Fisheries Off West Coast States; Coastal Pelagic Species Fisheries; Annual Specifications; 2023-2024 Annual Specifications and Management Measures for Pacific Sardine, 41040-41043 [2023-13416]
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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 120 / Friday, June 23, 2023 / Rules and Regulations
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[FR Doc. 2023–13378 Filed 6–22–23; 8:45 am]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Ronald T. Repasi,
Chief, Office of Engineering and Technology.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
[FR Doc. 2023–13406 Filed 6–22–23; 8:45 am]
50 CFR Part 660
BILLING CODE 6712–01–P
[Docket No: 230620–0153; RTID 0648–
XC872]
Fisheries Off West Coast States;
Coastal Pelagic Species Fisheries;
Annual Specifications; 2023–2024
Annual Specifications and
Management Measures for Pacific
Sardine
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Final rule.
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AGENCY:
NMFS is implementing
annual harvest specifications and
SUMMARY:
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144°51′18″ E
management measures for the northern
subpopulation of Pacific sardine
(hereafter, Pacific sardine), for the July
1, 2023, through June 30, 2024, fishing
year. This final rule will prohibit most
directed commercial fishing for Pacific
sardine off the coasts of Washington,
Oregon, and California. Pacific sardine
harvest will be allowed only in the live
bait fishery, minor directed fisheries, as
incidental catch in other fisheries, or as
authorized under exempted fishing
permits. The incidental harvest of
Pacific sardine will be limited to 20
percent by weight of all fish per trip
when caught with other stocks managed
under the Coastal Pelagic Species
Fishery Management Plan, or up to 2
metric tons per trip when caught with
non-Coastal Pelagic Species stocks. The
annual catch limit for the 2023–2024
Pacific sardine fishing year is 3,953
metric tons. This final rule is intended
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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 120 / Friday, June 23, 2023 / Rules and Regulations
to conserve and manage the Pacific
sardine stock off the U.S. West Coast.
DATES: Effective June 23, 2023.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Taylor Debevec, West Coast Region,
NMFS, (562) 619–2052,
Taylor.Debevec@noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS
manages the Pacific sardine fishery in
the U.S. exclusive economic zone off the
Pacific coast (California, Oregon, and
Washington) in accordance with the
Coastal Pelagic Species (CPS) Fishery
Management Plan (FMP). The FMP and
its implementing regulations require
NMFS to set annual catch levels for the
Pacific sardine fishery based on the
annual specification framework, control
rules, and management measures in the
FMP. These control rules, including the
harvest guideline (HG) control rule, the
overfishing limit (OFL) and acceptable
biological catch (ABC) rules, along with
other management measures are used to
manage harvest levels for Pacific
sardine, in accordance with the
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act
(MSA), 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
This final rule implements the annual
catch levels, reference points, and
management measures for the 2023–
2024 fishing year. The final rule adopts,
without changes, the catch levels and
restrictions that NMFS proposed in the
rule published on May 16, 2023 (88 FR
31214). The proposed rule for this
action included additional background
on the specifications and details of how
the Pacific Fishery Management Council
(Council) derived its recommended
specifications for Pacific sardine. Those
details are not repeated here. For
additional information on this action,
please refer to the proposed rule (88 FR
31214, May 16, 2023).
This final rule implements an OFL of
5,506 metric tons (mt) and an ABC/
annual catch limit (ACL) of 3,953 mt,
based on CPS FMP control rules and a
biomass estimate of Pacific sardine of
27,369 mt. This biomass estimate is
from the 2022 update stock assessment,
which was identified by the Council’s
Scientific and Statistical Committee
(SSC) to represent the best scientific
information available for management of
Pacific sardine for this year. Per the CPS
FMP, because the estimated biomass is
less than 150,000 mt (i.e., the
Rebuilding target and CUTOFF in the
harvest guideline control rule), the
primary directed fishery is set to 0 mt,
meaning there is no primary directed
fishery for Pacific sardine. This is the
ninth consecutive year the primary
directed fishery has been closed.
Because the estimated biomass is below
the minimum stock size threshold
(50,000 mt), the FMP requires that
incidental catch of Pacific sardine in
other CPS fisheries be limited to an
incidental allowance of no more than 20
percent by weight. Although these
management measures, triggered by the
FMP, are expected to keep catch far
below the ACL as they have done in
recent history, this rule also implements
an annual catch target (ACT) of 3,600 mt
and implements management measures
intended to ensure harvest opportunity
throughout the year.
A summary of the 2023–2024 fishing
year specifications can be found in
Table 1, and management measures are
summarized in the list below Table 1.
