management
Specialist, (978) 281-9180.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Atlantic spiny dogfish fishery is jointly managed in Federal
waters by the New England and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Councils
under the Spiny Dogfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP), with the Mid-
Atlantic Council serving as the administrative lead. The Atlantic
States Marine Fisheries Commission manages the fishery in state waters
from Maine to North Carolina through an interstate fishery management
plan. Regulations implementing the spiny dogfish FMP appear at 50 CFR
part 648, subparts A and L, and require the specification of an annual
catch limit (ACL), annual catch target (ACT), and the total allowable
landings (TAL). These limits and other management measures may be set
for up to five fishing years at a time, with each fishing year running
from May 1 through April 30. This action implements spiny dogfish
specifications for the 2019 fishing year, and announces projected
specifications for 2020 and 2021, as recommended by the Councils.
The proposed rule for this action published in the Federal Register
on March 29, 2019 (84 FR 11923), and comments were accepted through
April 15, 2019. Additional background information regarding the
development of these specifications was provided in the proposed rule
and is not repeated here.
Final Specifications
This action implements the final 2019 and projected 2020-2021 spiny
dogfish specifications (Table 1) as described in the March 29, 2019,
proposed rule. These specifications substantially reduce the coastwide
commercial quota in 2019 to ensure overfishing does not occur. Quota
increases are projected for 2020 and 2021 as the stock biomass is
expected to increase and the risk of overfishing declines. The lower
catch limits are not expected to have a substantial impact on industry,
as the reduced coastwide quotas remain higher than total annual
landings in recent years.
Table 1--Summary of Final 2019, and Projected 2020 and 2021 Spiny Dogfish Fishery Specifications
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2019 2020 2021
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Metric tons Pounds Metric tons Pounds Metric tons Pounds
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Overfishing Limit....................................... 21,549 47,507,413 N/A N/A N/A N/A
Acceptable Biological Catch............................. 12,914 28,470,497 14,126 31,142,499 16,043 35,368,761
ACL = ACT............................................... 12,865 28,362,470 14,077 31,034,473 15,994 35,260,734
TAL..................................................... 9,390 20,701,000 10,602 23,373,409 12,519 27,599,671
Commercial Quota........................................ 9,309 20,522,832 10,521 23,194,835 12,438 27,421,096
Percent Change in Quota from Previous Year.............. -46 -46 +13 +13 +18 +18
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All other fishery management measures, including the 6,000-lb
(2,722-kg) Federal trip limit, remain unchanged. Changes to the trip
limit may be pursued in a future, separate rulemaking action. By
providing projected quotas for 2019 and 2020, NMFS hopes to assist
fishery participants in planning ahead. The Councils will review these
specifications annually, and NMFS will provide notice prior to each
fishing year to finalize specifications and related measures.
Comments and Responses
The public comment period for the proposed rule ended on April 15,
2019. Five comments were received from the public on this rule during
the 15-day comment period. No changes to the proposed specifications
were made as a result of these comments.
Comment 1: One commenter requested that the spiny dogfish quota be
reduced by 50 percent to prevent overfishing, claimed that widespread
corruption and commercial profiteering was taking place across all
fisheries, and asked that all trawl gear be banned. No rationale or
evidence was presented to support the commenter's claims.
Response 1: This action does reduce the commercial spiny dogfish
quota by 46 percent to prevent overfishing, which is almost the 50
percent requested by the commenter. Banning trawl gear is beyond the
scope of outcomes contemplated in specifications.
Comment 2: Another commenter alleged that the spiny dogfish quota
should not be reduced because they prey on valuable groundfish.
Response 2: This action manages the spiny dogfish fishery in terms
of the target species' stock health and availability. At this time, the
FMP does not account for predation effects by spiny dogfish on other
species.
Comment 3: The commenter supported this action and the quota
reduction, but was also concerned with inaccurate data from trawl
fisheries, and effects on the recreational spiny dogfish fishery.
Response 3: These specifications were developed using the best
scientific information available, which includes fishery independent
trawl surveys. These surveys are conducted by the Northeast Fisheries
Science Center and others, and are not solely dependent on trawl
reporting data from within the fishery. Also, there are no Federal
regulations governing the spiny dogfish
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recreational fishery; these specifications apply to the commercial
fishery only. For more information on recreational spiny dogfish
regulations, contact the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission or
your local state agency.
Comment 4: One commenter supported this action, but did not believe
that immediate action is required. They agreed that quotas should be
reduced in future years to prevent overfishing (perhaps by using
limited protected areas), but for now, the stock is stable, and dogfish
eat other groundfish species so the population should be controlled.
Response 4: This action reduces the dogfish quota to prevent
overfishing based on the best scientific information available.
