Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 153 / Wednesday, August 8, 2018 / Proposed Rules 39039 

bigeye tuna in Hawaii in the last quarter 

of the year when market demand is high 

will result in positive economic benefits 

for fishery participants and net benefits 

to the nation. Allowing participating 

territories to enter into specified fishing 

agreements under this action provides 

benefits to the territories by providing 

funds for territorial fisheries 

development projects. Establishing a 

2,000 t longline limit for bigeye tuna 

where territories are not subject to 

Western and Central Pacific Fisheries 

Commission longline limits is not 

expected to adversely affect vessels 

based in the territories. 

Historical catch of bigeye tuna by the 

American Samoa longline fleet has been 

less than 2,000 t, even including the 

catch of vessels based in American 

Samoa, catch by dual permitted vessels 

that land their catch in Hawaii, and 

catch attributed to American Samoa 

from U.S. vessels under specified 

fishing agreements. With regard to 

Guam and the CNMI, no longline fishing 

has occurred since 2011. 

Under the proposed action, longline 

fisheries managed under the FEP are not 

expected to expand substantially nor 

change the manner in which they are 

currently conducted, (i.e., area fished, 

number of vessels longline fishing, 

number of trips taken per year, number 

of hooks set per vessel during a trip, 

depth of hooks, or deployment 

techniques in setting longline gear), due 

to existing operational constraints in the 

fleet, the limited entry permit programs, 

and protected species mitigation 

requirements. The proposed rule does 

not duplicate, overlap, or conflict with 

other Federal rules and is not expected 

to have significant impact on small 

organizations or government 

jurisdictions. Furthermore, there would 

be little, if any, disproportionate adverse 

economic impacts from the proposed 

rule based on gear type, or relative 

vessel size. The proposed rule also will 

not place a substantial number of small 

entities, or any segment of small 

entities, at a significant competitive 

disadvantage to large entities. 

For the reasons above, NMFS does not 

expect the proposed action to have a 

significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small entities. As 

such, an initial regulatory flexibility 

analysis is not required and none has 

been prepared. 

This action is exempt from review 

under E.O. 12866. 

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

Dated: August 2, 2018. 

Samuel D. Rauch III, 

Deputy Assistant Administrator for 

Regulatory Programs, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2018–16883 Filed 8–7–18; 8:45 am] 

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 665 

RIN 0648–BH63 

Pacific Island Fisheries; Ecosystem 

Component Species 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of availability of fishery 

ecosystem plan amendments; request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the 

Western Pacific Fishery Management 

Council (Council) proposes to amend 

the Fishery Ecosystem Plans (FEP) for 

American Samoa, the Mariana 

Archipelago, and Hawaii. Amendment 4 

to the American Samoa FEP, 

Amendment 5 to the Marianas FEP, and 

Amendment 5 to the Hawaii FEP would 

reclassify certain management unit 

species as ecosystem component 

species. The intent of these amendments 

is to focus management efforts on 

species that are in need of conservation 

and management, and improve 

efficiency of fishery management in the 

region. 

DATES: NMFS must receive comments 

on the proposed amendments by 

October 9, 2018. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

on this document, identified by NOAA– 

NMFS–2018–0021, by either of the 

following methods: 

• Electronic Submission: Submit all 

electronic public comments via the 

Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov/ 

#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2018- 

0021, click the ‘‘Comment Now!’’ icon, 

complete the required fields, and enter 

or attach your comments. 

• Mail: Send written comments to 

Michael D. Tosatto, Regional 

Administrator, NMFS Pacific Islands 

Region (PIR), 1845 Wasp Blvd., Bldg. 

176, Honolulu, HI 96818. 

Instructions: NMFS may not consider 

comments sent by any other method, to 

any other address or individual, or 

received after the end of the comment 

period. All comments received are a 

part of the public record, and NMFS 

will generally post them 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). 

