Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 8 / Wednesday, January 13, 2010 / Proposed Rules 1745 

Suite 222, Arlington, VA 22203. We will 

post all information received on http:// 

www.regulations.gov. This generally 

means that we will post any personal 

information you provide us (see the 

Request for Information section in our 

original notice—74 FR 66865—for more 

information). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Sarah Quamme, Listing Coordinator, 

Southwest Regional Ecological Services 

Office, 500 Gold Avenue, SW., 

Albuquerque, NM 87102; telephone 

505–248–6920. If you use a 

telecommunications device for the deaf 

(TDD), please call the Federal 

Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 

800–877–8339. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On 

Wednesday, December 16, 2009, we 

announced a 90-day finding on 192 

species from a petition we received to 

list 475 species in the Southwest region 

of the United States as threatened or 

endangered under the Act (16 U.S.C. 

1531 et seq.) (74 FR 66865). We found 

that the petition presented substantial 

information indicating that 67 of the 192 

species may warrant listing as 

threatened or endangered. When we 

make a finding that a petition presents 

substantial information indicating that 

listing a species may be warranted, we 

are required to promptly review the 

status of the species (status review). For 

the status review to be complete and 

based on the best available scientific 

and commercial information, we 

requested information on each of the 67 

species from governmental agencies, 

Native American Tribes, the scientific 

community, industry, and any other 

interested parties. 

In that notice, we asked commenters 

to refer to an incorrect docket number 

when submitting comments via U.S. 

mail or hand delivery. The correct 

docket number is [FWS–R2–ES–2008– 

0130], and our instructions to persons 

submitting comments electronically 

included the correct docket number. All 

hardcopy comments received under the 

incorrect docket number will be routed 

to the correct docket. If you already 

submitted a comment, even with the 

incorrect docket number, you need not 

resubmit it. For more information about 

the species, background, and our 

finding, see our original notice at 74 FR 

66865. 

Sara Prigan, 

Federal Register Liaison. 

[FR Doc. 2010–454 Filed 1–12–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 660 

[Docket No. 0912281446–91447–01] 

RIN 0648–XT32 

Fisheries Off West Coast States; 

Coastal Pelagic Species Fisheries; 

Annual Specifications 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: NMFS proposes a regulation 

to implement the annual harvest 

guideline (HG) and seasonal allocations 

for Pacific sardine in the U.S. exclusive 

economic zone (EEZ) off the Pacific 

coast for the fishing season of January 1, 

2010, through December 31, 2010. This 

rule is proposed according to the 

Coastal Pelagic Species (CPS) Fishery 

Management Plan (FMP). The proposed 

2010 acceptable biological catch (ABC) 

or maximum HG is 72,039 mt. 5,000 mt 

of this 72,039 mt would initially be set 

aside for use under an Exempted 

Fishing Permit (EFP), if issued, leaving 

the remaining 65,732 mt as the initial 

commercial fishing HG. That HG would 

be divided across the seasonal 

allocation periods in the following way: 

January 1–June 30, 22,463 mt would be 

allocated for directed harvest with an 

incidental set-aside of 1,000 mt; July 1– 

September 14, 25,861 mt would be 

allocated for directed harvest with an 

incidental set-aside of 1,000 mt; 

September 15–December 31, 11,760 mt 

would be allocated for directed harvest 

with an incidental set-aside of 1,000 mt 

with an additional 4,000 mt set aside to 

buffer against reaching the ABC. This 

rule is intended to conserve and manage 

Pacific sardine off the West Coast. 

DATES: Comments must be received by 

February 2, 2010. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

on this proposed rule identified by 

0648–XT32 by any of the following 

methods: 

• Electronic Submissions: Submit all 

electronic public comments via the 

Federal eRulemaking Portal http:// 

www.regulations.gov 

• Mail: Rodney R. McInnis, Regional 

Administrator, Southwest Region, 

NMFS, 501 West Ocean Blvd., Suite 

4200, Long Beach, 

CA 90802. 

• Fax: (562)980–4047 

Instructions: No comments will be 

posted for public viewing until after the 

comment period has closed. 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. 

