Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fisheries; 2016-2018 Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Specifications, 69179-69187 [2015-28444]
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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 216 / Monday, November 9, 2015 / Proposed Rules
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SUMMARY:
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69179
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Fisheries of the Northeastern United
States; Summer Flounder, Scup, and
Black Sea Bass Fisheries; 2016–2018
Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black
Sea Bass Specifications
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Proposed specifications; request
for comments.
AGENCY:
NMFS proposes specifications
for the 2016–2018 summer flounder and
scup fisheries and for the 2016–2017
black sea bass fishery. The
implementing regulations for the
Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea
Bass Fishery Management Plan require
us to publish specifications for the
upcoming fishing year for each of these
species and to provide an opportunity
for public comment. This action is
intended to propose for implementation
specifications necessary to constrain
harvest for these three species within
SUMMARY:
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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 216 / Monday, November 9, 2015 / Proposed Rules
scientifically sound recommendations
to prevent overfishing.
DATES: Comments must be received on
or before November 24, 2015.
ADDRESSES: An environmental
assessment (EA) was prepared for the
specifications and describes the
proposed action and other considered
alternatives, and provides an analysis of
the impacts of the proposed measures
and alternatives. Copies of the
Specifications Document, including the
EA and the Initial Regulatory Flexibility
Analysis (IRFA), are available on
request from Dr. Christopher M. Moore,
Executive Director, Mid-Atlantic
Fishery Management Council, Suite 201,
800 North State Street, Dover, DE 19901.
These documents are also accessible via
the Internet at https://www.mafmc.org.
You may submit comments on this
document, identified by NOAA–NMFS–
2015–0117, by either of the following
methods:
Electronic Submission: Submit all
electronic public comments via the
Federal e-Rulemaking Portal.
1. Go to www.regulations.gov/
#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-20150117,
2. Click the ‘‘Comment Now!’’ icon,
complete the required fields
3. Enter or attach your comments.
-ORMail: Submit written comments to
John Bullard, Regional Administrator,
National Marine Fisheries Service, 55
Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA
01950. Mark the outside of the
envelope, ‘‘Comments on the Proposed
Rule for FSB Specifications.’’
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 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 publicly accessible. NMFS will
accept anonymous comments (enter ‘‘N/
A’’ in the required fields if you wish to
remain anonymous).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Moira Kelly, Fishery Policy Analyst,
(978) 281–9218.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
General Specification Background
The Mid-Atlantic Fishery
Management Council and the Atlantic
States Marine Fisheries Commission
cooperatively manage the summer
flounder, scup, and black sea bass
fisheries. Fishery specifications in these
fisheries include various catch and
landing subdivisions, such as the
commercial and recreational sector
annual catch limits (ACLs), annual
catch targets (ACTs), and sector-specific
landing limits (i.e., the commercial
fishery quota and recreational harvest
limit) for the upcoming fishing year.
Rulemaking for measures used to
manage the recreational fisheries
(minimum fish sizes, open seasons, and
bag limits) for these three species occurs
separately and typically takes place in
the spring of each year.
The Summer Flounder, Scup, and
Black Sea Bass Fishery Management
Plan (FMP) and its implementing
regulations establish the Council’s
process for establishing specifications.
The management units specified in the
FMP include summer flounder
(Paralichthys dentatus) in U.S. waters of
the Atlantic Ocean from the southern
border of North Carolina northward to
the U.S./Canada border, and scup
(Stenotomus chrysops) and black sea
bass (Centropristis striata) in U.S.
waters of the Atlantic Ocean from 35°
13.3’ N. lat. (the latitude of Cape
Hatteras Lighthouse, Buxton, NC)
northward to the U.S./Canada border.
The FMP also contains formulas to
divide the specification catch limits into
commercial and recreational fishery
allocations, state-by-state quotas, and
quota periods, depending on the species
in question.
The Council’s Scientific and
Statistical Committee (SSC) met July
22–23, 2015, to recommend acceptable
biological catches (ABC) for the 2016–
2018 these fisheries. The Summer
Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass
Monitoring Committees met July 23–24,
2015, to discuss specification-related
recommendations for the three fisheries,
to recommend offsets from the ACL to
account for management uncertainty,
and to discuss commercial management
measure recommendations, as
appropriate. Note, because of a planned
black sea bass benchmark stock
assessment scheduled for late 2016, the
SSC only recommended interim ABCs
for 2016 and 2017. More details on the
SSC’s discussions are provided in the
fishery-specific sections below.
Following the SSC and Monitoring
Committee meetings, the Council and
the Commission’s Summer Flounder,
Scup, and Black Sea Bass Management
Board met jointly on August 12, 2015,
to consider the recommendations of the
SSC, the three Monitoring Committees,
and public comments, and to make their
specification recommendations. The
SSC and the Council met subsequently
to reconsider the black sea bass
recommendations. More complete
details on the SSC, Monitoring
Committee, and Council meeting
deliberations can be found on the
Council’s Web site (www.mafmc.org).
While the Board action was finalized
at the August meeting, the Council’s
recommendations must be reviewed by
NMFS to ensure that they comply with
the FMP and applicable law. NMFS also
must conduct notice-and-comment
rulemaking to propose and implement
the final specifications.
TABLE 1—SUMMARY OF THE PROPOSED 2016–2018 SUMMER FLOUNDER AND SCUP SPECIFICATIONS AND 2016–2017
BLACK SEA BASS SPECIFICATIONS
Summer flounder
Scup
Black sea
bass
2016
tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
Overfishing Limit (OFL) ...............
ABC .............................................
Commercial ACL/ACT .................
Recreational ACL/ACT ................
Commercial Quota ......................
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2017
2018
2016
2017
2018
18.06
8,194
16.26
7,375
9.42
4,275
6.83
3,100
8.12
3,685
19.82
8,991
15.86
7,193
9.19
4,168
6.67
3,025
7.91
3,590
22.40
10,159
15.68
7,111
9.10
4,127
6.56
2,984
7.89
3,581
35.80
16,238
31.11
14,110
24.26
11,006
6.84
3,104
20.47
9,284
32.09
14,556
28.40
12,881
22.15
10,047
6.25
2,834
18.38
8,337
29.68
13,464
27.05
12,270
21.10
9,571
5.95
2,699
17.34
7,866
million lb .....................................
mt ................................................
million lb .....................................
mt ................................................
million lb .....................................
mt ................................................
million lb .....................................
mt ................................................
million lb .....................................
mt ................................................
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09NOP1
2016–2017
n/a
n/a
6.67
3,024
3.15
1,428
3.52
1,597
2.71
1,230
69181
Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 216 / Monday, November 9, 2015 / Proposed Rules
TABLE 1—SUMMARY OF THE PROPOSED 2016–2018 SUMMER FLOUNDER AND SCUP SPECIFICATIONS AND 2016–2017
BLACK SEA BASS SPECIFICATIONS—Continued
Summer flounder
Scup
Black sea
bass
2016
Recreational Harvest Limit ..........
2017
2018
2016
2017
2018
5.42
2,457
5.28
2,393
5.26
2,387
6.09
2,763
5.50
2,495
5.21
2,361
million lb .....................................
mt ................................................
Consistent with the summer flounder,
scup, and black sea bass regulations, the
sum of the recreational and commercial
sector ACLs are equal to the ABCs. ACL
is an expression of total catch (i.e.,
landings and dead discarded fish). To
derive the ACLs, the sum of the sectorspecific projected discards are removed
from the ABCs to derive the landing
allowances. The resulting landing
allowance is apportioned to the
commercial and recreational sectors by
applying the FMP allocation criteria: (1)
Summer flounder—60 percent to the
commercial fishery and 40 percent to
the recreational fishery; (2) scup—78
percent to the commercial fishery and
22 percent to the recreational fishery;
and (3) black sea bass—49 percent to the
commercial fishery and 51 percent to
the recreational fishery. Using this
method ensures that each sector is
accountable for its respective discards,
rather than simply apportioning the
ABC by the allocation percentages to
derive the sector ACLs. Although the
derived ACLs are not split exactly
according to the FMP-specified
allocations, the landing portions of the
ACLs preserve the appropriate
allocation split, consistent with the
FMP. This process results in the
commercial and recreational ACLs,
commercial quotas, and recreational
harvest limits shown in Table 1. The
specific discard values projected for
each fishery and sector are described in
more detail below.
Proposed Specifications
Summer Flounder
This rulemaking proposes the
Council’s ABC recommendation and the
commercial and recreational catch
limits associated with that ABC for
fishing years 2016–2018.
The 2015 stock assessment update
used to established these specifications
was based on the approved model from
the 2013 benchmark assessment,
updated to include data through 2014
(https://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/publi
cations/crd/crd1513/crd1513.pdf). The
assessment update indicates that
summer flounder are not overfished, but
that overfishing did occur in 2014. The
stock status change was primarily due to
four years of below average recruitment,
leading to fewer summer flounder being
available to the fishery than had
previously been predicted.
