14328 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 53 / Thursday, March 19, 2015 / Rules and Regulations 

of numerous fisheries have been 

analyzed in various biological opinions, 

and this final rule would not affect the 

conclusions of those opinions. The 

inclusion of fisheries on the AD is not 

considered to be a management action 

that would adversely affect threatened 

or endangered species. If NMFS takes a 

management action, for example, 

requiring modifications to fishing gear 

and/or practices, NMFS would review 

the action for potential adverse effects to 

listed species under the ESA. 

This final rule would have no adverse 

impacts on sea turtles and may have a 

positive impact on sea turtles by 

improving knowledge of sea turtles and 

the fisheries interacting with sea turtles 

through information collected from 

observer programs. 

This final rule would not affect the 

land or water uses or natural resources 

of the coastal zone, as specified under 

section 307 of the Coastal Zone 

Management Act. 

Dated: March 12, 2015. 

Samuel D. Rauch, III, 

Deputy Assistant Administrator for 

Regulatory Programs, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2015–06341 Filed 3–18–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 622 

[Docket No. 140728622–5225–02] 

RIN 0648–BE44 

Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of 

Mexico, and South Atlantic; Reef Fish 

Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico; Red 

Snapper Management Measures 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: NMFS implements 

management measures described in a 

framework action to the Fishery 

Management Plan for the Reef Fish 

Resources of the Gulf of Mexico (FMP), 

as prepared by the Gulf of Mexico 

Fishery Management Council (Council). 

This final rule revises the recreational 

accountability measures (AMs) by 

establishing a recreational annual catch 

target (ACT) and quota overage 

adjustment for red snapper in the 

exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the 

Gulf of Mexico (Gulf). The purpose of 

this final rule is to help achieve 

optimum yield (OY) for the Gulf red 

snapper resource and better ensure red 

snapper recreational landings do not 

exceed the recreational quota 

established in the rebuilding plan. 

DATES: This rule is effective April 20, 

2015. 

ADDRESSES: Electronic copies of the 

framework action, which includes an 

environmental assessment, a regulatory 

impact review, and a Regulatory 

Flexibility Act analysis may be obtained 

from the Southeast Regional Office Web 

site at http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/

sustainable_fisheries/gulf_fisheries/

reef_fish/index.html. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Peter Hood, Southeast Regional Office, 

NMFS, telephone 727–824–5305; email: 

Peter.Hood@noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS and 

the Council manage the Gulf reef fish 

fishery under the FMP. The Council 

prepared the FMP and NMFS 

implements the FMP through 

regulations at 50 CFR part 622 under the 

authority of the Magnuson-Stevens 

Fishery Conservation and Management 

Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). 

On November 21, 2014, NMFS 

published a proposed rule for the 

framework action and requested public 

comment (79 FR 69418). The proposed 

rule and the framework action outline 

the rationale for the actions contained in 

this final rule. A summary of the actions 

implemented by the framework action 

and this final rule is provided below. 

Management Measures Contained in 

This Final Rule 

This final rule revises the red snapper 

recreational AMs to support 

management efforts to maintain 

landings within the recreational quota 

and to mitigate any recreational quota 

overages should they occur. 

Red Snapper Recreational ACT and 

Season Length 

This final rule establishes a red 

snapper recreational ACT by applying a 

buffer to the recreational quota that is 

based on the Council’s annual catch 

limit (ACL)/ACT control rule developed 

in the Generic ACL/Amendment (76 FR 

82044, December 29, 2011). The ACL/

ACT control rule is used to determine 

the appropriate target catch levels that 

account for management uncertainty in 

maintaining catches at or below the ACL 

(quota). The control rule is intended to 

be applied separately to the recreational 

and commercial sectors because each 

sector has different levels of 

management uncertainty. The control 

rule recommends no buffer be applied 

to the quota for the red snapper 

commercial sector because the sector is 

managed by an IFQ program, has 

accurate landings data, and has not 

exceeded its quota in the last 7 years the 

IFQ program has been in effect. For the 

recreational sector, the control rule 

recommends applying a 20-percent 

buffer to the quota primarily because the 

recreational quota has been exceeded in 

3 of the last 4 years. When the 20- 

percent buffer is applied to the quota, it 

results in an ACT of 4.312 million lb 

(1.956 million kg), round weight. 

