U.S. Purse Seine Fishery in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean; Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement, 42640-42644 [2018-18194]
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Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 164 / Thursday, August 23, 2018 / Notices
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Phillip A. Singerman,
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U.S. Purse Seine Fishery in the
Western and Central Pacific Ocean;
Notice of Intent To Prepare an
Environmental Impact Statement
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; intent to prepare an
environmental impact statement;
announcement of public scoping period;
request for comments.
AGENCY:
NMFS is gathering
information necessary to prepare an
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)
for future management actions for the
U.S. purse seine fishery in the western
and central Pacific Ocean (WCPO). This
notice of intent to prepare an EIS
represents the beginning of the public
scoping process and invites interested
parties to provide comments on
alternatives to be considered in an EIS
and to identify potential issues,
concerns, and any reasonable additional
alternatives that should be considered.
DATES: To ensure consideration during
the development of this EIS, written
comments on the scope and alternatives
to be considered in the EIS must be
submitted no later than October 8, 2018.
Public comments will also be
accepted during two webinars
scheduled for 9:30–11:30 a.m.
September 11, 2018 and 11:30 a.m.–1:30
p.m., September 14, 2018. Both
webinars are scheduled in Hawai1i
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SUMMARY:
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Standard Time (HST; UTC–10:00).
Please notify David O’Brien (see FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, below)
by August 31, 2018, if you plan to
attend either or both webinars.
Instructions for connecting or calling in
to the webinars will be emailed to
meeting participants. Accommodations
for persons with disabilities are
available; accommodation requests
should be directed to David O’Brien at
least 10 working days prior to the
webinar.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments
on the scope of this EIS 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-20180062,
2. Click the ‘‘Comment Now!’’ icon,
complete the required fields, and
3. Enter or attach your comments.
—OR—
• Mail: Submit written comments to
Michael D. Tosatto, Regional
Administrator, NMFS, Pacific Islands
Regional Office (PIRO), 1845 Wasp
Blvd., Building 176, Honolulu, HI
96818.
Instructions: Comments sent by any
other method, to any other address or
individual, or received after the end of
the comment period might not be
considered by NMFS. All comments
received are a part of the public record
and will generally be posted for public
viewing on www.regulations.gov
without change. All personal identifying
information (e.g., name and address),
confidential business information, or
otherwise sensitive information
submitted voluntarily by the sender will
be publicly accessible. Do not submit
confidential business information, or
otherwise sensitive or protected
information. NMFS will accept
anonymous comments (enter ‘‘N/A’’ in
the required fields if you wish to remain
anonymous).
Copies of this document can be
obtained from Michael D. Tosatto,
Regional Administrator, NMFS PIRO
(see address above) and are available at
www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;
D=NOAA-NMFS-2018-0062.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
David O’Brien, NMFS PIRO, at
David.S.OBrien@noaa.gov, or at (808)
725–5038.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Purse seine vessels flagged to the
United States fish for skipjack tuna
(Katsuwonus pelamis) and other tunas
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in the WCPO. The fishery developed in
the 1970s and early 1980s as some U.S.
tuna vessels moved west from fishing
grounds in the eastern Pacific. The
vessels participating in this fishery
currently are large: Between 175 and
260 feet in length with crews of between
19 and 40. Purse seining is fishing by
setting a vertically oriented net around
a school of fish, and then closing, or
‘‘pursing’’, the bottom of the net to
capture the fish. The vessels use purse
seine nets up to about 6,500 feet long
and 600 feet deep and in recent years
(2013–2017) vessels set their nets, on
average, once per fishing day.
NMFS manages the fishery in
accordance with U.S. laws
implementing international agreements,
including the Treaty on Fisheries
Between the Governments of Certain
Pacific Island States and the
Government of the United States of
America,1 also known as the South
Pacific Tuna Treaty (hereafter, Treaty),
and conservation and management
measures adopted by the Western and
Central Pacific Fisheries Commission
(hereafter, Commission or WCPFC). The
fishery operates in the exclusive
economic zones (EEZs) of the Pacific
Island parties to the Treaty (hereafter,
PIPs) and that of the United States, as
well as on the high seas in the WCPO.
This EIS will address all U.S. tuna purse
seine fisheries within the area of
application of the Convention on the
Conservation and Management of
Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the
Western and Central Pacific Ocean; a
map of which is available at the WCPFC
website at: www.wcpfc.int/doc/
convention-area-map.
The U.S. purse seine fleet is not the
only fishing fleet active in this region.
Other major flags of purse seine fishing
vessels in the region include: Japan,
Kiribati, Korea, Papua New Guinea, and
Taiwan. The U.S. fleet’s fishing
activities accounted for approximately
14 percent of the total purse seine
fishing effort—measured in fishing
days—in the WCPO from 2010 through
2016.2
The regulations under which the U.S.
fleet operates require changes in
response to new decisions of the
1 Parties to the Treaty include: Australia, Cook
Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of
Fiji, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Marshall
Islands, Republic of Nauru, New Zealand, Niue,
Republic of Palau, Independent State of Papua New
Guinea, Independent State of Samoa, Solomon
Islands, Kingdom of Tonga, Tuvalu, Republic of
Vanuatu and the United States of America.
2 Pacific Community—Oceanic Fisheries
Programme. 2017. WCPFC14 Information Papers
05—Revision 1 (20 Nov 2017) Catch and Effort
Tables on Tropical Tuna CMMs. Available at:
www.wcpfc.int/node/30076.
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Commission and new provisions of the
Treaty, as well as changes in other laws.
The Commission typically adopts new
conservation and management measures
relevant to this fishery annually. The
PIPs and the United States agreed to
amendments to the Treaty and its
Annexes in 2016, along with a
Memorandum of Understanding
regarding their intent to provisionally
apply some of the amendments pending
completion of ratification and entry into
force. Some provisions of the Treaty
Annexes extend only through 2020 or
2022. NMFS promulgates regulations to
implement the Commission’s decisions
(50 CFR part 300, subpart O) under
authority of the Western and Central
Pacific Fisheries Convention
Implementation Act (16 U.S.C. 6901 et
seq.) and provisions of the Treaty (50
CFR part 300, subpart D) under
authority of the South Pacific Tuna Act
(16 U.S.C. 973–973r). In addition, NMFS
may regulate the fishery to meet the
requirements of the Endangered Species
Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), Marine
Mammal Protection Act (16 U.S.C. 1361
et seq.), Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act (16
U.S.C. 1801 et seq.), and other
applicable laws.
