Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 41 / Thursday, March 4, 2021 / Proposed Rules 12591 

BILLING CODE 4333–15–C 

* * * * * 

Martha Williams, 

Senior Advisor to the Secretary, Exercising 

the Delegated Authority of the Director, U.S. 

Fish and Wildlife Service. 

[FR Doc. 2021–03705 Filed 3–3–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4333–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 210225–0031;RTID 0648–XX069] 

Fisheries of the Northeastern United 

States; Atlantic Spiny Dogfish Fishery; 

Revised 2021 and Projected 2022 

Specifications 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Proposed rule; request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: NMFS proposes revised 

specifications for the 2021 Atlantic 

spiny dogfish fishery based on the MidAtlantic Fishery Management Council’s 

updated risk policy, and projected 

status quo specifications for fishing year 

2022, as recommended by the MidAtlantic and New England Fishery 

Management Councils. This action is 

necessary to establish allowable harvest 

levels to prevent overfishing while 

enabling optimum yield, using the best 

information available. This rule also 

informs the public of the proposed 

fishery specifications and provides an 

opportunity for comment. 

DATES: Comments must be received by 

March 19, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

on this document, identified by NOAA– 

NMFS–2021–0004, by the following 

method: 

Electronic Submission: Submit all 

electronic public comments via the 

Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. 

1. Go to https://www.regulations.gov/ 

docket?D=NOAA-NMFS-2021-0004, 

2. Click the ‘‘Comment Now!’’ icon, 

complete the required fields, and 

3. Enter or attach your comments. 

Instructions: Comments sent by any 

other method, to any other address or 

individual, or received after the end of 

the comment period, may not be 

considered by NMFS. All comments 

received are part of the public record 

and will generally be posted for public 

viewing on www.regulations.gov 

without change. All personal identifying 

information (e.g., name, address, etc.), 

confidential business information, or 

otherwise sensitive information 

submitted voluntarily by the sender will 

be publicly accessible. NMFS will 

accept anonymous comments (enter 

‘‘N/A’’ in the required fields if you wish 

to remain anonymous). If you are unable 

to submit your comment through 

www.regulations.gov, contact Cynthia 

Ferrio, Fishery Policy Analyst, 

Cynthia.Ferrio@noaa.gov. 

Copies of the Supplemental 

Information Report (SIR) and other 

supporting documents for this action are 

available upon request from Dr. 

Christopher M. Moore, Executive 

Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery 

Management Council, Suite 201, 800 

North State Street, Dover, DE 19901. 

These documents are also accessible via 

the internet at http://www.mafmc.org/ 

supporting-documents. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Cynthia Ferrio, Fishery Policy Analyst, 

(978) 281–9180. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery 

Management Council and the New 

England Fishery Management Council 

jointly manage the Atlantic Spiny 

Dogfish Fishery Management Plan 

(FMP), with the Mid-Atlantic Council 

acting as the administrative lead. 

Additionally, the Atlantic States Marine 

Fisheries Commission manages the 

spiny dogfish fishery in state waters 

from Maine to North Carolina through 

an interstate fishery management plan. 

The Councils’ FMP requires the 

specification of an annual catch limit 

(ACL), annual catch target (ACT), and 

total allowable landings (TAL). These 

limits and other management measures 

may be set for up to five fishing years 

at a time, with each fishing year running 

from May 1 through April 30. This 

action proposes revised specifications 

for the 2021 spiny dogfish fishery as 

well as projects specifications for 2022, 

based on the Mid-Atlantic Council’s 

updated risk policy. 

The spiny dogfish fishery is currently 

operating under multi-year 

specifications for 2019–2021, based on a 

2018 assessment update. The 

commercial quota is already projected to 

increase approximately 14 percent from 

fishing year 2020 to 2021 under these 

initial specifications. However, the MidAtlantic Council recently updated its 

risk policy to accept a higher level of 

risk for stocks at or above biomass 

targets (85 FR 81152; December 15, 

2020). At its meeting on September 8, 

2020, the Mid-Atlantic Council’s 

Scientific and Statistical Committee’s 

(SSC) recommended that the projected 

Acceptable Biological Catch (ABC) and 

resulting commercial quota for the 2021 

spiny dogfish fishery be recalculated 

using this new approach. Applying the 

new risk policy would increase the 2021 

ABC 9 percent from what was initially 

projected (24 percent above 2020). 

The joint New England and MidAtlantic Council Spiny Dogfish 

Monitoring Committee also 

recommended revising the 2021 

specifications to reflect the updated risk 

policy at its September 2020 meeting, 

consistent with the SSC. The 

Monitoring Committee derived its 

recommendations for the remainder of 

the revised specifications from the 

recommended ABC using the process 

defined in the FMP. Expected Canadian 

landings (45 mt) were deducted from 

the ABC to calculate the ACL, which 

was set equal to the ACT because no 

overages have occurred in recent years. 

The estimate of U.S. discards (3,992 mt) 

was deducted from the ACT to derive 

the TAL, and expected U.S. recreational 

landings (53 mt) were removed from the 

TAL to calculate the final coastwide 

commercial quota. 

The Monitoring Committee also 

recommended projecting status quo 

specifications for fishing year 2022. 

There is a research track stock 

assessment for spiny dogfish scheduled 

in 2022, and little additional or new 

data will be available to inform 2022 

specifications prior to the assessment. 

