Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Summer Flounder Fishery; 2017 and 2018 Summer Flounder Specifications, 80038-80041 [2016-27410]
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Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 220 / Tuesday, November 15, 2016 / Notices
operations, maintenance, and repair
activities in the Massachusetts Bay.
Please include with your comments any
supporting data or literature citations to
help inform our final decision on
Northeast Gateway and Algonquin’s
request for an MMPA authorization.
Dated: November 7, 2016.
Donna Wieting,
Director, Office of Protected Resources,
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2016–27383 Filed 11–14–16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
[Docket No. 161017970–6970–01]
RIN 0648–XE976
Fisheries of the Northeastern United
States; Summer Flounder Fishery;
2017 and 2018 Summer Flounder
Specifications
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Proposed specifications; request
for comments.
AGENCY:
NMFS proposes revised
summer flounder specifications for the
2017 and 2018 fishing years. Updated
scientific information regarding the
status of the summer flounder stock
indicates that these proposed catch
limits are necessary to constrain
summer flounder harvest within
scientifically sound recommendations
to prevent overfishing. This action is
intended to inform the public of
proposed reductions for the 2017 and
2018 summer flounder fishing years.
DATES: Comments must be received on
or before November 30, 2016.
ADDRESSES: A supplemental
environmental assessment (SEA) 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
SEA, the Initial Regulatory Flexibility
Analysis (IRFA), and the original
environmental assessment for the 2016–
2018 summer flounder, scup, and black
sea bass specifications 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.
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SUMMARY:
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You may submit comments on this
document, identified by NOAA–NMFS–
2016–0138, 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-20160138,
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 Summer Flounder
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:
Emily Gilbert, Fishery Policy Analyst,
(978) 281–9244.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background and Proposed
Specifications
The Mid-Atlantic Fishery
Management Council and the Atlantic
States Marine Fisheries Commission
cooperatively manage the summer
flounder, scup, and black sea bass
fisheries. The Summer Flounder, Scup,
and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management
Plan (FMP) and its implementing
regulations outline the Council’s
process for establishing specifications.
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 sectorspecific landing limits (i.e., the
commercial fishery quota and
recreational harvest limit). Annual
specifications may be established for
three year periods, and, in interim years,
specifications are reviewed by the
Council to ensure previously
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established multi-year specifications
remain appropriate. 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. 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.
On December 28, 2015, NMFS
published a final rule implementing the
Council’s recommended specifications
for the summer flounder, scup, and
black sea bass fisheries (80 FR 80689)
for fishing years 2016 through 2018. The
Council intended to reconsider the
specifications set for fishing years 2017
and 2018 after reviewing any updated
information. Based on updated
information on the status of the summer
flounder stock, the Council is now
recommending adjustments to the
previously established summer flounder
specifications for the 2017 and 2018
fishing years. An assessment update
will be available next summer and
notice will be provided in the Federal
Register on whether the revised 2018
specifications will remain in place or be
updated further based on any new
information. The scup and black sea
bass specifications implemented
through previous rulemaking remain
unchanged by this action.
When the Council previously
recommended summer flounder
specifications in 2015, available
scientific information indicated that the
summer flounder stock size was
declining and that overfishing occurred
in 2014. In order to minimize disruption
to the industry as much as possible,
given the necessary reduction in
available catch to prevent further
overfishing and to increase the stock
size, the Council requested its Scientific
and Statistical Committee (SSC) to
deviate from the standard risk policy
and to phase-in the summer flounder
catch reductions over the 3-year
specifications cycle. The SSC complied
with this request, but requested a stock
assessment update in July 2016 to
determine if its recommended
acceptable biological catches (ABCs)
remain appropriate for 2017 and 2018.
