[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 56 (Monday, March 23, 2020)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 16310-16312]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-06065]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 679

RIN 0648-BJ49


Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; 
Reclassifying Sculpin Species in the Groundfish Fisheries of the Bering 
Sea and Aleutian Islands and the Gulf of Alaska

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

ACTION: Notice of availability; fishery management plan amendments; 
request for comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The North Pacific Fishery Management Council submitted 
Amendment 121 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the 
Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area (BSAI FMP) and 
Amendment 110 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf 
of Alaska (GOA FMP) (collectively Amendments 121/110), to the Secretary 
of Commerce for review. If approved, Amendments 121/110 would 
reclassify sculpins in these fishery management plans (FMPs) under the 
ecosystem component (EC) category. This action is necessary to ensure 
sculpin species are accurately classified in the FMPs based on the best 
available scientific information. Amendments 121/110 are intended to 
promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 
Conservation and Management Act, the FMPs, and other applicable laws.

DATES: Comments must be received no later than May 22, 2020.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on this document, identified by 
NOAA-NMFS-2020-0004, 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-2020-0004, click the 
``Comment Now!'' icon, complete the required fields, and enter or 
attach your comments.

[[Page 16311]]

     Mail: Submit written comments to Glenn Merrill, Assistant 
Regional Administrator, Sustainable Fisheries Division, Alaska Region 
NMFS, Attn: Records Office. Mail comments to P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 
99802-1668.
    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), 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).
    Electronic copies of the draft Environmental Assessment and the 
Regulatory Impact Review (collectively referred to as the ``Analysis'') 
prepared for this proposed rule may be obtained from 
www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Megan Mackey, 907-586-7228.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation 
and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) requires that each regional 
fishery management council (council) submit any fishery management plan 
amendment it prepares to NMFS for review and approval, disapproval, or 
partial approval by the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary). The 
Magnuson-Stevens Act also requires that NMFS, upon receiving a fishery 
management plan amendment, immediately publish a notice in the Federal 
Register announcing that the amendment is available for public review 
and comment. This notice announces that proposed Amendments 121/110 are 
available for public review and comment.
    NMFS manages the groundfish fisheries in the exclusive economic 
zone under the FMPs. The North Pacific Fishery Management Council 
(Council) prepared the FMPs under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens 
Act, 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. Regulations governing U.S. fisheries and 
implementing the FMPs appear at 50 CFR parts 600 and 679.
    Section 3.1.2 of the FMPs define two broad classifications for 
stocks or stock complexes (i.e., species or species groups). The first 
classification is for stocks ``in the fishery'' that include target 
stocks in need of conservation and management that fishers seek to 
catch, and non-target stocks in need of conservation and management 
that are caught incidentally during the pursuit of target stocks. The 
second classification is for EC species that do not require 
conservation and management, but may be listed in an FMP in order to 
achieve ecosystem management objectives. Under the groundfish FMPs, 
NMFS must establish an overfishing level (OFL), an acceptable 
biological catch (ABC), and a total allowable catch (TAC) for each 
stock or stock complex (i.e., species or species group) that is ``in 
the fishery,'' but not for those in the EC.
    The FMPs define the OFL as the catch level above which overfishing 
is occurring for a species or species group. NMFS manages fisheries in 
an effort to ensure that no OFLs are exceeded in any year. The FMPs 
define the ABC as the level of a species or species group's annual 
catch that accounts for the scientific uncertainty in the estimate of 
OFL and any other scientific uncertainty. The FMPs define the TAC as 
the annual catch target for a species or species group, derived from 
the ABC by considering social and economic factors and management 
uncertainty.
    In 2010, Amendments 96/87 to the BSAI and GOA FMPs, respectively, 
established the EC category and designated prohibited species (salmon, 
steelhead trout, crab, halibut, and herring) and forage fish species 
(as defined in Table 2c to 50 CFR part 679 and Sec.  679.20(i)) as EC 
species in the groundfish FMPs. Additional detail is provided in the 
final rule implementing Amendments 96/87 (75 FR 61639, October 6, 
2010).
    In 2015, NMFS implemented Amendments 100/91 to the BSAI and GOA 
FMPs, respectively, to add grenadiers to the EC category (80 FR 11897, 
March 5, 2015). The Council and NMFS added grenadiers to the FMPs in 
the EC category because grenadiers did not require conservation and 
management, but acknowledged their role in the ecosystem and limited 
the groundfish fisheries' potential impact on grenadiers. Adding 
grenadiers to the EC category allowed for improved data collection and 
catch monitoring appropriate for grenadiers given their abundance, 
distribution, and catch. Additional detail is provided in the final 
rule implementing Amendments 100/91 (80 FR 11897, March 5, 2015).
    In 2018, NMFS implemented Amendments 117/106 to the BSAI and GOA 
FMPs, respectively, to add squids to the FMPs in the EC category 
because they were, similar to grenadiers, determined not to require 
conservation and management. Additional detail is provided in the final 
rule implementing Amendments 117/106 (83 FR 31460, July 6, 2018).
    Sculpins are currently classified as target species ``in the 
fishery'' in section 3.1.2 of the groundfish FMPs and directed fishing 
is allowed. However, sculpins are not a target species for any 
groundfish fishery in the BSAI or GOA. Sculpins are only caught 
incidentally to other target groundfish. Sculpins are incidentally 
caught primarily in the BSAI by trawl gear in directed fishing for 
yellowfin sole, rock sole, and Atka mackerel, as well as Pacific cod 
hook-and-line, pot, and trawl directed fishing (Table 3-4 and Table 3-5 
of the Analysis). Sculpins are caught primarily in the GOA by Pacific 
cod, shallow-water flatfish directed fishing, and IFQ halibut fisheries 
(Table 3-6 of the Analysis).
    For both the BSAI and GOA, sculpins are managed as a Tier 5 
species, which is the least preferred method of specifying an 
overfishing limit when limited biological reference points are 
available. Only Tier 6 species, for which no biological reference 
points are available, are below Tier 5 in terms of limited information 
available. Nonetheless, specification of OFL for Tier 5 species 
reflects the best estimate possible for sculpins with the available 
data. As described in Section 3.2.3 of the Analysis, model estimates of 
sculpin abundance in the BSAI and GOA have been fairly stable over the 
years with no conservation concerns apparent.
    Stock assessments provide the scientific basis for determining 
whether a stock is experiencing overfishing (i.e. when a stock's recent 
harvest rate exceeds sustainable levels) or overfished (i.e. already 
depleted), and for calculating a sustainable harvest rate and 
forecasting catches that correspond to that rate. For stocks in Tiers 
4-6, no determination can be made of overfished status or approaching 
an overfished condition as information is insufficient to estimate the 
Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) stock level. Therefore, it is not 
possible to determine whether the sculpin complex is overfished or 
whether it is approaching an overfished condition because it is managed 
under Tier 5. However, in the absence of directed fishing, they are 
very unlikely to be overfished. Sculpins, in general, are not retained. 
As noted in Section 3.2.2 of the Analysis, sculpin catch has been 
substantially below ABC and OFL, and has been a small proportion of the 
biomass each year.
    Section 302(h)(1) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act requires a council to 
prepare an FMP for each fishery under its authority that is in need of 
conservation and management.

