9530 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 34 / Friday, February 18, 2011 / Proposed Rules 

of the golden eagle in the western 

United States. Golden eagles are 

vulnerable to collisions with wind 

turbines. Because of this risk, many of 

the current and planned wind facilities 

require permits under the Bald and 

Golden Eagle Protection Act to legally 

authorize any take of eagles that may 

occur. We are soliciting comments and 

recommendations on our draft Eagle 

Conservation Plan Guidance. 

We request comments and suggestions 

on the Guidance. We anticipate 

preparing further guidance to address 

incidental eagle takes under other 

circumstances. Explaining the reasons 

and rationale for your comments where 

appropriate will help as we consider 

them. 

We will take into consideration the 

relevant comments, suggestions, or 

objections that we receive by the 

comment due date indicated above in 

the DATES section. These comments, 

suggestions, or objections, and any 

additional information received may 

lead us to adopt a final guidance that 

differs from this guidance. 

Public Availability of Comments 

Before including your address, phone 

number, e-mail address, or other 

personal identifying information in your 

comment, you should be aware that 

your entire comment—including your 

personal identifying information—may 

be made publicly available at any time. 

You can ask us in your comment to 

withhold your personal identifying 

information from public review, but we 

cannot guarantee that we will be able to 

do so. 

As published elsewhere in today’s 

Federal Register, the Service is 

simultaneously soliciting comments on 

the draft Land-based Wind Energy 

Guidelines. 

Authority: The authorities for this notice 

are the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, 40 Stat. 

755 (16 U.S.C. 703–712); Pub. L. 95–616, 92 

Stat. 3112 (16 U.S.C. 712(2)); Pub. L. 106– 

108, 113 Stat. 1491, Note Following 16 U.S.C. 

703; the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection 

Act (16 U.S.C. 668a–d), 704, 712, 742j–1, 

1374(g), 1382, 1538(d), 1539, 1540(f), 3374, 

4901–4916; 18 U.S.C. 42; 19 U.S.C. 1202; and 

31 U.S.C. 9701. 

Dated: January 31, 2011. 

Rowan Gould, 

Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 

[FR Doc. 2011–3700 Filed 2–17–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 622 

[Docket No. 101124579–1088–01] 

RIN 0648–BA51 

Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of 

Mexico, and South Atlantic; SnapperGrouper Fishery Off the Southern 

Atlantic States; Red Snapper 

Management Measures 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Proposed rule; request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: NMFS issues this proposed 

rule that would implement a regulatory 

amendment (Regulatory Amendment 

10) to the Fishery Management Plan for 

the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the 

South Atlantic Region (FMP), as 

prepared by the South Atlantic Fishery 

Management Council (Council). This 

proposed rule would remove the 

snapper-grouper area closure 

implemented through Amendment 17A 

to the FMP. The intended effect of this 

proposed rule is to help achieve 

optimum yield (OY) for the fishery and 

minimize socio-economic impacts to 

snapper-grouper fishermen, without 

increasing the risk of the red snapper 

resource experiencing overfishing. 

DATES: Written comments must be 

received on or before March 21, 2011. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

on the proposed rule identified by 

0648–BA51 by any of the following 

methods: 

• Electronic submissions: Submit 

electronic comments via the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Mail: Rick DeVictor, Southeast 

Regional Office, NMFS, 263 13th 

Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701. 

Instructions: All comments received 

are a part of the public record and will 

generally be posted to http:// 

www.regulations.gov without change. 

All Personal Identifying Information (for 

example, name, address, etc.) 

voluntarily submitted by the commenter 

may be publicly accessible. Do not 

submit Confidential Business 

Information or otherwise sensitive or 

protected information. 

To submit comments through the 

Federal e-rulemaking portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov, enter ‘‘NOAA– 

NMFS–2010–0249’’ in the keyword 

search, then check the box labeled 

‘‘Select to find documents accepting 

comments or submissions’’, then select 

‘‘Send a comment or submission’’. 

NMFS will accept anonymous 

comments (enter N/A in the required 

field if you wish to remain anonymous). 

You may submit attachments to 

electronic comments in Microsoft Word, 

Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe PDF file 

formats only. 

Comments received through means 

not specified in this rule will not be 

considered. 

