14620 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 40 / Wednesday, February 28, 2024 / Proposed Rules 

(i) Limited Access Fishery. During a 

closure of the commercial Atlantic 

mackerel fishery pursuant to 

§ 648.24(b)(1)(i), when 80 percent of the 

DAH is harvested, vessels issued a Tier 

1, 2, or 3 limited access Atlantic 

mackerel permit, may not take and 

retain, possess, or land more than 

10,000 lb (4.54 mt) of Atlantic mackerel 

per trip at any time, and may only land 

Atlantic mackerel once on any calendar 

day, which is defined as the 24-hr 

period beginning at 0001 hours and 

ending at 2400 hours. 

(ii) Open Access Fishery. During a 

closure of the Atlantic mackerel 

commercial sector pursuant to 

§ 648.24(b)(1)(i), when 80 percent of the 

DAH is harvested, vessels issued an 

open access Atlantic mackerel permit 

may not take and retain, possess, or land 

more than 2,500 lb (1.13 mt) of Atlantic 

mackerel per trip at any time, and may 

only land Atlantic mackerel once on any 

calendar day, which is defined as the 

24-hr period beginning at 0001 hours 

and ending at 2400 hours. 

(iii) River herring/shad catch cap 

closure. During a closure of the limited 

access commercial Atlantic mackerel 

fishery pursuant to § 648.24(b)(6), when 

95 percent of the river herring/shad 

catch cap has been harvested, vessels 

issued an open or limited access 

Atlantic mackerel permit may not take 

and retain, possess, or land more than 

20,000 lb (9.08 mt) of Atlantic mackerel 

per trip at any time, and may only land 

once on any calendar day, which is 

defined as the 24-hr period beginning at 

0001 hours and ending at 2400 hours. 

(3) Recreational possession limits. 

The recreational Atlantic mackerel 

possession limit for charter/party and 

private recreational anglers is 20 

Atlantic mackerel per person per trip, 

including for-hire crew. 

* * * * * 

[FR Doc. 2024–04109 Filed 2–27–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 660 

[Docket No. 240222–0057] 

RIN 0648–BM53 

Fisheries Off West Coast States; West 

Coast Salmon Fisheries; Federal 

Salmon Regulations for Overfished 

Species Rebuilding Plans 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Proposed rule, request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: NMFS proposes revisions to 

regulations that implement the Pacific 

Fishery Management Council’s 

(Council) Pacific Coast Salmon Fishery 

Management Plan (FMP). This proposed 

action would remove a rebuilding plan 

for Snohomish River coho salmon from 

regulation, as this stock has been rebuilt 

and is no longer required to be managed 

under a rebuilding plan. 

DATES: Comments on this proposed rule 

must be received on or before March 14, 

2024. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

on this document, identified by NOAA– 

NMFS–2023–0138 by any 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–2023–0138 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. 

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). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Shannon Penna, Fishery Management 

Specialist, at 562–980–4239, or 

Shannon.Penna@noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Regulations at 50 CFR part 660, subpart 

H implement the management of West 

Coast salmon fisheries under the FMP in 

the exclusive economic zone (3 to 200 

nautical miles (5.6 to 370.4 kilometers)) 

off the coasts of the States of 

Washington, Oregon, and California. 

The Snohomish River coho salmon 

stock contributes to U.S. ocean salmon 

fisheries north of Cape Falcon, ocean 

salmon fisheries off British Columbia, 

and marine and freshwater Puget Sound 

salmon fisheries. In 2018, NMFS 

determined that Snohomish River coho 

salmon was overfished under the 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery and 

Conservation Management Act (MSA) 

(Letter from Barry A. Thom, NMFS West 

Coast Regional Administrator, to Chuck 

Tracy, Pacific Fishery Management 

Council Executive Director, dated June 

18, 2018). The MSA requires Councils to 

develop and implement a rebuilding 

plan within two years of being notified 

by NMFS that a stock is overfished. The 

Council transmitted its recommended 

rebuilding plan to NMFS on October 17, 

2019, which was similar to the existing 

management framework, to rebuild 

Snohomish River coho salmon. 

The Council determined that the 

recommended rebuilding plan met the 

MSA requirement to rebuild the stock as 

quickly as possible, taking into account 

the status and biology of any overfished 

stock and the needs of fishing 

communities (50 CFR 600.310(j)(3)(i)). 

NMFS approved and implemented the 

Council’s recommended rebuilding plan 

for Snohomish River coho salmon 

through a final rule (86 FR 9301; 

February 21, 2021). 