Regulations may control fishing effort
and/or catches, specify open and closed
areas and/or the use and design of
fishing gear, among others. Recent
regulatory changes have focused on
Commission decisions limiting total
fishing effort and the number of sets
associated with fish aggregating devices
(FADs). The objectives of these
decisions include reducing fishing
mortality on bigeye tuna (Thunnus
obesus), which are caught primarily
when fishing on FADs, and controlling
fishing mortality on yellowfin tuna
(Thunnus albacares) and skipjack tuna.
The proposed action in this EIS is the
continued authorization of the U.S.
purse seine fishery in the WCPO.
Analysis of this proposed action under
the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA; 42 U.S.C. 4321, et seq.) involves
examining likely future management of
the fishery. Since management measures
(including Commission decisions,
Treaty provisions, and other applicable
laws) can change substantially each
year, a wide range of alternative
regulatory approaches would be
appropriate as action alternatives for
consideration in this EIS.
Purpose and Need for the Proposed
Action
The purpose of and need for the
proposed action is the continued
authorization of the U.S. purse seine
fishery in the WCPO under existing and
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reasonably foreseeable future
management measures.
Alternatives for Consideration
Both no-action and action alternatives
have been drafted for consideration
during the public scoping period. NMFS
has not yet identified a preferred
alternative or preferred alternatives.
Briefly, these alternatives are:
No-Action Alternatives
No-action alternatives are used in
NEPA documents to establish the
baseline against which the
environmental impacts of the action
alternatives are assessed, and they are
often thought of as either maintaining
the status quo—or current
management—or not proceeding with
the proposed action. There would still
be environmental consequences of not
proceeding with the proposed action,
and defining no-action alternatives
allows for the explicit evaluation of
these impacts on their own and in
relation to action alternatives. NMFS is
considering analyzing two separate noaction alternatives in this EIS: A noaction alternative under which there
would be no U.S. purse seine fishery in
the WCPO (a no-fishery alternative), as
well as a no-action alterative under
which fishing operations and
management would continue as they
have in recent years (the status quo
alternative).
Specifics of these two draft no-action
alternatives are:
• No-action alternative A: No fishery.
No U.S. purse seine fishing in any
portion of the WCPO, which includes
the EEZs of the United States and other
countries, as well as the high seas.
• No-action alternative B: Status quo.
A fishery with regulatory conditions
and fishing activity distributed across
the EEZs of the United States and other
countries and the high seas in
proportions similar to that seen in
recent years (2014–2017). Specifically, a
fishery with approximately 7,000
fishing days of effort, 7,000 total net sets
and 2,800 FAD sets (40 percent FAD
sets).
Action Alternatives
Action alternatives are generally the
management options proposed or
considered when the NEPA process
begins. The action alternatives are
meant to describe potential alternative
approaches to achieve the defined
purpose and need of the proposed
action. NMFS recommends analyzing
two specific classes of action
alternatives in the EIS:
1. Alternatives that control the type
and amount of fishing, such as limits on
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42641
fishing effort, catches, and fishing
methods; and
2. Alternatives that control the
allocation and use of fishing privileges
amongst participants in the fishery.
We address these two classes of draft
action alternatives separately here and
describe how they would be addressed
concurrently in the EIS.
Alternatives That Control the Type and
Amount of Fishing
The controls on type and amount of
fishing will be the primary drivers of
environmental consequences of the
fishery. The NMFS approach to
developing action alternatives has been
to review recent regulations, Treaty
terms, and Commission decisions to
understand the potential range of future
management actions. There has been
significant variability in management
approaches in recent years, and both
more and less restrictive regulatory
changes have occurred.
Recent controls on the type and
amount of fishing have focused on
limits on fishing effort generally and
restrictions on the use of FADs (i.e.,
limits on a subset of fishing effort). For
both fishing effort and FAD use, NFMS
has drafted alternatives that cover a
wide range of possible future
management outcomes (Table 1). NMFS
is suggesting this approach to extend the
usefulness of the analysis in this EIS, as
the environmental impacts of future
management measures that are not
specifically analyzed can be quickly
estimated relative to those that are.
Fishing Effort Regulations
The annual fishing effort possible by
the U.S. WCPO purse seine fleet is
currently limited by the Treaty, which
limits the number of license
applications that may be forwarded to
the Treaty Administrator to 40. Given
the recent average of one net set per
fishing day per vessel and imagining 40
vessels actively fishing about 80 percent
of the time, a theoretical maximum
annual effort level is approximately
12,000 fishing days (or 12,000 sets).
Over the last 15 years, the highest
annual fishing effort recorded by the
fleet was 8,664 fishing days (2014). The
maximum number of U.S. purse seine
vessels fishing in any of the last 15 years
has been 40 (2013 and 2014), but it has
been as low as 15 vessels (2005) and is
currently 33 (2018). For the purposes of
evaluating potential future management
actions in this EIS, U.S. purse seine
effort levels up to 12,000 fishing days
annually are plausible. Along with the
two no-action alternatives, representing
0 and 7,000 fishing days of effort,
respectively, NMFS is considering
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analyzing three action alternatives with
respect to limits on fishing effort: 5,000,
9,000, and 12,000 fishing days (Table 1).
The annual fishing effort associated
with the action alternatives would be
distributed across the U.S. EEZ, the high
seas, and the EEZs of the PIPs. Since
2009, fishing effort in the U.S. EEZ and
on the high seas in the WCPFC
Convention Area has been limited in
accordance with Commission decisions.
The limits on the number of days of
effort have, in the past, applied to the
combined high seas and the U.S. EEZ
(referred to in U.S. fisheries regulations
as the Effort Limit Area for Purse Seine,
or ELAPS). The combined U.S. EEZ and
high seas limits dropped from 2,588
fishing days per year in 2009–2013 to
1,828 fishing days per year in 2014–
2017. Future effort limits could apply to
the U.S. EEZ and high seas areas
separately. NMFS has recently
implemented a limit of 458 fishing days
in the U.S. EEZ—with the potential to
increase to 558 fishing days if certain
conditions are met—and 1,370 fishing
days on the high seas for 2018 (see final
rule implementing recent decisions of
the WCPFC at 83 FR 33851, published
July 18, 2018; hereafter ‘‘2018 Final
Rule’’).
