Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Deep-Sea Red Crab Fishery; 2014-2016 Atlantic Deep-Sea Red Crab Specifications, 13607-13609 [2014-05156]

Download as PDF mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 47 / Tuesday, March 11, 2014 / Proposed Rules Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS) or by filing paper copies. See Electronic Filing of Documents in Rulemaking Proceedings, 63 FR 24121, May 1, 1998. • Electronic Filers: Comments may be filed electronically using the Internet by accessing the ECFS: https:// fjallfoss.fcc.gov/ecfs2/. • Paper Filers: Parties who choose to file by paper must file an original and one copy of each filing. • Filings can be sent by hand or messenger delivery, by commercial overnight courier, or by first-class or overnight U.S. Postal Service mail. All filings must be addressed to the Commission’s Secretary, Office of the Secretary, Federal Communications Commission. • All hand-delivered or messengerdelivered paper filings for the Commission’s Secretary must be delivered to FCC Headquarters at 445 12th St. SW., Room TW–A325, Washington, DC 20554. The filing hours are 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. All hand deliveries must be held together with rubber bands or fasteners. Any envelopes and boxes must be disposed of before entering the building. • Commercial overnight mail (other than U.S. Postal Service Express Mail and Priority Mail) must be sent to 9300 East Hampton Drive, Capitol Heights, MD 20743. • U.S. Postal Service first-class, Express, and Priority mail must be addressed to 445 12th Street SW., Washington, DC 20554. 67. People with Disabilities. To request materials in accessible formats for people with disabilities (braille, large print, electronic files, audio format), send an email to fcc504@fcc.gov or call the Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau at 202–418–0530 (voice), 202– 418–0432 (tty). 68. In addition, one copy of each paper filing must be sent to each of the following: (1) the Commission’s duplicating contractor, Best Copy and Printing, Inc., 445 12th Street SW., Room CY–B402, Washington, DC 20554; Web site: www.bcpiweb.com; phone: (800) 378–3160; (2) Lisa Hone, Telecommunications Access Policy Division, Wireline Competition Bureau, 445 12th Street SW., Room 6–A326, Washington, DC 20554; email: Lisa.Hone@fcc.gov; and (3) Charles Tyler, Telecommunications Access Policy Division, Wireline Competition Bureau, 445 12th Street SW., Room 5– A452, Washington, DC 20554; email: Charles.Tyler@fcc.gov. 69. Filing and comments are also available for public inspection and copying during regular business hours VerDate Mar<15>2010 16:13 Mar 10, 2014 Jkt 232001 at the FCC Reference Information Center, Portals II, 445 12th Street SW., Room CY–A257, Washington, DC 20554. Copies may also be purchased from the Commission’s duplicating contractor, BCPI, 445 12th Street SW., Room CY– B402, Washington, DC 20554. Customers may contact BCPI through its Web site: www.bcpi.com, by email at fcc@bcpiweb.com, by telephone at (202) 488–5300 or (800) 378–3160 or by facsimile at (202) 488–5563. 70. Comments and reply comments must include a short and concise summary of the substantive arguments raised in the pleading. Comments and reply comments must also comply with § 1.49 and all other applicable sections of the Commission’s rules. We direct all interested parties to include the name of the filing party and the date of the filing on each page of their comments and reply comments. All parties are encouraged to utilize a table of contents, regardless of the length of their submission. We also strongly encourage parties to track the organization set forth in this document in order to facilitate our internal review process. 71. For additional information on this proceeding, contact James Bachtell at (202) 418–2694 or Regina Brown at (202) 418–0792 in the Telecommunications Access Policy Division, Wireline Competition Bureau. Federal Communications Commission. Trent B. Harkrader, Associate Bureau Chief, Wireline Competition Bureau. [FR Doc. 2014–05433 Filed 3–10–14; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6712–01–P DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 50 CFR Part 648 [Docket No. 140106010–4010–01] RIN 0648–XD069 Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Deep-Sea Red Crab Fishery; 2014–2016 Atlantic Deep-Sea Red Crab Specifications National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce. ACTION: Proposed specifications; request for comments. AGENCY: 13607 intent of this action is to establish the allowable 2014–2016 harvest levels and other management measures to achieve the target fishing mortality rate, consistent with the Atlantic Deep-Sea Red Crab Fishery Management Plan. DATES: Comments must be received on or before March 26, 2014. ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by NOAA–NMFS–2014–0004, by any one of the following methods: • Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic public comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking portal. Go to www.regulations.gov/ #!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-20140004, click the ‘‘Comment Now!’’ icon, complete the required fields, and enter or attach your comments. • Mail: Submit written comments to John Bullard, Regional Administrator, NMFS, Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, 55 Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930. 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 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 publically accessible. 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, or Adobe PDF file formats only. Copies of the specifications document, including the Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (IRFA) and other supporting documents for the specifications, are available from Thomas A. Nies, Executive Director, New England Fishery Management Council, 50 Water Street, Mill 2, Newburyport, MA 01950. The specifications document is also accessible via the Internet at: https:// www.nero.noaa.gov. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Carly Bari, Fishery Management Specialist, (978) 281–9224. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Background The Atlantic deep-sea red crab fishery is managed by the New England Fishery SUMMARY: NMFS proposes specifications Management Council (Council). for the 2014–2016 Atlantic deep-sea red Regulations implementing the Atlantic crab fishery, including an annual catch Deep-Sea Red Crab Fishery Management limit and total allowable landings. The Plan (FMP) appear at 50 CFR part 648, PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 4702 Sfmt 4702 E:\FR\FM\11MRP1.SGM 11MRP1 13608 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 47 / Tuesday, March 11, 2014 / Proposed Rules mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS subparts A and M. The regulations requiring triennial specifications are found at § 648.260. The FMP requires the Council to recommend, on a triennial basis, the annual catch limit (ACL) and total allowable landings (TAL) that will control the fishing mortality rate (F). Estimates of stock size, coupled with the target F, allow for a calculation of acceptable biological catch (ABC), which is recommended by the Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC). The annual review process for red crab requires that the SSC review and make recommendations based on the best available scientific information, including catch/landing statistics, current estimates of fishing mortality, stock abundance, and juvenile recruitment. Based on the recommendations of the SSC, the Council makes a recommendation to the NMFS Regional Administrator. The Council’s recommendations must include supporting documentation concerning the environmental, economic, and social impacts of the recommendations. NMFS is responsible for reviewing these recommendations to ensure that they achieve the FMP objectives, and may modify them if they do not. NMFS then publishes proposed specifications in the Federal Register, and after considering public comment, NMFS will publish final specifications in the Federal Register. The FMP was implemented in October 2002 and was originally managed under a target total allowable catch (TAC) and days-at-sea (DAS) system that allocated DAS equally across the fleet of limited access permitted vessels. Amendment 3 to the FMP removed trip limit restrictions, and replaced the target TAC and DAS allocation with a TAL in order to ensure consistency with the ACL and accountability measure requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). Under Amendment 3, the 2011–2013 red crab specifications were set with an ABC equal to the long-term average landings of the directed red crab fishery (3.91 million lb, 1,775 mt), due to the lack of better scientific information on the red crab stock. Proposed Specifications Biological and Management Reference Points The biological and management reference points currently in the Red Crab FMP are used to determine whether overfishing is occurring or if the stock is overfished. However, these VerDate Mar<15>2010 16:13 Mar 10, 2014 Jkt 232001 reference points for red crab do not currently meet Magnuson-Stevens Act National Standard 1 criteria. As a result, there is insufficient information on the species to establish the maximum sustainable yield (MSY), optimum yield (OY), or overfishing limit (OFL), and ABC is defined in terms of landings instead of total catch. 