62590 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 202 / Monday, October 20, 2014 / Proposed Rules 

the Government than common carrier 

transportation will not be made on the 

basis of personal preference or 

inconvenience to the traveler. 

■ 10. Amend § 301–70.102 by revising 

paragraphs (d), (f), and (i) to read as 

follows: 

§ 301–70.102 What governing policies 

must we establish for authorization and 

payment of transportation expenses? 

* * * * * 

(d) When you will consider use of a 

POV advantageous to the Government, 

such as travel to and from common 

carrier terminals or to the TDY location. 

When determining whether the use of a 

POV to a TDY location is the most 

advantageous method of transportation, 

agencies must consider the total cost of 

using a POV as compared to the total 

cost of using a rental vehicle, including 

rental costs, fuel, taxes, parking (at a 

common carrier terminal, etc.), and any 

other associated costs; 

* * * * * 

(f) Procedures for allowing the use of 

a special conveyance (e.g., commercially 

rented vehicles), taking into account the 

requirements of § 301–10.450; 

* * * * * 

(i) Develop and issue internal 

guidance on what specific mission 

criteria justify approval of the use of 

other than coach-class transportation 

under §§ 301–10.123(a)(4), 301– 

10.123(b)(9), and 301–10.162(e), the use 

of other than lowest first-class under 

§ 301–10.183(d), and the use of other 

than a compact rental car under § 301– 

10.450(c). The justification criteria shall 

be entered in the remarks section of the 

traveler’s authorization. 

* * * * * 

§§ 301–10.5, 301–10.200, 301–10.220, 301– 

10.310 and 301–70.104 [Amended] 

■ 11. Amend §§ 301–10.5, 301–10.200, 

301–10.220, 301–10.310 and 301–70.104 

by removing the terms ‘‘Government 

automobile’’ and ‘‘Governmentfurnished automobile’’ wherever they 

appear and adding ‘‘GOA’’ in its place. 

[FR Doc. 2014–24498 Filed 10–17–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6820–14–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 660 

[Docket No. 140811659–4659–01] 

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: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: NMFS proposes to implement 

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 proposed pursuant to 

the Coastal Pelagic Species (CPS) 

Fishery Management Plan (FMP). The 

proposed 2014–2015 HG for Pacific 

mackerel is 29,170 metric tons (mt). 

This is the primary commercial fishing 

target level. The proposed 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 rule is intended to conserve and 

manage the Pacific mackerel stock off 

the U.S. West Coast. 

DATES: Comments must be received by 

November 19, 2014. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

on this document identified by NOAA– 

NMFS–2014–0126 by any of the 

following methods: 

• Electronic Submissions: Submit all 

electronic public comments via the 

Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to 

www.regulations.gov/

#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2014- 

0126, click the ‘‘Comment Now!’’ icon, 

complete the required fields, and enter 

or attach your comments. 

• Mail: Submit written comments to 

William W. Stelle, Jr., Regional 

Administrator, West Coast Region, 

NMFS, 7600 Sand Point Way NE., 

Seattle, WA 98115–0070; Attn: Joshua 

Lindsay. 

• Instructions: Comments must be 

submitted by one of the above methods 

to ensure that the comments are 

received, documented, and considered 

by NMFS. Comments sent by any other 

method, to any other address or 

individual, or received after the end of 

the comment period, may not be 

considered. All comments received are 

a part of the public record and will 

generally be posted for public viewing 

on www.regulations.gov without change. 

All personal identifying information 

(e.g., name, address, etc.) submitted 

voluntarily by the sender will be 

publicly accessible. Do not submit 

confidential business information, or 

otherwise sensitive or protected 

information. 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 or Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe 

PDF file formats only. 

Copies of the report ‘‘Pacific Mackerel 

(Scomber japonicus) Stock Assessment 

for USA Management in the 2011–12 

Fishing Year’’ and the report ‘‘Pacific 

Mackerel Biomass Projection Estimate 

for USA Management (2014–15)’’ may 

be obtained from the West Coast 

Regional Office (see ADDRESSES). 

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 proposed 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 


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Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 202 / Monday, October 20, 2014 / Proposed Rules 62591 

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 = [(BiomassCutoff) * 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 

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. 

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 proposed rule is 

consistent with the CPS FMP, other 

provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens 

Fishery Conservation and Management 

Act, and other applicable law, subject to 

further consideration after public 

comment. 

