Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 99 / Tuesday, May 26, 2009 / Proposed Rules 24757 

Flooding source(s) Location of referenced elevation ** 

* Elevation in feet (NGVD) 

+ Elevation in feet (NAVD) 

# Depth in feet above 

ground 

∧Elevation in meters 

(MSL) 

Communities affected 

Effective Modified 

Send comments to William R. Blanton, Jr., Chief, Engineering Management Branch, Mitigation Directorate, Federal Emergency Management 

Agency, 500 C Street, SW., Washington, DC 20472. 

ADDRESSES 

City of Odessa 

Maps are available for inspection at 411 West 8th Street, Odessa, TX 79761. 

Unincorporated Areas of Ector County 

Maps are available for inspection at 521 North Texas Street, Odessa, TX 79761. 

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance No. 

97.022, ‘‘Flood Insurance.’’) 

Dated: May 14, 2009. 

Deborah S. Ingram, 

Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator for 

Mitigation, Mitigation Directorate, 

Department of Homeland Security, Federal 

Emergency Management Agency. 

[FR Doc. E9–12105 Filed 5–22–09; 8:45 am] 

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 679 

RIN 0648–AX71 

Fisheries of the United States 

Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; 

Fisheries of the Arctic Management 

Area; Bering Sea Subarea 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Availability of a fishery 

management plan and fishery 

management plan amendment; request 

for comments. 

SUMMARY: The North Pacific Fishery 

Management Council has submitted the 

Fishery Management Plan for Fish 

Resources of the Arctic Management 

Area (Arctic FMP) and Amendment 29 

to the FMP for Bering Sea/Aleutian 

Islands King and Tanner Crabs (Crab 

FMP). The Arctic FMP and Amendment 

29 to the Crab FMP, if approved, would 

establish sustainable management of 

commercial fishing in the Arctic 

Management Area and limit the 

management area of crab species under 

the Crab FMP to waters of the U.S. 

Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) south 

of Bering Strait. This action is necessary 

to establish a management framework 

for commercial fishing of nearly all fish 

species occurring in the Arctic 

Management Area before the potential 

onset of unregulated commercial fishing 

in the Arctic Management Area. This 

action is intended to promote the goals 

and objectives of the Magnuson–Stevens 

Fishery Conservation and Management 

Act, the FMPs, and other applicable 

laws. Comments from the public are 

encouraged. 

DATES: Written comments on the Arctic 

FMP and Crab FMP amendment must be 

received by 1700 hours, A.D.T. on July 

27, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Sue 

Salveson, Assistant Regional 

Administrator, Sustainable Fisheries 

Division, Alaska Region, NMFS, Attn: 

Ellen Sebastian. You may submit 

comments, identified for this action by 

0648–AX71 (NOA), by any one of the 

following methods: 

• Electronic Submissions: Submit all 

electronic public comments via the 

Federal eRulemaking Portal http:// 

www.regulations.gov. 

• Mail: P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 

99802. 

• Hand delivery to the Federal 

Building: 709 West 9th Street, Room 

420A, Juneau, AK. 

• Fax: 907–586–7557. 

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 (e.g., name, address) 

voluntarily submitted by the commenter 

may 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, Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe 

portable document file (pdf) formats 

only. 

Copies of the Arctic FMP, 

Amendment 29 to the Crab FMP, maps 

of the action area and essential fish 

habitat, and the Environmental 

Assessment/Regulatory Impact Review/ 

Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

(EA/RIR/IRFA) for this action may be 

obtained from the Alaska Region 

address above or from the Alaska Region 

website at http:// 

www.alaskafisheries.noaa.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Melanie Brown, 907–586–7228. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Magnuson–Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act 

(Magnuson–Stevens Act) requires that 

the North Pacific Fishery Management 

Council (Council) submit any FMP or 

FMP amendment it prepares to NMFS 

for review and approval, disapproval, or 

partial approval by the Secretary of 

Commerce (Secretary). The Magnuson– 

Stevens Act also requires that NMFS, 

upon receiving an FMP or FMP 

amendment, immediately publish a 

notice in the Federal Register that the 

FMP or FMP amendment is available for 

public review and comment. 

If approved by the Secretary, the 

Arctic FMP and Amendment 29 to the 

Crab FMP would establish sustainable 

management of commercial fishing in 

the Arctic Management Area and 

remove management authority within 

the Arctic Management Area from the 

Crab FMP. The Arctic FMP would 

establish a management framework to 

sustainably manage future commercial 

fishing in the Arctic Management Area 

and would initially prohibit commercial 

fishing until new information regarding 

Arctic fish resources allows for 

authorization of a sustainable 

commercial fishery in the Arctic 

Management Area. Amendment 29 to 

the Crab FMP would ensure consistent 

management of all crab species in the 

Arctic Management Area under one 

FMP. 

