Fisheries Off West Coast States; Pelagic Species Fisheries; Amendment 20 to the Coastal Pelagic Species Fishery Management Plan, 20456-20457 [2023-07121]
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20456
Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 66 / Thursday, April 6, 2023 / Proposed Rules
partially approve Amendments 1.
Comments received after the comment
periods will not be considered by NMFS
in this decision. All comments received
by NMFS on the amendments or the
proposed rule during their respective
comment periods will be addressed in
the final rule.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: March 30, 2023.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable
Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2023–07008 Filed 4–5–23; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
50 CFR Part 660
[Docket No. 230327–0085]
RIN 0648–BM14
Fisheries Off West Coast States;
Pelagic Species Fisheries; Amendment
20 to the Coastal Pelagic Species
Fishery Management Plan
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Proposed rule; request for
comments.
AGENCY:
This proposed rule would
implement two minor changes to
Federal regulations, prompted by the
proposed Amendment 20 to the Coastal
Pelagic Species (CPS) Fishery
Management Plan (FMP). Amendment
20 would remove management category
terminology from use in the FMP, but
not to revise the manner in which the
CPS stocks are managed. The Pacific
Fishery Management Council (Council)
recommended Amendment 20 for
clarity and consistency with other
Council FMPs. Specifically, this
proposed rule would remove the
definition for ‘‘Actively Managed
Species’’ and a reference to ‘‘monitored
stocks’’ from Federal regulations.
Because this action does not change the
manner in which CPS stocks are
managed, this action is administrative
in nature.
DATES: Comments on the proposed rule
must be received by May 8, 2023.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments
on this document, identified by NOAA–
NMFS–2023–0036, by the following
method:
• Electronic Submissions: Submit all
electronic public comments via the
ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with PROPOSALS1
SUMMARY:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:16 Apr 05, 2023
Jkt 259001
Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to
https://www.regulations.gov and enter
NOAA–NMFS–2023–0036 in the Search
box. Click the ‘‘Comment’’ icon,
complete the required fields, and enter
or attach your comments.
Instructions: Comments must be
submitted by the above method to
ensure that the comments are received,
documented, and considered by NMFS.
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. All
comments received are a part of the
public record and will generally be
posted for public viewing on
www.regulations.gov without change.
All personal identifying information
(e.g., name, address, etc.) 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).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Taylor Debevec at (562) 980–4066 or
taylor.debevec@noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The CPS FMP implemented the use of
Management Categories with
Amendment 8. Originally, the
management categories included
‘‘Active’’ (or Actively) and ‘‘Monitored.’’
With Amendment 12 and the
incorporation of krill into the CPS FMP,
‘‘Prohibited Harvest’’ was added as a
management category. The primary
function of the ‘‘Active’’ and
‘‘Monitored’’ management categories
was to effectively and efficiently direct
available agency and Council resources,
in recognition that not all stocks require
as intensive management as others, e.g.,
frequency of assessments and changes to
harvest levels. Stocks that supported
intensive fisheries typically fell in the
‘‘Active’’ management category,
meaning they were assessed on a regular
schedule with associated regular
updates to harvest specifications. In
contrast, stocks that were less
intensively fished were ‘‘Monitored’’
and utilized long-term conservative
harvest strategies deemed sufficient for
their conservation and management.
The category designations did not
relieve stocks from the requirements of
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act
(MSA) or National Standard 1
guidelines. Nor did they characterize
the type of stock assessment or scientific
PO 00000
Frm 00026
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
information available to inform
assessments, or strictly prescribe the
frequency of assessment or harvest
policy specification. Additionally, the
FMP allowed for stocks to be moved
from the ‘‘Monitored’’ category to the
‘‘Active’’ category if deemed necessary
for their conservation and management.
In November 2018, the Council
initiated an effort to address a perceived
lack of clarity regarding the meaning
and use of these terms in the FMP and
to promote consistency with other
Council FMPs. The Council directed its
CPS Management Team to explore ways
to remove the naming distinction of
management categories, while
maintaining existing stock management.
The Council considered the issue at its
June 2019 and November 2021
meetings, with final action taking place
at its April 2022 meeting. The proposed
Amendment 20 would remove
management category terms from the
FMP and incorporate additional
modifications in place of those terms to
ensure flow and readability of the FMP.
