Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 122 / Monday, June 25, 2018 / Rules and Regulations 29461 

centimeters or less in length for 

subsistence use each year from June 23 

to August 8. The regulation at 50 CFR 

216.72(a) includes the provision that the 

harvests of seals on St. Paul and St. 

George Islands shall be treated 

independently for the purposes of this 

section. Any suspension, termination, or 

extension of the harvest is applicable 

only to the island for which it is issued. 

The Traditional Council of St. George 

Island, Tribal Government (Traditional 

Council) has requested that NMFS 

extend the opening date of the 

subsistence use season for sub-adult 

male fur seals earlier than the scheduled 

opening date of June 23 (50 CFR 

216.72(d)(1)). The extension of the 

opening date is intended to respond to 

this emergency request. The extension 

will ensure additional days to conduct 

the subsistence harvest in order provide 

meat for the community of St. George 

Island in response to the unavailability 

of food in the community store due to 

unforeseen flight cancellations and the 

complete consumption of fur seal meat 

from harvests in 2017. NMFS has 

determined that the extension of the 

harvest to an earlier date is permissible 

and should be authorized. 

On July 31, 1992 (57 FR 33900) NMFS 

issued a final rule removing the option 

to extend the harvest past August 8, but 

authorized the harvest to start on June 

23 rather than June 30. NMFS 

anticipated in the notice (57 FR 33901, 

July 31, 1992) that there would be no 

adverse impacts on the population from 

an earlier June harvest because subadult males dominate the harvest areas 

on the hauling grounds at this time of 

year, and few if any female seals have 

returned to St. George Island in June. In 

extending the opening date for the 2018 

season, NMFS does not expect that 

female fur seals would be accidentally 

killed during the few early days of the 

sub-adult male harvest, and there is no 

evidence from prior commercial or 

subsistence harvests that females were 

accidentally taken prior to mid-July 

(NMFS unpublished data). The 

subsistence use suspension and 

termination provisions based on female 

mortality remain in effect (50 CFR 

216.72(f)(1)(iv) & (g)(3)). 

All other regulatory controls 

applicable to the subsistence use of subadult males on St. George Island at 50 

CFR 216.72(d)(1)–(5) still apply, 

including the total number of fur seals 

(500) that may be harvested per year on 

St. George Island (82 FR 39044, August 

17, 2017). 

Classification 

This action responds to the urgent 

subsistence need of the Pribilovians on 

St. George Island. The Assistant 

Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA, 

(AA), determined that this rule is 

consistent with the Fur Seal Act (16 

U.S.C. 1155) and regulations (50 CFR 

216.71–216.74). The AA finds good 

cause to waive the requirement to 

provide prior notice and opportunity for 

public comment pursuant to the 

authority set forth at 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B). 

Allowing prior notice and opportunity 

for public comment on the extension of 

the opening date is unnecessary because 

the rule establishing the extension of the 

opening procedures has already been 

subject to notice and comment, and all 

that remains is to notify the public of 

the extension of the opening date. 

Additionally, allowing for prior notice 

and opportunity for public comment for 

this extension of the opening date is 

contrary to the public interest because it 

requires time, thus delaying the removal 

of a restriction and thereby reducing 

socio-economic benefits to community 

of St. George Island. In the absence of 

this action, the residents of St. George 

Island would be prohibited from 

harvesting fur seals currently necessary 

to subsistence uses due to unforeseen 

events prior to the scheduled opening of 

the subsistence use season. For the 

aforementioned reasons, it is 

impracticable and contrary to the public 

interest to delay for 30 days the effective 

date of this action, and, accordingly, the 

AA also finds good cause to waive the 

30-day delay in effectiveness of this 

action under 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3) and to 

make this action effective on the date 

specified herein. This action is 

authorized by 50 CFR 216.72(a) and is 

exempt from review under Executive 

Order 12866. Because prior notice and 

opportunity for public comment are 

waived under 5 U.S.C. 553, the 

analytical requirements of the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601– 

612, are inapplicable. 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1155(a). 

Dated: June 20, 2018. 

Samuel D. Rauch, III, 

Deputy Assistant Administrator for 

Regulatory Programs, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2018–13576 Filed 6–20–18; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 660 

[Docket No. 180320301–8551–02] 

RIN 0648–XG121 

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: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: NMFS issues this rule to 

implement annual management 

measures and catch limits for the 

northern subpopulation of Pacific 

sardine, for the fishing year lasting from 

July 1, 2018, through June 30, 2019. 

