Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Spiny Dogfish Fishery

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[I.D. 060899B]

Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Spiny Dogfish

Fishery

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

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of availability of a fishery management plan for spiny

dogfish; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the Mid-Atlantic and New England Fishery

Management Councils (Councils) have submitted the Fishery Management

Plan for Spiny Dogfish (FMP) for Secretarial review and are requesting

comments from the public. The FMP proposes management measures to

control fishing mortality, a definition of overfishing, a 5-year

rebuilding schedule, and an identification and description of essential

fish habitat (EFH). The purpose of the FMP is to conserve spiny dogfish

to achieve optimum yield from this resource. The FMP will achieve this

overall goal primarily by eliminating overfishing and rebuilding the

spiny dogfish stock to meet the requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens

Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act).

DATES: Comments on the FMP must be received on or before August 30,

1999.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Patricia A. Kurkul, Regional Administrator,

National Marine Fisheries Service, Northeast Regional Office, One

Blackburn Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930-3799. Mark the outside of the

envelope: ``Comments on Spiny Dogfish FMP.''

Copies of the FMP including the final environmental impact

statement, regulatory impact review, and supplement of May 1999, are

available from Daniel Furlong, Executive Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery

Management Council, Room 2115 Federal Building, 300 S. New Street,

Dover, DE 19904-6790.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Richard A. Pearson, Fishery Policy

Analyst, at 978-281-9279.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Domestic landings of spiny dogfish (Squalus

acanthias) on the East Coast rapidly increased from 9.92 million lb

(4,500 metric tons (mt)) in 1989 to 61.72 million lb (28,000 mt) in

1996, then declined to approximately 41.89 million lb (19,000 mt) in

1997. During this period, the fishing mortality rate (F) rose from

below 0.1 during the 1980's to 0.3 in 1997. In addition to the overall

increase in landings, the landings disproportionately contain females,

because they grow to a larger size than males and are, therefore,

preferred for processing. Because of the directed fishing effort on

adult female spiny dogfish, including discard mortality, the spawning

stock biomass (SSB) has severely declined.

The spiny dogfish, a common small shark, inhabits the temperate and

sub-Arctic latitudes of the North Atlantic Ocean. In the Northwest

Atlantic, they range from Labrador to Florida, but are most abundant

from Nova Scotia to Cape Hatteras. They migrate seasonally, moving

north in spring and summer and south in fall and winter. Spiny dogfish

are considered a unit stock in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean. The

management unit for this FMP is the entire spiny dogfish stock along

the Atlantic coast of the United States.

Spiny dogfish is a long-lived, slow growing species. Fifty percent

of the female population is mature at 12 years of age. This species

bears live young after a 2-year gestation period. Litter sizes range

from 2 to 15 pups. Therefore, a small spawning stock produces

correspondingly low recruitment, making spiny dogfish especially

vulnerable to overfishing.

The 26th Northeast Regional Stock Assessment Workshop (SAW 26) in

March 1998 concluded that spiny dogfish are overexploited. SAW 26

reported that minimum biomass estimates of mature females (

80 cm) have declined by over 50 percent since 1989 and that recruitment

of juvenile dogfish was the lowest on record in 1997. The combination

of increased fishing mortality, declining biomass of mature females,

and low recruitment have contributed to the overfished condition of the

stock.

NMFS notified the Councils on April 3, 1998, that spiny dogfish was

being added to the list of overfished stocks in the Report on the

Status of the Fisheries of the United States, prepared pursuant to

section 304 of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. The Magnuson-Stevens Act

requires remedial action for stocks that are designated overfished, and

requires the Regional Fishery Management Councils to prepare measures

within 1 year of notification to end overfishing and to rebuild the

overfished stock.

The FMP proposes management measures to control fishing mortality,

a definition of overfishing, a 5-year stock rebuilding schedule, and

identification and description of EFH. The FMP was developed jointly by

the Councils. The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Mid-Atlantic

Council) has the administrative lead on the FMP.

The proposed management measures to control fishing mortality

include: (1) Permit and reporting requirements for owners of commercial

vessels, operators, and dealers; (2) the establishment of a Spiny

Dogfish Monitoring Committee; (3) a framework adjustment process; (4)

an annual commercial quota; (5) seasonal (semi-annual) allocation of

the commercial quota; (6) a prohibition on finning; and (7) annual FMP

review.

The FMP would eliminate overfishing and rebuild the spiny dogfish

stock through a two-step reduction in F. The first step would reduce F

from current levels (approximately 0.3) to 0.2 beginning the second

quota period of year one (November 1999-April 2000). F would be reduced

to 0.03 for the remaining 4 years of the rebuilding schedule.

