Rule2022-04306
Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; Fisheries Off West Coast States; Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; Pink Shrimp and Midwater Trawl Exemptions to Vessel Monitoring System Requirements for the West Coast Groundfish Fishery
Primary source
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Published
March 2, 2022
Effective
April 1, 2022
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
This rule revises monitoring provisions that specify exemptions for non-groundfish trawl vessels participating in the Pacific coast pink shrimp fishery and for groundfish midwater trawl vessels. In a final rule on vessel movement, monitoring, and declaration management for the Pacific coast groundfish fishery published on June 11, 2020, vessels in the pink shrimp trawl fishery were incorrectly included with other open access non-groundfish trawl vessels that became subject to a higher position transmission rate on their NMFS type-approved vessel monitoring system (VMS) units. This final rule corrects the error and returns the required transmission rate for vessels in the pink shrimp trawl fishery to once every 60 minutes, as recommended by the Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council). This action also corrects a citation error in the VMS regulations with regards to exemptions for midwater trawl vessels, as well as a typographical error in the trawl fishery prohibitions.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 41 (Wednesday, March 2, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 41 (Wednesday, March 2, 2022)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 11597-11599]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-04306]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 660
[Docket No. 220223-0055]
RIN 0648-BK73
Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; Fisheries Off West Coast States;
Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; Pink Shrimp and Midwater Trawl
Exemptions to Vessel Monitoring System Requirements for the West Coast
Groundfish Fishery
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: This rule revises monitoring provisions that specify
exemptions for non-groundfish trawl vessels participating in the
Pacific coast pink shrimp fishery and for groundfish midwater trawl
vessels. In a final rule on vessel movement, monitoring, and
declaration management for the Pacific coast groundfish fishery
published on June 11, 2020, vessels in the pink shrimp trawl fishery
were incorrectly included with other open access non-groundfish trawl
vessels that became subject to a higher position transmission rate on
their NMFS type-approved vessel monitoring system (VMS) units. This
final rule corrects the error and returns the required transmission
rate for vessels in the pink shrimp trawl fishery to once every 60
minutes, as recommended by the Pacific Fishery Management Council
(Council). This action also corrects a citation error in the VMS
regulations with regards to exemptions for midwater trawl vessels, as
well as a typographical error in the trawl fishery prohibitions.
DATES: Effective April 1, 2022.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the analytic document supporting this action, are
available via the Federal eRulemaking Portal: <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>, docket NOAA-NMFS-2021-0085, or by contacting the
Pacific Fishery Management Council, 7700 NE Ambassador Place, Suite
101, Portland, OR 97220-1384.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Matt Dunlap, Fishery Policy Analyst,
206-526-6019, or <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#2b464a5f5f434e5c054f5e45474a5b6b45444a4a054c445d"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="214c4055554944560f45544f4d4051614f4e40400f464e57">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On June 11, 2020, NMFS published a final rule on vessel movement,
monitoring, and declaration management that revised reporting and
monitoring provisions for vessels participating in the Pacific coast
groundfish fishery (85 FR 35594). The rule increased the vessel
position frequency to improve NMFS's ability to enforce fishing
activity around restricted areas. The rule required an increase in the
position transmission rate from once every 60 minutes to once every 15
minutes for groundfish vessels using NMFS type-approved VMS units. This
increase in frequency produces more course, location, and speed data to
improve NMFS's ability to identify whether vessels are continuously
transiting in restricted areas or not. The Council discussed and
recommended an exemption to the increased transmission rate for vessels
fishing in the pink shrimp trawl fishery because this fishery is not
subject to restrictions against trawling in Rockfish Conservation Areas
(RCAs) and because the Council and NMFS Office of Law Enforcement did
not have concerns with enforcing pink shrimp trawling restrictions in
Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) Conservation Areas. However, the exemption
for pink shrimp trawl vessels was inadvertently not included in the
original proposed or final rule. This final rule adds the exemption to
the increased ping rate for pink shrimp trawl vessels, corrects a
citation error in the midwater trawl exemption at 50 CFR
660.14(d)(3)(ii)(B), and corrects a typographical error in the
prohibitions section of the trawl fishery regulations at 50 CFR
660.112(b)(1)(x).
Between September 2014 and April 2016, the Council developed and
considered management measures to address a range of vessel and gear
movement issues and aggregated these issues under a single vessel
movement monitoring agenda item. Additional details about the Council's
considerations are included in the Council's analytical document (see
ADDRESSES). The Council's public
[[Page 11598]]
scoping document includes several references to making an exemption for
the increase in ping rate for pink shrimp trawl vessels, specifically
in Section 1.5.6.
During the development of the management measures for the Vessel
Movement and Monitoring Rule finalized in 2020, the Council noted that
the pink shrimp fishery was required to maintain a VMS unit at a ping
rate of one per hour. This ping rate is sufficient to allow enforcement
of the closed EFH Conservation Areas that vessels in this fishery are
subject to. The Council considered that there are no restrictions for
the pink shrimp trawl fishery from fishing in RCAs and that a vessel is
required to declare the type of gear being used for each trip, which
verifies its authorization to fish in the RCA. Therefore, the Council
decided that additional monitoring for vessels participating in the
pink shrimp trawl fishery is not necessary.
Summary of the Regulatory Changes
This section discusses the regulatory revisions that will carry out
the Council's recommendation. The regulatory changes in this final rule
are identical to the regulatory changes specified in the proposed rule
published on October 26, 2021 (86 FR 59109).