The SSC met on July 21–22, 2016, to
review the stock assessment update for
summer flounder compiled by the
Northeast Fisheries Science Center. This
2016 update was based on the peerreview approved model from the 2013
benchmark assessment, updated to
include data through 2015. More
specific information about the
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Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 220 / Tuesday, November 15, 2016 / Notices
assessment information (e.g., biomass
level, fishing mortality, etc.) can be
found in section 6.0 of the SEA for this
action. The assessment update noted
that the consistent pattern in both
underestimation of fishing mortality and
overestimation of spawning stock
biomass is continuing, even though
catches have not substantially exceeded
ABC levels. This downward trend in
biomass is mainly due to below average
recruitment in the last five years. As a
result of this information, the
assessment update recalculated the 2017
and 2018 overfishing limits (OFLs) for
the stock. For 2017, the recalculated
OFL is 16.76 million lb (7,600 mt) and
for 2018, the recalculated OFL is 18.69
million lb (8,476 mt), representing
approximately a 16-percent reduction
from the previously established OFLs.
To keep catch below these updated OFL
estimates, the SSC recommended
revisions to the previously adopted
2017 and 2018 ABCs. The SSC
recommended revising the ABCs by
abandoning the phased-in approach and
instead following the Council’s standard
risk policy. The SSC cited among its
reasons for departing from the
commercial landings monitoring and
fishery closure system is timely enough
to prevent commercial overages. As a
result, the Monitoring Committee
recommended that ACTs for the
commercial and recreational sectors
should equal their respective ACLs and
made no recommended changes to any
other summer flounder management
measures.
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 9, 2016, to
consider the recommendations of the
SSC, the Monitoring Committee, and
public comments, and to make their
specification 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).
Ultimately, the Council recommended
the summer flounder commercial quotas
and recreational harvest limits shown in
Table 1. The recommended catch limits
for 2017 are nearly 30 percent lower
than those previously established.
previously approved phased-in
approach the continual overestimation
of biomass and recruitment and
underestimation of fishing mortality,
emphasizing that continuing to overfish
in a period of consistently poor
recruitment represents a substantial risk
to the stock. The SSC recommended a
revised 2017 ABC that is approximately
30 percent lower than both the
previously established 2017 ABC and
the current 2016 ABC. The SSC
recommended a 2018 ABC that is 16
percent lower than the previously
established 2018 ABC (Table 1).
The Council’s Summer Flounder
Monitoring Committee met July 25,
2016, to discuss specification-related
recommendations for the summer
flounder fishery, to recommend offsets
from the ACL to account for
management uncertainty, and to discuss
commercial management measure
recommendations, as appropriate. The
Monitoring Committee determined that
no additional reductions were necessary
to account for management uncertainty
because the recreational fishery has had
only minor overages of the recreational
harvest limit in recent years, and the
TABLE 1—COMPARISON OF RECOMMENDED MEASURES TO PREVIOUSLY ESTABLISHED CATCH AND LANDING LIMITS OF
SUMMER FLOUNDER
2017
2018
2016
Current
Acceptable Biological Catch:
million lb ............................................
Mt ......................................................
Commercial Quota:
million lb ............................................
Mt ......................................................
Recreational Harvest Limit:
million lb ............................................
Mt ......................................................
Difference
(%)
Proposed
Current
Proposed
Difference
(%)
16.26
7,374
11.30
5,125
¥29
15.68
7,111
13.23
5,999
¥16
8.12
3,685
7.91
3,590
5.66
2,567
¥28
7.89
3,581
6.63
3,006
¥16
5.42
2,457
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
15.86
7,193
5.28
2,393
3.77
1,711
¥29
5.26
2,387
4.42
2,004
¥16
rulemaking to propose and implement
the final specifications.
Proposed 2017 and 2018 Summer
Flounder Specifications
specifications that NMFS is proposing
for 2017 and 2018, including the sectorspecific estimated discards.
Table 2 summarizes the Council’s
recommended summer flounder
TABLE 2—PROPOSED 2017–2018 SUMMER FLOUNDER SPECIFICATIONS
2016 (current)
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million lb
OFL ..........................................................
ABC ..........................................................
ABC Landings Portion .............................