2014–2016 Catch Limits The Council’s recommendation for the 2014–2016 red crab specifications are based on the results of the most recent peer-reviewed assessment of the red crab fishery carried out by the Data Poor Stocks Working Group in 2009 and recommendations from the SSC. The proposed specifications include a TAL that is the same as levels currently in effect under Amendment 3. Based on this information and the SSC’s recommendation, the Council believes the TAL is safely below an undetermined overfishing threshold and adequately accounts for scientific uncertainty. Recent landings, landing per unit of effort, port samples, discard information, and economic data suggest there has been no change in the size of the red crab stock since Amendment 3 was implemented in 2011. Therefore, the Council is proposing status quo specifications for the 2014–2016 fishing years: mt MSY .................. OFL ................... OY ..................... Million lb this action are contained at the beginning of this preamble and in the SUMMARY. A summary of the analysis follows. A copy of this analysis is available from the Council (see ADDRESSES). All of the entities (fishing vessels) affected by this action are considered small entities under the Small Business Administration size standards for small shellfishing businesses (i.e., they have less than $5.0 million in annual gross sales). Therefore, there are no disproportionate effects on small versus large entities. This action does not introduce any new reporting, recordkeeping, or other compliance requirements. This proposed rule does not duplicate, overlap, or conflict with other Federal rules. The participants in the commercial red crab fishery were defined as those vessels issued limited access red crab permits. Information about vessel ownership has been made available for all federal permit holders, which allows for the identification of business entities that comprise multiple fishing vessels. As of December 2013, there are two business entities and four vessels with limited access red crab permits actively operating in the red crab fishery. The total value of landings from all sources from 2010 to 2012 averaged $3.46 million, so all business entities in the harvested sector can be categorized as small businesses for the purpose of the RFA. undetermined. undetermined. undetermined. Commercial Fishery Impacts The proposed action will affect all business entities and four vessels in the ABC .................. 1,775 3.91. directed red crab fishery. However, it is ACL ................... 1,775 3.91. not expected to have any impact on the TAL ................... 1,775 3.91. gross or average revenues for the fishery because it does not change the total Classification allowable landings level, which is 3.913 Pursuant to section 304(b)(1)(A) of the million lb (1,775 mt). This harvest level Magnuson-Stevens Fishery is substantially higher than average Conservation and Management Act landings in recent years (3.097 million (Magnuson-Stevens Act), the NMFS lb (1,404 mt) from fishing years 2010– Assistant Administrator has determined 2012), and is not expected to constrain that this proposed rule is consistent landings unless markets for red crab with the Atlantic Deep-Sea Red Crab substantially improve or major new FMP, other provisions of the Magnuson- markets develop. Information on costs in the fishery is Stevens Act, and other applicable law, not readily available and individual subject to further consideration after vessel profitability cannot be public comment. These proposed specifications are determined directly; therefore, expected exempt from review under Executive changes in gross revenues were used as Order 12866. a proxy for profitability. For the four An IRFA was prepared, as required by participating vessels in 2010–2012, section 603 of the Regulatory Flexibility average total sales were $865,272 per Act (RFA), which describes the vessel per year. Because the proposed economic impact this proposed rule, if action would retain current harvest adopted, would have on small entities. levels, it would not directly constrain or A description of the action, why it is reduce the gross revenues per vessel, being considered, and the legal basis for nor would it impact the profits of PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 4702 Sfmt 4702 E:\FR\FM\11MRP1.SGM 11MRP1 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 47 / Tuesday, March 11, 2014 / Proposed Rules individual vessels. Therefore, it is not necessary to analyze impacts according to the dependence of each vessel in the red crab fishery. Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. 13609 Dated: March 5, 2014. Eileen Sobeck, Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. [FR Doc. 2014–05156 Filed 3–10–14; 8:45 am] mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS BILLING CODE 3510–22–P VerDate Mar<15>2010 16:13 Mar 10, 2014 Jkt 232001 PO 00000 Frm 00018 Fmt 4702 Sfmt 9990 E:\FR\FM\11MRP1.SGM 11MRP1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 47 (Tuesday, March 11, 2014)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 13607-13609]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-05156]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 140106010-4010-01]
RIN 0648-XD069


