42450 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 163 / Wednesday, August 22, 2018 / Rules and Regulations 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 180703607–8744–01] 

RIN 0648–XG340 

Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; 

Fisheries of the Northeastern United 

States; Atlantic Herring Fishery; 

Adjustment to 2018 Atlantic Herring 

Management Area Sub-Annual Catch 

Limits 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Interim final rule; request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: This interim final rule 

reduces the sub-annual catch limits for 

the four Atlantic Herring Management 

Areas (including Area 1A, 1B, 2, and 3). 

This action is necessary to address 

Atlantic herring population decline due 

to poor recruitment into the population. 

The reduction is intended to mitigate 

herring population declines and lead to 

more available herring biomass and 

higher catch limits in 2019 and beyond. 

DATES: This action is effective August 

22, 2018 through December 31, 2018. 

Comments must be received on or 

before September 21, 2018. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

on this document, identified by NOAA– 

NMFS–2018–0094, by either of the 

following methods: 

• Electronic Submission: Submit all 

electronic public comments via the 

Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to 

www.regulations.gov/ 

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

0094, click the ‘‘Comment Now!’’ icon, 

complete the required fields, and enter 

or attach your comments. 

• Mail: Submit written comments to 

Michael Pentony, Regional 

Administrator, 55 Great Republic Drive, 

Gloucester, MA 01930. Mark the outside 

of the envelope, ‘‘Comments on Atlantic 

Herring 2018 ACL Adjustments.’’ 

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 a 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). Attachments to 

electronic comments will be accepted in 

Microsoft Word, Excel, or Adobe PDF 

file formats only. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Daniel Luers, Fishery Management 

Specialist, 978–282–8457. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

Regulations implementing the 

Atlantic Herring Fishery Management 

Plan (FMP) for herring appear at 50 CFR 

part 648, subpart K. We implemented 

2016–2018 herring specifications 

(November 1, 2016; 81 FR 75731) in 

November 2016 as recommended by the 

Council. The specifications included 

overfishing limits (OFLs) of 138,000 mt, 

117,000 mt, and 111,000 mt for 2016, 

2017, and 2018, respectively. The 

resulting acceptable biological catch 

(ABC) based on the New England 

Fishery Management Council’s ABC 

control rule was 111,000 mt in 2018, an 

amount equal to the OFL and that had 

no greater than a 50-percent probability 

that overfishing would occur. This ABC 

was consistent with the Council 

Scientific and Statistical Committee’s 

advice. The current ACL for the herring 

fishery is 100,969 mt, and the sub-ACLs 

for the four management areas are: Area 

1A–31,789 mt; Area 1B–3,552 mt; Area 

2–31,137 mt; and Area 3–43,763 mt. 

In June of 2018, a new Northeast 

Regional Stock Assessment Workshop 

(SAW) and review by the Stock 

Assessment Review Committee (SARC) 

for Atlantic herring was completed. The 

assessment concluded that although 

Atlantic herring was not overfished and 

overfishing was not occurring in 2017, 

the stock is declining due to poor 

recruitment of herring into the 

population. The stock assessment 

estimated that recruitment has been at 

historic lows during the most recent 5 

years (2013–2017). The final assessment 

summary report is available on the 

Northeast Fisheries Science Center 

website (www.nefsc.noaa.gov/ 

publications/). 

The assessment projects that poor 

recruitment of Atlantic herring will 

likely result in a substantial decline in 

biomass, but that the biomass should 

increase after reaching a low in 2019 if 

recruitment returns to historic average 

levels. The SAW/SARC estimated that if 

the entire 2018 acceptable biological 

catch (ABC) (111,000 mt) is harvested, 

the 2019 overfishing limit (OFL) would 

need to be reduced by nearly 90 percent, 

to 13,700 mt. The SAW/SARC also 

estimated that if the 2018 catch is half 

of the ABC (55,000 mt), the OFL in 2019 

would need to be 28,900 mt. 

The herring specification regulations 

provide us with the authority to make 

in-season adjustments to the 

specifications and sub-ACLs to achieve 

conservation and management 

objectives after we have consulted with 

the Council. Any adjustments must be 

consistent with the Atlantic Herring 

FMP objectives and other FMP 

provisions. After receiving preliminary 

SAW/SARC results, we consulted with 

the Council on potential sub-ACL 

adjustments during the Council’s June 

2018 meeting. 