NMFS will accept anonymous 

comments (enter N/A in the required 

fields if you prefer to remain 

anonymous). You may submit 

attachments to electronic comments will 

be accepted in Microsoft Word, Excel, 

WordPerfect, or Adobe PDF file formats 

only. 

Copies of the report ‘‘Assessment of 

Pacific Sardine Stock for U.S. 

Management in 2010’’ may be obtained 

from the Southwest Regional Office (see 

the Mailing address above). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Joshua Lindsay, Southwest Region, 

NMFS, (562) 980–4034. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The CPS 

FMP, which was implemented by 

publication of the final rule in the 

Federal Register on December 15, 1999 

(64 FR 69888), divides management unit 

species into two categories: actively 

managed and monitored. Harvest 

guidelines for actively managed species 

(Pacific sardine and Pacific mackerel) 

are based on formulas applied to current 

biomass estimates. Biomass estimates 

are not calculated for species that are 

only monitored (jack mackerel, northern 

anchovy, and market squid). 

During public meetings each year, the 

biomass for each actively managed 

species within the CPS FMP is 

presented to the Pacific Fishery 

Management Council’s (Council) CPS 

Management Team (Team), the 

Council’s CPS Advisory Subpanel 

(Subpanel) and the Council’s Scientific 

and Statistical Committee (SSC). At that 

time, the biomass, the ABC and the 

status of the fisheries are reviewed and 

discussed. This information is then 

presented to the Council along with HG 

recommendations and comments from 

the Team, Subpanel and SSC. Following 

review by the Council and after hearing 

public comment, the Council makes its 

HG recommendation to NMFS. 

In November 2009, the Council 

adopted and recommended to NMFS an 

ABC or maximum HG of 72,039 mt for 

the 2010 Pacific sardine fishing year. 

This ABC is based on a biomass 

estimate of 702,204 mt and the harvest 

control rule established in the CPS FMP. 

This ABC/HG is slightly higher than the 

ABC/HG for the 2009 fishing season, 


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1746 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 8 / Wednesday, January 13, 2010 / Proposed Rules 

which was 66,932 mt. The Council also 

recommended that 5,000 mt of the 

available 2010 ABC/HG be initially 

reserved for research activities that 

would be undertaken under a potential 

exempted fishing permit (EFP). In 2009, 

2,400 mt was subtracted from the total 

HG for an EFP. The Council will hear 

proposals and comments on any 

potential EFPs at the March Council 

meeting and make a final 

recommendation to NMFS on whether 

or not to issue an EFP(s) for the 5,000 

mt research set aside at their April 2010 

Council meeting. NMFS will likely 

make a decision on whether or not to 

issue an EFP some time prior to the start 

of the second seasonal period (July 1, 

2010). Any of the 5,000 mt that is not 

issued to an EFP will be rolled into the 

third allocation period’s directed 

fishery. Any research set aside 

attributed to an EFP designed to be 

conducted during the closed fishing 

time in the second allocation period 

(prior to September 15), but not utilized, 

will roll into the third allocation 

period’s directed fishery. Any research 

set aside attributed to an EFP designed 

to be conducted during closed fishing 

times in the third allocation, but not 

utilized, will not be re-allocated. 

The Council recommended that the 

remaining 67,039 mt (HG of 72,039 mt 

minus proposed 5,000 mt EFP set aside) 

be used as the initial overall fishing HG 

and be allocated across the seasonal 

periods established by Amendment 11 

(71 FR 36999). The Council also 

recommended an incidental catch set 

aside of 3,000 mt and a management 

uncertainty buffer of 4,000 mt. 

Subtracting this set aside from the 

initial overall HG establishes an initial 

directed harvest fishery of 60,039 mt 

and an incidental fishery of 3,000 mt. 

The purpose of the incidental fishery is 

to allow for the restricted incidental 

landings of Pacific sardine in other 

fisheries, particularly other CPS 

fisheries, if and when a seasonal 

directed fishery is closed. 