This final rule also revises the 

procedure for determining the 

recreational season length (closure 

date). Beginning in the 2015 fishing 

year, the red snapper recreational 

season closure date will be based on 

when the recreational ACT will be met 

instead of when the recreational quota 

will be met. Using the ACT to set the 

season length serves as an in-season AM 

and reduces the probability of exceeding 

the recreational quota during a fishing 

year from 50 percent to 15 percent. 

Red Snapper Recreational Post-Season 

AM 

This final rule also revises the 

recreational AMs to include a quota 

overage adjustment (payback) should 

the recreational quota be exceeded 

while the red snapper stock is 

overfished. If red snapper are overfished 

and the recreational quota is exceeded, 

then in the year following the overage, 

the recreational quota will be reduced 

by the amount of the recreational quota 

overage in the prior fishing year, unless 

the best scientific information available 

determines that a greater, lesser, or no 

overage adjustment is necessary. If the 

quota is adjusted, the recreational ACT 

will also be reduced to maintain the 20- 

percent buffer between the ACT and the 

adjusted quota. 

Comments and Responses 

NMFS received a total of 40 public 

comments on the proposed rule: 2 

Comments from non-governmental 

organizations, 4 comments from fishing 

organizations, and the rest from 

individuals. Ten commenters submitted 

suggestions for the reef fish fishery that 

were outside the scope of the framework 

and the proposed rule, including 

comments related to reallocation 

between sectors, regional management, 

area closures, different fishing seasons, 

making red snapper a gamefish, and 

establishing a recreational tag system. A 

number of commenters also expressed 

opinions about the status of the red 

snapper stock. Eleven commenters 

stated general opposition to the rule, 

while 4 commenters expressed general 


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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 53 / Thursday, March 19, 2015 / Rules and Regulations 14329 

support for the rule. Only specific 

comments related to the actions 

contained in the framework and the 

proposed rule as well as NMFS’ 

respective responses are summarized 

below. 

Comment 1: Accountability measures, 

such as ACTs and payback provisions 

are unreasonable requirements because 

the Marine Recreational Information 

Program (MRIP) was never designed to 

count, in real-time, the number of red 

snapper being harvested by anglers, and 

so these measures cannot be used for inseason quota monitoring. 

Response: NMFS disagrees that 

managing the recreational sector for 

Gulf red snapper with an ACT and 

requiring a payback is unreasonable. 

NMFS agrees that MRIP is not designed 

to count landings in real time. This is 

why the Federal red snapper 

recreational fishing season begins each 

year on June 1, and with 

implementation of this final rule, will 

remain open until the ACT is projected 

to be reached. The MRIP information, in 

combination with other landings and 

effort information, is used to project 

season lengths and is not used for inseason monitoring. Using the ACT to set 

the season accounts for uncertainty in 

the projections and is a reasonable 

method to help ensure the recreational 

quota is not exceeded. However, if the 

quota is exceeded, the payback 

provision mitigates possible biological 

consequences to the stock resulting from 

the overage. Using an ACT and a 

payback in this manner is consistent 

with the National Standard 1 

Guidelines. 

Comment 2: After any red snapper 

recreational quota overage, the ACT 

should be reset using the Council’s 

ACL/ACT control rule rather than just 

reducing the recreational quota by a 

fixed percentage. This would allow the 

buffer to change in response to changing 

management conditions. 

