Fisheries Off West Coast States; Coastal Pelagic Species Fisheries; Annual Specifications, 8857-8859 [2016-03610]
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Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 35 / Tuesday, February 23, 2016 / Rules and Regulations
§ 1245.2 Reports of railroad employees,
service and compensation.
PART 1248—FREIGHT COMMODITY
STATISTICS
Each Class I railroad is required to file
a Quarterly Report of Railroad
Employees, Service, and Compensation,
(Quarterly Wage Forms A & B). In
addition, such carriers shall also file an
Annual Report of Railroad Employees,
Service, and Compensation, (Annual
Wage Forms A & B) for each calendar
year. Both reports shall be submitted, in
paper or electronically, to the Office of
Economics, Surface Transportation
Board, Washington, DC. The quarterly
report shall be submitted within 30 days
after the end of each calendar quarter.
The annual report shall be submitted
within 45 days after the end of the
reporting year.
143. The authority citation for Part
1248 continues to read as follows:
■
Authority: 49 U.S.C. 721, 11144 and 11145.
144. Revise the note for Part 1248 to
read as follows:
■
Note: The report forms prescribed by part
1248 are available upon request from the
Office of Economics, Surface Transportation
Board, Washington, DC.
145. In § 1248.5(a), revise the first
sentence to read as follows:
■
§ 1248.5
Report forms and date of filing.
■
(a) Reports required from Class I
carriers by this section shall be
submitted, in paper or electronically, to
the Office of Economics, Surface
Transportation Board, Washington, DC,
on forms which will be furnished to the
carriers. * * *
*
*
*
*
*
§ 1246.1 Monthly report of number of
railroad employees.
PART 1253—RATE-MAKING
ORGANIZATION; RECORDS AND
REPORTS
PART 1246—NUMBER OF RAILROAD
EMPLOYEES
138. The authority citation for Part
1246 continues to read as follows:
■
Authority: 49 U.S.C. 721, 11145.
139. Revise § 1246.1 to read as
follows:
Each Class I railroad shall file a
Monthly Report of Number of Railroad
Employees (Form C) each month. The
report should be submitted, in paper or
electronically, to the Office of
Economics, Surface Transportation
Board, Washington, DC, by the end of
the month to which it applies.
■ 140. Revise the note for part 1246 to
read as follows:
Note: The report forms prescribed by part
1246 are available upon request from the
Office of Economics, Surface Transportation
Board, Washington, DC.
PART 1247—REPORT OF CARS
LOADED AND CARS TERMINATED
141. The authority citation for Part
1247 continues to read as follows:
■
Authority: 49 U.S.C. 721, 10707, 11144,
11145.
§ 1247.1
[Amended]
142. In § 1247.1:
a. Remove the title ‘‘Office of
Economics, Environmental Analysis,
and Administration (OEEAA)’’ and add
in its place ‘‘Office of Economics’’.
■ b. Remove the zip code ‘‘20243’’.
■ c. In the last sentence, remove
‘‘(https://www.stb.dot.gov/
infoex1.htm#forms)’’ and add in its
place ‘‘(https://www.stb.dot.gov)’’.
■ d. Remove ‘‘OEEAA’’ and add in its
place ‘‘the Office of Economics’’.
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■
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146. The authority citation for Part
1253 continues to read as follows:
■
Authority: 49 U.S.C. 721, 10706, 13703,
11144 and 11145.
147. Revise the note for Part 1253 to
read as follows:
■
Note: The report forms prescribed by part
1253 are available upon request from the
Office of Economics, Surface Transportation
Board, Washington, DC.
Note: The following comment will not
appear in the Code of Federal Regulations.
COMMISSIONER BEGEMAN,
commenting:
It is disappointing that today’s
decision is all we can muster up more
than four years after receiving public
comments on whether any of the
Board’s regulations are ‘‘ineffective,
insufficient, or excessively burdensome,
and how to modify, streamline, expand,
or repeal them. . . .’’ I certainly don’t
object to replacing obsolete references
and correcting spelling and other errors,
but we should be doing so as a matter
of course. Today’s decision is simply
not responsive to what we set out to do
in 2011. Nor does it meet the spirit—let
alone achieve the purpose—of the
President’s two Executive Orders.
[FR Doc. 2016–03298 Filed 2–22–16; 8:45 am]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
50 CFR Part 660
[Docket No. 150708591–6096–02]
RIN 0648–XE043
Fisheries Off West Coast States;
Coastal Pelagic Species Fisheries;
Annual Specifications
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Final rule.
