Rule2021-26826
Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; Fisheries Off West Coast States; Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; 2021-2022 Biennial Specifications and Management Measures; Inseason Adjustments
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Published
December 10, 2021
Effective
December 10, 2021
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
This final rule announces routine inseason adjustments to management measures in commercial groundfish fisheries. This action is intended to allow commercial fishing vessels to access more abundant groundfish stocks while protecting rebuilding and depleted stocks.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 235 (Friday, December 10, 2021)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 235 (Friday, December 10, 2021)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 70413-70420]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-26826]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 660
[Docket No. 201204-0325]
RIN 0648-BL03
Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; Fisheries Off West Coast States;
Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; 2021-2022 Biennial Specifications and
Management Measures; Inseason Adjustments
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Final rule; inseason adjustments to biennial groundfish
management measures.
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SUMMARY: This final rule announces routine inseason adjustments to
management measures in commercial groundfish fisheries. This action is
intended to allow commercial fishing vessels to access more abundant
groundfish stocks while protecting rebuilding and depleted stocks.
DATES: This final rule is effective December 10, 2021.
ADDRESSES: This rule is accessible via the internet at the Office of
the Federal Register website at <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov">https://www.federalregister.gov</a>.
Background information and documents are available at the Pacific
Fishery Management Council's website at <a href="https://www.pcouncil.org/">https://www.pcouncil.org/</a>.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sean Matson, (206) 526-6187, email:
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#d2a1b7b3bcfcbfb3a6a1bdbc92bcbdb3b3fcb5bda4"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="1a697f7b7434777b6e6975745a74757b7b347d756c">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (PCGFMP) and
its implementing regulations at title 50 in the Code of Federal
Regulations (CFR), part 660, subparts C through G, regulate fishing for
over 90 species of groundfish off the coasts of Washington, Oregon, and
California. The Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) develops
groundfish harvest specifications and management measures for 2-year
periods (i.e., a biennium). NMFS published the final rule to implement
harvest specifications and management measures for the 2021-2022
biennium for most species managed under the PCGFMP on December 11, 2020
(85 FR 79880). In general, the management measures set at the start of
the biennial harvest specifications cycle help the various sectors of
the fishery attain, but not exceed, the catch limits for each stock.
The Council, in coordination with Pacific Coast Treaty Indian Tribes
and the states of Washington, Oregon, and California, recommends
adjustments to the management measures during the fishing year to
achieve this goal.
At the September 2021 Council meeting, the Council's Groundfish
Management Team (GMT) received requests from industry members and
members of the Council's Groundfish Advisory Subpanel to examine the
potential to increase sablefish trips limits for the fixed gear (FG),
limited entry (LE) and open access (OA) Daily Trip Limit (DTL)
fisheries north of 36[deg] N lat., and to increase trip limits for
lingcod north of 42[deg] N latitude. The intent of increasing the
sablefish limits was to increase harvest opportunities for vessels
targeting sablefish, under a mix of daily, weekly, and bimonthly
landings accumulation limits (commonly referred to collectively as
``trip limits''); attainment of harvest targets for each DTL fishery,
and the northern FG harvest guidelines for sablefish have been trending
much lower than anticipated throughout 2021. To evaluate potential
increases to sablefish trip limits, the GMT made model-based
projections of landings under current regulations, as well as
alternative sablefish trip limits, including the limits ultimately
recommended by the Council, through the remainder of the year. Under
the current trip limits, models predict that landings of sablefish will
be far below the harvest targets for LE, and OA fixed gear sablefish
DTL fisheries north of 36[deg] N lat. Under the Council's recommended
trip limits, sablefish attainment is projected to increase in the LE
DTL fishery north of 36[deg] N latitude, from between 54-59 percent
attainment, up to between 86 and 95 percent. For the OA DTL fishery,
north of 36[deg] N latitude, the projected gains are more modest (from
between 53 and 60 percent attainment, to between 57 and
[[Page 70414]]
66 percent); however, the OA model is more uncertain and less well
informed than the LE model, the changes (both to LE and OA) should
allow some beneficial increase in attainment, while being sufficiently
precautionary.
The Council also recommended changes to trip limits for lingcod
north of 42[deg] N latitude, after request from industry and analysis
by the GMT, in order to reduce regulatory discard, which results in
waste and lost revenue. Projected impacts to total fishing mortality
are nearly identical between the current and recommended trip limits
for lingcod, and well within the margin for error, but based on the
analysis by the GMT, the higher landing limits are predicted to convert
lost fish as discard, into landings and revenue, rather than inspire
additional effort. By maintaining the same level of effort, and total
fishing mortality, this increase in trip limits is not predicted to
increase bycatch of yelloweye rockfish, which is managed under a
rebuilding plan, and is a constraint to this fixed gear lingcod
attainment.
