Ocean Salmon Fisheries Off the Coasts of Washington, Oregon, and California

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 661

[I.D. #011094A]

Ocean Salmon Fisheries Off the Coasts of Washington, Oregon, and

California

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of availability of an amendment to a fishery management

plan and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS issues this notice that the Pacific Fishery Management

Council (Council) has submitted Amendment 11 (amendment) to the Fishery

Management Plan for Commercial and Recreational Salmon Fisheries Off

the Coasts of Washington, Oregon, and California (FMP) for review by

the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary). Amendment 11 would modify the

spawning escapement goal for Oregon coastal natural (OCN) coho salmon

and the criteria for establishing and managing subarea allocations for

recreational coho salmon harvest south of Cape Falcon, Oregon

(45 deg.46'00'' N. lat.), at relatively low harvest levels.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before March 10, 1994.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be mailed to J. Gary Smith, Acting Director,

Northwest Region, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, 7600 Sand

Point Way NE., BIN C15700-Bldg. 1, Seattle, WA 98115-0070, or Dr. Gary

Matlock, Acting Director, Southwest Region, National Marine Fisheries

Service, 501 West Ocean Blvd., suite 4200, Long Beach, CA 90802-4213.

Copies of the amendment are available upon request from Lawrence D.

Six, Executive Director, Pacific Fishery Management Council, Metro

Center, Suite 420, 2000 SW. First Avenue, Portland, OR 97201-5344.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:William L. Robinson, Northwest Region,

NMFS, at 206-526-6140; Rodney R. McInnis, Southwest Region, NMFS, at

310-980-4040; or Lawrence D. Six, PFMC, at 503-221-6352.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Magnuson Fishery Conservation and

Management Act, 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. (Magnuson Act), requires that a

regional fishery management council submit any amendment to a fishery

management plan it has prepared to the Secretary for review and

approval, disapproval, or partial disapproval. The Magnuson Act also

requires that the Secretary, upon receipt of the amendment, immediately

publish a notice stating that the amendment is available for public

review and comment. The Secretary will consider all public comments

received during the public comment period in deciding whether to

approve the amendment for implementation.

Amendment 11 to the FMP was prepared by the Council and is intended

to address persistent low OCN coho stock abundance and annual

escapement goals below maximum sustainable yield (MSY), to avoid

imbalances in recreational coho harvest allocation at low allowable

harvest levels, and to avoid the frequent use of energy rulemaking to

implement annual management measures. The amendment proposes to modify

the OCN coho spawning escapement goal so as to achieve an aggregate OCN

adult spawning density of 42 naturally spawning adults per mile in

standard index survey areas, which currently is equivalent to 200,000

naturally spawning adults for Oregon coastal habitat, the MSY spawning

escapement goal identified in the FMP. When OCN coho abundance is

forecast to be less than 125 percent of the annual numerical escapement

goal, an exploitation rate of up to 20 percent will be allowed for

incidental impacts of the combined ocean troll, sport, and freshwater

fisheries. At OCN spawning escapements of 28 or fewer adults per mile,

an exploitation rate of up to 20 percent may be allowed to provide only

minimum incidental harvest to prosecute other fisheries and which will

cause no irreparable harm to the OCN stock.

The amendment also proposes to modify the subarea allocations for

the recreational fishery south of Cape Falcon when the allowable

recreational coho allocation for the entire area is equal to or less

than 167,000 fish. This modification is intended to maintain the

historical catch distribution between Oregon and California when stock

sizes are at low levels so that one geographical area is not

disproportionately affected by the harvest reductions. Two subareas

with independent impact quotas will be established: the subarea from

Cape Falcon to Humbug Mountain, Oregon (42 deg.40'30'' N. lat.), would

receive 70 percent of the total recreational coho allocation, and the

subarea south of Humbug Mountain would receive 30 percent. The two

subareas will be managed for their respective impact quotas, and the

recreational fisheries for coho salmon in each area may be closed upon

attainment of the quota except for the area south of Point Arena,

California. South of Humbug Mountain, there are two additional

conditions: (1) an impact guideline of 3 percent of the overall south

of Cape Falcon recreational allocation will be applied from Horse

Mountain (40 deg.05'00'' N. lat.) to Point Arena, California

(38 deg.57'30'' N. lat.), and (2) the recreational fishery for coho

salmon will not be closed south of Point Arena upon attainment of the

south of Humbug Mountain impact quota, but the projected harvest

through the end of the year will be included in the south of Humbug

Mountain impact quota. Quota transfers between subareas are allowed on

a one-for-one basis, but only if chinook constraints preclude access to

coho salmon.

An environmental assessment and a regulatory impact review are

incorporated in the amendment. All are available for public review as

noted above.

Proposed regulations to implement this amendment are scheduled to

be published within 15 days of this notice.

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 661

Fisheries, Fishing, Indians, Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements.

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

Dated: January 14, 1994.

David S. Crestin,

Acting Director, Office of Fisheries Conservation and Management,

National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 94-1410 Filed 1-14-94; 3:30 pm]

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