[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 41 (Thursday, March 4, 2021)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 12591-12592]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-04356]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 210225-0031;RTID 0648-XX069]


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Spiny 
Dogfish Fishery; Revised 2021 and Projected 2022 Specifications

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

ACTION: Proposed rule; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS proposes revised specifications for the 2021 Atlantic 
spiny dogfish fishery based on the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management 
Council's updated risk policy, and projected status quo specifications 
for fishing year 2022, as recommended by the Mid-Atlantic and New 
England Fishery Management Councils. This action is necessary to 
establish allowable harvest levels to prevent overfishing while 
enabling optimum yield, using the best information available. This rule 
also informs the public of the proposed fishery specifications and 
provides an opportunity for comment.

DATES: Comments must be received by March 19, 2021.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on this document, identified by 
NOAA-NMFS-2021-0004, by the following method:
    Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public comments via 
the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal.
    1. Go to https://www.regulations.gov/docket?D=NOAA-NMFS-2021-0004,
    2. Click the ``Comment Now!'' icon, complete the required fields, 
and
    3. Enter or attach your comments.
    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 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). If you are unable to submit your comment through 
www.regulations.gov, contact Cynthia Ferrio, Fishery Policy Analyst, 
[email protected].
    Copies of the Supplemental Information Report (SIR) and other 
supporting documents for this action are available upon request from 
Dr. Christopher M. Moore, Executive Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery 
Management Council, Suite 201, 800 North State Street, Dover, DE 19901. 
These documents are also accessible via the internet at http://www.mafmc.org/supporting-documents.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cynthia Ferrio, Fishery Policy 
Analyst, (978) 281-9180.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council and the New England 
Fishery Management Council jointly manage the Atlantic Spiny Dogfish 
Fishery Management Plan (FMP), with the Mid-Atlantic Council acting as 
the administrative lead. Additionally, the Atlantic States Marine 
Fisheries Commission manages the spiny dogfish fishery in state waters 
from Maine to North Carolina through an interstate fishery management 
plan. The Councils' FMP requires the specification of an annual catch 
limit (ACL), annual catch target (ACT), and 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 proposes revised specifications for the 
2021 spiny dogfish fishery as well as projects specifications for 2022, 
based on the Mid-Atlantic Council's updated risk policy.
    The spiny dogfish fishery is currently operating under multi-year 
specifications for 2019-2021, based on a 2018 assessment update. The 
commercial quota is already projected to increase approximately 14 
percent from fishing year 2020 to 2021 under these initial 
specifications. However, the Mid-Atlantic Council recently updated its 
risk policy to accept a higher level of risk for stocks at or above 
biomass targets (85 FR 81152; December 15, 2020). At its meeting on 
September 8, 2020, the Mid-Atlantic Council's Scientific and 
Statistical Committee's (SSC) recommended that the projected Acceptable 
Biological Catch (ABC) and resulting commercial quota for the 2021 
spiny dogfish fishery be recalculated using this new approach. Applying 
the new risk policy would increase the 2021 ABC 9 percent from what was 
initially projected (24 percent above 2020).
    The joint New England and Mid-Atlantic Council Spiny Dogfish 
Monitoring Committee also recommended revising the 2021 specifications 
to reflect the updated risk policy at its September 2020 meeting, 
consistent with the SSC. The Monitoring Committee derived its 
recommendations for the remainder of the revised specifications from 
the recommended ABC using the process defined in the FMP. Expected 
Canadian landings (45 mt) were deducted from the ABC to calculate the 
ACL, which was set equal to the ACT because no overages have occurred 
in recent years. The estimate of U.S. discards (3,992 mt) was deducted 
from the ACT to derive the TAL, and expected U.S. recreational landings 
(53 mt) were removed from the TAL to calculate the final coastwide 
commercial quota.
    The Monitoring Committee also recommended projecting status quo 
specifications for fishing year 2022. There is a research track stock 
assessment for spiny dogfish scheduled in 2022, and little additional 
or new data will be available to inform 2022 specifications prior to 
the assessment. Therefore, the Monitoring Committee determined that 
status quo catch limits would be appropriate until the upcoming 
assessment can inform specifications for the 2023 fishing year and 
beyond. Both Councils and the Commission reviewed and approved SSC and 
Monitoring Committee recommendations at their respective meetings in 
October and December, and all recommended revised and projected 2021 
and 2022 spiny dogfish specifications based on the updated Mid-Atlantic 
Council risk policy.