TABLE 1—HARVEST SPECIFICATIONS FOR THE 2023–2024 SARDINE FISHING YEAR IN METRIC TONS
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[mt]
Biomass estimate
OFL
ABC
HG
ACL
ACT
27,369
5,506
3,953
0
3,953
3,600
Following are the management
measures for commercial sardine
harvest during the 2023–2024 fishing
year:
(1) If landings in the live bait fishery
reach 2,500 mt of Pacific sardine, then
a 1 mt per-trip limit of sardine would
apply to the live bait fishery.
(2) An incidental per-landing limit of
20 percent (by weight) of Pacific sardine
applies to other CPS primary directed
fisheries (e.g., Pacific mackerel).
(3) If the ACT of 3,600 mt is attained,
then a 1mt per-trip limit of Pacific
sardine landings would apply to all CPS
fisheries (i.e., (1) and (2) would no
longer apply).
(4) An incidental per-landing
allowance of 2 mt of Pacific sardine
would apply to non-CPS fisheries until
the ACL is reached.
All sources of catch, including any
exempted fishing permit (EFP) setasides, the live bait fishery, and other
minimal sources of harvest, such as
incidental catch in CPS and non-CPS
fisheries and minor directed fishing,
will be accounted for against the ACT
and ACL. At the April 2023 Council
meeting, the Council approved 670 mt
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of the ACL for two EFP proposals to
support stock assessments for Pacific
sardine. NMFS published a notice of
receipt of EFP applications on May 19,
2023 (88 FR 32200), and will decide
whether to issue the EFPs after the
comment period closes on June 20,
2023. If the effective date of this final
rule is after July 1, 2023, any Pacific
sardine harvested between July 1, 2023,
and the effective date will count toward
the 2023–2024 ACT and ACL.
The NMFS West Coast Regional
Administrator will publish a notice in
the Federal Register to announce when
catch reaches the management measure
limits, as well as any resulting changes
to allowable incidental catch
percentages. Additionally, to ensure that
the regulated community is informed of
any closure, NMFS will make
announcements through other means
available, including emails to
fishermen, processors, and state fishery
management agencies.
Comments and Responses
On May 16, 2023, NMFS published a
proposed rule for this action and
solicited public comments through May
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31, 2023 (88 FR 31214). NMFS received
two public comments—one from the
industry group California Wetfish
Producers Association (Association) and
one from the environmental group
Oceana. The Association supported the
proposed rule in its entirety. After
considering the public comments,
NMFS made no changes from the
proposed rule. NMFS summarizes and
responds to the comment from Oceana
below.
Comment: Oceana recommended that
NMFS use a lower harvest rate (EMSY or
environmental maximum sustainable
yield, which is used to calculate the
OFL and ABC) of 5 percent to set
specifications.
Oceana also appended to their
comment a timeline of sardine
management from 1967 to 1992. As this
did not contain any recommendations,
there is no response.
Lastly, Oceana attached a letter they
sent to the Council in March 2023,
which contained more specific
recommendations to the Council for
their consideration during the April
2023 Council Agenda Item H.4, 2023–
2024 Pacific sardine annual catch limit
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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 120 / Friday, June 23, 2023 / Rules and Regulations
and management measures. Those
recommendations included: use an EMSY
of 5 percent; incorporate more buffer
into the calculations for specifications;
set the ACL no higher than 800 mt; and
limit the incidental catch allowance to
no more than 10 percent.
Response: As it relates to the
comment that NMFS should use an
EMSY of 5 percent to calculate the OFL
and ABC, NMFS has determined that
the OFL and ABC being implemented
through this action will prevent
overfishing and are supported by the
best scientific information available,
including the information used to
calculate EMSY. Additionally, the
reference points proposed for the 2023–
2024 fishing year were recommended by
the Council’s SSC, which they
determined to represent the best
available science for managing the
fishery, and are based on the formulas
in the CPS FMP, including the formula
adopted for calculating EMSY. In its
comment, Oceana points to recent
Council discussions related to EMSY.
NMFS notes in response that the
Council’s SSC—the scientific advisory
body that is responsible for
recommending changes to EMSY—can
(as it has done in the past) recommend
changes to EMSY at any time if the best
available science warrants such a
revision; it has not determined that a
change to EMSY is necessary at this time.