The OFL for 2016 was estimated to be
18.06 million lb (8,194 mt), a reduction
of 33 percent from 2015. At the request
of the Council, the SSC deviated from
the standard Risk Policy and ABC
Control Rule and recommended ABCs
that ‘‘phase in’’ the required reduction
in order to minimize the economic
impact that such a reduction in a single
year’s catch limits would cause. Using
the standard ABC Control Rule, the
2016 ABC would have been 30 percent
below the OFL to account for scientific
uncertainty. As proposed, this 30percent buffer would be phased-in over
the next three years by increasing the
2016–2017
2.82
1,280
buffer by a third in each year. That is,
a 10-buffer in 2016, a 20-percent buffer
in 2017, and, finally, the full 30-percent
buffer in 2018. Each of the ABCs
derived from this approach have a less
than 50-percent probability of resulting
in overfishing. This results in relatively
stable specifications because the current
projections indicate a modest increase
in the OFL over these three years. The
SSC has requested a stock assessment
update for next summer and intends to
evaluate the available information to
determine if the proposed ABCs remain
appropriate.
The Summer Flounder Monitoring
Committee met to discuss the SSC’s
recommendations and to determine
whether additional reductions in the
catch limits were necessary to account
for management uncertainty. Because
the recreational fishery in recent years
has not substantially exceeded the
recreational harvest limit, discards in
the commercial fishery have been
relatively low, and the commercial
landings monitoring and fishery closure
system is timely, the Summer Flounder
Monitoring Committee determined that
no additional reductions to account for
management uncertainty were
necessary. Therefore, it was
recommended that the ACT (both
commercial and recreational) should be
set equal to ACL for all three years.
Removing the estimated discards results
in the commercial quotas and
recreational harvest limits shown below
in Table 2.
TABLE 2—PROPOSED 2016–2018 SUMMER FLOUNDER SPECIFICATIONS AND CALCULATIONS
2015 (current)
tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
million lb
OFL ..................................................
ABC ..................................................
ABC Landings Portion .....................
ABC Discards Portion ......................
Commercial ACL ..............................
Commercial ACT ..............................
Projected Commercial Discards ......
Commercial Quota ...........................
Recreational ACL .............................
Recreational ACT .............................
Projected Recreational Discards .....
Recreational Harvest Limit ...............
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27.06
22.77
18.45
4.32
13.34
13.34
2.27
11.07
9.44
9.44
2.06
7.38
PO 00000
2016
mt
million lb
12,275
10,329
8,368
1,961
6,049
6,049
1,028
5,021
4,280
4,280
933
3,347
Frm 00038
18.06
16.26
13.54
2.72
9.43
9.43
1.30
8.12
6.84
6.84
1.42
5.42
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2017
mt
8,194
7,375
6,142
1,233
4,275
4,275
590
3,685
3,100
3,100
643
2,457
million lb
mt
19.82
15.86
13.19
2.67
9.19
9.19
1.28
7.91
6.67
6.67
1.39
5.28
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2018
8,991
7,193
5,983
1,210
4,168
4,168
579
3,590
3,025
3,025
631
2,393
09NOP1
million lb
22.4
15.7
13.2
2.52
9.1
9.1
1.21
7.89
6.58
6.58
1.32
5.26
mt
10,159
7,111
5,968
1,143
4,127
4,127
547
3,581
2,984
2,984
596
2,387
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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 216 / Monday, November 9, 2015 / Proposed Rules
The Council and Board considered
the SSC and Summer Flounder
Monitoring Committee
recommendations before concurring
with the catch recommendations
specified in Table 2. Fishing under
these catch limits for 2016 through 2018
is not expected to compromise the
summer flounder stock, nor will fishing
at this level present a unacceptably high
likelihood of overfishing. The Council
recommended all other commercial
management measures remain status
quo.
Table 3 presents the proposed state
allocations for 2016–2018 using the
commercial state quota allocations
described in the FMP. Any commercial
quota adjustments to account for
overages will be published in the
Federal Register prior to the start of the
respective fishing year. The final rule
for this action will include any
necessary quota overage reductions for
fishing year 2016.
TABLE 3—2016–2018 PROPOSED INITIAL SUMMER FLOUNDER STATE COMMERCIAL QUOTAS
2016 initial quota
FMP percent
share
State
ME ................................
NH ................................
MA ................................
RI ..................................
CT ................................
NY ................................
NJ .................................
DE ................................
MD ................................
VA ................................
NC ................................
Total ......................
lb
0.04756
0.00046
6.82046
15.68298
2.25708
7.64699
16.72499
0.01779
2.0391
21.31676
27.44584
100
2017 initial quota
kg
3,864
37
554,097
1,274,091
183,366
621,244
1,358,744
1,445
165,657
1,731,781
2,229,709
8,124,035
lb
1,753
17
251,334
577,917
83,173
281,791
616,315
656
75,141
785,522
1,011,378
3,684,997
2018 initial quota
kg
3,764
36
539,812
1,241,244
178,639
605,228
1,323,715
1,408
161,387
1,687,135
2,172,227
7,914,596
lb
1,707
17
244,854
563,019
81,029
274,527
600,427
639
73,204
765,271
985,305
3,589,997
kg
3,755
36
538,459
1,238,133
178,191
603,711
1,320,397
1,404
160,982
1,682,906
2,166,781
7,894,754
1,703
16
244,240
561,607
80,826
273,838
598,921
637
73,020
763,353
982,835
3,580,997
Note: Kilograms are as converted from pounds and do not sum to the converted total due to rounding. Rounding of quotas results in totals
slightly exceeding 100 percent.
Scup
This rule proposes the Council’s ABC
recommendation and the commercial
and recreational catch limits associated
with that ABC for fishing years 2016–
2018.
The SSC reviewed the results of the
2015 scup benchmark stock assessment
and determined that an update to the
existing control rule was warranted. The
SSC determined that a lower coefficient
of variation, or CV, to estimate scientific
uncertainty was acceptable for the scup
stock assessment instead of the default
100-percent CV. The SSC’s ABC
recommendations are based on a 60percent CV from the OFL and are,
therefore, higher than they would have
otherwise been. In addition, the 2016
ABC is based on an assumption that
only 75 percent of the 2015 ABC would
be harvested, consistent with recent
fishery performance. The stock
assessment upon which the
specifications are based indicates that
scup biomass is currently lower than in
recent years, but still more than double
the biomass target. Therefore, the
proposed catch limits are lower than the
specifications for fishing year 2015, but
are still relatively high compared to
recent landings.
The Scup Monitoring Committee met
to discuss the SSC’s recommendations
and to determine whether additional
reductions in the catch limits were
necessary to account for management
uncertainty. Because both the
recreational and commercial fisheries
have not reached their respective
landings limits because of the very high
quotas, and the landings monitoring and
fishery closure system is timely, the
Monitoring Committee determined that
no additional reductions to account for
management uncertainty were
necessary. Therefore, it was
recommended that the ACTs (both
commercial and recreational) should be
set equal to the respective ACLs for
fishing years 2016–2018. The Council
and Board considered the SSC and Scup
Monitoring Committee
recommendations before concurring
with the catch recommendations
specified in Table 2. Fishing under
these catch limits for 2016 through 2018
is not expected to compromise the scup
stock, nor will fishing at this level
present an unacceptably high likelihood
of overfishing. The Council
recommended all other commercial
management measures remain status
quo. After deducting the appropriate
sector-specific discards, the 2016–2018
commercial quotas and recreational
harvest limits would be as described
below in Table 4.
TABLE 4—PROPOSED SCUP SPECIFICATIONS
2015 (current)
tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
mil lb
OFL ..................................................................
ABC ..................................................................
ABC Landings Portion .....................................
ABC Discards Portion ......................................
Commercial ACL ..............................................
Commercial ACT ..............................................
Projected Commercial Discards ......................
Commercial Quota ...........................................
Recreational ACL .............................................
Recreational ACT .............................................
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47.8
33.77
28.03
5.74
26.34
26.34
5.11
21.23
7.92
7.92
Frm 00039
mt
21,680
15,320
12,716
2,604
11,950
11,950
2,318
9,632
3,592
3,592
Fmt 4702
2016
mil lb
35.8
31.11
26.56
4.55
24.26
24.26
3.8
20.47
6.84
6.84
Sfmt 4702
2017
mt
16,238
14,110
12,047
2,063
11,006
11,006
1,721
9,284
3,104
3,104
mil lb
mt
32.09
28.4
23.88
4.52
22.15
22.15
3.77
18.38
6.25
6.25
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2018
09NOP1
14,556
12,881
10,832
2,049
10,047
10,047
1,710
8,337
2,834
2,834
mil lb
29.7
27.1
22.6
4.5
21.1
21.1
3.76
17.3
5.95
5.95
mt
13,464
12,270
10,227
2,043
9,571
9,571
1,705
7,866
2,699
2,699
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TABLE 4—PROPOSED SCUP SPECIFICATIONS—Continued
2015 (current)
mil lb
Projected Recreational Discards .....................
Recreational Harvest Limit ...............................
The scup commercial quota is divided
into three commercial fishery quota
periods: Winter I; Summer; and Winter
II. This rule proposes commercial scup
quotas for these three periods for 2016–
2018, consistent with the allocation
2016
mt
0.67
6.8
mil lb
304
3,288
2017
mt
0.75
6.09
2018
mil lb
342
2,763
mt
0.75
5.5
mil lb
339
2,495
mt
0.75
5.21
338
2,361
2017 and 2018 will be provided in a
Federal Register notice published prior
to the start of the fishing year. The
period quotas are detailed in Table 5.