These proposed 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 that this 

proposed rule, if adopted, would not 

have a significant economic impact on 

a substantial number of small entities, 

for the reasons as follows: 

The purpose of this proposed rule is 

to implement the 2014–2015 annual 

specifications for Pacific mackerel in the 

U.S. EEZ off the Pacific coast. 

On June 12, 2014, the Small Business 

Administration (SBA) issued an interim 

final rule revising the small business 

size standards for several industries 

effective July 14, 2014 (79 FR 33467). 

The rule increased the size standard for 

Finfish Fishing from $19.0 to 20.5 

million, Shellfish Fishing from $5.0 to 

5.5 million, and Other Marine Fishing 

from $7.0 to 7.5 million. 78 FR 33656, 

33660, 33666 (See Table 1). NMFS 

conducted its analysis for this action in 

light of the new size standards. 

As stated above, the SBA now defines 

small businesses engaged in finfish 

fishing as those vessels with annual 

revenues of or below $20.5 million. 

Under the former, lower size standards, 

all entities subject to this action in 

previous years were considered small 

entities, and under the new standards, 

as described below, they all would 

continue to be considered small. 

Pursuant to the Regulatory Flexibility 

Act and the SBA’s June 20, 2013 and 

June 14, 2014 final rules (78 FR 37398 

and 79 FR 33647, respectively), this 

certification was developed for this 

action using the SBA’s revised size 

standards. NMFS considers all entities 

subject to this action to be small entities 

as defined by both the former, lower 

size standards and the revised size 

standards. 

The small entities that would be 

affected by the proposed action are 

those vessels that harvest Pacific 

mackerel as part of the West Coast CPS 

purse seine fleet. The CPS FMP and its 

implementing regulations requires 

NMFS to set an OFL, ABC, ACL, HG and 

ACT for the Pacific mackerel fishery 

based on the harvest control rules in the 

FMP. These specific harvest control 

rules are applied to the current stock 

biomass estimate to derive these catch 

specifications, which are used to 

manage the commercial take of Pacific 

mackerel. A component of these control 

rules is that as the estimated biomass 

decreases or increases from one year to 

the next, so do the applicable quotas. 

For the 2014–2015 Pacific mackerel 

fishing season NMFS is proposing an 

OFL of 32,992 metric tons (mt), an ABC 

and ACL of 30,138 mt, an HG of 29,170 

mt and an ACT, which is the directed 

fishing harvest target, of 24,170 mt. 

These catch specifications are based on 

a biomass estimate of 157,106 mt. 

Pacific mackerel harvest is one 

component of CPS fisheries off the U.S. 

West Coast, which primarily includes 

the fisheries for Pacific sardine, 

northern anchovy and market squid. 

Pacific mackerel are principally caught 

off southern California within the 

limited entry portion (south of 39 

degrees N. latitude; Point Arena, 

California) of the fishery. Currently 

there are 58 vessels permitted in the 

Federal CPS limited entry fishery off 

California of which about 25 to 39 

vessels have been annually engaged in 

harvesting Pacific mackerel in recent 

years (2009–2013). For those vessels 

that caught Pacific mackerel during that 

time, the average annual per vessel 

revenue has been about $1.25 million. 

The individual vessel revenue for these 

vessels is well below the SBA’s 

threshold level of $20.5 million; 


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therefore, all of these vessels are 

considered small businesses under the 

RFA. Because each affected vessel is a 

small business, this proposed rule has 

an equal or similar effect on all of these 

small entities, and therefore will impact 

a substantial number of these small 

entities in the same manner. 

Additionally, since at least 2000, the 

vessels in the CPS purse seine fleet that 

fish for Pacific mackerel have never 

achieved annual revenue of $20.5 

million from finfish fishing whether 

considering an individual vessel or per 

vessel average. The aggregate annual exvessel revenue from all fish species for 

the fleet that also landed Pacific 

mackerel has been less than $49 million 

(or about $1.25 million per vessel) in 

recent years. Excluding market squid 

(shellfish), the aggregate annual average 

ex-vessel revenue from finfish species 

for those vessels in the fleet that also 

landed Pacific mackerel is about $6 

million (or $180,000 per vessel) in 

recent years. 

