Fisheries Off West Coast States; Highly Migratory Species Fisheries; Amendment 2, 13592-13593 [2011-5868]
Download as PDF
13592
Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 49 / Monday, March 14, 2011 / Proposed Rules
harvested. Notwithstanding the
definition of ‘‘harvest’’ at § 600.10, for
the purposes of this part, transfer
includes, but is not limited to, moving
or attempting to move an Atlantic tuna
that is on fishing gear in the water from
one vessel to another vessel. However,
an owner or operator of a vessel for
which a Purse Seine category Atlantic
Tunas category permit has been issued
under § 635.4 may transfer large
medium and giant BFT at sea from the
net of the catching vessel to another
vessel for which a Purse Seine category
Atlantic Tunas permit has been issued,
provided the amount transferred does
not cause the receiving vessel to exceed
its currently authorized vessel
allocation, including incidental catch
limits.
*
*
*
*
*
5. In § 635.30, paragraph (a) is revised
to read as follows:
§ 635.30
Possession at sea and landing.
(a) Atlantic tunas. Persons that own or
operate a fishing vessel that possesses
an Atlantic tuna in the Atlantic Ocean
or that lands an Atlantic tuna in an
Atlantic coastal port must maintain
such Atlantic tuna through offloading
either in round form or eviscerated with
the head and fins removed, provided
one pectoral fin and the tail remain
attached. The upper and lower lobes of
the tuna tail may be removed for storage
purposes as long as the fork of the tail
remains intact.
*
*
*
*
*
[FR Doc. 2011–5858 Filed 3–11–11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
50 CFR Part 660
RIN 0648–BA35
Fisheries Off West Coast States;
Highly Migratory Species Fisheries;
Amendment 2
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of availability of an
amendment to a fishery management
plan; request for comments.
erowe on DSK5CLS3C1PROD with PROPOSALS-1
AGENCY:
NMFS announces that the
Pacific Fishery Management Council
(Council) has submitted Amendment 2
to the Fishery Management Plan for U.S.
West Coast Fisheries for Highly
Migratory Species (HMS FMP) for
SUMMARY:
VerDate Mar<15>2010
14:53 Mar 11, 2011
Jkt 223001
Secretarial review. Amendment 2 would
modify the current suite of management
unit species, establish a new category of
ecosystem component species, modify
the process for revising numerical
estimates of maximum sustainable yield
and optimal yield, and specify status
determination criteria so that
overfishing and overfished
determinations can be made for all
management unit species.
DATES: Comments on Amendment 2
must be received on or before May 13,
2011.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments
on the NOA identified by ‘‘RIN 0648–
BA35’’, by any of the following methods:
• Federal e-Rulemaking portal:
https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments.
• Mail: Rodney R. McInnis, Regional
Administrator, Southwest Region,
NMFS, 501 West Ocean Boulevard,
Suite 4200, Long Beach, CA 90802.
• Fax: (562) 980–4047.
Instructions: All comments received
are part of the public record and
generally will be posted to https://
www.regulations.gov without change.
All personal identifying information (for
example, name and address) voluntarily
submitted by the commenter may be
publicly accessible. Do not submit
confidential business information or
otherwise sensitive or protected
information. NMFS will accept
anonymous comments (if submitting
comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking
portal, enter ‘‘N/A’’ in the relevant
required fields if you wish to remain
anonymous). Attachments to electronic
comments will be accepted in Microsoft
Word or Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe
PDF file formats only. Copies of the
draft EA and RIR prepared for this
proposed rule are available at https://
swr.nmfs.noaa.gov/ or may be obtained
from Rodney R. McInnis (see
ADDRESSES).
Copies of Amendment 2, which
includes an Environmental Assessment/
Regulatory Impact Review, are available
from Donald O. McIssac, Executive
Director, Pacific Fishery Management
Council, 7700 NE Ambassador Place,
Suite 200, Portland, Oregon 97220–
1384.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Craig Heberer, Sustainable Fisheries
Division, NMFS, at 760–431–9440, ext.
