[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 147 (Wednesday, August 2, 2023)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 50830-50832]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-15966]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 660

RIN 0648-BM28


Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; Fisheries Off West Coast States; 
Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery 
Management Plan; Amendment 32; Modifications to Non-Trawl Area 
Management Measures

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

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

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the Pacific Fishery Management Council 
submitted Amendment 32 to the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery 
Management Plan to the Secretary of Commerce for review. If approved, 
Amendment 32 would: create a new type of Essential Fish Habitat 
Conservation Area that prohibits fishing with non-trawl bottom contact 
gear for all groundfish fisheries and the non-tribal directed 
commercial halibut fishery; remove the Cowcod Conservation Area seaward 
of California for commercial and recreational groundfish non-trawl 
fisheries; create and authorize the use of Groundfish Exclusion Areas 
as a new type of Groundfish Conservation Area; authorize the use of 
Block Area Closures for groundfish non-trawl fisheries, and make 
necessary administrative changes to relevant sections of the Pacific 
Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan. Altogether, these changes are 
anticipated to provide additional fishing opportunity to groundfish 
non-trawl fishery sectors while continuing to protect rebuilding 
yelloweye rockfish and mitigating fishing impacts to sensitive areas.

[[Page 50831]]


DATES: Comments on Amendment 32 must be received on or before Sunday, 
October 1, 2023.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on this document, identified by 
NOAA-NMFS-2023-0051, by the following method:
     Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public 
comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to https://www.regulations.gov and enter NOAA-NMFS-2023-0051, in the Search box. 
Click on the ``Comment'' icon, complete the required fields, and enter 
or attach your comments.
    Instructions: 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 
NMFS will post 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 is publicly accessible. 
NMFS will accept anonymous comments (enter ``N/A'' in the required 
fields if you wish to remain anonymous).

Electronic Access

    This notification of availability is accessible via the internet at 
the Office of the Federal Register website at https://www.federalregister.gov/. Information relevant to Amendment 32, which 
includes a draft Environmental Assessment, a regulatory impact review, 
a Regulatory Flexibility Act certification, and a Magnuson Stevens 
Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) 
analysis, are accessible via the internet at the NMFS West Coast Region 
website at: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/west-coast/laws-and-policies/west-coast-region-national-environmental-policy-act-documents.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lynn Massey, phone, or email: 562-900-
2060, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS manages the groundfish fisheries in the 
exclusive economic zone (EEZ) seaward of Washington, Oregon, and 
California under the Pacific Coast Groundfish fishery management plan 
(FMP). The Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) prepared and 
NMFS implemented the Pacific Coast Groundfish FMP under the authority 
of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. and by regulations 
at 50 CFR parts 600 and 660. The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires that 
each regional fishery management council submit any FMP or plan 
amendment it prepares to NMFS for review and approval, disapproval, or 
partial approval by the Secretary of Commerce. The Magnuson-Stevens Act 
also requires that NMFS, upon receiving an FMP or amendment, 
immediately publish a notice that the FMP or amendment is available for 
public review and comment. This notification announces that the 
proposed Amendment 32 to the FMP is available for public review and 
comment. NMFS will consider the public comments received during the 
comment period described above in determining whether to approve, 
partially approve, or disapprove Amendment 32 to the FMP.