Copies of the regulatory amendment, 

which includes an environmental 

assessment and a regulatory impact 

review, may be obtained from the South 

Atlantic Fishery Management Council, 

4055 Faber Place Drive, Suite 201, North 

Charleston, SC 29405; telephone 843– 

571–4366; fax 843–769–4520; e-mail 

safmc@safmc.net; or may be 

downloaded from the Council’s Web 

site at http://www.safmc.net/. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rick 

DeVictor, 727–824–5305. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

snapper-grouper fishery of the South 

Atlantic is managed under the FMP. The 

FMP was prepared by the Council and 

is implemented through regulations at 

50 CFR part 622 under the authority of 

the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act 

(Magnuson-Stevens Act). 

Background 

The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires 

NMFS and regional fishery management 

councils to prevent overfishing and 

achieve, on a continuing basis, the OY 

from Federally managed fish stocks. 

These mandates are intended to ensure 

fishery resources are managed for the 

greatest overall benefit to the nation, 

particularly with respect to providing 

food production and recreational 

opportunities, and protecting marine 

ecosystems. To further this goal, the 

Magnuson-Stevens Act requires fishery 

managers to end overfishing of stocks 

while achieving OY from the fishery, 

and to minimize bycatch and bycatch 

mortality to the extent practicable. 

In the South Atlantic, the red snapper 

stock is currently overfished and 

undergoing overfishing. The stock status 

was determined through a Southeast 

Data Assessment and Review (SEDAR) 

benchmark stock assessment for red 

snapper, SEDAR 15, which was 

completed in February 2008. Based on 

this stock assessment, Amendment 17A 

to the FMP was developed to end the 

overfishing of red snapper and rebuild 

the stock. The final rule to implement 

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Amendment 17A was published in the 

Federal Register on December 9, 2010 

(75 FR 76874). The management 

measures implemented through the final 

rule included a prohibition on the 

harvest and possession of red snapper in 

or from the South Atlantic exclusive 

economic zone (EEZ) (and in State or 

Federal waters for a vessel with a 

Federal commercial or charter vessel/ 

headboat permit for South Atlantic 

snapper-grouper), a requirement for the 

use of non-stainless steel circle hooks 

when fishing for snapper-grouper 

species with hook-and-line gear north of 

28° N. latitude in the South Atlantic 

EEZ, and an area closure for South 

Atlantic snapper-grouper. The snappergrouper area closure includes 4,827 

square miles (7,768 square km) off the 

coasts of southern Georgia and northeast 

Florida where the harvest and 

possession of snapper-grouper species 

would be prohibited, except when 

fishing with black sea bass pot gear or 

spearfishing gear for species other than 

red snapper. 

Through the SEDAR 24 benchmark 

stock assessment, updated information 

on the status of the red snapper stock 

became available in late October 2010. 

The SEDAR 24 assessment incorporated 

the high landings from recent years, as 

well as new information regarding the 

selectivity of older and larger red 

snapper to hook-and-line gear, postrelease mortality data, and 

methodologies for estimating historic 

landings of red snapper. The Council’s 

Scientific and Statistical Committee 

(SSC) reviewed the new assessment in 

November 2010 and endorsed model 

runs in the assessment that suggest the 

snapper-grouper area closure could be 

modified without compromising the 

objective of ending red snapper 

overfishing. Modifying the area closure 

would also minimize negative socioeconomic effects on snapper-grouper 

fishing communities. The SEDAR 24 

assessment has determined, similar to 

SEDAR 15, that the red snapper stock is 

overfished and undergoing overfishing, 

however, the rate of overfishing found 

in SEDAR 24 is less than the rate of 

overfishing found in the previous stock 

assessment (SEDAR 15). 

Given the information in the new 

stock assessment, an emergency rule to 

delay the effective date of the snappergrouper area closure was published on 

December 9, 2010 (75 FR 76890). The 

emergency rule delayed the effective 

date of the area closure from January 3, 

2011, until June 1, 2011, with a possible 

186-day extension, unless superseded 

by subsequent rulemaking. A correction 

to the emergency rule was published on 

December 20, 2010, to correct a previous 

error (75 FR 79309). The delayed 

effective date provided the Council time 

to respond to the new scientific 

information from the SEDAR 24 

benchmark stock assessment. The 

Council voted to approve Regulatory 

Amendment 10 to modify the area 

closure implemented through 

Amendment 17A to the FMP, based 

upon the new stock assessment 

information. 

Regulatory Amendment 10 evaluates 

alternatives to the snapper-grouper area 

closure approved in Amendment 17A to 

the FMP. These alternatives include 

decreases in the size of the area closure, 

decreases in the duration of the area 

closure, and the removal of the area 

closure entirely. 

At its December 2010 meeting, the 

Council voted to remove the snappergrouper area closure entirely as their 

preferred alternative in Regulatory 

Amendment 10. 

