Fisheries Off West Coast States; West Coast Salmon Fisheries; Measures To Keep Fishery Impacts Within the Conservation Objective for the California Coastal Chinook Salmon

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Published

April 23, 2024

Issuing agencies

Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Abstract

This proposed rule would implement a set of management measures recommended by the Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) to ensure fishery impacts on California Coastal (CC) Chinook salmon, which are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, remain within the conservation objective in the Council's Pacific Coast Salmon Fishery Management Plan (Salmon FMP). Under the proposed rule, management tools (e.g., trip limits (also known as landing and possession limits) and inseason management) consistent with the provisions of the Salmon FMP would be used to provide greater certainty in avoiding exceedances of the conservation objectives for CC Chinook salmon.

Full Text

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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 79 (Tuesday, April 23, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 79 (Tuesday, April 23, 2024)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 30314-30318]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-08368]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 660

[Docket No. 240410-0104]
RIN 0648-BM68

Fisheries Off West Coast States; West Coast Salmon Fisheries;
Measures To Keep Fishery Impacts Within the Conservation Objective for
the California Coastal Chinook Salmon

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

[[Page 30315]]

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Proposed rule; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: This proposed rule would implement a set of management
measures recommended by the Pacific Fishery Management Council
(Council) to ensure fishery impacts on California Coastal (CC) Chinook
salmon, which are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species
Act, remain within the conservation objective in the Council's Pacific
Coast Salmon Fishery Management Plan (Salmon FMP). Under the proposed
rule, management tools (e.g., trip limits (also known as landing and
possession limits) and inseason management) consistent with the
provisions of the Salmon FMP would be used to provide greater certainty
in avoiding exceedances of the conservation objectives for CC Chinook
salmon.

DATES: Comments on this proposed rule must be received on or before May
23, 2024.