This final rule:
<bullet> Restores the position transmission rate requirement of
once every 60 minutes for vessels participating in the pink shrimp
trawl fishery;
<bullet> Corrects a citation in the ping rate exemption for
midwater trawl fishing vessels at 50 CFR 660.14(d)(3)(ii)(B); and
<bullet> Corrects a typographical error in the prohibitions section
of the trawl fishery regulations at 50 CFR 660.112(b)(1)(x).
These revisions relieve vessels participating in the pink shrimp
fishery from the added burden of more frequent position transmissions,
consistent with the Council's recommendation and clarify a cross-
citation from the previous rulemaking on this issue.
Comments and Responses
NMFS received one comment letter during the comment period for the
proposed rule. The comment letter came from Oceana, an environmental
organization, and can be viewed along with the proposed rule and
supporting documents for this action at <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>. Following
are the specific comments in the comment letter, along with the
response to each:
Comment 1: Oceana opposed the rule based on the statement in the
proposed rule that pink shrimp trawlers do not have restrictions on
where they can trawl.
Response: NMFS clarifies that pink shrimp trawlers do have
restrictions on where they can trawl, including EFH Conservation Areas,
as well as state conservation areas. NMFS does not enforce state
regulations within state waters, including trawling within a state
conservation area, though NMFS would refer observed violations to the
appropriate agency. NMFS does enforce the appropriate federal
regulations, including VMS carriage and declaration requirements.
However, as the proposed rule stated, pink shrimp trawlers do not have
restrictions against trawling in RCAs, the largest of the groundfish
closed areas. The Council decision documents establishing the
Alternatives for the Vessel Movement and Monitoring Rule from November
14-15, 2015, and the decision document for the Final Action on
Regulations for Vessel Movement Monitoring (VMM) from April 9-14, 2016,
include an exemption for pink shrimp trawl vessels from the increased
VMS ping rate because the Council determined that the higher ping rates
were not necessary for enforcing the EFH Conservation Area closures for
pink shrimp vessels, and because vessels in this sector are not held to
the scale of closed areas that other vessels in Federal fisheries off
the West Coast are held to.
Comment 2: Oceana contends that the higher ping rate is necessary
to enforce pink shrimp trawling restrictions in EFH Conservation Areas
and state conservation areas.
Response: The Council recommended, and NMFS agrees, that the higher
ping rate is not necessary to enforce pink shrimp trawl restrictions in
EFH Conservation Areas. NMFS found no history of concern with
enforcement of trawling by pink shrimp vessels in EFH Conservation
Areas or state conservation areas. While NMFS may refer violations
observed in state conservation areas to the appropriate agency, the
Federal requirements for VMS and declarations are not used to enforce
trawling in state conservation areas.
Comment 3: Oceana commented that NMFS should expand its use of
enhanced electronic monitoring systems, including gear sensors that can
indicate when fishing activity is occurring and Global Positioning
Satellites units that can make detailed and accurate records of vessel
positions.
Response: NMFS encourages all fishery stakeholders, including the
Fishery Management Councils, to consider implementing electronic
technology (ET) options where appropriate to meet science, management,
and data needs. NMFS released a national Policy on Electronic
Technologies and Fishery-dependent Data Collection in 2013 to provide
guidance on the implementation of ET solutions and in fisheries. An
updated policy was released in May 2019. In 2015, NMFS implemented
regional ET implementation plans informed by a series of national-level
planning documents. These plans were created to help move beyond pilot
projects by identifying, evaluating, and prioritizing implementation of
promising ET in specific fisheries around the country. We recently
updated these plans, highlighting the lessons learned from the last
four years and looking forward to 2024.
Classification
Pursuant to section 304(b)(1)(A) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), the NMFS
Assistant Administrator has determined that this final rule is
consistent with the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan
(FMP), other provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and other
applicable law. In making the final determination, NMFS considered the
data, views, and comments received during the public comment period.
The Office of Management and Budget has determined that this final
rule is not significant for purposes of Executive Order 12866. As this
rule is correcting an oversight in an earlier rule and would result in
no change to the status quo for regulated entities, there are not
expected to be any economic or regulatory impacts on these entities.
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. The factual basis for the certification was published in the
proposed rule and is not repeated here. No comments were received
regarding this certification. As a result, a regulatory flexibility
analysis was not required and none was prepared.
This final rule contains no information collection requirements
under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 660
Fisheries, Fishing, Indian fisheries.
[[Page 11599]]
Dated: February 24, 2022.
Samuel D. Rauch, III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, 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
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.
0
2. In Sec. 660.14, revise paragraph (d)(3)(ii)(B) and add paragraph
(d)(3)(ii)(D) to read as follows:
Sec. 660.14 Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) requirements.
* * * * *
(d) * * *
(3) * * *
(ii) * * *
(B) Midwater trawl exemption. If a limited entry trawl vessel is
fishing with midwater trawl gear under declarations in Sec.
660.13(d)(4)(iv)(A), the mobile transceiver unit must transmit a signal
at least once every hour.
* * * * *
(D) Pink shrimp trawl exemption. If a vessel is fishing for pink
shrimp using non-groundfish trawl gear under declarations in Sec.
660.13(d)(4)(iv)(A), the mobile transceiver unit must transmit a signal
at least once every hour.
* * * * *
0
3. In Sec. 660.112, revise paragraph (b)(1)(x) to read as follows:
Sec. 660.112 Trawl fishery--prohibitions.
* * * * *
(b) * * *
(1) * * *
(x) Use midwater groundfish trawl gear outside the Pacific whiting
IFQ fishery primary season dates as specified at Sec. 660.131(b).
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2022-04306 Filed 3-1-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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