Regulatory Amendment 10 presents 

information from SEDAR 24 that 

suggests the red snapper fishing 

moratorium in the South Atlantic has 

been more effective in reducing the 

mortality of red snapper than previously 

determined from the results of SEDAR 

15. The analysis contained in the 

regulatory amendment also evaluates 

fishing effort reduction, in addition to 

the reduction in red snapper removals 

in 2010 as reported through the Marine 

Recreational Fishing Statistics Survey 

(MRFSS). Evidence provided by MRFSS 

suggests effort has been reduced by 33 

percent and total red snapper removals 

in pounds have been reduced by 81 

percent when 2010 data are compared to 

the 2007–2009 baseline data. The 

required reduction in removals of red 

snapper to end overfishing has been 

determined to be 70 to 75 percent. 

When recent reductions in fishing 

effort are considered, the red snapper 

moratorium, implemented through 

Amendment 17A to the FMP, is 

projected to end red snapper overfishing 

and rebuild the stock without the 

additional implementation of the 

snapper-grouper area closure. Therefore, 

the proposed action in Regulatory 

Amendment 10 to remove the snappergrouper area closure approved in 

Amendment 17A to the FMP seeks to 

prevent significant direct economic loss 

to snapper-grouper fishermen and 

achieve OY for the fishery, without 

subjecting the red snapper resource to 

overfishing. 

Classification 

Pursuant to section 304(b)(1)(A) of the 

Magnuson-Stevens Act, the NMFS 

Assistant Administrator has determined 

that this proposed rule is consistent 

with the regulatory amendment, other 

provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens 

Act, and other applicable law, subject to 

further consideration after public 

comment. 

This proposed rule has been 

determined to be not significant for 

purposes of Executive Order 12866. 

NMFS prepared an initial regulatory 

flexibility analysis (IRFA), as required 

by section 603 of the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act, for this proposed rule. 

The IRFA describes the economic 

impact that this proposed rule, if 

adopted, would have on small entities. 

A description of the action, why it is 

being considered, and the objectives of, 

and legal basis for this action are 

contained at the beginning of this 

section in the preamble and in the 

SUMMARY section of the preamble. A 

copy of the full analysis is available 

from the Council (see ADDRESSES). A 

summary of the IRFA follows. 

The rule proposes to remove the 

snapper-grouper area closure provision 

implemented through Amendment 17A 

to the FMP. This provision is a yearround closure, i.e., prohibition of 

harvest, retention, and possession of any 

species in the snapper-grouper fishery 

management unit, except for snappergrouper harvested with spearfishing 

gear or allowed to be harvested with a 

sea bass pot, within an area 

corresponding to commercial logbook 

grids (cells) 2880, 2980, and 3080 for 

depths from 98 ft (30 m) to 240 ft (73 

m). 

The Magnuson-Stevens Act provides 

the statutory basis for the proposed rule. 

No duplicative, overlapping, or 

conflicting Federal rules have been 

identified. 

The proposed rule would not 

establish any new reporting, recordkeeping, or other compliance 

requirements. 

This proposed rule is expected to 

directly affect commercial harvesting 

and for-hire fishing operations. The 

Small Business Administration has 

established size criteria for all major 

industry sectors in the U.S. including 

fish harvesters and for-hire operations. 

A business involved in fish harvesting 

is classified as a small business if it is 

independently owned and operated, is 

not dominant in its field of operation 

(including its affiliates), and has 

combined annual receipts not in excess 

of $4.0 million (NAICS code 114111, 

finfish fishing) for all its affiliated 

operations worldwide. For for-hire 

vessels, the other qualifiers apply and 

the annual receipts threshold is $7.0 

million (NAICS code 713990, 

recreational industries). 

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9532 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 34 / Friday, February 18, 2011 / Proposed Rules 

From 2007–2009, an average of 895 

vessels-per-year had valid permits to 

operate in the commercial snappergrouper fishery. Of these vessels, 751 

held transferable permits and 144 held 

non-transferable permits. On average, 

797 vessels landed snapper-grouper 

species, generating dockside revenues of 

approximately $14.514 million (2008 

dollars). Each vessel, therefore, 

generated an average of approximately 

$18,000 annually in gross revenues from 

snapper-grouper. Gross dockside 

revenues by State are distributed as 

follows: $4.054 million in North 

Carolina, $2.563 million in South 

Carolina, $1.738 million in Georgia/ 

Northeast Florida, $3.461 million in 

central and southeast Florida, and 

$2.695 million in the Florida Keys. 

