57734 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 183 / Wednesday, September 22, 2010 / Proposed Rules 

other interested party concerning this 

finding. 

Agave eggersiana will be added to the 

list of candidate species upon 

publication of this 12–month finding. 

We will continue to evaluate this 

species as new information becomes 

available. This review will determine if 

a change in status is warranted, 

including the need to make prompt use 

of emergency listing procedures. 

References Cited 

A complete list of references cited is 

available on the Internet at http:// 

www.regulations.gov and upon request 

from the Caribbean Ecological Services 

Field Office (see ADDRESSES section). 

Author(s) 

The primary authors of this notice are 

the staff members of the Caribbean 

Ecological Services Field Office. 

Authority 

The authority for this section is 

section 4 of the Endangered Species Act 

of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et 

seq.). 

Dated: September 2, 2010. 

Paul R. Schmidt, 

Acting Director, Fish and Wildlife Service. 

[FR Doc. 2010–23571 Filed 9–21–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–55–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 622 

RIN 0648–AY11 

Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of 

Mexico, and South Atlantic; SnapperGrouper Fishery off the Southern 

Atlantic States; Amendment 17B 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of Availability of 

Amendment 17B to South Atlantic 

Snapper-Grouper Fishery Management 

Plan; request for comments. 

SUMMARY: The South Atlantic Fishery 

Management Council (Council) has 

submitted Amendment 17B to the 

Fishery Management Plan for the 

Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South 

Atlantic Region (FMP) for review, 

approval, and implementation by 

NMFS. The amendment proposes 

actions to specify annual catch limits 

(ACLs), and accountability measures 

(AMs) for nine snapper-grouper species, 

eight of which are undergoing 

overfishing; specify recreational and 

commercial allocations for golden 

tilefish; modify management measures 

to limit total mortality of each species 

to their respective ACLs; and add ACLs, 

ACTs, and AMs to the management 

measures that may be amended via the 

framework procedure. The actions 

contained in Amendment 17B are 

intended to address overfishing of eight 

snapper-grouper species while 

maintaining catch levels consistent with 

achieving optimum yield for all nine 

species included in the amendment. 

DATES: Comments must be received no 

later than 5 p.m., eastern time, on 

November 22, 2010. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by ‘‘0648–AY11’’, by any one 

of the following methods: 

• Electronic Submissions: Submit all 

electronic public comments via the 

Federal e-Rulemaking Portal http:// 

www.regulations.gov 

• Fax: 727–824–5308, Attn: Kate 

Michie 

• Mail: Kate Michie, Southeast 

Regional Office, NMFS, 263 13th 

Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701 

Instructions: No comments will be 

posted for public viewing until after the 

comment period is over. All comments 

received are a part of the public record 

and will generally be posted to http:// 

www.regulations.gov without change. 

All Personal Identifying Information (for 

example, name, address, etc.) 

voluntarily submitted by the commenter 

may be publicly accessible. Do not 

submit Confidential Business 

Information or otherwise sensitive or 

protected information. 

To submit comments through the 

Federal e–Rulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov, enter ‘‘NOAA– 

NMFS–2010–0091’’ in the keyword 

search, then check the box labeled 

(Select to find documents accepting 

comments or submissions(, then select 

(Send a Comment or Submission.( 

NMFS will accept anonymous 

comments (enter N/A in the required 

fields, if you wish to remain 

anonymous). Attachments to electronic 

comments will be accepted in Microsoft 

Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe 

PDF file formats only. 

Copies of Amendment 17B may be 

obtained from the South Atlantic 

Fishery Management Council, 4055 

Faber Place, Suite 201, North 

Charleston, SC 29405; phone: 843–571– 

4366 or 866–SAFMC–10 (toll free); fax: 

843–769–4520; e-mail: 

safmc@safmc.net. Amendment 17B 

includes an Environmental Assessment, 

an Initial Regulatory Flexibility 

Analysis, a Regulatory Impact Review, 

and a Social Impact Assessment/Fishery 

Impact Statement. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kate 

Michie, telephone: 727–824–5305; fax: 

727–824–5308; e-mail: 

Kate.Michie@noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The South 

Atlantic snapper-grouper fishery is 

managed under the FMP. The FMP was 

prepared by the Council and 

implemented by NMFS under the 

authority of the Magnuson-Stevens 

Fishery Conservation and Management 

Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) by 

regulations at 50 CFR part 622. 

Background 

Revisions to the Magnuson–Stevens 

Act in 2006 require that if a stock or 

stock complex in an FMP is undergoing 

overfishing, the FMP must establish by 

2010 a mechanism for specifying ACLs 

at a level that prevents overfishing and 

does not exceed the fishing level 

recommendations of the respective 

Council(s Scientific and Statistical 

Committee or other established peer 

review processes. The MagnusonStevens Act also requires that NMFS 

implement measures to ensure 

accountability to prevent an ACL from 

being exceeded or correcting for an ACL 

overage if one should occur. The 

National Standard 1 Guidelines, 

published on January 16, 2009 (74 FR 

3178), provide guidance for establishing 

ACLs and AMs in our nation’s fisheries. 

