Rule2023-25268
Fisheries Off West Coast States; West Coast Groundfish Fisheries; Amendment 31 to the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
November 16, 2023
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
NMFS announces the approval of Amendment 31 to the Pacific Fishery Management Council's (Council) Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP). Amendment 31 defines stocks that are in need of conservation and management, consistent with the provisions and guidelines of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. Amendment 31 defines stocks for 14 species within the fishery management unit. These species were prioritized because they had stock assessments in 2021 or 2023. Amendment 31 is necessary for NMFS to make stock status determinations, which in turn will help prevent overfishing, rebuild overfished stocks, and achieve optimum yield. Amendment 31 is administrative in nature and does not change harvest levels or timing and location of fishing, nor does it revise the goals and objectives or the management frameworks of the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 220 (Thursday, November 16, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 220 (Thursday, November 16, 2023)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 78677-78678]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-25268]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 660
[RTID 0648-XC971]
Fisheries Off West Coast States; West Coast Groundfish Fisheries;
Amendment 31 to the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of agency decision.
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SUMMARY: NMFS announces the approval of Amendment 31 to the Pacific
Fishery Management Council's (Council) Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery
Management Plan (FMP). Amendment 31 defines stocks that are in need of
conservation and management, consistent with the provisions and
guidelines of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management
Act. Amendment 31 defines stocks for 14 species within the fishery
management unit. These species were prioritized because they had stock
assessments in 2021 or 2023. Amendment 31 is necessary for NMFS to make
stock status determinations, which in turn will help prevent
overfishing, rebuild overfished stocks, and achieve optimum yield.
Amendment 31 is administrative in nature and does not change harvest
levels or timing and location of fishing, nor does it revise the goals
and objectives or the management frameworks of the Pacific Coast
Groundfish Fishery Management Plan.
DATES: The amendment was approved on November 8, 2023.
ADDRESSES: The amended FMP is available on the Council's website
(<a href="https://www.pcouncil.org">https://www.pcouncil.org</a>), as is the final supporting analysis.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gretchen Hanshew (206) 526-6147, email
at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#01667364756269646f2f69606f72696476416f6e60602f666e77"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="abccd9cedfc8c3cec585c3cac5d8c3cedcebc5c4caca85ccc4dd">[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 Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act
(MSA) 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
(Secretary). The MSA 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.
The Notice of Availability (NOA) for Amendment 31 was published in
the Federal Register on August 23, 2023 (88 FR 57400), with a 60-day
comment period that ended on October 22, 2023. NMFS received three
comments during the public comment period on the NOA, all in support of
Amendment 31. NMFS' authority for this action is limited by the MSA to
approval, disapproval, or partial approval of the amendment submitted
by the Council. NMFS summarized and responded to these comments under
Comments and Responses, below.
NMFS determined that Amendment 31 is consistent with the MSA and
other applicable laws, and the Secretary of Commerce approved Amendment
31 on November 8, 2023. The August 23, 2023 NOA (88 FR 57400) contains
additional information on this action. Amendment 31 is administrative
in nature and has no implementing regulations; no changes to existing
Federal regulations are necessary and none were proposed.
The Council recommended stock definitions for 14 species of Pacific
Coast groundfish after NMFS was unable to make stock status
determinations in 2021. NMFS was unable to make stock status
determinations because the ``stocks'' for which the Council was
expecting status determinations did not exist in the FMP. Currently,
the FMP has a list of 80+ species to which it pertains, and does not
describe whether each species is a single stock within the fishery
management unit or if it is multiple (e.g., regional) stocks. The
Council prioritized a sub-set of species for stock identification in
Amendment 31. These species are black, canary, copper, quillback,
squarespot, vermilion, and vermilion/sunset rockfishes; Dover, petrale,
and rex soles; lingcod, Pacific spiny dogfish, sablefish, and
shortspine thornyhead. These species were prioritized because they were
subject to stock assessments in 2021 or were subject to stock
assessments in 2023. The Council considered some of the biological,
socioeconomic, and fishery management trade-offs that might be expected
from implementation of future management actions based on the
alternative stock definitions. The Council recommended Amendment 31 at
its June 20-27, 2023 meeting. Amendment 31 was transmitted to NMFS by
the Council on August 14, 2023. A detailed description of Amendment 31
is included in the NOA (88 FR 57400, August 23, 2023).
Comments and Responses
NMFS received two comment letters with three comments during the
60-day public comment period on the NOA. The comments were all in favor
of NMFS' approval of the amendment and included some specific
rationale. The comments and NMFS's responses are presented below.
Comment 1: One commenter endorses Amendment 31 because it aims to
reduce overfishing and rebuild stocks back to sustainable levels, which
will help prevent food chain and food web imbalances.
Response: NMFS agrees that defining stocks with Amendment 31will
aid in preventing overfishing and rebuilding overfished stocks and that
this may, in turn, also provide ecosystem benefits.
Comment 2: One commenter urges approval and effective
implementation of Amendment 31 to prevent overfishing which would in
turn increase marine ecosystems' resiliency to climate change
stressors.
Response: NMFS agrees that Amendment 31 will lead to future
management decisions that improve the long-term sustainability of the
managed fisheries, which may improve resilience of marine ecosystems to
non-fishing climate stressors. Effective implementation of stock
definitions in Amendment 31 will come in future biennial harvest
specifications and management measures actions, where the best
scientific information will be used to inform management of the defined
stocks within the context of the FMP and the mixed stock fishery.
Comment 3: One commenter expressed that Amendment 31 is warranted
because the species that are the subject of Amendment 31 have already
been verified as overfished stocks by governmental and nongovernmental
organizations.
Response: NMFS agrees that the Amendment 31 stock definitions for
the subject species are based on the best scientific information
available, and that stocks are the unit at which NMFS may determine
whether an overfished status is warranted. NMFS notes that the
determination whether or not a stock is overfished is the sole
responsibility of NMFS, based on best scientific
[[Page 78678]]
information available and the stocks' status determination criteria
that are defined in the FMP.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: November 9, 2023.
Samuel D. Rauch, III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-25268 Filed 11-15-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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