The directed harvest levels and 

incidental set-aside would be initially 

allocated across the three seasonal 

allocation periods in the following way: 

January 1–June 30, 22,463 mt would be 

allocated for directed harvest with an 

incidental set aside of 1,000 mt; July 1– 

September 14, 25,861 mt would be 

allocated for directed harvest with an 

incidental set aside of 1,000 mt; 

September 15–December 31, 11,760 mt 

would be allocated for directed harvest 

with an incidental set aside of 1,000 mt. 

If during any of the seasonal allocation 

periods the applicable adjusted directed 

harvest allocation is projected to be 

taken, fishing would be closed to 

directed harvest and only incidental 

harvest would be allowed. For the 

remainder of the period, any incidental 

Pacific sardine landings would be 

counted against that period’s incidental 

set-aside. The proposed incidental 

fishery would also be constrained to a 

30 percent by weight incidental catch 

rate when Pacific sardine are landed 

with other CPS so as to minimize the 

targeting of Pacific sardine. In the event 

that an incidental set aside is projected 

to be attained, all fisheries will be 

closed to the retention of Pacific sardine 

for the remainder of the period. If the 

set-aside is not fully attained or is 

exceeded in a given seasonal period, the 

directed harvest allocation in the 

following seasonal period would 

automatically be adjusted to account for 

the discrepancy. Additionally, if during 

any seasonal period the directed harvest 

allocation is not fully attained or is 

exceeded, then the following period’s 

directed harvest total would be adjusted 

to account for this discrepancy as well. 

If the total HG or these apportionment 

levels for Pacific sardine are reached or 

are expected to be reached, the Pacific 

sardine fishery would be closed via 

appropriate rulemaking until it re-opens 

either per the allocation scheme or the 

beginning of the next fishing season. 

The Regional Administrator would 

publish a notice in the Federal Register 

announcing the date of such closures. 

Detailed information on the fishery 

and the stock assessment are found in 

the report ‘‘Assessment of Pacific 

Sardine Stock for U.S. Management in 

2010’’ (see ADDRESSES). 

The formula in the CPS FMP uses the 

following factors to determine the HG: 

1. Biomass. The estimated stock 

biomass of Pacific sardine age one and 

above for the 2010 management season 

is 702,204 mt. 

2. Cutoff. This is the biomass level 

below which no commercial fishery is 

allowed. The FMP established this level 

at 150,000 mt. 

3. Distribution. The portion of the 

Pacific sardine biomass estimated in the 

EEZ off the Pacific coast is 87 percent 

and is based on the average historical 

larval distribution obtained from 

scientific cruises and the distribution of 

the resource according to the logbooks 

of aerial fish-spotters. 

4. Fraction. The harvest fraction is the 

percentage of the biomass above 150,000 

mt that may be harvested. The fraction 

used varies (5–15 percent) with current 

ocean temperatures; a higher fraction for 

warmer ocean temperatures and a lower 

fraction for cooler temperatures. 

Warmer ocean temperatures favor the 

production of Pacific sardine. For 2010, 

the fraction used was 15 percent, based 

on three seasons of sea surface 

temperature at Scripps Pier, California. 

Classification 

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

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act, the 

NMFS Assistant Administrator has 

determined that this proposed rule is 

consistent with the CPS FMP, other 

provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens 

Fishery Conservation and Management 

Act, and other applicable law, subject to 

further consideration after public 

comment. 

These proposed specifications are 

exempt from review 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 as 

follows: 

The purpose of this proposed rule is to 

implement the 2010 HG for Pacific sardine in 

the U.S. EEZ off the Pacific coast. The CPS 

FMP and its implementing regulations 

require NMFS to set an annual HG for the 

Pacific sardine fishery based on the harvest 

formula in the FMP. The harvest formula is 

applied to the current stock biomass estimate 

to determine the ABC, from which the HG is 

then derived. The HG is determined using an 

environmentally-based formula accounting 

for the effect of ocean conditions on stock 

productivity. 

The HG is apportioned based on the 

following allocation scheme: 35 percent of 

the HG is allocated coastwide on January 1; 

40 percent of the HG, plus any portion not 

harvested from the initial allocation is then 

reallocated coastwide on July 1; and on 

September 15 the remaining 25 percent, plus 

any portion not harvested from earlier 

allocations will be released. If the total HG 

or these apportionment levels for Pacific 

sardine are reached at any time, the Pacific 

sardine fishery is closed until either it reopens per the allocation scheme or the 

beginning of the next fishing season. There 

is no limit on the amount of catch that any 

single vessel can take during an allocation 

period or the year; the HG and seasonal 

allocations are available until fully utilized 

by the entire CPS fleet. 

