[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 109 (Wednesday, June 9, 2021)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 30551-30554]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-12107]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 660

[Docket No. 201204-0325]
RIN 0648-BK58


Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; Fisheries Off West Coast States; 
Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; 2021-2022 Biennial Specifications and 
Management Measures; Inseason Adjustments

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

ACTION: Final rule; inseason adjustments to biennial groundfish 
management measures.

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SUMMARY: This final rule announces routine inseason adjustments to the 
harvest limits for incidental lingcod retention in the salmon troll 
fishery north of 40[deg]10' N lat.

DATES: This final rule is effective June 9, 2021.

ADDRESSES: 

Electronic Access

    This rule is accessible via the internet at the Office of the 
Federal Register website at https://www.federalregister.gov. Background 
information and documents are available at the Pacific Fishery 
Management Council's website at http://www.pcouncil.org/.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gretchen Hanshew, phone: 206-526-6147 
or email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    The Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (PCGFMP) and 
its implementing regulations at title 50 in the Code of Federal 
Regulations (CFR), part 660, subparts C through G, regulate fishing for 
over 90 species of groundfish off the coasts of Washington, Oregon, and 
California. The Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) develops 
groundfish harvest specifications and management measures for two-year 
periods (i.e., a biennium). NMFS published the final rule to implement 
harvest specifications and management measures for the 2021-2022 
biennium for most species managed under the PCGFMP on December 11, 2020 
(85 FR 79880). NMFS also published a correction (85 FR 86853, December 
31, 2020) and correcting amendments (86 FR 14379, March 16, 2021; 86 FR 
27816, May 24, 2021) to implement the Council's recommendations for the 
2021-2022 harvest specifications and management measures.
    The management measures set at the start of the biennial harvest 
specifications cycle help the sectors of the fishery attain, but not 
exceed, the catch limits for each stock. The Council, in coordination 
with Pacific Coast Treaty Indian Tribes and the states of Washington, 
Oregon, and California, recommends adjustments to the management 
measures during the fishing year to achieve this goal. At the April 8-9 
and 12-15, 2021, virtual meetings, the Council recommended adjusting 
the incidental retention allowance for lingcod in the salmon troll 
fishery north of 40[deg]10' N lat.

Lingcod Retention in the Salmon Troll Fishery

    The commercial fishery for salmon using trolled hook and line gear 
operates off Washington, Oregon, and California, usually beginning in 
the spring. This fishery is managed by NMFS and co-managers (states and 
the tribes) to harvest, but not exceed, salmon harvest targets that are 
set annually, based on the best available scientific information. 
Participants in the salmon troll fishery are not prohibited from 
fishing for salmon in areas that are closed to groundfish fishing, like 
the non-trawl Rockfish Conservation Area (RCA). Salmon trollers, 
however, when fishing in the RCA north of 40[deg]10' N. lat., are 
prohibited from retaining groundfish with two exceptions; yellowtail 
rockfish and lingcod may be retained in limited quantities and subject 
to an incidental retention ratio of groundfish to Chinook salmon.
    The 2021-2022 harvest specifications and management measures final 
rule, published on December 11, 2020 (85 FR 79880), maintained the 
existing

[[Page 30552]]

incidental retention ratio for lingcod, which was last revised in 2019. 
At the April 8-9 and 12-15, 2021, virtual meeting, the Council 
recommended a change in the incidental retention ratio to increase the 
number of incidentally caught lingcod that may be retained per Chinook 
salmon.
    As described in the 2019-2020 harvest specifications and management 
measures Environmental Assessment, the Council's objectives with the 
lingcod landing ratio in the salmon troll fishery coupled with a per 
trip maximum retention limit are to allow incidentally caught lingcod 
to be landed. The intent of this ratio is to strike a balance between 
providing a modest economic benefit to the salmon troll fishery and 
reducing regulatory discards of lingcod, while also dissuading 
targeting of lingcod and not preempting targeted lingcod harvest 
opportunities in the groundfish fishery.
    The most recent stock assessment (2017) indicates that biomass of 
lingcod has been increasing since 1999. Salmon trollers also testified 
at the April Council meeting that they are catching lingcod more often 
than in previous years when targeting Chinook salmon. While lingcod are 
increasing in abundance, Chinook salmon harvest opportunities are 
becoming more restricted. Landings and numbers of trips, which are 
indicators of fishing effort, for Chinook salmon in 2020 were the 
lowest since 2011, which is likely due to effects of the COVID-19 
pandemic, as well as restricted Chinook salmon harvest opportunities in 
low abundance years. With low Chinook salmon harvest in 2020, lingcod 
reached its highest revenue contributions to salmon troll fishermen. 
This indicates that lingcod is contributing to fishing portfolios of 
some salmon troll fishermen, though the number of salmon troll vessels 
that retain lingcod (approximately 13.5 percent) has remained fairly 
steady since 2011. In response to these changes, at the April Council 
meeting, industry requested a change in the incidental lingcod 
retention ratio in the salmon troll fishery to allow for increased 
lingcod retention. Industry did not request a change to the incidental 
lingcod retention trip limit of ten lingcod or to any of the other 
lingcod harvest limits.
    In response to industry's request, the Council considered most 
recently available scientific and fishery information, including but 
not limited to harvest levels in the salmon troll fishery in recent 
years, mortality estimates for 2019, and forecasts for ocean salmon 
fisheries. Based on this information, the Council recommended a change 
to the lingcod landing ratio in the salmon troll fishery.
    The Council's recommendation to the incidental lingcod retention 
ratio in the salmon troll fishery was based on:
    (1) A lack of evidence that salmon trollers were targeting lingcod 
during Chinook salmon trips under the 2019 and 2020 landing ratio:
    (2) Predicted harvests of lingcod and co-occurring yelloweye 
rockfish that are expected to remain well within the 2021 Annual Catch 
Limits, while not preempting targeted groundfish fishing opportunities;
    (3) anecdotal information about an increasing lingcod encounter 
rate in the salmon troll fishery; and
    (4) the economic benefits of reducing regulatory discards and 
allowing retention of lingcod, particularly in Chinook salmon low 
abundance years.
    Therefore, the Council recommended, and NMFS is implementing, a 
change in the incidental lingcod retention ratio in the salmon troll 
fishery north of 40[deg]10' N. lat. from a ratio of one lingcod per 
five Chinook salmon to a ratio of one lingcod per two Chinook salmon. 
The rules allowing a ``plus one'' lingcod in addition to the ratio, a 
ten lingcod per trip limit, and a 1,000 lbs/month limit would remain in 
place.

