33372 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 132 / Monday, July 13, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 

Flooding source(s) Location of referenced elevation 

* Elevation in feet 

(NGVD) 

+ Elevation in feet 

(NAVD) 

# Depth in feet 

above ground 

Modified 

Communities affected 

Tributary Kiowa ......................... At confluence with Lake Kiowa ........................................... +705 Cooke County (Unincorporated Areas). 

Approximately 2,500 feet upstream from confluence with 

Lake Kiowa.

+723 

Wolf Creek ................................ At the confluence with Lake Ray Roberts .......................... +645 Cooke County (Unincorporated Areas). 

Approximately 1,000 feet upstream from FM 295 .............. +746 

Wolf Creek Tributary 1 ............. At the confluence with Wolf Creek ...................................... +681 Cooke County (Unincorporated Areas). 

Approximately 2,700 feet upstream from confluence with 

Wolf Creek.

+709 

* National Geodetic Vertical Datum. 

+ North American Vertical Datum. 

# Depth in feet above ground. 

ADDRESSES 

City of Valley View 

Maps are available for inspection at 100 South Dixon, Gainesville, TX 76240. 

Cooke County (Unincorporated Areas) 

Maps are available for inspection at 100 South Dixon, Gainesville, TX 76240. 

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance No. 

97.022, ‘‘Flood Insurance.’’) 

Dated: June 29, 2009. 

David I. Maurstad, 

Federal Insurance Administrator of the 

National Flood Insurance Program, 

Department of Homeland Security, Federal 

Emergency Management Agency. 

[FR Doc. E9–16519 Filed 7–10–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 9110–12–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 660 

[Docket No. 071106669–81372–03] 

RIN 0648–AU26 

Fisheries Off West Coast States; 

Coastal Pelagic Species Fishery; 

Amendment 12 to the Coastal Pelagic 

Species Fishery Management Plan 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Final rule 

SUMMARY: NMFS issues this final rule to 

implement Amendment 12 to the 

Coastal Pelagic Species (CPS) Fishery 

Management Plan (FMP) which would 

provide protection for all species of krill 

off the West Coast (i.e., California, 

Oregon and Washington). This rule 

would prohibit the harvest of all species 

of krill by any fishing vessel operating 

in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) 

off the West Coast, and would also deny 

the use of exempted fishing permits to 

allow krill fishing. 

DATES: Effective August 12, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: Copies of Amendment 12, 

which includes an Environmental 

Assessment/Initial Regulatory 

Flexibility Analysis/Regulatory Impact 

Review, are available from Rodney R. 

McInnis, Regional Administrator, 

Southwest Region, NMFS, 501 West 

Ocean Blvd., Suite 4200, Long Beach,CA 

90802. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Joshua B. Lindsay, Sustainable Fisheries 

Division, NMFS, at 562–980–4034 or 

Mike Burner, Pacific Fishery 

Management Council, at 503–820–2280. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The CPS 

fishery in the EEZ off the West Coast is 

managed under the CPS FMP, which 

was developed by the Pacific Fishery 

Management Council (Council) 

pursuant to the Magnuson-Stevens 

Fishery Conservation and Management 

Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). The CPS 

FMP was approved by the Secretary of 

Commerce on June 10, 1999, and was 

implemented by a final rule (64 FR 

69888, December 15, 1999) that was 

codified at 50 CFR part 660, subpart I. 

Amendment 12, which was approved 

by the Secretary of Commerce on May 

25, 2007, added all species of krill as a 

management unit species under the CPS 

FMP and placed krill under a newly 

established ‘‘prohibited harvest species’’ 

category. This new category differs from 

the existing ‘‘prohibited species’’ 

definition in the FMP because 

‘‘prohibited harvest species’’ may not be 

taken by any fishery or gear type in the 

U.S. EEZ. In contrast, ‘‘prohibited 

species’’ may not be taken and retained 

incidentally by CPS fishery participants, 

but are legally harvested under 

provisions in Federal regulations 

implementing other Council FMPs. 

As the principal food source for many 

fish and non-fish species, krill are a 

critical component of the marine 

ecosystem. Off the West Coast krill are 

important prey for a variety of fish 

species, including several overfished 

groundfish species, salmon and Pacific 

whiting. Krill are also a principal food 

source for many species of marine 

mammals and seabirds, some of which 

are listed as threatened or endangered 

under the Endangered Species Act and 

warrant special efforts for protection 

and recovery. Although there is no 

indication that the status of the krill 

resource has contributed to the 

overfished, endangered, or threatened 

status of these species, protecting krill 

will help to maintain these important 

ecological relationships and to ensure 

the long-term health and productivity of 

the West Coast ecosystem. Amendment 

12 incorporates ecosystem conservation 

principles into fishery management 

programs by protecting, to the extent 


sroberts on DSKD5P82C1PROD with RULES
Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 132 / Monday, July 13, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 33373 

practicable, krill resources, which are an 

integral part of that ecosystem. 

At this time, there are no Federal 

regulations that limit fishing for krill in 

the EEZ. While a krill fishery off the 

U.S. West Coast does not currently exist 

and there have been only limited 

expressions of interest in commercial 

exploitation of krill in the EEZ, NMFS 

is concerned such a fishery could 

develop, which could have an adverse 

impact on other West Coast fish stocks, 

marine mammals, seabirds and the 

ecosystem generally. 