Unused Winter I quota may be carried
over for use in the Winter II period.
structure of the FMP. If there is a
commercial overage applicable to the
2016 scup commercial quota, notice of
that overage will be included in the
final rule for this action. Commercial
overages applicable to fishing years
TABLE 5—PROPOSED COMMERCIAL SCUP QUOTA ALLOCATIONS FOR 2016–2018 BY QUOTA PERIOD
Percent
share
Quota period
Winter I .....................................................................
Summer ....................................................................
Winter II ....................................................................
Total ..................................................................
45.11
38.95
15.94
100.0
2016 Initial quota
lb
2017 Initial quota
mt
lb
2018 Initial quota
mt
lb
mt
9,232,987
7,972,176
3,262,554
4,188
3,616
1,480
8,291,190
7,158,986
2,929,762
3,761
3,247
1,329
7,822,778
6,754,538
2,764,245
3,548
3,064
1,254
20,467,716
9,284
18,379,939
8,337
17,341,562
7,866
Note: Metric tons are as converted from pounds and may not necessarily total due to rounding.
The Winter I possession limit will be
reduced to 1,000 lb (454 kg) when 80
percent of that period’s allocation has
been landed. The Winter II possession
limit may be adjusted (in association
with a transfer of unused Winter I quota
to the Winter II period) via notification
in the Federal Register.
TABLE 6—INITIAL COMMERCIAL SCUP POSSESSION LIMITS BY QUOTA PERIOD
Quota period
Percent share
Federal possession limits (per
trip)
lb
Winter I ........................................................................................................................................
Summer .......................................................................................................................................
Winter II .......................................................................................................................................
tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
Total ......................................................................................................................................
Black Sea Bass
This rule proposes the Council’s
revised ABC recommendation and the
commercial and recreational catch
limits associated with that ABC for
fishing years 2016 and 2017.
Black sea bass remains a data-poor
stock, with relatively high uncertainty
for the purposes of calculating ABC. The
SSC rejected the OFL estimate provided
from the 2011 stock assessment, stating
that it was highly uncertain and not
sufficiently reliable to use as the basis
of management advice. In 2012, the SSC
recommended an ABC of 4.50 million lb
(2,041 mt). The Council tasked the SSC
to revisit this recommendation in
January 2013. The SSC revised its
recommendation for fishing years 2013
and 2014 and recommended an ABC of
5.50 million lb (2,494 mt). This ABC
and the corresponding specifications
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were implemented in June 2013 and
were carried forward into fishing year
2015. At the July 2015 meeting, the SSC
made an interim recommendation that
would continue this ABC into fishing
years 2016–2017. No recommendation
was made for 2018. A benchmark stock
assessment for black sea bass is
scheduled to occur in 2016 and the
Council and the SSC will use this
information to recommend a 2018 ABC.
A very large year class from 2011 has
been prevalent throughout the fishery
for the past several years, making it
difficult to avoid black sea bass and
leading to increasingly restrictive
management measures. The SSC
reviewed additional information at its
September 16, 2015, meeting on setting
catch recommendations for data poor
stocks with no reliable overfishing limit
estimate available (i.e., ABC Control
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45.11
38.95
15.94
100.0
kg
50,000
N/A
12,000
22,680
N/A
5,443
N/A
N/A
Rule Level IV). This is intended to
replace the default constant catch
approach the SSC has used for data-poor
stocks. The SSC determined that the
average of four of the Data-Limited
Modeling Approaches that were
evaluated was a more scientifically
robust approach to setting catch advice.
This approach resulted in the SSC
revising its black sea bass ABC
recommendation for 2016 and 2017 to
6.67 million lb (3,024 mt). The Council
discussed the revised SSC
recommendation at its October 7, 2015,
meeting, notifying NMFS in a letter
dated October 14, 2015. The
Commission’s Black Sea Bass Board will
review this recommendation in
November.
The Black Sea Bass Monitoring
Committee met in July 2015 to discuss
the SSC’s interim recommendation and
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to determine if additional reductions in
the catch limits were necessary to
account for management uncertainty.
The Monitoring Committee determined
that no additional reductions to account
for management uncertainty were
necessary because the commercial
management program is timely, and
management uncertainty will be more
explicitly accounted for in the
recreational management measures
process. Therefore, it was recommended
that the ACTs (both commercial and
recreational) should be set equal to their
respective ACL for fishing years 2016
and 2017. The Monitoring Committee
discussed the revised ABC
recommendation via email prior to the
Council’s discussion. The Monitoring
Committee determined that the rationale
for the prior recommendation was also
applicable to the revised specifications.
As such, the Council is recommending,
and this rule proposes, that the ACT be
set equal to the ACL for both sectors in
both years.
The Council recommended that all
other commercial management
measures remain at the status quo. This
rule proposes the revised specifications
shown in Table 7, as recommended by
the Council and consistent with the
SSC’s recommendations. Preliminary
data indicate that a commercial quota
overage occurred in 2014. There may
also have been more discards than
projected, resulting in an additional
overage of the ACL, potentially
triggering an additional accountability
measure. Any overage of the ACL
beyond the landings overage will be
deducted from the 2016 ACT. The 2014
commercial quota overage amount, in
pounds, will be deducted from the 2016
quota when the final accounting is
completed. Commercial overages
applicable to fishing year 2017 will be
provided in a Federal Register notice
prior to the start of the fishing year.
TABLE 7—PROPOSED BLACK SEA BASS 2016–2017 SPECIFICATIONS
2015 (current)
million lb
ABC ..................................................................................................................
ABC Landings Portion .....................................................................................
ABC Discards Portion ......................................................................................
Commercial ACL ..............................................................................................
Commercial ACT .............................................................................................
Projected Commercial Discards ......................................................................
Commercial Quota ...........................................................................................
Recreational ACL .............................................................................................
Recreational ACT ............................................................................................
Projected Recreational Discards .....................................................................
Recreational Harvest Limit ..............................................................................
2016 and 2017
mt
5.50
4.56
0.93
2.60
2.58
0.37
2.21
2.90
2.90
0.57
2.33
million lb
2,494
2,070
424
1,180
1,170
166
1,004
1,314
1,314
258
1,056
6.67
5.53
1.13
3.15
3.15
0.44
2.71
3.52
3.52
0.70
2.82
mt
3,024
2,510
514
1,428
1,428
198
1,230
1,597
1,597
317
1,280
tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
Note: An accountability measure was implemented for fishing year 2015 because of a prior year’s commercial fishery overage.
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 Summer Flounder, Scup, and
Black Sea Bass 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 by the
Council, as required by section 603 of
the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), to
examine the impacts of these proposed
specifications on small business
entities, if adopted. A description of the
specifications, why they are being
considered, and the legal basis for
proposing and implementing
specifications for the summer flounder,
scup, and black sea bass fisheries are
contained in the preamble to this
proposed rule. A copy of the detailed
RFA analysis is available from NMFS or
the Council (see ADDRESSES). The
Council’s analysis made use of
quantitative approaches when possible.
Where quantitative data on revenues or
other business-related metrics that
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would provide insight to potential
impacts were not available to inform the
analyses, qualitative analyses were
conducted. A summary of the 2016–
2018 specifications RFA analysis
follows.
Description of the Reasons Why Action
by the Agency is Being Considered, and
a Statement of the Objectives of, and
Legal Basis for, This Proposed Rule
This action proposes management
measures, including annual catch limits,
for the summer flounder, scup, and
black sea bass fisheries in order to
prevent overfishing and achieve
optimum yield in the fishery. A
complete description of the action, why
it is being considered, and the legal
basis for this action are contained in the
specifications document, and elsewhere
in the preamble to this proposed rule,
and are not repeated here.
Description and Estimate of the Number
of Small Entities to Which the Proposed
Rule Would Apply
The Small Business Administration
defines a small business as one that is
independently owned and operated; not
dominant in its field of operation; has
annual receipts that do not exceed $20.5
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million in the case of commercial finfish
harvesting entities (NAIC 114111), $5.5
million in the case of commercial
shellfish harvesting entities (NAIC
114112), $7.5 million in the case of forhire fishing entities (NAIC 114119); or
has fewer than 500 employees in the
case of fish processors or 100 employees
in the case of fish dealers. The North
American Industry Classification
System (NAICS) is the standard used by
Federal statistical agencies in classifying
business establishments for the purpose
of collecting, analyzing, and publishing
statistical data related to the U.S.
business economy.
This proposed rule affects commercial
and recreational fish harvesting entities
engaged in the summer flounder, scup,
and black sea bass fisheries.
Individually-permitted vessels may hold
permits for several fisheries, harvesting
species of fish that are regulated by
several different FMPs, even beyond
those impacted by the proposed action.
Furthermore, multiple-permitted vessels
and/or permits may be owned by
entities affiliated by stock ownership,
common management, identity of
interest, contractual relationships, or
economic dependency. For the purposes
of the RFA analysis, the ownership
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entities, not the individual vessels, are
considered to be the regulated entities.
Ownership entities are defined as
those entities with common ownership
personnel as listed on the permit
application. Only permits with identical
ownership personnel are categorized as
an ownership entity. For example, if
five permits have the same seven
persons listed as co-owners on their
permit applications, those seven
persons would form one ownership
entity that holds those five permits. If
two of those seven owners also co-own
additional vessels, that ownership
arrangement would be considered a
separate ownership entity for the
purpose of this analysis.