Oceana stated that the ‘‘. . . annual
catch limit for 2023–24 is nearly twice
the 2,200 mt annual catch NMFS
assumed to support its conclusion that
Amendment 18 would rebuild the
sardine population . . .’’ To clarify,
there are two stocks of Pacific sardine
that can occur off the U.S. West Coast,
known as the northern subpopulation
and the southern subpopulation. The
northern subpopulation, managed under
the CPS FMP, is overfished and
managed under the rebuilding plan (i.e.,
Amendment 18 to the CPS FMP). The
southern subpopulation, not managed
under the CPS FMP nor part of the
rebuilding plan, usually resides off the
coast of Mexico, but in the summer
months migrates north into waters off
southern California. While the two
subpopulations generally inhabit
different geographic ranges, they do
typically mix in the summertime, and it
is impossible to distinguish between the
subpopulations at the time of landing.
Therefore, in an abundance of caution,
NMFS counts all landed Pacific sardine
against the ACL (which is set based on
the biomass of the northern
subpopulation only), regardless of
which subpopulation they might belong
to. Additionally, this rule includes
management measures that generally
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restrict the fishery from catching the full
ACL. These non-discretionary
restrictions include the continued
closure of the primary directed fishery
(i.e., the largest fishery that takes the
majority of Pacific sardine catch) and
restrictions on incidental harvest of
Pacific sardine in other CPS fisheries
(which are currently less than half of
typical incidental limits).
In its March 24, 2023, letter to the
Council, Oceana referenced a 2019
paper in support of its contention that
the temperature index being used to
calculate EMSY is flawed. NMFS is aware
of the paper Oceana referenced and of
ongoing Council discussions related to
EMSY. NMFS is committed to
participating in discussions about new
science and whether that science
justifies a change to how EMSY is
calculated for management purposes.
NMFS notes that research related to the
appropriate temperature index to inform
EMSY is ongoing and points out that the
paper Oceana cited does not suggest an
alternative methodology for calculating
EMSY. NMFS has not yet determined
whether, a change in how EMSY is
calculated is necessary for management
purposes. As previously stated, NMFS
has determined that the reference points
set through this action are based on the
best scientific information available.
Oceana stated that the EMSY fishing
rate and distribution factor NMFS used
to calculate the OFL ‘‘. . . are
overestimated, resulting in an inflated
OFL that does not prevent overfishing.’’
However, we note that overfishing has
never occurred in this fishery, and the
science supports NMFS’ determination
that the OFL implemented through this
action will prevent overfishing.
NMFS disagrees with Oceana’s
suggestion to increase the buffer
between OFL and ABC. The SSC
recommended that the update stocks
assessment upon which those reference
points are based be deemed a Tier 2
assessment (meaning data moderate)
and that a ‘‘staleness’’ factor be added
to account for the time that has passed
since the update assessment was
conducted. The Council chose to use a
P* of 0.4, which is consistent with past
years. The buffer between OFL and ABC
for this year’s fishing season, 28.2
percent, is appropriately larger than the
buffer between OFL and ABC for last
year’s fishing season because the stock
assessment used for decision-making,
while being best scientific information
available, is a year older or ‘‘staler.’’ The
ABC being implemented through this
action is from the Council’s SSC, which
is responsible for making ABC
recommendations to the Council and
which bases its recommendations on the
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best scientific information available.
NMFS also notes that, contrary to
Oceana’s assertions, there have been no
‘‘indications of overfishing in several
previous years’’ that would warrant a
more precautionary approach to setting
the ABC. NMFS has therefore
determined that it is not necessary to
further reduce the ABC from the OFL to
prevent overfishing.
NMFS also disagrees with Oceana’s
recommendation that the ACL should be
no higher than 800 mt. The OFL/ABC/
ACL were all calculated in alignment
with the rebuilding plan. The reference
points implemented through this action
should also be viewed in the context of
the non-discretionary harvest
restrictions already in place, pursuant to
the CPS FMP and the rebuilding plan
for the northern subpopulation of
Pacific sardine, which typically restrain
the fishery from catching the full ACL.
These non-discretionary restrictions
include the continued closure of the
primary directed fishery (i.e., the largest
fishery that takes the majority of Pacific
sardine catch) and restrictions on
incidental harvest of Pacific sardine in
other CPS fisheries (which are currently
less than half of typical incidental
limits). Recent catch of Pacific sardine
(both northern and southern
subpopulations) has been 1,769 mt in
the 2021–2022 season, and so far 1,110
mt in the 2022–2023 season (ending
June 30, 2023). The reference points
being implemented through this action
were recommended by the Council
based on the control rules in the FMP
and were endorsed by the Council’s SSC
as the best scientific information
available for setting the 2023–2024
harvest specifications for Pacific
sardine.