ABC Discards Portion ..............................
Commercial ACL ......................................
Commercial ACT ......................................
Projected Commercial Discards ..............
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18.06
16.26
13.54
2.72
9.43
9.43
1.30
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2017
mt
million lb
8,194
7,375
6,142
1,233
4,275
4,275
590
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
2018
mt
16.76
11.30
9.43
1.87
6.57
6.57
0.92
E:\FR\FM\15NON1.SGM
million lb
7,600
5,125
4,278
847
2,982
2,982
415
15NON1
18.69
13.23
11.05
2.18
7.70
7.70
1.07
mt
8,476
5,999
5,010
989
3,491
3,491
485
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Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 220 / Tuesday, November 15, 2016 / Notices
TABLE 2—PROPOSED 2017–2018 SUMMER FLOUNDER SPECIFICATIONS—Continued
2016 (current)
million lb
Commercial Quota ...................................
Recreational ACL .....................................
Recreational ACT .....................................
Projected Recreational Discards .............
Recreational Harvest Limit .......................
mt
8.12
6.84
6.84
1.42
5.42
Consistent with the summer flounder
regulations, the sum of the recreational
and commercial sector ACLs is equal to
the ABC for each fishing year. To derive
the ACLs, the sum of the sector-specific
projected discards are removed from the
ABCs to derive the landing allowances.
For summer flounder, 60 percent of the
landing allowance for each fishing year
is allocated to the commercial fishery
and 40 percent to the recreational
fishery. Using this method ensures that
2017
million lb
3,685
3,100
3,100
643
2,457
2018
mt
5.66
4.72
4.72
0.95
3.77
million lb
2,567
2,143
2,143
432
1,711
each sector is accountable for its
respective discards, rather than simply
apportioning the ABCs by the allocation
percentages to derive the sector ACLs.
Although the derived ACLs are not split
exactly according to the allocations
specified in the Summer Flounder,
Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fishery
Management Plan (FMP), the landing
portions of the ACLs preserve the
appropriate allocation split, consistent
with the FMP.
mt
6.63
5.53
5.53
1.11
4.42
3,006
2,508
2,508
504
2,004
Table 3 presents the proposed state
summer flounder allocations for 2017–
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 2017.
TABLE 3—2017–2018 PROPOSED INITIAL SUMMER FLOUNDER STATE COMMERCIAL QUOTAS
FMP percent
share
State
2017 Initial quota
Lb
2018 Initial quota
Kg
Lb
Kg
ME ..........................................................
NH ..........................................................
MA ..........................................................
RI ...........................................................
CT ..........................................................
NY ..........................................................
NJ ...........................................................
DE ..........................................................
MD .........................................................
VA ..........................................................
NC ..........................................................
0.04756
0.00046
6.82046
15.68298
2.25708
7.64699
16.72499
0.01779
2.0391
21.31676
27.44584
2,692
26
385,988
887,542
127,734
432,764
946,512
1,007
115,398
1,206,372
1,553,233
1,221
18
175,081
402,582
57,939
196,298
429,331
457
52,344
547,201
704,535
3,152
30
451,998
1,039,326
149,579
506,773
1,108,381
1,179
135,133
1,412,682
1,818,862
1,430
14
205,023
471,430
67,848
229,868
502,753
535
61,295
640,782
825,022
Total ................................................
100
5,659,266
2,567,000
6,627,096
3,006,000
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.
The Council and Commission will
develop recreational management
measures (e.g., minimum fish sizes,
open seasons, and bag limits) for
summer flounder this fall and NMFS
rulemaking will occur in early spring of
2017.
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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.
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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
fishery 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 2017 and
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2018 summer flounder 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 fishery 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.
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Description and Estimate of the Number
of Small Entities To Which the Proposed
Rule Would Apply
On December 29, 2015, NMFS issued
a final rule establishing a small business
size standard of $11 million in annual
gross receipts for all businesses
primarily engaged in the commercial
fishing industry and $7 million in
annual gross receipts for all businesses
primarily engaged in for-hire fishing
activity (NAICS 11411) for Regulatory
Flexibility Act (RFA) compliance
purposes only (80 FR 81194, December
29, 2015). 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 fishery.