Background

    In the early 2000s, several types of groundfish conservation areas 
(GCAs, defined at Sec.  660.11) were enacted to protect overfished 
groundfish species off the U.S. West Coast, including the coastwide 
Non-Trawl Rockfish Conservation Area (Non-Trawl RCA, (68 FR 907, 
January 7, 2003)) and the Cowcod Conservation Areas (CCAs, (66 FR 2338, 
January 11, 2001)) in the Southern California Bight. With the rebuilt 
status of almost all of these groundfish species (the exception being 
yelloweye rockfish, which is projected to rebuild by 2029), the Council 
has been prioritizing increased fishing access to these areas for 
groundfish non-trawl fisheries (i.e., the directed open access sector, 
the California recreational sector, the limited entry fixed gear 
sector, and vessels that use non-trawl gear under the Trawl Individual 
Fishing Quota Program). In November 2019, the Council directed the 
Groundfish Advisory Subpanel (GAP) to develop the scope of action and 
draft a purpose and need statement for non-trawl area management 
modifications during the GAP's March and April 2020 meetings. The GAP 
then submitted an informational report (see Informational Report 4 in 
the June 2020 briefing book at pcouncil.org) for Council consideration 
and scheduling of further scoping of the issues. In April 2021, the 
Council initiated a scoping process to address modifying Non-Trawl RCA 
catch restrictions and boundaries (see Agenda Item F.3, Attachment 2 in 
the April 2021 briefing book at pcouncil.org). In November 2021 and 
April 2022, the Council further refined the range of alternatives, 
which included expanding the action to include changes to the CCA (East 
and West) seaward of California, consideration of new closed areas 
(i.e., Groundfish Exclusion Areas (GEAs) and Yelloweye Rockfish 
Conservation Areas (YRCAs)), and changes to Essential Fish Habitat 
Conservation Areas (EFHCAs) that exposed to fishing activity under the 
alternatives. The Council selected a preliminary preferred range of 
alternatives at their September 2022 meeting and a final range of 
alternatives at their March 2023 meeting. The resulting final action 
constitutes Amendment 32 to the Pacific Coast Groundfish FMP. Amendment 
32 and its implementing regulations would provide additional fishing 
opportunity in these closures through a suite of modifications to GCA 
boundaries, gear specifications, and catch restrictions, while 
continuing to protect rebuilding yelloweye rockfish and mitigating 
fishing impacts to sensitive areas. These regulatory changes will be 
presented in a forthcoming proposed rule.
    In terms of specific changes to the Pacific Coast Groundfish FMP, 
Amendment 32 would: (1) create a new type of EFHCA that prohibits 
fishing with non-trawl bottom contact gear for all groundfish fisheries 
and the non-tribal directed commercial halibut fishery; (2) remove the 
CCA for commercial and recreational groundfish non-trawl fisheries; (3) 
create and authorize the use of GEAs as a new type of GCA; (4) 
authorize the use of Block Area Closures (BACs) for groundfish non-
trawl fisheries, and (5) make necessary administrative changes to 
relevant sections of the Pacific Coast Groundfish FMP. Each of these 
changes is further described below.

New Type of Essential Fish Habitat Conservation Area

    The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires that FMPs describe and identify 
essential fish habitat (EFH) and minimize to the extent practicable 
adverse effects on EFH caused by fishing. The Pacific Coast Groundfish 
FMP authorizes the use of EFHCAs (Amendment 19, 71 FR 27408, May 11, 
2006; Amendment 28, 84 FR 63966, November 19, 2019) to protect 
groundfish EFH from specific types of fishing activity. Federal 
regulations at 50 CFR 660.75 through 660.79 provide the coordinates for 
all current EFHCAs off the U.S. West Coast. At present, there are two 
types of EFHCAs based on gear type: bottom trawl and bottom contact. 
Both bottom trawl and bottom contact EFHCAs apply to all fisheries 
utilizing that gear type and are not limited in application to 
groundfish fisheries. Amendment 32 would create a new type of EFHCA 
that prohibits using

[[Page 50832]]

non-trawl bottom contact gear (e.g., pot/longline) in the non-tribal 
groundfish fisheries and the non-tribal directed commercial halibut 
fishery. In the forthcoming proposed rule, NMFS is proposing moving the 
seaward boundary of the Non-Trawl RCA from 100 fathoms (fm, 183 meters 
(m)) to 75 fm (137 m) off the coast of Oregon. The purpose of this new 
type of EFHCA is to protect groundfish EFH that would be newly exposed 
to non-trawl bottom contact gear as a result of this change. 
Specifically, five new EFHCAs would be established: (1) Nehalem Bank 
East; (2) Bandon High Spot East; (3) Arago Reef West; (4) Garibaldi 
Reef North; and (5) Garibaldi Reef South. All of these new EFHCAs 
overlap partially or entirely with existing bottom trawl EFHCAs, which 
is why the specified gear prohibition only includes non-trawl bottom 
contact gear (i.e., bottom trawl gear is already prohibited in these 
areas).