This action includes a prohibition on 

directed commercial fishing for Pacific 

sardine off the U.S. West Coast, except 

in the live bait, tribal, or minor directed 

fisheries. This action is intended to 

conserve and manage the Pacific sardine 

stock off the U.S. West Coast. 

DATES: Effective July 1, 2018, through 

June 30, 2019. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Joshua Lindsay, West Coast Region, 

NMFS, (562) 980–4034, joshua.lindsay@

noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS 

manages the Pacific sardine fishery in 

the U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ) 

off the West Coast (California, Oregon, 

and Washington) in accordance with the 

Coastal Pelagic Species (CPS) Fishery 

Management Plan (FMP). The FMP and 

its implementing regulations require 

NMFS to set annual catch levels for the 

Pacific sardine fishery based on the 

annual specification framework and 

control rules in the FMP. These control 

rules include the harvest guideline (HG) 

control rule, which, in conjunction with 

the overfishing limit (OFL) and 

acceptable biological catch (ABC) rules 

in the FMP, are used to manage harvest 

levels for Pacific sardine, in accordance 

with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act 

(Magnuson-Stevens Act). Annual 

specifications published in the Federal 

Register establish these catch limits and 

management measures for each Pacific 

sardine fishing year. 

The purpose of this final rule is to 

implement the annual catch levels and 

reference points for the 2018–2019 

fishing year. This final rule adopts, 

without changes, the catch levels and 


amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with RULES
29462 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 122 / Monday, June 25, 2018 / Rules and Regulations 

restrictions that NMFS proposed in the 

rule published on May 25, 2018 (83 FR 

24269), including the OFL and ABC that 

takes into consideration uncertainty 

surrounding the current estimate of 

biomass for Pacific sardine in the U.S. 

EEZ off the U.S. West Coast. The 

proposed rule for this action included 

additional background on specifications 

and the details of how the Pacific 

Fishery Management Council (Council) 

derived its recommended specifications 

for Pacific sardine. Those details are not 

repeated here. For additional 

information, please refer to the 

proposed rule for this action. 

TABLE 1—REFERENCE POINTS FOR THE 2018–2019 PACIFIC SARDINE FISHING YEAR IN METRIC TONS

Biomass estimate OFL ABC HG ACL Tribal 

set-aside 

52,065 .................................................................................. 11,324 9,436 0 7,000 800 

This final rule implements an OFL of 

11,324 metric tons (mt), an ABC of 9,436 

mt, and a prohibition on Pacific sardine 

catch, unless it is harvested as part of 

the live bait, tribal, or minor directed 

fisheries, or as incidental catch in other 

fisheries (Table 1). Additionally, this 

rule implements an ACL of 7,000 mt, as 

well as restrictions on the incidental 

catch of Pacific sardine by other 

fisheries. 

The incidental catch of Pacific sardine 

in other CPS fisheries will be managed 

with the following automatic inseason 

actions to reduce the potential for both 

targeting and discard of Pacific sardine 

in these fisheries: 

• An incidental per landing by weight 

allowance of 40 percent Pacific sardine 

in non-treaty CPS fisheries until a total 

of 2,500 mt of Pacific sardine has been 

landed; and 

• A reduction of the incidental per 

landing allowance to 20 percent for the 

remainder of the 2018–2019 fishing year 

once 2,500 mt Pacific sardine has been 

landed. 

Pacific sardine is known to comingle 

with other CPS stocks; thus, these 

incidental allowances are established to 

allow for the continued prosecution of 

these other important CPS fisheries and 

reduce the potential discard of sardine. 

Additionally, this final rule implements 

an incidental per landing allowance of 

up to 2 mt per trip in non-CPS fisheries. 

The NMFS West Coast Regional 

Administrator will publish a notice in 

the Federal Register to announce when 

catch reaches the incidental limits as 

well as any changes to allowable 

incidental catch percentages. 

Additionally, to ensure that the 

regulated community is informed of any 

closure, NMFS will make 

announcements through other means 

available, including fax, email, and mail 

to fishermen, processors, and state 

fishery management agencies. 

As explained in the proposed rule, the 

Quinault Indian Nation requested a setaside for tribal harvest of 800 mt (the 

same amount that was requested and 

approved for the 2017–2018 fishing 

season). Consistent with this request, 

NMFS is setting aside 800 mt of the 

2018–2019 ACL for tribal harvest (Table 

1). 

At the April 2018 meeting, the 

Council voted in support of two 

exempted fishing permit (EFP) 

proposals requesting an exemption from 

the prohibition to directly harvest 

Pacific sardine. The ACL implemented 

in this action accounts for the potential 

of NMFS approval of up to 610 mt of the 

ACL to be harvested for EFP activities. 