ADDRESSES: A plain language summary of this proposed rule is available
at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov/docket/NOAA-NMFS-2024-0009">https://www.regulations.gov/docket/NOAA-NMFS-2024-0009</a>. You may
submit comments on this document, identified by NOAA-NMFS-2024-0009, by
the following methods:
<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 type NOAA-NMFS-2024-0009 in the Search box
(note: copying and pasting the FDMS Docket Number directly from this
document may not yield search results). Click on the ``Comment'' icon,
complete the required fields, and enter or attach your comments.
Instructions: 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 by NMFS. All comments received are a part of the
public record and will generally be posted for public viewing on
<a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://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 will be publicly accessible. NMFS will accept anonymous
comments (enter ``N/A'' in the required fields if you wish to remain
anonymous).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Shannon Penna, Fishery Management
Specialist, at 562-980-4239 or <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#a6f5cec7c8c8c9c888f6c3c8c8c7e6c8c9c7c788c1c9d0"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="74271c151a1a1b1a5a24111a1a15341a1b15155a131b02">[email&#160;protected]</span></a>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The ocean salmon fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) (3-
200 nautical miles; 5.6-370.4 kilometers) off Washington, Oregon, and
California are managed under the Salmon FMP. The Salmon FMP and
implementing regulations govern the development at the spring (March
and April) Council meetings each year of annual management measures.
Management measures for the salmon fisheries are developed annually
because the abundance of the salmon stocks in the fishery can fluctuate
significantly from one year to the next and information about annual
stock abundance does not become available until early in each year
(January-early March).
The commercial and recreational salmon fisheries off northern
California and southern Oregon target healthy or abundant stocks of
Chinook and coho salmon, but may incidentally encounter Endangered
Species Act (ESA)-listed CC Chinook salmon and other ESA-listed
species. The Salmon FMP includes harvest controls that are used to
manage salmon stocks sustainably. The Salmon FMP also requires that the
Council manage fisheries consistent with ``consultation standards'' for
stocks listed as endangered or threatened under the ESA for which NMFS
has issued biological opinions. NMFS has issued biological opinions for
every ESA-listed salmon species impacted by the fisheries governed by
the Salmon FMP and reminds the Council of requirements (i.e.,
consultation standards) to maintain consistency with those opinions in
its annual guidance letter to the Council regarding development of the
annual ocean salmon management measures. To limit the effects of CC
Chinook salmon, ocean salmon fisheries are managed to avoid exceeding a
conservation objective for that stock.
The CC Chinook salmon Evolutionarily Significant Unit (ESU) has
been listed as threatened under the ESA since 1999. The conservation
objective for CC Chinook salmon is described in the Salmon FMP.
Management of the fishery that avoids exceedance of the conservation
objective has been analyzed in a series of biological opinions (most
recently, an opinion issued in 2023), and has been determined to avoid
jeopardizing the ESU (NMFS 2000; McInnis 2005; NMFS 2023; NMFS 2024).
As described in these consultations, the data are insufficient for
developing an ESU-specific conservation objective for CC Chinook
salmon. Thus, NMFS has relied on a surrogate, Klamath River fall-run
Chinook Salmon (KRFC), to evaluate and limit impacts on CC Chinook
salmon in ocean salmon fisheries. The conservation objective is an
ocean harvest rate (HR) on age-4 KRFC of 0.16. In its 2024 biological
opinion, NMFS confirmed that managing fisheries to avoid exceeding this
conservation objective would avoid jeopardy to CC Chinook.
From 2018 to 2022, the fishery HR on age-4 KRFC significantly
exceeded 0.16 with an average of 0.28. Actions (e.g., adjustments to
ocean management models to account for these high catch rates and
managing to a lower rate than the conservation objective) proved
insufficient to avoid exceedance and the fisheries continued to exceed
the conservation objective for CC Chinook salmon as well as impact
limits on other California Chinook salmon stocks. The recent increases
in the post-season KRFC age-4 ocean HR from 2018 through 2021 suggests
that the level of impacts on CC Chinook salmon have likely increased.
For 2023, the Council considered additional measures to avoid
another exceedance of the CC Chinook conservation objective. However,
in response to record low forecasts for KRFC and Sacramento fall-run
Chinook salmon, the Council ultimately recommended the closure of
commercial and recreational salmon fisheries off the coast of
California for 2023, and NMFS approved this closure. The management
measures for the 2023-2024 ocean salmon fishing season include the
potential use of landing and possession limits in the commercial salmon
troll fishery and bag limits in the recreational salmon fishery for the
March and April 2024 fisheries, should salmon abundance forecasts for
2024 and Council discussion support use of those measures. The
projected KRFC age-4 ocean HR of 0.003 for the 2023-24 management
measures, with the fishery closures off California, resulted from a low
number of encounters of KRFC salmon in fisheries north of California.
The Council continued to explore measures that could be taken to
manage the commercial salmon troll fishery to address the source of the
high catch rates of KRFC and stay within the conservation objective,
thereby not exceeding the conservation objective for CC Chinook salmon.
At the November 2023 Council meeting, the Council adopted a set of
management measures to ensure that the CC Chinook salmon conservation
objective is not exceeded. The management measures are intended to
ensure the fishery does not exceed the conservation objective for CC

[[Page 30316]]

Chinook by implementing management tools (e.g., landing and possession
limits, an overall allowable harvest level, inseason management)
consistent with the provisions of the Salmon FMP.

Measures To Achieve Conservation Objectives for California Stocks of
Chinook Salmon