The number of fishing days available
to the U.S. purse seine fleet in the EEZs
of the PIPs is higher than the number of
fishing days available in the U.S. EEZ or
on the high seas. The Treaty specifies a
set number of ‘‘upfront’’ days that are
available each year for the U.S. fleet to
fish in the EEZs of PIPs. The Treaty
Annexes stipulate the maximum
number of upfront days that are
available to the U.S. fleet and the price
per day. The Treaty also identifies that
‘‘additional’’ days can be purchased by
the owners of U.S. vessels directly from
individual PIPs. Any conditions put by
the PIPs on the use of these additional
days must be consistent with the Treaty
terms, but no other specifications—such
as price—are defined in the Treaty.
Provisions allowing for additional
fishing day purchases were adopted as
part of the 2016 amendments to the
Treaty, and 2017 was the first year that
the option of purchasing additional days
was available under the amended
Treaty. The only limit to the number of
additional days available to the U.S.
purse seine fleet are limits internally
agreed by the PIPs on the number of
fishing days they will make available—
which might be informed to some
degree by the decisions of the WCPFC—
and competition for their purchase by
other international purse seine fleets.
Ultimately, the spatial distribution of
fishing effort (i.e., with respect to the
U.S. EEZ, the high seas, and the PIPs’
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EEZs) will depend largely on the
amount of effort that is available in each
area each year. For each action
alternative, NMFS would address the
specifics of effort distribution within
each alternative (Table 1) separately;
and where necessary, NMFS would
discuss the implications of variable
effort distribution on impacts of that
alternative to the human environment.
FAD Regulations
Fish aggregating devices, or FADs, are
generally floating objects; they include
natural objects as well as rafts deployed
from purse seine vessels specifically to
aggregate tuna. FADs tend to attract
marine life, including tunas, and can be
an effective method to increase tuna
catch per unit of fishing effort. Purse
seine sets on FADs tend to result in
higher catches of targeted skipjack tuna
than unassociated sets, but also increase
the catch of bigeye tuna—most of which
is relatively young—and young
yellowfin tuna, as well as other marine
life. Recent FAD regulations have
included: Prohibitions on the times and/
or locations that FADs can be deployed,
serviced, or set on; limits on the annual
number of FAD-directed purse seine
sets; and a combination of both seasonal
prohibitions and numerical limits. In
addition, a recent Commission decision
includes a limit of 350 FADs with
activated instrumented buoys that each
fishing vessel may have deployed at any
given time (see 2018 Final Rule).
NMFS has implemented FAD-use
prohibition periods for the U.S. purse
seine fleet in the WCPFC Convention
Area for 2009–2017 in line with
Commission decisions. The prohibition
periods were in August and September
in 2009, July through September in
2010–2012, July through October in
2013 and 2014, and July through
September in 2015–2017. There was
also a complete prohibition on the use
of FADs on the high seas for 2017. The
2018 Final Rule established FAD use
prohibitions for a three-month period
(July through September in 2018) and an
additional FAD use prohibition period
in high seas areas for two months
(November and December 2018). In
addition to FAD setting prohibitions,
NMFS limited the total number of purse
seine sets on FADs (‘‘FAD sets’’) to
2,522 per year in 2016 and 2017, in line
with Commission decisions. The
Commission did not establish FAD set
limits for 2018.
Reasonably foreseeable future FAD
measures for the fleet could include
further FAD use prohibition periods
and/or set limits as seen in recent years,
as well as the potential for limitations
for FAD design, restrictions for FAD
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construction materials and reductions in
the number of FADs with activated
instrumented buoys. Despite this broad
range of potential FAD-related
management measures, NMFS suggests
that the total number of FAD sets—
measured as the proportion of total sets
made—could approximate the
implications of any proposed future
FAD management measure.
NMFS recommends evaluating four
levels of FAD restrictions, ranging from
a full prohibition on FAD sets to a
higher proportion of FAD sets than seen
in recent years, across each of the
fishing effort-based alternatives (Table
1). The proportion of total sets that
would occur on FADs across this range
would be equal to 0, 20, 40 and 60
percent of the total number of sets
made. FAD restrictions leading to 40
percent of total sets on FADs would be
similar to the FAD restrictions
experienced by the fleet over the last
five years (average 38 percent of sets on
FADs, 2013–2017) when a range of FAD
management measures were in place.
The 20 percent and 60 percent FAD set
proportions bound the range of FAD set
proportions for the fleet over during the
last decade (min 27 percent, max 54
percent, 2008–2017). The full
prohibition level (0 percent FAD sets)
ensures the complete range of potential
FAD restrictions will be analyzed in the
EIS.
These proposed action alternatives,
related to controls on the type and
amount of fishing, are meant to capture
the full range of foreseeable future
management measures in the fishery. By
combining a wide range of fishing effort
levels and FAD restrictions into these
proposed action alternatives (Table 1),
the impact analysis should be relevant
to a wide range of future management
measures related to effort or FAD
restrictions. NMFS interprets these
fishing effort and FAD restrictions as
proxies for other types of management
measures, meaning the application of
the impact analysis can be wider still.
For example, fishing effort levels would
be directly applicable to management
measures specifying skipjack tuna or
yellowfin tuna catch limits as well as a
range of time and area closures. FAD
restrictions—measured as proportion of
sets on FADS—are proxies for bigeye
tuna and yellowfin tuna catch limits,
FAD design or material specification,
and a range of FAD set closure times
and/or locations. With this approach,
nearly all foreseeable future
management measures can be evaluated
relative to the environmental impacts of
these proposed action alternatives.
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TABLE 1—THE AMOUNT OF FISHING EFFORT, IN FISHING DAYS, AND NUMBER OF FAD SETS UNDER PROPOSED ACTION
AND NO-ACTION ALTERNATIVES THAT CONTROL THE TYPE AND AMOUNT OF FISHING TO BE ANALYZED IN AN ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT FOR THE U.S. WCPO PURSE SEINE FISHERY
Fishing effort
(fishing days)
Alternative
No Action A ..............................................................................................................................................................
Action 1a ...........................................................................................................................................................
Action 1b ...........................................................................................................................................................
Action 1c ...........................................................................................................................................................
Action 1d ...........................................................................................................................................................
No Action B ..............................................................................................................................................................
Action 2a ...........................................................................................................................................................
Action 2b ...........................................................................................................................................................
Action2c ............................................................................................................................................................
Action 2d ...........................................................................................................................................................
Action 3a ...........................................................................................................................................................
Action 3b ...........................................................................................................................................................
Action 3c ...........................................................................................................................................................
Action 3d ...........................................................................................................................................................
