40742 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 130 / Friday, July 8, 2022 / Rules and Regulations 

(c) Restrictions on Active FADs for 

purse seine vessels. U.S. vessel owners 

and operators of purse-seine vessels 

with the following well volume in cubic 

meters (m3) must not have more than 

the following number of Active FADs 

per vessel in the IATTC Convention 

Area at any one time during the 

following years. 

TABLE 1 TO PARAGRAPH (c) 

Well volume (m3) Active 

FAD limit 

For 2022 calendar year 

1,200 or more ....................... 400 

426–1,199 ............................. 270 

213–425 ................................ 110 

0–212 .................................... 66 

For 2023 calendar year 

1,200 or more ....................... 340 

426–1,199 ............................. 255 

213–425 ................................ 105 

0–212 .................................... 64 

For 2024 calendar year and beyond 

1,200 or more ....................... 340 

426–1,199 ............................. 210 

213–425 ................................ 85 

0–212 .................................... 50 

(d) Restrictions on satellite buoy 

deactivations. A vessel owner or 

operator that deactivates a satellite buoy 

attached to a FAD must comply with the 

reporting requirements for buoy 

deactivations in § 300.22(c)(3). A U.S. 

vessel owner or operator shall only 

deactivate a satellite buoy attached to a 

FAD that was activated in the IATTC 

Convention Area in the following 

circumstances: 

(1) Complete loss of signal reception; 

(2) Beaching; 

(3) Appropriation of a FAD by a third 

party; 

(4) Temporarily during a selected 

closure period; 

(5) For being outside of the area 

between the meridians 150° W and 100° 

W, and the parallels 8° N and 10° S; the 

area between the meridian 100° W and 

the coast of the American continent and 

the parallels 5° N and 15° S; or 

(6) Transfer of ownership. 

(e) Restrictions on satellite buoy 

reactivations. A vessel owner or 

operator that reactivates a satellite buoy 

must comply with the reporting 

requirements for satellite buoy 

reactivations in § 300.22(c)(4). A U.S. 

vessel owner or operator shall only 

remotely reactivate a satellite buoy at 

sea that was activated in the IATTC 

Convention Area in the following 

circumstances: 

(1) To assist in the recovery of a 

beached FAD; 

(2) After a temporary deactivation 

during the closure period; or 

(3) Transfer of ownership while the 

FAD is at sea. 

* * * * * 

(g) FAD design requirements to reduce 

entanglements. All FADs onboard or 

deployed in the IATTC Convention Area 

by U.S. vessel owners, operators, or 

crew, must comply with the following 

design requirements: 

* * * * * 

[FR Doc. 2022–14115 Filed 7–7–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 622 

[Docket No. 220630–0148] 

RIN 0648–BL22 

Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of 

Mexico, and South Atlantic; Reef Fish 

Resources of the Gulf of Mexico; Catch 

Limits for Red Grouper 

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 under 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 increases commercial 

and recreational catch levels for red 

grouper in the Gulf of Mexico (Gulf). 

The purpose of this final rule is to 

prevent overfishing of red grouper and 

to achieve optimum yield (OY) from the 

stock. 

DATES: This final rule is effective on 

August 8, 2022. 

ADDRESSES: Electronic copies of the 

framework action may be obtained from 

the Southeast Regional Office website at 

https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/ 

modification-gulf-mexico-red-groupercatch-limits. The framework action 

includes an environmental assessment, 

a fishery impact statement, a Regulatory 

Flexibility Act analysis, and a regulatory 

impact review. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dan 

Luers, NMFS Southeast Regional Office, 

telephone: 727–824–5305, email: 

daniel.luers@noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS and 

the Council manage the Gulf reef fish 

fishery, including red grouper, 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 MagnusonStevens Fishery Conservation and 

Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens 

Act). 

On May 3, 2022, NMFS published a 

proposed rule in the Federal Register to 

implement the management measures 

described in the framework action and 

requested public comment (87 FR 

26178). The proposed rule and the 

framework action provide additional 

background and rationale for the actions 

contained in this final rule. A summary 

of the management measures described 

in the framework action and 

implemented through this final rule is 

described below. All weights described 

in this final rule are in gutted weight. 