Although the stock is not currently overfished or experiencing
overfishing, biomass has been declining, and the quota reductions are a
result of the application of the Mid-Atlantic Council's Risk Policy to
prevent overfishing, consistent with National Standard 2 and the
Magnuson-Stevens Act. As stated earlier, the FMP does not account for
predation effects of spiny dogfish on other species.
Comment 5: This commenter supported this action's quota reductions
for spiny dogfish to preserve future sustainability in the fishery.
They also suggested that a sex-specific spiny dogfish fishery be
considered to protect against harvest of pregnant females.
Response 5: NMFS agrees that these specifications will better
maintain sustainability in the spiny dogfish fishery. Consideration of
a sex-specific fishery and management measures was not discussed in
this action and would need to be pursued separately by the Councils in
the future.
Changes From the Proposed Rule
There are no changes from the proposed rule.
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 Spiny Dogfish FMP, other provisions of the
Magnuson-Stevens Act, and other applicable law.
This final rule is exempt from review under Executive Order 12866
because this action contains no implementing regulations.
This final rule does not duplicate, conflict, or overlap with any
existing Federal rules.
This action does not contain a collection of information
requirement for purposes of the Paperwork Reduction Act.
The Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA, finds good cause
under 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3) to waive the 30-day delay of effectiveness
period for this rule, to ensure that the final specifications are in
place as close as practicable to the start of the 2019 spiny dogfish
fishing year, which began on May 1, 2019. This action implements the
final specifications (i.e., annual catch limits) for the spiny dogfish
fishery for the 2019 fishing year. A delay in effectiveness well beyond
the start of the fishing year would be contrary to the public interest,
as it could create confusion in the commercial spiny dogfish industry.
Additionally, it could compromise the effectiveness of the lower catch
limits in preventing overfishing while still allowing sustainable
yield.
This rule is being issued at the earliest possible date.
Preparation of the proposed rule was dependent on the submission of the
EA, in support of the specifications, developed by the Mid-Atlantic
Council. Following submission, documentation in support of the
Council's recommended specifications is required for NMFS to provide
the public with information from the environmental and economic
analyses, as required in rulemaking, and to evaluate the consistency of
the Council's recommendation with the Magnuson-Stevens Act and other
applicable law. A complete draft of the specifications document and
accompanying EA was received in late November 2018. However, the recent
lapse in federal appropriations prevented any work on this action from
December 22, 2018, through January 25, 2019, and delayed approval of
the final EA. As such, the final specifications document and EA was not
completed and approved by NMFS until early March 2019. The proposed
rule for this action published on March 29, 2019, with a 15-day comment
period ending April 15, 2019. A 30-day delay in effectiveness would
needlessly postpone implementation of the 2019 specifications beyond
the start of the fishing year on May 1, which is contrary to the public
interest.
Furthermore, the lower catch limits specified in this action should
be implemented as soon as possible to minimize the potential for
overfishing. Although the specifications from 2018 are carried into
2019 until new catch limits are implemented, the Councils have
recommended a substantial reduction in commercial quota based on the
most recent stock assessment update. Harvest occurring within the first
weeks of the fishing year based on outdated, higher catch limits could
further harm the resource, and subject it to a greater risk of
overfishing.
Finally, regulated parties do not require any additional time to
come into compliance with this rule, and thus, a 30-day delay in
effectiveness does not provide any benefit. Unlike actions that require
an adjustment period to comply with new rules, participants in the
spiny dogfish fishery will not be required to purchase new equipment or
otherwise expend time or money to comply with these management
measures. Fishery stakeholders have also been involved in the
development of this action and are anticipating this rule. Therefore,
there would be no benefit to delaying the implementation of these
specifications.
For these reasons, a 30-day delay in effectiveness would be
contrary to the public interest, and is therefore waived. As a result,
there is good cause to implement these specifications on May 15, 2019.
Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
The final regulatory flexibility analysis (FRFA) included in this
final rule was prepared pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 604(a), and incorporates
the initial regulatory flexibility analysis (IRFA) and a summary of
analyses completed to support the action. A public copy of the
environmental assessment/IRFA is available from the Mid-Atlantic
Council (see ADDRESSES). The preamble to the proposed rule included a
detailed summary of the analyses contained in the IRFA, and that
discussion is not repeated here.
A Summary of the Significant Issues Raised by the Public in Response to
the IRFA, a Summary of the Agency's Assessment of Such Issues, and a
Statement of Any Changes Made in the Final Rule as a Result of Such
Comments
NMFS did not receive any comments in response to the IRFA or
regulatory flexibility analysis (RFA) process. Refer to the ``Comments
and Responses'' section of this rule's preamble for more detail on the
public comments that were received. No changes to the proposed rule
were made as a result of public comment.