The Council considered the
overfished status of Pacific sardine, as
well as the ‘‘staleness’’ of the 2022
update assessment, and incorporated
precautionary measures in their
recommendations to NMFS to account
for those factors. Those precautionary
measures included: (1) deeming the
assessment Tier 2 and adding an
additional ‘‘staleness’’ factor to that
buffer; (2) using a P* value of 0.4; (3)
reducing the ACT from the ACL; and (4)
incorporating accountability measures.
These accountability measures include:
(1) limiting live bait landings to 1 mt per
landing once 2,500 mt of sardine is
attained; (2) imposing a per-trip limit of
1 mt of sardine in all CPS fisheries once
the ACT is attained; and (3)
implementing an incidental per-landing
allowance of 2 mt in non-CPS fisheries
until the ACL is reached.
As it relates to Oceana’s
recommendation that NMFS set the
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incidental catch allowance at 10
percent, NMFS notes that all harvest,
regardless of how it is taken or at what
level (i.e., 10 percent or 20 percent), is
accounted for under the OFL/ABC/ACL/
ACT for this action, and these levels
have been determined to prevent
overfishing of Pacific sardine and
support the rebuilding of the stock.
Additionally, reducing the incidental
catch allowance is not necessary to
ensure these reference points are not
exceeded, therefore NMFS does not see
a justification to restrict this sector
further than the low catch allowance
already in place.
Classification
Pursuant to section 304(b)(1)(A) of the
MSA, the NMFS Assistant
Administrator has determined that this
final rule is consistent with the CPS
FMP, other provisions of the MSA, and
other applicable law.
There is good cause under 5 U.S.C.
553(d)(3) to waive the 30-day delay in
the date of effectiveness of these final
harvest specifications for the 2023–2024
Pacific sardine fishing season. In
accordance with the FMP, this rule was
recommended by the Council at its
meeting in April 2023. The contents of
this rule are based on the best scientific
information available on the population
status of Pacific sardine, which became
available at that April 2023 meeting.
Making these final specifications
effective on July 1, the first day of the
fishing year, is necessary for the
conservation and management of the
Pacific sardine resource because last
year’s restrictions on harvest are not
effective after June 30, 2023. The FMP
requires a prohibition on primary
directed fishing for Pacific sardine for
the 2023–2024 fishing year because the
sardine biomass has dropped below the
CUTOFF. The purpose of the CUTOFF
in the FMP, and for prohibiting a
primary directed fishery when the
biomass drops below this level, is to
protect the stock when biomass is low
and provide a buffer of spawning stock
that is protected from fishing and can
contribute to rebuilding the stock. If
these specifications are not effective by
July 1, there would be no prohibition on
the primary directed fishing, and a
significant amount of sardine could
theoretically be caught in a short period.
Delaying the effective date of this rule
beyond July 1 would be contrary to the
public interest because it would
jeopardize the sustainability of the
Pacific sardine stock. Furthermore, most
affected fishermen have already been
operating under a prohibition of the
primary directed fishery for years, and
are aware that the Council
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recommended that primary directed
commercial fishing be prohibited again
for the 2023–2024 fishing year, and are
fully prepared to comply with the
prohibition.
This final rule is exempt from review
under Executive Order 12866.
The Chief Counsel for Regulation of
the Department of Commerce certified
to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the
Small Business Administration during
the proposed rule stage that this action
would not have a significant economic
impact on a substantial number of small
entities for the purposes of the
Regulatory Flexibility Act. The factual
basis for the certification was published
in the proposed rule (88 FR 31214, May
16, 2023) and is not repeated here. As
a result, a final regulatory flexibility
analysis was not required and none was
prepared.
Pursuant to Executive Order 13175,
this rule was developed after
meaningful consultation and
collaboration with the Council’s tribal
representative, who has agreed with the
provisions that apply to tribal vessels.
This action does not contain a
collection-of-information requirement
for purposes of the Paperwork
Reduction Act. There are no relevant
Federal rules that may duplicate,
overlap, or conflict with the action.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: June 20, 2023.
Samuel D. Rauch, III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for
Regulatory Programs, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2023–13416 Filed 6–22–23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
50 CFR Part 679
[Docket: 230616–0152]
RIN 0648–BL54
Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic
Zone Off Alaska; Amendment 124 to
the BSAI FMP for Groundfish and
Amendment 112 to the GOA FMP for
Groundfish To Revise IFQ Program
Regulations; Correction
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Final rule; correcting
amendment.
AGENCY:
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41043
This action corrects an
inadvertent drafting error in final
regulations published in the Federal
Register on February 27, 2023, and
effective on February 27, 2023. NMFS is
correcting regulations to revise the date
after which only an eligible community
resident of Adak, Alaska may receive by
transfer any individual fishing quota
(IFQ) held by a community quota entity
(CQE) in the Aleutian Islands subarea.