At its meeting on September 9-15, 2021, the Council recommended
increasing trip limits for the LE and OA FG sablefish, DTL fisheries
north of 36[deg] N latitude. The Council also recommended increasing
trip limits for the FG lingcod fishery, north of 42[deg] N latitude (LE
and OA), beginning as soon as possible, for the remainder of the 2021
fishing year and for subsequent November-December periods in later
years until superseded. NMFS published these inseason adjustments on
October 29, 2021 (86 FR 59876), for vessels using gear other than pot/
trap gear. This gear-based limitation was because of the lack of a
Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) 101(a)(5)(E) permit for the
incidental taking of marine mammals in the sablefish pot gear
commercial fisheries. West coast sablefish pot gear fisheries are
considered Category II fisheries under the MMPA's List of Fisheries,
indicating occasional interactions with marine mammals, due to
occasional incidental mortality and serious injury to Endangered
Species Act-listed humpback whales (the CA/OR/WA stock of humpback
whales). Vessels fishing for sablefish with pot gear also incidentally
catch and retain other groundfish species, including lingcod. All other
West Coast groundfish fisheries, including trawl and longline
fisheries, are considered Category III fisheries under the MMPA,
indicating a remote likelihood of, or no known serious injuries or
mortalities to, marine mammals. Because sablefish pot gear fisheries
are Category II fisheries, NMFS is required to issue a MMPA
101(a)(5)(E) permit for the taking of marine mammals after making a
negligible impact determination (NID). NMFS published a notice of
proposed issuance of a MMPA 101(a)(5)(E) permit and proposed NID in the
Federal Register on October 22, 2021 (86 FR 58641). On December 8,
2021, NMFS issued an MMPA section 101(a)(5)(E) permit for the sablefish
pot gear fishery.
These inseason adjustments increase the trip limits for vessels
using pot/trap gear to match the limits in place for other FGs since
October 29, 2021. The background on the rationale for the trip limit
increases and the modeling that was completed in support of these
inseason recommendations can be found in the preamble to 86 FR 59876
(October 29, 2021).
Summary of Changes
Trip limit increases for sablefish are intended to increase
attainment of the LE and OA DTL fisheries, which each contribute to
attainment of the non-trawl HG for sablefish north of 36[deg] N
latitude. The proposed trip limit increases do not change projected
impacts to co-occurring rebuilding species as analyzed in the 2021-2022
harvest specifications because the projected impacts to those species
assume that the entire sablefish Annual Catch Limit (ACL) is harvested.
Recommended increases to lingcod north of 42[deg] N latitude are
intended to convert regulatory discards into landings and associated
revenue, and are not predicted to increase effort or bycatch of co-
occurring rebuilding species. Therefore, the Council recommended, and
NMFS is implementing, by modifying Table 2, North and South to part
660, subpart E, trip limit changes for the LE FG fishery north of
40[deg]10' N lat., as well as Table 3, North and South to part 660,
subpart F, to increase the limits as shown in tables 1 and 2 in this
rule.
Table 1--Trip Limits by Gear Type for Sablefish North of 36[deg] N
Latitude for the Remainder of 2021 and November-December Periods
Thereafter Until Superseded
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Trip limit for vessels using pot/trap gear
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LEFG..................... 4,500 lb (2,041 kg)/week, not to exceed 9,000
lb (4,082 kg)/2 months.
OA....................... 600 lb (272 kg), or 1 landing per week of up
to 3,000 lb (1,361 kg), not to exceed 6,000
lb (2,722 kg)/2 months.
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Table 2--Trip Limits by Gear Type for Lingcod North of 42[deg] N
Latitude for the Remainder of 2021 and November-December Periods
Thereafter Until Superseded
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Trip limit for vessels using pot/trap gear
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LEFG..................... 5,000 lb (2,268 kg)/2 months.
OA....................... 2,500 lb (1,134 kg)/month.
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Classification
This final rule makes routine inseason adjustments to groundfish
fishery management measures, based on the best scientific information
available, consistent with the PCGFMP and its implementing regulations.
This action is taken under the authority of 50 CFR 660.60(c) and is
exempt from review under Executive Order 12866.