Therefore, the Monitoring Committee 

determined that status quo catch limits 

would be appropriate until the 

upcoming assessment can inform 

specifications for the 2023 fishing year 

and beyond. Both Councils and the 

Commission reviewed and approved 

SSC and Monitoring Committee 

recommendations at their respective 

meetings in October and December, and 

all recommended revised and projected 

2021 and 2022 spiny dogfish 

specifications based on the updated 

Mid-Atlantic Council risk policy. 

Proposed Specifications 

This action proposes the Councils’ 

recommendations for revised 2021 and 

projected status quo 2022 spiny dogfish 

specifications to maintain compliance 

with the Mid-Atlantic Council’s 

updated risk policy. These proposed 

catch limits are consistent with the SSC, 

Monitoring Committee, and 

Commission recommendations as well. 

Although currently projected 2021 

specifications were already increasing 

compared to fishing year 2020, these 

revised catch limits are nearly 10 


jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with PROPOSALS
12592 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 41 / Thursday, March 4, 2021 / Proposed Rules 

percent higher after applying the new 

risk policy. A comparison of the 

originally projected and proposed 

revised 2021–2022 specifications is 

summarized below in Table 1. 

TABLE 1—COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL (CURRENT) AND REVISED (PROPOSED) SPINY DOGFISH FISHERY SPECIFICATIONS

FOR FISHING YEARS 2021 AND 2022 

Originally projected 2021 

(current) 

Revised 2021–2022 

(proposed) Percent 

change 

Million lb Metric tons Million lb Metric tons 

ABC ...................................................................................... 35.37 16,043 38.58 17,498 9 

ACL = ACT .......................................................................... 35.26 15,994 38.48 17,453 9 

TAL ....................................................................................... 27.60 12,519 29.68 13,461 8 

Commercial Quota ............................................................... 27.42 12,438 29.56 13,408 8 

The Councils did not recommend any 

other changes to the spiny dogfish 

fishery. Therefore, all other fishery 

management measures, including the 

6,000-lb (2,722-kg) Federal trip limit, 

would remain unchanged for fishing 

years 2021 and projected to be 

unchanged for 2022 under the proposed 

action. The Councils will review the 

projected 2022 specifications to 

determine if any changes need to be 

made prior to their implementation. 

Changes may occur if quota overages 

trigger accountability measures, or if 

new stock information results in 

changes to the ABC recommendations. 

NMFS will publish a notice prior to the 

2022 fishing year to confirm or 

announce any necessary changes. NMFS 

expects the 2022 stock assessment to 

inform development of the next set of 

specifications beginning in 2023. 

Classification 

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

Magnuson Stevens Fishery Conservation 

and Management Act (MagnusonStevens Act), the NMFS Assistant 

Administrator has determined that this 

proposed rule is consistent with the 

Spiny Dogfish FMP, other provisions of 

the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and other 

applicable law, subject to further 

consideration after public comment. 

This action is not a significant action 

under Executive Order 12866. 

The Chief Counsel for Regulation of 

the Department of Commerce certified 

to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the 

Small Business Administration that this 

proposed rule, if adopted, would not 

have a significant economic impact on 

a substantial number of small entities. 

The factual basis for this determination 

is as follows. 

The Councils conducted an 

evaluation of the potential 

socioeconomic impacts of the proposed 

measures in conjunction with a SIR. 

There are no proposed regulatory 

changes in this spiny dogfish action, so 

none are considered in the evaluation. 

The proposed specifications would 

slightly increase 2021 spiny dogfish 

catch limits in accordance with the MidAtlantic Council’s updated risk policy, 

and project status quo specifications for 

2022. 

According to the Northeast Fisheries 

Science Center commercial ownership 

database, 2,305 separate vessels held 

commercial spiny dogfish permits in 

2019, the most recent year of fully 

available data. A total of 1,726 

commercial entities owned those 

permitted vessels, and of those entities, 

1,716 are categorized as small 

businesses and 10 as large businesses. 

Of those small businesses with 

commercial spiny dogfish permits, 

1,315 had some revenue in 2019. 

The proposed specifications for 2021 

and projected specifications for 2022 are 

expected to provide similar fishing 

opportunities when compared to the 

2020 fishing year. Although the 

proposed specifications increase the 

commercial quota, there are no 

proposed changes to the daily 

possession limits or other measures that 

are likely to change fishing behavior. 

Entities issued a commercial spiny 

dogfish permit may experience a slight 

positive impact related to potentially 

higher landings throughout the course 

of the entire year. However, based on 

market conditions, substantial changes 

in fishing behavior, or increases in 

short-term landings are not expected as 

a result of these specifications. As such, 

the proposed action is not expected to 

have an impact on the way the fishery 

operates or the revenue of small entities. 

Overall, analyses indicate that the 

proposed specifications will not 

substantially change: Fishing effort, the 

risk of overfishing, prices/revenues, or 

fishery behavior. Additionally, this 

action will not have a significant impact 

on small entities. As a result, an initial 

regulatory flexibility analysis is not 

required and none has been prepared. 

This proposed rule contains no 

information collection requirements 

under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 

1995. 

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

Dated: February 25, 2021. 

Samuel D. Rauch III, 

Deputy Assistant Administrator for 

Regulatory Programs, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2021–04356 Filed 3–3–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 


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