303 or Kit Dahl, Pacific Fishery
Management Council, at 503–820–2422.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act
(MSA), 18 U.S.C. 1801 et seq., requires
each regional fishery management
council to submit any amendment to an
PO 00000
Frm 00067
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
FMP to NMFS for review and approval,
disapproval, or partial approval. The
MSA also requires that NMFS, upon
receiving an amendment to an FMP,
immediately publish notification in the
Federal Register that the amendment is
available for public review and
comment. NMFS will consider the
public comments received during the
public comment period in determining
whether to approve, disapprove, or
partially approve Amendment 2.
Amendment 2 would revise the HMS
FMP to ensure it is consistent with
advisory guidelines published at 50 CFR
600.310. The guidelines describe fishery
management approaches to meet the
objectives of National Standard 1 (NS1)
of the MSA, Section 301. The
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management
Reauthorization Act of 2006 (MSRA)
amended the MSA to include new
requirements for annual catch limits
(ACLs) and accountability measures
(AMs) and other provisions regarding
preventing and ending overfishing and
rebuilding fisheries. NMFS revised NS1
Guidelines in response to these changes
in the MSA. The NS1 Guidelines were
published in the Federal Register on
January 16, 2009. The Guidelines are
intended to meet the objectives of NS1
by providing guidance on:
1. Specifying maximum sustainable
yield (MSY) and optimal yield (OY);
2. Specifying status determination
criteria (SDC) so that overfishing and
overfished determinations can be made
for stocks and stock complexes that are
part of a fishery;
3. Preventing overfishing and
achieving OY, incorporation of
scientific and management uncertainty
in control rules, and adaptive
management using ACLs and measures
to ensure accountability (AM); and
4. Rebuilding stocks and stock
complexes.
The revisions to the NS1 guidelines
also dictate that fisheries undergoing
overfishing have ACLs and AMs in
place to end overfishing by 2010, and all
fisheries to have ACLs and AMs in place
to prevent or end overfishing by 2011,
and beyond. However, a stock or stock
complex may not require an ACL and
AMs if it qualifies for an MSRA-defined
exception. The most important of these
with respect to highly migratory species
is the so-called ‘‘international
exception’’ described at
§ 660.310(h)(2)(ii) for stocks managed
under an international agreement to
which the United States is a party. The
NS1 Guidelines also have other
provisions related to classifying stocks
in the FMP.
E:\FR\FM\14MRP1.SGM
14MRP1
erowe on DSK5CLS3C1PROD with PROPOSALS-1
Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 49 / Monday, March 14, 2011 / Proposed Rules
In November 2009 the Council
reviewed the Highly Migratory Species
Management Team’s (Management
Team) recommendations on the range of
issues related to amending the HMS
FMP and provided further guidance on
developing alternatives based on the
following topics:
(1) Classification of stocks in the HMS
FMP as management unit species or
ecosystem component species;
(2) Potential application of the MSRA
international exception for ACL
requirements to management unit
species in the HMS FMP;
(3) Determining the primary fishery
management plan for managed species
covered by both the HMS FMP and the
Western Pacific Fishery Management
Council’s Pelagics Fishery Ecosystem
Plan; and
(4) Establishing biological reference
points and accountability measures.
At their April 2010 meeting, the
Council adopted a set of alternatives for
public review that were made available
in the form of a preliminary draft
environmental assessment. At the June
2010 meeting the Council took final
action to adopt the preferred alternative,
addressing the four issue areas listed
above in the following manner: Bigeye
thresher, Alopias superciliosus, and
pelagic thresher, A. pelagicus, would be
reclassified as ecosystem component
species resulting in a total of 11
management unit species versus the
current 13 management unit species
under status quo. Based on these
considerations there would be eight
ecosystem component species included
in the HMS FMP, including the two
thresher shark species that are currently
management unit species.
