[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 40 (Wednesday, February 28, 2024)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 14620-14621]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-04145]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 660

[Docket No. 240222-0057]
RIN 0648-BM53


Fisheries Off West Coast States; West Coast Salmon Fisheries; 
Federal Salmon Regulations for Overfished Species Rebuilding Plans

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

ACTION: Proposed rule, request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS proposes revisions to regulations that implement the 
Pacific Fishery Management Council's (Council) Pacific Coast Salmon 
Fishery Management Plan (FMP). This proposed action would remove a 
rebuilding plan for Snohomish River coho salmon from regulation, as 
this stock has been rebuilt and is no longer required to be managed 
under a rebuilding plan.

DATES: Comments on this proposed rule must be received on or before 
March 14, 2024.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on this document, identified by 
NOAA-NMFS-2023-0138 by any of the following methods:
     Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public 
comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to https://www.regulations.gov and type NOAA-NMFS-2023-0138 in the Search box 
(note: copying and pasting the FDMS Docket Number directly from this 
document may not yield search results). Click on the ``Comment'' icon, 
complete the required fields, and enter or attach your comments.
    Instructions: 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 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: Shannon Penna, Fishery Management 
Specialist, at 562-980-4239, or [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Regulations at 50 CFR part 660, subpart H 
implement the management of West Coast salmon fisheries under the FMP 
in the exclusive economic zone (3 to 200 nautical miles (5.6 to 370.4 
kilometers)) off the coasts of the States of Washington, Oregon, and 
California.
    The Snohomish River coho salmon stock contributes to U.S. ocean 
salmon fisheries north of Cape Falcon, ocean salmon fisheries off 
British Columbia, and marine and freshwater Puget Sound salmon 
fisheries. In 2018, NMFS determined that Snohomish River coho salmon 
was overfished under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery and Conservation 
Management Act (MSA) (Letter from Barry A. Thom, NMFS West Coast 
Regional Administrator, to Chuck Tracy, Pacific Fishery Management 
Council Executive Director, dated June 18, 2018). The MSA requires 
Councils to develop and implement a rebuilding plan within two years of 
being notified by NMFS that a stock is overfished. The Council 
transmitted its recommended rebuilding plan to NMFS on October 17, 
2019, which was similar to the existing management framework, to 
rebuild Snohomish River coho salmon.
    The Council determined that the recommended rebuilding plan met the 
MSA requirement to rebuild the stock as quickly as possible, taking 
into account the status and biology of any overfished stock and the 
needs of fishing communities (50 CFR 600.310(j)(3)(i)). NMFS approved 
and implemented the Council's recommended rebuilding plan for Snohomish 
River coho salmon through a final rule (86 FR 9301; February 21, 2021).
    In 2023, NMFS determined that Snohomish River coho salmon met the 
criteria in the FMP for being rebuilt and notified the Council (Letter 
from Jennifer Quan, NMFS West Coast Regional Administrator, to Merrick 
Burden, Pacific Fishery Management Council Executive Director, dated 
October 13, 2023). A stock is rebuilt when the 3-year geometric mean 
spawning escapement exceeds the level associated with the maximum 
sustainable yield (SMSY). When Snohomish River coho salmon 
was determined to be overfished, the 3-year geometric mean was 29,677 
(2014 to 2016). The most recent three-year geometric mean of the 
spawning escapement reported for this stock (2019 to 2021) is 55,154, 
which exceeds the spawning escapement requirement to achieve 
SMSY for this stock, 50,000 spawners. As the stock is 
rebuilt, it is no longer required to be managed under a rebuilding plan 
and the Snohomish River coho salmon rebuilding plan should be removed 
from regulation to avoid confusion regarding the stock's status. 
Additionally, removing the Snohomish River coho salmon rebuilding plan 
from regulation will avoid confusion should NMFS make a future 
determination that the Snohomish River coho salmon stock is overfished 
again, in which case the MSA requires the Council to prepare and 
implement a rebuilding plan within two years of that determination (50 
CFR 600.310(j)(2)(ii)). Leaving the current rebuilding plan in 
regulation could

[[Page 14621]]

cause confusion as it might be misperceived as being the applicable 
management measures for Snohomish River coho salmon, which was not the 
intention of the Council nor of NMFS. Therefore, to avoid confusion, it 
is necessary to remove the existing Snohomish River coho salmon 
rebuilding plan from at 50 CFR 660.413(e).

Classification

    NMFS is issuing this rule pursuant to section 305(d) of the MSA. 
This rule would update the regulations governing the salmon fishery by 
deleting a provision that is no longer necessary.
    This proposed rule has been determined to be not significant for 
purposes of Executive Order 12866.
    NMFS has determined that a 15-day comment period for this proposed 
rule is appropriate to allow adequate time for public comment while 
also allowing for the final rule to be in effect prior to the annual 
preseason management process for the 2024 fishing season for ocean 
salmon fisheries, thereby avoiding any confusion about the management 
status of Snohomish River coho salmon during that preseason management 
process. 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 factual basis for this determination is as follows.
    For purposes of the Regulatory Flexibility Act analysis, and 
pursuant to NMFS' December 29, 2015, final rule (80 FR 81194), NMFS' 
small business size standard for businesses, including their 
affiliates, whose primary industry is commercial fishing, is $11 
million in annual gross receipts. This standard applies to all 
businesses classified under North American Industry Classification 
System (NAICS) code 11411 for commercial fishing, including all 
businesses classified as commercial finfish fishing (NAICS 114111), 
commercial shellfish fishing (NAICS 114112), and other commercial 
marine fishing (NAICS 114119) businesses (50 CFR 200.2; 13 CFR 
121.201).
    According to the Socioeconomic Assessment of the 2022 Ocean Salmon 
Fisheries chapter (Chapter IV) of the Review of 2022 Ocean Salmon 
Fisheries Stock Assessment and Fishery Evaluation Document for the 
Pacific Coast Salmon Fishery Management Plan, which contains the most 
recent year of complete fishing data, 79 distinct commercial vessels 
landed fish caught in Washington in 2022. These vessels had an average 
state-level ex-vessel revenue per vessel of $23,402; thus, no vessel 
met the threshold ($11 million in annual gross receipts) for being a 
large entity. NMFS does not collect information on the number of small 
entities that participate in fisheries targeting Snohomish River coho 
salmon, because participants fishing for salmon generally do not know 
the salmon stock they are targeting. There were 69,260 ocean angler 
salmon trips taken on vessels on the Washington coast in 2022. These 
trips included both charter and private vessels. All of those charter 
businesses that are impacted are small entities. Because all affected 
entities are small, the regulation revisions in this proposed rule are 
not expected to place small entities at a significant disadvantage to 
large entities. Furthermore, this proposed rule would not change 
harvest policy or the general management approach. The rebuilding plan 
provision at 50 FR 660.413(e) adopted the FMP's existing harvest 
control rule and management measures. Upon implementation of this 
action to delete the rebuilding plan provision, the FMP's harvest 
control rule and management measures would apply, and the control rule 
and management measures have not changed since the addition of 
rebuilding plan provision in 2021. Thus, this proposed rule would have 
no economic impact on, and would not result in a reduction in the 
profits of, the regulated small entities. Therefore, this proposed 
rule, if implemented, would not have a significant economic impact on a 
substantial number of small entities. As a result, 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 660

    Fisheries, Fishing, and Recording and reporting requirements.

    Dated: February 23, 2024.
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 660 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.


Sec.  660.413  [Amended]

0
2. Amend Sec.  660.413 by removing paragraph (e).

[FR Doc. 2024-04145 Filed 2-27-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P