AGENCY:
NMFS issues this final rule to
implement annual management
measures and harvest specifications to
establish the allowable catch levels (i.e.
annual catch limit (ACL)/harvest
guideline (HG)) for Pacific mackerel in
the U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ)
off the Pacific Coast for the fishing
season of July 1, 2015, through June 30,
2016. This rule is implemented
pursuant to the Coastal Pelagic Species
(CPS) Fishery Management Plan (FMP).
The 2015–2016 HG for Pacific mackerel
is 21,469 metric tons (mt). This is the
total commercial fishing target level.
This action also implements an annual
catch target (ACT), of 20,469 mt. If the
fishery attains the ACT, the directed
fishery will close, reserving the
difference between the HG (21,469 mt)
and ACT as a 1,000 mt set-aside for
incidental landings in other CPS
fisheries and other sources of mortality.
This final rule is intended to conserve
and manage the Pacific mackerel stock
off the U.S. West Coast.
DATES: Effective March 24, 2016 through
June 30, 2016.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Joshua Lindsay, West Coast Region,
NMFS, (562) 980–4034 Joshua.Lindsay@
noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: During
public meetings each year, the estimated
biomass for Pacific mackerel is
presented to the Pacific Fishery
Management Council’s (Council) CPS
Management Team (Team), the
Council’s CPS Advisory Subpanel
(Subpanel) and the Council’s Scientific
and Statistical Committee (SSC), and the
biomass and the status of the fishery are
reviewed and discussed. The biomass
estimate is then presented to the
Council along with the recommended
overfishing limit (OFL) and acceptable
biological catch (ABC) calculations from
the SSC, along with the calculated ACL,
HG and ACT recommendations, and
SUMMARY:
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Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 35 / Tuesday, February 23, 2016 / Rules and Regulations
comments from the Team and Subpanel.
Following review by the Council and
after reviewing public comment, the
Council adopts a biomass estimate and
makes its catch level recommendations
to NMFS. NMFS manages the Pacific
mackerel fishery in the U.S. EEZ off the
Pacific Coast (California, Oregon, and
Washington) in accordance with the
FMP. Annual specifications published
in the Federal Register establish the
allowable harvest levels (i.e. OFL/ACL/
HG) for each Pacific mackerel fishing
year. The purpose of this final rule is to
implement the 2015–2016 ACL, HG,
ACT and other annual catch reference
points, including OFL and an ABC that
takes into consideration uncertainty
surrounding the current estimate of
biomass for Pacific mackerel in the U.S.
EEZ off the Pacific Coast.
The CPS FMP and its implementing
regulations require NMFS to set these
annual catch levels for the Pacific
mackerel fishery based on the annual
specification framework and control
rules in the FMP. These control rules
include the HG control rule, which in
conjunction with the OFL and ABC
rules in the FMP, are used to manage
harvest levels for Pacific mackerel, in
accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens
Fishery Conservation and Management
Act, 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. According to
the FMP, the quota for the principal
commercial fishery is determined using
the FMP-specified HG formula. The HG
is based, in large part, on the current
estimate of stock biomass. The annual
biomass estimates are an explicit part of
the various harvest control rules for
Pacific mackerel, and as the estimated
biomass decreases or increases from one
year to the next, the resulting allowable
catch levels similarly trend. The harvest
control rule in the CPS FMP is HG =
[(Biomass-Cutoff) * Fraction *
Distribution] with the parameters
described as follows:
1. Biomass. The estimated stock
biomass of Pacific mackerel. For the
2015–2016 management season this is
120,435 mt.
2. Cutoff. This is the biomass level
below which no commercial fishery is
allowed. The FMP established this level
at 18,200 mt.
3. Fraction. The harvest fraction is the
percentage of the biomass above 18,200
mt that may be harvested.
4. Distribution. The average portion of
the Pacific mackerel biomass estimated
in the U.S. EEZ off the Pacific Coast is
70 percent and is based on the average
historical larval distribution obtained
from scientific cruises and the
distribution of the resource according to
the logbooks of aerial fish-spotters.