In the final rule published on February
27, 2023, NMFS intended to extend by
five years the date after which only an
eligible community resident of Adak,
AK may use or receive by transfer CQE
IFQ. This action completes the removal
of the Adak CQE residency requirement
for a period of five years.
SUMMARY:
DATES:
This rule is effective on June 23,
2023.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Alicia M. Miller, 907–586–7228 or
Alicia.m.miller@noaa.gov.
The North
Pacific Fishery Management Council
(Council) recommended and NMFS
issued a final rule to implement
Amendment 124 to the Fishery
Management Plan for Groundfish of the
Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands
Management Area (BSAI FMP) and
Amendment 112 to the Fishery
Management Plan for Groundfish of the
Gulf of Alaska (GOA FMP) (88 FR
12259, February 27, 2023). One element
of that final rule temporarily removed
the Adak CQE residency requirement for
a period of five years. The final rule’s
intent was to suspend the residency
requirement for five years for both
transfer and use of CQE IFQ. The final
rule revised regulations at
§ 679.42(e)(8)(ii) and (f)(7)(ii) that
otherwise limit the use of sablefish and
halibut quota share to eligible
community residents of Adak, Alaska.
However, the final rule failed to make
a corresponding revision at
§ 679.41(g)(6)(ii).
This action is necessary to correct an
inadvertent drafting error in final
regulations published on February 27,
2023. NMFS overlooked revising a
regulation related to the Adak residency
requirement and amending it to impose
its suspension for a five-year period.
This action corrects that error and
modifies regulations at § 679.41(g)(6)(ii)
to change the date after which only an
eligible community resident of Adak,
Alaska may receive by transfer IFQ held
by a CQE in the Aleutian Islands
subarea. This correcting amendment
will fully implement the removal of the
Adak CQE residency requirement for a
period of five years as intended under
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 120 (Friday, June 23, 2023)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 41040-41043]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-13416]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 660
[Docket No: 230620-0153; RTID 0648-XC872]
Fisheries Off West Coast States; Coastal Pelagic Species
Fisheries; Annual Specifications; 2023-2024 Annual Specifications and
Management Measures for Pacific Sardine
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: NMFS is implementing annual harvest specifications and
management measures for the northern subpopulation of Pacific sardine
(hereafter, Pacific sardine), for the July 1, 2023, through June 30,
2024, fishing year. This final rule will prohibit most directed
commercial fishing for Pacific sardine off the coasts of Washington,
Oregon, and California. Pacific sardine harvest will be allowed only in
the live bait fishery, minor directed fisheries, as incidental catch in
other fisheries, or as authorized under exempted fishing permits. The
incidental harvest of Pacific sardine will be limited to 20 percent by
weight of all fish per trip when caught with other stocks managed under
the Coastal Pelagic Species Fishery Management Plan, or up to 2 metric
tons per trip when caught with non-Coastal Pelagic Species stocks. The
annual catch limit for the 2023-2024 Pacific sardine fishing year is
3,953 metric tons. This final rule is intended
[[Page 41041]]
to conserve and manage the Pacific sardine stock off the U.S. West
Coast.
DATES: Effective June 23, 2023.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Taylor Debevec, West Coast Region,
NMFS, (562) 619-2052, [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS manages the Pacific sardine fishery in
the U.S. exclusive economic zone off the Pacific coast (California,
Oregon, and Washington) in accordance with the Coastal Pelagic Species
(CPS) Fishery Management Plan (FMP). The FMP and its implementing
regulations require NMFS to set annual catch levels for the Pacific
sardine fishery based on the annual specification framework, control
rules, and management measures in the FMP. These control rules,
including the harvest guideline (HG) control rule, the overfishing
limit (OFL) and acceptable biological catch (ABC) rules, along with
other management measures are used to manage harvest levels for Pacific
sardine, in accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation
and Management Act (MSA), 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
This final rule implements the annual catch levels, reference
points, and management measures for the 2023-2024 fishing year. The
final rule adopts, without changes, the catch levels and restrictions
that NMFS proposed in the rule published on May 16, 2023 (88 FR 31214).
The proposed rule for this action included additional background on the
specifications and details of how the Pacific Fishery Management
Council (Council) derived its recommended specifications for Pacific
sardine. Those details are not repeated here. For additional
information on this action, please refer to the proposed rule (88 FR
31214, May 16, 2023).