Vessels that operate in the snappergrouper fishery may also operate in 

other fisheries, the revenues of which 

cannot be determined with available 

data and are not reflected in these totals. 

Based on revenue information, all 

commercial vessels affected by the 

proposed rule can be considered small 

entities. 

From 2007–2009, an average of 1,797 

vessels had valid permits to operate in 

the snapper-grouper for-hire fishery, of 

which 82 are estimated to have operated 

as headboats. The for-hire fleet is 

comprised of charterboats, which charge 

a fee on a vessel basis, and headboats, 

which charge a fee on an individual 

angler (head) basis. The charterboat 

annual average gross revenue is 

estimated to range from approximately 

$62,000–$84,000 for Florida vessels, 

$73,000–$89,000 for North Carolina 

vessels, $68,000–$83,000 for Georgia 

vessels, and $32,000–$39,000 for South 

Carolina vessels. For headboats, the 

corresponding estimates are $170,000– 

$362,000 for Florida vessels, and 

$149,000–$317,000 for vessels in the 

other States. 

Based on these average revenue 

figures, all for-hire operations that 

would be affected by the proposed rule 

can be considered small entities. 

Some fleet activity, i.e., multiple 

vessels owned by a single entity, may 

exist in both the commercial and forhire snapper-grouper sectors but its 

extent is unknown, and all vessels are 

treated as independent entities in this 

analysis. 

The proposed rule is expected to 

directly affect all Federally permitted 

commercial vessels that operate in the 

South Atlantic snapper-grouper fishery 

as well as for-hire vessels operating out 

of northeast Florida and Georgia. All 

directly affected entities have been 

determined, for the purpose of this 

analysis, to be small entities. Therefore, 

it is determined that the proposed 

action will affect a substantial number 

of small entities. 

Because all entities that are expected 

to be affected by the proposed rule are 

considered small entities, the issue of 

disproportional effects on small versus 

large entities does not arise in the 

present case. 

The economic analysis done for the 

proposed rule estimated the changes in 

net operating revenues to commercial 

and for-hire vessels. These changes were 

estimated assuming the closure 

provision, within Amendment 17A to 

the FMP, commenced on January 3, 

2011, although its implementation has 

been delayed via emergency rule until 

June 1, 2011, unless superseded by 

subsequent rulemaking. For the current 

analysis, net operating revenue was 

equated to profit. 

The proposed action to eliminate the 

area closure that was adopted in 

Amendment 17A to the FMP is 

estimated to have a non-uniform change 

in the short-term profits of commercial 

vessels operating in the South Atlantic 

snapper-grouper fishery. Annual profits 

would increase approximately by 

$358,000 for vessels in northeast Florida 

and Georgia and by $103,000 for vessels 

in southeast Florida. On the other hand, 

annual profits would decrease 

approximately by $241,000 for vessels 

in North Carolina, by $129,000 in South 

Carolina, and by $2,000 for vessels in 

the Florida Keys. The net effect of the 

proposed action on commercial vessels 

as a whole would be an average increase 

in annual profits of approximately 

$88,000. Vessels fishing with verticalline gear are the ones most affected by 

the proposed action. 

The differential effects of the 

proposed action on commercial vessels 

in various geographic areas in the South 

Atlantic are mainly determined by the 

manner in which quotas for certain 

snapper-grouper species, such as gag, 

red grouper, black grouper, and 

vermilion snapper, would be met. 

Although the proposed action would 

not close very specific areas off the 

coasts of Georgia and northeast Florida, 

commercial vessels operating in other 

areas would also be affected via the 

possible quota closures of some 

snapper-grouper species. Opening the 

areas closed under Amendment 17A 

would allow commercial vessels from 

southeast Florida, northeast Florida, and 

Georgia to harvest more snappergrouper species than they may have 

under the closure, such as vermilion 

snapper, gag, and red grouper, and this 

would tend to increase their profits. 

Such a harvest increase, however, may 

lead to reaching certain snapper-grouper 

quotas sooner, which could result in 

lower harvest by vessels in North 

Carolina, South Carolina, and the 

Florida Keys. These vessels would then 

experience reductions in their profits. 

The more restrictive quotas are those for 

vermilion snapper and gag. The quota 

for gag is especially critical, because it 

also serves as a trigger mechanism for 

closing the harvest of all shallow-water 

groupers. 

For-hire vessels operating in northeast 

Florida and Georgia are expected to be 

the only for-hire vessels affected by the 

proposed action. This is based on the 

extent of for-hire vessel fishing activities 

in the subject three statistical areas set 

for closure under Amendment 17A to 

the FMP. As a result of the proposed 

action in this regulatory amendment, 

annual profits are expected to increase 

by $300,000 for charterboats and 

$1,000,000 for headboats. 