The Council prepared Amendment 4 

to the American Samoa FEP, 

Amendment 5 to the Marianas FEP, and 

Amendment 5 to the Hawaii FEP. Those 

amendments, available as a single 

document, include an environmental 

assessment (EA). Copies of the 

amendments and EA, and other 

supporting documents are available at 

https://www.regulations.gov or the 

Council, 1164 Bishop St., Suite 1400, 

Honolulu, HI 96813, tel 808–522–8220, 

fax 808–522–8226, www.wpcouncil.org. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Sarah Ellgen, Sustainable Fisheries, 

NMFS PIR, 808–725–5173. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Council established the FEPs for 

American Samoa, the Mariana 

Archipelago, and Hawaii to conserve 

and manage fisheries in the US 

Exclusive Economic Zone (Federal 

waters) in the Pacific Islands. The 

Council developed the FEPs, and NMFS 

implemented the associated regulations, 

under the authority of the MagnusonStevens Fishery Conservation and 

Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens 

Act). 

Under the National Standard 

guidelines (50 CFR 600.305 and 

600.310) for the Magnuson-Stevens Act, 

the Council and NMFS manage any fish 

species or stock that generally is a target 

of a Federal fishery and caught 

predominantly in Federal waters. 

Councils develop fishery management 

plans for these species (known as 

management unit species (MUS) that 

describe the fisheries, essential fish 

habitat (EFH), the scientific data 

required for effective implementation of 

the plan, the data that should be 

collected from the fisheries, and other 

required elements. The FEPs specify 

maximum sustainable yield, optimum 

yield, and status determination criteria 

so that overfishing and overfished 

determinations can be made. The 

Council and NMFS are also required to 

set annual catch limits (ACL) and 

accountability measures (AM) for all 

MUS, and the FEPs describe the process 

for specifying ACLs and AMs. 


amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with PROPOSALS
39040 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 153 / Wednesday, August 8, 2018 / Proposed Rules 

The FEPs have documented that the 

Council would use the system for 

classifying certain stocks as ecosystem 

component species (ECS), based on the 

criteria outlined in National Standard 1. 

National Standard 1 describes ECS as 

stocks that are included in an FEP to 

achieve ecosystem management 

objectives, but do not require 

conservation and management. Once 

reclassified as ECS, the number of MUS 

would be reduced from 205 species or 

families to 11 species in the American 

Samoa FEP, from 227 species or families 

to 13 species in the Marianas FEP, and 

from 173 species or families to 20 

species in the Hawaii FEP. Appendix B 

in the amendment document list the 

proposed ECS for each area. 

For a detailed description of the 

methods that the Council and NMFS 

used to identify the species to reclassify 

from MUS to ECS, please refer to 

Section 2 of the EA (see ADDRESSES). 

The proposed action would change 

the definitions of MUS and ECS in the 

FEPs to reflect the Council’s 

recommendations. It would also replace 

the FEP definitions of Currently 

Harvested Coral Reef Taxa (CHCRT) and 

Potentially Harvested Coral Reef Taxa 

(PHCRT) with Coral Reef ECS. All 

management measures that allow for the 

collection of data on EC species and 

protect the associated role of ECS in the 

ecosystem, and/or address other 

ecosystem issues, would be retained. 

These include permits and fees, 

reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, prohibitions, allowable 

gear and gear restrictions, notifications, 

at-sea observer coverage, vessel marking 

and gear identification, area closures, 

and quotas, seasons, and minimum sizes 

for American Samoa and Mariana 

precious coral ECS. The management 

measures unique to the CHCRT and 

PHCRT would be carried forward to the 

coral reef ECS. 

Finally, the proposed action would 

result in revision or removal of those 

sections of the FEPs that are not 

required for ECS, including EFH 

designations for ECS. The effects of this 

change on the environment would be 

minor, however, because the total area 

designated as EFH would change only 

for the deep (400–700 m) benthic 

substrates near Guam, the CNMI, and 

American Samoa, and reclassification 

would not change any fishery activities. 

NMFS must receive comments on the 

proposed amendments by October 9, 

2018 for consideration in the decision to 

approve, partially approve, or 

disapprove the amendments. 

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

Dated: August 3, 2018. 

Margo B. Schulze-Haugen, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2018–16946 Filed 8–7–18; 8:45 am] 

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