The international exception to setting
ACLs described at § 660.310(h)(2)(ii)
would be applied to all management
unit species because they are subject to
management by the Inter-American
Tropical Tuna Commission, of which
the U.S. is a member. The HMS FMP
would be amended to discuss the
process by which NMFS would make a
determination of the primary FMP in
consultation with the Western Pacific
Fishery Management Council. The
determination will be based on the
stock, or portion of the stock (if stock
structure is poorly understood and catch
data is limited), for which reference
points will be identified. The existing
numerical estimates of MSY (or
proxies), OY, and SDC, including the
overfishing limit, would be retained.
Upon the receipt of any new
information based on the best available
science, the Council may periodically
adjust the numerical estimates of MSY,
OY, and SDC. The adjustment would
VerDate Mar<15>2010
14:53 Mar 11, 2011
Jkt 223001
follow an established protocol whereby
the HMSMT proposes MSY and OY
estimates based on the best available
science, which are included in the draft
HMS Stock Assessment and Fishery
Evaluation (SAFE) document submitted
to the Council in June. The Council’s
Science and Statistical Committee
would review the estimates and make a
recommendation on their suitability for
management. The Council would then
decide whether to adopt updated
numerical estimates of MSY and OY,
which would be submitted as
recommendations for NMFS to review
as part of the management cycle
process. This provides the opportunity
for Secretarial review of revised MSY
and OY estimates. In this process the
Council would take final action in
November and then NMFS would
engage in rulemaking to implement the
specifications and any management
measures proposed by the Council.
The Council has submitted a
proposed rule to implement
Amendment 2 for Secretarial review.
NMFS expects to publish and request
public comment on the proposed rule in
the near future.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: March 9, 2011.
Emily H. Menashes,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable
Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries.
[FR Doc. 2011–5868 Filed 3–11–11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
50 CFR Part 680
RIN 0648–AY33
Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic
Zone Off Alaska; Bering Sea and
Aleutian Islands Crab Rationalization
Program; Amendment 34
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of availability of a
proposed amendment to a fishery
management plan; request for
comments.
AGENCY:
The North Pacific Fishery
Management Council submitted
Amendment 34 to the Fishery
Management Plan for Bering Sea/
Aleutian Islands King and Tanner Crabs
to NMFS for review. If approved,
Amendment 34 would amend the
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
Frm 00068
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
13593
Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Crab
Rationalization Program to exempt
additional recipients of crab quota share
from Gulf of Alaska Pacific cod and
pollock harvest limits, called
sideboards, which apply to some vessels
and license limitation program licenses
that are used to participate in these
fisheries. The North Pacific Fishery
Management Council determined that
these additional recipients
demonstrated a sufficient level of
historical participation in Gulf of Alaska
Pacific cod or pollock fisheries, and that
they should be exempt from the current
sideboards. This action is necessary to
give these recipients an opportunity to
participate in the Gulf of Alaska Pacific
cod and pollock fisheries at historical
levels. This action is intended to
promote the goals and objectives of the
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act, the
Fishery Management Plan for Bering
Sea/Aleutian Islands King and Tanner
Crabs, and other applicable laws.
DATES: Comments on the amendment
must be submitted on or before May 13,
2011.
ADDRESSES: Send comments to Dr.
James Balsiger, Regional Administrator,
Alaska Region, NMFS, Attn: Ellen
Sebastian. You may submit comments,
identified by ‘‘RIN 0648–AY33,’’ by any
one of the following methods:
• Electronic Submissions: Submit all
electronic public comments via the
Federal eRulemaking Portal Web site at
https://www.regulations.gov.
• Mail: P. O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK
99802.
• Fax: 907–586–7557.
• Hand Delivery to the Federal
Building: 709 West 9th Street, Room
420A, Juneau, AK.
All comments received are a part of
the public record. No comments will be
posted to https://www.regulations.gov for
public viewing until after the comment
period has closed. Comments will
generally be posted without change. All
personal identifying information (e.g.,
name, address) voluntarily submitted by
the commenter may be publicly
accessible. Do not submit confidential
business information or otherwise
sensitive or protected information.