24758 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 99 / Tuesday, May 26, 2009 / Proposed Rules 

In February 2009, the Council 

recommended the adoption of the Arctic 

FMP to implement a management 

framework that will protect the fish 

resources of the Arctic Management 

Area against the potential onset of 

unregulated commercial fishing by 

initially prohibiting commercial fishing 

until sufficient information is available 

to enable sustainable management of 

such fishing consistent with the 

Magnuson–Stevens Act. Global climate 

change is reducing the extent of sea ice 

in the Arctic Ocean, providing greater 

access to Arctic marine resources and 

increased human activity in this 

sensitive marine environment of the 

U.S. EEZ. 

Under the Magnuson–Stevens Act 

(section 306(a)(3)), the State of Alaska 

may regulate commercial fishing in the 

adjacent EEZ waters if no FMP is in 

place. No FMP is in place for the Arctic 

Management Area. However, the state 

authority for management in the EEZ 

pertains only to vessels registered under 

the law of the State of Alaska. Thus, 

absent an FMP it is possible that 

unregistered vessels could commercially 

fish in the Arctic Management Area 

without any regulatory oversight or 

management. In light of the potential 

adverse effects on the Arctic marine 

environment from unregulated 

commercial fishing, the Council chose 

to prevent this from occurring in the 

future. The proposed Arctic FMP would 

eliminate the potential for unregulated 

commercial fishing in the Arctic 

Management Area. The proposed Arctic 

FMP represents a precautionary, 

ecosystem–based approach to fisheries 

management in the Arctic Management 

Area. 

Features of the Arctic FMP 

The proposed Arctic FMP contains all 

required provisions and appropriate 

discretionary provisions for an FMP 

contained in sections 303(a), 303(b), and 

313 of the Magnuson–Stevens Act. The 

conservation and management 

provisions in the Arctic FMP were 

developed to be consistent with the 

National Standard guidelines. The 

following is a summary of the main 

provisions of the proposed Arctic FMP. 

With the exception of Pacific halibut 

and Pacific salmon, the Arctic FMP 

would apply to commercial harvests of 

all fish resources in the waters of the 

Arctic Management Area (See Figure 1). 

The geographic extent of the Arctic 

Management Area would be all marine 

waters in the U.S. EEZ of the Chukchi 

and Beaufort Seas, from 3 nautical miles 

off the coast of Alaska or its baseline to 

200 nautical miles offshore, north of 

Bering Strait (from Cape Prince of Wales 

to Cape Dezhneva) and westward to the 

1990 U.S./Russia maritime boundary 

line and eastward to the U.S./Canada 

maritime boundary. 

Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 99 / Tuesday, May 26, 2009 / Proposed Rules 24759 

This action would not affect non– 

commercial fishing in the Arctic 

Management Area, nor commercial 

harvest of certain species that are 

managed pursuant to other legal 

authorities. This action would have no 

effect on subsistence harvest of marine 

resources in the Arctic Management 

Area. It would also have no effect on the 

commercial harvests of Pacific salmon 

or Pacific halibut. The commercial 

harvest of Pacific salmon in the Arctic 

Management Area is managed under the 

FMP for Salmon Fisheries in the EEZ off 

the Coast of Alaska, which prohibits 

commercial salmon fishing in the Arctic 

Management Area. Pacific halibut 

commercial fishing is managed by the 

International Pacific Halibut 

Commission, which does not permit 

harvest of Pacific halibut in the Arctic 

Management Area. 

The proposed Arctic FMP establishes 

two categories of species, target species 

and ecosystem component species. 

Target species are those that are most 

likely to be targeted in a commercial 

fishery based on potential markets and 

available biomass in the Arctic 

Management Area. Arctic cod 

(Boreogadus saida), saffron cod 

(Eleginus gracilis), and snow crab 

(Chionoecetes opilio) are target species 

in the proposed Arctic FMP. The 

remainder of fish, as defined by Section 

3 of the Magnuson–Stevens Act, 

occurring in the Arctic Management 

Area are classified as ecosystem 

component species. 

The proposed Arctic FMP provides 

the maximum sustainable yield (MSY) 

and optimum yield (OY) for commercial 

fishing for each of the target species. 

