NMFS proposes specifications for the 2013 summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass fisheries, and the 2014 summer flounder and scup fisheries, and provides notice of two projects that may be requesting exempted fishing permits as part of the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council's Research Set-Aside Program. The implementing regulations for the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan require NMFS to publish specifications for the upcoming fishing year for each of these species and to provide an opportunity for public comment. Furthermore, regulations under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act require that NMFS allow the public an opportunity to comment on applications for exempted fishing permits. Accordingly, in addition to proposing catch specifications, NMFS announces exempted fishing permit requests, in accordance with the fishery management plan and Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.
Comments must be received on or before December 3, 2012.
ADDRESSES: An environmental assessment (EA) was prepared for the specifications and describes the proposed action and other considered alternatives, and provides an analysis of the impacts of the proposed measures and alternatives. Copies of the Specifications Document, including the EA and the Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (IRFA), are available on request from Dr. Christopher M. Moore, Executive Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, Suite 201, 800 North State Street, Dover, DE 19901. These documents are also accessible via the Internet at http://www.nero.noaa.gov.
You may submit comments, identified by NOAA-NMFS-2012-0201, by any one of the following methods:
Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic public comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2012-0201. Clicking the preceding link will bring you to the NOAA-NMFS-2012-0201 docket folder for this action. To submit comments once in the docket folder, click the ``Comment Now!'' icon. Fill in the fields on the comment form and enter or attach your comment.
Fax: (978) 281-9135, Attn: Moira Kelly.
Mail: John Bullard, Regional Administrator, NMFS, Northeast Regional Office, 55 Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930. Mark the outside of the envelope, ``Comments on FSB Specifications.''
Instructions: Comments must be submitted by one of the above methods 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 www.regulations.gov. 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). Attachments to electronic comments will be accepted in Microsoft Word or Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe PDF file formats only.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Moira Kelly, Fishery Policy Analyst, (978) 281-9218.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
General Specification Background
The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (Commission) cooperatively manage the summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass fisheries. Fishery specifications in these fisheries include various catch and landing subdivisions, such as the commercial and recreational sector annual catch limits (ACLs), annual catch targets (ACTs), sector-specific landing limits (i.e., the commercial fishery quota and recreational harvest limit (RHL)), and research set-aside (RSA) established for the upcoming fishing year. An explanation of each subdivision appears later in this rule.
Rulemaking for measures used to manage the recreational fisheries for these three species occurs separately and typically takes place in the first quarter of the fishing year. The Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan (FMP) and its implementing regulations establish the Council's process for establishing specifications. All requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), including the 10 national standards, also apply to specifications.
The management units specified in the FMP include summer flounder (Paralichthys dentatus) in U.S. waters of the Atlantic Ocean from the southern border of North Carolina northward to the U.S./Canada border, and scup (Stenotomus chrysops) and black sea bass (Centropristis striata) in U.S. waters of the Atlantic Ocean from 35[deg]13.3' N. lat. (the latitude of Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, Buxton, NC) northward to the U.S./Canada border.
The Council's Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) met on July 25 and 26, 2012, to recommend acceptable biological catches (ABC) for the 2013-2015 summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass fisheries. The FMP's implementing regulations require the involvement of a monitoring committee in the specification process for each species.
Since the Magnuson-Stevens Act requirements for the SSC to recommend ABC became effective, the monitoring committees' role has largely been to recommend any reduction in catch limits from the SSC-recommended ABCs to offset management uncertainty, and to recommend other management measures (e.g., mesh requirements, minimum commercial fish sizes, gear restrictions, possession restrictions, and area restrictions) needed for the efficient management of these three species' fisheries. The Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Monitoring Committees met on July 27, 2012, to discuss specification-related recommendations for the three fisheries.
Following the SSC and Monitoring Committee meetings, the Council and the Commission's Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Management Board (Board) considered the recommendations of the SSC, the three monitoring committees, and public comments, and made their specification recommendations at a meeting held on August 15, 2012. While the Board action was finalized at the August meeting, the Council's recommendations must be reviewed by NMFS to ensure that they comply with the FMP and applicable law. NMFS also must conduct notice-and-comment rulemaking to propose and implement the final specifications.
The FMP also contains formulas to divide the specification catch limits into commercial and recreational fishery allocations, state-by-state quotas, and quota periods, depending on the species in question. The FMP allocation provisions cannot be modified through the specification process. Rather, the Council would be required to develop and recommend allocation changes by amending the FMP. This proposed rule outlines the application of the existing allocation provisions for each species and provides the resulting allocations, by state and sector, as appropriate, for each species.