In preparation for this action,
ownership entities are identified based
on a list of all permits for the most
recent complete calendar year. The
current ownership data set used for this
analysis is based on calendar year 2014
and contains average gross sales
associated with those permits for
calendar years 2012 through 2014. In
addition to classifying a business
(ownership entity) as small or large, a
business can also be classified by its
primary source of revenue. A business
is defined as being primarily engaged in
fishing for finfish if it obtains greater
than 50 percent of its gross sales from
sales of finfish. Similarly, a business is
defined as being primarily engaged in
fishing for shellfish if it obtains greater
than 50 percent of its gross sales from
sales of shellfish.
A description of the specific permits
that are likely to be impacted by this
action is provided below, along with a
discussion of the impacted businesses,
which can include multiple vessels and/
or permit types.
The ownership database shows that
for the 2012–2014 period, 485 affiliate
firms held a summer flounder
commercial permit and 547 affiliate
firms held a summer flounder party/
charter permit; 446 affiliate firms held a
scup commercial permit and 491
affiliate firms held a scup party/charter
permit; and 491 affiliate firms held a
black sea bass commercial permit and
533 affiliate firms held a black sea bass
party/charter permit. However, not all of
those affiliate firms are active
participants in the fishery. According to
the ownership database, 960 affiliate
firms landed summer flounder, scup,
and/or black sea bass during the 2012–
2014 period, with 952 of those business
affiliates categorized as small business
and 8 categorized as large business.
Description of the Projected Reporting,
Record-Keeping, and Other Compliance
Requirements of This Proposed Rule
There are no new reporting or
recordkeeping requirements contained
in any of the alternatives considered for
this action.
Federal Rules Which May Duplicate,
Overlap, or Conflict With This Proposed
Rule
NMFS is not aware of any relevant
Federal rules that may duplicate,
overlap, or conflict with this proposed
rule.
Description of Significant Alternatives
to the Proposed Action Which
Accomplish the Stated Objectives of
Applicable Statutes and Which
Minimize Any Significant Economic
Impact on Small Entities
The Council analyzed four sets of
combined catch limit alternatives for
each of the fishing years 2016–2018 for
the summer flounder, scup, and black
69185
sea bass fisheries. The 2018 fishing year
analysis is based on summer flounder
and scup only because there was no
recommendation for black sea bass. The
alternatives were as follows:
• Alternative 1 was the Council’s
originally preferred alternative, and was
consistent with the SSC’s interim
advice;
• Alternative 2 is the status quo and
would maintain the current
specifications in effect;
• Alternative 3 is an alternative
provided for analytical purposes as the
‘‘most restrictive’’ set of landings limits,
based on the lowest landings limits in
the time series for each stock; and
• Alternative 4 is the counter-point to
Alternative 3 as the ‘‘least restrictive’’ or
highest landings limits in the time
series.
This analysis was completed using
the Council’s interim recommendation
for the black sea bass specifications. The
specifications proposed in this action
are different than Alternative 1, as
described in the Council’s specifications
document and IRFA. The proposed
specifications represent an increase in
the 2016 and 2017 commercial quotas to
2.71 million lb (1,230 mt) and
recreational harvest limits of 2.82
million lb (1,280 mt). These are 21
percent higher than the previously
preferred alternative (Alternative 1), and
33 percent lower than the ‘‘least
restrictive’’ alternative (Alternative 4).
The impacts from the proposed catch
limits fall within the range that has been
analyzed and are more fully described
here. The discussion below is based on
the conclusions of the RFA analyses in
the draft specifications document
provided by the Council, modified to
account for the revised black sea bass
recommendation.
TABLE 8—SUMMARY OF LANDINGS LIMITS BY ALTERNATIVE
Commercial
quota
Recreational
harvest limit
Year
Alternative
Species
2016 ..................
Proposed .......................................................
Summer Flounder .........................................
Scup ..............................................................
Black Sea Bass ............................................
Summer Flounder .........................................
Scup ..............................................................
Black Sea Bass ............................................
Summer Flounder .........................................
Scup ..............................................................
Black Sea Bass ............................................
Summer Flounder .........................................
Scup ..............................................................
Black Sea Bass ............................................
Summer Flounder .........................................
Scup ..............................................................
Black Sea Bass ............................................
8.12
20.47
2.71
8.12
20.47
2.24
11.07
21.23
2.21
6.30
2.53
1.13
18.18
28.35
4.02
5.42
6.09
2.82
5.42
6.09
2.33
7.38
6.80
2.33
4.20
1.24
1.17
12.12
8.57
4.18
Summer Flounder .........................................
Scup ..............................................................
Black Sea Bass ............................................
7.91
18.38
2.71
5.28
5.50
2.82
Alternative 1 (Preferred)
Alternative 2 (Status quo) .............................
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Alternative 3 (Most Restrictive) ....................
Alternative 4 (Least Restrictive) ...................
2017 ..................
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TABLE 8—SUMMARY OF LANDINGS LIMITS BY ALTERNATIVE—Continued
Year
Commercial
quota
Recreational
harvest limit
Alternative
Species
Alternative 1 (Preferred) ...............................
Summer Flounder .........................................
Scup ..............................................................
Black Sea Bass ............................................
Summer Flounder .........................................
Scup ..............................................................
Black Sea Bass ............................................
Summer Flounder .........................................
Scup ..............................................................
Black Sea Bass ............................................
Summer Flounder .........................................
Scup ..............................................................
Black Sea Bass ............................................
7.91
18.38
2.24
11.07
21.23
2.21
6.30
2.53
1.13
18.18
28.35
4.02
5.28
5.50
2.33
7.38
6.80
2.33
4.20
1.24
1.17
12.12
8.57
4.18
Summer Flounder .........................................
Scup ..............................................................
Summer Flounder .........................................
Scup ..............................................................
Summer Flounder .........................................
Scup ..............................................................
Summer Flounder .........................................
Scup ..............................................................
7.89
17.34
11.07
21.23
6.30
2.53
18.18
28.35
5.26
5.21
7.38
6.80
4.20
1.24
12.12
8.57
Alternative 2 (Status quo) .............................
Alternative 3 (Most Restrictive) ....................
Alternative 4 (Least Restrictive) ...................
2018 ..................
Alternative 1 (Preferred; Proposed) ..............
Alternative 2 (Status quo) .............................
Alternative 3 (Most Restrictive) ....................
Alternative 4 (Least Restrictive) ...................
tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
Commercial Fishery Impacts
It is expected that varying levels of
negative economic impacts on the three
fisheries may occur from the proposed
specifications. The summer flounder
fishery is expected to experience the
largest negative impact, because of the
20-percent decrease in available quota
in 2016. This represents an
approximately $8.1-million decrease in
ex-vessel summer flounder revenue
across the fleet. However, some of this
impact may be offset for some firms if
the price of summer flounder increases
because of lower availability. This
decrease is not distributed uniformly
across each participating vessel because
each business is not equally dependent
on summer flounder. The Council’s
analysis shows that 228 out of the 952
small business entities are likely to be
faced with revenue reductions of 5
percent or more because of Alternative
1. Of these, 40 percent had gross sales
of $10,000 or less, suggesting
dependence on fishing for some of these
firms is very small. If the revenue
impacts were distributed equally across
the active firms (i.e., those business
entities who vessel or vessels landed
summer flounder between 2012 and
2014), the proposed specifications
would result in a $11,877-decrease per
firm in 2016 compared to 2015.
The 2016–2018 proposed scup
commercial quotas and recreational
harvest limits under the proposed
alternative are lower than the quotas
implemented in 2015; however, they are
higher than the 2014 commercial and
recreational landings. Unless market
conditions change substantially in
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coming years, it is expected that
commercial and recreational landings
will likely be close to the 2014 landings.
There is no indication that the market
environment for commercially and
recreationally caught scup will change
considerably in fishing years 2016–
2018. Therefore, there are no expected
negative impacts from the proposed
scup quotas, even though they are lower
than those of the previous year.
The 2016–2017 proposed black sea
bass commercial quotas are increases
from 2015. Relative to the status quo
catch levels, the proposed black sea bass
quotas could result in slightly positive
impacts for the commercial fishery. The
status quo specifications would result in
a $0.1-million increase, in revenue,
fleet-wide, for the commercial black sea
bass fishery, or $134 per business entity
if distributed equally. The least
restrictive alternative (Alternative 4)
would result in a $5.9-million increase
in revenues ($7,930 per business entity,
if distributed equally). The proposed
commercial quota is approximately 13
percent higher than 2014 landings.
Assuming the 2014 ex-vessel price for
black sea bass ($3.24/lb), the proposed
commercial quota represents a potential
increase of $1.5 million in fleet-wide
revenues, or approximately $2,000 per
business entity if distributed equally.
The proposed alternative has slightly
more positive economic impacts than
the status quo catch limits and is
consistent with the SSC’s revised
recommendation.
