Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act Provisions; Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic Herring Fishery; Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Parts 600 and 648

[I.D. 063099A]

RIN 0648-AI78

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act

Provisions; Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Atlantic

Herring Fishery; Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan

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

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of availability of a fishery management plan; request

for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the New England Fishery Management Council

(Council) has submitted the Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan

(FMP) for Secretarial review and is requesting comments from the

public. The FMP would allow for the development of a sustainable

fishery that targets the entire U.S. Atlantic herring resource more

evenly to achieve optimum yield (OY). Overfishing would be prevented

through the use of total allowable catch (TAC) allocations for distinct

management areas. An annual scientific review of the resource would

allow for adjustments to the fishery as a result of fluctuations in

stock size. Development of the FMP was coordinated closely with the

Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (Commission) and Mid-

Atlantic Fishery Management Council (MAFMC) in order to assure

complementary management measures in both state and Federal waters.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before September 27, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Comments on the Atlantic Herring FMP should be sent to

Patricia A. Kurkul, Regional Administrator, Northeast Region, NMFS, One

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

envelope, ``Comments on Herring FMP.''

Copies of the Atlantic Herring FMP, its regulatory impact review,

initial regulatory flexibility analysis, the final environmental impact

statement, the Omnibus Essential Fish Habitat Amendment, and supporting

documentation are available from Paul J. Howard, Executive Director,

New England Fishery Management Council, 5 Broadway, Saugus, MA 01906-

1036.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: E. Martin Jaffe, Fishery Policy

Analyst, 978-281-9272.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The FMP proposes an overfishing definition and implementation of

the following measures under authority of the the Magnuson-Stevens

Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act): (1) TAC

levels for each of the three management areas, one of which is divided

into inshore and offshore sub-areas; (2) a procedure to develop annual

specifications; (3) initial plan specifications for the 1999 fishing

year; (4) effort limits through mandatory days out of the fishery; (5)

spawning closures; (6) trip limits for incidental harvest during

spawning closures or when effort controls are in effect; (7) a vessel

monitoring system (VMS) requirement; (8) vessel size limits; (9) a

framework adjustment process; (10) permitting and reporting

requirements; (11) restrictions on transfers at sea; and (12) other

measures for administration and enforcement. The

[[Page 40543]]

FMP also discusses the reduction and monitoring of bycatch and a roe

fishery.

The purpose of the FMP is to achieve, on a continuing basis, OY

from the fishery and to prevent overfishing of the Atlantic herring

resource. In addition, the FMP will provide for the orderly development

of the offshore and inshore fisheries.

Overfishing Definition

The FMP proposes an overfishing definition for Atlantic herring

comprised of two status determination criteria. If stock biomass is

equal or greater than BMSY (the biomass level at maximum

sustainable yield), overfishing occurs when the fishing mortality rate

exceeds FMSY (the fishing mortality rate that yields

BMSY). If stock biomass is below BMSY,

overfishing occurs when the fishing mortality rate exceeds the level

that has a 50-percent probability of rebuilding stock biomass to

BMSY in 5 years (Fthreshold). The stock is in an

overfished condition when stock biomass is below \1/2\BMSY

and overfishing occurs when fishing mortality exceeds

Fthreshold. These criteria are thresholds and form the basis

for the control rule.

The control rule also specifies risk averse fishing mortality rate

targets, accounting for uncertainty in the estimate of FMSY.

If stock biomass is equal to or greater than \1/2\BMSY, the

target fishing mortality rate will be the lower limit of the 80-percent

confidence interval about FMSY. When biomass is below

BMSY, the target fishing mortality rate will be reduced

consistent with the 5-year rebuilding schedule used to determine

Fthreshold. Since the Atlantic herring stock is not listed

as ``overfished'' or ``approaching an overfished condition'' in the

Annual Report to Congress for 1998, the Council was not required to

submit a rebuilding strategy as part of the FMP at this time.

Essential Fish Habitat (EFH)

The Council submitted an omnibus EFH amendment to address EFH

provisions for several FMPs for Northeastern fisheries. The omnibus EFH

amendment document also included the EFH components of the proposed

Atlantic herring FMP, which was then still under development by the

Council. Although the Atlantic herring EFH components were included in

the omnibus EFH amendment, they were not considered during Secretarial

review of the omnibus EFH amendment. For Atlantic herring, the notice

of availability for the omnibus EFH amendment (63 FR 66110, December 1,

1998) stated that ``the omnibus amendment includes the EFH components

of the Atlantic Herring FMP that is being developed by the NEFMC. The

EFH information for Atlantic Herring will be incorporated by reference

into the Atlantic Herring FMP when that FMP is submitted for

Secretarial approval.'' Therefore, with publication of this notice of

availability for the Atlantic Herring FMP, the public is also invited

to comment on the appprovability of the herring EFH provisions in the

Council's omnibus EFH amendment. The EFH component of the omnibus EFH

amendment describes and identifies EFH for Atlantic herring, discusses

measures to address the effects of fishing and non-fishing impacts on

EFH, and identifies other actions for the conservation and enhancement

of EFH. The comment period for the EFH provisions of the Atlantic

herring FMP is the same as it is for this notice of FMP availability.