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Control of Allocation and Use of Fishing
Privileges
One of the most significant
amendments to the Treaty in 2016 is the
way that vessel owners obtain and pay
for fishing privileges—fishing days—in
the EEZs of the PIPs. As described
previously, both upfront and additional
days are available under the Treaty to
U.S. purse seine vessels. The Treaty
specifies requirements for the timing of
notification of upfront fishing day
commitments, transfers of upfront
fishing days among vessel owners, and
notifications of additional fishing day
arrangements. In the first two years
under the amended Treaty (2017 and
2018), vessel owners have collaborated
to allocate the available upfront days
amongst themselves, conduct in-season
transfers of those days, and
communicate both information on
upfront and additional day
arrangements to NMFS. NMFS has
provided owners with updates on day
usage as well as helped informally
resolve issues that arise over fishing
days between U.S. vessels owners and
PIPs, based on data available to NMFS.
NMFS is proposing to evaluate
alternative approaches for allocation,
transfers and use tracking of fishing
privileges under the Treaty. These
alternatives would address the
following considerations: (1) Timely
provision of information to meet
requirements and obligations of the
United States under the Treaty,
decisions of the Commission and other
U.S. law; (2) addressing and resolving
allocation disputes; (3) addressing
vessels joining or leaving the fishery; (4)
providing flexibility to fleet participants
with respect to obtaining and using
fishing days from PIPs; and (5)
minimizing regulatory burden and cost.
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NMFS is considering evaluation of
three alternative allocation and use
tracking approaches that would fulfill
the requirements defined above. These
approaches are action alternatives that
would first be compared separately and
then discussed relative to any
differential impact they would have on
the human environment when
combined with the no-action and action
alternatives in Table 1. Like the control
of type and amount of fishing
alternatives, these control of allocation
and use alternatives are intended to
bound the full range of possibilities for
analysis; and proceed from the lowest to
highest level of NMFS oversight. The
three proposed alternatives are:
1. An industry-led allocation and use
tracking method, where decisions
related to allocation, transfers and
tracking of available fishing privileges
were made by an organization of fishery
participants based on approaches they
collectively specified;
2. A collaborative industry-NMFS
approach where NMFS would facilitate
industry decisions regarding allocation,
transfer, and use through both
regulatory and non-regulatory
mechanisms; and
3. A specified allocation, transfer and
use-tracking approach primarily under
NMFS management and oversight.
Besides comments on these three
proposed allocation and use
alternatives, NMFS is specifically
requesting comment on two additional
aspects of these alternatives. The first
concerns allocation and use of fishing
privileges. Treaty and implementing
agreements currently allow for
assignment of vessel days at the U.S.
vessel owner level. Tracking at the
vessel owner level provides flexibility
for those owners that have multiple
vessels, but complicates the tracking of
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0
5,000
5,000
5,000
5,000
7,000
9,000
9,000
9,000
9,000
12,000
12,000
12,000
12,000
Number of
FAD sets
n/a
0
1,000
2,000
3,000
2,800
0
1,800
3,600
5,400
0
2,400
4,800
7,200
fishing day use as there are not vessel
specific limits to monitor. NMFS seeks
comment on the appropriate ‘‘level’’ for
allocation and use tracking of fishing
privileges in these proposed
alternatives; be it the vessel, the vessel
owner or some other level. Second, the
numbers of U.S. EEZ and high seas
fishing days available to the fleet in the
WCPO have been limited since 2009 in
accordance with decisions of the
Commission. These limited fishing
privileges have not previously been
subject to allocation and are fished in an
‘‘Olympic’’ or ‘‘derby’’ style; meaning
that they are available on a first-come,
first-served basis to vessels that are
permitted to fish in those areas. NMFS
is also seeking comment on whether the
proposed alternatives for control of
allocation and use of fishing privileges
should be extended from considering
only privileges under Treaty to include
fishing privileges in the U.S. EEZ and
on the high seas in the WCPO—to the
extent it is limited under WCPFC or
other decisions.
NMFS recognizes that consultation
and collaboration with U.S. purse seine
vessel owners and operators on the
approaches for allocation of effort in
this fishery is needed, and sees this
notice of intent to develop an EIS as an
initial step in this process. The public
comment received through this notice of
intent and analysis of alternatives for
allocation and use of fishing privileges
in this EIS will inform future NMFSindustry discussions.
Summary
Given the wide range of potential
future management approaches in this
fishery, NMFS is proposing action
alternatives that span the broad range of
management measures foreseeable
under U.S. regulations to implement the
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Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 164 / Thursday, August 23, 2018 / Notices
Treaty, decisions of the Commission,
and other U.S. law. In total, NMFS has
tentatively identified two no-action
alternatives, three action alternatives
related to controls on the type and
amount of fishing (Table 1), and three
alternatives related to the allocation and
use of fishing privileges. NMFS plans to
analyze the environmental
consequences of implementing each of
the alternatives by assessing the direct,
indirect, and cumulative effects of each
to the human environment in the
Western and Central Pacific Ocean.
By evaluating alternatives that span
the full range of reasonably foreseeable
future management measures, the
environmental impacts of future
management actions not explicitly
analyzed could be estimated relative to
those calculated in this EIS.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.
Dated: August 20, 2018.
Margo B. Schulze-Haugen,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable
Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2018–18194 Filed 8–22–18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
Proposed Information Collection;
Comment Request; Pacific Islands
Region Coral Reef Ecosystems
Logbook and Reporting
National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
The Department of
Commerce, as part of its continuing
effort to reduce paperwork and
respondent burden, invites the general
public and other Federal agencies to
take this opportunity to comment on
proposed and/or continuing information
collections, as required by the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
DATES: Written comments must be
submitted on or before October 22,
2018.
ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments
to Jennifer Jessup, Departmental
Paperwork Clearance Officer,
Department of Commerce, Room 6616,
14th and Constitution Avenue NW,
Washington, DC 20230 (or via the
internet at docpra@doc.gov).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Requests for additional information or
copies of the information collection
instrument and instructions should be
daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with NOTICES
SUMMARY:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
19:43 Aug 22, 2018
Jkt 244001
directed to Walter Ikehara, (808) 725–
5175 or Walter.Ikehara@noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Abstract
This request is for extension of a
current information collection.
