Proposed Rule2023-15966
Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; Fisheries Off West Coast States; Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan; Amendment 32; Modifications to Non-Trawl Area Management Measures
Primary source
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Published
August 2, 2023
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
NMFS announces that the Pacific Fishery Management Council submitted Amendment 32 to the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan to the Secretary of Commerce for review. If approved, Amendment 32 would: create a new type of Essential Fish Habitat Conservation Area that prohibits fishing with non-trawl bottom contact gear for all groundfish fisheries and the non-tribal directed commercial halibut fishery; remove the Cowcod Conservation Area seaward of California for commercial and recreational groundfish non-trawl fisheries; create and authorize the use of Groundfish Exclusion Areas as a new type of Groundfish Conservation Area; authorize the use of Block Area Closures for groundfish non-trawl fisheries, and make necessary administrative changes to relevant sections of the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan. Altogether, these changes are anticipated to provide additional fishing opportunity to groundfish non-trawl fishery sectors while continuing to protect rebuilding yelloweye rockfish and mitigating fishing impacts to sensitive areas.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 147 (Wednesday, August 2, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 147 (Wednesday, August 2, 2023)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 50830-50832]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-15966]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 660
RIN 0648-BM28
Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; Fisheries Off West Coast States;
Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery
Management Plan; Amendment 32; Modifications to Non-Trawl Area
Management Measures
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Announcement of availability of proposed fishery management
plan amendment; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the Pacific Fishery Management Council
submitted Amendment 32 to the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery
Management Plan to the Secretary of Commerce for review. If approved,
Amendment 32 would: create a new type of Essential Fish Habitat
Conservation Area that prohibits fishing with non-trawl bottom contact
gear for all groundfish fisheries and the non-tribal directed
commercial halibut fishery; remove the Cowcod Conservation Area seaward
of California for commercial and recreational groundfish non-trawl
fisheries; create and authorize the use of Groundfish Exclusion Areas
as a new type of Groundfish Conservation Area; authorize the use of
Block Area Closures for groundfish non-trawl fisheries, and make
necessary administrative changes to relevant sections of the Pacific
Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan. Altogether, these changes are
anticipated to provide additional fishing opportunity to groundfish
non-trawl fishery sectors while continuing to protect rebuilding
yelloweye rockfish and mitigating fishing impacts to sensitive areas.
[[Page 50831]]
DATES: Comments on Amendment 32 must be received on or before Sunday,
October 1, 2023.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on this document, identified by
NOAA-NMFS-2023-0051, by the following method:
<bullet> Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public
comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> and enter NOAA-NMFS-2023-0051, in the Search box.
Click on 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
NMFS will post for public viewing on <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a> without
change. All personal identifying information (e.g., name, address,
etc.), confidential business information, or otherwise sensitive
information submitted voluntarily by the sender is publicly accessible.
NMFS will accept anonymous comments (enter ``N/A'' in the required
fields if you wish to remain anonymous).
Electronic Access
This notification of availability 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>/. Information relevant to Amendment 32, which
includes a draft Environmental Assessment, a regulatory impact review,
a Regulatory Flexibility Act certification, and a Magnuson Stevens
Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act)
analysis, are accessible via the internet at the NMFS West Coast Region
website at: <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/west-coast/laws-and-policies/west-coast-region-national-environmental-policy-act-documents">https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/west-coast/laws-and-policies/west-coast-region-national-environmental-policy-act-documents</a>.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lynn Massey, phone, or email: 562-900-
2060, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#fab6839494d4b79b89899f83ba94959b9bd49d958c"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="2a6653444404674b59594f536a44454b4b044d455c">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS manages the groundfish fisheries in the
exclusive economic zone (EEZ) seaward of Washington, Oregon, and
California under the Pacific Coast Groundfish fishery management plan
(FMP). The Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) prepared and
NMFS implemented the Pacific Coast Groundfish FMP under the authority
of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. and by regulations
at 50 CFR parts 600 and 660. The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires that
each regional fishery management council submit any FMP or plan
amendment it prepares to NMFS for review and approval, disapproval, or
partial approval by the Secretary of Commerce. The Magnuson-Stevens Act
also requires that NMFS, upon receiving an FMP or amendment,
immediately publish a notice that the FMP or amendment is available for
public review and comment. This notification announces that the
proposed Amendment 32 to the FMP is available for public review and
comment. NMFS will consider the public comments received during the
comment period described above in determining whether to approve,
partially approve, or disapprove Amendment 32 to the FMP.
