[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 79 (Tuesday, April 23, 2024)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 30314-30318]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-08368]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 660

[Docket No. 240410-0104]
RIN 0648-BM68


Fisheries Off West Coast States; West Coast Salmon Fisheries; 
Measures To Keep Fishery Impacts Within the Conservation Objective for 
the California Coastal Chinook Salmon

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

[[Page 30315]]

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Proposed rule; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: This proposed rule would implement a set of management 
measures recommended by the Pacific Fishery Management Council 
(Council) to ensure fishery impacts on California Coastal (CC) Chinook 
salmon, which are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species 
Act, remain within the conservation objective in the Council's Pacific 
Coast Salmon Fishery Management Plan (Salmon FMP). Under the proposed 
rule, management tools (e.g., trip limits (also known as landing and 
possession limits) and inseason management) consistent with the 
provisions of the Salmon FMP would be used to provide greater certainty 
in avoiding exceedances of the conservation objectives for CC Chinook 
salmon.

DATES: Comments on this proposed rule must be received on or before May 
23, 2024.

ADDRESSES: A plain language summary of this proposed rule is available 
at https://www.regulations.gov/docket/NOAA-NMFS-2024-0009. You may 
submit comments on this document, identified by NOAA-NMFS-2024-0009, by 
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-2024-0009 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:

Background

    The ocean salmon fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) (3-
200 nautical miles; 5.6-370.4 kilometers) off Washington, Oregon, and 
California are managed under the Salmon FMP. The Salmon FMP and 
implementing regulations govern the development at the spring (March 
and April) Council meetings each year of annual management measures. 
Management measures for the salmon fisheries are developed annually 
because the abundance of the salmon stocks in the fishery can fluctuate 
significantly from one year to the next and information about annual 
stock abundance does not become available until early in each year 
(January-early March).
    The commercial and recreational salmon fisheries off northern 
California and southern Oregon target healthy or abundant stocks of 
Chinook and coho salmon, but may incidentally encounter Endangered 
Species Act (ESA)-listed CC Chinook salmon and other ESA-listed 
species. The Salmon FMP includes harvest controls that are used to 
manage salmon stocks sustainably. The Salmon FMP also requires that the 
Council manage fisheries consistent with ``consultation standards'' for 
stocks listed as endangered or threatened under the ESA for which NMFS 
has issued biological opinions. NMFS has issued biological opinions for 
every ESA-listed salmon species impacted by the fisheries governed by 
the Salmon FMP and reminds the Council of requirements (i.e., 
consultation standards) to maintain consistency with those opinions in 
its annual guidance letter to the Council regarding development of the 
annual ocean salmon management measures. To limit the effects of CC 
Chinook salmon, ocean salmon fisheries are managed to avoid exceeding a 
conservation objective for that stock.
    The CC Chinook salmon Evolutionarily Significant Unit (ESU) has 
been listed as threatened under the ESA since 1999. The conservation 
objective for CC Chinook salmon is described in the Salmon FMP. 
Management of the fishery that avoids exceedance of the conservation 
objective has been analyzed in a series of biological opinions (most 
recently, an opinion issued in 2023), and has been determined to avoid 
jeopardizing the ESU (NMFS 2000; McInnis 2005; NMFS 2023; NMFS 2024). 
As described in these consultations, the data are insufficient for 
developing an ESU-specific conservation objective for CC Chinook 
salmon. Thus, NMFS has relied on a surrogate, Klamath River fall-run 
Chinook Salmon (KRFC), to evaluate and limit impacts on CC Chinook 
salmon in ocean salmon fisheries. The conservation objective is an 
ocean harvest rate (HR) on age-4 KRFC of 0.16. In its 2024 biological 
opinion, NMFS confirmed that managing fisheries to avoid exceeding this 
conservation objective would avoid jeopardy to CC Chinook.
    From 2018 to 2022, the fishery HR on age-4 KRFC significantly 
exceeded 0.16 with an average of 0.28. Actions (e.g., adjustments to 
ocean management models to account for these high catch rates and 
managing to a lower rate than the conservation objective) proved 
insufficient to avoid exceedance and the fisheries continued to exceed 
the conservation objective for CC Chinook salmon as well as impact 
limits on other California Chinook salmon stocks. The recent increases 
in the post-season KRFC age-4 ocean HR from 2018 through 2021 suggests 
that the level of impacts on CC Chinook salmon have likely increased.
    For 2023, the Council considered additional measures to avoid 
another exceedance of the CC Chinook conservation objective. However, 
in response to record low forecasts for KRFC and Sacramento fall-run 
Chinook salmon, the Council ultimately recommended the closure of 
commercial and recreational salmon fisheries off the coast of 
California for 2023, and NMFS approved this closure. The management 
measures for the 2023-2024 ocean salmon fishing season include the 
potential use of landing and possession limits in the commercial salmon 
troll fishery and bag limits in the recreational salmon fishery for the 
March and April 2024 fisheries, should salmon abundance forecasts for 
2024 and Council discussion support use of those measures. The 
projected KRFC age-4 ocean HR of 0.003 for the 2023-24 management 
measures, with the fishery closures off California, resulted from a low 
number of encounters of KRFC salmon in fisheries north of California.
    The Council continued to explore measures that could be taken to 
manage the commercial salmon troll fishery to address the source of the 
high catch rates of KRFC and stay within the conservation objective, 
thereby not exceeding the conservation objective for CC Chinook salmon. 
At the November 2023 Council meeting, the Council adopted a set of 
management measures to ensure that the CC Chinook salmon conservation 
objective is not exceeded. The management measures are intended to 
ensure the fishery does not exceed the conservation objective for CC