The proposed fishery management measures are designed to ensure
that the post-season ocean HR for age-4 KRFC does not exceed the
conservation objective of 0.16. These measures would apply to the ocean
salmon fisheries between the Oregon/California border and Pigeon Point,
California.
The management measures included in this rule are focused on the
ocean salmon fisheries off the coast of California (i.e., California
Klamath Management Zone, Fort Bragg, San Francisco, and Monterey
management areas) for the following reasons:
1. The majority of the KRFC harvest (and assumed impacts on CC
Chinook salmon) in the ocean occurs in this area;
2. The age-4 ocean HR for KRFC in this area has consistently
exceeded pre-season projections in recent years;
3. Contact-rate-per-unit-effort in this area has exceeded
projections in recent years;
4. The fisheries in this area have been managed primarily through
season controls such as time and area restrictions (as opposed to use
of landing and possession limits and/or quota management);
5. Time and area restrictions in this area have not been effective
in controlling harvest of KRFC (and assumed impacts on CC Chinook
salmon) in recent years; and,
6. Ocean fisheries in other areas that impact KRFC routinely
implement the same or similar management measures as described in these
measures for a similar purpose.
The rule would require implementation of measures used in salmon
fisheries elsewhere on the West Coast to ensure fisheries in the
affected area do not exceed the conservation objective for CC Chinook
salmon. Historically, fisheries in the area described above have been
managed by setting seasons and bag limits. In addition, for this
fishery there was no overall limit on harvest or inseason management.
The Salmon FMP contemplates that the Council and NMFS will use a range
of management tools to ensure the fisheries are managed to avoid
exceeding all limits for stocks caught in the various management areas
along the West Coast (FMP Chapter 6). These management tools (e.g.,
management boundaries, seasons, quotas, minimum harvest lengths,
fishing gear restrictions, and recreational day bag limits) are
available to manage ocean fisheries each season, once the allowable
ocean harvests and the basis for allocation among user groups have been
determined. New information on the fisheries and salmon stocks also may
require other adjustments to the management measures.
Under the proposed set of management measures, annual management
measures for the fisheries in the area described above will both be
designed pre-season and managed inseason to stay within the objective.
NMFS may apply, and the Council may recommend, a buffer to the
conservation objective to account for management error and reduce the
potential for exceeding the conservation objective, this buffer would
be developed based on the percent error of the pre-season projected HR
(as compared to the post-season HR) occurring over the most recent 5
years and other relevant factors. Fishery managers will compute an
allowable harvest level of Chinook salmon for the year consistent with
the conservation objective (including the buffer described above, if
applicable). Using the allowable harvest level and projected effort,
managers will determine landing and possession limits pre-season to
ensure that the fishery does not exceed the allowable harvest level.
The fishery will be monitored inseason and actions will be taken as
needed to prevent the fisheries from exceeding the annual harvest
level. We expect that this multilayered conservative approach (i.e., a
buffer, fishery output control, and inseason actions) will ensure that
the fisheries remain within the pre-season projection and adhere to the
CC Chinook salmon conservation objective.
This proposed rule will also update regulations to 50 CFR 660.405
and 660.410. In Sec. 660.405, the term ``possess'' was added to
provide consistency to other prohibitions throughout the regulations.
With the new regulation requiring submission of fish tickets within 24
hours of landing, the addition of the term ``possess'' will ensure that
fishers are not confused about the requirements related to the timing
of catch and retention, possession, or landings. Also, in addition to
the new management measures at Sec. 660.410, this proposed rule would
revise paragraph (c) by adding the abbreviation KRFC to address several
new occurrences of KRFC that did not exist before.

Classification

Pursuant to section 304(b)(1)(A) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the
NMFS Assistant Administrator has determined that this proposed rule is
consistent with the Salmon FMP, other provisions of the Magnuson-
Stevens Act, and other applicable law, subject to further consideration
after public comment.
This proposed rule has been determined to be not significant for
purposes of Executive Order 12866.
There are no relevant Federal rules that may duplicate, overlap, or
conflict with this action.
The Chief Counsel for Regulation of the Department of Commerce
certified to the Chief Council for Advocacy of the Small Business
Administration that this proposed rule, if adopted, would not have a
significant adverse economic impact on a substantial number of small
entities.
For purposes of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et
seq.) only, NMFS has established a small business size standard for
businesses, including their affiliates, whose primary industry is
commercial fishing (see 50 CFR 220.2). A business primarily engaged in
commercial fishing is classified as a small business if it is
independently owned and operated, is not dominant in its field of
operation (including its affiliates), and has combined annual receipts
not in excess of $11 million for all its affiliated operations
worldwide. This standard applies to all businesses classified under
North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 11411 for
commercial fishing, including all businesses classified as commercial
finfish fishing (NAICS 11411), commercial shellfish fishing (NAICS
114112), and other commercial marine fishing (NAICS 114119) businesses
(50 CFR 200.2; 13 CFR 121.201).
This proposed rule would directly affect the West Coast commercial
troll salmon fishery. Using the Socioeconomic Assessment of the 2022
Ocean Salmon Fisheries (chapter IV) of the Review of 2022 Ocean Salmon
Fisheries Stock Assessment and Fishery Evaluation Document for the
Pacific Coast Salmon FMP the most recent year of complete fishing data
(2022), had 563 distinct commercial vessels land fish caught in
Washington, Oregon, and California. The total coastwide ex-vessel value
was $22.2 million with California achieving $17.1 million, Oregon $3.2
million, and Washington $1.8 million. No vessel met the threshold to be
considered a large entity as defined above. The preliminary number of
vessel-based ocean salmon recreational