Table 1--Summary of the Proposed 2013-2014 Specifications
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Summer flounder Scup Black sea bass
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
2013 2014 2013 2014 2013 2014
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------
ABC............. million lb................... 22.34 22.24 38.71 35.99 4.50
mt.............................. 10,133 10,088 17,557 16,325 2,041
Commercial ACL............................... million lb...................... 12.11 12.05 30.19 28.07 2.13
mt.............................. 5,491 5,467 13,694 12734 966
Recreational ACL............................. million lb...................... 10.23 10.19 8.52 7.92 2.37
mt.............................. 4,642 4,621 3,863 3,592 1,075
Commercial ACT............................... million lb...................... 12.11 12.05 30.19 28.07 2.13
mt.............................. 5,491 5,467 13,694 12734 966
Recreational ACT............................. million lb...................... 10.23 10.19 8.52 7.92 2.37
mt.............................. 4,642 4,621 3,863 3,592 1,075
Commercial Quota............................. million lb...................... 11.44 11.39 23.53 21.95 1.78
mt.............................. 5,189 5,166 10,671 9,955 805
RHL.......................................... million lb...................... 7.63 7.59 7.55 7.03 1.85
mt.............................. 3,459 3,444 3,425 3,188 838
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: Commercial Quotas and RHLs include the 3-percent RSA reduction.
Explanation of RSA
In 2001, NMFS implemented regulations under Framework Adjustment 1
to the FMP to allow up to 3 percent of the total allowable landings
(TAL) for each species to be set aside each year to support scientific
research. NMFS intends to conditionally approve two research projects
to harvest a portion of the set-aside quota that has been recommended
by the Council and the Commission. In anticipation of receiving
applications for exempted fishing permits (EFP) to conduct this
research and harvest set-aside quota, the Assistant Regional
Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries, Northeast Region, NMFS
(Assistant Regional Administrator), has made a preliminary
determination that the activities authorized under the EFPs would be
consistent with the goals and objectives of the FMP. However, further
review and consultation may be necessary before a final determination
is made to issue any EFP.
For informational purposes, these proposed specifications include a
statement indicating the amount of quota that has been preliminarily
set aside for research purposes (a percentage of the TAL for each
fishery, not to exceed 3 percent, as recommended by the Council and
Board), and a brief description of the likely 2013 Mid-Atlantic RSA
projects, including exemptions that will likely be required to conduct
the proposed research. The RSA amounts may be adjusted, following
consultation with RSA applicants, in the final rule establishing the
2013 specifications for the summer flounder, scup, black sea bass,
longfin squid, butterfish, and Atlantic bluefish fisheries. If the
total amount of available RSA is not awarded, NMFS will publish a
document in the Federal Register to restore the unused amount to the
applicable TAL.
For 2013, the conditionally approved projects may collectively be
awarded up to the following amounts of RSA: 589,880 lb (267.6 mt) of
summer flounder; 961,200 lb (436 mt) of scup; 111,900 lb (51 mt) of
black sea bass; 1,1453,711 lb of longfin squid; 332,898 lb of
butterfish; and 715,830 lb of bluefish. For 2014, projects may
collectively be awarded up to 587,100 lb (266 mt) of summer flounder
and 896,100 lb (404 mt) of scup. The harvest of RSA quota would occur
January 1-December 31, 2013, and January 1-December 31, 2014, by
vessels conducting compensation fishing.
Vessels harvesting research quota in support of approved research
projects would be issued EFPs authorizing them to exceed Federal
possession limits and to fish during Federal quota closures. These
exemptions are necessary to facilitate compensation fishing and to
allow project investigators to recover research expenses, as well as to
adequately compensate fishing industry participants harvesting research
quota. Vessels harvesting research quota would operate under all other
regulations that govern the fishery, unless specifically exempted in a
separate EFP.
2013 RSA Proposal Summaries: Because the research activities of
project number one will be analyzed through a separate environmental
assessment and a separate consultation process under the Endangered
Species Act, only a brief description of the project is included here.
A more detailed description will be published in the Federal Register
at such time as the environmental analysis is completed. For
informational purposes, project number one would conduct a spring and
fall monitoring (trawl) survey in shallow waters between Martha's
Vineyard, MA, and Cape Hatteras, NC. The project investigators plan to
provide stock assessment data for Mid-Atlantic RSA species, including
summer flounder, scup, black sea bass, longfin squid, butterfish, and
Atlantic bluefish, and assessment-quality data for weakfish, Atlantic
croaker, spot, several skate and ray species, smooth dogfish, horseshoe
crab, and several unmanaged but important forage species.
