[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 70 (Tuesday, April 12, 2022)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 21603-21605]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-07788]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 660

[RTID 0648-XB763]


Fisheries Off West Coast States; West Coast Salmon Fisheries; 
Standardized Bycatch Reporting Methodology Amendments to the Fishery 
Management Plans for Coastal Pelagic Species, West Coast Highly 
Migratory Species, and Pacific Coast Salmon

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

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

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SUMMARY: The Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) submitted to 
NMFS three fishery management plan (FMP) amendments: Amendment 19 to 
the FMP for Coastal Pelagic Species (CPS FMP), Amendment 7 to the FMP 
for the West Coast Highly Migratory Species (HMS FMP), and Amendment 22 
to the FMP for Pacific Coast Salmon Fisheries (Salmon FMP) 
(collectively Amendments). If approved by the Secretary of Commerce 
(Secretary), these Amendments would add to or modify language in the 
CPS, HMS, and Salmon FMPs to more clearly describe and align the FMPs 
with the way bycatch is currently reported in the fisheries managed by 
the Council. These Amendments are intended to promote the goals and 
objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management 
Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act); the CPS, HMS, and Salmon FMPs; and other 
applicable laws.

DATES: Comments on the Amendments must be received by June 13, 2022.

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ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on this document, identified by 
NOAA-NMFS-2022-0014, by the following method:
     Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic public 
comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to www.regulations.gov 
and enter NOAA-NMFS-2022-0014 in the Search box. Click the ``Comment'' 
icon, complete the required fields, and enter or attach your comments.
    Instructions: Comments should specify to which FMP (CPS, HMS, or 
Salmon) each comment refers. Comments must be submitted by the above 
method to ensure that the comments are received, documented, and 
considered by NMFS. 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. 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.) submitted voluntarily by the 
sender will be publicly accessible. Do not submit confidential business 
information, or otherwise sensitive or protected information. NMFS will 
accept anonymous comments (enter ``N/A'' in the required fields if you 
wish to remain anonymous).
    Electronic copies of proposed Amendments and the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Categorical Exclusion are available on 
the NMFS website at https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/standardized-bycatch-reporting-methodology-amendments-fishery-management-plans-coastal. Additional documents can be found on the Council's website at 
www.pcouncil.org.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For CPS--Taylor Debevec at (562) 980-
4066 or [email protected]. For HMS-- Celia Barroso at (562) 432-
1850 or [email protected]. For Salmon--Jeromy Jording at (360) 
763-2268 or [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    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. 
16 U.S.C. 1854(a). The Magnuson-Stevens Act also requires that NMFS, 
upon receiving an FMP amendment, immediately publish a document in the 
Federal Register announcing that the amendment is available for public 
review and comment. 16 U.S.C. 1854(a)(1)(B). The Council has submitted 
the Amendments to the Secretary for review. This notification announces 
that the proposed Amendments are available for public review and 
comment.
    NMFS manages the CPS, HMS, and salmon fisheries in the Pacific 
Coast exclusive economic zone under the CPS, HMS, and Salmon FMPs, 
respectively. The Council prepared these 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 
660.
    Section 303(a)(11) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act requires that any 
FMP establish a standardized bycatch reporting methodology (SBRM) to 
assess the amount and type of bycatch occurring in the fishery, and 
include conservation and management measures that, to the extent 
practicable and in the following priority--(A) minimize bycatch, and 
(B) minimize the mortality of bycatch that cannot be avoided. (16 
U.S.C. 1853(a)(11)).
    On January 19, 2017, NMFS published a final rule (82 FR 6317) 
establishing national guidance regulations at 50 CFR 600.1600 through 
50 CFR 600.1610 for compliance with the Magnuson-Stevens Act SBRM 
requirement (SBRM regulations). The SBRM regulations require regional 
fishery management councils, in coordination with NMFS, to review their 
FMPs and make any necessary changes so all FMPs are consistent with the 
guidance.
    The SBRM regulations define an SBRM as a consistent procedure or 
procedures used to collect, record, and report bycatch data in a 
fishery managed under an FMP. This information, in conjunction with 
other relevant sources, is used to assess the amount and type of 
bycatch occurring in the fishery and inform the development of 
conservation and management measures to minimize bycatch. The SBRM 
regulations require that an FMP identify the required procedure that 
constitutes the SBRM for the fishery and explain how the procedure 
meets the purpose to collect, record, and report bycatch data.
    The SBRM regulations require the Council to explain how each FMP's 
SBRM meets the purpose described in the national guidelines, based on 
an analysis of four considerations: (1) Characteristics of bycatch in 
the fishery, (2) the feasibility of the reporting methodology, (3) the 
uncertainty of data resulting from the methodology, and (4) how the 
data will be used to assess the amount and type of bycatch occurring in 
the fishery (50 CFR 600.1610(a)). The Council must address these 
considerations when reviewing or establishing an SBRM. The regulations 
further require that all FMPs be made consistent with the rule in early 
2022. The Council therefore undertook a review of its FMPs to ensure 
they meet this requirement.
    At its June 2021 meeting, the Council received a report from the 
staff, informed by the Council's management teams' review of the SBRM 
language in the FMPs (SBRM Scoping Report) (https://www.pcouncil.org/documents/2021/06/c-2-attachment-2-sbrm-scoping-report.pdf/). The SBRM 
Scoping Report described the SBRM language in each FMP and made initial 
recommendations on the consistency of the FMPs with the SBRM 
regulations. The SBRM Scoping Report demonstrated that the Council's 
FMP for Pacific Coast Groundfish clearly described SBRM for that 
fishery consistent with the SBRM regulations, and that no modification 
was needed to address the requirements and guidance in the 2017 rule. 
However, the SBRM Scoping Report recommended that additions and 
modifications were needed in the CPS, HMS, and Salmon FMPs to clearly 
and accurately describe SBRM for those fisheries, consistent with the 
SBRM regulations. The SBRM Scoping Report also concluded that it was 
necessary to address one or more of the considerations, described in 
the SBRM regulations, in the CPS, HMS and Salmon FMPs. At its September 
2021 meeting, the Council adopted, for public review, draft revisions 
to the CPS, HMS, and Salmon FMPs recommended by the CPS Management 
Team, HMS Management Team, and Salmon Technical Team, respectively, to 
address the SBRM regulations (https://www.pcouncil.org/september-2021-decision-document/).
    The Council took final action at its November 2021 meeting, 
adopting amendments to the CPS, HMS, and Salmon FMPs to ensure these 
FMPs are consistent with the SBRM regulations, and that they clearly 
and accurately describe SBRM for those fisheries. Specific discussion 
of these FMP amendments are provided below under the appropriate FMP 
heading.
    The Council's Amendments would not add any new reporting 
requirements and would not change any regulatory requirements. This 
action would only add to or modify language in the CPS, HMS, and Salmon 
FMPs to more clearly describe and align with how bycatch is currently 
reported in the fisheries managed by the Council. Each FMP was 
considered by the respective Council