‘‘Prohibited Harvest Species’’ would
remain defined (krill), but references to
it being a management category would
be removed.
To align with the proposed
Amendment, NMFS is proposing this
rule to remove the management category
terms from Federal regulations, and
make some small additional
modifications in place of where those
terms were removed to ensure flow and
readability of the regulations. This
proposed rule would remove the two
places in Federal CPS regulations that
reference these management category
terms by: removing ‘‘Actively Managed
Species’’ from definitions in 50 CFR
660.502, and removing a reference to
‘‘monitored stocks’’ from 50 CFR
660.511(k). These regulatory changes are
administrative in nature and do not
change management of CPS stocks.
Classification
Pursuant to section 304(b)(1)(A) of the
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act, the
Assistant Administrator, NMFS, has
determined that this proposed rule is
consistent with the CPS FMP, other
provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens
Fishery Conservation and Management
Act, and other applicable law, subject to
further consideration after public
comment.
This proposed rule has been
determined to be not significant for
purposes of Executive Order 12866.
The Chief Counsel for Regulation of
the Department of Commerce certified
to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the
Small Business Administration that this
E:\FR\FM\06APP1.SGM
06APP1
Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 66 / Thursday, April 6, 2023 / Proposed Rules
ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with PROPOSALS1
proposed rule, if adopted, would not
have a significant economic impact on
a substantial number of small entities,
for the following reasons.
For Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA)
purposes only, NMFS has established a
small business size standard for
businesses, including their affiliates,
whose primary industry is commercial
fishing (see 50 CFR 200.2). A business
primarily engaged in commercial fishing
(North American Industry Classification
System (NAICS) code 11411) is
classified as a small business if it is
independently owned and operated, is
not dominant in its field of operation
(including its affiliates), and has
combined annual receipts not in excess
of $11 million for all its affiliated
operations worldwide.
The small entities that would be
affected by the proposed action are the
vessels that harvest coastal pelagic
species as part of the West Coast CPS
finfish fleet and are all considered small
businesses under the above size
standards. Currently, there are 55
vessels permitted in the Federal CPS
limited entry fishery. For these vessels
that catch CPS, the average annual per
vessel revenue has not exceeded $1.25
million in the last 5 years. The
individual vessel revenue for these
vessels is well below the threshold level
of $11 million; therefore, all of these
vessels are considered small businesses
under the RFA. Because each affected
vessel is a small business, this proposed
rule is considered to equally affect all of
these small entities in the same manner.
This proposed action removes terms
that categorize CPS stocks, but the
management of CPS stocks remains
unchanged. Therefore, this action is not
expected to have significant direct or
indirect socioeconomic impacts because
the proposed action is administrative.
Based on the disproportionality and
profitability analysis above, the
proposed action, if adopted, will not
have a significant economic impact on
a substantial number of small entities.
As a result, an Initial Regulatory
Flexibility Analysis is not required, and
none has been prepared.
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 660
Fisheries, Fishing, Indians—lands,
Recreation and recreation areas,
Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Treaties.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:59 Apr 05, 2023
Jkt 259001
Dated: March 31, 2023.
Samuel D. Rauch, III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for
Regulatory Programs, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
For the reasons set out in the
preamble, NMFS proposes to amend 50
CFR part 660 as follows:
PART 660—FISHERIES OFF WEST
COAST STATES
1. The authority citation for part 660
continues to read as follows:
■
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq., 16 U.S.C.
773 et seq., and 16 U.S.C. 7001 et seq.
§ 660.502
[Amended]
2. In § 660.502, remove the definition
for ‘‘Actively Managed Species’’.
■ 3. In § 660.511, revise paragraph (k) to
read as follows:
■
§ 660.511
Catch restrictions.
*
*
*
*
*
(k) The following annual catch limit
applies to fishing for Northern Anchovy
(Central Subpopulation): 25,000 mt.
[FR Doc. 2023–07121 Filed 4–5–23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
50 CFR Part 660
[Docket No. 230331–0088]
RIN 0648–BM07
Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions;
Fisheries Off West Coast States;
Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; 2023
Harvest Specifications for Pacific
Whiting, and 2023 Pacific Whiting
Tribal Allocation
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Proposed rule; request for
comments.