Project number two is a fishery-independent black sea bass survey
of four separate hard bottom sites in Southern New England and
Mid[hyphen]Atlantic waters. Unvented black sea bass pots would be
fished on each site for 5 months from June through October in Southern
New England, and April through August in the Mid[hyphen]Atlantic. The
project is designed to collect black sea bass from areas
un[hyphen]sampled by current state and Federal finfish bottom trawl
surveys. The length frequency distribution of the catch will be
compared statistically to each of the other collection sites, and to
finfish trawl data collected by NMFS and state agencies. Black sea bass
would be collected from four general zones along the coast utilizing
black sea bass pots made with coated wire mesh, single mesh entry head,
and single mesh inverted parlor nozzle. The four general zones will
include one in Massachusetts, one south of Rhode Island, one south of
New Jersey, and one south of Virginia. This particular configuration is
being proposed as it generally corresponds to the northern and southern
core range of the species, and each is an area in which a major black
sea bass fishery takes place. In each of these general zones, four
individual sampling sites would be selected, each of which would be 1
square mile (2.6 km\2\) in size. Each of the individual sampling sites
would be separated by at least 4 miles (6.4 km) in order to provide
adequate spatial coverage. Specific sampling sites within each square
mile sampling site would be randomly selected each month from the
sub[hyphen]blocks. The traps would be set at the center of each
sampling site once per month. The sampling protocol would require that
a commercial vessel take 30 pots (three 10-pot trawls) to each of the
randomly selected hard bottom sampling sites. This procedure would
continue each month during the sampling season for 5 months. Thus, 16
locations would be sampled monthly. Pots would be un[hyphen]baited and
allowed to remain in place for a minimum of 4 days. The date, area,
depth, set over days, and catch would be recorded and fish measured
utilizing the standard NMFS sea sampling protocols. Fish would be
measured excluding the tail tendril, which is the NMFS/ASMFC standard.
At the conclusion of each sampling cycle, pots would be placed on the
vessel for transport back to port.
Research vessels for project number two would require an EFP for
exemption from minimum scup and black sea bass pot vent size
requirements to ensure that black sea bass length frequency data are
representative and not biased. If a participating vessel holds a
Federal lobster permit, it would need exemption from lobster pot vent
size requirements. Exemption from scup and black sea bass closures and
time restrictions would also be needed to ensure the survey is not
disrupted by such regulations. Exemption from scup and black sea bass
minimum fish sizes and possession limits would also be needed for data
collection purposes only. All undersized fish would be discarded as
soon as practicable to minimize mortality, and fish in excess of
possession limits would either be discarded as soon as practicable or
landed as RSA quota.
Summer Flounder
The summer flounder stock was declared rebuilt in 2011. The stock
assessment update utilized to derive specification recommendations
indicates that summer flounder were not overfished and that overfishing
did not occur in 2011, the most recent year of available data. This
stock assessment update did, however, indicate that biomass is
currently lower than in recent years. This results in catch limits that
are lower than 2012 (Table 1).
The overfishing limit (OFL) for 2012 was estimated to be 29.81
million lb (13,523 mt). Based on this information, the SSC recommended
to the Council that the 2013 ABC for summer flounder be set no higher
than 22.34 million lb (10,133 mt), and, using a strategy of a constant
fishing rate, that the 2014 ABC for summer flounder be set no higher
than 22.24 million lb (10,088 mt). The SSC did not provide an ABC
recommendation for 2015 because it is expected that a benchmark
assessment for summer flounder will be conducted in 2013 and it would
be more appropriate to wait for that assessment before making a 2015
recommendation.
Consistent with the summer flounder regulations, the sum of the
recreational and commercial sector ACLs is equal to ABC. ACL is an
expression of total catch (i.e., landings and dead discarded fish). To
derive the ACLs, the sum of the sector-specific estimated discards is
removed from the ABC to derive the landing allowance. The resulting
landing allowance is apportioned to the commercial and recreational
sectors by applying the FMP allocation criteria: 60 percent to the
commercial fishery and 40 percent to the recreational fishery. Using
this method ensures that each sector is accountable for its respective
discards, rather than simply apportioning the ABC by the allocation
percentages to derive the sector ACLs. Although the derived ACLs are
not split exactly at 60/40, the landing portions of the ACLs preserve
the 60/40 allocation split, consistent with the FMP. This process
results in a commercial ACL of 12.11 million lb (5,491 mt) for 2013 and
12.05 million lb (5,467 mt) for 2014. The recreational ACLs would be
10.23 million lb (4,642 mt) for 2013 and 10.19 million lb (4,621 mt)
for 2014.
