Fisheries Off West Coast States and in the Western Pacific; Northern Anchovy Fishery; Amendment 8

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 660

[I.D. 030299B]

RIN 0648-AL48

Fisheries Off West Coast States and in the Western Pacific;

Northern Anchovy Fishery; Amendment 8

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; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the Pacific Fishery Management Council

(Council) has submitted Amendment 8 to the Northern Anchovy Fishery

Management Plan (FMP) for Secretarial review. The amendment was

prepared to provide a comprehensive management approach to small

coastal pelagic species (CPS) off the Pacific coast. The amendment also

addresses the provisions of the 1996 Sustainable Fisheries Act (SFA)

regarding overfishing, bycatch, essential fish habitat, and fishing

communities.

DATES: Comments on Amendment 8 must be received on or before May 11,

1999.

ADDRESSES: Comments on Amendment 8 or supporting documents should be

sent to William T. Hogarth, Administrator, Southwest Region, NMFS, 501

West Ocean Boulevard, Suite 4200, Long Beach, CA 90802.

Copies of Amendment 8, which includes a Final Supplemental

Environmental Impact Statement/Regulatory Impact Review, are available

from Larry Six, Executive Director, Pacific Fishery Management Council,

2130 SW Fifth Avenue, Suite 224, Portland, OR, 97201.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James Morgan, Sustainable Fisheries

Division, NMFS, at 562-980-4030 or Julie Walker, Pacific Fishery

Management Council, at 503-326-6352.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation

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

Fishery Management Council to submit any amendment to an FMP to NMFS

for review and approval, disapproval, or partial approval. The

Magnuson-Stevens Act also requires that NMFS, upon receiving an

amendment, immediately publish notification in the Federal Register

that the amendment is available for public review and comment. NMFS

will consider the public comments received during the comment period

described above in determining whether to approve the amendment for

implementation.

Amendment 8 would place Pacific mackerel (Scomber japonicus),

Pacific sardine (Sardinops sagax), Jack mackerel (Trachurus

symmetricus), and market squid (Loligo opalescens) in the FMP's

management unit with northern anchovy (Engraulis mordax). The basic

elements of the amendment follow:

1. Amendment 8 would divide managed species into two categories:

``actively managed'' and ``monitored''. Actively managed species would

be subject to annually determined harvest limits based on estimated

biomass. Monitored species would not be subject to mandatory harvest

limits, although other management measures such as closed areas could

apply.

2. Amendment 8 would include conservative harvest strategies that

take into account uncontrolled harvests in the Mexican fishery, natural

variability in the stocks, and the importance of coastal pelagics as

forage for other fish, marine mammals, and birds.

3. The amendment would establish a limited entry system in the

commercial fishery for CPS finfish (squid is not included) south of

39 deg. N. latitude (Pt. Arena, California). Open access would continue

north of 39 deg. N. latitude. Historically, 99 percent of the sardine

resource has been harvested south of Pt. Arena. When abundance is high,

fishermen in more northern areas would still be able to gain benefits

from the high abundance through the open access fishery. When abundance

declines, the resource tends to disappear from the north and move

south.

4. To qualify for a limited entry permit, a vessel would have had

to land at least 100 metric tons (mt) of finfish during the period

January 1, 1993, through November 5, 1997.

5. Vessels with limited entry permits would be limited to 125 mt

per trip. The purpose of the limit is to control the fleet's harvest

capacity.

6. Limited entry permits could be transferred under only limited

circumstances to a replacement vessel, except during the first year of

the program, when one unrestricted transfer of each permit would be

allowed.

7. To accommodate vessels that land dead bait and fish for small

specialty markets, Amendment 8 would allow vessels to land a specific

amount, between 1 and 5 mt, without a limited entry permit. The Council

would determine, and could adjust, the precise amount.

8. Amendment 8 would establish a framework process similar to that

used in the Pacific coast groundfish fishery to allow the

implementation of certain types of management actions without further

amending the FMP. Under the framework system, actively managed and

monitored species could be moved between categories as circumstances

require.