NMFS will accept anonymous
comments (enter N/A in the required
fields, if you wish to remain
anonymous). Attachments to electronic
comments will be accepted in Microsoft
Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe
portable document file (pdf) formats
only.
Electronic copies of Amendment 34 to
the Fishery Management Plan for Bering
Sea/Aleutian Islands King and Tanner
E:\FR\FM\14MRP1.SGM
14MRP1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 49 (Monday, March 14, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 13592-13593]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-5868]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 660
RIN 0648-BA35
Fisheries Off West Coast States; Highly Migratory Species
Fisheries; Amendment 2
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of availability of an amendment to a fishery management
plan; request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the Pacific Fishery Management Council
(Council) has submitted Amendment 2 to the Fishery Management Plan for
U.S. West Coast Fisheries for Highly Migratory Species (HMS FMP) for
Secretarial review. Amendment 2 would modify the current suite of
management unit species, establish a new category of ecosystem
component species, modify the process for revising numerical estimates
of maximum sustainable yield and optimal yield, and specify status
determination criteria so that overfishing and overfished
determinations can be made for all management unit species.
DATES: Comments on Amendment 2 must be received on or before May 13,
2011.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on the NOA identified by ``RIN 0648-
BA35'', by any of the following methods:
Federal e-Rulemaking portal: https://www.regulations.gov.
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
Mail: Rodney R. McInnis, Regional Administrator, Southwest
Region, NMFS, 501 West Ocean Boulevard, Suite 4200, Long Beach, CA
90802.
Fax: (562) 980-4047.
Instructions: All comments received are part of the public record
and generally will be posted to https://www.regulations.gov without
change. All personal identifying information (for example, name and
address) voluntarily submitted by the commenter may be publicly
accessible. Do not submit confidential business information or
otherwise sensitive or protected information. NMFS will accept
anonymous comments (if submitting comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking
portal, enter ``N/A'' in the relevant required fields if you wish to
remain anonymous). Attachments to electronic comments will be accepted
in Microsoft Word or Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe PDF file formats
only. Copies of the draft EA and RIR prepared for this proposed rule
are available at https://swr.nmfs.noaa.gov/ or may be obtained from
Rodney R. McInnis (see ADDRESSES).
Copies of Amendment 2, which includes an Environmental Assessment/
Regulatory Impact Review, are available from Donald O. McIssac,
Executive Director, Pacific Fishery Management Council, 7700 NE
Ambassador Place, Suite 200, Portland, Oregon 97220-1384.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Craig Heberer, Sustainable Fisheries
Division, NMFS, at 760-431-9440, ext. 303 or Kit Dahl, Pacific Fishery
Management Council, at 503-820-2422.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation
and Management Act (MSA), 18 U.S.C. 1801 et seq., requires each
regional fishery management council to submit any amendment to an FMP
to NMFS for review and approval, disapproval, or partial approval. The
MSA also requires that NMFS, upon receiving an amendment to an FMP,
immediately publish notification in the Federal Register that the
amendment is available for public review and comment. NMFS will
consider the public comments received during the public comment period
in determining whether to approve, disapprove, or partially approve
Amendment 2.
Amendment 2 would revise the HMS FMP to ensure it is consistent
with advisory guidelines published at 50 CFR 600.310. The guidelines
describe fishery management approaches to meet the objectives of
National Standard 1 (NS1) of the MSA, Section 301. The Magnuson-Stevens
Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act of 2006 (MSRA)
amended the MSA to include new requirements for annual catch limits
(ACLs) and accountability measures (AMs) and other provisions regarding
preventing and ending overfishing and rebuilding fisheries. NMFS
revised NS1 Guidelines in response to these changes in the MSA. The NS1
Guidelines were published in the Federal Register on January 16, 2009.
