[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 217 (Monday, November 9, 2020)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 71272-71273]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-23546]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 679

[RTID 0648-XY104]


Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; St. Matthew 
Blue King Crab Rebuilding Plan in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands

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

ACTION: Notice of agency decision.

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SUMMARY: The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) announces the 
approval of Amendment 50 to the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for 
Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands (BSAI) King and Tanner Crabs (Crab FMP) 
(Amendment 50). Amendment 50 adds a new rebuilding plan for St. Matthew 
blue king crab (SMBKC) to the Crab FMP. The objective of this amendment 
is to rebuild the SMBKC stock. In order to comply with provisions of 
the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-
Stevens Act), this action is necessary to implement a rebuilding plan 
prior to the start of the 2020/2021 fishing season. Amendment 50 is 
intended to promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens 
Act, the Crab FMP, and other applicable laws.

DATES: The amendment was approved on October 13, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Electronic copies of Amendment 50 and the Environmental 
Assessment (referred to as the ``Analysis'') prepared for this action 
may be obtained from www.regulations.gov.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires that each 
regional fishery management council submit any FMP 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 an FMP amendment, 
immediately publish a notice in the Federal Register announcing that 
the amendment is available for public review and comment.
    The Notice of Availability (NOA) for Amendment 50 was published in 
the Federal Register on July 15, 2020 (85 FR 42817) with a 60-day 
comment period that ended on September 14, 2020. NMFS received two 
comments during the public comment on the NOA. NMFS is not disapproving 
any part of Amendment 50 in response to these comments. NMFS summarized 
and responded to these comments under Comments and Responses, below.
    NMFS determined that Amendment 50 is consistent with the Magnuson-
Stevens Act and other applicable laws, and the Secretary of Commerce 
approved Amendment 50 on October 13, 2020. The July 15, 2020 NOA 
contains additional information on this action. No changes to Federal 
regulations are necessary to implement the Amendment.
    NMFS manages the crab fisheries in the exclusive economic zone 
under the Crab FMP. The North Pacific Fishery Management Council 
(Council) prepared the Crab FMP under the authority of the Magnuson-
Stevens Act, 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. Regulations governing U.S. 
fisheries and implementing the FMP appear at 50 CFR parts 600 and 680.
    Through the Crab FMP, the State of Alaska (the State) is delegated 
management authority over certain aspects of the SMBKC fishery 
consistent with the Magnuson-Stevens Act and the FMP. Specific to this 
Crab FMP amendment, the State has established a harvest strategy to set 
total allowable catch (TAC) levels and guideline harvest levels (GHLs), 
and season or area closures when the TAC or GHL is reached. The State's 
SMBKC harvest strategy (5 AAC 34.917) is more conservative than the 
Crab FMP's control rule parameters. Under the State's harvest strategy, 
directed fishing is prohibited at or below a larger biomass level than 
the Crab FMP's overfishing level (FOFL) control rule. During 
rebuilding, the State's harvest strategy will apply.
    NMFS declared the SMBKC stock overfished on October 22, 2018, 
because the estimated spawning biomass was below the minimum stock size 
threshold specified in the Crab FMP. In order to comply with provisions 
of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, a rebuilding plan must be implemented 
prior to the start of the 2020/2021 fishing season.
    In June 2020, the Council chose a rebuilding plan for SMBKC that 
allows directed harvest during rebuilding only if estimates of stock 
biomass are sufficient to open the fishery under the State's crab 
harvest strategy. The rebuilding plan is consistent with the Magnuson-
Stevens Act (16 U.S.C. 1854(e)); with the National Standards (see 
Analysis Section 4.1); and with National Standard Guidelines (50 CFR 
600.310) on time for rebuilding, specifically rebuilding within a time 
(Ttarget) that is as short as possible, taking into account 
the status and biology of any overfished stocks of fish, the needs of 
fishing communities, recommendations by international organizations in 
which the United States participates, and the interaction of the 
overfished stock of fish with the marine ecosystem. This rebuilding 
plan will allow directed fishing pursuant to the State's harvest 
strategy because such fishing, though limited, may provide important 
economic opportunities for harvesters, processors, and Alaska 
communities. Maintaining these economic opportunities for a limited 
directed commercial fishery under the State harvest strategy is 
important for