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At the June 2015 Council meeting, the
Council adopted the ‘‘Pacific Mackerel
(Scomber japonicus) Stock Assessment
for USA Management in the 2015–16
and 2016–2017 Fishing Years’’
(completed by NMFS Southwest
Fisheries Science Center) and the
resulting Pacific mackerel biomass
estimate for use in the 2015–2016
fishing year of 120,435 mt. Based on
recommendations from its SSC and
other advisory bodies, the Council
recommended, and NMFS is
implementing, an OFL of 25,291 mt, an
ABC and ACL of 23,104 mt, a HG of
21,469 mt, and an ACT of 20,469 mt for
the fishing year of July 1, 2015, to June
30, 2016. As of the publication of this
final rule, the level of Pacific mackerel
harvest since July 1, 2015, in the EEZ off
the Pacific Coast has not reached 20,469
mt; Pacific mackerel harvested in this
area between July 1, 2015, and the
effective date of this final rule will
count toward the 20,469 mt ACT.
Additionally, the Council also adopted
and recommended harvest
specifications for the 2016–2017 fishing
year; however, currently NMFS is only
implementing the annual harvest
measures for the 2015–2016 fishing
year. A subsequent rule will be
published later in the year that will
propose the Council’s recommendations
for the 2016–2017 fishing year.
Upon attainment of the ACT, the
directed fishing would close, reserving
the difference between the HG and ACT
(1,000 mt) as a set aside for incidental
landings in other CPS fisheries and
other sources of mortality. For the
remainder of the fishing year incidental
landings would also be constrained to a
45 percent incidental catch allowance
when Pacific mackerel are landed with
other CPS (in other words, no more than
45 percent by weight of the CPS landed
per trip may be Pacific mackerel),
except that up to 3 mt of Pacific
mackerel could be landed incidentally
without landing any other CPS. Upon
attainment of the HG (21,469 mt), no
retention of Pacific mackerel would be
allowed in CPS fisheries. In previous
years, the incidental set-aside
established in the mackerel fishery has
been, in part, to ensure that if the
directed quota for mackerel was reached
that the operation of the Pacific sardine
fishery was not overly restricted. There
is no directed Pacific sardine fishery for
the 2015–2016 season, therefore the
need for a high incidental set-aside is
reduced. The purpose of the incidental
set-aside is to manage incidental
landings of Pacific mackerel in other
fisheries, particularly other CPS
fisheries, when the directed fishery is
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closed to reduce potential discard of
Pacific mackerel and allow for
continued prosecution of other
important CPS fisheries in which
incidental catch of Pacific mackerel
cannot be avoided.
The NMFS West Coast Regional
Administrator will publish a notice in
the Federal Register announcing the
date of any closure to either directed or
incidental fishing. Additionally, to
ensure the regulated community is
informed of any closure, NMFS will also
make announcements through other
means available, including fax, email,
and mail to fishermen, processors, and
state fishery management agencies.
On September 10, 2015, a proposed
rule was published for this action and
public comments solicited (80 FR
54507), with a comment period that
ended on October 13, 2015. NMFS
received two comments, explained
below, regarding the proposed Pacific
mackerel specifications. After
consideration of public comment, no
changes were made from the proposed
rule. Detailed information on the fishery
and the stock assessment are found in
the reports ‘‘Pacific Mackerel (Scomber
japonicus) Stock Assessment for USA
Management in the 2015–16 Fishing
Year’’ and ‘‘Pacific Mackerel Biomass
Projection Estimate for USA
Management (2015–16)’’ (see FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).
Comments and Responses
Comment 1: The commenter
expressed general support for this
action, but only if the fishery is
potentially subject to overfishing or if
the decrease in harvest levels does not
put people out of work.
Response: Fisheries have the potential
to overfish Pacific mackerel if
unregulated. NMFS does not anticipate
that this action will have a significant
adverse economic impact on fishermen
in this fishery.
Comment 2: The commenter did not
comment on the proposed action
specifically, but discussed the
management of commercial forage fish
off the West Coast generally, specifically
referencing concern over the status of
Pacific sardine and northern anchovy
stocks.
Response: NMFS notes that Pacific
mackerel is not overfished, that
overfishing is not occurring, and that
the best available science was used in
the determination of these catch levels.
NMFS agrees that the consideration of
ecosystem interactions, such as the role
of forage species and ecological
conditions, along with social and
economic factors are critical when
making fishery management decisions.
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Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 35 / Tuesday, February 23, 2016 / Rules and Regulations
As such, NMFS has been working to
better understand diet linkages between
forage fish species and higher order
predators to enhance the ecosystem
science used in our fisheries
management.
Classification
Pursuant to section 304(b)(1)(A) of the
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act, the
Assistant Administrator, NMFS, has
determined that this final rule is
consistent with the CPS FMP, other
provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens
Fishery Conservation and Management
Act, and other applicable law.
