[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 89 (Tuesday, May 7, 2024)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 37984]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-09956]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 665

[RTID 0648-XD180]


Pacific Island Fisheries; Standardized Bycatch Reporting 
Methodologies

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 Amendments to the five fishery 
ecosystem plans (FEP) for fisheries in the Pacific Islands Region. The 
FEPs are amended to update data collection mechanisms identified as 
standardized bycatch reporting methodologies (SBRM) and to revise 
descriptions of SBRM for consistency with current NMFS regulations. 
These Amendments ensure conformance with national guidance for 
compliance with the SBRM requirement in the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 
Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act).

DATES: The Amendments were approved on May 2, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Electronic copies of the Amendments may be obtained via the 
Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to https://www.regulations.gov and type 
NOAA-NMFS-2023-0151 in the Search box (Note: copying and pasting this 
Docket Number directly from this document may not yield search 
results). Documents can be found on the Council's website at https://www.wpcouncil.org.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brett Schumacher, Sustainable 
Fisheries Division, NMFS Pacific Islands Regional Office, 808-725-5176.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires that each regional fishery 
management council submit any fishery management plan (FMP) amendment 
it prepares to NMFS for review and approval, disapproval, or partial 
approval by the Secretary. 16 U.S.C. 1854(a). In lieu of FMPs, NMFS 
manages the fisheries in the Pacific Islands Region exclusive economic 
zone under five FEP: the American Samoa Archipelago FEP, the Hawaii 
Archipelago FEP, the Mariana Archipelago FEP, the Pacific Remote Island 
Areas (PRIA) FEP, and the Pelagic Fisheries of the Western Pacific 
Region FEP. The Western Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) 
prepared these FEPs under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, 16 
U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
    Regulations governing U.S. fisheries and implementation of the FEPs 
appear at 50 CFR parts 600 and 665. Section 303(a)(11) of the Magnuson-
Stevens Act requires that any FEP 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, minimize 
bycatch and minimize the mortality of bycatch that cannot be avoided.
    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 define SBRM as a 
consistent procedure or procedures used to collect, record, and report 
bycatch data in a fishery managed under a FEP. The SBRM regulations 
require the Council to explain how each FEP'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. The 
Council undertook a review of its FEPs to ensure they met these 
requirements. That review resulted in the Amendments referenced in this 
notice. The Amendments update data collection mechanisms identified as 
SBRM as needed, and revise descriptions of SBRM in each FEP for 
consistency with the SBRM regulations. The Amendments are 
administrative in nature and would not change any fishery data 
collection, recording, or reporting methods or requirements, and would 
not implement any new regulations.
    Further detail describing the Amendments was provided in the Notice 
of Availability (NOA) for this action and is not repeated here.

Procedural Aspects of the Amendments

    The Council submitted the Amendments to the Secretary for review on 
February 1, 2024. On February 9, 2024, NMFS published a NOA for the 
Amendments, including background on the rationale for how the 
amendments proposed to satisfy the requirements of the SBRM 
regulations, and requested public review and comment (89 FR 9111). The 
public comment period for the subject Amendments ended on April 9, 
2024. Two public comments were received pertaining to the omnibus 
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.

Comments and Responses

    NMFS received two comments in support of the omnibus Amendment.

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

    Dated: May 2, 2024.
Samuel D. Rauch, III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-09956 Filed 5-6-24; 8:45 am]
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