The Council intends to review periodically the EFH designations for

Atlantic herring under this FMP and, if needed, will update them. This

FMP would authorize any revision to the EFH components through the

FMP's framework process.

Management Measures of Concern

While NMFS seeks comment on all of the management issues in the

FMP, it invites specific public comment on the following measures for

the reasons stated:

Restrictions on the Size of Domestic Fishing and Processing Vessels

This measure would prohibit domestic vessels > 165 ft (50.3 m) in

length, or > 750 gross registered tons (GRT)(680.4 mt), or > 3,000

horsepower from fishing for Atlantic herring in the exclusive economic

zone (EEZ), but would allow such vessels to process herring if U.S. at-

sea processing (USAP) is specified in a given year. Foreign vessels,

regardless of size, could also process herring in the EEZ if joint

venture processing (JVP) is specified. This could create the

possibility that some foreign processing vessels would receive larger

allocations than some domestic processing vessels. For example, the

proposed 1999 specifications for USAP is zero, whereas the JVP is

specified to be 40,000 mt.

Regarding the proposed harvesting vessel size restriction, NMFS

notes discrepancies in the size, capacity and/or horsepower

restrictions between the Atlantic herring and Atlantic mackerel

fisheries. NMFS seeks comment on this measure because the same vessels

often participate in the herring and mackerel fisheries; the incidental

catch in the herring fishery is likely to consist of mackerel; the

incidental catch in the mackerel fishery is likely to consist of

herring; and differences in the size, capacity and/or horsepower

restrictions within similar fisheries in the same waters may prove to

be confusing, administratively burdensome, and difficult to enforce.

Proposed Scheme to Restrict Fishing to Specific Days Based on the

Proportion of the TAC Caught in a Management Area

This measure would require NMFS to determine when harvesters have

reached 40, 65, and 80 percent of the TAC in any of the four management

areas, at which time NMFS would be required to project further when the

catch would exceed 50, 75, and 90 percent of the TAC, and if the TAC

will be exceeded. If NMFS projects that the TAC will be exceeded, then

fishermen would be required to stop fishing for herring for a certain

number of days in order to prevent the TAC from being exceeded.

NMFS is concerned that this ``days out of the fishery'' measure may

be administratively burdensome. Further, considering that there is no

limited or controlled access in the fishery other than restrictions on

the size of domestic fishing and processing vessels, fishermen could

increase their participation in the fishery (through additional vessels

or hours), adjust their schedules to work around the days-out

restriction, or substitute other forms of effort (increased landings

during the days available for fishing or shift effort into other

management areas) in response to the restricted days, thereby reducing

or eliminating the conservation benefit of the ``days-out-of-the-

fishery'' measure.

Spawning Area Closures

To protect spawning concentrations of herring, the FMP would

implement five closed areas in the GOM to directed fishing for herring.

These areas would be closed on a rotating basis for specified time

periods. When an area is closed, fishing vessels could possess, land,

or transfer up to 2,000 lb (907.2 kg) of herring per calendar day or

per trip, whichever is least, from or in that area.

Allowing vessels to fish in areas designated closed during certain

times of the year for spawning herring and allowing an incidental catch

of spawning herring may be counter-productive and fail to protect

spawning herring. Further, it may pose enforcement problems.

[[Page 40544]]

Adjustment of the TAC for Management Area 1A

This measure would require the Regional Administrator to adjust the

TAC for Management Area 1A if she determines that the New Brunswick,

Canada, fixed gear fishery will not harvest 20,000 mt of Atlantic

herring by October 1. This measure may be problematic because a real-

time mechanism to monitor the Canadian catch does not exist, and

adjusting the TAC after October 1 might not provide much benefit before

the fishing year is over on December 31.

Specification of the Amount of Herring to be Used for Roe in a Roe

Fishery

This measure would require that the Regional Administrator specify

the amount of herring to be used for roe, should the amount harvested

become a concern. Even though the Regional Administrator would make the

decision based upon the recommendation of the Council (which would

first consult with the Commission), the FMP as submitted by the Council

provides no standards by which the Regional Administrator could base

her determination.

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 September 27, 1999, the end of

the comment period for this notice of availability on the FMP, to be

considered in the decision concerning approval or disapproval of the

management measures contained in the FMP. All comments received by

September 27, 1999, whether specifically directed to the FMP or 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: July 21, 1999.

Bruce C. Morehead,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine

Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 99-19171 Filed 7-26-99; 8:45 am]

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