Comments and Responses 

On May 25, 2018, NMFS published a 

proposed rule for this action and 

solicited public comments (83 FR 

24269), with a public comment period 

that ended on June 11, 2018. NMFS 

received one comment letter from the 

environmental advocacy organization 

Oceana during the comment period. 

After consideration of the public 

comment, no changes were made from 

the proposed rule. NMFS summarizes 

and responds to the comment letter 

below. 

Comment 1: Oceana supported the 

prohibition on non-tribal directed 

commercial sardine fishing, but 

opposed the proposed ACL level of 

7,000 mt. Oceana instead requested that 

NMFS set an ACL of no more than 2,000 

mt. Oceana commented that the 

proposed ACL of 7,000 mt is excessive 

and not commensurate with the decline 

in sardine biomass and that NMFS 

should reduce the ACL to 2,000 mt. 

Response: NMFS disagrees that it is 

necessary to set the ACL lower than 

7,000 mt. The ACL should be viewed in 

the context of the approved northern 

subpopulation of Pacific Sardine OFL 

(11,324 mt) and ABC (9,436 mt), which 

has been reduced from the OFL to 

account for scientific uncertainty. The 

Council’s SSC endorsed the OFL and 

ABC, which are derived from control 

rules in the FMP, as the best scientific 

information available. The CPS FMP 

defines overfishing as catch exceeding 

the OFL. By definition, if catch 

approaches either the ACL or ABC, 

which are set below the OFL, 

overfishing would not be occurring. 

This rule conservatively limits harvest 

levels by all sources with an ACL of 

7,000 mt, which is below both the OFL 

and ABC. All incidental catch, live bait, 

minor directed, and tribal harvest of 

sardine are managed to stay at or below 

the ACL. Additionally, as a direct result 

of the decline in the estimated biomass 

from the last fishing year, the OFL and 

ABC implemented through this action 

are respectively approximately 33 and 

40 percent lower than those 

implemented last year. 

Small pelagic species, such as 

sardine, undergo wide natural 

fluctuations in abundance related to 

environmental conditions, even in the 

absence of fishing pressure. Given that 

environmental conditions are a strong 

driver for small pelagic species biomass, 

and the fact that 7,000 mt is only about 

13 percent of the 2018 biomass estimate, 

it is highly unlikely that reducing the 

ACL from 7,000 mt to 2,000 mt would 

measurably contribute to the potential 

for Pacific sardine abundance to 

increase. Even in the absence of any 

fishing mortality, unfavorable 

environmental conditions could keep 

the sardine population at a low level. 

Based on the recent stock assessments 

and NMFS research, low recent 

recruitment (i.e., the number of young 

fish maturing into the spawning 

population) is the primary cause of the 

current downward trend in overall 

population size. Research suggests 

recruitment is strongly related to 

environmental conditions, particularly 

large-scale oceanographic phenomena. 

Comment 2: Oceana also commented 

that the OFL is not based on the best 

scientific information available because 

Oceana construes new research from 

NMFS Southwest Fisheries Science 

Center (SWFSC) as demonstrating that 

the temperature-recruitment 

relationship based on data from the 

California Cooperative Oceanic 

Fisheries Investigations (CalCOFI) 

survey used to inform the OFL is no 

longer applicable. 


amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with RULES
Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 122 / Monday, June 25, 2018 / Rules and Regulations 29463 

Response: NMFS is committed to 

using the best scientific information 

available, and the SWFSC is continuing 

research to improve our understanding 

of the relationship between Pacific 

Sardine productivity and environmental 

conditions. The new research referenced 

by Oceana is still under development, 

has not been formally reviewed, and 

therefore is not yet a valid rationale to 

cease using CalCOFI data to gauge the 

temperature-recruitment relationship. 

At this time, the CalCOFI-based 

temperature relationship is still the best 

scientific information available science 

to set the OFL. 

Comment 3: In addition to 

commenting on the proposed rule, 

Oceana’s comment requested 

reconsideration of various aspects of 

sardine management that are not 

considered in this action, including 

changing the start date of the fishery, 

revision of the Minimum Stock Size 

Threshold value, and various 

modifications to the OFL, ABC and HG 

control rules. 

Response: Changes to the 

management framework of Pacific 

sardine and to the sardine harvest 

control rules are set in the CPS FMP and 

are beyond the scope of this rulemaking. 

NMFS will take these comments into 

consideration during related future 

management planning for the Pacific 

sardine stock, and recommends Oceana 

continue to bring these concerns to the 

attention of the Council as that body 

deliberates about the management 

framework for sardine. 