MSY is specified for each target species 

using the MSY control rule described in 

the proposed Arctic FMP. The OY for 

each target species is determined by 

reductions from MSY based on 

uncertainty, economic considerations, 

and ecosystem considerations. The 

MSYs for Arctic cod, saffron cod, and 

snow crab would be reduced by 100 

percent based on economic costs of 

fishing. Uncertainty would reduce the 


EP26MY09.022</GPH>
24760 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 99 / Tuesday, May 26, 2009 / Proposed Rules 

MSY for each target species by an 

amount ranging from 36 to 61 percent. 

MSYs for Arctic cod and saffron cod 

also would be reduced based on 

ecosystem considerations. Arctic cod is 

a keystone species in the Arctic marine 

environment, with many higher trophic 

level predators (i.e., certain marine 

mammals and seabirds) heavily 

dependent on Arctic cod as a principal 

prey species. The harvest of saffron cod 

likely would result in very high levels 

of Arctic cod bycatch (two tons of Arctic 

cod for each ton of saffron cod); 

therefore, the harvest of saffron cod also 

likely would result in impacts on Arctic 

cod and those species that depend on 

Arctic cod as prey. Because of the 

importance of Arctic cod to the Arctic 

food web, the lack of knowledge of the 

Arctic cod biomass needed to support 

both commercial fishing and Arctic 

predators, and the potential high levels 

of bycatch of Arctic cod in a saffron cod 

fishery, the MSYs for Arctic and saffron 

cods are reduced 100 percent based on 

ecosystem concerns. 

Based on these reductions of the 

MSYs for the target species, the OY for 

commercial fishing in the Arctic 

Management Area for each target 

species is zero. The proposed Arctic 

FMP specifies the OY for each target 

species as the lowest amount of catch 

sufficient to allow for bycatch of Arctic 

cod, saffron cod, and snow crab in 

subsistence fisheries for other species. 

The Arctic FMP would thus prohibit 

commercial fishing on target species. 

With an OY of zero for each target 

species, no quantity of target species is 

available for commercial harvest. 

The commercial harvest of ecosystem 

component species also would be 

prohibited to prevent the adverse effects 

on the Arctic marine ecosystem, 

including the target species, that may 

occur from unregulated commercial 

fishing on these species. Consistent with 

the Council’s stated management policy 

and objectives, the proposed Arctic FMP 

includes non–target species in the 

ecosystem component category to 

ensure that the Arctic marine ecosystem 

is adequately protected and out of 

concern that unregulated commercial 

fishing for these species could 

detrimentally affect the target fishery. 

The inclusion of all non–target species 

in the Arctic Management Area in the 

ecosystem component category is 

consistent with the Magnuson–Stevens 

Act which: recognizes the increased 

importance of habitat conservation; calls 

for development of conservation and 

management measures to avoid 

irreversible or long–term adverse effects 

to the marine environment and to 

minimize bycatch to the extent 

practicable; permits inclusion in an 

FMP of management measures to 

conserve non–target species and 

habitats, considering the variety of 

ecological factors affecting fishery 

populations; and requires consideration 

of ecological factors and protection of 

the marine ecosystem in setting OY for 

stocks in the fishery. The National 

Standard 1 guidelines (50 CFR 

600.310(d)(5)(i)) further encourage an 

ecosystem–based approach to 

management of fisheries, providing the 

Council and NMFS with broad 

discretion to determine whether stocks 

should be classified and included in an 

FMP as ecosystem component species 

for a series of reasons, including 

specifying OY and developing 

conservation and management measures 

for the associated fishery to address 

other ecosystem issues and to protect 

their associated role in the ecosystem 

with which the fishery interacts. Due to 

the lack of commercial fishing in the 

Arctic, these species are non–target 

species and are not generally retained 

for sale or for personal use. Moreover, 

these species are not likely to be 

overfished or be subject to overfishing 

in the absence of commercial fishing or 

conservation and management 

measures. 

The Council’s decision to create an 

ecosystem component category that 

includes all fish species in the Arctic 

Management Area, except the potential 

target species, and to prohibit 

commercial fishing for such species 

other than salmon and halibut, is based 

on ecosystem considerations and is 

intended to conserve target and non– 

target species and their habitats. The 

stated management objectives of the 

Arctic FMP provide a benchmark for 

NMFS’ evaluation of the Council’s 

proposed management measures. These 

objectives include a ‘‘Biological 

Conservation Objective’’ that seeks to 

ensure the long–term viability of fish 

populations by, among other things, 

preventing unregulated fishing and 

‘‘incorporating ecosystem–based 

considerations into fishery management 

decisions, as appropriate . . . .’’ NMFS 

believes that the prohibition on 

commercial fishing for ecosystem 

component species reflects such 

appropriate ecosystem–based 

considerations and does not constitute 

required conservation and management 

for purposes of including such species 

in the fishery. 

