[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 169 (Friday, August 30, 2019)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 45706-45708]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-18794]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 660
RIN 0648-BI35
Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; Fisheries off West Coast States;
Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery
Management Plan; Amendment 21-4; Trawl Catch Share Program
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Announcement of availability of fishery management plan
amendment; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the Pacific Fishery Management Council
submitted Amendment 21-4 to the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery
Management Plan to the Secretary of
[[Page 45707]]
Commerce for review. If approved, Amendment 21-4 would adjust the
Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Catch Share Program to complete
outstanding elements of the program, respond to problems identified
after program implementation, and modify outdated regulations. The
proposed Amendment would convert bycatch allocations of canary and
widow rockfish to set-asides in the at-sea whiting fishery and remove
fixed formulas used to determine bycatch amounts of Pacific Ocean
Perch, darkblotched rockfish and widow rockfish in the at-sea whiting
sectors. Bycatch amounts would instead be determined through the
biennial harvest specification process, which would offer more flexible
bycatch management for the at-sea sectors. The proposed rule
implementing this proposed FMP amendment includes other regulatory
changes which would provide increased opportunity to trade individual
fishing quota, accumulation limits for catcher-processor permits, and
expand economic data collections. The rule will help to ensure the
Pacific Coast Groundfish fishery achieves optimum yield, minimize costs
of participation, provide fair and equitable access to fishery
resources, and avoid adverse economic impacts to fishing communities.
DATES: Comments on Amendment 21-4 must be received on or before October
29, 2019.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on this document, identified by
NOAA-NMFS-2019-0106, by any of the following methods;
Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public
comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to
www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2019-0106, click the
``Comment Now!'' icon, complete the required fields, and enter or
attach your comments.
Mail: Submit written comments to Barry A. Thom., Regional
Administrator, 7600 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA 98115.
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 a 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).
Information relevant to Amendment 21-4, which includes two memos
categorically excluding this action from further National Environmental
Protection Act review, a regulatory impact review (RIR), and an initial
regulatory flexibility analysis (RFA) are available for public review
during business hours at the NMFS West Coast Regional Office at 7600
Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA 98115, or by requesting them via phone
or the email address listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
section. Copies of additional reports referred to in this document may
also be obtained from the Pacific Fishery Management Council.
Electronic Access
FMP Amendment 21-4, background information and documents are
available at the Pacific Fishery Management Council website at http://www.pcouncil.org/groundfish/fishery-management-plan/groundfish-amendments-in-development/. Additional background documents are
available at the NMFS West Coast Region website at http://www.westcoast.fisheries.noaa.gov/fisheries/groundfish/index.html.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Colin Sayre, phone: 206-526-4656, or
email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS manages the groundfish fisheries in the
exclusive economic zone off Washington, Oregon, and California under
the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP). The Pacific
Fishery Management Council (Council) prepared and NMFS implemented the
Pacific Coast Groundfish FMP under the authority of the Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act),
16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. and through regulations at 50 CFR parts 600 and
660.
The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires each regional fishery management
council to submit any federal management plan (FMP) or plan amendment
to NMFS for review and approval, disapproval, or partial approval by
the Secretary of Commerce. The Magnuson-Stevens Act also requires that
NMFS, upon receiving an FMP or amendment, immediately publish
notification that the FMP or amendment is available for public review
and comment. This document announces that Amendment 21-4 to the Pacific
Coast Groundfish FMP is available for public review and comment. NMFS
will consider the public input received during the comment period in
determining whether to approve, partially approve, or disapprove
Amendment 21-4 to the Pacific Coast Groundfish FMP. Amendment 21-4
proposes changing the bycatch allocation for canary and widow rockfish
to set-asides in the at-sea whiting sectors and removing formulas for
determining amounts of expected bycatch in the at-sea whiting sectors
for three species: Pacific ocean perch (POP), darkblotched rockfish,
and widow rockfish. This change would allow the at-sea whiting sector
to more efficiently harvest its full allocation through set-aside
management of constraining bycatch species.
The proposed rule implementing the proposed FMP amendment also
includes several follow-on action adjustments to regulations for the
Pacific Coast Groundfish Catch Share Program to complete outstanding
elements of the program, respond to problems identified after program
implementation, and modify outdated regulations. These changes would
improve the quota trading system to increase overall fishing quota
utilization for the shorebased IFQ sector; ensure fair and equitable
access to fishery resources in the event the C/P co-op dissolves; and
provide a more complete socio-economic evaluation of Catch Share
program performance.
