[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 183 (Friday, September 22, 2023)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 65356-65358]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-20511]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 665

[Docket No. 230918-0221]
RIN 0648-BM34


Pacific Island Fisheries; 5-Year Extension of Moratorium on 
Harvest of Gold Corals

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

ACTION: Proposed rule; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: This proposed rule would extend the current region-wide 
moratorium on the harvest of gold corals in the U.S. Pacific Islands 
through June 30, 2028. NMFS intends this proposed rule to prevent 
overfishing and to stimulate research on gold corals.

DATES: NMFS must receive comments by October 23, 2023.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on this document, identified by 
NOAA-NMFS-2023-0071, by either of the following methods:
     Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public 
comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to https://www.regulations.gov and enter NOAA-NMFS-2023-0071 in the Search box. 
Click on the ``Comment'' icon, complete the required fields, and enter 
or attach your comments.
     Mail: Send written comments to Sarah Malloy, Acting 
Regional Administrator, NMFS Pacific Islands Regional Office (PIRO), 
1845 Wasp Blvd., Bldg. 176, Honolulu, HI 96818.
    Instructions: Comments sent by any other method, to any other 
address or individual, or received after the end of the comment period, 
will not be considered by NMFS. All comments received are a part of the 
public record and will generally be posted for public viewing on 
https://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).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Pua Borges, NMFS PIRO Sustainable 
Fisheries, 808-725-5184.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Jewelry designers use small amounts of 
precious corals to adorn their products. The precious corals fishery in 
the U.S. Pacific Islands include black, pink, bamboo, and gold corals. 
They are slow-growing and have low rates of natural mortality and 
recruitment. Unexploited populations are relatively stable, and a wide 
range of age classes is generally present in those populations. Due to 
the great longevity of individuals and the associated slow population 
turnover rates, a long period of reduced fishing effort is required to 
restore a stock's ability to produce at the maximum sustainable yield 
if a stock has been over-exploited. Fishermen harvest precious corals 
by various methods, including by hand-harvesting and by submersible.
    Gold corals are suspension feeders and live in deep water (100-
1,500 meters (m)) on hard substrates where bottom currents are strong, 
such as seamounts, ledges, pinnacles, walls, and cliffs. Prior fishing 
effort harvested gold corals by submersible or tangle net dredges. 
There are several beds of gold corals (Gerardia spp., Callogorgia 
gilberti, Narella spp., and Calyptrophora spp.) in the U.S. Exclusive 
Economic Zone (EEZ; generally 3-200 nautical miles (6-370 kilometers) 
from shore) around Hawaii. Gold coral distribution and abundance are 
unknown in the region beyond Hawaii, but they likely occur in the EEZ 
around American

[[Page 65357]]

Samoa, the Mariana Archipelago (Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 
Islands (CNMI) and Guam), and the Pacific Remote Island Areas (PRIA; 
Baker Island, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Wake Atoll, Johnston 
Atoll, Kingman Reef, Midway Atoll, and Palmyra Atoll).
    NMFS and the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) 
manage precious coral fisheries in the U.S. Pacific Islands under 
fishery ecosystem plans (FEPs) for American Samoa, Hawaii, the Mariana 
Archipelago, and the PRIA. The FEPs and associated Federal regulations 
at 50 CFR part 665 require permits and data reporting, and allow 
harvesting of precious corals only with selective gear (e.g., 
submersibles, remotely-operated vehicles, or by hand). There are also 
bed-specific quotas, refuges from fishing, and size limits. The fishery 
for gold corals, like most deepwater precious corals other than black 
corals in Hawaii, has remained dormant since 2001.
    The Council considered past and current research on gold corals 
growth rates and recruitment. Past research on gold corals indicated 
that the linear growth rate of gold corals is approximately 6.6 
centimeters/year, suggesting a relatively young age for large coral 
colonies of up to 70 years. However, updated research using radiocarbon 
dating revealed that gold corals in Hawaii may live much longer than 
previously believed, from 450-2,740 years. Because of these 
uncertainties, the Council and NMFS established a 5-year moratorium on 
harvesting gold corals in 2008 (73 FR 47098, August 13, 2008).
    Subsequently, additional research offered new but potentially 
conflicting information about gold coral growth. A study in 2009 
estimated that linear growth of gold coral could be 2.2 cm/year but was 
unable to measure discernable growth during repeated measurements of 
live colonies with submersibles. This research also identified 
previously unknown habitat requirements for gold coral, specifically 
that gold corals may depend on bamboo corals to provide required 
substrate for gold coral larvae. In light of these additional 
uncertainties, the Council and NMFS extended the moratorium for another 
5 years in 2013 (78 FR 32181, May 29, 2013) and in 2018 (83 FR 27716, 
June 14, 2018). These moratoria have prevented the potential for 
overharvesting gold corals if a fishery had re-emerged, and they have 
allowed for research on gold coral biology. The current moratorium 
expired on June 30, 2023.
    Uncertainties in scientific data have not been satisfactorily 
resolved, and NMFS has not incorporated new information into estimates 
of sustainable harvest rates. Research in 2019 provided information on 
the slow development of Pacific deep-water precious coral communities, 
highlighting the limited recovery potential of gold coral if 
overharvested and the need to better understand the life history of the 
species and deep-sea coral ecology. The Council continues to be 
concerned about uncertainties related to the growth rates and habitat 
requirements for gold coral, and recognizes that fishery managers need 
more research to inform appropriate measures for this fishery. This 
proposed rule, if adopted, would extend the moratorium through June 30, 
2028. The proposed action would prevent the potential for overfishing 
and allow time for further research on gold corals that could inform 
sustainable management models and for the Council to consider a long-
term management strategy that will ensure the sustainability of the 
fishery.
    NMFS must receive any public comments on this proposed rule by the 
close of business on October 23, 2023 and will not consider late 
comments.