The National Marine Fisheries Service
(NMFS) requires any U.S. citizen issued
a Special Coral Reef Ecosystem Fishing
Permit to complete logbooks and submit
them to NMFS (50 CFR 665). The
Special Coral Reef Ecosystem Fishing
Permit is authorized under the Fishery
Ecosystem Plans for American Samoa
Archipelago, Hawaiian Archipelago,
Mariana Archipelago, and Pacific
Remote Island Areas. The information
in the logbooks is used to obtain fish
catch/fishing effort data on coral reef
fishes and invertebrates harvested in
designated low-use marine protected
areas and on those listed in the
regulations as potentially-harvested
coral reef taxa in waters of the U.S.
exclusive economic zone in the western
Pacific region. These data are needed to
determine the condition of the stocks,
whether the current management
measures are having the intended
effects, and to evaluate the benefits and
costs of changes in management
measures. The logbook information
includes interactions with protected
species, including sea turtles, monk
seals, and other marine mammals,
which are used to monitor and respond
to incidental takes of endangered and
threatened marine species.
II. Method of Collection
Reports are submitted to NMFS in the
form of paper logbook sheets and paper
transshipment forms within 30 days of
each landing of coral reef harvest. No
electronic forms or web-based reporting
is currently available. Notifications are
submitted via telephone.
IV. Request for Comments
Comments are invited on: (a) Whether
the proposed collection of information
is necessary for the proper performance
of the functions of the agency, including
whether the information shall have
practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the
agency’s estimate of the burden
(including hours and cost) of the
proposed collection of information; (c)
ways to enhance the quality, utility, and
clarity of the information to be
collected; and (d) ways to minimize the
burden of the collection of information
on respondents, including through the
use of automated collection techniques
or other forms of information
technology.
Comments submitted in response to
this notice will be summarized and/or
included in the request for OMB
approval of this information collection;
they also will become a matter of public
record.
Dated: August 19, 2018.
Sarah Brabson,
NOAA PRA Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2018–18171 Filed 8–22–18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
Proposed Information Collection;
Comment Request; Pacific Islands
Region Coral Reef Ecosystems Permit
Form
National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
The Department of
Commerce, as part of its continuing
effort to reduce paperwork and
III. Data
respondent burden, invites the general
public and other Federal agencies to
OMB Control Number: 0648–0462.
take this opportunity to comment on
Form Number(s): None.
proposed and/or continuing information
Type of Review: Regular submission
collections, as required by the
(extension of a currently approved
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
information collection).
DATES
: Written comments must be
Affected Public: Business or other forsubmitted
on or before October 22,
profit organizations; individuals or
2018.
households.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 5. ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments
Estimated Time Per Response: Pre-trip to Jennifer Jessup, Departmental
Paperwork Clearance Officer,
and pre-landing notifications, 3
Department of Commerce, Room 6616,
minutes; logbook reports, 30 minutes;
14th and Constitution Avenue NW,
transshipment reports, 15 minutes.
Washington, DC 20230 (or via the
Estimated Total Annual Burden
internet at docpra@doc.gov).
Hours: 18.
Estimated Total Annual Cost to
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Public: $100 in recordkeeping/reporting Requests for additional information or
costs.
copies of the information collection
PO 00000
Frm 00009
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\23AUN1.SGM
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 164 (Thursday, August 23, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42640-42644]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-18194]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
RIN 0648--XG261
U.S. Purse Seine Fishery in the Western and Central Pacific
Ocean; Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice; intent to prepare an environmental impact statement;
announcement of public scoping period; request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: NMFS is gathering information necessary to prepare an
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for future management actions for
the U.S. purse seine fishery in the western and central Pacific Ocean
(WCPO). This notice of intent to prepare an EIS represents the
beginning of the public scoping process and invites interested parties
to provide comments on alternatives to be considered in an EIS and to
identify potential issues, concerns, and any reasonable additional
alternatives that should be considered.
DATES: To ensure consideration during the development of this EIS,
written comments on the scope and alternatives to be considered in the
EIS must be submitted no later than October 8, 2018.
Public comments will also be accepted during two webinars scheduled
for 9:30-11:30 a.m. September 11, 2018 and 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.,
September 14, 2018. Both webinars are scheduled in Hawai[revaps]i
Standard Time (HST; UTC-10:00). Please notify David O'Brien (see FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, below) by August 31, 2018, if you plan to
attend either or both webinars. Instructions for connecting or calling
in to the webinars will be emailed to meeting participants.
Accommodations for persons with disabilities are available;
accommodation requests should be directed to David O'Brien at least 10
working days prior to the webinar.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on the scope of this EIS 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-2018-0062,
2. Click the ``Comment Now!'' icon, complete the required fields,
and
3. Enter or attach your comments.
--OR--
Mail: Submit written comments to Michael D. Tosatto,
Regional Administrator, NMFS, Pacific Islands Regional Office (PIRO),
1845 Wasp Blvd., Building 176, Honolulu, HI 96818.
Instructions: Comments sent by any other method, to any other
address or individual, or received after the end of the comment period
might not be considered by NMFS. All comments received are a part of
the public record and will generally be posted for public viewing on
www.regulations.gov without change. All personal identifying
information (e.g., name and address), confidential business
information, or otherwise sensitive information submitted voluntarily
by the sender will be publicly accessible. Do not submit confidential
business information, or otherwise sensitive or protected information.
NMFS will accept anonymous comments (enter ``N/A'' in the required
fields if you wish to remain anonymous).
Copies of this document can be obtained from Michael D. Tosatto,
Regional Administrator, NMFS PIRO (see address above) and are available
at www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2018-0062.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David O'Brien, NMFS PIRO, at
[email protected], or at (808) 725-5038.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Purse seine vessels flagged to the United States fish for skipjack
tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis) and other tunas in the WCPO. The fishery
developed in the 1970s and early 1980s as some U.S. tuna vessels moved
west from fishing grounds in the eastern Pacific. The vessels
participating in this fishery currently are large: Between 175 and 260
feet in length with crews of between 19 and 40. Purse seining is
fishing by setting a vertically oriented net around a school of fish,
and then closing, or ``pursing'', the bottom of the net to capture the
fish. The vessels use purse seine nets up to about 6,500 feet long and
600 feet deep and in recent years (2013-2017) vessels set their nets,
on average, once per fishing day.