Response: NMFS disagrees that the 

ACT should be reset using the ACL/ACT 

control rule after a recreational quota 

overage. The ACT is not intended to 

address quota overages. The ACT is 

used to account for management 

uncertainty in setting the recreational 

season and is intended to help ensure 

that the quota is not exceeded. If a quota 

overage does occur, the payback 

provision, which reduces the quota by 

the amount of the overage and also 

reduces the ACT to keep a consistent 20 

percent buffer, mitigates for that excess 

harvest. Keeping a consistent buffer of 

20 percent between the quota and ACT 

provides for more stable management of 

the recreational sector. If new 

information indicates that a 20 percent 

buffer may no longer be appropriate, the 

Council can consider revising the ACT. 

The ACL/ACT control rule would be 

used to determine one alternative for an 

appropriate buffer. The Council would 

also consider other reasonable 

alternatives before deciding whether to 

adjust the ACT. 

Comment 3: No AMs should be 

applied to the recreational sector until 

there is better data to determine red 

snapper recreational harvest. 

Response: NMFS disagrees that no 

AMs should be applied to the 

recreational sector until some 

unspecified time in the future. AMs are 

required by the Magnuson-Stevens Act 

and the AMs implemented in this final 

rule are consistent with that 

requirement and the National Standard 

1 Guidelines. Further, estimates of red 

snapper landings used to support 

implementation of the AMs in this final 

rule are based on the best scientific 

information available as required by 

National Standard 2. Currently, NMFS 

uses historical landings data to project 

the length of the Federal season. This 

landings information is obtained from 

MRIP-based private angler/charter 

survey; the Southeast Region Headboat 

Survey; the Louisiana Department of 

Wildlife and Fisheries creel survey, and 

the Texas Parks and Wildlife 

Department creel survey. NMFS agrees 

there are opportunities to improve the 

landings data collection process and is 

collaborating with many of the Gulf 

states’ marine fisheries resource 

agencies to make improvements in both 

data collection and data analysis. 

Comment 4: Because the red snapper 

allocation between the commercial and 

recreational sectors does not accurately 

reflect the actual use of the resource by 

the recreational sector, the AMs are 

unreasonable requirements. 

Response: NMFS disagrees that the 

AMs implemented by this rule are 

unreasonable requirements. As 

explained above, AMs are required by 

the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and both the 

ACT and payback provision are 

consistent with the National Standard 1 

Guidelines. The framework action 

developed by the Council did not 

consider and this rule does not address 

the red snapper allocation between the 

recreational and commercial sectors. 

Thus, to the extent this comment is 

advocating for a change in the current 

allocation, it is beyond the scope of the 

current rulemaking. However, NMFS 

notes that the Council is currently 

evaluating alternatives to the current red 

snapper allocation in Amendment 28 to 

the FMP. 

Comment 5: Introducing further 

restrictions, like ACTs and paybacks, on 

the red snapper recreational sector 

would have detrimental economic 

impacts to the sector and coastal 

communities supported by recreational 

fishing. These impacts would be large 

because the recreational sector 

contributes more money into the local 

economies and creates more jobs than 

the commercial sector. 

Response: NMFS recognizes the 

economic importance of the recreational 

sector to many coastal communities; 

however, as discussed in the proposed 

rule and above, the Council has 

determined that implementing the ACT 

and payback provisions are necessary 

for the management of the recreational 

sector. Although the AMs are expected 

to result in economic losses to 

recreational fishing participants and 

their communities, the AM alternatives 

that were selected are expected to best 

achieve the objectives of the framework 

action while minimizing, to the extent 

practicable, adverse economic effects. 

Comment 6: The payback provision 

states that the AA will file a notification 

with the Office of the Federal Register 

to reduce the recreational quota by the 

amount of the quota overage unless the 

best scientific information available 

determines that a greater, lesser, or no 

overage adjustment is necessary. How 

will this determination be made? 