[[Page 16312]]

``Conservation and management'' is defined in section 3(5) of the 
Magnuson-Stevens Act. The National Standard guidelines at 50 CFR 
600.305(c) (revised on October 18, 2016, 81 FR 71858), provide 
direction for determining which stocks will require conservation and 
management and provide direction to regional councils and NMFS for how 
to consider these factors in making this determination. Specifically, 
the guidelines direct regional councils and NMFS to consider a non-
exhaustive list of ten factors when deciding whether stocks require 
conservation and management.
    Section 2.2.1 in the Analysis considers each of the 10 factors' 
relevance to sculpins. The analysis shows that while sculpins are 
currently classified as a target species in the FMPs, there has been no 
directed fishing for sculpins since they were included in the FMPs. 
Sculpins are not important to commercial, recreational, or subsistence 
users, nor are they important to the National or regional economy. 
There are no developing fisheries for sculpins in the EEZ off Alaska 
nor in waters of the State of Alaska. Because there is no directed 
fishing and incidental fishing-related mortality is low, there is very 
little probability that sculpins will become overfished. Sculpins are 
not in need of rebuilding, and are not targeted as a major food product 
in Alaska. There are no conservation concerns for sculpins since they 
are not targeted, are rarely retained, and future uses of sculpins 
remain available. Maintaining sculpins as a target species in the BSAI 
and GOA FMPs is not likely to change stock condition.
    In October of 2019, the Council recommended and NMFS proposes 
Amendments 121/110 to reclassify sculpins as EC category species in the 
FMPs. Based on a review of the scientific information, and after 
considering the revised NS guidelines, the Council and NMFS determined 
that sculpins are not in need of conservation and management, and that 
classifying sculpins in the EC category is an appropriate action.
    While the Council determined that sculpins are not in need of 
conservation and management as defined by the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and 
after considering the revised NS guidelines, the Council and NMFS 
determined that there are benefits to retaining sculpins as an EC 
species complex in the FMPs because they are a part of the ecosystem as 
benthic predators.
    Amendments 121/110 would amend Section 3.1.2 of the FMPs to 
establish the sculpins EC species complex in the FMPs. Amendments 121/
110 would allow NMFS to prohibit directed fisheries for sculpins and 
limit the retention and commercial exchange of sculpins. By virtue of 
being classified as EC species, catch specifications for sculpins (OFL, 
ABC, and TAC) would no longer be required.
    NMFS is soliciting public comments on proposed Amendments 121/110 
through the end of the comment period (see DATES). NMFS intends to 
publish in the Federal Register and seek public comment on a proposed 
rule that would implement Amendments 121/110, following NMFS' 
evaluation of the proposed rule under the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
    Respondents do not need to submit the same comments on Amendments 
121/110 and the proposed rule. All relevant written comments received 
by the end of the applicable comment period, whether specifically 
directed to the FMP amendments or the proposed rule will be considered 
by NMFS in the approval/disapproval decision for Amendments 121/110 and 
addressed in the response to comments in the final decision. Comments 
received after end of the applicable comment period will not be 
considered in the approval/disapproval decision on Amendments 121/110. 
To be considered, comments must be received, not just postmarked or 
otherwise transmitted, by the last day of the comment period (see 
DATES).

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

    Dated: March 18, 2020.
H[eacute]l[egrave]ne M.N. Scalliet,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2020-06065 Filed 3-20-20; 8:45 a.m.]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P