Recreational Fishery Impacts
While the proposed specifications
would establish recreational harvest
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limits for summer flounder, scup, and
black sea bass, the management measure
details for recreational fisheries will be
developed by the Council separately for
each fishing year, followed by NMFS
rulemaking in the spring of that year. A
comprehensive analysis of the impacts
associated with the recommended
recreational management measures will
be provided to NMFS from the Council
to support these activities. If
recreational landings for these three
species are the same in 2016–2018 as in
recent years, the recreational harvest
limits proposed would likely constrain
recreational landings for summer
flounder and black sea bass, but not
likely for scup. As such, it is likely that
more restrictive limits (i.e., lower
possession limits, higher minimum size
limits, and/or shorter open seasons) will
be required for summer flounder and
black sea bass. This will likely have
some negative economic impacts,
particularly for the summer flounder
fishery. Increasing the recreational
harvest limit for black sea bass would
allow the measures to be restricted less
than if the status quo recreational
harvest limit is maintained, although
only slightly. Specific recreational
management measures (for all three
species) will be determined when more
complete data regarding recreational
landings are available.
Summary
The Council selected Alternative 1
(preferred) over Alternative 2 (status
quo), Alternative 3 (most restrictive),
and Alternative 4 (least restrictive)
stating that the Alternative 1 measures
were consistent with the advice
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tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
provided to the Council by its SSC and
monitoring committees and would have
less negative economic impacts than the
most restrictive alternatives. The status
quo and least restrictive alternatives
(Alternatives 2 and 4, respectively)
would have less economic impact than
the preferred alternative, but not satisfy
the Magnuson-Stevens Act requirements
to ensure fish stocks are not subject to
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overfishing. NMFS agrees with the
Council’s IRFA analysis and rationale
for recommending these catch limits. As
such, NMFS is proposing to implement
the Council’s preferred ABCs, ACLs,
ACTs, commercial quotas, and
recreational harvest limits, as revised,
presented in Table 1 of this proposed
rule’s preamble.
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69187
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: November 4, 2015.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for
Regulatory Programs, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2015–28444 Filed 11–6–15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 216 (Monday, November 9, 2015)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 69179-69187]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-28444]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 150903814-5814-01]
RIN 0648-XE171
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Summer Flounder,
Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fisheries; 2016-2018 Summer Flounder, Scup,
and Black Sea Bass 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 2016-2018 summer flounder
and scup fisheries and for the 2016-2017 black sea bass fishery. The
implementing regulations for the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea
Bass Fishery Management Plan require us to publish specifications for
the upcoming fishing year for each of these species and to provide an
opportunity for public comment. This action is intended to propose for
implementation specifications necessary to constrain harvest for these
three species within
[[Page 69180]]
scientifically sound recommendations to prevent overfishing.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before November 24, 2015.
ADDRESSES: An environmental assessment (EA) was prepared for the
specifications and describes the proposed action and other considered
alternatives, and provides an analysis of the impacts of the proposed
measures and alternatives. Copies of the Specifications Document,
including the EA and the Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
(IRFA), are available on request from Dr. Christopher M. Moore,
Executive Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, Suite 201,
800 North State Street, Dover, DE 19901. These documents are also
accessible via the Internet at https://www.mafmc.org.
You may submit comments on this document, identified by NOAA-NMFS-
2015-0117, by either of the following methods:
Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public comments via
the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal.
1. Go to www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2015-0117,
2. Click the ``Comment Now!'' icon, complete the required fields
3. Enter or attach your comments.
-OR-
Mail: Submit written comments to John Bullard, Regional
Administrator, National Marine Fisheries Service, 55 Great Republic
Drive, Gloucester, MA 01950. Mark the outside of the envelope,
``Comments on the Proposed Rule for FSB Specifications.''
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 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 publicly accessible. NMFS will accept anonymous
comments (enter ``N/A'' in the required fields if you wish to remain
anonymous).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Moira Kelly, Fishery Policy Analyst,
(978) 281-9218.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
General Specification Background
The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council and the Atlantic States
Marine Fisheries Commission cooperatively manage the summer flounder,
scup, and black sea bass fisheries. Fishery specifications in these
fisheries include various catch and landing subdivisions, such as the
commercial and recreational sector annual catch limits (ACLs), annual
catch targets (ACTs), and sector-specific landing limits (i.e., the
commercial fishery quota and recreational harvest limit) for the
upcoming fishing year. Rulemaking for measures used to manage the
recreational fisheries (minimum fish sizes, open seasons, and bag
limits) for these three species occurs separately and typically takes
place in the spring of each year.
The Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management
Plan (FMP) and its implementing regulations establish the Council's
process for establishing specifications. The management units specified
in the FMP include summer flounder (Paralichthys dentatus) in U.S.
waters of the Atlantic Ocean from the southern border of North Carolina
northward to the U.S./Canada border, and scup (Stenotomus chrysops) and
black sea bass (Centropristis striata) in U.S. waters of the Atlantic
Ocean from 35[deg] 13.3' N. lat. (the latitude of Cape Hatteras
Lighthouse, Buxton, NC) northward to the U.S./Canada border. The FMP
also contains formulas to divide the specification catch limits into
commercial and recreational fishery allocations, state-by-state quotas,
and quota periods, depending on the species in question.
The Council's Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) met July
22-23, 2015, to recommend acceptable biological catches (ABC) for the
2016-2018 these fisheries. The Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea
Bass Monitoring Committees met July 23-24, 2015, to discuss
specification-related recommendations for the three fisheries, to
recommend offsets from the ACL to account for management uncertainty,
and to discuss commercial management measure recommendations, as
appropriate. Note, because of a planned black sea bass benchmark stock
assessment scheduled for late 2016, the SSC only recommended interim
ABCs for 2016 and 2017. More details on the SSC's discussions are
provided in the fishery-specific sections below.
Following the SSC and Monitoring Committee meetings, the Council
and the Commission's Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass
Management Board met jointly on August 12, 2015, to consider the
recommendations of the SSC, the three Monitoring Committees, and public
comments, and to make their specification recommendations. The SSC and
the Council met subsequently to reconsider the black sea bass
recommendations. More complete details on the SSC, Monitoring
Committee, and Council meeting deliberations can be found on the
Council's Web site (www.mafmc.org).
While the Board action was finalized at the August meeting, the
Council's recommendations must be reviewed by NMFS to ensure that they
comply with the FMP and applicable law. NMFS also must conduct notice-
and-comment rulemaking to propose and implement the final
specifications.
Table 1--Summary of the Proposed 2016-2018 Summer Flounder and Scup Specifications and 2016-2017 Black Sea Bass Specifications
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Summer flounder Scup Black sea bass
---------------------------------------------------------------------
2016 2017 2018 2016 2017 2018 2016-2017
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Overfishing Limit (OFL)........................ million lb....................... 18.06 19.82 22.40 35.80 32.09 29.68 n/a
mt............................... 8,194 8,991 10,159 16,238 14,556 13,464 n/a
ABC............................................ million lb....................... 16.26 15.86 15.68 31.11 28.40 27.05 6.67
mt............................... 7,375 7,193 7,111 14,110 12,881 12,270 3,024
Commercial ACL/ACT............................. million lb....................... 9.42 9.19 9.10 24.26 22.15 21.10 3.15
mt............................... 4,275 4,168 4,127 11,006 10,047 9,571 1,428
Recreational ACL/ACT........................... million lb....................... 6.83 6.67 6.56 6.84 6.25 5.95 3.52
mt............................... 3,100 3,025 2,984 3,104 2,834 2,699 1,597
Commercial Quota............................... million lb....................... 8.12 7.91 7.89 20.47 18.38 17.34 2.71
mt............................... 3,685 3,590 3,581 9,284 8,337 7,866 1,230
[[Page 69181]]
Recreational Harvest Limit..................... million lb....................... 5.42 5.28 5.26 6.09 5.50 5.21 2.82
mt............................... 2,457 2,393 2,387 2,763 2,495 2,361 1,280
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Consistent with the summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass
regulations, the sum of the recreational and commercial sector ACLs are
equal to the ABCs. ACL is an expression of total catch (i.e., landings
and dead discarded fish). To derive the ACLs, the sum of the sector-
specific projected discards are removed from the ABCs to derive the
landing allowances. The resulting landing allowance is apportioned to
the commercial and recreational sectors by applying the FMP allocation
criteria: (1) Summer flounder--60 percent to the commercial fishery and
40 percent to the recreational fishery; (2) scup--78 percent to the
commercial fishery and 22 percent to the recreational fishery; and (3)
black sea bass--49 percent to the commercial fishery and 51 percent to
the recreational fishery. Using this method ensures that each sector is
accountable for its respective discards, rather than simply
apportioning the ABC by the allocation percentages to derive the sector
ACLs. Although the derived ACLs are not split exactly according to the
FMP-specified allocations, the landing portions of the ACLs preserve
the appropriate allocation split, consistent with the FMP. This process
results in the commercial and recreational ACLs, commercial quotas, and
recreational harvest limits shown in Table 1. The specific discard
values projected for each fishery and sector are described in more
detail below.
Proposed Specifications
Summer Flounder
This rulemaking proposes the Council's ABC recommendation and the
commercial and recreational catch limits associated with that ABC for
fishing years 2016-2018.
The 2015 stock assessment update used to established these
specifications was based on the approved model from the 2013 benchmark
assessment, updated to include data through 2014 (https://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/publications/crd/crd1513/crd1513.pdf). The
assessment update indicates that summer flounder are not overfished,
but that overfishing did occur in 2014. The stock status change was
primarily due to four years of below average recruitment, leading to
fewer summer flounder being available to the fishery than had
previously been predicted.