These specifications are exempt from
review under Executive Order 12866.
The Chief Counsel for Regulation of
the Department of Commerce certified
to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the
Small Business Administration during
the proposed rule stage that this action
would not have a significant economic
impact on a substantial number of small
entities. The factual basis for the
certification was published in the
proposed rule and is not repeated here.
No comments were received regarding
this certification. As a result, a
regulatory flexibility analysis was not
required and none was prepared.
This action does not contain a
collection-of-information requirement
for purposes of the Paperwork
Reduction Act.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: February 12, 2016.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for
Regulatory Programs, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2016–03610 Filed 2–22–16; 8:45 am]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
50 CFR Part 679
[Docket No. 140918791–4999–02]
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RIN 0648–XE457
Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic
Zone Off Alaska; Pacific Cod by
Vessels Using Pot Gear in the Western
Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
AGENCY:
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Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Temporary rule; closure.
NMFS is prohibiting directed
fishing for Pacific cod by vessels using
pot gear in the Western Regulatory Area
of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action
is necessary to prevent exceeding the A
season allowance of the 2016 Pacific
cod total allowable catch apportioned to
vessels using pot gear in the Western
Regulatory Area of the GOA.
DATES: Effective 1200 hours, Alaska
local time (A.l.t.), February 19, 2016,
through 1200 hours, A.l.t., June 10,
2016.
SUMMARY:
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Obren Davis, 907–586–7228.
NMFS
manages the groundfish fishery in the
GOA exclusive economic zone
according to the Fishery Management
Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of
Alaska (FMP) prepared by the North
Pacific Fishery Management Council
under authority of the MagnusonStevens Fishery Conservation and
Management Act. Regulations governing
fishing by U.S. vessels in accordance
with the FMP appear at subpart H of 50
CFR part 600 and 50 CFR part 679.
Regulations governing sideboard
protections for GOA groundfish
fisheries appear at subpart B of 50 CFR
part 680.
The A season allowance of the 2016
Pacific cod total allowable catch (TAC)
apportioned to vessels using pot gear in
the Western Regulatory Area of the GOA
is 5,417 metric tons (mt), as established
by the final 2015 and 2016 harvest
specifications for groundfish of the GOA
(80 FR 10250, February 25, 2015) and
inseason adjustment (81 FR 188, January
5, 2016).
In accordance with § 679.20(d)(1)(i),
the Administrator, Alaska Region,
NMFS (Regional Administrator) has
determined that the A season allowance
of the 2016 Pacific cod TAC
apportioned to vessels using pot gear in
the Western Regulatory Area of the GOA
will soon be reached. Therefore, the
Regional Administrator is establishing a
directed fishing allowance of 5,407 mt
and is setting aside the remaining 10 mt
as bycatch to support other anticipated
groundfish fisheries. In accordance with
§ 679.20(d)(1)(iii), the Regional
Administrator finds that this directed
fishing allowance has been reached.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
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Consequently, NMFS is prohibiting
directed fishing for Pacific cod by
vessels using pot gear in the Western
Regulatory Area of the GOA. After the
effective date of this closure the
maximum retainable amounts at
§ 679.20(e) and (f) apply at any time
during a trip.
Classification
This action responds to the best
available information recently obtained
from the fishery. The Assistant
Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA
(AA), finds good cause to waive the
requirement to provide prior notice and
opportunity for public comment
pursuant to the authority set forth at 5
U.S.C. 553(b)(B) as such requirement is
impracticable and contrary to the public
interest. This requirement is
impracticable and contrary to the public
interest as it would prevent NMFS from
responding to the most recent fisheries
data in a timely fashion and would
delay the directed fishing closure of
Pacific cod for vessels using pot gear in
the Western Regulatory Area of the
GOA. NMFS was unable to publish a
notice providing time for public
comment because the most recent,
relevant data only became available as
of February 17, 2016.
The AA also finds good cause to
waive the 30-day delay in the effective
date of this action under 5 U.S.C.
553(d)(3). This finding is based upon
the reasons provided above for waiver of
prior notice and opportunity for public
comment.
This action is required by § 679.20
and is exempt from review under
Executive Order 12866.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: February 18, 2016.