The SFA amended section 303(a) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, which

describes the required components of each FMP. The SFA established a 2-

year deadline (October 11, 1998) by which each Regional Fishery

Management Council was required to submit amendments to NMFS to bring

all FMPs into compliance with the new provisions of section 303(a).

Amendment 8 seeks to make the FMP consistent with the Magnuson-

Stevens Act by defining, consistent with the SFA, optimum yield (OY),

overfishing, and levels at which managed stocks are considered

overfished. Amendment 8 also, as required by the SFA, defines essential

fish habitat, discusses the nature of bycatch in the fisheries for CPS,

and presents social and economic data on communities substantially

dependent or substantially engaged in fishing.

As described in the National Standard guidelines (63 FR 24212, May

1, 1998), OY is based on maximum sustainable yield (MSY). The MSY

control rules proposed for CPS would maintain biomass of the stocks at

levels that are the same or higher than those produced at FMSY (the

harvest rate that produces MSY), while also allowing relatively high

and consistent levels of catch. OY based on an MSY control rule for CPS

would always be at least as effective in maintaining a healthy stock

and fishery as catches under an FMSY policy. An alternative would be to

define OY as being equal to MSY, but this could prevent the Council

from reducing harvest levels to accommodate ecological or economic

factors. Large fluctuations in biomass make reducing the harvest as the

biomass falls essential. The proposed definition of

[[Page 12280]]

overfishing is in terms of fishing mortality or exploitation rate.

Depending on the exploitation rate, overfishing could occur when CPS

stocks are at either high or low abundance levels. Biomass levels below

which no fishing is allowed are also defined.

With regard to overfishing, experience with CPS stocks around the

world indicates that overfished low biomass conditions usually occur

when unfavorable environmental conditions and high fishing mortality

rates occur at the same time. Management measures for overfished CPS

stocks would not depend on whether low biomass was due to excess

fishing or unfavorable environmental conditions. Reductions in fishing

mortality are required in either case.

Bycatch as defined in the Magnuson-Stevens Act is minimal in the

CPS fisheries. Any bycatch issues that might arise if a high volume

fishery occurred in the northern portion of the management area are

unknown. In the CPS fisheries, some fish are caught and sold incidental

to catching other species, because they sometimes school together.

Incidental catch allowances are defined as percentages of catch,

landings, or deliveries. Incidental catch allowances can be adjusted as

needed, depending on the status of the incidental species.

Presence/absence data were used to determine essential fish habitat

for CPS and were based on a thermal range bordered within the

geographic area where a CPS species occurs at any life stage, where the

CPS species has occurred historically during periods of similar

environmental conditions, or where environmental conditions do not

preclude colonization by the CPS species. This is necessary because as

abundance increases, the range of CPS species increases significantly.

New habitat becomes essential to maintain the prevailing biomass.

Based on socioeconomic data, historical harvests, and the natural

variability exhibited by CPS species as documented in the FMP,

management areas were developed to give fishing communities along the

Pacific coast opportunities to make maximum use of the available

biomass. The framework process may be used to make adjustments as

experience is gained from harvesting an expanding sardine biomass and

as markets develop.

The FMP stresses the importance of CPS as bait to recreational

fisheries and as food for those species targeted by recreational

fishermen. The needs of live and dead bait fisheries are addressed. The

FMP takes into account the importance of CPS as prey by maintaining

levels of high average biomass.

Public comments on Amendment 8 must be received by May 11, 1999, to

be considered by NMFS in the decision to approve/disapprove Amendment

8. A proposed rule to implement Amendment 8 has been submitted for

Secretarial review and approval. NMFS expects to publish and request

public comment on proposed regulations to implement Amendment 8 in the

near future.

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

Dated: March 8, 1999.

Richard W. Surdi,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine

Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 99-6145 Filed 3-11-99; 8:45 am]

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