AGENCY:
NMFS issues this proposed
rule for the 2023 Pacific whiting fishery
under the authority of the Pacific Coast
Groundfish Fishery Management Plan,
the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act, the
Pacific Whiting Act of 2006 (Whiting
Act), and other applicable laws. This
proposed rule would establish the
domestic 2023 harvest specifications for
Pacific whiting including the 2023 tribal
allocation for the Pacific whiting
fishery, the non-tribal sector allocations,
and set-asides for incidental mortality in
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
Frm 00027
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
20457
research activities and non-groundfish
fisheries. The proposed measures are
intended to help prevent overfishing,
achieve optimum yield, ensure that
management measures are based on the
best scientific information available,
and provide for the implementation of
tribal treaty fishing rights.
DATES: Comments on this proposed rule
must be received no later than April 21,
2023.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments
on this document, identified by NOAA–
NMFS–2023–0033 by any of the
following methods:
• Electronic Submission: Submit all
electronic public comments via the
Federal eRulemaking Portal. Go to
https://www.regulations.gov and enter
NOAA–NMFS–2023–0033 in the Search
box. Click on the ‘‘Comment’’ icon,
complete the required fields, and enter
or attach your comments.
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).
Electronic Access
This proposed rule is accessible via
the internet at the Office of the Federal
Register website at https://
www.federalregister.gov. Background
information and documents are
available at the NMFS website at
https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov and at
the Pacific Fishery Management
Council’s website at https://
www.pcouncil.org/.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Colin Sayre, phone: 206–526–4656, and
email: Colin.Sayre@noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
This proposed rule announces the
adjusted coastwide whiting Total
Allowable Catch (TAC) of 625,000 mt,
the U.S. adjusted TAC of 461,750 mt,
and proposes domestic 2023 Pacific
whiting harvest specifications,
including, the 2023 tribal allocation of
80,806 mt, announces the preliminary
allocations for three non-tribal
commercial whiting sectors, and
E:\FR\FM\06APP1.SGM
06APP1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 66 (Thursday, April 6, 2023)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 20456-20457]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-07121]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 660
[Docket No. 230327-0085]
RIN 0648-BM14
Fisheries Off West Coast States; Pelagic Species Fisheries;
Amendment 20 to the Coastal Pelagic Species Fishery Management Plan
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Proposed rule; request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: This proposed rule would implement two minor changes to
Federal regulations, prompted by the proposed Amendment 20 to the
Coastal Pelagic Species (CPS) Fishery Management Plan (FMP). Amendment
20 would remove management category terminology from use in the FMP,
but not to revise the manner in which the CPS stocks are managed. The
Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) recommended Amendment 20
for clarity and consistency with other Council FMPs. Specifically, this
proposed rule would remove the definition for ``Actively Managed
Species'' and a reference to ``monitored stocks'' from Federal
regulations. Because this action does not change the manner in which
CPS stocks are managed, this action is administrative in nature.
DATES: Comments on the proposed rule must be received by May 8, 2023.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on this document, identified by
NOAA-NMFS-2023-0036, by the following method:
Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic public
comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to https://www.regulations.gov and enter NOAA-NMFS-2023-0036 in the Search box.
Click the ``Comment'' icon, complete the required fields, and enter or
attach your comments.
Instructions: Comments must be submitted by the above method to
ensure that the comments are received, documented, and considered by
NMFS. 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. All comments received are a part of the public record and
will generally be posted for public viewing on www.regulations.gov
without change. All personal identifying information (e.g., name,
address, etc.) 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).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Taylor Debevec at (562) 980-4066 or
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The CPS FMP implemented the use of Management Categories with
Amendment 8. Originally, the management categories included ``Active''
(or Actively) and ``Monitored.'' With Amendment 12 and the
incorporation of krill into the CPS FMP, ``Prohibited Harvest'' was
added as a management category. The primary function of the ``Active''
and ``Monitored'' management categories was to effectively and
efficiently direct available agency and Council resources, in
recognition that not all stocks require as intensive management as
others, e.g., frequency of assessments and changes to harvest levels.