Response: NMFS will make the final 

determination about whether the best 

scientific information available shows 

that something other than a payback of 

100 percent of the quota overage is 

necessary. However, NMFS anticipates 

that this scientific information will 

likely come from a red snapper stock 

assessment and would also be reviewed 

by the Council’s Scientific and 

Statistical Committee. The rationale for 

an overage adjustment, if different from 

100 percent, would be described in the 

Federal Register notice that is 

published when AMs are implemented. 

Classification 

The Regional Administrator, 

Southeast Region, NMFS has 

determined that this final rule is 

necessary for the conservation and 

management of Gulf red snapper and is 

consistent with the framework action, 

the FMP, the Magnuson-Stevens Act, 

and other applicable law. 

This final rule has been determined to 

be not significant for purposes of 

Executive Order 12866. 

A final regulatory flexibility analysis 

(FRFA) was prepared for this action. 

The FRFA incorporates the initial 

regulatory flexibility analysis (IRFA), a 

summary of the significant economic 

issues raised by public comment, 

NMFS’ responses to those comments, 


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14330 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 53 / Thursday, March 19, 2015 / Rules and Regulations 

and a summary of the analyses 

completed to support the action. The 

FRFA follows. 

No public comments specific to the 

IRFA were received and, therefore, no 

public comments are addressed in this 

FRFA. Some comments with indirect 

socio-economic implications were 

received and these are addressed in the 

comments and responses section of this 

rule. No changes in the final rule were 

made in response to public comments. 

This final rule establishes a red 

snapper recreational ACT; revises the 

procedure for determining the 

recreational season length (closure 

date); and, adds a quota overage 

adjustment (payback) should the 

recreational quota be exceeded while 

the red snapper stock is overfished. 

NMFS agrees that the Council’s 

choice of preferred alternatives will best 

achieve the Council’s objectives for the 

framework action while minimizing, to 

the extent practicable, the adverse 

effects on fishers, support industries, 

and associated communities. The 

preamble of the proposed rule and this 

final rule provide a statement of the 

need for and objectives of this final rule, 

and it is not repeated here. 

The Magnuson-Stevens Act provides 

the statutory basis for this rule. No 

duplicative, overlapping, or conflicting 

Federal rules have been identified. In 

addition, no new reporting, recordkeeping, or other compliance 

requirements are introduced by this 

final rule. Accordingly, this final rule 

does not implicate the Paperwork 

Reduction Act. 

NMFS expects this final rule to 

directly affect federally permitted forhire vessels operating in the Gulf reef 

fish fishery. The for-hire sector is 

comprised of charter boats and 

headboats (party boats). Although 

charter boats tend to be smaller in 

length, on average, than headboats, the 

key distinction between the two types of 

operations is how the fee is determined. 

On a charter boat trip, the fee charged 

is for the entire vessel, regardless of how 

many passengers are carried, whereas 

the fee charged for a headboat trip is 

paid per individual angler. 

A Federal Gulf charter/headboat 

permit has been required for reef fish 

since 1996 and the sector currently 

operates under a limited access permit 

system. In 2013, there were 1,190 valid 

(non-expired) or renewable Gulf of 

Mexico Charter/Headboat Reef Fish 

Permits. A renewable permit is an 

expired permit that may not be actively 

fished, but is renewable for up to 1 year 

after expiration. Although the for-hire 

permit application collects information 

on the primary method of operation, the 

permit itself does not identify the 

federally permitted vessel as either a 

headboat or a charter boat. Operation as 

either a headboat or charter boat is not 

restricted by the Federal permitting 

regulations, and vessels may operate in 

both capacities. However, only federally 

permitted headboats are required to 

submit harvest and effort information to 

NMFS’ HBS. Participation in the HBS is 

based on determination by the NMFS 

Southeast Fisheries Science Center 

(SEFSC) that the vessel primarily 

operates as a headboat. In 2013, 70 Gulf 

vessels were registered in the HBS. As 

a result, 1,120 of the vessels with a valid 

or renewable reef fish charter/headboat 

permit are expected to operate as charter 

boats. The average charter boat is 

estimated to earn approximately 

$83,000 (2013 dollars) in gross annual 

revenue and the average headboat is 

estimated to earn approximately 

$251,000 (2013 dollars) in gross annual 

revenue. 

