Proposed Rule2025-03945
Fisheries Off West Coast States; Coastal Pelagic Species Fisheries; Amendment 23 to the Coastal Pelagic Species 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
March 12, 2025
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
The Pacific Fishery Management Council has submitted Amendment 23 to the Coastal Pelagic Species (CPS) Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for review by the Secretary of Commerce. If approved, Amendment 23 would implement a revised rebuilding plan for the northern subpopulation of Pacific sardine. This proposed amendment is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act or MSA), the CPS FMP, and other applicable laws. NMFS will consider public comments in deciding whether to approve, disapprove, or partially approve Amendment 23. In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), as amended, NMFS also announces the availability of a draft environmental assessment that analyzes the potential effects of the associated proposed amendment.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 47 (Wednesday, March 12, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 47 (Wednesday, March 12, 2025)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 11817-11819]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-03945]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 660
[RTID 0648-XE531]
Fisheries Off West Coast States; Coastal Pelagic Species
Fisheries; Amendment 23 to the Coastal Pelagic Species Fishery
Management Plan
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Announcement of availability of an amendment to a fishery
management plan; announcement of availability of a draft environmental
assessment; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The Pacific Fishery Management Council has submitted Amendment
23 to the Coastal Pelagic Species (CPS) Fishery Management Plan (FMP)
for review by the Secretary of Commerce. If approved, Amendment 23
would implement a revised rebuilding plan for the northern
subpopulation of Pacific sardine. This proposed amendment is intended
to promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act or MSA), the CPS
FMP, and other applicable laws. NMFS will consider public comments in
deciding whether to approve, disapprove, or partially approve Amendment
23. In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969
(NEPA), as amended, NMFS also announces the availability of a draft
environmental assessment that analyzes the potential effects of the
associated proposed amendment.
DATES: Comments must be received by May 12, 2025 to be considered in
the
[[Page 11818]]
decision whether to approve, disapprove, or partially approve Amendment
23.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on this document, identified by
NOAA-NMFS-2024-0143, by the following method:
<bullet> Electronic Submissions: 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-2024-0143 in the Search box.
Click the ``Comment'' icon, complete the required fields, and enter or
attach your comments.
Instructions: Comments must be submitted by the above method to
ensure that the comments are received, documented, and considered by
NMFS. 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. 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.) submitted voluntarily by the
sender will be publicly accessible. Do not submit confidential business
information, or otherwise sensitive or protected information. NMFS will
accept anonymous comments (enter ``N/A'' in the required fields if you
wish to remain anonymous). Please specify whether the comments provided
are associated with the proposed amendment, draft environmental
assessment, or other supporting documents.
Electronic Access
This action is accessible via the internet on the Office of the
Federal Register website at <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/">https://www.federalregister.gov/</a>.
Additionally, background information and documents are available on the
Pacific Fishery Management Council's website at <a href="https://www.pcouncil.org/fishery-management-plan-and-amendments/">https://www.pcouncil.org/fishery-management-plan-and-amendments/</a>.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Katie Davis, Sustainable Fisheries
Division, NMFS, (323) 372-2126 <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#fd969c899498d3999c8b948ebd93929c9cd39a928b"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="b7dcd6c3ded299d3d6c1dec4f7d9d8d6d699d0d8c1">[email protected]</span></a>; or Katrina
Bernaus, Staff Officer, Pacific Fishery Management Council, (503) 820-
2420, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#214a405553484f400f4344534f4054526151424e544f42484d0f4e5346"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="62090316100b0c034c0007100c0317112212010d170c010b0e4c0d1005">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The CPS fishery in the U.S. exclusive
economic zone off the west coast is managed under the CPS FMP. The
Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) developed the CPS FMP
pursuant to the Magnuson-Stevens Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.). The
Secretary of Commerce approved the CPS FMP and implemented the
provisions of the plan through regulations at 50 CFR part 660, subpart
I. Species managed under the CPS FMP include Pacific sardine, Pacific
mackerel, jack mackerel, northern anchovy, market squid, and krill.