Eleven alternatives, including the 

proposed action, were considered for 

the area closure. The first alternative to 

the proposed action is the no action 

alternative. Among the alternatives, this 

would result in the largest negative 

economic effects on small entities. The 

second alternative to the proposed 

action is a May–October closure of cells 

2880 and 2980 in depths from 98 ft 

(30 m) to 240 ft (73 m). This alternative 

would result in lower profit increases 

for both the commercial and for-hire 

vessels than the proposed action. The 

third alternative to the proposed action 

is a May–August closure of cells 2880, 

2980, and 3080 in depths from 98 ft (30 

m) to 240 ft (73 m). This alternative 

would result in a lower profit increase 

to the for-hire vessels and a slightly 

higher profit increase to commercial 

vessels than the proposed action. The 

overall net effect of this alternative 

would be a lower profit increase than 

that under the proposed action. 

The fourth alternative to the proposed 

action is a July–December closure of 

cells 2880, 2980, and 3080 in depths 

from 98 ft (30 m) to 240 ft (73 m). This 

alternative would result in lower profit 

increases to the for-hire and commercial 

vessels than the proposed action. The 

fifth alternative to the proposed action 

is a May–December closure of cells 

2880, 2980, and 3080 in depths from 98 

ft (30 m) to 240 ft (73 m). This 

alternative would result in lower profit 

increases to the for-hire and commercial 

vessels than the proposed action. The 

sixth alternative to the proposed action 

is a May–December closure of cells 

2880, 2980, and 3080 in depths from 66 

ft (20 m) to 240 ft (73 m) for the first 

year and a May–October closure of cells 

2880 and 2980 in depths from 98 ft 

(30 m) to 240 ft (73 m) for the second 

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Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 34 / Friday, February 18, 2011 / Proposed Rules 9533 

and consecutive years. This alternative 

would result in lower profit increases to 

the for-hire and commercial vessels than 

the proposed action. 

The seventh alternative to the 

proposed action is a May–October 

closure of cells 2880 and 2980 in depths 

from 98 ft (30 m) to 240 ft (73 m) for 

the first year and a June–July closure of 

cell 2980 in depths from 98 ft (30 m) to 

240 ft (73 m) for the second and 

consecutive years. This alternative 

would result in lower profit increases to 

the for-hire and commercial vessels than 

the proposed action. The eighth 

alternative to the proposed action is a 

May–October closure of cells 2880 and 

2980 in depths from 98 ft (30 m) to 240 

ft (73 m) for the first year and a July 

closure of cells 2880 and 2980 in depths 

from 98 ft (30 m) to 240 ft (73 m) for 

the second and consecutive years. This 

alternative would result in lower profit 

increases to the for-hire and commercial 

vessels than the proposed action. The 

ninth alternative to the proposed action 

is a July–December closure of cells 

2880, 2980, and 3080 in depths from 98 

ft (30 m) to 240 ft (73 m) for the first 

year and a January–April closure of cells 

2880 and 2980 in depths from 98 ft 

(30 m) to 240 ft (73 m) for the second 

and consecutive years. This alternative 

would result in lower profit increases to 

the for-hire and commercial vessels than 

the proposed action. 

The tenth alternative to the proposed 

action is a May–December closure of 

cells 2880, 2980, and 3080 in depths 

from 98 ft (30 m) to 240 ft (73 m) for 

the first year and a January–April 

closure of cells 2880 and 2980 in depths 

from 98 ft (30 m) to 240 ft (73 m) for 

the second and consecutive years. This 

alternative would result in lower profit 

increases to the for-hire and commercial 

vessels than the proposed action. 

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 622 

Fisheries, Fishing, Puerto Rico, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Virgin Islands. 

Dated: February 14, 2011. 

Samuel D. Rauch III, 

Deputy Assistant Administrator for 

Regulatory Programs, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

For the reasons set out in the 

preamble, 50 CFR part 622 is proposed 

to be amended as follows: 

PART 622—FISHERIES OF THE 

CARIBBEAN, GULF, AND SOUTH 

ATLANTIC 

1. The authority citation for part 622 

continues to read as follows: 

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

§ 622.35 [Amended] 

2. In § 622.35, the suspension on 

paragraph (l) is lifted and paragraph (l) 

is removed and reserved. 

[FR Doc. 2011–3733 Filed 2–17–11; 8:45 am] 

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