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angler trips taken on the West Coast in 2022 was 264,200. All of those
charter businesses that are impacted are small entities. Because all of
the affected entities are small, the management measures in this
proposed rule are not expected to place small entities at a significant
disadvantage to large entities.
Because businesses have been harvesting over the conservation
objective for over 5 years (table 1), this regulation which is intended
to bring catch levels back down to the conservation objective (0.16 HR
on age-4 KRFC), is expected to impose negative economic effects on
small businesses relative to the last 5 years. The proposed action does
not change the management objectives for CC Chinook, it is designed to
ensure that the fisheries do not exceed the objective using management
and tools that are allowed under the Salmon FMP. The effects are not
quantifiable with available resources on the timeline needed to
implement this rule to achieve conservation objectives. However, NMFS
invites comments on this proposed rule with information about costs to
small entities.

Table 1--Estimates of Ocean Harvest Rates of Age-4 KRFC Salmon Pre- and Postseason in Recent Years
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Preseason age- Post-season
Year 4 harvest rate age-4 harvest Pre/post for
forecast rate estimate years >16%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2017............................................................ 0.03 0.04 0.75
2018............................................................ 0.12 0.24 0.05
2019............................................................ 0.16 0.36 0.44
2020............................................................ 0.09 0.23 0.39
2021............................................................ 0.11 0.28 0.39
2022............................................................ 0.10 0.38 0.26
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NMFS believes that this proposed rule would not have a significant
adverse economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. As a
result, an initial regulatory flexibility analysis is not required and
none has been prepared. This proposed rule contains revisions to a
collection-of-information requirement subject to review and approval by
the Office of Management and Budget under the Paperwork Reduction Act.
This rule revises the existing requirements for the collection of
information 0648-0433 by adding a requirement for submission of fish
tickets within 24 hours of landing. Public reporting burden for fish
ticket submission is estimated to average 0 hours because the
submission will already be required by the California Code of
Regulations.
A formal section 7 consultation under the ESA was initiated for the
Salmon FMP. In a biological opinion dated February 29, 2024, NMFS
determined that fishing activities conducted under the Salmon FMP and
its implementing regulations are not likely to jeopardize the continued
existence of any endangered or threatened species under the
jurisdiction of NMFS or result in the destruction or adverse
modification of critical habitat.
This proposed rule was developed after meaningful consultation and
collaboration with the tribal representative on the Council.

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

Dated: April 15, 2024.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine
Fisheries Service.

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 660

Fisheries, Fishing, Indians--lands, Recreation and recreation
areas, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Treaties.
For the reasons set out in the preamble, NMFS proposes to amend 50
CFR part 660 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. 660.405, revise paragraphs (a)(1) and (a)(2) to read as
follows:

Sec. 660.405 Prohibitions.

(a) * * *
(1) Take and retain, or possess, or land salmon caught with a net
in the fishery management area, except that a hand-held net may be used
to bring hooked salmon on board a vessel.
(2) Fish for, or take and retain, or possess, any species of
salmon:
(i) During closed seasons or in closed areas;
(ii) While possessing on board any species not allowed to be taken
in the area at the time;
(iii) Once any catch limit is attained;
(iv) By means of gear or methods other than recreational fishing
gear or troll fishing gear, or gear authorized under Sec. 660.408(k)
for treaty Indian fishing;
(v) In violation of any action issued under this subpart; or,
(vi) In violation of any applicable area, season, species, zone,
gear, daily bag limit, or length restriction.
* * * * *
0
3. In Sec. 660.410, revise paragraph (c) and add paragraph (d) to read
as follows:

Sec. 660.410 Conservation objectives, ACLs, and de minimis control
rules.