This final rule implements an OFL of 5,506 metric tons (mt) and an
ABC/annual catch limit (ACL) of 3,953 mt, based on CPS FMP control
rules and a biomass estimate of Pacific sardine of 27,369 mt. This
biomass estimate is from the 2022 update stock assessment, which was
identified by the Council's Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC)
to represent the best scientific information available for management
of Pacific sardine for this year. Per the CPS FMP, because the
estimated biomass is less than 150,000 mt (i.e., the Rebuilding target
and CUTOFF in the harvest guideline control rule), the primary directed
fishery is set to 0 mt, meaning there is no primary directed fishery
for Pacific sardine. This is the ninth consecutive year the primary
directed fishery has been closed. Because the estimated biomass is
below the minimum stock size threshold (50,000 mt), the FMP requires
that incidental catch of Pacific sardine in other CPS fisheries be
limited to an incidental allowance of no more than 20 percent by
weight. Although these management measures, triggered by the FMP, are
expected to keep catch far below the ACL as they have done in recent
history, this rule also implements an annual catch target (ACT) of
3,600 mt and implements management measures intended to ensure harvest
opportunity throughout the year.
A summary of the 2023-2024 fishing year specifications can be found
in Table 1, and management measures are summarized in the list below
Table 1.
Table 1--Harvest Specifications for the 2023-2024 Sardine Fishing Year in Metric Tons
[mt]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Biomass estimate OFL ABC HG ACL ACT
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
27,369 5,506 3,953 0 3,953 3,600
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Following are the management measures for commercial sardine
harvest during the 2023-2024 fishing year:
(1) If landings in the live bait fishery reach 2,500 mt of Pacific
sardine, then a 1 mt per-trip limit of sardine would apply to the live
bait fishery.
(2) An incidental per-landing limit of 20 percent (by weight) of
Pacific sardine applies to other CPS primary directed fisheries (e.g.,
Pacific mackerel).
(3) If the ACT of 3,600 mt is attained, then a 1mt per-trip limit
of Pacific sardine landings would apply to all CPS fisheries (i.e., (1)
and (2) would no longer apply).
(4) An incidental per-landing allowance of 2 mt of Pacific sardine
would apply to non-CPS fisheries until the ACL is reached.
All sources of catch, including any exempted fishing permit (EFP)
set-asides, the live bait fishery, and other minimal sources of
harvest, such as incidental catch in CPS and non-CPS fisheries and
minor directed fishing, will be accounted for against the ACT and ACL.
At the April 2023 Council meeting, the Council approved 670 mt of the
ACL for two EFP proposals to support stock assessments for Pacific
sardine. NMFS published a notice of receipt of EFP applications on May
19, 2023 (88 FR 32200), and will decide whether to issue the EFPs after
the comment period closes on June 20, 2023. If the effective date of
this final rule is after July 1, 2023, any Pacific sardine harvested
between July 1, 2023, and the effective date will count toward the
2023-2024 ACT and ACL.
The NMFS West Coast Regional Administrator will publish a notice in
the Federal Register to announce when catch reaches the management
measure limits, as well as any resulting changes to allowable
incidental catch percentages. Additionally, to ensure that the
regulated community is informed of any closure, NMFS will make
announcements through other means available, including emails to
fishermen, processors, and state fishery management agencies.
Comments and Responses
On May 16, 2023, NMFS published a proposed rule for this action and
solicited public comments through May 31, 2023 (88 FR 31214). NMFS
received two public comments--one from the industry group California
Wetfish Producers Association (Association) and one from the
environmental group Oceana. The Association supported the proposed rule
in its entirety. After considering the public comments, NMFS made no
changes from the proposed rule. NMFS summarizes and responds to the
comment from Oceana below.
Comment: Oceana recommended that NMFS use a lower harvest rate
(EMSY or environmental maximum sustainable yield, which is
used to calculate the OFL and ABC) of 5 percent to set specifications.
Oceana also appended to their comment a timeline of sardine
management from 1967 to 1992. As this did not contain any
recommendations, there is no response.
Lastly, Oceana attached a letter they sent to the Council in March
2023, which contained more specific recommendations to the Council for
their consideration during the April 2023 Council Agenda Item H.4,
2023-2024 Pacific sardine annual catch limit
[[Page 41042]]
and management measures. Those recommendations included: use an
EMSY of 5 percent; incorporate more buffer into the
calculations for specifications; set the ACL no higher than 800 mt; and
limit the incidental catch allowance to no more than 10 percent.