Classification

    This final rule makes routine inseason adjustments to groundfish 
fishery management measures, based on the best scientific information 
available, consistent with the PCGFMP and its implementing regulations.
    This action is taken under the authority of 50 CFR 660.60(c) and is 
exempt from review under Executive Order 12866.
    The aggregate data upon which these actions are based are available 
for public inspection by contacting Abbie Moyer in NMFS West Coast 
Region (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, above), or view at the 
NMFS West Coast Groundfish website: http://www.westcoast.fisheries.noaa.gov/fisheries/groundfish/index.html.
    NMFS finds good cause to waive prior public notice and comment on 
the revisions to groundfish management measures under 5 U.S.C. 553(b) 
because notice and comment would be impracticable and contrary to the 
public interest. The adjustments to management measures in this 
document affect commercial fisheries off the coasts of Washington, 
Oregon, and northern California. No aspect of this action is 
controversial, and changes of this nature were anticipated in the final 
rule for the 2021-2022 harvest specifications and management measures 
which was published on December 11, 2020 (85 FR 79880). Accordingly, 
for the reasons stated below, NMFS finds good cause to waive prior 
notice and comment.
    At its April 2021 meeting, the Council recommended changing the 
retention ratio of lingcod to Chinook salmon in the salmon troll 
fishery to allow lingcod to be retained up to the status quo ten 
lingcod trip limit even if fewer Chinook salmon are on board. The 
Council recommends relieving the restriction imposed by the ratio as 
soon as possible, early in the salmon troll season, in an effort to 
reduce regulatory discards of lingcod in the salmon troll fishery north 
of 40[deg]10' N. lat. The 2020 fishery information upon which this 
recommendation is based, was not complete and available until early 
2021, and therefore could not have been used during the development of 
the 2021-2022 harvest specifications and management measures.
    Additionally, if the new retention ratio is not implemented until 
closer to the end of the Chinook salmon troll season, after proposed 
and final rulemaking, lingcod would continue to be discarded rather 
than retained. Leaving the old ratio in place would fail to meet the 
Councils objectives to reduce regulatory discards of lingcod, and to 
provide economic benefits to the salmon troll fishery while not 
preempting directed groundfish fisheries. Therefore, providing a 
comment period for this action could limit the benefits to the salmon 
troll fishery, and the vessels that participate in it.
    Because prior notice and an opportunity for public comment are not 
required to be provided for this rule by 5 U.S.C. 553, or any other 
law, the analytical requirements of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 
U.S.C. 601 et seq., are not applicable. Accordingly, no Regulatory 
Flexibility Analysis is required for this rule and none has been 
prepared.
    For the same reasons stated above, NMFS has determined good cause 
exists to waive the 30-day delay in effectiveness pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 
553(d) so that this final rule may become effective upon publication in 
the Federal Register. The adjustments to management measures in this 
document affect commercial fisheries by changing the lingcod to Chinook 
salmon retention ratio in the salmon troll fishery north of 40[deg]10' 
N lat. This adjustment was requested by the Council's advisory bodies, 
as well as members of industry, during the Council's April 2021, 
meeting, and recommended unanimously by the Council. No aspect of this 
action is controversial, and

[[Page 30553]]

changes of this nature were anticipated in the biennial harvest 
specifications and management measures established through a notice and 
comment rulemaking for 2021-2022 (85 FR 79880, December 11, 2020).

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 660

    Fisheries, Fishing, Indian fisheries.

    Dated: June 4, 2021.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries National Marine 
Fisheries Service.

    For the reasons set out in the preamble, 50 CFR part 660 is amended 
as follows:

PART 660--FISHERIES OFF WEST COAST STATES

0
1. The authority citation for part 660 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq., 16 U.S.C. 773 et seq., and 16 
U.S.C. 7001 et seq.


0
2. Revise Table 3 (North) to part 660, subpart F, to read as follows:
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P

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[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TR09JN21.039


[FR Doc. 2021-12107 Filed 6-8-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-C