Background
In the early 2000s, several types of groundfish conservation areas
(GCAs, defined at Sec. 660.11) were enacted to protect overfished
groundfish species off the U.S. West Coast, including the coastwide
Non-Trawl Rockfish Conservation Area (Non-Trawl RCA, (68 FR 907,
January 7, 2003)) and the Cowcod Conservation Areas (CCAs, (66 FR 2338,
January 11, 2001)) in the Southern California Bight. With the rebuilt
status of almost all of these groundfish species (the exception being
yelloweye rockfish, which is projected to rebuild by 2029), the Council
has been prioritizing increased fishing access to these areas for
groundfish non-trawl fisheries (i.e., the directed open access sector,
the California recreational sector, the limited entry fixed gear
sector, and vessels that use non-trawl gear under the Trawl Individual
Fishing Quota Program). In November 2019, the Council directed the
Groundfish Advisory Subpanel (GAP) to develop the scope of action and
draft a purpose and need statement for non-trawl area management
modifications during the GAP's March and April 2020 meetings. The GAP
then submitted an informational report (see Informational Report 4 in
the June 2020 briefing book at <a href="http://pcouncil.org">pcouncil.org</a>) for Council consideration
and scheduling of further scoping of the issues. In April 2021, the
Council initiated a scoping process to address modifying Non-Trawl RCA
catch restrictions and boundaries (see Agenda Item F.3, Attachment 2 in
the April 2021 briefing book at <a href="http://pcouncil.org">pcouncil.org</a>). In November 2021 and
April 2022, the Council further refined the range of alternatives,
which included expanding the action to include changes to the CCA (East
and West) seaward of California, consideration of new closed areas
(i.e., Groundfish Exclusion Areas (GEAs) and Yelloweye Rockfish
Conservation Areas (YRCAs)), and changes to Essential Fish Habitat
Conservation Areas (EFHCAs) that exposed to fishing activity under the
alternatives. The Council selected a preliminary preferred range of
alternatives at their September 2022 meeting and a final range of
alternatives at their March 2023 meeting. The resulting final action
constitutes Amendment 32 to the Pacific Coast Groundfish FMP. Amendment
32 and its implementing regulations would provide additional fishing
opportunity in these closures through a suite of modifications to GCA
boundaries, gear specifications, and catch restrictions, while
continuing to protect rebuilding yelloweye rockfish and mitigating
fishing impacts to sensitive areas. These regulatory changes will be
presented in a forthcoming proposed rule.
In terms of specific changes to the Pacific Coast Groundfish FMP,
Amendment 32 would: (1) create a new type of EFHCA that prohibits
fishing with non-trawl bottom contact gear for all groundfish fisheries
and the non-tribal directed commercial halibut fishery; (2) remove the
CCA for commercial and recreational groundfish non-trawl fisheries; (3)
create and authorize the use of GEAs as a new type of GCA; (4)
authorize the use of Block Area Closures (BACs) for groundfish non-
trawl fisheries, and (5) make necessary administrative changes to
relevant sections of the Pacific Coast Groundfish FMP. Each of these
changes is further described below.
New Type of Essential Fish Habitat Conservation Area
The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires that FMPs describe and identify
essential fish habitat (EFH) and minimize to the extent practicable
adverse effects on EFH caused by fishing. The Pacific Coast Groundfish
FMP authorizes the use of EFHCAs (Amendment 19, 71 FR 27408, May 11,
2006; Amendment 28, 84 FR 63966, November 19, 2019) to protect
groundfish EFH from specific types of fishing activity. Federal
regulations at 50 CFR 660.75 through 660.79 provide the coordinates for
all current EFHCAs off the U.S. West Coast. At present, there are two
types of EFHCAs based on gear type: bottom trawl and bottom contact.