At its June 2018 meeting, based on the 

SAW/SARC preliminary stock 

assessment projections, the Council 

recommended capping the sub-ACLs for 

herring Management Areas 1A, 1B, and 

3 at 2017 catch levels, and to set the 

Area 2 sub-ACL at 8,200 mt. The 

Council recommended a slightly 

different approach for Area 2 because 

the 2017 harvest level had been 

surpassed, and they wanted to allow for 

a fall fishery for the bottom trawl fleet, 

who have consistently relied upon fall 

herring catch in that area. The Council 

recommendation was intended to 

provide some conservation benefits for 

herring in 2018 and thereby mitigate the 

impacts of estimated 2019 reductions on 

the herring industry. After the June 

Council meeting, additional catch 

projections completed at the SARC 

meeting indicated the Council’s 

recommended level of catch has a 69- 

percent chance of resulting in 

overfishing in 2018. The Northeast 

Fisheries Science Center subsequently 

provided us with an additional 

projection based on a 50-percent 

probability of overfishing. This 

projection resulted in catch equal to 

49,900 mt. 

To lessen the risk of overfishing 

occurring in 2018, we are reducing the 

2018 total allowable catch to 49,900 mt, 

which is 3,775 mt less than the 

Council’s recommended 53,655 mt. This 

action only reduces the sub-ACLs for 

the four herring management areas and 

does not alter any other limits in the 

2016–2018 specifications. We chose to 

reduce the Council’s recommended 

catch so that the new area sub-ACLs 

provide at least a 50-percent probability 

of preventing overfishing in 2018. We 

set levels based on the newly projected 

OFL for 2018 out of precaution to 

prevent overfishing while allowing the 

fishery to achieve optimum yield. As 

explained below, projections based on 

current catch rates show a low 

probability that the fishery will catch 


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Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 163 / Wednesday, August 22, 2018 / Rules and Regulations 42451 

these amounts. However, Atlantic 

herring catch is highly unpredictable, 

and catch totals could quickly surpass 

current sub-ACLs in spite of our 

projections. The fishery still has an 

opportunity to achieve these limits and 

mitigate the economic hardship from 

expected reductions in 2019–2021. This 

2018 reduction is projected to increase 

the OFL to 30,700 mt in 2019, 38,900 mt 

in 2020, and 59,800 mt in 2021. 

TABLE 1—ADJUSTMENT OF SPECIFICATIONS FOR 2018 HERRING SUB-ACLS

2018 Original 

(from specifications) 

2018 Council 

recommendation 

NMFS adjusted 

final 

Area 1A Sub-ACL .................................................................. * 31,789 * 28,682 27,743 

Area 1B Sub-ACL .................................................................. 3,552 2,639 2,639 

Area 2 Sub-ACL .................................................................... 31,137 8,200 8,200 

Area 3 Sub-ACL .................................................................... 43,763 14,134 11,318 

Total of Sub-ACLs ................................................................. ** 110,536 53,655 49,900 

* If New Brunswick weir fishery catch through October 1 is less than 4,000 mt, then 1,000 mt will be added to the ACL and Area 1A Sub-ACL. 

** Total of the sum of the area sub-ACLs. Note that this is different from the stockwide ACL (100,969 mt) which is not increased by carrying 

over underages. 

We are relying on the SAW/SARC’s 

report and the Northeast Fisheries 

Science Center’s additional projection to 

set reduced 2018 management area subACLs for the fishery. The SAW/SARC 

used the most recent and best available 

data to make projections for future 

biomass. Although the estimates of 

future biomass are projections, they 

represent the best available scientific 

data for NMFS to act upon to mitigate 

both further biomass reductions and 

adverse economic impacts to the herring 

fishery. Based on this information, we 

are setting sub-ACLs consistent with 

projection probabilities that were used 

to set OFLs for the 2016–2018 

specifications. 

The herring specification regulations 

provide that the OFL must be equal to 

catch resulting from applying the 

maximum fishing mortality threshold to 

a current or projected estimate of stock 

size. When the stock is not overfished 

and overfishing is not occurring, this is 

usually the fishing rate supporting 

maximum sustainable yield (FMSY). 

Catch that exceeds this amount would 

result in overfishing. The ABC may be 

set equal to the OFL, or it may be set 

lower than the OFL to account for 

scientific uncertainty. The ACL may be 

equal to or lower than the ABC after 

considering management uncertainty. 

The 2016–2018 specifications 

included an ABC that was equal to the 

OFL for 2018 and was based on a 

projection showing there was no greater 

than a 50 percent probability that 

overfishing would occur at that level. 

Further, the SSC determined there was 

a near zero chance the stock would 

become overfished at that level based on 

the scientific information available to it 

at the time. The sub-ACLs were slightly 

reduced from the ABC to account for 

management uncertainty in the New 

Brunswick weir fishery. 