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
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.
The current ownership data set used
for this analysis is based on calendar
year 2015 (the most recent complete
year available) and contains average
gross sales associated with those
permits for calendar years 2013 through
2015.
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.
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According to the commercial
ownership database, 553 affiliate firms
landed summer flounder during the
2013–2015 period, with 547 of those
businesses affiliates categorized as small
businesses and 6 categorized as large
businesses. The ownership data for the
for-hire fleet indicate that there were
411 for-hire affiliate firms generating
revenues from fishing recreationally for
various species during the 2013–2015
period, all of which are categorized as
small businesses. Although it is not
possible to derive what proportion of
the overall revenues came from specific
fishing activities, given the popularity of
summer flounder as a recreational
species, it is likely that revenues
generated from summer flounder
recreational fishing is important for
some, if not all, of these firms.
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
This action proposes to set
commercial quotas and recreational
harvest limits for the summer flounder
fishery for the 2017 and 2018 fishing
years that are consistent with the best
scientific information available and the
most recent catch limit
recommendations of the Council’s SSC.
The proposed landings limits for 2017
include a commercial quota of 5.66
million lb (2,567 mt) and a recreational
harvest limit of 3.77 million lb (1,711
mt). For 2018, the proposed measures
include a commercial quota of 6.63
million lb (3,006 mt) and a recreational
harvest limit of 4.42 million lb (2,004
mt).
The only other alternatives
considered in this document are status
quo alternatives that are identical to the
summer flounder landings limits
implemented in December 2015. If these
specifications remained in place, they
would have greater positive
socioeconomic impacts than the
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80041
preferred alternatives. However, these
alternatives were not selected as
preferred given that they do not address
the new scientific information regarding
summer flounder stock status, and,
therefore, would likely result in
overfishing, which would be
inconsistent with the FMP, National
Standard 1 guidance under the
Magnuson-Stevens Act, and the most
recent advice of the Council’s SSC.
Because these alternatives are
inconsistent with the purpose and need
of this action, they are not considered
further under this analysis.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: November 7, 2016.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for
Regulatory Programs, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2016–27410 Filed 11–14–16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
RIN 0648–XF039
South Atlantic Fishery Management
Council; Public Meetings
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of public meetings of the
South Atlantic Fishery Management
Council.
AGENCY:
The South Atlantic Fishery
Management Council (Council) will
hold meetings of the: Advisory Panel
Selection Committee (Partially Closed
Session); Law Enforcement Committee;
Scientific and Statistical Committee
(SSC) Selection Committee; Protected
Resources Committee; Habitat
Protection and Ecosystem-Based
Management Committee; Southeast
Data, Assessment and Review (SEDAR)
Committee (Partially Closed Session);
Spiny Lobster Committee; Joint Dolphin
Wahoo/Snapper Grouper and Mackerel
Cobia Committees; Information and
Education Committee; Executive
Finance Committee; Snapper Grouper
Committee; Personnel Committee
(Closed Session); Highly Migratory
Species Committee; Mackerel Cobia
Committee; Citizen Science Committee;
Data Collection Committee; and a
meeting of the Full Council.
The Council will take action as
necessary. The Council will also hold a
formal public comment session. The
SUMMARY:
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 220 (Tuesday, November 15, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 80038-80041]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-27410]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[Docket No. 161017970-6970-01]
RIN 0648-XE976
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Summer Flounder
Fishery; 2017 and 2018 Summer Flounder Specifications
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Proposed specifications; request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: NMFS proposes revised summer flounder specifications for the
2017 and 2018 fishing years. Updated scientific information regarding
the status of the summer flounder stock indicates that these proposed
catch limits are necessary to constrain summer flounder harvest within
scientifically sound recommendations to prevent overfishing. This
action is intended to inform the public of proposed reductions for the
2017 and 2018 summer flounder fishing years.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before November 30, 2016.
