Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 123 / Wednesday, June 30, 2021 / Proposed Rules 34711 

FLOWERING PLANTS from the List of 

Endangered and Threatened Plants. 

Anissa Craghead, 

Acting Regulations and Policy Chief, Division 

of Policy, Economics, Risk Management, and 

Analytics, Joint Administrative Operations, 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 

[FR Doc. 2021–13882 Filed 6–29–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4333–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 665 

RIN 0648–BH65 

Pacific Island Fisheries; Amendment 9 

to the Fishery Ecosystem Plan for 

Pelagic Fisheries of the Western 

Pacific; Modifications to the American 

Samoa Longline Fishery Limited Entry 

Program 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notification of availability of a 

fishery ecosystem plan amendment; 

request for comments. 

SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the 

Western Pacific Fishery Management 

Council (Council) proposes to amend 

the Fishery Ecosystem Plan for Pelagic 

Fisheries of the Western Pacific (FEP). If 

approved, Amendment 9 would reduce 

regulatory barriers that may be limiting 

small vessel participation in the 

American Samoa longline fishery. 

Specifically, Amendment 9 would 

consolidate vessel class sizes, modify 

permit eligibility requirements, and 

reduce the minimum harvest 

requirements for small vessels. The 

Council recommended Amendment 9 to 

provide for sustained community and 

indigenous American Samoan 

participation in the small vessel 

longline fishery. 

DATES: NMFS must receive comments 

on Amendment 9 by August 30, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

on this document, identified by NOAA– 

NMFS–2018–0023, by either of the 

following methods: 

• Electronic Submission: Submit all 

electronic comments via the Federal eRulemaking Portal. Go to http://

www.regulations.gov and enter NOAA– 

NMFS–2018–0023 in the Search box, 

click the ‘‘Comment’’ icon, complete the 

required fields, and enter or attach your 

comments. 

• Mail: Send written comments to 

Michael D. Tosatto, Regional 

Administrator, NMFS Pacific Islands 

Region (PIR), 1845 Wasp Blvd. Bldg. 

176, Honolulu, HI 96818. 

Instructions: NMFS may not consider 

comments sent by any other method, to 

any other address or individual, or 

received after the end of the comment 

period. All comments received are a 

part of the public record, and NMFS 

will generally post them 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). 

Amendment 9 includes a draft 

environmental assessment (EA) that 

analyzes the potential impacts of the 

proposed measures and alternatives 

considered. Copies of Amendment 9, 

including the draft EA and a Regulatory 

Impact Review (RIR), and other 

supporting documents, are available at 

https://www.regulations.gov, or from the 

Council, 1164 Bishop St., Suite 1400, 

Honolulu, HI 96813, tel 808–522–8220, 

www.wpcouncil.org. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kate 

Taylor, Sustainable Fisheries, NMFS 

PIR, 808–725–5182. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS and 

the Council manage the American 

Samoa longline fishery under the FEP 

and implementing regulations. The 

fishery targets primarily albacore, which 

are sold frozen to the fish processing 

industry in Pago Pago, American Samoa. 

During the 1980s and 1990s, the 

longline fleet was mainly comprised of 

alia, locally-built catamarans between 

24 and 38 ft in length. In the early 

2000s, the longline fishery expanded 

rapidly with the influx of large (≥50 ft) 

conventional vessels similar to the type 

used in the Hawaii-based longline 

fishery, including some vessels from 

Hawaii. 

To manage capacity in the thenrapidly developing fishery, the Council 

in 2001 (through Amendment 11 to the 

Fishery Management Plan for Pelagic 

Fisheries of the Western Pacific, 

superseded by the FEP) established a 

limited entry program with vessel size 

classes and criteria for participation. In 

2005, NMFS implemented the limited 

entry program and issued 60 permits to 

qualified candidates among four vessel 

size classes. 

Only a few small vessels have been 

active in the fishery since 2007. 

Participation by large vessels was 

somewhat stable from 2001 through 

2010, but has declined and remained 

below 20 active vessels annually. In 

response, the Council developed 

Amendment 9 to reduce the 

programmatic barriers that may be 

limiting small vessel participation. The 

purpose of Amendment 9 is to reduce 

the complexity of the limited entry 

program and provide for sustained 

community participation, especially for 

small vessels. Amendment 9 could 

allow new entrants to obtain a small 

vessel permit by removing requirements 

that previously would have made some 

new entrants ineligible. If approved, 

Amendment 9 would do the following: 

(a) Replace the four vessel classes 

with two, where Class A and B vessels 

would be classified as ‘‘small’’ vessels, 

and Class C and D vessels would be 

classified as ‘‘large’’ vessels; 

(b) Restrict permit holders to U.S. 

citizens and nationals, and eliminate the 

requirement to have documented 

history of participation to be eligible for 

a permit, but maintain the priority 

ranking system based on earliest 

documented history of fishing 

participation in vessel class size, if there 

is competition between two or more 

applicants for a permit; 

(c) Require that permits can only be 

transferred among U.S. citizens or 

nationals, and eliminate the 

requirement for documented 

participation in the fishery to receive a 

transferred permit; 

(d) Reduce the small vessel minimum 

harvest requirement to 500 lb (227 kg) 

of pelagic management unit species 

within a 3-year period, but maintain the 

existing 5,000 lb (2,268 kg) harvest 

requirement for large vessels; 

(e) Require that the entire minimum 

harvest amounts for the respective 

vessel classes are to be landed in 

American Samoa within a three-year 

permit period, but that the minimum 

harvests not be required to be caught 

within the U.S. EEZ around American 

Samoa; 

(f) Specify a fixed three-year permit 

period that is the same as the three-year 

period to make a minimum harvest 

requirement; and 

(g) Clarify that the minimum harvest 

period would not restart in the event of 

a permit transfer. If the minimum 

harvest amount has not been caught at 

the time of transfer, the new permit 

holder would be required to meet the 

harvest requirement based on the 

following formula: The product of 

percentage of time left within the threeyear permit period and the minimum 

harvest amount. 


jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with PROPOSALS
34712 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 123 / Wednesday, June 30, 2021 / Proposed Rules 

NMFS invites public comments on 

the proposed action and specifically 

invites comments that address the 

impact of this proposed action on 

cultural fishing in American Samoa. 

NMFS must receive comments on 

Amendment 9, including a draft EA and 

RIR, by August 30, 2021 for 

consideration in the decision to 

approve, partially approve, or 

disapprove the amendment. Concurrent 

with NMFS’s review of the amendment 

under the Magnuson-Stevens Act 

procedures, NMFS may publish for 

public comment a proposed rule in the 

Federal Register to implement the draft 

measures described in Amendment 9. 

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

Dated: June 24, 2021. 

Jennifer M. Wallace, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2021–13970 Filed 6–29–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 


jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with PROPOSALS