* * * * *
(c) De minimis control rules. Klamath River fall Chinook (KRFC) and
Sacramento River fall Chinook salmon have the same form of de minimis
control rule described in the FMP, which allows for limited fishing
impacts when abundance falls below S<INF>MSY.</INF> The control rule
describes maximum allowable exploitation rates at any given level of
abundance. The annual management measures may provide for lower
exploitation rates as needed to address uncertainties or other year-
specific circumstances. The de minimis exploitation rate in a given
year must also be determined in consideration of the following factors:
(1) The potential for critically low natural spawner abundance,
including considerations for substocks that may fall below crucial
genetic thresholds;
(2) Spawner abundance levels in recent years;
(3) The status of co-mingled stocks;
(4) Indicators of marine and freshwater environmental conditions;
(5) Minimal needs for tribal fisheries;
(6) Whether the stock is currently in an approaching overfished
condition;
(7) Whether the stock is currently overfished;

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(8) Other considerations, as appropriate; and
(9) Exploitation rates, including de minimis exploitation rates,
must not jeopardize the long-term capacity of the stock to produce
maximum sustained yield on a continuing basis. NMFS expects that the
control rule and associated criteria will result in decreasing harvest
opportunity as abundance declines and little or no opportunity for
harvest at abundance levels less than half of MSST.
(d) Salmon Fisheries Affecting California Coastal Chinook. Salmon
fisheries affecting this ESA-listed stock are managed to meet the
conservation objective described in FMP table 3-1.
(1) The annual specifications and management measures will include
an allowable harvest level expressed in numbers of fish for these
fisheries that is projected, using the Klamath Ocean Harvest Model and
Sacramento Harvest Model, to ensure fisheries do not exceed the
conservation objective. To determine the allowable harvest level, the
Council and NMFS may use a harvest rate that is lower than the
conservation objective (i.e., harvest rate of 0.16) in order to address
the potential for exceeding the objective in a particular year. The
lower harvest rate will be determined in two steps.
(i) In the first step, NMFS and the Council will calculate the
average percent error for the previous 5 years, and apply the average
percent error to the conservation objective. Only positive percent
error will be applied because the intent is to keep the post-season
harvest rate below 0.16.
(ii) In the second step, other relevant factors affecting the
preseason assessment of the age-4 KRFC harvest rate will be considered,
such as revisions to the fishery management models used to estimate the
preseason Chinook catch, environmental indicators relevant to the
status of KRFC, constraints on fisheries under consideration for the
areas and months with greatest impacts to KRFC Chinook, and the lower
harvest rate may be modified based on these factors.
(2) The annual specifications and management measures will include
the following management measures to ensure fisheries affecting
California Coastal Chinook do not exceed the allowable harvest level.
(i) Landing and possession limits will be used in the commercial
troll fisheries to keep fishery catch within the allowable harvest
level. Landing and possession limits will be set for periods not to
exceed 1 week. Landing and possession limits may vary from one calendar
month to the next but will be the same for periods within the same
calendar month.
(ii) A percentage of the allowable harvest level (i.e., trigger)
that will require consideration of inseason action to ensure that the
allowable harvest level is not exceeded will be set through the annual
management measures.
(iii) For the first 2 years after the promulgation of this rule in
which salmon fishery occur in the EEZ off the California coast,
inseason actions will only be used to further restrict harvest (i.e.,
reduce landing limits, reduce time/area, and close the fishery when the
allowable harvest level is projected to have been met).
(3) Electronic fish tickets must be submitted within 24 hours of
landing to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Fish tickets
must be submitted in accordance with the requirements of the applicable
state regulations.
(4) NMFS will implement inseason actions as described in Sec.
660.409, following processes described in that section, as needed to
ensure catch in the fishery does not exceed the allowable harvest level
and will close areas and seasons upon reaching the allowable harvest
limit.

[FR Doc. 2024-08368 Filed 4-22-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P

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