Proposed Rule2025-05284
Fisheries Off West Coast States; West Coast Salmon Fisheries; Federal Salmon Regulations for Overfished Species Rebuilding Plans
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 28, 2025
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
NMFS proposes revisions to regulations that implement the Pacific Fishery Management Council's (Council) Pacific Coast Salmon Fishery Management Plan (FMP). This proposed action would remove the rebuilding plans for Queets River natural coho salmon (Queets coho salmon) and Strait of Juan de Fuca natural coho salmon (JDF coho salmon) from regulation, as these stocks have been rebuilt and are no longer required to be managed under a rebuilding plan.
Full Text
<html>
<head>
<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 59 (Friday, March 28, 2025)</title>
</head>
<body><pre>
[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 59 (Friday, March 28, 2025)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 14062-14063]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-05284]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 660
[Docket No. 250324-0046]
RIN 0648-BN26
Fisheries Off West Coast States; West Coast Salmon Fisheries;
Federal Salmon Regulations for Overfished Species Rebuilding Plans
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Commerce.
ACTION: Proposed rule; request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: NMFS proposes revisions to regulations that implement the
Pacific Fishery Management Council's (Council) Pacific Coast Salmon
Fishery Management Plan (FMP). This proposed action would remove the
rebuilding plans for Queets River natural coho salmon (Queets coho
salmon) and Strait of Juan de Fuca natural coho salmon (JDF coho
salmon) from regulation, as these stocks have been rebuilt and are no
longer required to be managed under a rebuilding plan.
DATES: Comments on this proposed rule must be received on or before
April 28, 2025.
ADDRESSES: A plain language summary of this proposed rule is available
at: <a href="https://www.regulations.gov/docket/NOAA-NMFS-2024-0112">https://www.regulations.gov/docket/NOAA-NMFS-2024-0112</a>. You may
submit comments on this document, identified by NOAA-NMFS-2024-0112, by
the following method:
<bullet> Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public
comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Visit <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> and type NOAA-NMFS-2024-0112 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 at:
<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: Anna Heeter, Fishery Management
Specialist, at (971) 361-8895 or <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#0b4a65656a25436e6e7f6e794b65646a6a256c647d"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="83c2edede2adcbe6e6f7e6f1c3edece2e2ade4ecf5">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Regulations at 50 CFR part 660, subpart H
implement the management of West Coast salmon fisheries under the FMP
in the exclusive economic zone (3 to 200 nautical miles (5.6 to 370.4
kilometers)) off the coasts of the States of Washington, Oregon, and
California.
In 2018, NMFS determined that the Queets coho salmon and JDF coho
salmon stocks were overfished under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery and
Conservation Management Act (MSA) (Letter from Barry A. Thom, NMFS West
Coast Regional Administrator, to Phil Anderson, Pacific Fishery
Management Council Chair, dated June 18, 2018). The MSA requires
Councils to develop and implement a rebuilding plan within 2 years of
being notified by NMFS that a stock is overfished (16 U.S.C.
1854(e)(3)). The Council transmitted its recommended rebuilding plans
to NMFS on October 17, 2019, which were similar to the existing
management frameworks, to rebuild Queets coho salmon and JDF coho
salmon (Letter from Charles A. Tracy, Pacific Fishery Management
Council Executive Director, to Barry A. Thom, NMFS West Coast Regional
Administrator, dated October 17, 2019).
The Council determined that the recommended rebuilding plans met
the MSA requirement to rebuild the stocks as quickly as possible,
taking into account the status and biology of any overfished stock and
the needs of fishing communities (50 CFR 600.310(j)(3)(i)). NMFS
approved and implemented the Council's recommended rebuilding plans for
the Queets coho salmon and JDF coho salmon stocks through a final rule
(86 FR 9301, March 15, 2021).
In 2024, NMFS determined that Queets coho salmon and JDF coho
salmon met the criteria in the FMP for being rebuilt and notified the
Council (Letter from Jennifer Quan, NMFS West Coast Regional
Administrator, to Merrick Burden, Pacific Fishery Management Council
Executive Director, dated August 1, 2024). A stock is rebuilt when the
3-year geometric mean spawning escapement exceeds the level associated
with the maximum sustainable yield (S<INF>MSY</INF>).
