Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 28 / Friday, February 9, 2024 / Proposed Rules 9111 

§ 300.63 Catch sharing plan and domestic 

management measures in Area 2A. 

* * * * * 

(c) * * * 

(5) * * * 

(iii) California. The California 

recreational fishery is divided into the 

following subareas: 

(A) Northern California Coast 

Subarea. The Northern California Coast 

subarea is located south of the OR/CA 

border (42°00.00′ N lat.) to Point Arena 

(38°57.5′ N lat.). 

(B) South of Point Arena Subarea. The 

South of Point Area subarea is located 

south of Point Arena (38°57.5′ N lat.) to 

the U.S./Mexico border. 

(6) * * * 

(i) * * * 

(F) If any state is projected to not 

utilize its respective recreational 

allocation by the end of the fishing 

season, NMFS may take inseason action 

to transfer any projected unused 

allocation to another state. After a state 

notifies NMFS of the amount of their 

recreational subarea allocation in net 

pounds that is projected to be unused 

after accounting for state management 

objectives, NMFS may take inseason 

action to reallocate the amount of net 

pounds available equally to the other 

two states. If a state eligible to receive 

the additional pounds declines all or 

part of the additional pounds, or NMFS 

determines a state is unlikely to use 

additional allocation, a portion or the 

full amount of the remainder would go 

to the other state. 

(ii) Inseason management provisions 

include, but are not limited to, the 

following: 

* * * * * 

(E) Modification of state recreational 

allocation, including a shift in 

recreational allocation from one state to 

another; 

(F) Modification of subarea allocation; 

and 

(G) Modification of the Stonewall 

Bank Yelloweye Rockfish Conservation 

Area (YRCA) restrictions off Oregon 

using YRCA expansions as defined in 

groundfish regulations at 50 CFR 

660.70(g) or (h). 

* * * * * 

[FR Doc. 2024–02220 Filed 2–8–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 665 

[RTID 0648–XD180] 

Pacific Island Fisheries; Standardized 

Bycatch Reporting Methodologies 

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 five fishery ecosystem plans (FEP) 

for fisheries in the Pacific Islands 

Region. If approved, the FEPs would be 

amended to update data collection 

mechanisms identified as standardized 

bycatch reporting methodologies 

(SBRM) as needed, and revise 

descriptions of SBRM for consistency 

with current NMFS regulations. The 

proposed action considers the best 

available scientific, commercial, and 

other information about the fisheries, 

and supports the long-term 

sustainability of fishery resources. 

DATES: NMFS must receive comments 

on the proposed amendment by April 9, 

2024. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

on the proposed amendment, identified 

by NOAA–NMFS–2023–0151, by either 

of the following methods: 

• Electronic Submission: Submit all 

electronic public comments via the 

Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to 

https://www.regulations.gov and type 

NOAA–NMFS–2023–0151 in the Search 

box (note: copying and pasting the 

FDMS Docket Number directly from this 

document may not yield search results). 

Click on the ‘‘Comment’’ icon, complete 

the required fields, and enter or attach 

your comments. 

• Mail: Send written comments to 

Sarah Malloy, Acting Regional 

Administrator, NMFS Pacific Islands 

Regional Office (PIRO), 1845 Wasp 

Blvd., Bldg. 176, Honolulu, HI 96818. 

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 https://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 and NMFS prepared a 

draft omnibus amendment that 

describes changes that would be made 

to the FEPs. The draft amendment is 

available from https://

www.regulations.gov or the Council, 

1164 Bishop St., Suite 1400, Honolulu, 

HI 96813, telephone 808–522–8220, fax 

808–522–8226, https://

www.wpcouncil.org. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Brett Schumacher, Sustainable Fisheries 

Division, NMFS PIR, 808–725–5176. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Council and NMFS manage Federal 

fisheries in the Pacific Islands Region 

pursuant to the Magnuson-Stevens 

Fishery and Conservation and 

Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens 

Act). Management of these fisheries is 

organized through five FEPs: the 

American Samoa Archipelago FEP, the 

Mariana Archipelago FEP, the Hawaii 

Archipelago FEP, the Pacific Remote 

Island Areas (PRIA) FEP, and the 

Pelagic Fisheries of the Western Pacific 

Region FEP. NMFS proposes to amend 

these FEPs. 

Section 303(a)(11) of the MagnusonStevens Act requires that the FEPs 

establish a standardized bycatch 

reporting methodology for each fishery. 

On January 19, 2017, NMFS published 

a final rule (82 FR 6317) establishing 

national guidance regulations at 50 CFR 

600.1600 through 600.1610 for 

compliance with the Magnuson-Stevens 

Act SBRM requirements. The SBRM 

final rule requires the Council in 

coordination with NMFS to review their 

management plans and make any 

necessary changes to be consistent with 

published guidance. The final rule also 

requires the Council to explain how the 

SBRMs meet the stated purpose in the 

rule based on the analysis of four 

considerations: (1) characteristics of 

bycatch in the fishery, (2) the feasibility 

of the reporting methodology, (3) the 

uncertainty of data resulting from the 

methodology, and (4) how the data will 

be used to assess the amount and type 

of bycatch in the fishery (60 CFR 

600.1610(a)). 

Current descriptions of SBRM for 

Pacific Island fisheries were approved 

in 1999 (64 FR 19067, April 19, 1999) 

and 2003 (68 FR 46112, August 5, 2003) 

as part of omnibus bycatch amendments 

and later incorporated into the five FEPs 


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9112 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 28 / Friday, February 9, 2024 / Proposed Rules 

in. As such, the descriptions of bycatch 

characteristics and data collection 

methods pre-date the 2017 SBRM rule, 

and do not describe SBRM consistent 

with current regulations. 

The Council completed a consistency 

review of all five FEPs in 2021, and took 

final action at their 187th meeting on 

September 21, 2021, to recommend an 

omnibus amendment for all FEPs to 

establish consistency with SBRM 

regulations, clarify language for SBRM, 

and explain how the SBRM in each FEP 

meets the purpose as defined in the 

2017 SBRM rule. 

The proposed amendment would 

update data collection mechanisms 

identified as SBRM as needed, and 

revise descriptions of SBRM in each 

FEP for consistency with current 

regulations. The proposed amendments 

to the FEPs are administrative in nature 

and would not change any fishery data 

collection, recording, or reporting 

methods or requirements, and would 

not implement any new regulations. 

Therefore, the amendments would not 

affect any fishery in terms of gear used; 

area fished; seasonality; species caught; 

level of catch or effort; bycatch of target 

stocks, non-target stocks, or protected 

species; or any other aspect of any 

fishery. Also, the amendments would 

not add any additional administrative or 

enforcement requirements. Therefore no 

effects of the proposed omnibus 

amendment are expected with respect to 

the natural environment in the Pacific 

Islands Region; social, economic, or 

cultural conditions related to any 

fishery; or to the administration and 

enforcement of any fishery. 

NMFS must receive comments on the 

proposed amendment by April 9, 2024, 

for consideration in the decision to 

approve, partially approve, or 

disapprove the amendment. 

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

Dated: February 5, 2024. 

Everett Wayne Baxter, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2024–02642 Filed 2–8–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 


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