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Chinook by implementing management tools (e.g., landing and possession 
limits, an overall allowable harvest level, inseason management) 
consistent with the provisions of the Salmon FMP.

Measures To Achieve Conservation Objectives for California Stocks of 
Chinook Salmon

    The proposed fishery management measures are designed to ensure 
that the post-season ocean HR for age-4 KRFC does not exceed the 
conservation objective of 0.16. These measures would apply to the ocean 
salmon fisheries between the Oregon/California border and Pigeon Point, 
California.
    The management measures included in this rule are focused on the 
ocean salmon fisheries off the coast of California (i.e., California 
Klamath Management Zone, Fort Bragg, San Francisco, and Monterey 
management areas) for the following reasons:
    1. The majority of the KRFC harvest (and assumed impacts on CC 
Chinook salmon) in the ocean occurs in this area;
    2. The age-4 ocean HR for KRFC in this area has consistently 
exceeded pre-season projections in recent years;
    3. Contact-rate-per-unit-effort in this area has exceeded 
projections in recent years;
    4. The fisheries in this area have been managed primarily through 
season controls such as time and area restrictions (as opposed to use 
of landing and possession limits and/or quota management);
    5. Time and area restrictions in this area have not been effective 
in controlling harvest of KRFC (and assumed impacts on CC Chinook 
salmon) in recent years; and,
    6. Ocean fisheries in other areas that impact KRFC routinely 
implement the same or similar management measures as described in these 
measures for a similar purpose.
    The rule would require implementation of measures used in salmon 
fisheries elsewhere on the West Coast to ensure fisheries in the 
affected area do not exceed the conservation objective for CC Chinook 
salmon. Historically, fisheries in the area described above have been 
managed by setting seasons and bag limits. In addition, for this 
fishery there was no overall limit on harvest or inseason management. 
The Salmon FMP contemplates that the Council and NMFS will use a range 
of management tools to ensure the fisheries are managed to avoid 
exceeding all limits for stocks caught in the various management areas 
along the West Coast (FMP Chapter 6). These management tools (e.g., 
management boundaries, seasons, quotas, minimum harvest lengths, 
fishing gear restrictions, and recreational day bag limits) are 
available to manage ocean fisheries each season, once the allowable 
ocean harvests and the basis for allocation among user groups have been 
determined. New information on the fisheries and salmon stocks also may 
require other adjustments to the management measures.
    Under the proposed set of management measures, annual management 
measures for the fisheries in the area described above will both be 
designed pre-season and managed inseason to stay within the objective. 
NMFS may apply, and the Council may recommend, a buffer to the 
conservation objective to account for management error and reduce the 
potential for exceeding the conservation objective, this buffer would 
be developed based on the percent error of the pre-season projected HR 
(as compared to the post-season HR) occurring over the most recent 5 
years and other relevant factors. Fishery managers will compute an 
allowable harvest level of Chinook salmon for the year consistent with 
the conservation objective (including the buffer described above, if 
applicable). Using the allowable harvest level and projected effort, 
managers will determine landing and possession limits pre-season to 
ensure that the fishery does not exceed the allowable harvest level. 
The fishery will be monitored inseason and actions will be taken as 
needed to prevent the fisheries from exceeding the annual harvest 
level. We expect that this multilayered conservative approach (i.e., a 
buffer, fishery output control, and inseason actions) will ensure that 
the fisheries remain within the pre-season projection and adhere to the 
CC Chinook salmon conservation objective.
    This proposed rule will also update regulations to 50 CFR 660.405 
and 660.410. In Sec.  660.405, the term ``possess'' was added to 
provide consistency to other prohibitions throughout the regulations. 
With the new regulation requiring submission of fish tickets within 24 
hours of landing, the addition of the term ``possess'' will ensure that 
fishers are not confused about the requirements related to the timing 
of catch and retention, possession, or landings. Also, in addition to 
the new management measures at Sec.  660.410, this proposed rule would 
revise paragraph (c) by adding the abbreviation KRFC to address several 
new occurrences of KRFC that did not exist before.