Red grouper in the Gulf exclusive 

economic zone is found primarily in 

offshore areas of the eastern Gulf with 

hard bottom, that is, bottom structure 

with relief that attracts fish. Red grouper 

is managed as a single stock with 

commercial and recreational annual 

catch limits (ACLs) and annual catch 

targets (ACTs). Prior to June 1, 2022, the 

stock ACL was allocated 76 percent to 

the commercial sector and 24 percent to 

the recreational sector. On June 1, 2022, 

NMFS implemented the final rule for 

Amendment 53 to the FMP, which 

modified the allocation of the red 

grouper stock ACL to 59.3 percent for 

the commercial sector and 40.7 percent 

for the recreational sector (87 FR 25573, 

May 2, 2022). Amendment 53 and its 

implementing final rule also adjusted 

the catch levels for red grouper based on 

the results of a 2019 stock assessment 

(Southeast Data, Assessment, and 

Review (SEDAR) 61). As specified in 

Amendment 53, the current overfishing 

limit (OFL) and acceptable biological 

catch (ABC) are 4.66 million lb (2.11 

million kg) and 4.26 million lb (1.93 

million kg), respectively. The red 

grouper stock ACL is equal to the ABC. 

Subsequent to the management 

measures the Council recommended in 

Amendment 53, the Council 

recommended further revisions to red 

grouper catch levels based on an interim 

analysis conducted by the NMFS 

Southeast Fishery Science Center 

(SEFSC). This interim analysis indicated 

that Gulf red grouper harvest levels 

could be increased. The Council’s 

Scientific and Statistical Committee 

(SSC) agreed with the results of the 

interim analysis and recommended 

increasing the overfishing limit (OFL) to 

5.99 million lb (2.72 million kg) and 


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Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 130 / Friday, July 8, 2022 / Rules and Regulations 40743 

increasing the acceptable biological 

catch (ABC) to 4.96 million lb (2.25 

million kg). Based on the SSC 

recommendations, the Council revised 

the catch limits and approved this 

framework action at its October 2021 

meeting. 

Management Measures Contained in 

This Final Rule 

This final rule revises the ACLs and 

ACTs for Gulf red grouper consistent 

with the sector allocations established 

in Amendment 53 and implemented by 

the associated final rule (87 FR 25573, 

May 2, 2022). This final rule increases 

the total ACL for Gulf red grouper from 

4.26 million lb (1.93 million kg) to 4.96 

million lb (2.25 million kg). 

Using the sector allocations approved 

in Amendment 53 and implemented by 

NMFS on June 1, 2022, this final rule 

increases the commercial ACL and ACT 

from 2.53 million lb (1.15 million kg) 

and 2.40 million lb (1.09 million kg) to 

2.94 million lb (1.33 million kg) and 

2.79 million lb (1.27 million kg), 

respectively. 

For the recreational sector, this final 

rule increases the recreational ACL and 

ACT from 1.73 million lb (0.78 million 

kg) and 1.57 million lb (0.71 million kg) 

to 2.02 million lb (0.92 million kg) and 

1.84 million lb (0.83 million kg), 

respectively. 

Comments and Responses 

NMFS received 12 public comments 

on the proposed rule from individuals, 

commercial and recreational fishing 

associations, and a sportfishing trade 

organization. The majority of the public 

comments supported the proposed 

action. Some of the comments requested 

that NMFS revise the allocation of the 

red grouper stock ACL between the 

commercial and recreational sectors. 

These comments are outside the scope 

of the proposed rule and framework 

action, and therefore, are not addressed 

further in this final rule. NMFS 

acknowledges the comments in favor of 

all or part of the proposed rule, and 

agrees with them. Comments that are 

opposed to the proposed rule expressed 

concern about the health of the red 

grouper stock. These comments are 

grouped and summarized below, and 

NMFS’ response follows. 

Comment: NMFS should not increase 

the red grouper catch limits at this time. 

Red grouper in the Gulf is struggling. 

The Council and NMFS should consider 

waiting at least 1 or 2 years to let the 

red grouper stock grow to a greater level 

before increasing the catch limits. 

Response: NMFS disagrees. 

Maintaining the current ACLs and ACTs 

is not consistent with the best scientific 

information available, which indicates 

that the red grouper stock can support 

higher catch limits. Amendment 53 and 

its implementing final rule set catch 

limits based on SEDAR 61, the most 

recent stock assessment for Gulf red 

grouper, which was completed in 

September 2019. However, in 2021, the 

SEFSC made two adjustments to the 

SEDAR 61 estimates. First, the SEFSC 

found that the SEDAR 61 assessment 

model underestimated the average size 

of red grouper caught recreationally by 

about 2.1 lb (0.9 kg) per fish. When the 

SEFSC ran the SEDAR 61 model using 

the new recreational weight estimates, 

the results indicated that an increase in 

catch limits was appropriate. Second, 

the SEFSC performed an interim 

analysis to update SEDAR 61 catch level 

projections that incorporated the 

recreational per-fish weight adjustments 

and used the NMFS Bottom Longline 

Survey as the index of abundance, 

which showed an increase in the 

number of fish and also indicated that 

catch limit increases were appropriate. 