The Summer Flounder Monitoring Committee met to discuss the SSC's
recommendations and to determine if additional reductions in the catch
limits were necessary to account for management uncertainty. Because
the recreational fishery in recent years has not reached the RHL,
discards in the commercial fishery have been relatively low, and the
landings monitoring and fishery closure system is timely, the Summer
Flounder Monitoring Committee determined that no additional reductions
to account for management uncertainty were necessary. Therefore, it was
recommended that the ACTs (both commercial and recreational) should be
set equal to their respective ACL for both 2013 and 2014. Removing the
estimated discards and, as recommended, 3 percent of the TAL for RSA,
the commercial summer flounder quotas would be 11.44 million lb (5,189
mt) for 2013 and 11.39 million lb (5,166 mt) for 2014. The RHLs would
be 7.63 million lb (3,459 mt) for 2013 and 7.59 million lb (3,444 mt)
for 2014.
Table 2--Proposed Summer Flounder Specifications
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Comm. Quota
Year ABC Commercial Recreational Comm. ACT Rec. ACT (minus 3% RHL (minus
ACL ACL RSA) 3% RSA)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012............................... million lb........... 25.58 14.00 11.56 14.00 11.58 12.73 8.49
mt................... 11,603 6,351 5,252 6,351 5,252 5,774 3,850
2013............................... million lb........... 22.34 12.11 10.23 12.11 10.23 11.44 7.63
mt................... 10,133 5,491 4,624 5,491 4,624 5,189 3,459
2014............................... million lb........... 22.24 12.05 10.19 12.05 10.19 11.39 7.59
mt................... 10,088 5,467 4,621 5,467 4,621 5,166 3,444
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: Commercial Quotas and RHLs include the 3-percent RSA reduction.
The Council and Board considered the SSC and Summer Flounder
Monitoring Committee recommendations before concurring with the catch
recommendations specified in Table 2. Fishing under these catch limits
for 2013 and 2014 is not expected to compromise the summer flounder
stock, nor will fishing at this level present a high likelihood of
overfishing the stock. The Council recommended all other management
measures by remain status quo.
Tables 3 and 4 present the proposed allocations for 2013 and 2014,
respectively, by state, with and without the commercial portion of the
RSA deduction. These state quota allocations are preliminary and are
subject to reductions if there are overages of states' quotas carried
over from a previous fishing year. Any commercial quota adjustments to
account for overages will be included in the final rule implementing
these specifications.
Table 3--2013 Proposed Summer Flounder State Commercial Quotas
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Initial commercial quota Commercial quota less RSA \1\
State Percent share ---------------------------------------------------------------
lb kg \2\ lb kg \2\
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ME.............................. 0.04756 5,609 2,544 5,441 2,468
NH.............................. 0.00046 54 25 53 24
MA.............................. 6.82046 804,377 364,859 780,246 353,914
RI.............................. 15.68298 1,849,587 838,959 1,794,100 813,790
CT.............................. 2.25708 266,191 120,742 258,205 117,120
NY.............................. 7.64699 901,855 409,075 874,799 396,802
NJ.............................. 16.72499 1,972,478 894,701 1,913,303 867,860
DE.............................. 0.01779 2,098 952 2,035 923
MD.............................. 2.03910 240,483 109,081 233,269 105,809
VA.............................. 21.31676 2,514,012 1,140,337 2,438,592 1,106,127
NC.............................. 27.44584 3,236,851 1,468,211 3,139,746 1,424,165
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total \3\................... 100.00001 11,793,596 5,350,000 11,439,788 5,189,000
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Preliminary Research Set-Aside amount is 589,880 lb (267.6 mt).
\2\ Kilograms are as converted from pounds and do not sum to the converted total due to rounding.
\3\ Rounding of quotas results in totals exceeding 100 percent.
Table 4--2014 Proposed Summer Flounder State Commercial Quotas
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Initial commercial quota Commercial quota less RSA \1\
State Percent share ---------------------------------------------------------------
lb kg \2\ lb kg \2\
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ME.............................. 0.04756 5,579 2,533 5,417 2,457
NH.............................. 0.00046 54 24 52 24
MA.............................. 6.82046 800,091 363,242 776,788 352,345
RI.............................. 15.68298 1,839,732 835,240 1,786,147 810,183
CT.............................. 2.25708 264,772 120,207 257,061 116,601
NY.............................. 7.64699 897,050 407,261 870,922 395,044
NJ.............................. 16.72499 1,961,967 890,735 1,904,823 864,013
DE.............................. 0.01779 2,087 947 2,026 919
MD.............................. 2.03910 239,202 108,598 232,235 105,340
VA.............................. 21.31676 2,500,616 1,135,282 2,427,783 1,101,224
NC.............................. 27.44584 3,219,604 1,461,703 3,125,829 1,417,852
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total \3\................... 100.00001 11,730,754 5,326,000 11,389,082 5,166,000
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Preliminary Research Set-Aside amount is 587,100 lb (266 mt).