Classification

    Pursuant to section 304(b)(1)(A) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the 
NMFS Assistant Administrator has determined that this proposed rule is 
consistent with the Salmon FMP, 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.
    There are no relevant Federal rules that may duplicate, overlap, or 
conflict with this action.
    The Chief Counsel for Regulation of the Department of Commerce 
certified to the Chief Council for Advocacy of the Small Business 
Administration that this proposed rule, if adopted, would not have a 
significant adverse economic impact on a substantial number of small 
entities.
    For purposes of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et 
seq.) only, NMFS has established a small business size standard for 
businesses, including their affiliates, whose primary industry is 
commercial fishing (see 50 CFR 220.2). A business primarily engaged in 
commercial fishing is classified as a small business if it is 
independently owned and operated, is not dominant in its field of 
operation (including its affiliates), and has combined annual receipts 
not in excess of $11 million for all its affiliated operations 
worldwide. 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 11411), commercial shellfish fishing (NAICS 
114112), and other commercial marine fishing (NAICS 114119) businesses 
(50 CFR 200.2; 13 CFR 121.201).
    This proposed rule would directly affect the West Coast commercial 
troll salmon fishery. Using the Socioeconomic Assessment of the 2022 
Ocean Salmon Fisheries (chapter IV) of the Review of 2022 Ocean Salmon 
Fisheries Stock Assessment and Fishery Evaluation Document for the 
Pacific Coast Salmon FMP the most recent year of complete fishing data 
(2022), had 563 distinct commercial vessels land fish caught in 
Washington, Oregon, and California. The total coastwide ex-vessel value 
was $22.2 million with California achieving $17.1 million, Oregon $3.2 
million, and Washington $1.8 million. No vessel met the threshold to be 
considered a large entity as defined above. The preliminary number of 
vessel-based ocean salmon recreational

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angler trips taken on the West Coast in 2022 was 264,200. All of those 
charter businesses that are impacted are small entities. Because all of 
the affected entities are small, the management measures in this 
proposed rule are not expected to place small entities at a significant 
disadvantage to large entities.
    Because businesses have been harvesting over the conservation 
objective for over 5 years (table 1), this regulation which is intended 
to bring catch levels back down to the conservation objective (0.16 HR 
on age-4 KRFC), is expected to impose negative economic effects on 
small businesses relative to the last 5 years. The proposed action does 
not change the management objectives for CC Chinook, it is designed to 
ensure that the fisheries do not exceed the objective using management 
and tools that are allowed under the Salmon FMP. The effects are not 
quantifiable with available resources on the timeline needed to 
implement this rule to achieve conservation objectives. However, NMFS 
invites comments on this proposed rule with information about costs to 
small entities.

       Table 1--Estimates of Ocean Harvest Rates of Age-4 KRFC Salmon Pre- and Postseason in Recent Years
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                                                                  Preseason age-    Post-season
                              Year                                4 harvest rate   age-4 harvest   Pre/post for
                                                                     forecast      rate estimate    years >16%
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2017............................................................            0.03            0.04            0.75
2018............................................................            0.12            0.24            0.05
2019............................................................            0.16            0.36            0.44
2020............................................................            0.09            0.23            0.39
2021............................................................            0.11            0.28            0.39
2022............................................................            0.10            0.38            0.26
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    NMFS believes that this proposed rule would not have a significant 
adverse 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 revisions to a 
collection-of-information requirement subject to review and approval by 
the Office of Management and Budget under the Paperwork Reduction Act. 
This rule revises the existing requirements for the collection of 
information 0648-0433 by adding a requirement for submission of fish 
tickets within 24 hours of landing. Public reporting burden for fish 
ticket submission is estimated to average 0 hours because the 
submission will already be required by the California Code of 
Regulations.
    A formal section 7 consultation under the ESA was initiated for the 
Salmon FMP. In a biological opinion dated February 29, 2024, NMFS 
determined that fishing activities conducted under the Salmon FMP and 
its implementing regulations are not likely to jeopardize the continued 
existence of any endangered or threatened species under the 
jurisdiction of NMFS or result in the destruction or adverse 
modification of critical habitat.
    This proposed rule was developed after meaningful consultation and 
collaboration with the tribal representative on the Council.

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

    Dated: April 15, 2024.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 660

    Fisheries, Fishing, Indians--lands, Recreation and recreation 
areas, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Treaties.
    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.
0
2. In Sec.  660.405, revise paragraphs (a)(1) and (a)(2) to read as 
follows:


Sec.  660.405  Prohibitions.

