[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 130 (Friday, July 8, 2022)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 40744-40745]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-14597]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 660

[RTID 0648-XB763]


Fisheries Off West Coast States; 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: Notice of Agency decision.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces the approval of 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). These Amendments 
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 ensure 
conformance with national guidance for compliance with the standardized 
bycatch reporting methodology (SBRM) requirement in the Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA).

DATES: The Amendments were approved on July 5, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Electronic copies of the Amendments may be obtained from 
www.regulations.gov or the West Coast Region 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). NMFS manages the CPS, HMS, and salmon fisheries in 
the Pacific Coast exclusive economic zone under the CPS, HMS, and 
Salmon FMPs, respectively. The Pacific Fishery Management Council 
(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 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 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 undertook a review of its FMPs to 
ensure they met this requirement. That review resulted in the three 
Amendments referenced in this notice that make additions and 
modifications to the CPS, HMS, and Salmon FMPs to clearly and 
accurately describe the SBRM for those fisheries, consistent with the 
SBRM regulations.
    Further detail describing the Amendments was provided in the Notice 
of Availability for this action and is not repeated here.

Procedural Aspects of the Amendments

    The Council submitted the Amendments to the Secretary for review on 
April 4, 2022. On April 12, 2022, NMFS published a notice of 
availability (NOA) for the Amendments, including background on the 
rationale for how the respective amendments proposed to satisfy the 
requirements of the SBRM regulations, and requested public review and 
comment (87 FR 21603). Public comments were received pertaining to the 
Salmon FMP amendment and are addressed below.
    The Amendments do not add any new reporting requirements and do not 
change any regulatory requirements. Therefore, no proposed or final 
rule was prepared. This action only modifies 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.

Comments and Responses

    NMFS received a combined 17,355 comments regarding the Amendment 22 
for the Salmon FMP. These comments were directed at actions to protect 
Southern Resident Killer Whales (SRKW) and are not relevant to the 
development of SBRM for ocean salmon fisheries. Rather, these comments 
reiterated comments NMFS previously addressed in the final 
environmental assessment (EA) for FMP Amendment 21 (https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov//action/amendment-21-pacific-coast-salmon-fishery-management-plan), in the notice of agency decision (86 FR 
51017, September 14, 2021), and the West Coast Salmon Fisheries 2022

[[Page 40745]]

Specifications and Management Measures (https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/05/16/2022-10430/fisheries-off-west-coast-states-west-coast-salmon-fisheries-2022-specifications-and-management).

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

    Dated: July 5, 2022.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-14597 Filed 7-7-22; 8:45 am]
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