Alan D. Risenhoover,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries,
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2016–03732 Filed 2–18–16; 4:15 pm]
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 35 (Tuesday, February 23, 2016)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 8857-8859]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-03610]
=======================================================================
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 660
[Docket No. 150708591-6096-02]
RIN 0648-XE043
Fisheries Off West Coast States; Coastal Pelagic Species
Fisheries; Annual Specifications
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Final rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: NMFS issues this final rule to implement annual management
measures and harvest specifications to establish the allowable catch
levels (i.e. annual catch limit (ACL)/harvest guideline (HG)) for
Pacific mackerel in the U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off the
Pacific Coast for the fishing season of July 1, 2015, through June 30,
2016. This rule is implemented pursuant to the Coastal Pelagic Species
(CPS) Fishery Management Plan (FMP). The 2015-2016 HG for Pacific
mackerel is 21,469 metric tons (mt). This is the total commercial
fishing target level. This action also implements an annual catch
target (ACT), of 20,469 mt. If the fishery attains the ACT, the
directed fishery will close, reserving the difference between the HG
(21,469 mt) and ACT as a 1,000 mt set-aside for incidental landings in
other CPS fisheries and other sources of mortality. This final rule is
intended to conserve and manage the Pacific mackerel stock off the U.S.
West Coast.
DATES: Effective March 24, 2016 through June 30, 2016.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joshua Lindsay, West Coast Region,
NMFS, (562) 980-4034 Joshua.Lindsay@noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: During public meetings each year, the
estimated biomass for Pacific mackerel is presented to the Pacific
Fishery Management Council's (Council) CPS Management Team (Team), the
Council's CPS Advisory Subpanel (Subpanel) and the Council's Scientific
and Statistical Committee (SSC), and the biomass and the status of the
fishery are reviewed and discussed. The biomass estimate is then
presented to the Council along with the recommended overfishing limit
(OFL) and acceptable biological catch (ABC) calculations from the SSC,
along with the calculated ACL, HG and ACT recommendations, and
[[Page 8858]]
comments from the Team and Subpanel. Following review by the Council
and after reviewing public comment, the Council adopts a biomass
estimate and makes its catch level recommendations to NMFS. NMFS
manages the Pacific mackerel fishery in the U.S. EEZ off the Pacific
Coast (California, Oregon, and Washington) in accordance with the FMP.
Annual specifications published in the Federal Register establish the
allowable harvest levels (i.e. OFL/ACL/HG) for each Pacific mackerel
fishing year. The purpose of this final rule is to implement the 2015-
2016 ACL, HG, ACT and other annual catch reference points, including
OFL and an ABC that takes into consideration uncertainty surrounding
the current estimate of biomass for Pacific mackerel in the U.S. EEZ
off the Pacific Coast.
The CPS FMP and its implementing regulations require NMFS to set
these annual catch levels for the Pacific mackerel fishery based on the
annual specification framework and control rules in the FMP. These
control rules include the HG control rule, which in conjunction with
the OFL and ABC rules in the FMP, are used to manage harvest levels for
Pacific mackerel, in accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act, 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. According to
the FMP, the quota for the principal commercial fishery is determined
using the FMP-specified HG formula. The HG is based, in large part, on
the current estimate of stock biomass. The annual biomass estimates are
an explicit part of the various harvest control rules for Pacific
mackerel, and as the estimated biomass decreases or increases from one
year to the next, the resulting allowable catch levels similarly trend.
The harvest control rule in the CPS FMP is HG = [(Biomass-Cutoff) *
Fraction * Distribution] with the parameters described as follows:
1. Biomass. The estimated stock biomass of Pacific mackerel. For
the 2015-2016 management season this is 120,435 mt.
2. Cutoff. This is the biomass level below which no commercial
fishery is allowed. The FMP established this level at 18,200 mt.
3. Fraction. The harvest fraction is the percentage of the biomass
above 18,200 mt that may be harvested.
4. Distribution. The average portion of the Pacific mackerel
biomass estimated in the U.S. EEZ off the Pacific Coast is 70 percent
and is based on the average historical larval distribution obtained
from scientific cruises and the distribution of the resource according
to the logbooks of aerial fish-spotters.
At the June 2015 Council meeting, the Council adopted the ``Pacific
Mackerel (Scomber japonicus) Stock Assessment for USA Management in the
2015-16 and 2016-2017 Fishing Years'' (completed by NMFS Southwest
Fisheries Science Center) and the resulting Pacific mackerel biomass
estimate for use in the 2015-2016 fishing year of 120,435 mt. Based on
recommendations from its SSC and other advisory bodies, the Council
recommended, and NMFS is implementing, an OFL of 25,291 mt, an ABC and
ACL of 23,104 mt, a HG of 21,469 mt, and an ACT of 20,469 mt for the
fishing year of July 1, 2015, to June 30, 2016. As of the publication
of this final rule, the level of Pacific mackerel harvest since July 1,
2015, in the EEZ off the Pacific Coast has not reached 20,469 mt;
Pacific mackerel harvested in this area between July 1, 2015, and the
effective date of this final rule will count toward the 20,469 mt ACT.