In August 2021, the Council’s SSC 

reviewed these two analyses, agreed that 

the Gulf red grouper stock could 

support additional harvest, and 

recommended increases in the OFL and 

ABC. The Council approved increases to 

the catch limits implemented through 

this final rule at its October 2021 

meeting. NMFS agrees with the SSC and 

the Council that the best scientific 

information available supports 

increasing the red grouper catch limits, 

and that these revised catch limits will 

help achieve OY on a continuing basis 

while preventing overfishing. 

Classification 

Pursuant to section 304(b)(3) of the 

Magnuson-Stevens Act, the NMFS 

Assistant Administrator has determined 

that this final rule is consistent with the 

framework action, the FMP, other 

provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens 

Act, and other applicable laws. 

This final rule has been determined to 

be not significant for purposes of 

Executive Order 12866. The MagnusonStevens Act provides the legal basis for 

this final rule. No duplicative, 

overlapping, or conflicting Federal rules 

have been identified. 

A description of this final rule, why 

it is being considered, and the purpose 

of this final rule are contained in the 

SUMMARY and SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION sections of this final rule. 

The objectives of this final rule are to 

revise the ACLs and ACTs for Gulf red 

grouper consistent with the best 

scientific information available, and to 

continue to achieve OY consistent with 

the requirements of the MagnusonStevens Act. 

The Chief Counsel for Regulation of 

the Department of Commerce certified 

to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the 

Small Business Administration (SBA) 

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. NMFS did not receive any 

comments from SBA’s Office of 

Advocacy or the public regarding the 

certification in the proposed rule. As a 

result, a regulatory flexibility analysis 

was not required and none was 

prepared. 

This final rule contains no 

information collection requirements 

under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 

1995. 

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 622 

Fisheries, Fishing, Gulf of Mexico, 

Red grouper, Reef fish. 

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

Dated: July 1, 2022. 

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 § 622.39, revise paragraph 

(a)(1)(iii)(C) to read as follows: 

§ 622.39 Quotas. 

* * * * * 

(a) * * * 

(1) * * * 

(iii) * * * 

(C) Red grouper. 2.79 million lb (1.27 

million kg). 

* * * * * 

■ 3. In § 622.41, revise the last sentence 

of paragraph (e)(1) and paragraph 

(e)(2)(iv) to read as follows: 

§ 622.41 Annual catch limits (ACLs), 

annual catch targets (ACTs), and 

accountability measures (AMs). 

* * * * * 

(e) * * * 

(1) * * * The commercial ACL for red 

grouper in gutted weight is 2.94 million 

lb (1.33 million kg). 

(2) * * * 


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40744 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 130 / Friday, July 8, 2022 / Rules and Regulations 

(iv) The recreational ACL for red 

grouper in gutted weight is 2.02 million 

lb (0.92 million kg). The recreational 

ACT for red grouper in gutted weight is 

1.84 million lb (0.83 million kg). 

* * * * * 

[FR Doc. 2022–14545 Filed 7–7–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 660 

[RTID 0648–XB763] 

Fisheries Off West Coast States; 

Standardized Bycatch Reporting 

Methodology Amendments to the 

Fishery Management Plans for Coastal 

Pelagic Species, West Coast Highly 

Migratory Species, and Pacific Coast 

Salmon 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of Agency decision. 

SUMMARY: NMFS announces the 

approval of three fishery management 

plan (FMP) amendments: Amendment 

19 to the FMP for Coastal Pelagic 

Species (CPS FMP), Amendment 7 to 

the FMP for the West Coast Highly 

Migratory Species (HMS FMP), and 

Amendment 22 to the FMP for Pacific 

Coast Salmon Fisheries (Salmon FMP) 

(collectively Amendments). These 

Amendments modify language in the 

CPS, HMS, and Salmon FMPs to more 

clearly describe and align the FMPs 

with the way bycatch is currently 

reported in the fisheries managed by the 

Council. These Amendments ensure 

conformance with national guidance for 

compliance with the standardized 

bycatch reporting methodology (SBRM) 

requirement in the Magnuson-Stevens 

Fishery Conservation and Management 

Act (MSA). 