\2\ Kilograms are as converted from pounds and do not sum to the converted total due to rounding.
\3\ Rounding of quotas results in totals exceeding 100 percent.
Scup
The OFL for scup is 47.80 million lb (21,680 mt). Using the
appropriate control rule and applying the Council's risk policy, the
SSC recommended an ABC for scup of 38.71 million lb (17,557 mt) for
2013. The SSC also recommended a constant fishing mortality strategy
for scup, using a rate of 0.142, which results in a 2014 ABC of 35.99
million lb (16,325 mt). Similar to summer flounder, the stock
assessment update upon which the specifications are based indicates
that scup biomass is currently lower than in recent years. Therefore,
the proposed catch limits are lower than 2012, but are still relatively
high compared to recent landings.
The scup management measures specify that the ABC is equal to the
sum of the commercial and recreational sector ACLs. The Scup Monitoring
Committee met to discuss the SSC's recommendations and to determine if
additional reductions in the catch limits were necessary to account for
management uncertainty. Because both the recreational and commercial
fisheries have not reached their respective landings limits because of
the very high quotas, and the landings monitoring and fishery closure
system is timely, the Monitoring Committee determined that no
additional reductions to account for management uncertainty were
necessary. Therefore, it was recommended that the ACTs (both commercial
and recreational) should be set equal to the respective ACL for 2013-
2014. Therefore, commercial sector ACL/ACT would be 30.19 million lb
(13,694 mt) for 2013 and 28.07 million lb (12,734 mt) for 2014. The
recreational sector ACLs/ACTs would be 8.52 million lb (3,863 mt), and
7.92 million lb (3,592 mt) for 2013 and 2014, respectively.
The Council recommended up to 3 percent of the landings for RSA.
After RSA is removed, the commercial quotas would be 23.53 million lb
(10,671 mt) for 2013 and 21.95 million lb (9,955 mt) for 2014. The
recreational harvest limits would be 7.55 million lb (3,425 mt) for
2013 and 7.03 million lb (3,188 mt) for 2014.
Table 5--Proposed Scup Specifications
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commercial Recreational
Year ABC ACL ACL Comm. ACT Rec. ACT Comm. Quota RHL
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012............................... million lb........... 40.88 31.89 8.99 31.89 8.99 27.91 8.45
mt................... 18,543 14,464 4,079 14,464 4,079 12,659 3,831
2013............................... million lb........... 38.71 30.19 8.52 30.19 8.52 23.53 7.55
mt................... 16,325 13,694 3,863 13,694 3,863 10,671 3,425
2014............................... million lb........... 35.99 28.07 7.92 28.07 7.92 21.95 7.03
mt................... 16,325 12,734 3,592 12,734 3,592 9,955 3,188
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: Commercial Quotas and RHLs include the 3-percent RSA reduction.
The scup commercial quota is divided into three commercial fishery
quota periods. There are no previous commercial overages applicable to
the 2013 scup commercial quota. The period quotas, after deducting for
RSA, are detailed in tables 6 and 7. Unused Winter I quota may be
carried over for use in the Winter II period. The Council recommended
all other management measures remain status quo.
Table 6--Proposed Commercial Scup Quota Allocations for 2013 by Quota Period
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Initial quota Initial quota less Adjusted quota less Federal possession
-------------------------- overages (through 10/31/ overages and RSA limits (per trip)
Quota period Percent 2012) ---------------------------------------------------
share lb mt --------------------------
lb mt lb mt lb mt
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Winter I.......................... 45.11 10,940,583 4,963 N/A N/A 10,612,366 4,814 50,000 22,680
Summer............................ 38.95 9,446,591 4,285 N/A N/A 9,163,193 4,156 N/A N/A
Winter II......................... 15.94 3,865,948 1,754 N/A N/A 3,749,969 1,701 2,000 907
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total......................... 100.0 24,253,122 11,001 N/A N/A 23,525,528 10,671 N/A N/A
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Notes: The Winter I possession limit will drop to 1,000 lb (454 kg) upon attainment of 80 percent of that period's allocation. The Winter II possession
limit may be adjusted (in association with a transfer of unused Winter I quota to the Winter II period) via notification in the Federal Register.