In 2023, NMFS determined that 

Snohomish River coho salmon met the 

criteria in the FMP for being rebuilt and 

notified the Council (Letter from 

Jennifer Quan, NMFS West Coast 

Regional Administrator, to Merrick 

Burden, Pacific Fishery Management 

Council Executive Director, dated 

October 13, 2023). A stock is rebuilt 

when the 3-year geometric mean 

spawning escapement exceeds the level 

associated with the maximum 

sustainable yield (SMSY). When 

Snohomish River coho salmon was 

determined to be overfished, the 3-year 

geometric mean was 29,677 (2014 to 

2016). The most recent three-year 

geometric mean of the spawning 

escapement reported for this stock (2019 

to 2021) is 55,154, which exceeds the 

spawning escapement requirement to 

achieve SMSY for this stock, 50,000 

spawners. As the stock is rebuilt, it is no 

longer required to be managed under a 

rebuilding plan and the Snohomish 

River coho salmon rebuilding plan 

should be removed from regulation to 

avoid confusion regarding the stock’s 

status. Additionally, removing the 

Snohomish River coho salmon 

rebuilding plan from regulation will 

avoid confusion should NMFS make a 

future determination that the 

Snohomish River coho salmon stock is 

overfished again, in which case the 

MSA requires the Council to prepare 

and implement a rebuilding plan within 

two years of that determination (50 CFR 

600.310(j)(2)(ii)). Leaving the current 

rebuilding plan in regulation could 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with PROPOSALS1
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 40 / Wednesday, February 28, 2024 / Proposed Rules 14621 

cause confusion as it might be 

misperceived as being the applicable 

management measures for Snohomish 

River coho salmon, which was not the 

intention of the Council nor of NMFS. 

Therefore, to avoid confusion, it is 

necessary to remove the existing 

Snohomish River coho salmon 

rebuilding plan from at 50 CFR 

660.413(e). 

Classification 

NMFS is issuing this rule pursuant to 

section 305(d) of the MSA. This rule 

would update the regulations governing 

the salmon fishery by deleting a 

provision that is no longer necessary. 

This proposed rule has been 

determined to be not significant for 

purposes of Executive Order 12866. 

NMFS has determined that a 15-day 

comment period for this proposed rule 

is appropriate to allow adequate time for 

public comment while also allowing for 

the final rule to be in effect prior to the 

annual preseason management process 

for the 2024 fishing season for ocean 

salmon fisheries, thereby avoiding any 

confusion about the management status 

of Snohomish River coho salmon during 

that preseason management process. 

The Chief Counsel for Regulation of the 

Department of Commerce certified to 

the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the 

Small Business Administration that this 

proposed rule, if adopted, would not 

have a significant economic impact on 

a substantial number of small entities. 

The factual basis for this determination 

is as follows. 

For purposes of the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act analysis, and pursuant to 

NMFS’ December 29, 2015, final rule 

(80 FR 81194), NMFS’ small business 

size standard for businesses, including 

their affiliates, whose primary industry 

is commercial fishing, is $11 million in 

annual gross receipts. This standard 

applies to all businesses classified 

under North American Industry 

Classification System (NAICS) code 

11411 for commercial fishing, including 

all businesses classified as commercial 

finfish fishing (NAICS 114111), 

commercial shellfish fishing (NAICS 

114112), and other commercial marine 

fishing (NAICS 114119) businesses (50 

CFR 200.2; 13 CFR 121.201). 

According to the Socioeconomic 

Assessment of the 2022 Ocean Salmon 

Fisheries chapter (Chapter IV) of the 

Review of 2022 Ocean Salmon Fisheries 

Stock Assessment and Fishery 

Evaluation Document for the Pacific 

Coast Salmon Fishery Management 

Plan, which contains the most recent 

year of complete fishing data, 79 

distinct commercial vessels landed fish 

caught in Washington in 2022. These 

vessels had an average state-level exvessel revenue per vessel of $23,402; 

thus, no vessel met the threshold ($11 

million in annual gross receipts) for 

being a large entity. NMFS does not 

collect information on the number of 

small entities that participate in 

fisheries targeting Snohomish River 

coho salmon, because participants 

fishing for salmon generally do not 

know the salmon stock they are 

targeting. There were 69,260 ocean 

angler salmon trips taken on vessels on 

the Washington coast in 2022. These 

trips included both charter and private 

vessels. All of those charter businesses 

that are impacted are small entities. 

Because all affected entities are small, 

the regulation revisions in this proposed 

rule are not expected to place small 

entities at a significant disadvantage to 

large entities. Furthermore, this 

proposed rule would not change harvest 

policy or the general management 

approach. The rebuilding plan provision 

at 50 FR 660.413(e) adopted the FMP’s 

existing harvest control rule and 

management measures. Upon 

implementation of this action to delete 

the rebuilding plan provision, the FMP’s 

harvest control rule and management 

measures would apply, and the control 

rule and management measures have 

not changed since the addition of 

rebuilding plan provision in 2021. Thus, 

this proposed rule would have no 

economic impact on, and would not 

result in a reduction in the profits of, 

the regulated small entities. Therefore, 

this proposed rule, if implemented, 

would not have a significant economic 

impact on a substantial number of small 

entities. As a result, an initial regulatory 

flexibility analysis is not required and 

none has been prepared. 

This proposed rule contains no 

information collection requirements 

under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 

1995. 

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 660 

Fisheries, Fishing, and Recording and 

reporting requirements. 

Dated: February 23, 2024. 

Samuel D. Rauch, III, 

Deputy Assistant Administrator for 

Regulatory Programs, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

For the reasons set out in the 

preamble, NMFS proposes to amend 50 

CFR part 660 as follows: 

PART 660—FISHERIES OFF WEST 

COAST STATES 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 660 

continues to read as follows: 

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

U.S.C. 773 et seq., and 16 U.S.C. 7001 et seq. 

§ 660.413 [Amended] 

■ 2. Amend § 660.413 by removing 

paragraph (e). 

[FR Doc. 2024–04145 Filed 2–27–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with PROPOSALS1