We do not anticipate that the fishery 

will catch the reduced limits for each of 

the four management areas. The herring 

fishery caught 49,500 mt in 2017, and 

catch rates to date in 2018 are 

substantially below those for 2017. The 

largest catch limit reduction in 2018 

would occur in Area 3, where we would 

reduce the sub-ACL by over 30,000 mt. 

However, catch in Area 3 has dropped 

sharply in the past 3 years. The fishery 

caught 33.3k mt in 2015, 18.8k mt in 

2016, and 14.1k mt in 2017. The 2018 

catch through July 20 is only about 1.2k 

mt. This is below the catch level 

through July 20 for 2017, which was the 

previous lowest catch level for that time 

series. Similarly, the fishery has failed 

to catch the Area 1B sub-ACL in two of 

the previous three years, and the current 

catch level is less than the lowest of 

those years (2015), suggesting that it 

may be difficult for the fishery to catch 

this area’s sub-ACL. Additionally, the 

vast majority of Area 2 is closed to the 

midwater trawl fishery due to a river 

herring/shad catch cap closure, which 

greatly reduces the likelihood that any 

more than a small portion of the 

remaining sub-ACL would be harvested. 

Finally, even if catch rates increase this 

year and catch amounts approach the 

new catch limits set in this action, we 

are required to close the directed 

fisheries once 92 percent of the sub-ACL 

is projected to be caught. This would 

allow us to constrain catch below the 

limit that is expected to prevent 

overfishing. 

Classification 

The NMFS Assistant Administrator 

has determined that this interim final 

rule is consistent with the Atlantic 

Herring FMP, national standards and 

other provisions of the MagnusonStevens Fishery Conservation and 

Management Act, and other applicable 

law. 

This interim final rule is exempt from 

the procedures of Executive Order (E.O.) 

12866 because this action contains no 

implementing regulations. 

This interim final rule does not 

introduce any new reporting, 

recordkeeping, or other compliance 

requirements. 

This interim final rule does not 

contain policies with Federalism or 

‘‘takings’’ implications as those terms 

are defined in E.O. 13132 and E.O. 

12630, respectively. 

Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B), the 

Assistant Administrator for Fisheries 

(AA) finds it is impracticable and 

contrary to the public interest to provide 

for prior notice and an opportunity for 

public comment. Additionally, the AA 

finds there is good cause under 5 U.S.C. 

553(d)(1) and (3) to waive the 30-day 

delay in effectiveness so that the 

purpose of this rule is not undermined. 

This action reduces the herring catch 

limits to reduce the risk of overfishing 

in 2018 with a goal of increasing herring 

biomass and future fishery opportunity. 

This rule must be in effect as soon as 

practicable to realize these intended 

benefits. 

Before taking this action, we 

consulted with the New England 

Council at is June 2018 meeting, at 

which the Council recommended that 

we reduce the 2018 sub-ACLs for each 

herring management area. This 

consultation was scheduled after 

preliminary results from the 2018 stock 

assessment became available indicating 

that herring biomass is likely to decline 

substantially in 2019. At this meeting, 

the Council discussed the preliminary 

stock assessment results, measures 

likely necessary in 2019, and took 

public comment on its recommendation 

to reduce the 2018 sub-ACLs. As a result 

of these discussions and input from the 

public, including the herring industry, 

the Council recommended reducing 

2018 catch to mitigate the economic 

harm to the herring industry that is 


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42452 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 163 / Wednesday, August 22, 2018 / Rules and Regulations 

anticipated from necessary reductions 

in 2019. 

A delay in implementing the new 

catch limits will increase the likelihood 

that 2018 catch will exceed these new 

limits. The 2018 catch reductions in this 

action are based on the new benchmark 

assessment, which was just recently 

completed in June 2018. Based on this 

new scientific information, the 

reductions in this action would result in 

a 50-percent probability of preventing 

overfishing in 2018. Exceeding the new 

harvest limits would result in a lower 

biomass and negative economic impacts 

to the herring industry due to a lower 

allowable catch in 2019 and beyond. 

Because herring is a critical bait source 

for the lobster fishery, these negative 

economic impacts are also expected to 

extend to the lobster fishery due to a 

reduction in bait supply. 

Additionally, we are required to 

implement a 2,000-lb possession limit 

for each management area through the 

end of the current fishing year once 92 

percent of the area sub-ACL is projected 

to be caught. We are also required to 

implement the 2,000-lb possession limit 

for the whole fishery (all areas) when 

95-percent of the total herring ACL is 

harvested. If a delay in implementing 

this action results in catch approaching, 

or exceeding, the new 2018 catch limits, 

the closure of the directed fishery is 

more likely. An inseason closure of the 

directed fishery would be counter to the 

goals and objectives of this action, 

which is intended to reduce 2018 catch, 

but also continue to provide fishing 

opportunities for the remainder of the 

2018 fishing year. 