Both bottom trawl and bottom contact EFHCAs apply to all fisheries
utilizing that gear type and are not limited in application to
groundfish fisheries. Amendment 32 would create a new type of EFHCA
that prohibits using
[[Page 50832]]
non-trawl bottom contact gear (e.g., pot/longline) in the non-tribal
groundfish fisheries and the non-tribal directed commercial halibut
fishery. In the forthcoming proposed rule, NMFS is proposing moving the
seaward boundary of the Non-Trawl RCA from 100 fathoms (fm, 183 meters
(m)) to 75 fm (137 m) off the coast of Oregon. The purpose of this new
type of EFHCA is to protect groundfish EFH that would be newly exposed
to non-trawl bottom contact gear as a result of this change.
Specifically, five new EFHCAs would be established: (1) Nehalem Bank
East; (2) Bandon High Spot East; (3) Arago Reef West; (4) Garibaldi
Reef North; and (5) Garibaldi Reef South. All of these new EFHCAs
overlap partially or entirely with existing bottom trawl EFHCAs, which
is why the specified gear prohibition only includes non-trawl bottom
contact gear (i.e., bottom trawl gear is already prohibited in these
areas).
Removing the Cowcod Conservation Area for Groundfish Non-Trawl
Fisheries
The CCA was enacted in 2001 to protect overfished cowcod (Amendment
16-3, 66 FR 2338, January 11, 2001), which was declared rebuilt in
2019. The CCA is comprised of the Western and Eastern CCAs and applies
to all commercial and recreational groundfish fisheries, including
those that use both trawl and non-trawl gear. Amendment 32 would remove
the CCA for all groundfish non-trawl fisheries; the CCA would remain in
place for groundfish trawl fisheries. The purpose of this change is to
provide fishing opportunity in this area given that cowcod has been
declared rebuilt.
Groundfish Exclusion Areas
Amendment 32 would create a new type of GCA called GEAs, which are
intended to mitigate the impacts to sensitive environments from certain
groundfish fishing activity. Specifically, eight GEAs would be
established: (1) Hidden Reef; (2) West of Santa Barbara Island; (3)
Potato Bank; (4) 107/118 Bank; (5) Cherry Bank; (6) Seamount 109; (7)
Northeast Bank; and (8) The 43-Fathom Spot. All of these GEAs would be
located in the Southern California Bight within the area that non-trawl
CCA restrictions would be removed. The purpose of this change is to
create a GCA that can be used to protect sensitive environments that
are separate and distinct from groundfish EFH.
Block Area Closures for Groundfish Non-Trawl Fisheries
The Pacific Coast Groundfish FMP currently authorizes the use of
BACs to control bycatch of groundfish in trawl fisheries. Amendment 28
to the FMP (84 FR 63966, November 19, 2019) first established BACs as a
management tool. The salmon bycatch minimization measures action (86 FR
10857, February 23, 2021) expanded BACs as a tool to minimize salmon
bycatch. Amendment 32 would expand the use of BACs to be enacted for
groundfish non-trawl fisheries. The purpose of this change is to create
a mechanism to control bycatch of groundfish, as well as protected or
prohibited species from non-trawl fisheries given the new flexibilities
that would result from the approval of Amendment 32 and its proposed
regulations.
Administrative Changes
The Council and NMFS are proposing additional changes to the
relevant sections of the Pacific Coast Groundfish FMP being modified by
Amendment 32. These changes include revising the terms ``Bottom Contact
Closed Areas'' and ``Bottom Trawl Closed Areas'' to ``Bottom Trawl
Essential Fish Habitat Conservation Areas'' and ``Bottom Contact
Essential Fish Habitat Conservation Areas.'' Revising this terminology
throughout the FMP will make these terms consistent with how they
appear in Federal Regulations, maps, and Council records. These changes
would also include adding a placeholder in Section 1.1 for a
description of Amendment 31 to the Pacific Coast Groundfish FMP, as it
is likely that Amendment 32 would be approved before Amendment 31.
NMFS welcomes comments on the proposed FMP amendment through the
end of the comment period. A proposed rule to implement Amendment 32
has been submitted for Secretarial review and approval. NMFS expects to
publish and request public review and comment on proposed regulations
to implement Amendment 32 in the near future. For public comments on
the proposed rule to be considered in the approval or disapproval
decision on Amendment 32, those comments must be received by the end of
the comment period on the amendment. All comments received by the end
of the comment period for the amendment, whether specifically directed
to the amendment or the proposed rule, will be considered in the
approval/disapproval decision.
(Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.)
Dated: July 24, 2023.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-15966 Filed 8-1-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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