The Small Business Administration 

established size criteria for all major 

industry sectors in the U.S. including 

fish harvesters and for-hire operations. 

A business involved in finfish 

harvesting is classified as a small 

business if independently owned and 

operated, is not dominant in its field of 

operation (including its affiliates), and 

its combined annual receipts are not in 

excess of $20.5 million (NAICS code 

114111, finfish fishing) for all of its 

affiliated operations worldwide. For forhire vessels, all qualifiers apply except 

that the annual receipts threshold is 

$7.5 million (NAICS code 487210, 

recreational industries). 

Based on the revenue figures above, 

all for-hire vessels expected to be 

directly affected by this final rule are 

determined for the purpose of this 

analysis to be small business entities. 

Because all entities expected to be 

affected by this rule are small entities, 

NMFS has determined that this final 

rule will affect a substantial number of 

small entities. In addition, because all 

entities affected by this rule are small 

entities, the issue of disproportionate 

effects on small versus large entities 

does not arise in the present case. 

Establishing an ACT, which serves as 

the basis for estimating the length of the 

recreational red snapper fishing season, 

is expected to reduce net operating 

revenues (the return used to pay all 

labor wages, returns to capital, and 

owner profits) of all Gulf reef fish forhire vessels (charter and headboats) by 

a combined total of approximately 

$2.286 million (2013 dollars) in the first 

year this rule is implemented. If there 

are no recreational quota overages, this 

amount will be the annual net operating 

revenue loss to the for-hire vessels. If 

recreational quota overages occur in a 

fishing year, and red snapper are 

overfished, net operating revenues will 

further decrease in the following fishing 

year with the application of 100 percent 

of the recreational quota overage 

reduction from the following year’s 

quota. In effect, establishing a payback 

provision will tend to increase the 

potential losses in net operating revenue 

to the for-hire vessels. 

An important feature associated with 

the payback provision is the uncertainty 

of the occurrence and level of overages. 

Under the proposed buffer of 20 percent 

for deriving the ACT from the 

recreational quota, the probability of 

exceeding the quota is estimated at 15 

percent. At this probability level, the 

occurrence of an overage is relatively 

low. However, should an overage occur, 

the overage level could be insignificant 

or could be substantial. If the quota 

overage is low, the net operating 

revenue loss to the for-hire vessels will 

be approximately equivalent to the 

amount estimated above ($2.286 

million). If the quota overage is 

substantial, it could result in setting the 

ACT at zero the following year. In this 

case, net operating revenue loss to the 

for-hire vessels will be relatively 

substantial, with some unknown 

number of for-hire businesses possibly 

exiting the industry as a result of 

revenue loss. The year after that overage 

adjustment, however, the recreational 

quota and the corresponding ACT will 

be restored as there would be no 

overages in the previous year if the ACT 

had been set at zero. Assuming no 

increases in the recreational red snapper 

quota, for-hire vessels will continue to 

lose the amount of net operating 

revenue estimated above. A recreational 

quota increase will alleviate some of the 

losses to the for-hire vessels. 

The following discussion analyzes the 

alternatives that were not selected as 

preferred by the Council. Five 

alternatives, including the preferred 

alternative (as fully described in the 

preamble), were considered for setting a 

red snapper recreational ACT. The first 

alternative, the no action alternative, 

would not establish an ACT. This 

alternative is associated with the highest 

probability of exceeding the recreational 

quota and so would not address the 

need to better control the recreational 

harvest to the sector’s quota. The other 

three alternatives would establish an 

ACT by applying a buffer of 30 percent, 

40 percent, or 60 percent to the quota. 