Proposed FMP Amendment: At-Sea Whiting Fishery Bycatch Needs and Set-
Aside Management
The proposed FMP amendment would adjust how bycatch allocations for
darkblotched rockfish, Pacific ocean perch (POP), canary rockfish, and
widow rockfish the at-sea whiting fishery are set and managed. The 2018
final rule implementing Amendment 21-3 (January 8, 2018; 83 FR 757)
converted formal ``hard cap'' bycatch allocations of darkblotched and
POP in at-sea whiting sectors to set-asides, which are an off the top
deductions of expected bycatch from the annual catch limits (ACL) for
the at-sea sectors. The proposed FMP amendment would convert formal
bycatch allocations of canary and widow rockfish to set-asides in the
at-sea whiting fishery as well as remove existing formulas used to
determine set-aside amounts of darkblotched rockfish, POP, and widow
rockfish. The Council would instead determine set-aside amounts
biennially as part of the Pacific Coast Groundfish harvest
specifications. If a sector exceeds its set-aside amount the fishery
would not be subject to automatic closure. Instead, NMFS would have the
authority to take routine inseason action
[[Page 45708]]
when a set-aside is exceeded to prevent risk of exceeding other key
harvest guidelines. Routine inseason actions include temporary area
closures, and other temporary effort restrictions that would prevent
overfishing of bycatch stocks, but allow the Pacific whiting sectors to
harvest their full allocation. The Council recommended these management
measures to reduce the risk of the at-sea Pacific whiting sectors not
attaining their respective whiting allocations because of fishery
closures to limit incidental catch of widow, canary, darkblotched
rockfish or POP. The proposed FMP amendment is intended to allow the
Council increased flexibility to adjust bycatch limits inseason for the
at-sea whiting sectors within annual catch limits and harvest
guidelines, address specific needs of the sector in a timely manner,
and allow full attainment of at-sea whiting allocations by reducing the
risk of automatic closure.
Proposed Follow-On Action Regulatory Changes
The proposed rule implementing Amendment 21-4 also includes the
following regulatory changes:
A. Shorebased IFQ Trawl Sector Quota Trading
This action would allow the shorebased individual fishing quota
(IFQ) sector to trade unused quota pounds (QP) after the end of a
fishing year to cover deficits from the previous fishing year. In
covering deficits after the end of the fishing year, vessel account
owners would be allowed to cover QP deficits that exceed the annual
vessel limit for a given stock. This action would also eliminate the
September 1st expiration deadline for QP that have not been transferred
from quota share accounts to vessel accounts. These changes would
provide shorebased IFQ participants greater flexibility and economic
efficiency to fully utilize IFQ issued each year.
B. Catcher Processor (C/P) Sector Accumulation Limits
This action would set accumulation limits for the Catcher Processor
(C/P) co-op sector. The proposed rule would limit individuals or
entities to owning or controlling a maximum of five C/P endorsed
permits. Accumulation limits would become effective only in the event
the current cooperative management structure for the at-sea C/P sector
dissolves and an IFQ program is implemented.
C. New Data Collections
This action would require new data collections from C/P permit
owners and Quota Share permit owners. C/P endorsed permit owners would
be required to complete trawl ownership interest forms currently
required during annual renewal of Catcher Vessel and Mothership
permits. Catcher Vessels, Motherships, and shorebased processors are
currently required to respond to this data collection. This requirement
is necessary to monitor compliance with accumulation limits. The
proposed action would also require Quota Share permit owners that do
not also own, charter or lease a vessel, shorebased processor or first
receiver site to submit participation and quota cost/earning
information through a subset of the Catch Share Economic Data
Collection program. The new economic data collections would allow
managers to better evaluate Catch Share program performance.
NMFS welcomes comments on the proposed FMP amendment through the
end of the comment period. NMFS submitted a proposed rule to implement
Amendment 21-4 and associated actions for Secretarial review and
approval, and expects to publish and request public review and comment
on proposed regulations to implement Amendment 21-4 and associated
actions in the near future. For public comments on the proposed rule to
be considered in the approval or disapproval decision on Amendment 21-
4, those comments must be received by the end of the comment period on
the amendment. All comments received by the end of the comment period
for the amendment, whether specifically directed to the amendment or
the proposed rule, will be considered in the approval/disapproval
decision.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: August 27, 2019.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2019-18794 Filed 8-29-19; 8:45 am]
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