Removing the Cowcod Conservation Area for Groundfish Non-Trawl 
Fisheries

    The CCA was enacted in 2001 to protect overfished cowcod (Amendment 
16-3, 66 FR 2338, January 11, 2001), which was declared rebuilt in 
2019. The CCA is comprised of the Western and Eastern CCAs and applies 
to all commercial and recreational groundfish fisheries, including 
those that use both trawl and non-trawl gear. Amendment 32 would remove 
the CCA for all groundfish non-trawl fisheries; the CCA would remain in 
place for groundfish trawl fisheries. The purpose of this change is to 
provide fishing opportunity in this area given that cowcod has been 
declared rebuilt.

Groundfish Exclusion Areas

    Amendment 32 would create a new type of GCA called GEAs, which are 
intended to mitigate the impacts to sensitive environments from certain 
groundfish fishing activity. Specifically, eight GEAs would be 
established: (1) Hidden Reef; (2) West of Santa Barbara Island; (3) 
Potato Bank; (4) 107/118 Bank; (5) Cherry Bank; (6) Seamount 109; (7) 
Northeast Bank; and (8) The 43-Fathom Spot. All of these GEAs would be 
located in the Southern California Bight within the area that non-trawl 
CCA restrictions would be removed. The purpose of this change is to 
create a GCA that can be used to protect sensitive environments that 
are separate and distinct from groundfish EFH.

Block Area Closures for Groundfish Non-Trawl Fisheries

    The Pacific Coast Groundfish FMP currently authorizes the use of 
BACs to control bycatch of groundfish in trawl fisheries. Amendment 28 
to the FMP (84 FR 63966, November 19, 2019) first established BACs as a 
management tool. The salmon bycatch minimization measures action (86 FR 
10857, February 23, 2021) expanded BACs as a tool to minimize salmon 
bycatch. Amendment 32 would expand the use of BACs to be enacted for 
groundfish non-trawl fisheries. The purpose of this change is to create 
a mechanism to control bycatch of groundfish, as well as protected or 
prohibited species from non-trawl fisheries given the new flexibilities 
that would result from the approval of Amendment 32 and its proposed 
regulations.

Administrative Changes

    The Council and NMFS are proposing additional changes to the 
relevant sections of the Pacific Coast Groundfish FMP being modified by 
Amendment 32. These changes include revising the terms ``Bottom Contact 
Closed Areas'' and ``Bottom Trawl Closed Areas'' to ``Bottom Trawl 
Essential Fish Habitat Conservation Areas'' and ``Bottom Contact 
Essential Fish Habitat Conservation Areas.'' Revising this terminology 
throughout the FMP will make these terms consistent with how they 
appear in Federal Regulations, maps, and Council records. These changes 
would also include adding a placeholder in Section 1.1 for a 
description of Amendment 31 to the Pacific Coast Groundfish FMP, as it 
is likely that Amendment 32 would be approved before Amendment 31.
    NMFS welcomes comments on the proposed FMP amendment through the 
end of the comment period. A proposed rule to implement Amendment 32 
has been submitted for Secretarial review and approval. NMFS expects to 
publish and request public review and comment on proposed regulations 
to implement Amendment 32 in the near future. For public comments on 
the proposed rule to be considered in the approval or disapproval 
decision on Amendment 32, those comments must be received by the end of 
the comment period on the amendment. All comments received by the end 
of the comment period for the amendment, whether specifically directed 
to the amendment or the proposed rule, will be considered in the 
approval/disapproval decision.

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

     Dated: July 24, 2023.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-15966 Filed 8-1-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P