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Deep-Sea 
Red Crab Fishery; 2014-2016 Atlantic Deep-Sea Red Crab Specifications

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

ACTION: Proposed specifications; request for comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: NMFS proposes specifications for the 2014-2016 Atlantic deep-
sea red crab fishery, including an annual catch limit and total 
allowable landings. The intent of this action is to establish the 
allowable 2014-2016 harvest levels and other management measures to 
achieve the target fishing mortality rate, consistent with the Atlantic 
Deep-Sea Red Crab Fishery Management Plan.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before March 26, 2014.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by NOAA-NMFS-2014-0004, 
by any one of the following methods:
     Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic public 
comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking portal. Go to 
www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2014-0004, click the 
``Comment Now!'' icon, complete the required fields, and enter or 
attach your comments.
     Mail: Submit written comments to John Bullard, Regional 
Administrator, NMFS, Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, 55 
Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930.
    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 
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 publically accessible. 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, or Adobe PDF file formats only.
    Copies of the specifications document, including the Initial 
Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (IRFA) and other supporting documents 
for the specifications, are available from Thomas A. Nies, Executive 
Director, New England Fishery Management Council, 50 Water Street, Mill 
2, Newburyport, MA 01950. The specifications document is also 
accessible via the Internet at: https://www.nero.noaa.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Carly Bari, Fishery Management 
Specialist, (978) 281-9224.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Atlantic deep-sea red crab fishery is managed by the New 
England Fishery Management Council (Council). Regulations implementing 
the Atlantic Deep-Sea Red Crab Fishery Management Plan (FMP) appear at 
50 CFR part 648,

[[Page 13608]]

subparts A and M. The regulations requiring triennial specifications 
are found at Sec.  648.260.
    The FMP requires the Council to recommend, on a triennial basis, 
the annual catch limit (ACL) and total allowable landings (TAL) that 
will control the fishing mortality rate (F). Estimates of stock size, 
coupled with the target F, allow for a calculation of acceptable 
biological catch (ABC), which is recommended by the Council's 
Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC). The annual review process 
for red crab requires that the SSC review and make recommendations 
based on the best available scientific information, including catch/
landing statistics, current estimates of fishing mortality, stock 
abundance, and juvenile recruitment. Based on the recommendations of 
the SSC, the Council makes a recommendation to the NMFS Regional 
Administrator.
    The Council's recommendations must include supporting documentation 
concerning the environmental, economic, and social impacts of the 
recommendations. NMFS is responsible for reviewing these 
recommendations to ensure that they achieve the FMP objectives, and may 
modify them if they do not. NMFS then publishes proposed specifications 
in the Federal Register, and after considering public comment, NMFS 
will publish final specifications in the Federal Register.
    The FMP was implemented in October 2002 and was originally managed 
under a target total allowable catch (TAC) and days-at-sea (DAS) system 
that allocated DAS equally across the fleet of limited access permitted 
vessels. Amendment 3 to the FMP removed trip limit restrictions, and 
replaced the target TAC and DAS allocation with a TAL in order to 
ensure consistency with the ACL and accountability measure requirements 
of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 
(Magnuson-Stevens Act). Under Amendment 3, the 2011-2013 red crab 
specifications were set with an ABC equal to the long-term average 
landings of the directed red crab fishery (3.91 million lb, 1,775 mt), 
due to the lack of better scientific information on the red crab stock.

Proposed Specifications

Biological and Management Reference Points

    The biological and management reference points currently in the Red 
Crab FMP are used to determine whether overfishing is occurring or if 
the stock is overfished. However, these reference points for red crab 
do not currently meet Magnuson-Stevens Act National Standard 1 
criteria. As a result, there is insufficient information on the species 
to establish the maximum sustainable yield (MSY), optimum yield (OY), 
or overfishing limit (OFL), and ABC is defined in terms of landings 
instead of total catch.