Classification 

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

Magnuson-Stevens Act, the NMFS 

Assistant Administrator has determined 

that this final rule is consistent with the 

CPS FMP, other provisions of the 

Magnuson-Stevens Act, and other 

applicable law. There is good cause 

under 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3) to waive the 

30-day delay in effectiveness of these 

final harvest specifications for the 2018– 

2019 Pacific sardine fishing season. In 

accordance with the FMP, this rule was 

recommended by the Council at its 

meeting in April 2018 the contents of 

which were based on the best available 

new information on the population 

status of Pacific sardine that became 

available at that time. Making these final 

specifications effective on July 1, the 

first day of the fishing season, is 

necessary for the conservation and 

management of the Pacific sardine 

resource because last year’s restrictions 

on harvest are not effective after June 

30. The FMP requires a prohibition on 

directed fishing for Pacific sardine for 

the 2018–2019 fishing year because the 

sardine biomass has dropped below the 

CUTOFF. The purpose of the CUTOFF 

in the FMP, and for prohibiting a 

directed fishing when the biomass drops 

below this level, is to protect the stock 

when biomass is low and provide a 

buffer of spawning stock that is 

protected from fishing and can 

contribute to rebuilding the stock. A 

delay in the effectiveness of this rule for 

a full 30 days would result in the reopening the directed commercial fishery 

on July 1. 

Delaying the effective date of this rule 

beyond July 1 would be contrary to the 

public interest because it would 

jeopardize the sustainability of the 

Pacific sardine stock. Furthermore, most 

affected fishermen are aware that the 

Council recommended that directed 

commercial fishing be prohibited for the 

2018–2019 fishing year and are fully 

prepared to comply with the 

prohibition. 

This final rule is exempt from the 

procedures of E.O. 12866 because this 

action contains no implementing 

regulations. 

The Chief Counsel for Regulation of 

the Department of Commerce certified 

to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the 

Small Business Administration during 

the proposed rule stage that this action 

would not have a significant economic 

impact on a substantial number of small 

entities. The factual basis for the 

certification was published in the 

proposed rule and is not repeated here. 

No comments were received regarding 

this certification. As a result, a 

regulatory flexibility analysis was not 

required and none was prepared. 

Pursuant to Executive Order 13175, 

this final rule was developed after 

meaningful consultation and 

collaboration with the tribal 

representative on the Council who has 

agreed with the provisions that apply to 

tribal vessels. 

This action does not contain a 

collection-of-information requirement 

for purposes of the Paperwork 

Reduction Act. 

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

Dated: June 20, 2018. 

Samuel D. Rauch III, 

Deputy Assistant Administrator for 

Regulatory Programs, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2018–13583 Filed 6–22–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 679 

[Docket No. 170817779–8161–02] 

RIN 0648–XG305 

Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic 

Zone Off Alaska; Kamchatka Flounder 

in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands 

Management Area 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; closure. 

SUMMARY: NMFS is prohibiting directed 

fishing for Kamchatka flounder in the 

Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands 

management area (BSAI). This action is 

necessary to prevent exceeding the 2018 

Kamchatka flounder initial total 

allowable catch (ITAC) in the BSAI. 

DATES: Effective 1200 hours, Alaska 

local time (A.l.t.), June 20, 2018, 

through 2400 hours, A.l.t., December 31, 

2018. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Steve Whitney, 907–586–7228. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS 

manages the groundfish fishery in the 

BSAI according to the Fishery 

Management Plan for Groundfish of the 

Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands 

Management Area (FMP) prepared by 

the North Pacific Fishery Management 

Council under authority of the 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act. 

Regulations governing fishing by U.S. 

vessels in accordance with the FMP 

appear at subpart H of 50 CFR part 600 

and 50 CFR part 679. 

The 2018 Kamchatka flounder ITAC 

in the BSAI is 4,250 metric tons (mt) as 

established by the final 2018 and 2019 

harvest specifications for groundfish in 

the BSAI (83 FR 8365, February 27, 

2018). In accordance with 

§ 679.20(d)(1)(i), the Administrator, 

Alaska Region, NMFS (Regional 

Administrator), has determined that the 

2018 Kamchatka flounder ITAC in the 

BSAI will soon be reached. Therefore, 

the Regional Administrator is 

establishing a directed fishing 

allowance of 2,000 mt, and is setting 

aside the remaining 2,250 mt as 

incidental catch to support other 

anticipated groundfish fisheries. In 

accordance with § 679.20(d)(1)(iii), the 

Regional Administrator finds that this 

directed fishing allowance has been 

reached. Consequently, NMFS is 


amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with RULES