Rule2024-16822
Pacific Island Fisheries; Annual Catch Limit and Accountability Measure for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Bottomfish in 2024-2025
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
July 31, 2024
Effective
August 30, 2024
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
This final rule implements an annual catch limit (ACL) and annual catch target (ACT) for bottomfish in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) for fishing years 2024 and 2025. This rule does not revise, add, or remove the most recent current accountability measure (AM) in NOAA's regulations. Under that AM, NMFS will reduce the ACL and ACT in the following fishing year by the amount of the overage if the average catch from the most recent 3 years exceeds the ACL. This final rule supports the long-term sustainability of the CNMI bottomfish fishery.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 147 (Wednesday, July 31, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 147 (Wednesday, July 31, 2024)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 61356-61357]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-16822]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 665
[Docket No. 240725-0204]
RIN 0648-BM76
Pacific Island Fisheries; Annual Catch Limit and Accountability
Measure for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Bottomfish
in 2024-2025
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Commerce.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: This final rule implements an annual catch limit (ACL) and
annual catch target (ACT) for bottomfish in the Commonwealth of the
Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) for fishing years 2024 and 2025. This
rule does not revise, add, or remove the most recent current
accountability measure (AM) in NOAA's regulations. Under that AM, NMFS
will reduce the ACL and ACT in the following fishing year by the amount
of the overage if the average catch from the most recent 3 years
exceeds the ACL.
[[Page 61357]]
This final rule supports the long-term sustainability of the CNMI
bottomfish fishery.
DATES: This rule is effective August 30, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Background information on the bottomfish fishery in the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands is found in the Fishery
Ecosystem Plan for the Mariana Archipelago (FEP) available from the
Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, 1164 Bishop St.,
Suite 1400, Honolulu, HI 96813, telephone 808-522-8220, fax 808-522-
8226, or <a href="https://www.wpcouncil.org">https://www.wpcouncil.org</a>. Copies of supporting documents for
this action are available at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov/docket/NOAA-NMFS-2024-0002">https://www.regulations.gov/docket/NOAA-NMFS-2024-0002</a>, or from Sarah Malloy, Acting Regional Administrator,
NMFS Pacific Islands Regional Office (PIRO), 1845 Wasp Blvd., Bldg.
176, Honolulu, HI 96818.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Keith Kamikawa, NMFS Pacific Islands
Regional Office, Sustainable Fisheries, 808-725-5177.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS and the Western Pacific Regional
Fishery Management Council (Council) manage the bottomfish fishery in
the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (i.e., Federal waters, generally 3-200
nautical miles (nmi) (345 kilometers (km)) around the CNMI under the
Fishery Ecosystem Plan for the Mariana Archipelago (FEP), as authorized
by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act
(Magnuson-Stevens Act). Consistent with the process in the FEP, the
Council and NMFS must specify ACLs, ACTs, and AMs for each stock and
stock complex of each management unit species (MUS), as recommended by
the Council, and must consider the best available scientific,
commercial, and other information about the fishery. If a fishery
exceeds an ACL, regulations require the Council to act (e.g., enactment
of an AM reducing the ACL for the subsequent fishing year by the amount
of the overage). ACTs can be used as an additional management measure
to help ensure catch does not exceed the ACL.
NMFS is implementing for the CNMI bottomfish fishery an ACL of
82,000 pounds (lb) (37,195 kilograms (kg)) and an ACT of 75,000 lb
(34,019 kg) (Table 1). The fishing year begins on January 1 and ends on
December 31, and catch from both territorial waters (generally from the
shoreline to 3 nmi, (5.6 km offshore)) and Federal waters will be
counted towards the ACL and ACT.
Table 1--Annual Catch Limits and Annual Catch Targets for the CNMI
Bottomfish Complex
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2024 2025
------------------------------------------------------------------------
ACL (lb)............................................ 82,000 82,000
ACT (lb)............................................ 75,000 75,000
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The rule will not change the current AM for the CNMI bottomfish
fishery: if the average catch of the three most recent years exceeds
the specified ACL in a fishing year, NMFS will reduce the ACL and the
ACT for the subsequent year by the amount of the overage in a separate
rulemaking. If the average catch from the most recent 3-year period
exceeds the ACT, but is below the ACL, NMFS will not apply a post-
season correction.
This rule is consistent with recommendations made by the Council at
its 195th meeting in June 2023. Additional background information on
this action is in the preamble to the proposed rule (89 FR 45623, May
23, 2024).
Comments and Responses
On May 23, 2024, NMFS published a proposed rule and request for
public comments (89 FR 45623). The comment period ended on June 24,
2024. NMFS received one public comment about offshore wind and the
North Atlantic right whale, which is not related to the proposed rule
or any other relevant topic. Therefore, NMFS made no changes to the
final rule based on the public comment received.
Changes From the Proposed Rule
This final rule contains no changes from the proposed rule.
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 FEP, other provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Act,
and other applicable law.
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 relevant comments were
received regarding this certification. As a result, a final regulatory
flexibility analysis was not required and none was prepared.
This final rule has been determined to be not significant for
purposes of Executive Order 12866.
This final rule contains no information collection requirements
under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 665
Fisheries, Fishing, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands,
Bottomfish management unit species, Annual catch limit, Accountability
measure, Pacific Islands, Western Pacific.
Dated: July 25, 2024.
Kimberly Damon-Randall,
Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National
Marine Fisheries Service.
For the reasons set out in the preamble, NMFS amends 50 CFR part
665 as follows:
PART 665--FISHERIES IN THE WESTERN PACIFIC
0
1. The authority citation for 50 CFR part 665 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
0
2. In Sec. 665.408, revise paragraph (a) to read as follows:
Sec. 665.408 CNMI Annual Catch Limits (ACL) and Annual Catch Targets
(ACT).
(a) In accordance with Sec. 665.4, the ACL and ACT for Mariana
bottomfish MUS in the CNMI Management Subarea for each fishing year are
as follows:
Table 1 to Paragraph (a)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2024 2025
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ACL (lb)............................................ 82,000 82,000
ACT (lb)............................................ 75,000 75,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2024-16822 Filed 7-30-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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