NMFS manages the fishery in accordance with U.S. laws implementing
international agreements, including the Treaty on Fisheries Between the
Governments of Certain Pacific Island States and the Government of the
United States of America,\1\ also known as the South Pacific Tuna
Treaty (hereafter, Treaty), and conservation and management measures
adopted by the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission
(hereafter, Commission or WCPFC). The fishery operates in the exclusive
economic zones (EEZs) of the Pacific Island parties to the Treaty
(hereafter, PIPs) and that of the United States, as well as on the high
seas in the WCPO. This EIS will address all U.S. tuna purse seine
fisheries within the area of application of the Convention on the
Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the
Western and Central Pacific Ocean; a map of which is available at the
WCPFC website at: www.wcpfc.int/doc/convention-area-map.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Parties to the Treaty include: Australia, Cook Islands,
Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of Fiji, Republic of
Kiribati, Republic of Marshall Islands, Republic of Nauru, New
Zealand, Niue, Republic of Palau, Independent State of Papua New
Guinea, Independent State of Samoa, Solomon Islands, Kingdom of
Tonga, Tuvalu, Republic of Vanuatu and the United States of America.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The U.S. purse seine fleet is not the only fishing fleet active in
this region. Other major flags of purse seine fishing vessels in the
region include: Japan, Kiribati, Korea, Papua New Guinea, and Taiwan.
The U.S. fleet's fishing activities accounted for approximately 14
percent of the total purse seine fishing effort--measured in fishing
days--in the WCPO from 2010 through 2016.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ Pacific Community--Oceanic Fisheries Programme. 2017.
WCPFC14 Information Papers 05--Revision 1 (20 Nov 2017) Catch and
Effort Tables on Tropical Tuna CMMs. Available at: www.wcpfc.int/node/30076..
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The regulations under which the U.S. fleet operates require changes
in response to new decisions of the
[[Page 42641]]
Commission and new provisions of the Treaty, as well as changes in
other laws. The Commission typically adopts new conservation and
management measures relevant to this fishery annually. The PIPs and the
United States agreed to amendments to the Treaty and its Annexes in
2016, along with a Memorandum of Understanding regarding their intent
to provisionally apply some of the amendments pending completion of
ratification and entry into force. Some provisions of the Treaty
Annexes extend only through 2020 or 2022. NMFS promulgates regulations
to implement the Commission's decisions (50 CFR part 300, subpart O)
under authority of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Convention
Implementation Act (16 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.) and provisions of the
Treaty (50 CFR part 300, subpart D) under authority of the South
Pacific Tuna Act (16 U.S.C. 973-973r). In addition, NMFS may regulate
the fishery to meet the requirements of the Endangered Species Act (16
U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), Marine Mammal Protection Act (16 U.S.C. 1361 et
seq.), Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16
U.S.C. 1801 et seq.), and other applicable laws.
Regulations may control fishing effort and/or catches, specify open
and closed areas and/or the use and design of fishing gear, among
others. Recent regulatory changes have focused on Commission decisions
limiting total fishing effort and the number of sets associated with
fish aggregating devices (FADs). The objectives of these decisions
include reducing fishing mortality on bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus),
which are caught primarily when fishing on FADs, and controlling
fishing mortality on yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) and skipjack
tuna.
The proposed action in this EIS is the continued authorization of
the U.S. purse seine fishery in the WCPO. Analysis of this proposed
action under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA; 42 U.S.C.
4321, et seq.) involves examining likely future management of the
fishery. Since management measures (including Commission decisions,
Treaty provisions, and other applicable laws) can change substantially
each year, a wide range of alternative regulatory approaches would be
appropriate as action alternatives for consideration in this EIS.
Purpose and Need for the Proposed Action
The purpose of and need for the proposed action is the continued
authorization of the U.S. purse seine fishery in the WCPO under
existing and reasonably foreseeable future management measures.
Alternatives for Consideration
Both no-action and action alternatives have been drafted for
consideration during the public scoping period. NMFS has not yet
identified a preferred alternative or preferred alternatives. Briefly,
these alternatives are:
No-Action Alternatives
No-action alternatives are used in NEPA documents to establish the
baseline against which the environmental impacts of the action
alternatives are assessed, and they are often thought of as either
maintaining the status quo--or current management--or not proceeding
with the proposed action. There would still be environmental
consequences of not proceeding with the proposed action, and defining
no-action alternatives allows for the explicit evaluation of these
impacts on their own and in relation to action alternatives. NMFS is
considering analyzing two separate no-action alternatives in this EIS:
A no-action alternative under which there would be no U.S. purse seine
fishery in the WCPO (a no-fishery alternative), as well as a no-action
alterative under which fishing operations and management would continue
as they have in recent years (the status quo alternative).
Specifics of these two draft no-action alternatives are:
No-action alternative A: No fishery. No U.S. purse seine
fishing in any portion of the WCPO, which includes the EEZs of the
United States and other countries, as well as the high seas.
No-action alternative B: Status quo. A fishery with
regulatory conditions and fishing activity distributed across the EEZs
of the United States and other countries and the high seas in
proportions similar to that seen in recent years (2014-2017).
Specifically, a fishery with approximately 7,000 fishing days of
effort, 7,000 total net sets and 2,800 FAD sets (40 percent FAD sets).
Action Alternatives
Action alternatives are generally the management options proposed
or considered when the NEPA process begins. The action alternatives are
meant to describe potential alternative approaches to achieve the
defined purpose and need of the proposed action. NMFS recommends
analyzing two specific classes of action alternatives in the EIS:
1. Alternatives that control the type and amount of fishing, such
as limits on fishing effort, catches, and fishing methods; and
2. Alternatives that control the allocation and use of fishing
privileges amongst participants in the fishery.
We address these two classes of draft action alternatives
separately here and describe how they would be addressed concurrently
in the EIS.
Alternatives That Control the Type and Amount of Fishing
The controls on type and amount of fishing will be the primary
drivers of environmental consequences of the fishery. The NMFS approach
to developing action alternatives has been to review recent
regulations, Treaty terms, and Commission decisions to understand the
potential range of future management actions. There has been
significant variability in management approaches in recent years, and
both more and less restrictive regulatory changes have occurred.
Recent controls on the type and amount of fishing have focused on
limits on fishing effort generally and restrictions on the use of FADs
(i.e., limits on a subset of fishing effort). For both fishing effort
and FAD use, NFMS has drafted alternatives that cover a wide range of
possible future management outcomes (Table 1). NMFS is suggesting this
approach to extend the usefulness of the analysis in this EIS, as the
environmental impacts of future management measures that are not
specifically analyzed can be quickly estimated relative to those that
are.