    (a) * * *
    (1) Take and retain, or possess, or land salmon caught with a net 
in the fishery management area, except that a hand-held net may be used 
to bring hooked salmon on board a vessel.
    (2) Fish for, or take and retain, or possess, any species of 
salmon:
    (i) During closed seasons or in closed areas;
    (ii) While possessing on board any species not allowed to be taken 
in the area at the time;
    (iii) Once any catch limit is attained;
    (iv) By means of gear or methods other than recreational fishing 
gear or troll fishing gear, or gear authorized under Sec.  660.408(k) 
for treaty Indian fishing;
    (v) In violation of any action issued under this subpart; or,
    (vi) In violation of any applicable area, season, species, zone, 
gear, daily bag limit, or length restriction.
* * * * *
0
3. In Sec.  660.410, revise paragraph (c) and add paragraph (d) to read 
as follows:


Sec.  660.410  Conservation objectives, ACLs, and de minimis control 
rules.

* * * * *
    (c) De minimis control rules. Klamath River fall Chinook (KRFC) and 
Sacramento River fall Chinook salmon have the same form of de minimis 
control rule described in the FMP, which allows for limited fishing 
impacts when abundance falls below SMSY. The control rule 
describes maximum allowable exploitation rates at any given level of 
abundance. The annual management measures may provide for lower 
exploitation rates as needed to address uncertainties or other year-
specific circumstances. The de minimis exploitation rate in a given 
year must also be determined in consideration of the following factors:
    (1) The potential for critically low natural spawner abundance, 
including considerations for substocks that may fall below crucial 
genetic thresholds;
    (2) Spawner abundance levels in recent years;
    (3) The status of co-mingled stocks;
    (4) Indicators of marine and freshwater environmental conditions;
    (5) Minimal needs for tribal fisheries;
    (6) Whether the stock is currently in an approaching overfished 
condition;
    (7) Whether the stock is currently overfished;

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    (8) Other considerations, as appropriate; and
    (9) Exploitation rates, including de minimis exploitation rates, 
must not jeopardize the long-term capacity of the stock to produce 
maximum sustained yield on a continuing basis. NMFS expects that the 
control rule and associated criteria will result in decreasing harvest 
opportunity as abundance declines and little or no opportunity for 
harvest at abundance levels less than half of MSST.
    (d) Salmon Fisheries Affecting California Coastal Chinook. Salmon 
fisheries affecting this ESA-listed stock are managed to meet the 
conservation objective described in FMP table 3-1.
    (1) The annual specifications and management measures will include 
an allowable harvest level expressed in numbers of fish for these 
fisheries that is projected, using the Klamath Ocean Harvest Model and 
Sacramento Harvest Model, to ensure fisheries do not exceed the 
conservation objective. To determine the allowable harvest level, the 
Council and NMFS may use a harvest rate that is lower than the 
conservation objective (i.e., harvest rate of 0.16) in order to address 
the potential for exceeding the objective in a particular year. The 
lower harvest rate will be determined in two steps.
    (i) In the first step, NMFS and the Council will calculate the 
average percent error for the previous 5 years, and apply the average 
percent error to the conservation objective. Only positive percent 
error will be applied because the intent is to keep the post-season 
harvest rate below 0.16.
    (ii) In the second step, other relevant factors affecting the 
preseason assessment of the age-4 KRFC harvest rate will be considered, 
such as revisions to the fishery management models used to estimate the 
preseason Chinook catch, environmental indicators relevant to the 
status of KRFC, constraints on fisheries under consideration for the 
areas and months with greatest impacts to KRFC Chinook, and the lower 
harvest rate may be modified based on these factors.
    (2) The annual specifications and management measures will include 
the following management measures to ensure fisheries affecting 
California Coastal Chinook do not exceed the allowable harvest level.
    (i) Landing and possession limits will be used in the commercial 
troll fisheries to keep fishery catch within the allowable harvest 
level. Landing and possession limits will be set for periods not to 
exceed 1 week. Landing and possession limits may vary from one calendar 
month to the next but will be the same for periods within the same 
calendar month.
    (ii) A percentage of the allowable harvest level (i.e., trigger) 
that will require consideration of inseason action to ensure that the 
allowable harvest level is not exceeded will be set through the annual 
management measures.
    (iii) For the first 2 years after the promulgation of this rule in 
which salmon fishery occur in the EEZ off the California coast, 
inseason actions will only be used to further restrict harvest (i.e., 
reduce landing limits, reduce time/area, and close the fishery when the 
allowable harvest level is projected to have been met).
    (3) Electronic fish tickets must be submitted within 24 hours of 
landing to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Fish tickets 
must be submitted in accordance with the requirements of the applicable 
state regulations.
    (4) NMFS will implement inseason actions as described in Sec.  
660.409, following processes described in that section, as needed to 
ensure catch in the fishery does not exceed the allowable harvest level 
and will close areas and seasons upon reaching the allowable harvest 
limit.

[FR Doc. 2024-08368 Filed 4-22-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P