Additionally, the Council also adopted and recommended harvest
specifications for the 2016-2017 fishing year; however, currently NMFS
is only implementing the annual harvest measures for the 2015-2016
fishing year. A subsequent rule will be published later in the year
that will propose the Council's recommendations for the 2016-2017
fishing year.
Upon attainment of the ACT, the directed fishing would close,
reserving the difference between the HG and ACT (1,000 mt) as a set
aside for incidental landings in other CPS fisheries and other sources
of mortality. For the remainder of the fishing year incidental landings
would also be constrained to a 45 percent incidental catch allowance
when Pacific mackerel are landed with other CPS (in other words, no
more than 45 percent by weight of the CPS landed per trip may be
Pacific mackerel), except that up to 3 mt of Pacific mackerel could be
landed incidentally without landing any other CPS. Upon attainment of
the HG (21,469 mt), no retention of Pacific mackerel would be allowed
in CPS fisheries. In previous years, the incidental set-aside
established in the mackerel fishery has been, in part, to ensure that
if the directed quota for mackerel was reached that the operation of
the Pacific sardine fishery was not overly restricted. There is no
directed Pacific sardine fishery for the 2015-2016 season, therefore
the need for a high incidental set-aside is reduced. The purpose of the
incidental set-aside is to manage incidental landings of Pacific
mackerel in other fisheries, particularly other CPS fisheries, when the
directed fishery is closed to reduce potential discard of Pacific
mackerel and allow for continued prosecution of other important CPS
fisheries in which incidental catch of Pacific mackerel cannot be
avoided.
The NMFS West Coast Regional Administrator will publish a notice in
the Federal Register announcing the date of any closure to either
directed or incidental fishing. Additionally, to ensure the regulated
community is informed of any closure, NMFS will also make announcements
through other means available, including fax, email, and mail to
fishermen, processors, and state fishery management agencies.
On September 10, 2015, a proposed rule was published for this
action and public comments solicited (80 FR 54507), with a comment
period that ended on October 13, 2015. NMFS received two comments,
explained below, regarding the proposed Pacific mackerel
specifications. After consideration of public comment, no changes were
made from the proposed rule. Detailed information on the fishery and
the stock assessment are found in the reports ``Pacific Mackerel
(Scomber japonicus) Stock Assessment for USA Management in the 2015-16
Fishing Year'' and ``Pacific Mackerel Biomass Projection Estimate for
USA Management (2015-16)'' (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).
Comments and Responses
Comment 1: The commenter expressed general support for this action,
but only if the fishery is potentially subject to overfishing or if the
decrease in harvest levels does not put people out of work.
Response: Fisheries have the potential to overfish Pacific mackerel
if unregulated. NMFS does not anticipate that this action will have a
significant adverse economic impact on fishermen in this fishery.
Comment 2: The commenter did not comment on the proposed action
specifically, but discussed the management of commercial forage fish
off the West Coast generally, specifically referencing concern over the
status of Pacific sardine and northern anchovy stocks.
Response: NMFS notes that Pacific mackerel is not overfished, that
overfishing is not occurring, and that the best available science was
used in the determination of these catch levels. NMFS agrees that the
consideration of ecosystem interactions, such as the role of forage
species and ecological conditions, along with social and economic
factors are critical when making fishery management decisions.
[[Page 8859]]
As such, NMFS has been working to better understand diet linkages
between forage fish species and higher order predators to enhance the
ecosystem science used in our fisheries management.
Classification
Pursuant to section 304(b)(1)(A) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act, the Assistant Administrator, NMFS, has
determined that this final rule is consistent with the CPS FMP, other
provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management
Act, and other applicable law.
These specifications are exempt from review under Executive Order
12866.
The Chief Counsel for Regulation of the Department of Commerce
certified to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business
Administration during the proposed rule stage that this action would
not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small
entities. The factual basis for the certification was published in the
proposed rule and is not repeated here. No comments were received
regarding this certification. As a result, a regulatory flexibility
analysis was not required and none was prepared.
This action does not contain a collection-of-information
requirement for purposes of the Paperwork Reduction Act.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: February 12, 2016.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2016-03610 Filed 2-22-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