NMFS used the ex-vessel revenue 

information for a profitability analysis, 

as the cost data for the harvesting 

operations of CPS finfish vessels was 

limited or unavailable. For the 2013– 

2014 fishing year, the maximum fishing 

level was 52,358 mt and was divided 

into a directed fishing harvest target 

(ACT) of 39,268 mt and an incidental 

set-aside of 13,089 mt. Approximately 

11,472 mt was harvested in 2013–2014 

fishing season with an estimated exvessel value of approximately $2.3 

million. 

The maximum fishing level for the 

2014–2015 Pacific mackerel fishing 

season is 29,170 mt, with an ACT of 

24,170 mt and an incidental set-aside of 

5,000 mt. If the fleet were to take the 

entire 2014–2015 ACT, the potential 

revenue to the fleet would be 

approximately $4.7 million (based on 

average ex-vessel price of $193 per mt 

during 2012–2013 and 2013–2014). 

However, this result will depend greatly 

on market forces within the fishery, and 

on the regional availability of the 

resource to the fleet and the fleets’ 

ability to find schools of Pacific 

mackerel. The annual average U.S. 

Pacific mackerel harvest over the last 

decade (2001–2013) and in recent years 

(2009–2013) has been about 4,900 mt 

and 4,500 mt, respectively. In those 

periods, the landings have not exceeded 

11,500 mt. The annual average landings 

during 2001–2013 and 2009–2013 were 

only about 20% and 15% of the annual 

average HGs, respectively. As a result, 

although this year’s ACT represents a 

decrease compared to the previous 

fishing season, it is highly unlikely that 

the ACT proposed in this rule will limit 

the potential profitability to the fleet 

from catching Pacific mackerel. 

Accordingly, vessel income from fishing 

is not expected to be altered as a result 

of this rule as it compares to recent 

catches in the fishery, and specifically 

the fishery under the previous season’s 

regulations. 

Additionally, revenue derived from 

harvesting Pacific mackerel is typically 

only one factor determining the overall 

revenue for a majority of the vessels that 

harvest Pacific mackerel; as a result, the 

economic impact to the fleet from the 

proposed action cannot be viewed in 

isolation. From year to year, depending 

on market conditions and availability of 

fish, most CPS vessels supplement their 

income by harvesting other species. 

Many vessels in California also harvest 

anchovy, sardine, and in particular 

market squid, making Pacific mackerel 

only one component of a multi-species 

CPS fishery. For example, in recent 

years the annual total fleet revenue from 

Pacific mackerel alone has ranged from 

about $200,000 to $1.5 million with 

average fleet revenue of about $800,000 

(or $23,422 per vessel). Thus, the 

revenue from Pacific mackerel in the 

CPS fleet is a very small fraction of the 

revenue whether from CPS species or all 

fish species. The revenue from Pacific 

mackerel constitutes about 1.98% and 

1.95% of the total revenue from CPS 

species and all fish species, 

respectively. 

These vessels typically rely on 

multiple species for profitability 

because abundance of mackerel, like the 

other CPS stocks, is highly associated 

with ocean conditions and different 

times of the year, and therefore are 

harvested at various times and areas 

throughout the year. Because each 

species responds to ocean conditions in 

its own way, not all CPS stocks are 

likely to be abundant at the same time; 

therefore, as abundance levels and 

markets fluctuate, it has necessitated 

that the CPS fishery as a whole rely on 

a group of species for its annual 

revenues. The proposed HG (maximum 

fishing level) for the 2014–2015 Pacific 

mackerel fishing season is 29,170 mt, 

with an ACT of 24,170 mt, which is 

about 38% lower than the previous year 

as a result of the significantly reduced 

2014–2015 biomass estimate. 

As stated above in the preamble, the 

CPS FMP and its implementing 

regulations require NMFS to calculate 

annual harvest levels by applying the 

harvest control rule formulas to the 

current stock biomass estimate. 

Therefore, if the estimated biomass 

decreases or increases from one year to 

the next, so do the applicable quotas. 

Determining the annual harvest levels 

merely implements the established 

procedures of the FMP with the goal of 

continuing to provide expected net 

benefits to the nation, regardless of what 

the specific annual allowable harvest of 

Pacific mackerel is determined to be. 

As a result of the factors provided 

above, an Initial Regulatory Flexibility 

Analysis is not required, and none has 

been prepared. 

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: October 8, 2014. 

Samuel D. Rauch III, 

Deputy Assistant Administrator for 

Regulatory Programs, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2014–24800 Filed 10–17–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 


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