The aggregate data upon which these actions are based are available
for public inspection by contacting Dr. Sean Matson in the West Coast
Region (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, above), or by visiting the
NMFS West Coast Groundfish website: <a href="https://www.westcoast.fisheries.noaa.gov/fisheries/groundfish/index.html">https://www.westcoast.fisheries.noaa.gov/fisheries/groundfish/index.html</a>.
Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b), NMFS finds good cause to waive prior
public notice and an opportunity for public comment on this action, as
notice and comment would be impracticable and contrary to the public
interest. The adjustments to management measures in this document
increase trip limits for
[[Page 70415]]
fisheries off Washington, Oregon, and California to allow for greater
attainment of allocations. No aspect of this action is controversial,
and changes of this nature were anticipated in the final rule for the
2021-2022 harvest specifications and management measures, which was
published on December 11, 2020 (85 FR 79880).
The Council recommended sablefish limit changes to increase
opportunity to attain harvest targets and allocations for the
respective fisheries, and contribute to attainment of the ACL. New
information became available at the Council's September 2021 meeting
showing that harvest was tracking much lower than projections made
during the harvest specifications process due to changing fishery
conditions. The updated trip limits being implemented in this rule are
anticipated to increase landings and fishing community revenue, while
maintaining harvest within scientifically informed conservation limits,
concomitant with the goals of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation
and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act).
The Council recommended increased lingcod landing limits to reduce
regulatory discard; new information became available at the Council's
September 2021 meeting indicating that current levels of landing limits
were having the unintended consequence of causing fishers to discard
substantial amounts of catch. Implementing the recommended trip limits
is projected to reduce regulatory discards, without changing attainment
rate of the allocation, by enabling those fish to be landed rather than
wasted, and produce fisher and community revenue.
Delaying implementation to allow for public comment would reduce
the economic benefits to the commercial fishing industry and the
businesses that rely on that industry because it is unlikely the new
regulations would publish and could be implemented before the end of
the calendar year. Therefore, providing a comment period for this
action could significantly limit the economic benefits to the fishery,
and would hamper the achievement of optimum yield from the affected
fisheries.
Therefore, NMFS finds reason to waive the 30-day delay in
effectiveness pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(1) so that this final rule
may become effective upon publication in the Federal Register. The
adjustments to management measures in this document affect commercial
fisheries by increasing opportunity and relieving participants of the
lower trip limits in light of information showing lower than usual
attainment. These adjustments were requested by the Council's advisory
bodies, as well as by members of industry during the September 2021
meeting, and recommended unanimously by the Council. No aspect of this
action is controversial, and changes of this nature were anticipated in
the biennial harvest specifications and management measures established
through a notice and comment rulemaking for 2021-2022 (85 FR 79880).
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 660
Fisheries, Fishing, and Indian fisheries.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq., 16 U.S.C. 773 et seq., and 16
U.S.C. 7001 et seq.
Dated: December 7, 2021.
Ngagne Jafnar Gueye,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
For the reasons set out in the preamble, 50 CFR part 660 is amended
as follows:
PART 660--FISHERIES OFF WEST COAST STATES
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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.
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2. Revise Table 2 (North) to part 660, subpart E, to read as follows:
Table 2 (North) to Part 660, Subpart E--Non-Trawl Rockfish Conservation
Areas and Trip Limits for Limited Entry Fixed Gear North of 40[deg]10'
N Lat.
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
[[Page 70416]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TR10DE21.013
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3. Revise Table 2 (South) to part 660, subpart E, to read as follows:
Table 2 (South) to Part 660, Subpart E--Non-Trawl Rockfish Conservation
Areas and Trip Limits for Limited Entry Fixed Gear South of 40[deg]10'
N Lat.
[[Page 70417]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TR10DE21.014
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4. Revise Table 3 (North) to part 660, subpart F, to read as follows:
Table 3 (North) to Part 660, Subpart F--Non-Trawl Rockfish Conservation
Areas and Trip Limits for Open Access Gears North of 40[deg]10' N Lat.
[[Page 70418]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TR10DE21.015
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5. Revise Table 3 (South) to part 660, subpart F, to read as follows:
Table 3 (South) to Part 660, Subpart F--Non-Trawl Rockfish Conservation
Areas and Trip Limits for Open Access Gears South of 40[deg]10' N Lat.
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TR10DE21.016
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[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TR10DE21.017
[FR Doc. 2021-26826 Filed 12-9-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-C
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