The small entities that would be affected 

by the proposed action are the vessels that 

compose the West Coast CPS finfish fleet. 

Approximately 109 vessels are permitted to 

operate in the sardine fishery component of 

the CPS fishery off the U.S. West Coast; 65 

permits in the Federal CPS limited entry 

fishery off California (south of 39 N. lat.), and 

a combined 44 permits in Oregon and 

Washington’s state Pacific sardine fisheries. 

This proposed rule has an equal effect on all 

of these small entities and therefore will 

impact a substantial number of these small 

entities in the same manner. These vessels 

are considered small business entities by the 


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Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 8 / Wednesday, January 13, 2010 / Proposed Rules 1747 

U.S. Small Business Administration since the 

vessels do not have annual receipts in excess 

of $4.0 million. Therefore, there would be no 

economic impacts resulting from 

disproportionality between small and large 

business entities under the proposed action. 

The profitability of these vessels as a result 

of this proposed rule is based on the average 

Pacific sardine ex-vessel price per mt. NMFS 

used average Pacific sardine ex-vessel price 

per mt to conduct a profitability analysis 

because cost data for the harvesting 

operations of CPS finfish vessels was 

unavailable. 

For the 2009 fishing year the maximum HG 

was set at 66,932 mt. The majority of the HG 

was harvested during the 2009 fishing season 

with an estimated coastwide ex-vessel value 

of $12.5 million. Although the 2009 HG was 

25 percent lower than the HG for 2008, due 

to an increase in ex-vessel price per pound 

of sardine, coastwide ex-vessel revenue for 

2009 was less than $2 million different than 

revenue for 2008 and above the average exvessel revenue achieved from 2002–2007. 

The proposed HG for the 2010 Pacific 

sardine fishing season (January 1, 2010 

through December 31, 2010) is 72,039 mt. 

This HG is slightly higher than the HG for 

2009 of 66,932 mt. If the fleet were to take 

the entire 2010 HG, and assuming a 

coastwide average ex-vessel price per mt of 

$187, the potential revenue to the fleet would 

be approximately $13.5 million. This would 

be higher than average coastwide ex-vessel 

value achieved from 2002–2009. Whether 

this will occur depends greatly on market 

forces within the fishery and on the regional 

availability of the resource to the fleets and 

the fleets’ ability to find pure schools of 

Pacific sardine. A change in the market and/ 

or the potential lack of availability of the 

resource to the fleets could cause a reduction 

in the amount of Pacific sardine that is 

harvested, in turn, reducing the total revenue 

to the fleet from Pacific sardine. 

However, the revenue derived from 

harvesting Pacific sardine is only one factor 

determining the overall revenue of a majority 

of the CPS fleet and therefore the economic 

impact to the fleet from the proposed action 

can not be viewed in isolation. CPS finfish 

vessels typically harvest a number of other 

species, including anchovy, mackerel, squid, 

and tuna, making Pacific sardine only one 

component of a multi-species CPS fishery. A 

reliance on multiple species is a necessity 

because each CPS stock is highly associated 

to present ocean and environmental 

conditions. Because each species responds to 

such conditions in its own way, not all CPS 

stocks are likely to be abundant at the same 

time; therefore as abundance levels and 

markets fluctuate, the CPS fishery as a whole 

has endured by depending on a group of 

species. 

Based on the disproportionality and 

profitability analysis above, this rule if 

adopted, will not have a significant economic 

impact on a substantial number of these 

small entities. 

As a result, an Initial Regulatory 

Flexibility Analysis is not required and 

none has been prepared. 

This action does not contain a 

collection-of-information requirement 

for purposes of the Paper Reduction Act. 

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

Dated: January 7, 2010. 

Samuel D. Rauch III, 

Deputy Assistant Administrator for 

Regulatory Programs, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2010–496 Filed 1–12–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 


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