The primary management measure in the FMP is an annual commercial

quota that would be allocated semi-annually, based upon the percentage

of commercial landings for each semi-annual period during the years

1990-1997. The first period (May 1-Oct. 31) would receive 57.9 percent

of the annual commercial quota; the second period (Nov. 1-April 30)

would receive the remaining 42.1 percent of the annual commercial

quota.

The annual commercial quota would be based upon the recommendations

of the Spiny Dogfish Monitoring Committee, the Joint Spiny Dogfish

Committee, and the Councils. The annual quota would be established by

the Regional Administrator at a level to assure that the target F

specified in the FMP is not exceeded.

Any owner of a vessel wanting to fish for spiny dogfish within the

EEZ for sale, or wanting to transport and deliver for sale any spiny

dogfish taken within

[[Page 34760]]

the EEZ, would be required to obtain a Federal commercial vessel permit

for that purpose. Any dealer of spiny dogfish would be required to

obtain a Federal dealer permit. Anyone who operates a vessel for the

purpose of fishing commercially for spiny dogfish would be required to

obtain an operator's permit. Specific requirements regarding permitting

requirements are discussed in the FMP and proposed rule.

Overfishing Definition

The FMP's overfishing definition consists of two components: (1) A

maximum F threshold and a target F, and (2) a minimum SSB threshold and

an SSB target. The overfishing definition specifies an F threshold

level, whereby F in excess of this level would be defined as

overfishing. The definition also specifies a target F that would allow

stock rebuilding. Overfishing for spiny dogfish occurs when F exceeds

the level associated with a pup-per-recruit ratio of 1.0, designated as

Frep. Frep represents the level that allows for

the production of 1.0 female pup per female recruit to the adult stock;

that is, the level that allows the adult female portion of the stock to

replace itself. Frep is currently estimated to be 0.11. The

current F level of 0.3 exceeds Frep. The target F

(Ftarget) specified in the FMP represents the mortality rate

that would produce an average of 1.5 pups-per-recruit and is estimated

to be 0.08.

The SSB component of the overfishing definition is based upon the

level of adult female SSB that maximizes average recruitment, referred

to as SSBmax. SSBmax was selected as a proxy

value for Bmsy (the biomass level that would produce maximum

sustainable yield). SSBmax was determined to be 440 million

lb (200,000 mt) SSB. Spiny dogfish is defined as overfished when adult

female SSB falls below the threshold level of \1/2\ SSBmax,

which is 220 million lb (100,000 mt) SSB. The Councils have chosen a

biomass rebuilding target of 397 million lb (180,000), which is 90

percent of SSBmax.

The most recent stock assessment data presented by the NMFS

Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC)(1998) and the Dogfish

Technical Committee indicate that, based upon a 3-year moving average

of NEFSC survey data, the total adult female spiny dogfish SSB is

currently about 280 million lb (127,000 mt). This is below the SSB

rebuilding target specified in the FMP. The FMP proposes to rebuild the

adult female spiny dogfish stock to 396 million lb (180,000 mt) over a

5-year rebuilding period, whereby F is reduced from 0.3 to 0.2

beginning the second quota period of year one (November 1999-April

2000) and then further reduced to 0.03 for the remaining 4 years of the

rebuilding schedule.

Essential Fish Habitat

The FMP includes the Councils' identification and description of

EFH for juvenile and adult spiny dogfish, and evaluation of fishing

activities and non-fishing activities that may adversely affect EFH.

The FMP does not propose any specific management measures to address

adverse effects from fishing, but it makes conservation, enhancement,

and research recommendations to address non-fishing activities. The FMP

states that the Councils intend to review and, if necessary, amend the

EFH designations for spiny dogfish at least every 5 years. The FMP also

authorizes the revision of EFH components using the framework process.

Supplement to the FMP

Following initial review of the Council's FMP submission, NMFS

identified several areas that required clarification or additional

information. These areas included discussion of sections addressing the

Paperwork Reduction Act, Marine Mammal Protection Act, Endangered

Species Act, EFH, the overfishing definition, and national standard 9.

As a result, the Councils submitted a Supplement to the FMP on May 12,

1999.

This NOA requests comments on the FMP, including comments on the

amended biomass rebuilding target and the associated 5-year rebuilding

schedule. A proposed rule that would implement the FMP will be

published in the Federal Register for public comment after NMFS has

evaluated it under the procedures of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. Public

comments on the proposed rule must be received by August 30, 1999, the

end of the comment period on the FMP, to be considered in the decision

concerning approval or disapproval of the FMP. All comments received by

August 30, 1999, whether specifically directed to the FMP or to the

proposed rule, will be considered in the approval/disapproval decision

on the FMP. Comments received after that date will not be considered in

the approval/disapproval decision on the FMP. All comments received on

the FMP or on the proposed rule will be responded to in the preamble to

the final rule.

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

Dated: June 24, 1999.

George H. Darcy,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine

Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 99-16521 Filed 6-28-99; 8:45 am]

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