In the South Atlantic snapper-grouper 

fishery there are nine species currently 

undergoing overfishing including: 

speckled hind, warsaw grouper, snowy 

grouper, golden tilefish, black sea bass, 

red grouper, gag, vermilion snapper, and 

red snapper. Amendment 17B includes 

actions to establish ACLs and AMs for 

eight of these species as well as black 

grouper. Actions to address red snapper 

overfishing are contained in a separate 

amendment (Amendment 17A). 

An ACL is the level of annual catch 

of a stock or stock complex that if met 

or exceeded serves as the basis for 

triggering an AM. The Magnuson– 

Stevens Act requires ACLs be set at 

levels that prevent overfishing from 

occurring. ACLs may incorporate 

management and scientific uncertainty, 

and take into account the amount of 

data available and level of vulnerability 

to overfishing for each species. Separate 

ACLs may be established for each sector 

of a fishery, i.e., commercial and 

recreational. However, the combined 

total of all sector ACLs may not exceed 

the total ACL for a species or species 

complex. 


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Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 183 / Wednesday, September 22, 2010 / Proposed Rules 57735 

Measures to ensure accountability, or 

AMs, are management controls 

implemented to either ensure ACLs are 

not exceeded or correct for an overage 

once ACLs or ACTs are reached during 

a fishing season, to reduce the risk that 

overfishing will occur. Depending on 

how timely the data are, however, it 

might not be realized that an ACL and/ 

or ACT has been reached until after a 

season has ended. In this scenario, an 

AM would be used in the following 

fishing season to mitigate any overages 

that occurred in the prior fishing season. 

Examples of AMs that would correct or 

prevent an ACL overage include: 

prohibiting retention of a species once 

the sector ACL is met, shortening the 

length of the subsequent fishing season 

to account for an overage of the ACL, 

bag limits, quotas, fishery closure once 

an ACL is projected to be met, and 

reducing the ACL in the subsequent 

fishing season to account for an overage 

of the ACL. 

In addition to specifying ACLs and 

AMs for nine snapper-grouper species, 

Amendment 17B would establish 

commercial and recreational allocations 

for golden tilefish. The commercial 

allocation would be set at 97 percent 

and the recreational allocation at 3 

percent, which are 282,819 pounds 

(gutted weight) and 1,578 fish 

respectively. 

Also included in Amendment 17B are 

revisions to the current framework 

procedure for specifying total allowable 

catch for snapper-grouper species. 

Modifications to the framework would 

include allowing adjustments to ACLs 

and AMs, and allow for the 

specification and adjustments to ACTs if 

new scientific information indicates a 

change is needed. Making adjustments 

to National Standard 1 harvest 

parameters (ACLs, ACTs, and AMs) 

through framework actions via 

regulatory amendments is less time 

intensive than doing so through the 

FMP amendment process. Thus, 

utilizing updated framework procedures 

would facilitate timely adjustments 

when appropriate. 

The Council has submitted 

Amendment 17B for Secretarial review, 

approval, and implementation. NMFS( 

decision to approve, partially approve, 

or disapprove Amendment 17B will be 

based, in part, on consideration of 

comments, recommendations, and 

information received during the 

comment period on this notice of 

availability. After consideration of these 

factors, and consistency with the 

Magnuson-Stevens Act and other 

applicable laws, NMFS will publish a 

notice of agency action in the Federal 

Register announcing the Agency(s 

decision to approve, partially approve, 

or disapprove Amendment 17B, and the 

associated rationale. 

Proposed Rule for Amendment 17B 

A proposed rule that would 

implement measures outlined in 

Amendment 17B has been received from 

the Council. In accordance with the 

Magnuson-Stevens Act, NMFS is 

evaluating Amendment 17B to 

determine whether it is consistent with 

the FMP, the Magnuson-Stevens Act, 

and other applicable law. If that 

determination is affirmative, NMFS will 

publish the proposed rule in the Federal 

Register for public review and 

comment. 

Consideration of Public Comments 

Comments received by November 22, 

2010, whether specifically directed to 

the amendment or the proposed rule, 

will be considered by NMFS in its 

decision to approve, disapprove, or 

partially approve the amendment. 

Comments received after that date will 

not be considered by NMFS in this 

decision. All comments received by 

NMFS on the amendment or the 

proposed rule during their respective 

comment periods will be addressed in 

the final rule. 

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

Dated: September 17, 2010. 

James P. Burgess, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2010–23712 Filed 9–21–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 


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