Input from the public at the June 2018 

Council meeting was nearly all 

supportive of reducing 2018 catch 

limits, and the fishing industry and the 

public generally are expecting new 

limits to be set as soon as practicable. 

The lack of catch to date in 2018 has 

tempered the industry’s expectations, 

and they no longer anticipate reaching 

even the reduced ACL. Herring industry 

members were concerned about the 

economic impact to the fishery in 2019 

if we do not ensure reduced catch this 

year. Representatives from fishing 

advocacy and environmental groups 

also supported reducing 2018 catch 

limits, suggesting it could improve the 

projected stock estimates and expedite 

growth of the stock to previous high 

levels. The Council recommended we 

implement this action with the goal of 

conserving herring biomass and 

allowing for higher fishery catch limits 

in the 2019–2021 specifications. We 

expect the 2018 sub-ACL reductions to 

increase the estimated herring biomass 

in 2019 and provide for more catch for 

the fishery. 

This interim final rule is exempt from 

the procedures of the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act because the rule is issued 

without opportunity for prior notice and 

opportunity for public comment. 

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

Dated: August 17, 2018. 

Chris Oliver, 

Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2018–18128 Filed 8–21–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 648 

[Docket No. 180104009–8201–01] 

RIN 0648–BH49 

Extension of Emergency Measures To 

Address Overfishing of Atlantic 

Shortfin Mako Shark 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; emergency 

action extended. 

SUMMARY: This rule extends the 

measures in an emergency interim final 

rule for the North Atlantic shortfin 

mako shark fishery published on March 

2, 2018. This extension is necessary to 

maintain measures that address 

overfishing of shortfin mako sharks 

while long-term measures are developed 

and to meet requirements of a 

recommendation of the International 

Commission for the Conservation of 

Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). The rule is 

expected to reduce fishing mortality to 

address overfishing, consistent with 

ICCAT Recommendation 17–08, by 

continuing to reduce landings and 

increase live releases in the recreational 

and commercial HMS fisheries, but is 

not expected to result in significant 

economic impacts. 

DATES: The end of the effective period 

for the amendments to 50 CFR 635.20, 

635.21, 635.24, and 635.71, as published 

on March 2, 2018 (83 FR 8946), is 

extended from August 29, 2018, to 

March 3, 2019. 

ADDRESSES: Copies of the 

Environmental Assessment (EA) and 

other supporting documents for the 

emergency action are available from the 

Highly Migratory Species (HMS) 

Management Division website at https:// 

www.fisheries.noaa.gov/topic/atlantichighly-migratory-species. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Tobey Curtis at (978) 281–9273 or Guy 

DuBeck or Lauren Latchford at (301) 

427–8503. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

On March 2, 2018, NMFS 

implemented an interim final rule using 

emergency authority under the 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act, 16 

U.S.C. 1855(c), to implement measures 

in HMS recreational and commercial 

fisheries to address overfishing 

consistent with ICCAT 

Recommendation 17–08 (83 FR 8946). 

The interim final rule noted that the 

measures may be extended for up to an 

additional 186 days if needed while 

longer-term measures were developed 

through an FMP amendment. This 

temporary rule extends the emergency 

interim final measures for North 

Atlantic shortfin mako sharks (Isurus 

oxyrinchus) without change. The 

interim final rule provided detailed 

information on the background, 

purpose, need, and justification for 

implementing these emergency 

management measures, and that 

information is not repeated here. 

Section 305(c) of the MagnusonStevens Act allows for the extension of 

an emergency regulation or interim 

measure, which is otherwise effective 

for up to 180 days, for up to another 186 

days, provided that the public has had 

an opportunity to comment on the 

emergency regulation. NMFS accepted 

public comment on the initial 

emergency measures in the interim final 

rule through May 7, 2018; comments 

and responses are summarized below. 

This extension does not alter the 

emergency measures already in place. 

NMFS is not accepting additional public 

comment on this extension. 

NMFS has determined that all the 

necessary criteria for extending the 

emergency measures have been met and, 

therefore, NMFS is extending these 

emergency measures through March 3, 

2019. NMFS has proposed long-term 

management measures for the North 

Atlantic shortfin mako shark stock 

through Draft Amendment 11 to the 

2006 Consolidated HMS Fishery 

Management Plan (FMP), 83 FR 35590 

(July 27, 2018), which are expected to 

replace these emergency measures 

before the expiration date. 


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