Fishing Effort Regulations
The annual fishing effort possible by the U.S. WCPO purse seine
fleet is currently limited by the Treaty, which limits the number of
license applications that may be forwarded to the Treaty Administrator
to 40. Given the recent average of one net set per fishing day per
vessel and imagining 40 vessels actively fishing about 80 percent of
the time, a theoretical maximum annual effort level is approximately
12,000 fishing days (or 12,000 sets). Over the last 15 years, the
highest annual fishing effort recorded by the fleet was 8,664 fishing
days (2014). The maximum number of U.S. purse seine vessels fishing in
any of the last 15 years has been 40 (2013 and 2014), but it has been
as low as 15 vessels (2005) and is currently 33 (2018). For the
purposes of evaluating potential future management actions in this EIS,
U.S. purse seine effort levels up to 12,000 fishing days annually are
plausible. Along with the two no-action alternatives, representing 0
and 7,000 fishing days of effort, respectively, NMFS is considering
[[Page 42642]]
analyzing three action alternatives with respect to limits on fishing
effort: 5,000, 9,000, and 12,000 fishing days (Table 1).
The annual fishing effort associated with the action alternatives
would be distributed across the U.S. EEZ, the high seas, and the EEZs
of the PIPs. Since 2009, fishing effort in the U.S. EEZ and on the high
seas in the WCPFC Convention Area has been limited in accordance with
Commission decisions. The limits on the number of days of effort have,
in the past, applied to the combined high seas and the U.S. EEZ
(referred to in U.S. fisheries regulations as the Effort Limit Area for
Purse Seine, or ELAPS). The combined U.S. EEZ and high seas limits
dropped from 2,588 fishing days per year in 2009-2013 to 1,828 fishing
days per year in 2014-2017. Future effort limits could apply to the
U.S. EEZ and high seas areas separately. NMFS has recently implemented
a limit of 458 fishing days in the U.S. EEZ--with the potential to
increase to 558 fishing days if certain conditions are met--and 1,370
fishing days on the high seas for 2018 (see final rule implementing
recent decisions of the WCPFC at 83 FR 33851, published July 18, 2018;
hereafter ``2018 Final Rule'').
The number of fishing days available to the U.S. purse seine fleet
in the EEZs of the PIPs is higher than the number of fishing days
available in the U.S. EEZ or on the high seas. The Treaty specifies a
set number of ``upfront'' days that are available each year for the
U.S. fleet to fish in the EEZs of PIPs. The Treaty Annexes stipulate
the maximum number of upfront days that are available to the U.S. fleet
and the price per day. The Treaty also identifies that ``additional''
days can be purchased by the owners of U.S. vessels directly from
individual PIPs. Any conditions put by the PIPs on the use of these
additional days must be consistent with the Treaty terms, but no other
specifications--such as price--are defined in the Treaty. Provisions
allowing for additional fishing day purchases were adopted as part of
the 2016 amendments to the Treaty, and 2017 was the first year that the
option of purchasing additional days was available under the amended
Treaty. The only limit to the number of additional days available to
the U.S. purse seine fleet are limits internally agreed by the PIPs on
the number of fishing days they will make available--which might be
informed to some degree by the decisions of the WCPFC--and competition
for their purchase by other international purse seine fleets.
Ultimately, the spatial distribution of fishing effort (i.e., with
respect to the U.S. EEZ, the high seas, and the PIPs' EEZs) will depend
largely on the amount of effort that is available in each area each
year. For each action alternative, NMFS would address the specifics of
effort distribution within each alternative (Table 1) separately; and
where necessary, NMFS would discuss the implications of variable effort
distribution on impacts of that alternative to the human environment.
FAD Regulations
Fish aggregating devices, or FADs, are generally floating objects;
they include natural objects as well as rafts deployed from purse seine
vessels specifically to aggregate tuna. FADs tend to attract marine
life, including tunas, and can be an effective method to increase tuna
catch per unit of fishing effort. Purse seine sets on FADs tend to
result in higher catches of targeted skipjack tuna than unassociated
sets, but also increase the catch of bigeye tuna--most of which is
relatively young--and young yellowfin tuna, as well as other marine
life. Recent FAD regulations have included: Prohibitions on the times
and/or locations that FADs can be deployed, serviced, or set on; limits
on the annual number of FAD-directed purse seine sets; and a
combination of both seasonal prohibitions and numerical limits. In
addition, a recent Commission decision includes a limit of 350 FADs
with activated instrumented buoys that each fishing vessel may have
deployed at any given time (see 2018 Final Rule).
NMFS has implemented FAD-use prohibition periods for the U.S. purse
seine fleet in the WCPFC Convention Area for 2009-2017 in line with
Commission decisions. The prohibition periods were in August and
September in 2009, July through September in 2010-2012, July through
October in 2013 and 2014, and July through September in 2015-2017.
There was also a complete prohibition on the use of FADs on the high
seas for 2017. The 2018 Final Rule established FAD use prohibitions for
a three-month period (July through September in 2018) and an additional
FAD use prohibition period in high seas areas for two months (November
and December 2018). In addition to FAD setting prohibitions, NMFS
limited the total number of purse seine sets on FADs (``FAD sets'') to
2,522 per year in 2016 and 2017, in line with Commission decisions. The
Commission did not establish FAD set limits for 2018.
Reasonably foreseeable future FAD measures for the fleet could
include further FAD use prohibition periods and/or set limits as seen
in recent years, as well as the potential for limitations for FAD
design, restrictions for FAD construction materials and reductions in
the number of FADs with activated instrumented buoys. Despite this
broad range of potential FAD-related management measures, NMFS suggests
that the total number of FAD sets--measured as the proportion of total
sets made--could approximate the implications of any proposed future
FAD management measure.
NMFS recommends evaluating four levels of FAD restrictions, ranging
from a full prohibition on FAD sets to a higher proportion of FAD sets
than seen in recent years, across each of the fishing effort-based
alternatives (Table 1). The proportion of total sets that would occur
on FADs across this range would be equal to 0, 20, 40 and 60 percent of
the total number of sets made. FAD restrictions leading to 40 percent
of total sets on FADs would be similar to the FAD restrictions
experienced by the fleet over the last five years (average 38 percent
of sets on FADs, 2013-2017) when a range of FAD management measures
were in place. The 20 percent and 60 percent FAD set proportions bound
the range of FAD set proportions for the fleet over during the last
decade (min 27 percent, max 54 percent, 2008-2017). The full
prohibition level (0 percent FAD sets) ensures the complete range of
potential FAD restrictions will be analyzed in the EIS.