The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires each regional fishery management
council to submit any amendment to an FMP to NMFS for review and
approval, disapproval, or partial approval. The Magnuson-Stevens Act
also requires that NMFS, upon receiving an amendment to an FMP,
immediately publish notification in the Federal Register that the
amendment is available for public review and comment. This notification
announces that the proposed Amendment 23 to the CPS FMP and a draft
Environmental Assessment (EA) is available for public review and
comment. The draft EA for this action is provided as a joint NEPA and
MSA analysis, assessing the environmental impacts of the proposed
action and its reasonable alternatives (the NEPA analysis), and
analysis of how the alternatives align with the 10 National Standards
in the MSA (the MSA analysis). NMFS will consider the public comments
received during the comment period described above in determining
whether to approve, disapprove, or partially approve Amendment 23.
Background
In June 2019, NMFS declared the northern subpopulation of Pacific
sardine (hereafter, Pacific sardine) overfished. This determination was
based on the results of an April 2019 stock assessment, which indicated
that the biomass of Pacific sardine had dropped below the overfished
threshold of 50,000 metric tons (mt), as defined in the CPS FMP. The
Magnuson-Stevens Act requires that NMFS and the Council prepare and
implement a rebuilding plan for a stock that is overfished within 2
years of a stock being declared overfished. In June 2021, the Council
recommended and NMFS implemented a Pacific sardine rebuilding plan as
Amendment 18 to the CPS FMP (86 FR 33142, June 14, 2021).
The purpose of this FMP amendment is to revise the rebuilding plan
for Pacific sardine to rely on ABCs/ACLs to achieve the rebuilding
target in compliance with a Court order in Oceana v. Raimondo et al.,
No. 5:21-cv-05407-VKD (Northern District of California, filed July 14,
2021). The rebuilding target for Pacific sardine is 150,000 mt age 1+
biomass, the minimum time to rebuild is 12 years (T<INF>MIN</INF>), and
the maximum time for rebuilding is 24 years (T<INF>MAX</INF>). The CPS
FMP already dictates a management framework that is precautionary,
including prohibiting the directed commercial fishery when the biomass
is below 150,000 mt.
At its November 2024 meeting, the Council considered six
alternatives to revise the Pacific sardine rebuilding plan. The primary
change from the alternatives considered for Amendment 18 is the
addition of reasonable alternatives that would implement specific ACLs
based on amounts analyzed in support of the Amendment 18 rebuilding
plan. A discussion of the six alternatives and their relative impacts
on the natural and human environment as a result of this action is
provided in the draft EA.
The Council recommended Alternative 6--Mixed Rate U.S. Harvest--as
their final preferred alternative (FPA). Under Alternative 6, an ACL
would be set conditional upon certain tiered biomass levels, allowing
the ACL to adjust based on the status of the stock.
Under 50,000 mt (Overfished Status)
If the age 1+ biomass is 50,000 mt or less in a given fishing year,
the ACL for that year would be set at 2,200 mt or the calculated ABC,
whichever is less.
Over 50,000 mt (Rebuilding Status)
If the age 1+ biomass is greater than 50,000 mt but less than
150,000 mt (rebuilding target) in a given fishing year, the ACL would
be set at 5 percent of the age 1+ biomass for that year or the
calculated ABC, whichever is less.
Alternative 6 is expected to provide stability for ongoing live
bait, minor directed, and incidental fisheries at low stock biomass
levels, while allowing flexibility for the ACL to increase if and when
stock biomass increases.
The Council also considered whether T<INF>TARGET</INF> (the
specified time period for rebuilding the stock), which was 14 years
under Amendment 18, had changed, given their final preferred rebuilding
strategy. Alternative 6 is expected to rebuild within 17 years. Given
this FPA, the Council selected a resulting T<INF>TARGET</INF> of 17
years to reach the target rebuilding biomass level of 150,000 mt. This
T<INF>TARGET</INF> was determined to be the shortest time possible to
rebuild the stock, taking into account the biology of the stock, the
needs of fishing communities, and the interaction of the stock within
the marine ecosystem.
[[Page 11819]]
Summary of Proposed Changes to the Coastal Pelagic Species Fishery
Management Plan
Amendment 23 would revise the Pacific sardine rebuilding plan in
section 4.5 of the CPS FMP to update the T<INF>TARGET</INF> and include
the proposed ACLs for Pacific sardine (as detailed in the previous
section of this notification). There are no implementing regulations
associated with Amendment 23; therefore, NMFS will not promulgate
proposed and final rules to implement this amendment.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: March 7, 2025.
Karen H. Abrams,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2025-03945 Filed 3-11-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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