DATES: The Amendments were approved 

on July 5, 2022. 

ADDRESSES: Electronic copies of the 

Amendments may be obtained from 

www.regulations.gov or the West Coast 

Region website at https://

www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/ 

standardized-bycatch-reportingmethodology-amendments-fisherymanagement-plans-coastal. Additional 

documents can be found on the 

Council’s website at www.pcouncil.org. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

CPS—Taylor Debevec at (562) 980–4066 

or taylor.debevec@noaa.gov. For HMS— 

Celia Barroso at (562) 432–1850 or 

celia.barroso@noaa.gov. For Salmon— 

Jeromy Jording at (360) 763–2268 or 

jeromy.jording@noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires 

that each regional fishery management 

council submit any FMP amendment it 

prepares to NMFS for review and 

approval, disapproval, or partial 

approval by the Secretary. 16 U.S.C. 

1854(a). NMFS manages the CPS, HMS, 

and salmon fisheries in the Pacific Coast 

exclusive economic zone under the CPS, 

HMS, and Salmon FMPs, respectively. 

The Pacific Fishery Management 

Council (Council) prepared these FMPs 

under the authority of the MagnusonStevens Act, 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. 

Regulations governing U.S. fisheries and 

implementing the FMPs appear at 50 

CFR parts 600 and 660. 

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

establish a SBRM to assess the amount 

and type of bycatch occurring in the 

fishery, and include conservation and 

management measures that, to the 

extent practicable and in the following 

priority—(A) minimize bycatch, and (B) 

minimize the mortality of bycatch that 

cannot be avoided. (16 U.S.C. 

1853(a)(11)) 

On January 19, 2017, NMFS 

published a final rule (82 FR 6317) 

establishing national guidance 

regulations at 50 CFR 600.1600 through 

50 CFR 600.1610 for compliance with 

the Magnuson-Stevens Act SBRM 

requirement (SBRM regulations). The 

SBRM regulations require regional 

fishery management councils, in 

coordination with NMFS, to review 

their FMPs and make any necessary 

changes so all FMPs are consistent with 

the guidance. 

The SBRM regulations define an 

SBRM as a consistent procedure or 

procedures used to collect, record, and 

report bycatch data in a fishery managed 

under an FMP. This information, in 

conjunction with other relevant sources, 

is used to assess the amount and type 

of bycatch occurring in the fishery and 

inform the development of conservation 

and management measures to minimize 

bycatch. The SBRM regulations require 

the Council to explain how each FMP’s 

SBRM meets the purpose described in 

the national guidelines, based on an 

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 occurring in 

the fishery (50 CFR 600.1610(a)). The 

Council undertook a review of its FMPs 

to ensure they met this requirement. 

That review resulted in the three 

Amendments referenced in this notice 

that make additions and modifications 

to the CPS, HMS, and Salmon FMPs to 

clearly and accurately describe the 

SBRM for those fisheries, consistent 

with the SBRM regulations. 

Further detail describing the 

Amendments was provided in the 

Notice of Availability for this action and 

is not repeated here. 

Procedural Aspects of the Amendments 

The Council submitted the 

Amendments to the Secretary for review 

on April 4, 2022. On April 12, 2022, 

NMFS published a notice of availability 

(NOA) for the Amendments, including 

background on the rationale for how the 

respective amendments proposed to 

satisfy the requirements of the SBRM 

regulations, and requested public 

review and comment (87 FR 21603). 

Public comments were received 

pertaining to the Salmon FMP 

amendment and are addressed below. 

The Amendments do not add any new 

reporting requirements and do not 

change any regulatory requirements. 

Therefore, no proposed or final rule was 

prepared. This action only modifies 

language in the CPS, HMS, and Salmon 

FMPs to more clearly describe and align 

with how bycatch is currently reported 

in the fisheries managed by the Council. 

Comments and Responses 

NMFS received a combined 17,355 

comments regarding the Amendment 22 

for the Salmon FMP. These comments 

were directed at actions to protect 

Southern Resident Killer Whales 

(SRKW) and are not relevant to the 

development of SBRM for ocean salmon 

fisheries. Rather, these comments 

reiterated comments NMFS previously 

addressed in the final environmental 

assessment (EA) for FMP Amendment 

21 (https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov//

action/amendment-21-pacific-coastsalmon-fishery-management-plan), in 

the notice of agency decision (86 FR 

51017, September 14, 2021), and the 

West Coast Salmon Fisheries 2022 


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