[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 250 (Wednesday, December 31, 1997)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 68246-68247]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-34077]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 622

[I.D. 121197E]
RIN 0648-AJ16


Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; 
Reef Fish Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico; Resubmission of Disapproved 
and Revised Measure in Amendment 11

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of availability of a revised, previously disapproved 
measure in an amendment to a fishery management plan; request for 
comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management 
Council (Council) has resubmitted a previously disapproved measure, 
originally contained in Amendment 11 to the Fishery Management Plan for 
the Reef Fish Resources of the Gulf of Mexico, for review, approval, 
and implementation by NMFS. The measure would define optimum yield 
(OY). Written comments are requested from the public.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before March 2, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be mailed to the Southeast Regional Office, 
NMFS, 9721 Executive Center Drive N., St. Petersburg, FL 33702.
    Requests for copies of the Resubmission of the Previously 
Disapproved Measure, Originally Contained in Amendment 11, which 
includes an environmental assessment and a regulatory impact review, 
should be sent to the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, 3081 
U.S. Highway 301 North, Suite 1000, Tampa, FL 33619-2266; Phone: 888-
883-1844; Fax: 813-225-7015.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert Sadler, 813-570-5305.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation 
and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) requires each regional 
fishery management council to submit any fishery management plan or 
amendment to NMFS for review and approval, disapproval, or partial 
approval. The Magnuson-Stevens Act also requires that NMFS, upon 
receiving an amendment, immediately publish a document in the Federal 
Register

[[Page 68247]]

stating that the amendment is available for public review and comment.
    Based on a preliminary evaluation of Amendment 11 in August 1995, 
the Regional Administrator, Southeast Region, NMFS, disapproved the 
definition of OY proposed in Amendment 11, because it was determined to 
be inconsistent with the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management 
Act. The disapproved definition of OY would have set OY for each stock 
based on a SPR level corresponding to F<INF>0.1</INF> until an 
alternative operational definition that optimizes ecological, economic, 
and social benefits to the Nation has been developed.
    The Council's Spawning Potential Ratio (SPR) Strategy Committee 
considered NMFS' disapproval and recommended a 30- to 40-percent SPR 
level as a revised OY. SPR is defined as the number of eggs that could 
be produced by an average female over its lifetime when the stock is 
fished, divided by the number of eggs that could be produced by an 
average female over its lifetime when the stock is unfished. The 
Council's Reef Fish Stock Assessment Panel (RFSAP) recommended that OY 
be based on a 35-percent SPR level and that the fishing mortality rate 
at the 35-percent SPR level be used as a surrogate for the fishing 
mortality rate that produces maximum sustainable yield (MSY). The 
Council considered these recommendations, NMFS' prior disapproval, and 
public comment, and subsequently resubmitted the revised OY definition 
to NMFS for review under Amendment 11. The revised definition would 
initially set OY for each reef fish stock managed under the FMP at a 
yield level that would result in at least a 30-percent SPR for that 
stock. This measure allows the Council to propose setting OY based on a 
more conservative (higher) SPR level, if the RFSAP indicates that the 
biological information supports such action.
    Comments from the Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC) 
indicate that OY should be defined at a more conservative level than 
30-percent SPR for those species for which biological information is 
presently unavailable, and for other species that change sex, may be 
especially vulnerable to overfishing, and are believed to be less 
resilient as they mature. The SEFSC recommended that OY be defined as a 
fishing mortality rate that allows a 40-percent SPR for these 15 
species: Red porgy, rock hind, speckled hind, yellowedge grouper, red 
hind, jewfish, red grouper, misty grouper, warsaw grouper, snowy 
grouper, Nassau grouper, yellowmouth grouper, gag, scamp, and yellowfin 
grouper. The SEFSC concluded that approval of the resubmitted OY 
definition would risk overfishing, since application of the proposed OY 
definition to the 15 listed species may not be based on the best 
available scientific information. The SEFSC also indicated that the 
proposed definition may be inconsistent with the Magnuson-Stevens Act 
provisions regarding OY and MSY. Comments on these concerns are 
specifically invited.
    If approved, no Federal regulatory action (i.e., no proposed and 
final rules) will be necessary to implement the revised and resubmitted 
measure.
    In accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens Act, NMFS is evaluating the 
resubmitted measure; comments received by March 2, 1998, will be 
considered in the approval/disapproval decision. All comments received 
during the comment period will be addressed in a notice of approval or 
disapproval.

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

    Dated: December 23, 1997.
Gary C. Matlock,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 97-34077 Filed 12-30-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F