ADDRESSES: A supplemental environmental assessment (SEA) 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 SEA, the Initial Regulatory Flexibility
Analysis (IRFA), and the original environmental assessment for the
2016-2018 summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass specifications 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-
2016-0138, 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-2016-0138,
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 Summer Flounder 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: Emily Gilbert, Fishery Policy Analyst,
(978) 281-9244.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background and Proposed Specifications
The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council and the Atlantic States
Marine Fisheries Commission cooperatively manage the summer flounder,
scup, and black sea bass fisheries. The Summer Flounder, Scup, and
Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan (FMP) and its implementing
regulations outline the Council's process for establishing
specifications. 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). Annual specifications may be established
for three year periods, and, in interim years, specifications are
reviewed by the Council to ensure previously established multi-year
specifications remain appropriate. 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. 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.
On December 28, 2015, NMFS published a final rule implementing the
Council's recommended specifications for the summer flounder, scup, and
black sea bass fisheries (80 FR 80689) for fishing years 2016 through
2018. The Council intended to reconsider the specifications set for
fishing years 2017 and 2018 after reviewing any updated information.
Based on updated information on the status of the summer flounder
stock, the Council is now recommending adjustments to the previously
established summer flounder specifications for the 2017 and 2018
fishing years. An assessment update will be available next summer and
notice will be provided in the Federal Register on whether the revised
2018 specifications will remain in place or be updated further based on
any new information. The scup and black sea bass specifications
implemented through previous rulemaking remain unchanged by this
action.
When the Council previously recommended summer flounder
specifications in 2015, available scientific information indicated that
the summer flounder stock size was declining and that overfishing
occurred in 2014. In order to minimize disruption to the industry as
much as possible, given the necessary reduction in available catch to
prevent further overfishing and to increase the stock size, the Council
requested its Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) to deviate
from the standard risk policy and to phase-in the summer flounder catch
reductions over the 3-year specifications cycle. The SSC complied with
this request, but requested a stock assessment update in July 2016 to
determine if its recommended acceptable biological catches (ABCs)
remain appropriate for 2017 and 2018.
The SSC met on July 21-22, 2016, to review the stock assessment
update for summer flounder compiled by the Northeast Fisheries Science
Center. This 2016 update was based on the peer-review approved model
from the 2013 benchmark assessment, updated to include data through
2015. More specific information about the
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assessment information (e.g., biomass level, fishing mortality, etc.)
can be found in section 6.0 of the SEA for this action. The assessment
update noted that the consistent pattern in both underestimation of
fishing mortality and overestimation of spawning stock biomass is
continuing, even though catches have not substantially exceeded ABC
levels. This downward trend in biomass is mainly due to below average
recruitment in the last five years. As a result of this information,
the assessment update recalculated the 2017 and 2018 overfishing limits
(OFLs) for the stock. For 2017, the recalculated OFL is 16.76 million
lb (7,600 mt) and for 2018, the recalculated OFL is 18.69 million lb
(8,476 mt), representing approximately a 16-percent reduction from the
previously established OFLs. To keep catch below these updated OFL
estimates, the SSC recommended revisions to the previously adopted 2017
and 2018 ABCs. The SSC recommended revising the ABCs by abandoning the
phased-in approach and instead following the Council's standard risk
policy. The SSC cited among its reasons for departing from the
previously approved phased-in approach the continual overestimation of
biomass and recruitment and underestimation of fishing mortality,
emphasizing that continuing to overfish in a period of consistently
poor recruitment represents a substantial risk to the stock. The SSC
recommended a revised 2017 ABC that is approximately 30 percent lower
than both the previously established 2017 ABC and the current 2016 ABC.
The SSC recommended a 2018 ABC that is 16 percent lower than the
previously established 2018 ABC (Table 1).
