[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 25 (Friday, February 6, 2015)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 6662-6663]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-02421]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 660

[Docket No. 140811659-5070-02]
RIN 0648-XD437


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.

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SUMMARY: NMFS implements the annual catch limit (ACL), harvest 
guideline (HG), and associated annual reference points for Pacific 
mackerel in the U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off the Pacific 
coast for the fishing season of July 1, 2014, through June 30, 2015. 
This rule is implemented according to the Coastal Pelagic Species (CPS) 
Fishery Management Plan (FMP). The 2014-2015 HG for Pacific mackerel is 
29,170 metric tons (mt). This is the primary commercial fishing target 
level. The annual catch target (ACT), which will be the directed 
fishing harvest target, is 24,170 mt. If the fishery attains the ACT, 
the directed fishery will close, reserving the difference between the 
HG (29,170 mt) and ACT as a 5,000 mt set-aside for incidental landings 
in other CPS fisheries and other sources of mortality. This final rule 
is intended to conserve and manage the Pacific mackerel stock off the 
U.S. West Coast.

DATES: Effective March 9, 2015 through June 30, 2015.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joshua Lindsay, West Coast Region, 
NMFS, (562) 980-4034.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: During public meetings each year, the 
estimated biomass for Pacific mackerel is presented to the Pacific 
Fishery Management Council's (Council) CPS Management Team (Team), the 
Council's CPS Advisory Subpanel (Subpanel) and the Council's Scientific 
and Statistical Committee (SSC), where the biomass and the status of 
the fisheries are reviewed and discussed. The biomass estimate is then 
presented to the Council along with the calculated overfishing limit 
(OFL), acceptable biological catch (ABC), ACL, HG and ACT 
recommendations and comments from the Team, Subpanel and SSC. Following 
review by the Council and after hearing public comment, the Council 
adopts a biomass estimate and makes its catch level recommendations to 
NMFS.
    The purpose of this final rule is to implement the 2014-2015 ACL, 
HG, ACT and other annual catch reference points, including OFL and an 
ABC that takes into consideration uncertainty surrounding the current 
estimate of biomass for Pacific mackerel in the U.S. EEZ off the 
Pacific coast. The CPS FMP and its implementing regulations require 
NMFS to set these annual catch levels for the Pacific mackerel fishery 
based on the annual specification framework in the FMP. This framework 
includes a harvest control rule that determines the HG, the primary 
management target for the fishery for the current fishing season. The 
HG is based, in large part, on the current estimate of stock biomass. 
The harvest control rule in the CPS FMP is HG = [(Biomass-Cutoff) * 
Fraction * Distribution] with the parameters described as follows:
    1. Biomass. The estimated stock biomass of Pacific mackerel for the 
2014-2015 management season is 157,106 mt.
    2. Cutoff. This is the biomass level below which no commercial 
fishery is allowed. The FMP established this level at 18,200 mt.
    3. Fraction. The harvest fraction is the percentage of the biomass 
above 18,200 mt that may be harvested.
    4. Distribution. The average portion of the Pacific mackerel 
biomass estimated in the U.S. EEZ off the Pacific coast is 70 percent 
and is based on the average historical larval distribution obtained 
from scientific cruises and the distribution of the resource according 
to the logbooks of aerial fish-spotters.
    In June 2014 the Council adopted and recommended to NMFS for the 
2014-2015 Pacific mackerel fishing season an OFL of 32,992 metric tons 
(mt), an ABC and ACL of 30,138 mt each, a HG of 29,170 mt, and an ACT 
of 24,170 mt. These catch specifications are based on the control rules 
established in the CPS FMP and a biomass estimate of 157,106 mt; the 
biomass estimate is the result of a 2011 full stock assessment as 
updated with a catch-only projection estimate. The annual biomass 
estimates are an explicit part of the various harvest control rules for 
Pacific mackerel, and as the estimated biomass decreases or increases 
from one year to the next, the resulting allowable catch levels 
similarly trend. The Pacific mackerel fishing season runs from July 1 
to June 30.
    Upon attainment of the ACT, directed fishing would close, reserving 
the difference between the HG and ACT (5,000 mt) as a set-aside for 
incidental

[[Page 6663]]

landings in other CPS fisheries and other sources of mortality. For the 
remainder of the fishing year, incidental landings would also be 
constrained to a 45-percent incidental catch allowance when Pacific 
mackerel are landed with other CPS (in other words, no more than 45 
percent by weight of the CPS landed per trip may be Pacific mackerel), 
except that up to 1 mt of Pacific mackerel could be landed without 
landing any other CPS. Upon attainment of the HG (29,170 mt), no 
retention of Pacific mackerel would be allowed in CPS fisheries. The 
purpose of the incidental set-aside and allowance of an incidental 
fishery is to allow for the restricted incidental landings of Pacific 
mackerel in other fisheries, particularly other CPS fisheries, when the 
directed fishery is closed to reduce potential discard of Pacific 
mackerel and allow for continued prosecution of other important CPS 
fisheries.
    The NMFS West Coast Regional Administrator will publish a notice in 
the Federal Register announcing the date of any closure to either 
directed or incidental fishing. Additionally, to ensure the regulated 
community is informed of any closure, NMFS will also make announcements 
through other means available, including fax, email, and mail to 
fishermen, processors, and state fishery management agencies.
    On October 20, 2014, a proposed rule was published for this action 
and public comments solicited (79 FR 62590). No comments were received.
    Detailed information on the fishery and the stock assessment are 
found in the reports ``Pacific Mackerel (Scomber japonicus) Stock 
Assessment for USA Management in the 2011-12 Fishing Year'' and 
``Pacific Mackerel Biomass Projection Estimate for USA Management 
(2014-15)'' (see ADDRESSES).

Classification

    Pursuant to section 304(b)(1)(A) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 
Conservation and Management Act, the Assistant Administrator, NMFS, has 
determined that this final rule is consistent with the CPS FMP, other 
provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management 
Act, and other applicable law.
    These specifications are exempt from review under Executive Order 
12866.
    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.
    There are no reporting, recordkeeping, or other compliance 
requirements required by this rule. Additionally, no other Federal 
rules duplicate, overlap or conflict with this rule.
    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: February 3, 2015.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2015-02421 Filed 2-5-15; 8:45 am]
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