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advisory bodies, which made their recommendations to the Council. 
Noting that the Council may have taken a different approach to 
addressing the four factors the SBRM regulations require Councils to 
address with respect to SBRM for each of the FMPs, a brief background 
on the rationale for how the respective proposed amendments satisfy the 
requirements of the SBRM regulations is included below.

CPS FMP Amendment 19

    The existing CPS FMP generally describes SBRM and data collection. 
Additional details on bycatch data collection for CPS FMP fisheries are 
included in the CPS Stock Assessment and Fishery Evaluation (SAFE) 
document. However, some details were lacking on considerations 
described in the SBRM regulations (e.g., data uncertainty). The 
Council's proposed amendments seek to ensure the four considerations in 
the SBRM regulations are clearly described in the FMP. Based on the 
Council's recommendations, NMFS proposes to create a new section of the 
FMP (2.6) and add information to other parts of section 2 of the FMP to 
more clearly describe the SBRM for CPS fisheries, including an 
evaluation of the four considerations for determining that the SBRM 
meets the stated purpose of the SBRM regulations.

HMS FMP Amendment 7

    The existing HMS FMP generally describes SBRM and data collection. 
Additional details on bycatch data collection for HMS FMP fisheries are 
included in Appendix C and the HMS SAFE documents. However, for some of 
the fisheries, details were lacking on considerations described in the 
SBRM regulations (e.g., data use and feasibility). The Council's 
proposed amendments seek to ensure the four considerations in the SBRM 
regulations are adequately described in the FMP. Based on the Council's 
recommendations, NMFS proposes to amend Section 6.3 of the HMS FMP to 
more clearly describe the SBRM for each HMS fishery, including an 
evaluation of the four considerations for determining that the SBRM 
meets the stated purpose of the SBRM regulations.

Salmon FMP Amendment 22

    The existing Salmon FMP generally describes SBRM and data 
collection. Additional details on bycatch data collection for Salmon 
FMP fisheries are included in the Salmon SAFE documents. However, 
details are lacking on considerations described in the SBRM regulations 
(e.g., describing scientific uncertainty in procedures used to collect, 
record, report, and assess salmon). Additionally, the description of 
SBRM in the salmon FMP lacked some important information about how SBRM 
is currently implemented in the fishery. The Council's proposed 
amendment would ensure the four considerations in the SBRM regulations 
are adequately addressed in the FMPs. The amendment would also clarify 
and update the description of how SBRM is implemented in the fishery. 
NMFS proposes to approve the Council's proposed amendment to Section 
3.5 of the Salmon FMP to more clearly describe the SBRM for the 
fishery, and to address the four considerations for determining that 
the SBRM meets the stated purpose of the SBRM regulations.
    All comments received by the end of the comment period on the 
Amendments (see DATES and ADDRESSES above) will be considered in the 
Secretary's decision to approve, disapprove, or partially approve this 
amendment. To be considered in this decision, comments must be received 
by close of business on the last day of the comment period; that does 
not mean postmarked or otherwise transmitted by that date. 
Additionally, each comment should specify to which FMP the comment 
refers.

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

    Dated: April 7, 2022.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-07788 Filed 4-11-22; 8:45 am]
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