The Council's Summer Flounder Monitoring Committee met July 25,
2016, to discuss specification-related recommendations for the summer
flounder fishery, to recommend offsets from the ACL to account for
management uncertainty, and to discuss commercial management measure
recommendations, as appropriate. The Monitoring Committee determined
that no additional reductions were necessary to account for management
uncertainty because the recreational fishery has had only minor
overages of the recreational harvest limit in recent years, and the
commercial landings monitoring and fishery closure system is timely
enough to prevent commercial overages. As a result, the Monitoring
Committee recommended that ACTs for the commercial and recreational
sectors should equal their respective ACLs and made no recommended
changes to any other summer flounder management measures.
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 9, 2016, to consider the
recommendations of the SSC, the Monitoring Committee, and public
comments, and to make their specification 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).
Ultimately, the Council recommended the summer flounder commercial
quotas and recreational harvest limits shown in Table 1. The
recommended catch limits for 2017 are nearly 30 percent lower than
those previously established.
Table 1--Comparison of Recommended Measures to Previously Established Catch and Landing Limits of Summer Flounder
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2017 2018
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2016 Difference Difference
Current Proposed (%) Current Proposed (%)
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Acceptable Biological Catch:
million lb............................................... 16.26 15.86 11.30 -29 15.68 13.23 -16
Mt....................................................... 7,374 7,193 5,125 7,111 5,999
Commercial Quota:
million lb............................................... 8.12 7.91 5.66 -28 7.89 6.63 -16
Mt....................................................... 3,685 3,590 2,567 3,581 3,006
Recreational Harvest Limit:
million lb............................................... 5.42 5.28 3.77 -29 5.26 4.42 -16
Mt....................................................... 2,457 2,393 1,711 2,387 2,004
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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.
Proposed 2017 and 2018 Summer Flounder Specifications
Table 2 summarizes the Council's recommended summer flounder
specifications that NMFS is proposing for 2017 and 2018, including the
sector-specific estimated discards.
Table 2--Proposed 2017-2018 Summer Flounder Specifications
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2016 (current) 2017 2018
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million lb mt million lb mt million lb mt
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OFL..................................................... 18.06 8,194 16.76 7,600 18.69 8,476
ABC..................................................... 16.26 7,375 11.30 5,125 13.23 5,999
ABC Landings Portion.................................... 13.54 6,142 9.43 4,278 11.05 5,010
ABC Discards Portion.................................... 2.72 1,233 1.87 847 2.18 989
Commercial ACL.......................................... 9.43 4,275 6.57 2,982 7.70 3,491
Commercial ACT.......................................... 9.43 4,275 6.57 2,982 7.70 3,491
Projected Commercial Discards........................... 1.30 590 0.92 415 1.07 485
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Commercial Quota........................................ 8.12 3,685 5.66 2,567 6.63 3,006
Recreational ACL........................................ 6.84 3,100 4.72 2,143 5.53 2,508
Recreational ACT........................................ 6.84 3,100 4.72 2,143 5.53 2,508
Projected Recreational Discards......................... 1.42 643 0.95 432 1.11 504
Recreational Harvest Limit.............................. 5.42 2,457 3.77 1,711 4.42 2,004
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Consistent with the summer flounder regulations, the sum of the
recreational and commercial sector ACLs is equal to the ABC for each
fishing year. To derive the ACLs, the sum of the sector-specific
projected discards are removed from the ABCs to derive the landing
allowances. For summer flounder, 60 percent of the landing allowance
for each fishing year is allocated to the commercial fishery and 40
percent to the recreational fishery. Using this method ensures that
each sector is accountable for its respective discards, rather than
simply apportioning the ABCs by the allocation percentages to derive
the sector ACLs. Although the derived ACLs are not split exactly
according to the allocations specified in the Summer Flounder, Scup,
and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan (FMP), the landing portions
of the ACLs preserve the appropriate allocation split, consistent with
the FMP.