Metric tons are as converted from pounds and may not necessarily total due to rounding.
N/A = Not applicable.
Table 7--Proposed Commercial Scup Quota Allocations for 2014 by Quota Period
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Initial quota Initial quota less Adjusted quota less Federal possession
-------------------------- overages (through 10/31/ overages and RSA limits (per trip)
Quota period Percent 2012) ---------------------------------------------------
share lb mt --------------------------
lb mt lb mt lb mt
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Winter I.......................... 45.11 10,206,495 4,630 N/A N/A 9,900,300 4,491 50,000 22,680
Summer............................ 38.95 8,812,746 3,997 N/A N/A 8,548,364 3,877 N/A N/A
Winter II......................... 15.94 3,606,551 1,636 N/A N/A 3,498,355 1,587 2,000 907
Total......................... 100.0 22,625,792 10,263 N/A N/A 21,947,018 9,955 N/A N/A
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Notes: The Winter I possession limit will drop to 1,000 lb (454 kg) upon attainment of 80 percent of that period's allocation. The Winter II possession
limit may be adjusted (in association with a transfer of unused Winter I quota to the Winter II period) via notification in the Federal Register.
Metric tons are as converted from pounds and may not necessarily add due to rounding.
N/A = Not applicable.
Black Sea Bass
The updated stock assessment indicates that black sea bass were not
overfished and overfishing did not occur in 2011. Black sea bass
remains a data-poor stock, with relatively high uncertainty for the
purposes of calculating ABC. The SSC rejected the OFL estimate provided
from the stock assessment, stating that it was highly uncertain and not
sufficiently reliable to use as the basis of management advice. The ABC
recommendation is the status quo ABC of 4.50 million lb (2,041 mt). The
SSC recommended a 3-year specification period, with a constant harvest
strategy that would implement the same ABC for 2013-2015. However, the
Council only endorsed the ABC for 2013, and recommended the ACL, ACT,
and quotas for 2013 only. The Council was concerned with the SSC's
determination that black sea bass was a ``Level 4'' fishery under the
Council's ABC control rule, despite some data improvements that may
have led to a ``Level 3'' determination that could result in higher
catch limits. The SSC debated the categorization of black sea bass
extensively at its July meeting, but in the end determined that
continuing the Level 4 designation was appropriate. The Council decided
to recommend specifications for just 2013 in the hope that additional
information will be available for the SSC in the coming year.
The Black Sea Bass Monitoring Committee met to discuss the SSC's
recommendations and to determine if additional reductions in the catch
limits were necessary to account for management uncertainty. The
Monitoring Committee determined that no additional reductions to
account for management uncertainty were necessary because the constant
catch strategy adequately addresses uncertainty. Therefore, it was
recommended that the ACTs (both commercial and recreational) should be
set equal to their respective ACL for 2013.
The Council and Board considered the SSC and Black Sea Bass
Monitoring Committee recommendations at their August meeting. The
Council recommends a commercial ACL and ACT of 2.13 million lb (966
mt), a recreational ACL and ACT of 2.37 million lb (1,075 mt), a
commercial quota of 1.78 million lb (805 mt), and an RHL of 1.85
million lb (838 mt). The quotas include a reduction of 3 percent, as
recommended by the Council, for RSA. While the ABC is the same as last
year, the ACL/ACTs and quotas are different from 2012 because the
updated discard estimate is higher than the previous year.
Recent data indicate that the 2012 recreational black sea bass ACL
has been exceeded, and may be further exceeded, by a significant
amount. The regulations require that we deduct the amount of landings
that exceeded the RHL from a single subsequent year's ACT. Therefore,
the proposed ACT and RHL may be adjusted in the final rule to account
for this overage.
Table 8--Proposed Black Sea Bass 2013 Specifications
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commercial Recreational
Year ABC ACL ACL Comm. ACT Rec. ACT Comm. quota RHL
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012............................... million lb........... 4.50 1.98 2.52 1.98 1.86 1.71 1.32
mt................... 2,041 898 1,143 898 844 774 598
2013............................... million lb........... 4.50 2.13 2.37 2.13 2.37 1.78 1.85
mt................... 2,041 966 1,075 966 1075 805 838
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass FMP,
other provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and other applicable law,
subject to further consideration after public comment.
These proposed specifications are exempt from review under
Executive Order 12866.