The OFL for 2016 was estimated to be 18.06 million lb (8,194 mt), a
reduction of 33 percent from 2015. At the request of the Council, the
SSC deviated from the standard Risk Policy and ABC Control Rule and
recommended ABCs that ``phase in'' the required reduction in order to
minimize the economic impact that such a reduction in a single year's
catch limits would cause. Using the standard ABC Control Rule, the 2016
ABC would have been 30 percent below the OFL to account for scientific
uncertainty. As proposed, this 30-percent buffer would be phased-in
over the next three years by increasing the buffer by a third in each
year. That is, a 10-buffer in 2016, a 20-percent buffer in 2017, and,
finally, the full 30-percent buffer in 2018. Each of the ABCs derived
from this approach have a less than 50-percent probability of resulting
in overfishing. This results in relatively stable specifications
because the current projections indicate a modest increase in the OFL
over these three years. The SSC has requested a stock assessment update
for next summer and intends to evaluate the available information to
determine if the proposed ABCs remain appropriate.
The Summer Flounder Monitoring Committee met to discuss the SSC's
recommendations and to determine whether additional reductions in the
catch limits were necessary to account for management uncertainty.
Because the recreational fishery in recent years has not substantially
exceeded the recreational harvest limit, discards in the commercial
fishery have been relatively low, and the commercial landings
monitoring and fishery closure system is timely, the Summer Flounder
Monitoring Committee determined that no additional reductions to
account for management uncertainty were necessary. Therefore, it was
recommended that the ACT (both commercial and recreational) should be
set equal to ACL for all three years. Removing the estimated discards
results in the commercial quotas and recreational harvest limits shown
below in Table 2.
Table 2--Proposed 2016-2018 Summer Flounder Specifications and Calculations
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2015 (current) 2016 2017 2018
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
million lb mt million lb mt million lb mt million lb mt
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OFL................................................. 27.06 12,275 18.06 8,194 19.82 8,991 22.4 10,159
ABC................................................. 22.77 10,329 16.26 7,375 15.86 7,193 15.7 7,111
ABC Landings Portion................................ 18.45 8,368 13.54 6,142 13.19 5,983 13.2 5,968
ABC Discards Portion................................ 4.32 1,961 2.72 1,233 2.67 1,210 2.52 1,143
Commercial ACL...................................... 13.34 6,049 9.43 4,275 9.19 4,168 9.1 4,127
Commercial ACT...................................... 13.34 6,049 9.43 4,275 9.19 4,168 9.1 4,127
Projected Commercial Discards....................... 2.27 1,028 1.30 590 1.28 579 1.21 547
Commercial Quota.................................... 11.07 5,021 8.12 3,685 7.91 3,590 7.89 3,581
Recreational ACL.................................... 9.44 4,280 6.84 3,100 6.67 3,025 6.58 2,984
Recreational ACT.................................... 9.44 4,280 6.84 3,100 6.67 3,025 6.58 2,984
Projected Recreational Discards..................... 2.06 933 1.42 643 1.39 631 1.32 596
Recreational Harvest Limit.......................... 7.38 3,347 5.42 2,457 5.28 2,393 5.26 2,387
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[[Page 69182]]
The Council and Board considered the SSC and Summer Flounder
Monitoring Committee recommendations before concurring with the catch
recommendations specified in Table 2. Fishing under these catch limits
for 2016 through 2018 is not expected to compromise the summer flounder
stock, nor will fishing at this level present a unacceptably high
likelihood of overfishing. The Council recommended all other commercial
management measures remain status quo.
Table 3 presents the proposed state allocations for 2016-2018 using
the commercial state quota allocations described in the FMP. Any
commercial quota adjustments to account for overages will be published
in the Federal Register prior to the start of the respective fishing
year. The final rule for this action will include any necessary quota
overage reductions for fishing year 2016.
Table 3--2016-2018 Proposed Initial Summer Flounder State Commercial Quotas
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2016 initial quota 2017 initial quota 2018 initial quota
State FMP percent -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
share lb kg lb kg lb kg
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ME....................................... 0.04756 3,864 1,753 3,764 1,707 3,755 1,703
NH....................................... 0.00046 37 17 36 17 36 16
MA....................................... 6.82046 554,097 251,334 539,812 244,854 538,459 244,240
RI....................................... 15.68298 1,274,091 577,917 1,241,244 563,019 1,238,133 561,607
CT....................................... 2.25708 183,366 83,173 178,639 81,029 178,191 80,826
NY....................................... 7.64699 621,244 281,791 605,228 274,527 603,711 273,838
NJ....................................... 16.72499 1,358,744 616,315 1,323,715 600,427 1,320,397 598,921
DE....................................... 0.01779 1,445 656 1,408 639 1,404 637
MD....................................... 2.0391 165,657 75,141 161,387 73,204 160,982 73,020
VA....................................... 21.31676 1,731,781 785,522 1,687,135 765,271 1,682,906 763,353
NC....................................... 27.44584 2,229,709 1,011,378 2,172,227 985,305 2,166,781 982,835
Total................................ 100 8,124,035 3,684,997 7,914,596 3,589,997 7,894,754 3,580,997
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: Kilograms are as converted from pounds and do not sum to the converted total due to rounding. Rounding of quotas results in totals slightly
exceeding 100 percent.
Scup
This rule proposes the Council's ABC recommendation and the
commercial and recreational catch limits associated with that ABC for
fishing years 2016-2018.
The SSC reviewed the results of the 2015 scup benchmark stock
assessment and determined that an update to the existing control rule
was warranted. The SSC determined that a lower coefficient of
variation, or CV, to estimate scientific uncertainty was acceptable for
the scup stock assessment instead of the default 100-percent CV. The
SSC's ABC recommendations are based on a 60-percent CV from the OFL and
are, therefore, higher than they would have otherwise been. In
addition, the 2016 ABC is based on an assumption that only 75 percent
of the 2015 ABC would be harvested, consistent with recent fishery
performance. The stock assessment upon which the specifications are
based indicates that scup biomass is currently lower than in recent
years, but still more than double the biomass target. Therefore, the
proposed catch limits are lower than the specifications for fishing
year 2015, but are still relatively high compared to recent landings.
The Scup Monitoring Committee met to discuss the SSC's
recommendations and to determine whether additional reductions in the
catch limits were necessary to account for management uncertainty.
Because both the recreational and commercial fisheries have not reached
their respective landings limits because of the very high quotas, and
the landings monitoring and fishery closure system is timely, the
Monitoring Committee determined that no additional reductions to
account for management uncertainty were necessary. Therefore, it was
recommended that the ACTs (both commercial and recreational) should be
set equal to the respective ACLs for fishing years 2016-2018. The
Council and Board considered the SSC and Scup Monitoring Committee
recommendations before concurring with the catch recommendations
specified in Table 2. Fishing under these catch limits for 2016 through
2018 is not expected to compromise the scup stock, nor will fishing at
this level present an unacceptably high likelihood of overfishing. The
Council recommended all other commercial management measures remain
status quo. After deducting the appropriate sector-specific discards,
the 2016-2018 commercial quotas and recreational harvest limits would
be as described below in Table 4.
Table 4--Proposed Scup Specifications
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2015 (current) 2016 2017 2018
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
mil lb mt mil lb mt mil lb mt mil lb mt
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OFL............................................................. 47.8 21,680 35.8 16,238 32.09 14,556 29.7 13,464
ABC............................................................. 33.77 15,320 31.11 14,110 28.4 12,881 27.1 12,270
ABC Landings Portion............................................ 28.03 12,716 26.56 12,047 23.88 10,832 22.6 10,227
ABC Discards Portion............................................ 5.74 2,604 4.55 2,063 4.52 2,049 4.5 2,043
Commercial ACL.................................................. 26.34 11,950 24.26 11,006 22.15 10,047 21.1 9,571
Commercial ACT.................................................. 26.34 11,950 24.26 11,006 22.15 10,047 21.1 9,571
Projected Commercial Discards................................... 5.11 2,318 3.8 1,721 3.77 1,710 3.76 1,705
Commercial Quota................................................ 21.23 9,632 20.47 9,284 18.38 8,337 17.3 7,866
Recreational ACL................................................ 7.92 3,592 6.84 3,104 6.25 2,834 5.95 2,699
Recreational ACT................................................ 7.92 3,592 6.84 3,104 6.25 2,834 5.95 2,699
[[Page 69183]]
Projected Recreational Discards................................. 0.67 304 0.75 342 0.75 339 0.75 338
Recreational Harvest Limit...................................... 6.8 3,288 6.09 2,763 5.5 2,495 5.21 2,361
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The scup commercial quota is divided into three commercial fishery
quota periods: Winter I; Summer; and Winter II. This rule proposes
commercial scup quotas for these three periods for 2016-2018,
consistent with the allocation structure of the FMP. If there is a
commercial overage applicable to the 2016 scup commercial quota, notice
of that overage will be included in the final rule for this action.
Commercial overages applicable to fishing years 2017 and 2018 will be
provided in a Federal Register notice published prior to the start of
the fishing year. The period quotas are detailed in Table 5. Unused
Winter I quota may be carried over for use in the Winter II period.