Stocks that supported intensive fisheries typically fell in the
``Active'' management category, meaning they were assessed on a regular
schedule with associated regular updates to harvest specifications. In
contrast, stocks that were less intensively fished were ``Monitored''
and utilized long-term conservative harvest strategies deemed
sufficient for their conservation and management. The category
designations did not relieve stocks from the requirements of Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA) or National
Standard 1 guidelines. Nor did they characterize the type of stock
assessment or scientific information available to inform assessments,
or strictly prescribe the frequency of assessment or harvest policy
specification. Additionally, the FMP allowed for stocks to be moved
from the ``Monitored'' category to the ``Active'' category if deemed
necessary for their conservation and management.
In November 2018, the Council initiated an effort to address a
perceived lack of clarity regarding the meaning and use of these terms
in the FMP and to promote consistency with other Council FMPs. The
Council directed its CPS Management Team to explore ways to remove the
naming distinction of management categories, while maintaining existing
stock management. The Council considered the issue at its June 2019 and
November 2021 meetings, with final action taking place at its April
2022 meeting. The proposed Amendment 20 would remove management
category terms from the FMP and incorporate additional modifications in
place of those terms to ensure flow and readability of the FMP.
``Prohibited Harvest Species'' would remain defined (krill), but
references to it being a management category would be removed.
To align with the proposed Amendment, NMFS is proposing this rule
to remove the management category terms from Federal regulations, and
make some small additional modifications in place of where those terms
were removed to ensure flow and readability of the regulations. This
proposed rule would remove the two places in Federal CPS regulations
that reference these management category terms by: removing ``Actively
Managed Species'' from definitions in 50 CFR 660.502, and removing a
reference to ``monitored stocks'' from 50 CFR 660.511(k). These
regulatory changes are administrative in nature and do not change
management of CPS stocks.
Classification
Pursuant to section 304(b)(1)(A) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act, the Assistant Administrator, NMFS, has
determined that this proposed rule is consistent with the CPS FMP,
other provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and
Management Act, and other applicable law, subject to further
consideration after public comment.
This proposed rule has been determined to be not significant for
purposes of Executive Order 12866.
The Chief Counsel for Regulation of the Department of Commerce
certified to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business
Administration that this
[[Page 20457]]
proposed rule, if adopted, would not have a significant economic impact
on a substantial number of small entities, for the following reasons.
For Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) purposes only, NMFS has
established a small business size standard for businesses, including
their affiliates, whose primary industry is commercial fishing (see 50
CFR 200.2). A business primarily engaged in commercial fishing (North
American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 11411) is
classified as a small business if it is independently owned and
operated, is not dominant in its field of operation (including its
affiliates), and has combined annual receipts not in excess of $11
million for all its affiliated operations worldwide.
The small entities that would be affected by the proposed action
are the vessels that harvest coastal pelagic species as part of the
West Coast CPS finfish fleet and are all considered small businesses
under the above size standards. Currently, there are 55 vessels
permitted in the Federal CPS limited entry fishery. For these vessels
that catch CPS, the average annual per vessel revenue has not exceeded
$1.25 million in the last 5 years. The individual vessel revenue for
these vessels is well below the threshold level of $11 million;
therefore, all of these vessels are considered small businesses under
the RFA. Because each affected vessel is a small business, this
proposed rule is considered to equally affect all of these small
entities in the same manner.
This proposed action removes terms that categorize CPS stocks, but
the management of CPS stocks remains unchanged. Therefore, this action
is not expected to have significant direct or indirect socioeconomic
impacts because the proposed action is administrative.
Based on the disproportionality and profitability analysis above,
the proposed action, if adopted, will not have a significant economic
impact on a substantial number of small entities. As a result, an
Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis is not required, and none has
been prepared.
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 660
Fisheries, Fishing, Indians--lands, Recreation and recreation
areas, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Treaties.
Dated: March 31, 2023.
Samuel D. Rauch, III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
For the reasons set out in the preamble, NMFS proposes to amend 50
CFR part 660 as follows:
PART 660--FISHERIES OFF WEST COAST STATES
0
1. The authority citation for part 660 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq., 16 U.S.C. 773 et seq., and 16
U.S.C. 7001 et seq.
Sec. 660.502 [Amended]
0
2. In Sec. 660.502, remove the definition for ``Actively Managed
Species''.
0
3. In Sec. 660.511, revise paragraph (k) to read as follows:
Sec. 660.511 Catch restrictions.
* * * * *
(k) The following annual catch limit applies to fishing for
Northern Anchovy (Central Subpopulation): 25,000 mt.
[FR Doc. 2023-07121 Filed 4-5-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