An IRFA was prepared by the Council, as required by section 603 of
the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), to examine the impacts of these
proposed specifications on small business entities, if adopted. A
description of the specifications, why they are being considered, and
the legal basis for proposing and implementing specifications for the
summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass fisheries are contained in
the preamble to this proposed rule. A copy of the detailed RFA analysis
is available from NMFS or the Council (see ADDRESSES). The Council's
analysis made use of quantitative approaches when possible. Where
quantitative data on revenues or other business-related metrics that
would provide insight to potential impacts were not available to inform
the analyses, qualitative analyses were conducted. A summary of the 2013-
2014 specifications RFA analysis follows.
Small businesses operating in commercial and recreational (i.e.,
party and charter vessel operations) fisheries have been defined by the
Small Business Administration as firms with gross revenues of up to
$4.0 and $6.5 million, respectively. See 13 C.F.R. Sec. 121.201. The
categories of small entities likely to be affected by this action
include commercial and charter/party vessel owners holding an active
Federal permit for summer flounder, scup, or black sea bass, as well as
owners of vessels that fish for any of these species in state waters.
All federally permitted vessels fall into the definition of small
businesses; thus, there would be no disproportionate impacts between
large and small entities as a result of the proposed rule.
The Council estimates that the proposed 2013-2014 specifications
could affect 2,039 vessels that held a Federal summer flounder, scup,
and/or black sea bass permit in 2011 (the most recent year of complete
permit data). However, the more immediate impact of this rule will
likely be realized by the approximately 870 vessels that actively
participated in these fisheries (i.e., landed these species) in 2011.
Estimates of costs associated with this rule are discussed further
below.
There are no new reporting or recordkeeping requirements contained
in any of the alternatives considered for this action. In addition,
NMFS is not aware of any relevant Federal rules that may duplicate,
overlap, or conflict with this proposed rule.
If the Council took no action regarding the 2013 specifications,
several indefinite measures would remain in effect until otherwise
changed; however, many components of the 2012 specifications expire on
December 31, 2012. These include catch limits for all three species.
There are no roll-over provisions for the quotas if the 2013
specifications are not made effective, and so, without specified
quotas, NMFS would have no mechanism to close fisheries if management
limits were exceeded. This would give rise to a situation in which the
goals and objectives of the FMP, its implementing regulations, and the
Magnuson-Stevens Act would all be violated. Therefore, the no action
alternative is not considered to be a reasonable alternative to the
preferred action of developing and implementing 2013 specifications,
and it was excluded from detailed analysis in the Council's EA/RFA
analyses.
The Council analyzed three sets of combined catch limit
alternatives for the 2013-2014 summer flounder, scup, and black sea
bass fisheries. Of these, one alternative, labeled Alternative 3 for
each species, contained the most restrictive options (i.e., lowest
total landing levels). While the Alternative 3 measures would achieve
the objectives of the proposed action for each of three species, they
have the highest potential adverse economic impacts on small entities
in the form of potential foregone fishing opportunities. Alternative 3
was not preferred by the Council because the other alternatives
considered are expected have lower adverse impacts on small entities
while achieving the stated objectives of sustaining the summer
flounder, scup, and black sea bass stocks, consistent with the FMP and
Magnuson-Stevens Act.
Alternative 1 (Council's preferred) would implement the following
ABCs in 2013: Summer flounder, 22.34 million lb (10,133 mt); scup,
38.71 million lb (17,577 mt); and black sea bass, 4.5 million lb (2,041
mt). Alternative 1 would also implement the following ABCs for 2014:
Summer flounder, 22.40 million lb (10,088 mt), and scup, 35.99 million
lb (16,325 mt). Alternative 2 (status quo) would implement the
following ABCs in 2013 and 2014: Summer flounder, 25.58 million lb
(11,603 mt); scup, 40.88 million lb (18,543 mt); and black sea bass
(2013 only), 4.5 million lb (2,041 mt).
Commercial Fishery Impacts
As a result of the proposed decrease in commercial and recreational
landings from 2012 levels, it is expected that small negative economic
impacts on the summer flounder fisheries in 2013 and 2014 may occur.