Table 3 presents the proposed state summer flounder allocations for
2017-2018 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 2017.
Table 3--2017-2018 Proposed Initial Summer Flounder State Commercial Quotas
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2017 Initial quota 2018 Initial quota
State FMP percent share ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lb Kg Lb Kg
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ME....................................................... 0.04756 2,692 1,221 3,152 1,430
NH....................................................... 0.00046 26 18 30 14
MA....................................................... 6.82046 385,988 175,081 451,998 205,023
RI....................................................... 15.68298 887,542 402,582 1,039,326 471,430
CT....................................................... 2.25708 127,734 57,939 149,579 67,848
NY....................................................... 7.64699 432,764 196,298 506,773 229,868
NJ....................................................... 16.72499 946,512 429,331 1,108,381 502,753
DE....................................................... 0.01779 1,007 457 1,179 535
MD....................................................... 2.0391 115,398 52,344 135,133 61,295
VA....................................................... 21.31676 1,206,372 547,201 1,412,682 640,782
NC....................................................... 27.44584 1,553,233 704,535 1,818,862 825,022
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Total................................................ 100 5,659,266 2,567,000 6,627,096 3,006,000
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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.
The Council and Commission will develop recreational management
measures (e.g., minimum fish sizes, open seasons, and bag limits) for
summer flounder this fall and NMFS rulemaking will occur in early
spring of 2017.
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 fishery 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 2017 and 2018
summer flounder 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 fishery 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.
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Description and Estimate of the Number of Small Entities To Which the
Proposed Rule Would Apply
On December 29, 2015, NMFS issued a final rule establishing a small
business size standard of $11 million in annual gross receipts for all
businesses primarily engaged in the commercial fishing industry and $7
million in annual gross receipts for all businesses primarily engaged
in for-hire fishing activity (NAICS 11411) for Regulatory Flexibility
Act (RFA) compliance purposes only (80 FR 81194, December 29, 2015).
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 fishery.
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 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.
The current ownership data set used for this analysis is based on
calendar year 2015 (the most recent complete year available) and
contains average gross sales associated with those permits for calendar
years 2013 through 2015.
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.
According to the commercial ownership database, 553 affiliate firms
landed summer flounder during the 2013-2015 period, with 547 of those
businesses affiliates categorized as small businesses and 6 categorized
as large businesses. The ownership data for the for-hire fleet indicate
that there were 411 for-hire affiliate firms generating revenues from
fishing recreationally for various species during the 2013-2015 period,
all of which are categorized as small businesses. Although it is not
possible to derive what proportion of the overall revenues came from
specific fishing activities, given the popularity of summer flounder as
a recreational species, it is likely that revenues generated from
summer flounder recreational fishing is important for some, if not all,
of these firms.
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
This action proposes to set commercial quotas and recreational
harvest limits for the summer flounder fishery for the 2017 and 2018
fishing years that are consistent with the best scientific information
available and the most recent catch limit recommendations of the
Council's SSC. The proposed landings limits for 2017 include a
commercial quota of 5.66 million lb (2,567 mt) and a recreational
harvest limit of 3.77 million lb (1,711 mt). For 2018, the proposed
measures include a commercial quota of 6.63 million lb (3,006 mt) and a
recreational harvest limit of 4.42 million lb (2,004 mt).
The only other alternatives considered in this document are status
quo alternatives that are identical to the summer flounder landings
limits implemented in December 2015. If these specifications remained
in place, they would have greater positive socioeconomic impacts than
the preferred alternatives. However, these alternatives were not
selected as preferred given that they do not address the new scientific
information regarding summer flounder stock status, and, therefore,
would likely result in overfishing, which would be inconsistent with
the FMP, National Standard 1 guidance under the Magnuson-Stevens Act,
and the most recent advice of the Council's SSC. Because these
alternatives are inconsistent with the purpose and need of this action,
they are not considered further under this analysis.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: November 7, 2016.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2016-27410 Filed 11-14-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