These proposed action alternatives, related to controls on the type
and amount of fishing, are meant to capture the full range of
foreseeable future management measures in the fishery. By combining a
wide range of fishing effort levels and FAD restrictions into these
proposed action alternatives (Table 1), the impact analysis should be
relevant to a wide range of future management measures related to
effort or FAD restrictions. NMFS interprets these fishing effort and
FAD restrictions as proxies for other types of management measures,
meaning the application of the impact analysis can be wider still. For
example, fishing effort levels would be directly applicable to
management measures specifying skipjack tuna or yellowfin tuna catch
limits as well as a range of time and area closures. FAD restrictions--
measured as proportion of sets on FADS--are proxies for bigeye tuna and
yellowfin tuna catch limits, FAD design or material specification, and
a range of FAD set closure times and/or locations. With this approach,
nearly all foreseeable future management measures can be evaluated
relative to the environmental impacts of these proposed action
alternatives.
[[Page 42643]]
Table 1--The Amount of Fishing Effort, in Fishing Days, and Number of
FAD Sets Under Proposed Action and No-Action Alternatives That Control
the Type and Amount of Fishing To Be Analyzed in an Environmental Impact
Statement for the U.S. WCPO Purse Seine Fishery
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fishing effort Number of FAD
Alternative (fishing days) sets
------------------------------------------------------------------------
No Action A............................. 0 n/a
Action 1a........................... 5,000 0
Action 1b........................... 5,000 1,000
Action 1c........................... 5,000 2,000
Action 1d........................... 5,000 3,000
No Action B............................. 7,000 2,800
Action 2a........................... 9,000 0
Action 2b........................... 9,000 1,800
Action2c............................ 9,000 3,600
Action 2d........................... 9,000 5,400
Action 3a........................... 12,000 0
Action 3b........................... 12,000 2,400
Action 3c........................... 12,000 4,800
Action 3d........................... 12,000 7,200
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Control of Allocation and Use of Fishing Privileges
One of the most significant amendments to the Treaty in 2016 is the
way that vessel owners obtain and pay for fishing privileges--fishing
days--in the EEZs of the PIPs. As described previously, both upfront
and additional days are available under the Treaty to U.S. purse seine
vessels. The Treaty specifies requirements for the timing of
notification of upfront fishing day commitments, transfers of upfront
fishing days among vessel owners, and notifications of additional
fishing day arrangements. In the first two years under the amended
Treaty (2017 and 2018), vessel owners have collaborated to allocate the
available upfront days amongst themselves, conduct in-season transfers
of those days, and communicate both information on upfront and
additional day arrangements to NMFS. NMFS has provided owners with
updates on day usage as well as helped informally resolve issues that
arise over fishing days between U.S. vessels owners and PIPs, based on
data available to NMFS.
NMFS is proposing to evaluate alternative approaches for
allocation, transfers and use tracking of fishing privileges under the
Treaty. These alternatives would address the following considerations:
(1) Timely provision of information to meet requirements and
obligations of the United States under the Treaty, decisions of the
Commission and other U.S. law; (2) addressing and resolving allocation
disputes; (3) addressing vessels joining or leaving the fishery; (4)
providing flexibility to fleet participants with respect to obtaining
and using fishing days from PIPs; and (5) minimizing regulatory burden
and cost.
NMFS is considering evaluation of three alternative allocation and
use tracking approaches that would fulfill the requirements defined
above. These approaches are action alternatives that would first be
compared separately and then discussed relative to any differential
impact they would have on the human environment when combined with the
no-action and action alternatives in Table 1. Like the control of type
and amount of fishing alternatives, these control of allocation and use
alternatives are intended to bound the full range of possibilities for
analysis; and proceed from the lowest to highest level of NMFS
oversight. The three proposed alternatives are:
1. An industry-led allocation and use tracking method, where
decisions related to allocation, transfers and tracking of available
fishing privileges were made by an organization of fishery participants
based on approaches they collectively specified;
2. A collaborative industry-NMFS approach where NMFS would
facilitate industry decisions regarding allocation, transfer, and use
through both regulatory and non-regulatory mechanisms; and
3. A specified allocation, transfer and use-tracking approach
primarily under NMFS management and oversight.
Besides comments on these three proposed allocation and use
alternatives, NMFS is specifically requesting comment on two additional
aspects of these alternatives. The first concerns allocation and use of
fishing privileges. Treaty and implementing agreements currently allow
for assignment of vessel days at the U.S. vessel owner level. Tracking
at the vessel owner level provides flexibility for those owners that
have multiple vessels, but complicates the tracking of fishing day use
as there are not vessel specific limits to monitor. NMFS seeks comment
on the appropriate ``level'' for allocation and use tracking of fishing
privileges in these proposed alternatives; be it the vessel, the vessel
owner or some other level. Second, the numbers of U.S. EEZ and high
seas fishing days available to the fleet in the WCPO have been limited
since 2009 in accordance with decisions of the Commission. These
limited fishing privileges have not previously been subject to
allocation and are fished in an ``Olympic'' or ``derby'' style; meaning
that they are available on a first-come, first-served basis to vessels
that are permitted to fish in those areas. NMFS is also seeking comment
on whether the proposed alternatives for control of allocation and use
of fishing privileges should be extended from considering only
privileges under Treaty to include fishing privileges in the U.S. EEZ
and on the high seas in the WCPO--to the extent it is limited under
WCPFC or other decisions.
NMFS recognizes that consultation and collaboration with U.S. purse
seine vessel owners and operators on the approaches for allocation of
effort in this fishery is needed, and sees this notice of intent to
develop an EIS as an initial step in this process. The public comment
received through this notice of intent and analysis of alternatives for
allocation and use of fishing privileges in this EIS will inform future
NMFS-industry discussions.
Summary
Given the wide range of potential future management approaches in
this fishery, NMFS is proposing action alternatives that span the broad
range of management measures foreseeable under U.S. regulations to
implement the
[[Page 42644]]
Treaty, decisions of the Commission, and other U.S. law. In total, NMFS
has tentatively identified two no-action alternatives, three action
alternatives related to controls on the type and amount of fishing
(Table 1), and three alternatives related to the allocation and use of
fishing privileges. NMFS plans to analyze the environmental
consequences of implementing each of the alternatives by assessing the
direct, indirect, and cumulative effects of each to the human
environment in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean.
By evaluating alternatives that span the full range of reasonably
foreseeable future management measures, the environmental impacts of
future management actions not explicitly analyzed could be estimated
relative to those calculated in this EIS.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.
Dated: August 20, 2018.
Margo B. Schulze-Haugen,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2018-18194 Filed 8-22-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