Response: As it relates to the comment that NMFS should use an
EMSY of 5 percent to calculate the OFL and ABC, NMFS has
determined that the OFL and ABC being implemented through this action
will prevent overfishing and are supported by the best scientific
information available, including the information used to calculate
EMSY. Additionally, the reference points proposed for the
2023-2024 fishing year were recommended by the Council's SSC, which
they determined to represent the best available science for managing
the fishery, and are based on the formulas in the CPS FMP, including
the formula adopted for calculating EMSY. In its comment,
Oceana points to recent Council discussions related to EMSY.
NMFS notes in response that the Council's SSC--the scientific advisory
body that is responsible for recommending changes to EMSY--
can (as it has done in the past) recommend changes to EMSY
at any time if the best available science warrants such a revision; it
has not determined that a change to EMSY is necessary at
this time.
Oceana stated that the ``. . . annual catch limit for 2023-24 is
nearly twice the 2,200 mt annual catch NMFS assumed to support its
conclusion that Amendment 18 would rebuild the sardine population . .
.'' To clarify, there are two stocks of Pacific sardine that can occur
off the U.S. West Coast, known as the northern subpopulation and the
southern subpopulation. The northern subpopulation, managed under the
CPS FMP, is overfished and managed under the rebuilding plan (i.e.,
Amendment 18 to the CPS FMP). The southern subpopulation, not managed
under the CPS FMP nor part of the rebuilding plan, usually resides off
the coast of Mexico, but in the summer months migrates north into
waters off southern California. While the two subpopulations generally
inhabit different geographic ranges, they do typically mix in the
summertime, and it is impossible to distinguish between the
subpopulations at the time of landing. Therefore, in an abundance of
caution, NMFS counts all landed Pacific sardine against the ACL (which
is set based on the biomass of the northern subpopulation only),
regardless of which subpopulation they might belong to. Additionally,
this rule includes management measures that generally restrict the
fishery from catching the full ACL. These non-discretionary
restrictions include the continued closure of the primary directed
fishery (i.e., the largest fishery that takes the majority of Pacific
sardine catch) and restrictions on incidental harvest of Pacific
sardine in other CPS fisheries (which are currently less than half of
typical incidental limits).
In its March 24, 2023, letter to the Council, Oceana referenced a
2019 paper in support of its contention that the temperature index
being used to calculate EMSY is flawed. NMFS is aware of the
paper Oceana referenced and of ongoing Council discussions related to
EMSY. NMFS is committed to participating in discussions
about new science and whether that science justifies a change to how
EMSY is calculated for management purposes. NMFS notes that
research related to the appropriate temperature index to inform
EMSY is ongoing and points out that the paper Oceana cited
does not suggest an alternative methodology for calculating
EMSY. NMFS has not yet determined whether, a change in how
EMSY is calculated is necessary for management purposes. As
previously stated, NMFS has determined that the reference points set
through this action are based on the best scientific information
available.
Oceana stated that the EMSY fishing rate and
distribution factor NMFS used to calculate the OFL ``. . . are
overestimated, resulting in an inflated OFL that does not prevent
overfishing.'' However, we note that overfishing has never occurred in
this fishery, and the science supports NMFS' determination that the OFL
implemented through this action will prevent overfishing.
NMFS disagrees with Oceana's suggestion to increase the buffer
between OFL and ABC. The SSC recommended that the update stocks
assessment upon which those reference points are based be deemed a Tier
2 assessment (meaning data moderate) and that a ``staleness'' factor be
added to account for the time that has passed since the update
assessment was conducted. The Council chose to use a P* of 0.4, which
is consistent with past years. The buffer between OFL and ABC for this
year's fishing season, 28.2 percent, is appropriately larger than the
buffer between OFL and ABC for last year's fishing season because the
stock assessment used for decision-making, while being best scientific
information available, is a year older or ``staler.'' The ABC being
implemented through this action is from the Council's SSC, which is
responsible for making ABC recommendations to the Council and which
bases its recommendations on the best scientific information available.
NMFS also notes that, contrary to Oceana's assertions, there have been
no ``indications of overfishing in several previous years'' that would
warrant a more precautionary approach to setting the ABC. NMFS has
therefore determined that it is not necessary to further reduce the ABC
from the OFL to prevent overfishing.