[[Page 71273]]

harvesters, processors, and communities, particularly because the 
majority of commercial crab stocks are currently in a state of decline 
and future openings are likely to be limited or closed. Fishermen and 
communities must be able to diversify their portfolios and be flexible 
enough to take advantage of any available fishing opportunities each 
season to remain viable.
    Under the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the time period specified for 
rebuilding a fishery generally should not exceed 10 years unless the 
biology of the stock or environmental conditions dictate otherwise, as 
is the case for SMBKC. Because ecological conditions represent the 
primary constraint on rebuilding the SMBKC fishery, the projected time 
for rebuilding, taking into account the biology of the species and 
current environmental conditions, is 25.5 years.
    The directed fishery has been closed since 2016 under the State 
harvest strategy, and has only been open 6 out of the past 20 years. In 
addition to the State's conservative SMBKC harvest policy, multiple 
measures for habitat protection and bycatch reduction are in place for 
the stock. The St. Matthew Island Habitat Conservation Area (SMIHCA) 
was created in 2008 and expanded through Amendment 94 to the FMP for 
Groundfish of the BSAI Management Area to protect blue king crab 
habitat. Vessels fishing with non-pelagic trawl gear are prohibited 
from fishing in the SMIHCA. Other fishery closure areas include a 20 
nautical mile (nmi) closure around the southern tip of Hall Island to 
trawling, hook-and-line, and pot fisheries for pollock, Pacific cod, 
and Atka mackerel to protect Steller sea lions, which also serves to 
limit fishing effort in areas occupied by SMBKC. In addition, State 
jurisdictional waters (0 to 3 nmi from shore) surrounding St. Matthew, 
Hall, and Pinnacle Islands are closed to the taking of king and Tanner 
crab and to commercial groundfish fishing.
    Fishing mortality is not considered to be the primary constraining 
factor for rebuilding SMBKC. The groundfish fisheries incur low levels 
of bycatch of SMBKC, but in analytical projections average bycatch 
rates had no constraining effect on rebuilding (see Analysis Section 
2.3). Instead, rebuilding will depend on successful recruitment of crab 
under ecosystem conditions that have recently been very unfavorable. 
Warm bottom temperatures, low pre-recruit biomass, and northward 
movement of predator species, primarily Pacific cod, have constrained 
stock growth (see Analysis Section 3.3.6). For this reason, the 
rebuilding plan aims to maintain existing low levels of fishing 
mortality with the anticipation that future ecosystem conditions will 
support SMBKC stock growth.
    Amendment 50 adds Section 6.2.5 to the Crab FMP to include the 
approved rebuilding plan for SMBKC. Under the approved rebuilding plan, 
ecosystem indicators developed for the stock will be monitored for the 
foreseeable future. The NMFS eastern Bering Sea bottom-trawl survey 
provides data for the annual assessment of the status of crab stocks in 
the BSAI, including SMBKC, and this survey and assessment will continue 
throughout rebuilding. The Council's BSAI Crab Plan Team will report 
stock status and progress towards the rebuilt level in the Stock 
Assessment and Fishery Evaluation (SAFE) Report for the king and Tanner 
crab fisheries of the BSAI. Additionally, the State and NMFS monitor 
directed fishery catch and bycatch of blue king crabs in other 
fisheries. When the fishery is open, the State requires full observer 
coverage (100 percent) for both catcher vessels and catcher/processors 
participating in the crab fishery. Observers monitor harvest at sea and 
landings by catcher vessels to shoreside processors. The State reports 
the total harvest from the commercial crab fishery and that report will 
be included annually in the SAFE. The contribution of the rebuilding 
plan to stock recovery is additive to measures already in place that 
limit the effects of fishing activity on SMBKC.

Comments and Responses

    During the public comment period for the NOA for Amendment 50, NMFS 
received two unique comments from two members of the public. NMFS is 
not disapproving any part of Amendment 50 in response to these 
comments. NMFS's responses to these comments are presented below.
    Comment 1: One commenter expressed general support for this action.
    Response: NMFS acknowledges this comment.
    Comment 2: One commenter stated that crab fisheries in Alaska 
should be shut down.
    Response: The Magnuson-Stevens Act and the Crab FMP require, among 
other things, that the Council and NMFS manage fisheries to prevent 
overfishing while achieving, on a continuing basis, the optimum yield 
from each fishery and base management decisions on the best scientific 
information available. The commenter provided no information to support 
shutting down crab fisheries in Alaska. Currently, crab fisheries in 
Alaska are being responsibly managed with conservative harvest 
strategies and provide important economic benefits to Alaskan 
communities.

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

    Dated: October 20, 2020.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2020-23546 Filed 11-6-20; 8:45 am]
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