Proposed Rule2024-23262
Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; Fisheries Off West Coast States; Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan; Amendment 34; Groundfish Exclusion Area for Coral Research and Restoration
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
October 9, 2024
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
NMFS announces that the Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) submitted amendment 34 to the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (Groundfish FMP) to the Secretary of Commerce for review. If approved, amendment 34 would modify the groundfish exclusion areas (GEA) section in the Groundfish FMP and refer to the GEAs described in Federal regulation.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 196 (Wednesday, October 9, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 196 (Wednesday, October 9, 2024)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 81878-81879]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-23262]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 660
RIN 0648-BN15
Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; Fisheries Off West Coast States;
Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery
Management Plan; Amendment 34; Groundfish Exclusion Area for Coral
Research and Restoration
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of availability of proposed fishery management plan
amendment; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the Pacific Fishery Management Council
(Council) submitted amendment 34 to the Pacific Coast Groundfish
Fishery Management Plan (Groundfish FMP) to the Secretary of Commerce
for review. If approved, amendment 34 would modify the groundfish
exclusion areas (GEA) section in the Groundfish FMP and refer to the
GEAs described in Federal regulation.
DATES: Comments on amendment 34 must be received on or before Sunday,
December 8, 2024.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on this document, identified by
NOAA-NMFS-2024-0081, 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-2024-0081 in the Search box.
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).
Electronic copies of proposed amendment 34 and the draft analysis
prepared for this action may be obtained from <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> and the NMFS West Coast Region website at <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/region/west-coast">https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/region/west-coast</a>.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Megan Mackey, 206-526-6140,
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#3c51595b5d5212515d5f5759457c52535d5d125b534a"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="3a575f5d5b5414575b59515f437a54555b5b145d554c">[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 Groundfish FMP. The Council prepared and NMFS
implemented the 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 notice announces that the proposed amendment 34 to the Groundfish
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 34 to the Groundfish FMP.
[[Page 81879]]
Background
The Council met over 2023 and 2024 to consider developing fisheries
area closures for deep-sea coral restoration and research in response
to a request from the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries (ONMS).
ONMS conducts scientific research in national marine sanctuary areas,
including on deep sea coral survival, growth and reproduction, under
the National Marine Sanctuaries Act and the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
In September 2023, ONMS presented a scoping paper to the Council
that proposed five potential locations, with ten areas (or `sites')
within Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary and Monterey Bay
National Marine Sanctuary (MBNMS), for coral restoration and research
(section 1.2 of the Analysis). At that meeting, the Council chose to
only continue to scope closures in MBNMS at the locations of A[ntilde]o
Nuevo and Ascension Canyons (two sites) and Sur Ridge (one site) for
areas to conduct coral research and restoration. The Council proposed
that these areas could be closed to bottom contact gears as GEAs. GEAs
were established by amendment 32 to the Groundfish FMP in December
2023, and are a management tool intended to mitigate the impacts to
sensitive environments from certain groundfish fishing activity (88 FR
83830, December 1, 2023).
At the March 2024 meeting, the Council adopted a range of
alternatives for this action that included modified versions of the
A[ntilde]o Nuevo and Ascension Canyon sites to address concerns raised
by the public regarding closing off key fishing grounds shallower than
400 fathoms, and enforcement concerns (section 1.2 of the Analysis).
The Council also confirmed that the potential sites would only be
closed to commercial groundfish bottom contact gears and that no other
gear types or fisheries would be included in the closures.
At the June 2024 meeting, the Council adopted their final preferred
alternative to develop a GEA for commercial groundfish bottom contact
gear at Sur Ridge. If the GEA is established, it is expected that ONMS
would begin deep-sea coral outplanting at Sur Ridge in 2025.
The proposed GEA at Sur Ridge would apply to commercial groundfish
vessels using bottom contact gear. Currently, the GEA area is within a
bottom trawl essential fish habitat conservation area (EFHCA) and
therefore no bottom trawling is permitted. If the EFHCA were to be
removed at a future time, the GEA would continue to prohibit bottom
trawl. The GEA would create new restrictions for non-trawl commercial
groundfish vessels using bottom contact gears in the limited entry
fixed gear, directed open access, and shore-based individual fishing
quota sectors. Vessels using non-bottom contact gear would still be
permitted to operate in the area. Overall, this GEA at Sur Ridge would
allow the ONMS to perform deep-sea coral research and restoration and
have limited impact to the groundfish fisheries. The regulatory changes
to establish this GEA will be presented in a forthcoming proposed rule.
In terms of specific changes to the Groundfish FMP, amendment 34
would revise the description of GEAs to remove specific GEA references,
in order to be consistent with how other closed area types are set up
under the FMP. Active GEAs would be noted in the Federal groundfish
regulations at Sec. 660.70 instead, and the history of a specific GEA
would likely be provided in the groundfish Stock Assessment Fishery
Evaluation document.
NMFS welcomes comments on the proposed FMP amendment through the
end of the comment period. A proposed rule to implement amendment 34
has been submitted for Secretarial review and approval. NMFS expects to
publish and request public review and comment on proposed regulations
to implement amendment 34 in the near future. For public comments on
the proposed rule to be considered in the approval or disapproval
decision on amendment 34, 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: October 3, 2024.
Karen H. Abrams,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-23262 Filed 10-8-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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