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 FEPs for American Samoa, the PRIA, Hawaii, and the 
Mariana Archipelago, other provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and 
other applicable law, subject to further consideration after public 
comment.
    This proposed rule has been determined to be not significant for 
purposes of Executive Order 12866.

Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) Certification of Finding of No 
Significant Impact on Substantial Number of Small Entities

    The RFA of 1980, as amended (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.), required 
Federal agencies to determine to the extent feasible, the economic 
impact of their regulations on small entities and explore alternatives 
for reducing any significant economic impacts on a substantial number 
of such entities. 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 proposed rule would extend the current gold coral harvest 
moratorium for 5 years. The current moratorium expired on June 30, 
2023. The Western Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) 
recommended extending the moratorium through June 30, 2028. Extending 
the moratorium for another 5 years would ensure that no harvesting of 
gold corals takes place and would allow time for additional research 
that could inform future management decisions regarding sustainable 
harvest of this resource.
    The proposed action could potentially affect an entity possessing a 
Federal Western Pacific precious corals permit, because, without the 
moratorium, these entities could obtain a permit to harvest or land 
gold corals in addition to black, bamboo, pink, and red corals. Only 
one entity, based in the State of Hawaii, possessed a precious corals 
permit from 2013 until 2019 and no entity possessed a precious coral 
permit after 2019. NMFS believes that this entity would be considered a 
small entity under the small business size standard that NMFS 
established, for RFA purposes only, for businesses, including their 
affiliates, whose primary industry is commercial fishing, because the 
permit holder is engaged in the commercial fishing industry(NAICS 
11411), is independently owned or operated, is not dominant in their 
field of operation, and has annual gross receipts not in excess of $11 
million (50 CFR 200.2).
    It is unlikely that the permit holder would begin to harvest gold 
corals in the absence of a moratorium. The Pacific Islands gold coral 
fishery had already been dormant when the moratorium initially went 
into effect in 2008. The moratorium had been extended every five years 
thereafter, so the gold coral fishery has remained closed. 
Historically, gold coral harvesting had occurred infrequently. In the 
late 1970s, one company used a manned submersible to selectively take 
several thousand kilograms of gold coral off Eastern Oahu, Hawaii. From 
1999-2001, a second company used a submersible to take a small amount 
of gold coral, along with other deepwater precious corals, from 
exploratory areas off Hawaii. The final year of gold coral harvest was 
in 2001. Furthermore, this fishery is still characterized by high 
equipment and operating costs, continued safety concerns and other 
logistical constraints, and gold coral market prices are not high 
enough to offset those risks and expenses. Because of these challenges, 
interest in this fishery will likely remain low even

[[Page 65358]]

without the moratorium. Therefore, extending the moratorium on gold 
coral harvests will not likely cause immediate economic impact to any 
potential Western Pacific precious corals permit holder.
    The proposed rule does not duplicate, overlap, or conflict with 
other Federal rules and is not expected to have significant impact on 
small entities (as discussed above), organizations or government 
jurisdictions. There does not appear to be disproportionate economic 
impacts from the proposed rule based on home port, gear type, or 
relative vessel size.
    For the reasons described above, this proposed rule would not have 
a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small 
entities. Therefore, 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.

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 665

    Administrative practice and procedure, American Samoa, Deep sea 
coral, Fisheries, Fishing, Guam, Hawaii, Northern Mariana Islands, 
Pacific Remote Island Areas, Precious coral.

    Dated: September 18, 2023.
Samuel D. Rauch, III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.

    For the reasons set out in the preamble, NMFS proposes to amend 50 
CFR part 665 as follows:

PART 665--FISHERIES IN THE WESTERN PACIFIC

0
1. The authority citation for 50 CFR part 665 continues to read as 
follows:

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

0
2. Revise Sec.  665.169 to read as follows:


Sec.  665.169   Gold coral harvest moratorium.

    Fishing for, taking, or retaining any gold coral in any precious 
coral permit area is prohibited through June 30, 2028.
0
3. Revise Note 2 to Sec.  665.269 to read as follows:


Sec.  665.269  Annual Catch Limits (ACL).

* * * * *
    (c) * * *

    Note 2 to Sec.  665.269:  A moratorium on gold coral harvesting 
is in effect through June 30, 2028.

0
4. Revise Sec.  665.270 to read as follows:


Sec.  665.270  Gold coral harvest moratorium.

    Fishing for, taking, or retaining any gold coral in any precious 
coral permit area is prohibited through June 30, 2028.
0
5. Revise Sec.  665.469 to read as follows:


Sec.  665.469  Gold coral harvest moratorium.

    Fishing for, taking, or retaining any gold coral in any precious 
coral permit area is prohibited through June 30, 2028.
0
6. Revise Sec.  665.669 to read as follows:


Sec.  665.669  Gold coral harvest moratorium.

    Fishing for, taking, or retaining any gold coral in any precious 
coral permit area is prohibited through June 30, 2028.

[FR Doc. 2023-20511 Filed 9-21-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P