NMFS also disagrees with Oceana's recommendation that the ACL
should be no higher than 800 mt. The OFL/ABC/ACL were all calculated in
alignment with the rebuilding plan. The reference points implemented
through this action should also be viewed in the context of the non-
discretionary harvest restrictions already in place, pursuant to the
CPS FMP and the rebuilding plan for the northern subpopulation of
Pacific sardine, which typically restrain the fishery from catching the
full ACL. These non-discretionary restrictions include the continued
closure of the primary directed fishery (i.e., the largest fishery that
takes the majority of Pacific sardine catch) and restrictions on
incidental harvest of Pacific sardine in other CPS fisheries (which are
currently less than half of typical incidental limits). Recent catch of
Pacific sardine (both northern and southern subpopulations) has been
1,769 mt in the 2021-2022 season, and so far 1,110 mt in the 2022-2023
season (ending June 30, 2023). The reference points being implemented
through this action were recommended by the Council based on the
control rules in the FMP and were endorsed by the Council's SSC as the
best scientific information available for setting the 2023-2024 harvest
specifications for Pacific sardine.
The Council considered the overfished status of Pacific sardine, as
well as the ``staleness'' of the 2022 update assessment, and
incorporated precautionary measures in their recommendations to NMFS to
account for those factors. Those precautionary measures included: (1)
deeming the assessment Tier 2 and adding an additional ``staleness''
factor to that buffer; (2) using a P* value of 0.4; (3) reducing the
ACT from the ACL; and (4) incorporating accountability measures. These
accountability measures include: (1) limiting live bait landings to 1
mt per landing once 2,500 mt of sardine is attained; (2) imposing a
per-trip limit of 1 mt of sardine in all CPS fisheries once the ACT is
attained; and (3) implementing an incidental per-landing allowance of 2
mt in non-CPS fisheries until the ACL is reached.
As it relates to Oceana's recommendation that NMFS set the
[[Page 41043]]
incidental catch allowance at 10 percent, NMFS notes that all harvest,
regardless of how it is taken or at what level (i.e., 10 percent or 20
percent), is accounted for under the OFL/ABC/ACL/ACT for this action,
and these levels have been determined to prevent overfishing of Pacific
sardine and support the rebuilding of the stock. Additionally, reducing
the incidental catch allowance is not necessary to ensure these
reference points are not exceeded, therefore NMFS does not see a
justification to restrict this sector further than the low catch
allowance already in place.
Classification
Pursuant to section 304(b)(1)(A) of the MSA, the NMFS Assistant
Administrator has determined that this final rule is consistent with
the CPS FMP, other provisions of the MSA, and other applicable law.
There is good cause under 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3) to waive the 30-day
delay in the date of effectiveness of these final harvest
specifications for the 2023-2024 Pacific sardine fishing season. In
accordance with the FMP, this rule was recommended by the Council at
its meeting in April 2023. The contents of this rule are based on the
best scientific information available on the population status of
Pacific sardine, which became available at that April 2023 meeting.
Making these final specifications effective on July 1, the first day of
the fishing year, is necessary for the conservation and management of
the Pacific sardine resource because last year's restrictions on
harvest are not effective after June 30, 2023. The FMP requires a
prohibition on primary directed fishing for Pacific sardine for the
2023-2024 fishing year because the sardine biomass has dropped below
the CUTOFF. The purpose of the CUTOFF in the FMP, and for prohibiting a
primary directed fishery when the biomass drops below this level, is to
protect the stock when biomass is low and provide a buffer of spawning
stock that is protected from fishing and can contribute to rebuilding
the stock. If these specifications are not effective by July 1, there
would be no prohibition on the primary directed fishing, and a
significant amount of sardine could theoretically be caught in a short
period.
Delaying the effective date of this rule beyond July 1 would be
contrary to the public interest because it would jeopardize the
sustainability of the Pacific sardine stock. Furthermore, most affected
fishermen have already been operating under a prohibition of the
primary directed fishery for years, and are aware that the Council
recommended that primary directed commercial fishing be prohibited
again for the 2023-2024 fishing year, and are fully prepared to comply
with the prohibition.
This final rule is exempt from review under Executive Order 12866.
The Chief Counsel for Regulation of the Department of Commerce
certified to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business
Administration during the proposed rule stage that this action would
not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small
entities for the purposes of the Regulatory Flexibility Act. The
factual basis for the certification was published in the proposed rule
(88 FR 31214, May 16, 2023) and is not repeated here. As a result, a
final regulatory flexibility analysis was not required and none was
prepared.
Pursuant to Executive Order 13175, this rule was developed after
meaningful consultation and collaboration with the Council's tribal
representative, who has agreed with the provisions that apply to tribal
vessels.
This action does not contain a collection-of-information
requirement for purposes of the Paperwork Reduction Act. There are no
relevant Federal rules that may duplicate, overlap, or conflict with
the action.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: June 20, 2023.
Samuel D. Rauch, III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-13416 Filed 6-22-23; 8:45 am]
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