Description and Estimate of Number of Small Entities to Which the Rule
Would Apply
This final rule affects small entities engaged in commercial
fishing operations in the spiny dogfish fishery. For the purposes of
the RFA analysis, the ownership entities (or firms), not the individual
vessels, are considered to be the regulated entities. Because of this,
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some vessels with spiny dogfish permits may be considered to be part of
the same firm because they may have the same owners. In terms of RFA, a
business primarily engaged in commercial fishing activity is classified
as a small business if it has combined annual gross receipts not in
excess of $11 million for all its affiliated operations worldwide. To
identify these small and large firms, vessel ownership data from the
permit database were grouped according to common owners and sorted by
size.
The current ownership data set used for this analysis is based on
calendar year 2017 (the most recent complete year available). In 2017,
there were 2,254 vessels that held a spiny dogfish permit, while 244 of
these vessels contributed to overall landings. Cross-referencing those
permits with vessel ownership database revealed that 1,695 entities
owned those vessels. 1,685 were classified as small entities, with the
remaining 10 classified as large businesses. Of the 1,685 small
entities, 374 had no revenue in 2017, 1,104 were commercial fishing
entities, and 207 were for-hire entities. Overall, there were 227
entities with spiny dogfish permits that reported revenue from spiny
dogfish landings during 2017. Of those entities, 1 was large and 226
were small and their average overall revenues in 2017 were $0.4
million.
Description of Projected Reporting, Recordkeeping, and Other Compliance
Requirements
No additional reporting, recordkeeping, or other compliance
requirements are included in this final rule.
Description of the Steps the Agency Has Taken To Minimize the
Significant Economic Impact on Small Entities Consistent With the
Stated Objectives of Applicable Statutes
Specification of commercial catch limits is constrained by the
conservation objectives of the FMP and the Magnuson-Stevens Act. This
action implements final 2019 and projected 2020-2021 commercial catch
specifications for the spiny dogfish fishery based on the most recent
stock assessment update. The Councils also considered taking no action,
where the same catch limits and specifications from fishing year 2018
would continue into 2019 with no change. Only these two alternatives
were considered by the Councils. NMFS is somewhat constrained in
approving specifications in that the agency can approve, disapprove,
partially approve, or in very limited circumstances substitute measures
to end overfishing and rebuild stocks if Council-recommended measures
will not do so. Because of this, there are limited options to minimize
potential impacts on small entities.
This rule decreases the commercial quota by 46 percent to 9,309 mt
in 2019, followed by modest projected increases to 10,521 mt and 12,438
mt, in 2020 and 2021, respectively. Although the 46-percent reduction
in 2019 is a substantial quota change, landings reports from the most
recent available full fishing year (2017) show that 7,439 mt of spiny
dogfish were landed. Available landing information for fishing year
2018 is around 23 percent lower than in 2017. Given this data, it is
likely that the reduction in quota for 2019 will not constrain the
spiny dogfish industry, including small entities.
If the fishery were to reverse the recent landing trends and
achieve the proposed 2019 quota, it would still generate more landings
and likely more revenues than the most recent year (2017) of full
fishery information. Therefore, it is expected that the proposed action
will have minimal impact on small entities.
Taking no action was also considered, where the same catch limits
and specifications from 2018 would continue into 2019 and beyond. This
may have had a higher potential to minimize short-term economic impacts
on small entities, as the quotas would remain higher, providing the
potential for greater revenues and economic gain. However, as
previously stated, effort and landings in the spiny dogfish fishery
have been low in recent years, and higher quotas increase the risk of
overfishing without addressing the issues in the market that may be
keeping landings low. Therefore, maintaining status quo specifications
was not recommended by the Councils because it would exceed catch level
recommendations, put the spiny dogfish stock at an unnecessary risk of
overfishing, and would be inconsistent with the requirements of the
Magnuson-Stevens Act.
NMFS does not anticipate any significant economic impacts on small
entities as a result of implementing the reduced quotas in this action.
While there is a substantial reduction in the 2019 ACT and commercial
quota, analyses indicate that coastwide spiny dogfish landings have
been less than these approved specifications in recent years. It is
unlikely that potential revenue losses would be directly affected by
these quota reductions. In addition, these quotas are projected to
increase in 2020 and 2021, so any impact to small entities affected by
this action may be remedied quickly as the risk of overfishing
subsides.
Section 212 of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness
Act of 1996 states that, for each rule or group of related rules for
which an agency is required to prepare a FRFA, the agency shall publish
one or more guides to assist small entities in complying with the rule,
and shall designate such publications as ``small entity compliance
guides.'' The agency shall explain the actions a small entity is
required to take to comply with a rule or group of rules. As part of
this rulemaking process, a letter to permit holders that also serves as
small entity compliance guide was prepared and will be sent to all
holders of Federal permits issued for the spiny dogfish fishery. In
addition, copies of this final rule and guide (i.e., permit holder
letter) are available from NMFS at the following website:
www.greateratlantic.fisheries.noaa.gov.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: May 9, 2019.
Samuel D. Rauch, III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2019-09915 Filed 5-14-19; 8:45 am]
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