The states of Washington, Oregon, 

and California prohibit their vessels 

from fishing for krill and prohibit 

landings of krill into their respective 

ports. However, these prohibitions 

would not prevent a fishery from 

developing in the West Coast EEZ by 

vessels from outside of the region, as 

long as landings were not made into a 

West Coast port. A market for krill 

currently exists in Washington and 

Oregon, where salmon farms use krill 

products as a supplemental feed. 

Federal (EEZ) waters that lie outside of 

the state prohibitions on krill harvest 

may in the future be used for fish 

farming. Such future operations could 

use krill as feed stock, and a fishery 

could develop around the needs of these 

aquaculture facilities. Local krill would 

likely be a potential food source, which 

may significantly increase the 

likelihood of a krill fishery developing 

within West Coast EEZ waters. 

NMFS is concerned about the 

potential impacts of a krill fishery based 

in part on information regarding largescale krill fishing methods and the 

impacts of existing krill fisheries in 

other areas of the world. Krill 

concentrations attract aggregations of 

marine mammals, seabirds, and fish 

predators, and bycatch and/or 

disturbance of these organisms is likely 

to occur due to the trawl-type gear used 

to catch krill. In the Antarctic krill 

fishery, there is known bycatch of fur 

seals as well as various sea birds. In 

British Columbia, a krill fishery began 

in 1970, and quotas were established in 

1976 due to concerns for harvesting a 

forage species upon which salmon and 

other commercially important finfish 

depend. An annual catch was set at 500 

tons with an open season from 

November to March to minimize the 

incidental catch of larval and juvenile 

fish. 

NMFS has considered the potential 

for development of a krill fishery and 

the potential impacts a fishery could 

have on krill resources and on the fish 

and other species, such as birds and 

mammals, that are dependent on, or that 

are sensitive to, the abundance and 

availability of krill. NMFS believes it is 

critical to take preventive action at this 

time to ensure that a krill fishery will 

not develop that could potentially harm 

krill stocks, and in turn harm other fish 

and non-fish stocks. In an 

environmental assessment prepared for 

this action, NMFS analyzed the option 

of allowing a small harvest of krill, but 

ultimately decided to approve the 

Council’s recommendation to impose a 

simple prohibition, which is consistent 

with State law and easier to enforce and 

administer than a program allowing for 

low harvest levels. 

Under Amendment 12, krill (all 

species) would be added to the 

management unit species of the CPS 

FMP. Further, a new category of 

management unit species – ‘‘prohibited 

harvest’’ – would be established under 

the FMP. Krill would be placed in that 

category. This means that optimum 

yield (OY) for krill would be zero, and 

the target, harvest and transhipment of 

krill would be prohibited. Also, 

exempted fishing permits (EFPs) would 

not be issued under the EFP procedures 

of the CPS FMP to allow individuals to 

harvest krill as an exception to the 

prohibition of harvest. These actions 

would fully achieve the objectives of the 

amendment to the extent practicable, 

but would not account for 

environmental conditions and the 

responses of krill and other resources to 

changes in environmental conditions. 

NMFS recognizes that de minimis or 

trace amounts of krill may be retained 

by fishermen while targeting other 

species; such inadvertent action is not 

intended to be the subject of this 

prohibition. 

Four alternatives were analyzed for 

this action. For further background 

information on these alternatives and 

this action please refer to the 

Amendment 12 document entitled 

Management of Krill as an Essential 

Component of the California Current 

Ecosystem. 

NMFS received thirteen comments 

regarding the proposed regulations to 

implement Amendment 12. All 

comments were supportive of the 

action. 

Classification 

The Administrator, Southwest Region, 

NMFS, determined that Amendment 12 

to the CPS FMP is necessary for the 

conservation and management of krill 

and that it is consistent with the 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act and 

other applicable laws. 

This final rule has been determined to 

be significant for the purposes of 

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 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. 

No comments were received regarding 

this certification or the economic 

impact of the proposed rule. As a result, 

a regulatory flexibility analysis was not 

required and none was prepared. 

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 660 

Fisheries, Fishing, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements. 

Dated: July 7, 2009. 

Samuel D. Rauch III, 

Deputy Assistant Administrator For 

Regulatory Programs, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

■ For the reasons set out in the 

preamble, NMFS amends 50 CFR part 

660 as follows: 

PART 660—FISHERIES OFF WEST 

COAST STATES 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 660 

continues to read as follows: 

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

2. In § 660.502 the definitions of 

‘‘Krill’’ and ‘‘Prohibited harvest species’’ 

are added in alphabetical order to read 

as follows: 

§ 660.502 Definitions. 

* * * * * 

Krill means all species of euphausiids 

that occur in the EEZ off the West Coast. 

* * * * * 

Prohibited harvest species means all 

krill species in the EEZ off the West 

Coast. 

* * * * * 

■ 3. In § 660.505, add paragraph (o) as 

follows: 

§ 660.505 Prohibitions. 

* * * * * 

(o) Fish for, target, harvest or land a 

prohibited harvest species in any fishery 

within the EEZ off the West Coast. 

[FR Doc. E9–16531 Filed 7–10–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 


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