2014-2016 Catch Limits

    The Council's recommendation for the 2014-2016 red crab 
specifications are based on the results of the most recent peer-
reviewed assessment of the red crab fishery carried out by the Data 
Poor Stocks Working Group in 2009 and recommendations from the SSC. The 
proposed specifications include a TAL that is the same as levels 
currently in effect under Amendment 3. Based on this information and 
the SSC's recommendation, the Council believes the TAL is safely below 
an undetermined overfishing threshold and adequately accounts for 
scientific uncertainty.
    Recent landings, landing per unit of effort, port samples, discard 
information, and economic data suggest there has been no change in the 
size of the red crab stock since Amendment 3 was implemented in 2011. 
Therefore, the Council is proposing status quo specifications for the 
2014-2016 fishing years:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                     mt       Million lb
------------------------------------------------------------------------
MSY...........................................        undetermined.
OFL...........................................        undetermined.
OY............................................        undetermined.
                                               -------------------------
ABC...........................................        1,775        3.91.
ACL...........................................        1,775        3.91.
TAL...........................................        1,775        3.91.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

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 Atlantic Deep-Sea Red Crab FMP, other provisions of 
the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and other applicable law, subject to further 
consideration after public comment.
    These proposed specifications are exempt from review under 
Executive Order 12866.
    An IRFA was prepared, as required by section 603 of the Regulatory 
Flexibility Act (RFA), which describes the economic impact this 
proposed rule, if adopted, would have on small entities. A description 
of the action, why it is being considered, and the legal basis for this 
action are contained at the beginning of this preamble and in the 
SUMMARY. A summary of the analysis follows. A copy of this analysis is 
available from the Council (see ADDRESSES).
    All of the entities (fishing vessels) affected by this action are 
considered small entities under the Small Business Administration size 
standards for small shellfishing businesses (i.e., they have less than 
$5.0 million in annual gross sales). Therefore, there are no 
disproportionate effects on small versus large entities.
    This action does not introduce any new reporting, recordkeeping, or 
other compliance requirements. This proposed rule does not duplicate, 
overlap, or conflict with other Federal rules.
    The participants in the commercial red crab fishery were defined as 
those vessels issued limited access red crab permits. Information about 
vessel ownership has been made available for all federal permit 
holders, which allows for the identification of business entities that 
comprise multiple fishing vessels. As of December 2013, there are two 
business entities and four vessels with limited access red crab permits 
actively operating in the red crab fishery. The total value of landings 
from all sources from 2010 to 2012 averaged $3.46 million, so all 
business entities in the harvested sector can be categorized as small 
businesses for the purpose of the RFA.

Commercial Fishery Impacts

    The proposed action will affect all business entities and four 
vessels in the directed red crab fishery. However, it is not expected 
to have any impact on the gross or average revenues for the fishery 
because it does not change the total allowable landings level, which is 
3.913 million lb (1,775 mt). This harvest level is substantially higher 
than average landings in recent years (3.097 million lb (1,404 mt) from 
fishing years 2010-2012), and is not expected to constrain landings 
unless markets for red crab substantially improve or major new markets 
develop.
    Information on costs in the fishery is not readily available and 
individual vessel profitability cannot be determined directly; 
therefore, expected changes in gross revenues were used as a proxy for 
profitability. For the four participating vessels in 2010-2012, average 
total sales were $865,272 per vessel per year. Because the proposed 
action would retain current harvest levels, it would not directly 
constrain or reduce the gross revenues per vessel, nor would it impact 
the profits of

[[Page 13609]]

individual vessels. Therefore, it is not necessary to analyze impacts 
according to the dependence of each vessel in the red crab fishery.

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

    Dated: March 5, 2014.
Eileen Sobeck,
Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2014-05156 Filed 3-10-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P

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