Proposed Specifications

    This action proposes the Councils' recommendations for revised 2021 
and projected status quo 2022 spiny dogfish specifications to maintain 
compliance with the Mid-Atlantic Council's updated risk policy. These 
proposed catch limits are consistent with the SSC, Monitoring 
Committee, and Commission recommendations as well. Although currently 
projected 2021 specifications were already increasing compared to 
fishing year 2020, these revised catch limits are nearly 10

[[Page 12592]]

percent higher after applying the new risk policy. A comparison of the 
originally projected and proposed revised 2021-2022 specifications is 
summarized below in Table 1.

    Table 1--Comparison of Original (Current) and Revised (Proposed) Spiny Dogfish Fishery Specifications for
                                           Fishing Years 2021 and 2022
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                                     Originally projected 2021     Revised 2021-2022 (proposed)
                                             (current)           --------------------------------
                                 --------------------------------                                 Percent change
                                    Million lb      Metric tons     Million lb      Metric tons
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ABC.............................           35.37          16,043           38.58          17,498               9
ACL = ACT.......................           35.26          15,994           38.48          17,453               9
TAL.............................           27.60          12,519           29.68          13,461               8
Commercial Quota................           27.42          12,438           29.56          13,408               8
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    The Councils did not recommend any other changes to the spiny 
dogfish fishery. Therefore, all other fishery management measures, 
including the 6,000-lb (2,722-kg) Federal trip limit, would remain 
unchanged for fishing years 2021 and projected to be unchanged for 2022 
under the proposed action. The Councils will review the projected 2022 
specifications to determine if any changes need to be made prior to 
their implementation. Changes may occur if quota overages trigger 
accountability measures, or if new stock information results in changes 
to the ABC recommendations. NMFS will publish a notice prior to the 
2022 fishing year to confirm or announce any necessary changes. NMFS 
expects the 2022 stock assessment to inform development of the next set 
of specifications beginning in 2023.

Classification

    Pursuant to section 304(b)(1)(A) of the Magnuson Stevens Fishery 
Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), the NMFS 
Assistant Administrator has determined that this proposed rule is 
consistent with the Spiny Dogfish FMP, other provisions of the 
Magnuson-Stevens Act, and other applicable law, subject to further 
consideration after public comment.
    This action is not a significant action under Executive Order 
12866.
    The Chief Counsel for Regulation of the Department of Commerce 
certified to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business 
Administration that this proposed rule, if adopted, would not have a 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. 
The factual basis for this determination is as follows.
    The Councils conducted an evaluation of the potential socioeconomic 
impacts of the proposed measures in conjunction with a SIR. There are 
no proposed regulatory changes in this spiny dogfish action, so none 
are considered in the evaluation. The proposed specifications would 
slightly increase 2021 spiny dogfish catch limits in accordance with 
the Mid-Atlantic Council's updated risk policy, and project status quo 
specifications for 2022.
    According to the Northeast Fisheries Science Center commercial 
ownership database, 2,305 separate vessels held commercial spiny 
dogfish permits in 2019, the most recent year of fully available data. 
A total of 1,726 commercial entities owned those permitted vessels, and 
of those entities, 1,716 are categorized as small businesses and 10 as 
large businesses. Of those small businesses with commercial spiny 
dogfish permits, 1,315 had some revenue in 2019.
    The proposed specifications for 2021 and projected specifications 
for 2022 are expected to provide similar fishing opportunities when 
compared to the 2020 fishing year. Although the proposed specifications 
increase the commercial quota, there are no proposed changes to the 
daily possession limits or other measures that are likely to change 
fishing behavior. Entities issued a commercial spiny dogfish permit may 
experience a slight positive impact related to potentially higher 
landings throughout the course of the entire year. However, based on 
market conditions, substantial changes in fishing behavior, or 
increases in short-term landings are not expected as a result of these 
specifications. As such, the proposed action is not expected to have an 
impact on the way the fishery operates or the revenue of small 
entities. Overall, analyses indicate that the proposed specifications 
will not substantially change: Fishing effort, the risk of overfishing, 
prices/revenues, or fishery behavior. Additionally, this action will 
not have a significant impact on small entities. As a result, an 
initial regulatory flexibility analysis is not required and none has 
been prepared.
    This proposed rule contains no information collection requirements 
under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

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

    Dated: February 25, 2021.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2021-04356 Filed 3-3-21; 8:45 am]
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