When Queets coho salmon was determined to be overfished, the 3-year
geometric mean was 4,291 (2014 to 2016). The most recent 3-year
geometric
[[Page 14063]]
mean of the spawning escapement reported for this stock (2020 to 2022)
is 6,624, which exceeds the stock's spawning escapement required to
achieve S<INF>MSY</INF> 5,800 spawners. When JDF coho salmon was
determined to be overfished, the 3-year geometric mean was 6,842 (2014
to 62016). The most recent 3-year geometric mean of the spawning
escapement reported for this stock (2020 to 2022) is 14,461, which
exceeds the stock's spawning escapement required to achieve maximum
sustainable yield (S<INF>MSY</INF>), 11,000 spawners.
As these stocks are rebuilt, they are no longer required to be
managed under rebuilding plans and the Queets coho salmon and JDF coho
salmon rebuilding plans should be removed from regulation to avoid
confusion regarding the status of these stocks. Additionally, removing
these rebuilding plans from regulation will avoid confusion should NMFS
make a future determination that these stocks are overfished again, in
which case the MSA requires the Council to prepare and implement a
rebuilding plan within 2 years of that determination (50 CFR
600.310(j)(2)(ii)). Leaving the current rebuilding plans in regulation
could cause confusion as they might be misperceived as being the
applicable management measures for Queets coho salmon and JDF coho
salmon, which is not the intention of the Council nor of NMFS.
Therefore, to avoid confusion, it is necessary to remove the existing
rebuilding plans from 50 CFR 660.413(c) and (d).
Classification
NMFS is issuing this proposed rule pursuant to section 305(d) of
the MSA. This proposed rule is a technical change and would update the
regulations governing the salmon fishery by deleting a provision that
is no longer necessary. The NMFS Assistant Administrator has determined
that this proposed rule is consistent with the FMP 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. Pursuant to Executive Order 14192,
this proposed rule is considered a deregulatory action.
NMFS has determined that a 30-day comment period for this proposed
rule is appropriate to allow adequate time for public comment while
also allowing for the final rule to be in effect prior to the annual
preseason management process for the 2025 fishing season for ocean
salmon fisheries, thereby avoiding any confusion about the management
status of the Queets coho and JDF coho salmon stocks during that
preseason management process. The Chief Counsel for Regulation of the
Department of Commerce certified to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of
the Small Business Administration that this proposed rule, if adopted,
would not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of
small entities. The factual basis for this determination is as follows.
For purposes of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) analysis, and
pursuant to NMFS' December 29, 2015, final rule (80 FR 81194), NMFS'
small business size standard for businesses, including their
affiliates, whose primary industry is commercial fishing, is $11
million in annual gross receipts. 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 220.2; 13 CFR
121.201).
According to the Socioeconomic Assessment of the 2023 Ocean Salmon
Fisheries (Chapter IV) of the Review of 2023 Ocean Salmon Fisheries
Stock Assessment and Fishery Evaluation Document for the Pacific Coast
Salmon Fishery Management Plan, the most recent year of complete
fishing data, 2023, had 93 distinct commercial vessels land fish caught
in Washington. These vessels had an average state-level ex-vessel
revenue per vessel of $36,100; no vessel met the threshold ($11 million
in annual gross receipts) for being a large entity. NMFS does not
collect information on the number of small entities who participate in
fisheries targeting Queets coho salmon and JDF coho salmon, because
participants fishing for salmon generally do not know the salmon stock
they are targeting. There were 66,900 ocean angler salmon trips taken
on vessels on the Washington coast in 2023. These trips included both
charter and private vessels. All of those charter businesses that are
impacted are small entities. Because all affected entities are small,
these regulation revisions are not expected to place small entities at
a significant disadvantage to large entities.
Furthermore, this proposed rule would not change harvest policy or
the general management approach. The rebuilding plan provision at 50
CFR 660.413(c) and (d) adopted the FMP's existing harvest control rule
and management measures. Upon implementation of this proposed action to
delete the rebuilding plan provisions, the FMP's harvest control rule
and management measures would apply, and the control rule and
management measures have not changed since the addition of the
rebuilding plan provisions in 2021. Thus, this proposed rule would have
no economic impact on, and would not result in a reduction in the
profits of, the regulated small entities. Therefore, this proposed
rule, if implemented, would not have a significant 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 no information collection requirements
under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
Dated: March 24, 2025.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 660
Fisheries, Fishing, Recording and reporting requirements.
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.
Sec. 660.413 [Amended]
0
2. Amend Sec. 660.413 by removing paragraphs (c) and (d).
[FR Doc. 2025-05284 Filed 3-27-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
</pre><script data-cfasync="false" src="/cdn-cgi/scripts/5c5dd728/cloudflare-static/email-decode.min.js"></script></body>
</html>Indexed from Federal Register on March 28, 2025.
This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.