Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; Compliance with Sustainable Fisheries Act Provisions for Management Plans in the Gulf of Mexico; Generic Amendment to the Fishery Management Plans of the Gulf of Mexico Region

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 622

[I.D. 072699D]

RIN 0648-AL81

Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic;

Compliance with Sustainable Fisheries Act Provisions for Management

Plans in the Gulf of Mexico; Generic Amendment to the Fishery

Management Plans of the Gulf of Mexico Region

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

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of availability of a generic amendment to fishery

management plans for the Gulf of Mexico Region; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management

Council (Council) has submitted to NMFS its Generic Sustainable

Fisheries Act Amendment (SFA Amendment) to the fishery management plans

of the Gulf of Mexico for review, approval, and implementation. This

amendment would set standards regarding overfishing levels and stock

rebuilding on which future management measures will be based. Written

comments are requested from the public.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before October 18, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Comments must be mailed to the Southeast Regional Office,

NMFS, 9721 Executive Center Drive N., St. Petersburg, FL 33702.

Requests for copies of the amendment, which includes a regulatory

impact review and an environmental assessment, should be sent to the

Gulf of Mexico Management Council, The Commons at Rivergate, 3018 U.S.

Highway 301 North, Suite 1000, Tampa, FL 33619-2266; phone: 813-228-

2815; fax: 813-225-7015.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Roy Crabtree, NMFS; phone: 727-570-

5305; fax 727-570-5583.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation

and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) requires Regional Fishery

Management Councils to submit proposed fishery management plans (plans)

or amendments to NMFS for review and approval, disapproval, or partial

approval. The Magnuson-Stevens Act also requires that NMFS, upon

receiving a plan or amendment from a Council, immediately publish a

document in the Federal Register stating that the plan or amendment is

available for public review and comment. This document constitutes such

notice for the SFA Amendment.

In 1998, NMFS published the National Standard Guidelines to assist

Regional Fishery Management Councils in: Describing fisheries and

fishing communities; establishing criteria to determine when a stock is

overfished; proposing measures to prevent or end overfishing and

rebuild overfished stocks: and assessing bycatch and proposing measures

to minimize bycatch (63 FR 24212, May 1, 1998). The Council developed

its SFA Amendment based on these guidelines.

The SFA Amendment describes Gulf of Mexico fishing communities;

these descriptions are based on existing U.S. Census data and

information about regional landings and about fishing participants in

various fisheries for each of the Gulf of Mexico coastal states. The

Council believes that these community descriptions are based on the

best available information and comply with the national standard

guidelines.

The SFA Amendment describes bycatch in Gulf fisheries and reflects

the Council's conclusion that measures currently in place already

minimize bycatch and bycatch mortality to the extent practicable. Under

the Fishery Management Plan for the Shrimp Fishery of the Gulf of

Mexico, the Council has required bycatch reduction devices to minimize

bycatch of red snapper and other species in shrimp trawls fished in the

exclusive economic zone west of Cape San Blas, Florida. Under the FMP

for stone crab, the Council's SFA Amendment proposes changes in the

construction of stone crab pots intended to reduce finfish bycatch.

Under the Fishery Management Plan for the Reef Fish Resources of the

Gulf of Mexico, the Council is phasing out fish traps in the reef fish

fishery by 2007, in part to reduce bycatch. Under the Fishery

Management Plan for Coastal Migratory Pelagic Species of the Gulf of

Mexico and South Atlantic, minimum mesh sizes are required for gillnets

in the coastal migratory pelagics fishery to reduce bycatch.

NMFS' Marine Recreational Fisheries Statistics Survey provides

information on bycatch in the recreational fisheries. The SFA Amendment

discusses additional measures to improve bycatch reporting. The Council

anticipates that cooperative state-Federal programs developed or under

development by the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission will provide

adequate information on bycatch for all fisheries within the Council's

area of jurisdiction. NMFS intends to improve bycatch reporting by

requiring it in all commercial logbooks by January 1, 2001.

The SFA Amendment specifies fishing targets and overfishing

thresholds for each FMP. For stocks other than shrimp and spiny

lobster, static spawning potential ratio (SPR) proxies are used to

define maximum sustainable yield (MSY), optimal yield (OY), and maximum

fishing mortality thresholds (MFMT). For penaeid shrimp, MSY, OY, and

MFMT are specified in numbers of spawning individuals remaining after

the fishery. For royal red shrimp, MSY is specified as a range in

pounds/kilograms, as recommended by the Crustacean Stock Assessment

Panel; however, in its discussion of MSY, the Council expresses its

view that the proposed MSY may be an underestimate of the true MSY. For

spiny lobster, MSY, OY, and MFMT are specified as transitional SPR

based on spawning biomass per recruit rather than based on fecundity.

For stone crab, SPR is identified as realized egg production per

recruit as a percentage of potential egg production in the unfished

state. In general, SPR proxies for OY are greater than those for MSY,

and MFMT is a fishing mortality rate set at the SPR rate equal to MSY

(i.e. FMSY). The SPR proxies for the parameters MSY, OY, and

MFMT within each of the following fisheries--shrimp, red drum, Nassau

grouper, jewfish, and stone crab--are the same. The SPR values for the

three parameters for the above listed species are higher than those for

other stocks, i.e., they are more conservative than those for other

stocks. For shrimp, MSST is specified as the number of spawning

individuals remaining after the annual fishery; for stone crab an SPR

proxy is specified for MSST. MSST is not specified for other stocks but

will be incorporated through the framework procedures of the Council's

FMPs as MSST estimates are derived.

The SFA Amendment would establish rebuilding periods for red

snapper (period of 1999-2033) and Gulf-group king mackerel (period of

1999-2009). The Council states that data are insufficient to develop

rebuilding schedules for Nassau grouper, jewfish, or red drum but that

such schedules would be specified and implemented through the framework

procedures of its FMPs as such schedules are developed.

The SFA Amendment briefly addresses the Magnuson-Stevens Act

requirement to describe fishing sectors and to quantify trends in

landings by

[[Page 44885]]

sector. The SFA Amendment states that with the exception of the charter

sector, trends in landings have been previously quantified for all FMPs

except those for stone crab and spiny lobster. The amendment includes

recently prepared descriptions of the Florida west-coast stone crab

fishery and the Florida spiny lobster fishery.

The SFA Amendment would adopt the construction characteristics of

stone crab traps set forth in Chapter 46-13.002(2)(a) of Florida law.

The SFA Amendment would modify the existing Council FMPs' framework

procedures for regulatory adjustments. These framework procedures

provide a streamlined rulemaking process that allows the Council to

propose additional or modified measures under an FMP and for NMFS to

approve and implement them without an FMP amendment. The amendment

would add the following measures to those that can be implemented under

the framework procedures: Biomass-based estimates for MSY, OY, and

MSST; new estimates of MFMT; and rebuilding schedules for reef fish.

The Council would use the modified framework procedures when estimates

of these added measures are provided by NMFS, reviewed by the Stock

Assessment Panels, and adopted by the Council.

In accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens Act, NMFS is evaluating the

proposed rule to determine whether it is consistent with the SFA

Amendment, the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and other applicable law. Comments

received by October 18, 1999, whether specifically directed to the

amendment or the proposed rule, will be considered by NMFS in its

decision to approve, disapprove, or partially approve the SFA

Amendment. NMFS will not consider comments received after that date in

this decision. NMFS will address in the final rule all comments

received on the amendment or the proposed rule during their respective

comment periods.

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

Dated: August 12, 1999.

Bruce C. Morehaed,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine

Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 99-21468 Filed 8-17-99; 8:45 am]

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