Each state's summer flounder allocation commercial limits will decrease
under these adjusted commercial quotas. The proposed scup commercial
quota and recreational harvest limits under the proposed alternative
are lower than the quotas implemented in 2012; however, they are
substantially higher than the 2011 commercial and recreational
landings. In 2011, the commercial quota and recreational harvest limit
each increased by 91 percent when compared to the limits implemented in
2010. The high 2011 commercial quota and recreational harvest limit
values did not constrain the fishery in 2011 as had occurred in
previous years when the commercial quota and recreational harvest
limits were considerably lower. In fact, the scup fishery did not
harvest its full 2011 allocation. Unless market conditions change
substantially in 2013, it would be expected that commercial and
recreational landings will likely be close to the 2011 landings. There
is no indication that the market environment for commercially and
recreationally caught scup will change considerably in years 2013 or
2014. Therefore, there are no expected negative impacts from the
proposed scup quotas, even though they are lower than the previous
year. As a result of the potential increase in landings under the black
sea bass commercial quota and recreational harvest limits under
preferred alternative 1, it is expected that a small positive economic
impacts are likely to occur when compared to 2012.
Recreational Fishery Impacts
While the specifications proposed would establish a 2013 and 2014
recreational harvest limit for summer flounder, scup, and black sea
bass, the management measure details for recreational fisheries will be
developed by the Council in December 2012, followed by NMFS rulemaking
in the first quarter of 2013. A comprehensive analysis of the impacts
associated with the recommended recreational management measures will
be provided to NMFS from the Council to support these activities. If
recreational landings for these three species are the same in 2012 as
in 2011 (5.96 million lb for summer flounder, 3.66 million lb for scup,
and 1.27 million for black sea bass), the recreational harvest limits
proposed for 2013 (7.62 million lb for summer flounder, 7.56 million
for scup, and 1.84 million for black sea bass) and 2014 (6.12 million
lb for summer flounder and 3.01 million for scup) are not expected to
constrain recreational landings in 2013, but may constrain summer
flounder recreational landings in 2014. As such, it is unlikely that
more restrictive limits (i.e., lower possession limits, higher minimum
size limits, and/or shorter open seasons) will be required in 2013 when
compared to 2012, but more restrictive recreational harvest measures
may be necessary in 2014 for summer flounder. Specific recreational
management measures (for all three species) will be determined in
December when more complete data regarding 2012 recreational landings
are available.
Summary
The Council selected Alternative 1 (preferred) over Alternative 2
(status quo) and Alternative 3 (most restrictive) stating that, while
each alternative would provide adequate stock protection, the
Alternative 1 measures were expected to result in the least amount of
long-term negative economic impact to the summer flounder, scup,
and black sea bass fisheries, and were consistent with the advice
provided to the Council from the SSC and its monitoring committees.
NMFS agrees with the Council's IRFA analysis and rationale for
recommending the catch limits in Alternative 1. As such, NMFS is
proposing to implement the Council's preferred ABCs, ACLs, ACTs,
Commercial Quotas, and Recreational Harvest Limits for 2013 and 2014:
Table 9--Summary of 2013 and 2014 Catch Limits
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Summer Flounder Scup Black Sea Bass
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2013 2014 2013 2014 2013 2014
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ABC (mt).................... 10,133 10,088 17,557 16,325 2,041
ABC (lb).................... 22,339,440 22,240,230 38,706,560 35,990,460 4,499,635
Commercial ACL (mt)......... 5,491 5,467 13,694 12,734 965.6
Commercial ACL (lb)......... 12,105,580 12,052,670 30,190,100 28,073,660 2,108,942
Recreational ACL (mt)....... 4,642 4,621 3,863 3,592 1,075.4
Recreational ACL (lb)....... 10,233,860 10,187,560 8,516,457 7,919,004 2,370,851
Commercial ACT (mt)......... 5,491 5,467 13,694 12,734 965.6
Commercial ACT (lb)......... 12,105,580 12,052,670 30,190,100 28,073,660 2,108,942
Recreational ACT (mt)....... 4,642 4,621 3,863 3,592 1,075.4
Recreational ACT (lb)....... 10,233,860 10,187,560 8,516,457 7,919,004 2,370,851
Commercial Quota (mt)....... 5,350 5,326 11,001 10,263 830
Commercial Quota (lb)....... 11,793,595 11,730,754 24,253,122 22,625,792 1,829,837
RHL (mt).................... 3,656 3,551 3,531 3,287 864
RHL (lb).................... 7,861,639 7,827,547 7,784,363 7,245,708 1,904,794
Commercial Quota (mt) less 5,189 5,166 10,671 9,955 805.2
RSA........................
Commercial Quota (lb) less 11,439,790 11,389,080 23,525,530 21,947,020 1,775,162
RSA........................
RHL (mt) less RSA........... 3,459 3,444 3,425 3,188 838
RHL (lb) less RSA........... 7,625,790 7,592,720 7,550,832 7,028,337 1,847,474
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