Table 5--Proposed Commercial Scup Quota Allocations for 2016-2018 by Quota Period
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2016 Initial quota 2017 Initial quota 2018 Initial quota
Quota period Percent --------------------------------------------------------------------------
share lb mt lb mt lb mt
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Winter I.......................................................... 45.11 9,232,987 4,188 8,291,190 3,761 7,822,778 3,548
Summer............................................................ 38.95 7,972,176 3,616 7,158,986 3,247 6,754,538 3,064
Winter II......................................................... 15.94 3,262,554 1,480 2,929,762 1,329 2,764,245 1,254
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total......................................................... 100.0 20,467,716 9,284 18,379,939 8,337 17,341,562 7,866
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: Metric tons are as converted from pounds and may not necessarily total due to rounding.
The Winter I possession limit will be reduced to 1,000 lb (454 kg)
when 80 percent of that period's allocation has been landed. The Winter
II possession limit may be adjusted (in association with a transfer of
unused Winter I quota to the Winter II period) via notification in the
Federal Register.
Table 6--Initial Commercial Scup Possession Limits by Quota Period
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Federal possession limits (per
trip)
Quota period Percent share -------------------------------
lb kg
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Winter I......................................................... 45.11 50,000 22,680
Summer........................................................... 38.95 N/A N/A
Winter II........................................................ 15.94 12,000 5,443
----------------------------------------------
Total........................................................ 100.0 N/A N/A
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Black Sea Bass
This rule proposes the Council's revised ABC recommendation and the
commercial and recreational catch limits associated with that ABC for
fishing years 2016 and 2017.
Black sea bass remains a data-poor stock, with relatively high
uncertainty for the purposes of calculating ABC. The SSC rejected the
OFL estimate provided from the 2011 stock assessment, stating that it
was highly uncertain and not sufficiently reliable to use as the basis
of management advice. In 2012, the SSC recommended an ABC of 4.50
million lb (2,041 mt). The Council tasked the SSC to revisit this
recommendation in January 2013. The SSC revised its recommendation for
fishing years 2013 and 2014 and recommended an ABC of 5.50 million lb
(2,494 mt). This ABC and the corresponding specifications were
implemented in June 2013 and were carried forward into fishing year
2015. At the July 2015 meeting, the SSC made an interim recommendation
that would continue this ABC into fishing years 2016-2017. No
recommendation was made for 2018. A benchmark stock assessment for
black sea bass is scheduled to occur in 2016 and the Council and the
SSC will use this information to recommend a 2018 ABC.
A very large year class from 2011 has been prevalent throughout the
fishery for the past several years, making it difficult to avoid black
sea bass and leading to increasingly restrictive management measures.
The SSC reviewed additional information at its September 16, 2015,
meeting on setting catch recommendations for data poor stocks with no
reliable overfishing limit estimate available (i.e., ABC Control Rule
Level IV). This is intended to replace the default constant catch
approach the SSC has used for data-poor stocks. The SSC determined that
the average of four of the Data-Limited Modeling Approaches that were
evaluated was a more scientifically robust approach to setting catch
advice. This approach resulted in the SSC revising its black sea bass
ABC recommendation for 2016 and 2017 to 6.67 million lb (3,024 mt). The
Council discussed the revised SSC recommendation at its October 7,
2015, meeting, notifying NMFS in a letter dated October 14, 2015. The
Commission's Black Sea Bass Board will review this recommendation in
November.
The Black Sea Bass Monitoring Committee met in July 2015 to discuss
the SSC's interim recommendation and
[[Page 69184]]
to determine if additional reductions in the catch limits were
necessary to account for management uncertainty. The Monitoring
Committee determined that no additional reductions to account for
management uncertainty were necessary because the commercial management
program is timely, and management uncertainty will be more explicitly
accounted for in the recreational management measures process.
Therefore, it was recommended that the ACTs (both commercial and
recreational) should be set equal to their respective ACL for fishing
years 2016 and 2017. The Monitoring Committee discussed the revised ABC
recommendation via email prior to the Council's discussion. The
Monitoring Committee determined that the rationale for the prior
recommendation was also applicable to the revised specifications. As
such, the Council is recommending, and this rule proposes, that the ACT
be set equal to the ACL for both sectors in both years.
The Council recommended that all other commercial management
measures remain at the status quo. This rule proposes the revised
specifications shown in Table 7, as recommended by the Council and
consistent with the SSC's recommendations. Preliminary data indicate
that a commercial quota overage occurred in 2014. There may also have
been more discards than projected, resulting in an additional overage
of the ACL, potentially triggering an additional accountability
measure. Any overage of the ACL beyond the landings overage will be
deducted from the 2016 ACT. The 2014 commercial quota overage amount,
in pounds, will be deducted from the 2016 quota when the final
accounting is completed. Commercial overages applicable to fishing year
2017 will be provided in a Federal Register notice prior to the start
of the fishing year.
Table 7--Proposed Black Sea Bass 2016-2017 Specifications
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2015 (current) 2016 and 2017
---------------------------------------------------------------
million lb mt million lb mt
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ABC............................................. 5.50 2,494 6.67 3,024
ABC Landings Portion............................ 4.56 2,070 5.53 2,510
ABC Discards Portion............................ 0.93 424 1.13 514
Commercial ACL.................................. 2.60 1,180 3.15 1,428
Commercial ACT.................................. 2.58 1,170 3.15 1,428
Projected Commercial Discards................... 0.37 166 0.44 198
Commercial Quota................................ 2.21 1,004 2.71 1,230
Recreational ACL................................ 2.90 1,314 3.52 1,597
Recreational ACT................................ 2.90 1,314 3.52 1,597
Projected Recreational Discards................. 0.57 258 0.70 317
Recreational Harvest Limit...................... 2.33 1,056 2.82 1,280
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: An accountability measure was implemented for fishing year 2015 because of a prior year's commercial
fishery overage.
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 Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass 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 by the Council, as required by section 603 of
the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), to examine the impacts of these
proposed specifications on small business entities, if adopted. A
description of the specifications, why they are being considered, and
the legal basis for proposing and implementing specifications for the
summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass fisheries are contained in
the preamble to this proposed rule. A copy of the detailed RFA analysis
is available from NMFS or the Council (see ADDRESSES). The Council's
analysis made use of quantitative approaches when possible. Where
quantitative data on revenues or other business-related metrics that
would provide insight to potential impacts were not available to inform
the analyses, qualitative analyses were conducted. A summary of the
2016-2018 specifications RFA analysis follows.
Description of the Reasons Why Action by the Agency is Being
Considered, and a Statement of the Objectives of, and Legal Basis for,
This Proposed Rule
This action proposes management measures, including annual catch
limits, for the summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass fisheries in
order to prevent overfishing and achieve optimum yield in the fishery.
A complete description of the action, why it is being considered, and
the legal basis for this action are contained in the specifications
document, and elsewhere in the preamble to this proposed rule, and are
not repeated here.
Description and Estimate of the Number of Small Entities to Which the
Proposed Rule Would Apply
The Small Business Administration defines a small business as one
that is independently owned and operated; not dominant in its field of
operation; has annual receipts that do not exceed $20.5 million in the
case of commercial finfish harvesting entities (NAIC 114111), $5.5
million in the case of commercial shellfish harvesting entities (NAIC
114112), $7.5 million in the case of for-hire fishing entities (NAIC
114119); or has fewer than 500 employees in the case of fish processors
or 100 employees in the case of fish dealers. The North American
Industry Classification System (NAICS) is the standard used by Federal
statistical agencies in classifying business establishments for the
purpose of collecting, analyzing, and publishing statistical data
related to the U.S. business economy.
This proposed rule affects commercial and recreational fish
harvesting entities engaged in the summer flounder, scup, and black sea
bass fisheries. Individually-permitted vessels may hold permits for
several fisheries, harvesting species of fish that are regulated by
several different FMPs, even beyond those impacted by the proposed
action. Furthermore, multiple-permitted vessels and/or permits may be
owned by entities affiliated by stock ownership, common management,
identity of interest, contractual relationships, or economic
dependency. For the purposes of the RFA analysis, the ownership
[[Page 69185]]
entities, not the individual vessels, are considered to be the
regulated entities.
Ownership entities are defined as those entities with common
ownership personnel as listed on the permit application. Only permits
with identical ownership personnel are categorized as an ownership
entity. For example, if five permits have the same seven persons listed
as co-owners on their permit applications, those seven persons would
form one ownership entity that holds those five permits. If two of
those seven owners also co-own additional vessels, that ownership
arrangement would be considered a separate ownership entity for the
purpose of this analysis.
In preparation for this action, ownership entities are identified
based on a list of all permits for the most recent complete calendar
year. The current ownership data set used for this analysis is based on
calendar year 2014 and contains average gross sales associated with
those permits for calendar years 2012 through 2014. In addition to
classifying a business (ownership entity) as small or large, a business
can also be classified by its primary source of revenue. A business is
defined as being primarily engaged in fishing for finfish if it obtains
greater than 50 percent of its gross sales from sales of finfish.
Similarly, a business is defined as being primarily engaged in fishing
for shellfish if it obtains greater than 50 percent of its gross sales
from sales of shellfish.
A description of the specific permits that are likely to be
impacted by this action is provided below, along with a discussion of
the impacted businesses, which can include multiple vessels and/or
permit types.