Relative to the preferred alternative, 

each of these three alternatives would 

result in a lower ACT, and therefore 

greater loss in net operating revenues for 


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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 53 / Thursday, March 19, 2015 / Rules and Regulations 14331 

the for-hire component of the 

recreational sector. For this reason, the 

three alternatives were not selected. 

Three alternatives, including the 

preferred alternative (as fully described 

in the preamble), were considered for 

establishing a payback provision in case 

of recreational quota overages. It is 

noted that the payback provision only 

applies when red snapper are 

overfished. The first alternative, the no 

action alternative, would not establish a 

payback provision. This alternative 

would not address the need to mitigate 

for overages that may negatively impact 

the rebuilding plan, and thus was 

rejected. The second alternative would 

establish a 100-percent recreational 

quota payback provision, similar to the 

preferred alternative, and in addition 

would further reduce the adjusted ACT 

in the following season by 100 percent, 

50 percent, or 30 percent of the quota 

overage. The adjusted ACT is derived by 

applying the 20-percent buffer to the 

quota after the recreational quota is 

reduced by the amount of overage. This 

alternative, together with any of its 

additional options to further reduce the 

following season’s overage adjusted 

ACT, would be expected to result in 

higher net operating revenue losses for 

the for-hire sector, and therefore was 

rejected. 

Section 212 of the Small Business 

Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 

1996 states that, for each rule or group 

of related rules for which an agency is 

required to prepare a FRFA, the agency 

shall publish one or more guides to 

assist small entities in complying with 

the rule, and shall designate such 

publications as small entity compliance 

guides. As part of the rulemaking 

process, NMFS prepared a fishery 

bulletin, which also serves as a small 

entity compliance guide. The fishery 

bulletin will be sent to all interested 

parties. 

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 622 

Fisheries, Fishing, Gulf, Quotas, 

Recreational, Red Snapper. 

Dated: March 13, 2015. 

Samuel D. Rauch III, 

Deputy Assistant Administrator for 

Regulatory Programs, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

For the reasons set out in the 

preamble, 50 CFR part 622 is amended 

as follows: 

PART 622—FISHERIES OF THE 

CARIBBEAN, GULF OF MEXICO, AND 

SOUTH ATLANTIC 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 622 

continues to read as follows: 

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

■ 2. In § 622.41, paragraph (q) is added 

to read as follows: 

§ 622.41 Annual catch limits (ACLs), 

annual catch targets (ACTs), and 

accountability measures (AMs). 

* * * * * 

(q) Red snapper—(1) Commercial 

sector. [Reserved] 

(2) Recreational sector. (i) The AA 

will determine the length of the red 

snapper recreational fishing season 

based on when recreational landings are 

projected to reach the recreational ACT 

specified in paragraph (q)(2)(iii) of this 

section, and announce the closure date 

in the Federal Register. This will serve 

as an in-season accountability measure. 

On and after the effective date of the 

recreational closure notification, the bag 

and possession limit for red snapper is 

zero. 

(ii) In addition to the measures 

specified in paragraph (q)(2)(i) of this 

section, if red snapper recreational 

landings, as estimated by the SRD, 

exceed the applicable quota specified in 

§ 622.39(a)(2)(i), and red snapper are 

overfished, based on the most recent 

Status of U.S. Fisheries Report to 

Congress, the AA will file a notification 

with the Office of the Federal Register 

to reduce the recreational quota by the 

amount of the quota overage in the prior 

fishing year, and reduce the recreational 

ACT specified in paragraph (q)(2)(iii) of 

this section (based on the buffer 

between the ACT and the quota 

specified in the FMP), unless the best 

scientific information available 

determines that a greater, lesser, or no 

overage adjustment is necessary. 

(iii) The recreational ACT for red 

snapper is 4.312 million lb (1.956 

million kg), round weight. 

[FR Doc. 2015–06294 Filed 3–18–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 


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