Rule2024-17992
Fisheries off West Coast States; West Coast Salmon Fisheries; Measures to Keep Fishery Impacts Within the Conservation Objective for the California Coastal Chinook Salmon
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
August 14, 2024
Effective
September 13, 2024
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
This final rule will implement a set of management measures 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 Pacific Coast Salmon Fishery Management Plan (Salmon FMP). Under the final 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 will 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 157 (Wednesday, August 14, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 157 (Wednesday, August 14, 2024)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 66011-66014]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-17992]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 660
[Docket No. 240807-0215]
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
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: This final rule will implement a set of management measures 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 Pacific Coast Salmon Fishery
Management Plan (Salmon FMP). Under the final 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
will be used to provide greater certainty in avoiding exceedances of
the conservation objectives for CC Chinook salmon.
DATES: Effective September 13, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Written comments regarding the burden-hour estimates or
other aspects of the collection-of-information requirements contained
in this final rule may be submitted to <a href="https://www.reginfor.gov/public/do/PRAMain">https://www.reginfor.gov/public/do/PRAMain</a>. Find this particular information collection by selecting
``Currently under 30-day Review--Open for Public Comments'' or by using
the search function.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Shannon Penna, Fishery Management
Specialist, at 562-980-4239 or <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#aefdc6cfc0c0c1c080fecbc0c0cfeec0c1cfcf80c9c1d8"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="acffc4cdc2c2c3c282fcc9c2c2cdecc2c3cdcd82cbc3da">[email 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 of annual management
measures at the spring (March and April) Pacific Fishery Management
Council (Council) meetings each year. 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. The CC Chinook salmon
Evolutionarily Significant Unit (ESU) has been listed as threatened
under the ESA since 1999. The Salmon FMP includes harvest controls that
are used to manage salmon stocks sustainablyand requires that the
fisheries be managed 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. A series of biological opinions on the CC Chinook
salmon ESU (NMFS 2000; McInnis 2005; NMFS 2023; NMFS 2024) have
concluded that management of the salmon fishery that avoids exceedance
of the conservation objective will avoid jeopardizing the ESU. As
described in these biological opinions, the available 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 salmon.
[[Page 66012]]
From 2018 to 2022, the fishery HR on age-4 KRFC significantly
exceeded 0.16 with an average of 0.28. Adjustments to ocean management
models were made to account for these high catch rates, and fisheries
were managed to stay within a lower rate than the conservation
objective, but the fisheries continued to exceed the conservation
objective for CC Chinook salmon The recent increases in the post-season
KRFC age-4 ocean HR from 2018 through 2021 suggest that the level of
impacts on CC Chinook salmon have likely increased.
For 2023, in response to record low forecasts for KRFC and
Sacramento fall-run Chinook (SRFC) 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.
In the fall of 2023, the Council considered recommending additional
measures to address the high catch rates of KRFC and stay within the
conservation objective for CC Chinook salmon. At the November 2023
Council meeting, the Council voted to recommend a set of management
measures to ensure that the CC Chinook salmon conservation objective is
not exceeded, including landing and possession limits, an overall
allowable harvest level, and inseason management consistent with the
provisions of the Salmon FMP.
In 2024, the Council again recommended the closure of commercial
and recreational salmon fisheries off the coast of California through
calendar year 2024, and NMFS approved the closure.
Measures To Achieve Conservation Objectives for California Stocks of
Chinook Salmon
The management measures included in this rule will apply to the
ocean salmon fisheries between the Oregon/California border and the
U.S./Mexico border (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 requires implementation of measures used in salmon
fisheries elsewhere on the West Coast to ensure fisheries off the coast
of California do not exceed the conservation objective for CC Chinook
salmon. The Salmon FMP contemplates that a range of management tools
will be used 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.
Consistent with the proposed rule, 89 FR 30314 (April 23, 2024),
this final rule adds new 50 CFR 660.410(d), which requires fishery
managers to set an allowable harvest level of a number of Chinook
salmon for each year, consistent with the conservation objective
(including the buffer described as follows). In setting the annual
harvest level, the Council may recommend and NMFS may applya buffer to
the conservation objective to account for management error and reduce
the potential for exceeding the conservation objective. The default
buffer would be the percent error (defined as the difference between
the preseason projected HR and the post-season estimated HR, divided by
the post-season estimated HR, and expressed as a percentage) averaged
over the most recent 5 years. Other relevant factors 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, may be considered to further
refine the buffer. 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 final rule also updates
regulations at 50 CFR 660.405 and 660.410. In Sec. 660.405, the term
``possess'' was added to provide consistency with other prohibitions
throughout the regulations. The addition of the term ``possess'' will
ensure that fishers are not confused about the requirements related to
the timing of take, retention, possession, or landings, particularly in
relation to the requirement included in this rule that fish tickets be
submitted within 24 hours of landing. In addition, this final rule
would revise paragraph (c) of Sec. 660.410 by adding the abbreviation
``KRFC'' to address several new occurrences of that acronym that did
not exist before.
Public Comments
NMFS received seven comment letters. Of these letters, three
comment letters were from private citizens and are not relevant to this
action.
Comment 1: The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW)
and a private citizen were in support of the action. In the years
preceding the 2023 and 2024 ocean salmon fishery closures, CDFW
advocated for an inseason management system to ensure CC Chinook salmon
remain within its conservation objective. CDFW supports the transition
to inseason harvest management of California commercial ocean salmon
fisheries by utilizing caps on allowable harvest and establishing
vessel-based landing and possession limits.
Response: NMFS thanks CDFW and the private citizen for their
expressed support for this action.