The ownership database shows that for the 2012-2014 period, 485
affiliate firms held a summer flounder commercial permit and 547
affiliate firms held a summer flounder party/charter permit; 446
affiliate firms held a scup commercial permit and 491 affiliate firms
held a scup party/charter permit; and 491 affiliate firms held a black
sea bass commercial permit and 533 affiliate firms held a black sea
bass party/charter permit. However, not all of those affiliate firms
are active participants in the fishery. According to the ownership
database, 960 affiliate firms landed summer flounder, scup, and/or
black sea bass during the 2012-2014 period, with 952 of those business
affiliates categorized as small business and 8 categorized as large
business.
Description of the Projected Reporting, Record-Keeping, and Other
Compliance Requirements of This Proposed Rule
There are no new reporting or recordkeeping requirements contained
in any of the alternatives considered for this action.
Federal Rules Which May Duplicate, Overlap, or Conflict With This
Proposed Rule
NMFS is not aware of any relevant Federal rules that may duplicate,
overlap, or conflict with this proposed rule.
Description of Significant Alternatives to the Proposed Action Which
Accomplish the Stated Objectives of Applicable Statutes and Which
Minimize Any Significant Economic Impact on Small Entities
The Council analyzed four sets of combined catch limit alternatives
for each of the fishing years 2016-2018 for the summer flounder, scup,
and black sea bass fisheries. The 2018 fishing year analysis is based
on summer flounder and scup only because there was no recommendation
for black sea bass. The alternatives were as follows:
Alternative 1 was the Council's originally preferred
alternative, and was consistent with the SSC's interim advice;
Alternative 2 is the status quo and would maintain the
current specifications in effect;
Alternative 3 is an alternative provided for analytical
purposes as the ``most restrictive'' set of landings limits, based on
the lowest landings limits in the time series for each stock; and
Alternative 4 is the counter-point to Alternative 3 as the
``least restrictive'' or highest landings limits in the time series.
This analysis was completed using the Council's interim
recommendation for the black sea bass specifications. The
specifications proposed in this action are different than Alternative
1, as described in the Council's specifications document and IRFA. The
proposed specifications represent an increase in the 2016 and 2017
commercial quotas to 2.71 million lb (1,230 mt) and recreational
harvest limits of 2.82 million lb (1,280 mt). These are 21 percent
higher than the previously preferred alternative (Alternative 1), and
33 percent lower than the ``least restrictive'' alternative
(Alternative 4). The impacts from the proposed catch limits fall within
the range that has been analyzed and are more fully described here. The
discussion below is based on the conclusions of the RFA analyses in the
draft specifications document provided by the Council, modified to
account for the revised black sea bass recommendation.
Table 8--Summary of Landings Limits by Alternative
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commercial Recreational
Year Alternative Species quota harvest limit
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2016......................... Proposed................ Summer Flounder........ 8.12 5.42
Scup................... 20.47 6.09
Black Sea Bass......... 2.71 2.82
Alternative 1 Summer Flounder........ 8.12 5.42
(Preferred)
Scup................... 20.47 6.09
Black Sea Bass......... 2.24 2.33
Alternative 2 (Status Summer Flounder........ 11.07 7.38
quo).
Scup................... 21.23 6.80
Black Sea Bass......... 2.21 2.33
Alternative 3 (Most Summer Flounder........ 6.30 4.20
Restrictive).
Scup................... 2.53 1.24
Black Sea Bass......... 1.13 1.17
Alternative 4 (Least Summer Flounder........ 18.18 12.12
Restrictive).
Scup................... 28.35 8.57
Black Sea Bass......... 4.02 4.18
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2017......................... Proposed................ Summer Flounder........ 7.91 5.28
Scup................... 18.38 5.50
Black Sea Bass......... 2.71 2.82
[[Page 69186]]
Alternative 1 Summer Flounder........ 7.91 5.28
(Preferred).
Scup................... 18.38 5.50
Black Sea Bass......... 2.24 2.33
Alternative 2 (Status Summer Flounder........ 11.07 7.38
quo).
Scup................... 21.23 6.80
Black Sea Bass......... 2.21 2.33
Alternative 3 (Most Summer Flounder........ 6.30 4.20
Restrictive).
Scup................... 2.53 1.24
Black Sea Bass......... 1.13 1.17
Alternative 4 (Least Summer Flounder........ 18.18 12.12
Restrictive).
Scup................... 28.35 8.57
Black Sea Bass......... 4.02 4.18
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2018......................... Alternative 1 Summer Flounder........ 7.89 5.26
(Preferred; Proposed).
Scup................... 17.34 5.21
Alternative 2 (Status Summer Flounder........ 11.07 7.38
quo).
Scup................... 21.23 6.80
Alternative 3 (Most Summer Flounder........ 6.30 4.20
Restrictive).
Scup................... 2.53 1.24
Alternative 4 (Least Summer Flounder........ 18.18 12.12
Restrictive).
Scup................... 28.35 8.57
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commercial Fishery Impacts
It is expected that varying levels of negative economic impacts on
the three fisheries may occur from the proposed specifications. The
summer flounder fishery is expected to experience the largest negative
impact, because of the 20-percent decrease in available quota in 2016.
This represents an approximately $8.1-million decrease in ex-vessel
summer flounder revenue across the fleet. However, some of this impact
may be offset for some firms if the price of summer flounder increases
because of lower availability. This decrease is not distributed
uniformly across each participating vessel because each business is not
equally dependent on summer flounder. The Council's analysis shows that
228 out of the 952 small business entities are likely to be faced with
revenue reductions of 5 percent or more because of Alternative 1. Of
these, 40 percent had gross sales of $10,000 or less, suggesting
dependence on fishing for some of these firms is very small. If the
revenue impacts were distributed equally across the active firms (i.e.,
those business entities who vessel or vessels landed summer flounder
between 2012 and 2014), the proposed specifications would result in a
$11,877-decrease per firm in 2016 compared to 2015.
The 2016-2018 proposed scup commercial quotas and recreational
harvest limits under the proposed alternative are lower than the quotas
implemented in 2015; however, they are higher than the 2014 commercial
and recreational landings. Unless market conditions change
substantially in coming years, it is expected that commercial and
recreational landings will likely be close to the 2014 landings. There
is no indication that the market environment for commercially and
recreationally caught scup will change considerably in fishing years
2016-2018. Therefore, there are no expected negative impacts from the
proposed scup quotas, even though they are lower than those of the
previous year.
The 2016-2017 proposed black sea bass commercial quotas are
increases from 2015. Relative to the status quo catch levels, the
proposed black sea bass quotas could result in slightly positive
impacts for the commercial fishery. The status quo specifications would
result in a $0.1-million increase, in revenue, fleet-wide, for the
commercial black sea bass fishery, or $134 per business entity if
distributed equally. The least restrictive alternative (Alternative 4)
would result in a $5.9-million increase in revenues ($7,930 per
business entity, if distributed equally). The proposed commercial quota
is approximately 13 percent higher than 2014 landings. Assuming the
2014 ex-vessel price for black sea bass ($3.24/lb), the proposed
commercial quota represents a potential increase of $1.5 million in
fleet-wide revenues, or approximately $2,000 per business entity if
distributed equally. The proposed alternative has slightly more
positive economic impacts than the status quo catch limits and is
consistent with the SSC's revised recommendation.
Recreational Fishery Impacts
While the proposed specifications would establish recreational
harvest limits for summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass, the
management measure details for recreational fisheries will be developed
by the Council separately for each fishing year, followed by NMFS
rulemaking in the spring of that year. A comprehensive analysis of the
impacts associated with the recommended recreational management
measures will be provided to NMFS from the Council to support these
activities. If recreational landings for these three species are the
same in 2016-2018 as in recent years, the recreational harvest limits
proposed would likely constrain recreational landings for summer
flounder and black sea bass, but not likely for scup. As such, it is
likely that more restrictive limits (i.e., lower possession limits,
higher minimum size limits, and/or shorter open seasons) will be
required for summer flounder and black sea bass. This will likely have
some negative economic impacts, particularly for the summer flounder
fishery. Increasing the recreational harvest limit for black sea bass
would allow the measures to be restricted less than if the status quo
recreational harvest limit is maintained, although only slightly.
Specific recreational management measures (for all three species) will
be determined when more complete data regarding recreational landings
are available.
Summary
The Council selected Alternative 1 (preferred) over Alternative 2
(status quo), Alternative 3 (most restrictive), and Alternative 4
(least restrictive) stating that the Alternative 1 measures were
consistent with the advice
[[Page 69187]]
provided to the Council by its SSC and monitoring committees and would
have less negative economic impacts than the most restrictive
alternatives. The status quo and least restrictive alternatives
(Alternatives 2 and 4, respectively) would have less economic impact
than the preferred alternative, but not satisfy the Magnuson-Stevens
Act requirements to ensure fish stocks are not subject to overfishing.
NMFS agrees with the Council's IRFA analysis and rationale for
recommending these catch limits. As such, NMFS is proposing to
implement the Council's preferred ABCs, ACLs, ACTs, commercial quotas,
and recreational harvest limits, as revised, presented in Table 1 of
this proposed rule's preamble.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: November 4, 2015.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2015-28444 Filed 11-6-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