The OY for each of the three potential 

target fisheries is de minimis, and 

sufficient only to support subsistence 

fishing. NMFS shares the Council’s 

concern that if the target species are 

caught as bycatch during unregulated 

commercial fishing for other species, 

removal of those target species could 

surpass OY. Similarly, NMFS shares the 

Council’s concern that unregulated 

commercial fishing for ecosystem 

component species may affect the Arctic 

marine ecosystem in ways that are 

detrimental to the potential target 

fishery as well as non–target species and 

their habitats. For example, large–scale 

removal of biomass of important prey 

species for one or more target species, 

or removal of species that are otherwise 

ecologically connected to one or more 

target species, could adversely affect the 

target fishery populations. At present, 

the scientific understanding of the 

interdependence and trophic 

relationships between particular species 

in the Arctic marine ecosystem is 

rudimentary, relative to other marine 

ecosystems, as is the knowledge of 

particular habitats in the region that 

may be important to the continued 

health of the ecosystem and its various 

species. In particular, NMFS is 

concerned about the potential adverse 

effects of unregulated commercial 

fishing for non–target species on Arctic 

cod, which is found throughout the 

Arctic Management Area and is a 

keystone species that provides a crucial 

trophic link between the sea ice food 

web and marine mammals and birds. 

These limitations on NMFS’ 

understanding of ecological processes in 

the Arctic are compounded by the 

ongoing climatic changes in the region 

and physical changes in the marine 

environment. Global climate change is 

anticipated to continue altering the 

Arctic environment in fundamental 

ways, and before long may lead to a 

seasonally ice–free Arctic Ocean. As a 

result, there is great uncertainty 

regarding the ways in which current 

ecological relationships may change, 

irrespective of fishing pressure. 

Consistent with the Council’s 

ecosystem–based management policy, 

NMFS believes it is appropriate to adopt 

management measures that will 

maximize the resilience of the target 

species and afford the greatest 

protection to the integrity of the Arctic 

ecosystem in the face of a changing 

climate. The prohibition on commercial 

fishing for ecosystem component 

species represents such a management 

measure. 

Although there is uncertainty as to 

whether commercial fishing for 

ecosystem component species would 

diminish target fishery populations to 

an unacceptable degree, either due to 

bycatch of target species or impacts on 

the ecosystem, NMFS has determined 

that the Council appropriately adopted 

a precautionary approach that proposes 

Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 99 / Tuesday, May 26, 2009 / Proposed Rules 24761 

prohibiting commercial fishing for any 

species of Arctic fish in the Arctic 

Management Area. Given the limited 

knowledge of ecological relationships 

and considerable uncertainty regarding 

the future, this will ensure that fishing 

does not interfere with important 

ecological relationships in the Arctic 

marine environment and thereby avoids 

the risk of harm to the potential target 

species, the broader ecosystem, and the 

habitat of fish species that may 

otherwise result from unregulated 

commercial fishing for ecosystem 

component species. Prohibiting 

commercial fishing on ecosystem 

component species is therefore an 

ecosystem–based, precautionary 

approach to fish resources management 

in the Arctic Management Area. NMFS 

will from time-to-time review the status 

of ecosystem component species based 

on the best available scientific 

information to determine whether or not 

such species should be classified for 

active conservation and management as 

species or stocks in the fishery. 

The proposed Arctic FMP includes a 

process and criteria for evaluating a 

future commercial fishery. The 

evaluation process includes the 

Council’s review of an analysis of the 

biological information on the potential 

target species and potential impacts of 

commercial fishing on the Arctic marine 

environment and on communities. An 

FMP amendment would be required to 

authorize a commercial fishery in the 

Arctic Management Area and to 

implement the specific conservation 

and management measures for the 

fishery. 

If a commercial fishery is authorized 

in the Arctic Management Area, the 

proposed Arctic FMP provides the 

general conservation and management 

measures to ensure sustainable fishing 

and to prevent overfishing of any target 

species. Overfishing levels (OFL) and 

acceptable biological catch levels (ABC) 

would be established, according to tier 

systems, based on the quantity of 

information available. The process for 

specifying OFLs, ABCs, and total 

allowable catch amounts (TACs) 

includes the development of a Stock 

Assessment and Fishery Evaluation 

report for the Council’s consideration in 

recommending OFLs, ABCs, and TACs 

to the Secretary. 