The Guidelines are intended to meet the objectives of NS1 by providing
guidance on:
1. Specifying maximum sustainable yield (MSY) and optimal yield
(OY);
2. Specifying status determination criteria (SDC) so that
overfishing and overfished determinations can be made for stocks and
stock complexes that are part of a fishery;
3. Preventing overfishing and achieving OY, incorporation of
scientific and management uncertainty in control rules, and adaptive
management using ACLs and measures to ensure accountability (AM); and
4. Rebuilding stocks and stock complexes.
The revisions to the NS1 guidelines also dictate that fisheries
undergoing overfishing have ACLs and AMs in place to end overfishing by
2010, and all fisheries to have ACLs and AMs in place to prevent or end
overfishing by 2011, and beyond. However, a stock or stock complex may
not require an ACL and AMs if it qualifies for an MSRA-defined
exception. The most important of these with respect to highly migratory
species is the so-called ``international exception'' described at Sec.
660.310(h)(2)(ii) for stocks managed under an international agreement
to which the United States is a party. The NS1 Guidelines also have
other provisions related to classifying stocks in the FMP.
[[Page 13593]]
In November 2009 the Council reviewed the Highly Migratory Species
Management Team's (Management Team) recommendations on the range of
issues related to amending the HMS FMP and provided further guidance on
developing alternatives based on the following topics:
(1) Classification of stocks in the HMS FMP as management unit
species or ecosystem component species;
(2) Potential application of the MSRA international exception for
ACL requirements to management unit species in the HMS FMP;
(3) Determining the primary fishery management plan for managed
species covered by both the HMS FMP and the Western Pacific Fishery
Management Council's Pelagics Fishery Ecosystem Plan; and
(4) Establishing biological reference points and accountability
measures.
At their April 2010 meeting, the Council adopted a set of
alternatives for public review that were made available in the form of
a preliminary draft environmental assessment. At the June 2010 meeting
the Council took final action to adopt the preferred alternative,
addressing the four issue areas listed above in the following manner:
Bigeye thresher, Alopias superciliosus, and pelagic thresher, A.
pelagicus, would be reclassified as ecosystem component species
resulting in a total of 11 management unit species versus the current
13 management unit species under status quo. Based on these
considerations there would be eight ecosystem component species
included in the HMS FMP, including the two thresher shark species that
are currently management unit species.
The international exception to setting ACLs described at Sec.
660.310(h)(2)(ii) would be applied to all management unit species
because they are subject to management by the Inter-American Tropical
Tuna Commission, of which the U.S. is a member. The HMS FMP would be
amended to discuss the process by which NMFS would make a determination
of the primary FMP in consultation with the Western Pacific Fishery
Management Council. The determination will be based on the stock, or
portion of the stock (if stock structure is poorly understood and catch
data is limited), for which reference points will be identified. The
existing numerical estimates of MSY (or proxies), OY, and SDC,
including the overfishing limit, would be retained. Upon the receipt of
any new information based on the best available science, the Council
may periodically adjust the numerical estimates of MSY, OY, and SDC.
The adjustment would follow an established protocol whereby the HMSMT
proposes MSY and OY estimates based on the best available science,
which are included in the draft HMS Stock Assessment and Fishery
Evaluation (SAFE) document submitted to the Council in June. The
Council's Science and Statistical Committee would review the estimates
and make a recommendation on their suitability for management. The
Council would then decide whether to adopt updated numerical estimates
of MSY and OY, which would be submitted as recommendations for NMFS to
review as part of the management cycle process. This provides the
opportunity for Secretarial review of revised MSY and OY estimates. In
this process the Council would take final action in November and then
NMFS would engage in rulemaking to implement the specifications and any
management measures proposed by the Council.
The Council has submitted a proposed rule to implement Amendment 2
for Secretarial review. NMFS expects to publish and request public
comment on the proposed rule in the near future.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: March 9, 2011.
Emily H. Menashes,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries.
[FR Doc. 2011-5868 Filed 3-11-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P