Comment 2: PCFFA and a private citizen expressed concern about the
validity of using KRFC as surrogate stock for evaluating impacts on CC
Chinook salmon and the effect that landing and possession limits will
have on the commercial fishing industry and communities. PCFFA also
asserts that the shortcomings of using KRFC as a surrogate for CC
Chinook salmon were not acknowledged. PCFFA acknowledges that catch
rates in the California commercial troll fishery have
[[Page 66013]]
exceeded expectations over the past decade and asserts that harvest
models have been unreliable.
Response: The conservation objective for CC Chinook salmon is
defined in the Salmon FMP. This rule does not modify the CC Chinook
salmon conservation objective, which is required by the applicable
biological opinion developed pursuant to the ESA. Rather, the final
ruleauthorizes the use of measures allowed under the Salmon FMP to
ensure that the existing conservation objective is not exceeded. The
assumptions and limitations of the CC Chinook salmon conservation
objective were expressly discussed in supplemental reports and
presentations during the rulemaking process and in the biological
opinion NMFS issued in February 2024 on the implementation of the FMP
including the proposed measures. The best available scientific
information does not support an alternative conservation objective at
this time.
Contact rate-per-unit-effort in the California commercial troll
fishery has significantly exceeded model expectations leading to HRs
that have frequently and substantially exceeded the CC Chinook salmon
conservation objective from 2018 to 2022. In 2021 and 2022, the model
used to predict harvest of KRFC was updated, and a conservation buffer
was applied to the pre-season projection. Despite this concerted effort
to avoid another exceedance, the 2022 fisheries exceeded the objective
by more than double. This action is intended to manage the commercial
salmon troll fishery to address the source of the high catch rates of
KRFC and stay within the CC Chinook salmon conservation objective.
Comment 3: PCFFA commented that landing and possession limits and/
or quota management will have devastating consequences for commercial
fishing businesses, coastal communities, and wild food production in
California.
Response: PCFFA does not elaborate on the potential consequences of
this final rule or provide any analysis or estimates. In the Federal
Register notification for the proposed rule, NMFS acknowledged that the
action is expected to impose negative economic effects on small
businesses relative to the 2018 to 2022 time period. This is because
fishery participants harvested Chinook salmon at a level up to two
times the conservation objective during 2018 to 2022. The action is
intended to ensure catch levels do not continue to exceed the
conservation objective. Additionally, the commercial and recreational
fisheries off the coast of California were closed in 2023 and 2024.
These closures were in response to low abundance forecasts for KRFC and
SRFC. Chinook fisheries off the coast of Califoria, successfully
operated under the CC Chinook salmon conservation objective, will
provide a greater benefit to communiites by avoiding future closures.
Changes were made from the proposed rule to clarify the language
and not changing the substance from the proposed rule.
Classification
Pursuant to section 304(b)(3) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the NMFS
Assistant Administrator has determined that this final rule is
consistent with the Salmon FMP, other provisions of the Magnuson-
Stevens Act, and other applicable law.
This final rule has been determined to be not significant for
purposes of Executive Order 12866.
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 or on the economic impacts of the rule
generally. As a result, a regulatory flexibity analysis was not
required and none was prepared.
This final rule contains a collection-of-information requirement
subject to review and approval by OMB under the Paperwork Reduction Act
(PRA). This rule changes 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 is already be required by the California Code of
Regulations, this rule only changes the requirement for timing of that
submission.
We invite the general public and other Federal agencies to comment
on proposed and continuing information collections, which helps us
assess the impact of our information collection requirements and
minimize the public's reporting burden. Written comments and
recommendations for this information collection should be submitted to
the following website: <a href="https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain">https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain</a>. Find
this particular information collection by using the search function and
entering either the title of the collection or the OMB Control Number
0648-0433.
Notwithstanding any other provision of the law, no person required
to respond to, nor shall any person be subject to a penalty for failure
to comply with, a collection of information subject to the requirements
of the PRA, unless that collection of information displays a currently
valid OMB Control Number.
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 pursuant to this rule will not
affect endangered and threatened species or critical habitat in any
manner not considered in prior consultations on West Coast ocean salmon
fisheries managed under the Salmon FMP and its implementing regulations
are not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of that species or
its critical habitat.
This final rule was developed after meaningful consultation and
collaboration with the Tribal representative on the Council.
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 660
Fisheries, Fishing, Indians-lands, Recreation and recreation areas,
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Treaties.
Dated: August 8, 2024.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
For the reasons set out in the preamble, NMFS amends 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 (2) to read as
follows:
Sec. 660.405 Prohibitions.
(a) * * *
(1) Take and retain, 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, 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;
[[Page 66014]]
(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 Salmon FMP, which allows for limited
fishing impacts when abundance falls below S<INF>MSY</INF> (the
abundance of adult spawners that is expected, on average, to produce
MSY). 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;
(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 the maximum stock size
threshold (MSST).
(d) Salmon fisheries affecting California Coastal Chinook. Salmon
fisheries off the coast of California affecting this ESA-listed stock
are managed to meet the conservation objective described in Salmon FMP
table 3-1.
(1) The annual specifications and management measures will include
an allowable harvest level expressed in numbers of Chinook salmon for
the salmon fisheries off the coast of California that is projected,
using the Klamath Ocean Harvest Model and Sacramento Harvest Model, to
ensure fisheries do not exceed the conservation objective. A harvest
rate that is lower than the conservation objective may be used to
determine the allowable harvest level 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 (defined as the difference between the preseason
projected HR and the post-season estimated HR, divided by the post-
season estimated HR, and expressed as a percentage) averaged over the
most recent 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 the
conservation objective.
(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 a salmon fishery occurs 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. 2024-17992 Filed 8-13-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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