The National Standard 1 guidelines 

(74 FR 3178, January 16, 2009) require 

accountability measures and 

mechanisms to prevent overfishing. 

This requirement would be satisfied by 

the catch and retention restrictions 

implemented with the prohibition of 

commercial fishing initially imposed by 

the proposed Arctic FMP. If a 

commercial fishery is authorized in the 

future, the FMP would be amended to 

incorporate specific accountability 

measures and mechanisms to prevent 

overfishing. 

The proposed Arctic FMP includes 

the process and criteria for issuing 

exempted fishing permits (EFP). EFPs 

provide exemptions to fishing 

regulations under 50 CFR part 679 to 

allow commercial fishing in a manner 

not otherwise authorized. These permits 

are granted for the purpose of allowing 

studies that provide information useful 

to the management of fisheries and are 

effective for a limited time. More 

information regarding EFPs is available 

from the NMFS Alaska Region website 

at http://www.alaskafisheries.noaa.gov/ 

ram/efp.htm. 

Essential fish habitat (EFH) is 

described for each target species in the 

proposed Arctic FMP. Once EFH is 

established, NMFS must be consulted 

for any federal action that may 

adversely impact EFH (Magnuson– 

Stevens Act section 305(b)(2)). The 

proposed EFH description for Arctic cod 

includes the entire Arctic Management 

Area. Proposed EFH locations for snow 

crab and saffron cod are primarily in the 

Chukchi Sea. Descriptions of potential 

non–fishing adverse impacts on EFH 

and mitigation are appended to the 

proposed Arctic FMP. 

To assist in the ecosystem approach to 

fisheries management, the proposed 

Arctic FMP includes habitat 

descriptions for several ecosystem 

component species. The species 

selected for habitat descriptions 

represent forage species and potential 

future target species based on Bering 

Sea commercial fishing. 

The proposed Arctic FMP also 

includes the latest information on the 

Arctic ecosystem and Chukchi and 

Beaufort Seas survey data. This 

information provides the basis for the 

MSY and OY specifications and 

informed the Council’s decision to 

recommend adoption of the Arctic FMP. 

Amendment 29 to the Crab FMP 

Amendment 29 to the Crab FMP 

would move the northern boundary of 

the Crab FMP management area to 

Bering Strait. The Crab FMP northern 

boundary is currently located at Point 

Hope, north of Bering Strait and within 

the Arctic Management Area (See Figure 

1). This change in the Crab FMP 

northern boundary would allow the 

management of all crab species in the 

Arctic Management Area to be under the 

Arctic FMP, and would ensure 

consistent application of the 

conservation and management measures 

in the Arctic FMP to crab throughout 

the Arctic Management Area. The Arctic 

FMP’s conservation and management 

measures were designed to address the 

unique Arctic marine environment and 

the paucity of information available for 

sustainable fisheries management. 

Because the information available for 

Arctic crab and the marine environment 

of the Arctic Management Area differs 

from the Bering Sea, the Council 

recommended management of crab in 

the Arctic Management Area under the 

Arctic FMP. 

Public Comments 

NMFS is soliciting public comments 

on the proposed Arctic FMP and Crab 

FMP amendment through July 27, 2009. 

A proposed rule that would implement 

the Arctic FMP and Crab FMP 

amendment will be published in the 

Federal Register for public comment at 

a later date, following NMFS’ evaluation 

pursuant to the Magnuson–Stevens Act. 

Public comments on the proposed rule 

must be received by the end of the 

comment period on the Arctic FMP and 

Crab FMP amendment in order to be 

considered in the approval/disapproval 

decision on the Arctic FMP and Crab 

FMP amendment. All comments 

received on the Arctic FMP and Crab 

FMP amendment by the end of the 

comment period, whether specifically 

directed to the FMP or amendment or to 

the proposed rule, will be considered in 

the approval/disapproval decision. 

Comments received after that date will 

not be considered in the approval/ 

disapproval decision on the Arctic FMP 

or Crab FMP amendment. To be 

considered, comments must be 

received— not just postmarked or 

otherwise transmitted—by 1700 hours, 

A.D.T. on the last day of the comment 

period (See DATES and ADDRESSES). 

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

Dated: May 20, 2009. 

Margo Schulze–Haugen, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

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