Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 167 / Wednesday, August 30, 2017 / Proposed Rules 41205 

appropriate, disproportionate human 

health or environmental effects, using 

practicable and legally permissible 

methods, under Executive Order 12898 

(59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994). 

In addition, the SIP is not approved 

to apply on any Indian reservation land 

or in any other area where EPA or an 

Indian tribe has demonstrated that a 

tribe has jurisdiction. In those areas of 

Indian country, the rule does not have 

tribal implications and will not impose 

substantial direct costs on tribal 

governments or preempt tribal law as 

specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 

FR 67249, November 9, 2000). 

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52 

Environmental protection, Air 

pollution control, Incorporation by 

reference, Intergovernmental relations, 

Sulfur oxides, Nitrogen oxides. 

Dated: August 15, 2017. 

Deborah A. Szaro, 

Acting Regional Administrator, EPA New 

England. 

[FR Doc. 2017–18419 Filed 8–29–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 622 

RIN 0648–BG87 

Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of 

Mexico, and South Atlantic; Reef Fish 

Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico; Gray 

Triggerfish Management Measures; 

Amendment 46 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notification of availability; 

request for comments. 

SUMMARY: The Gulf of Mexico (Gulf) 

Fishery Management Council (Council) 

has submitted Amendment 46 to the 

Fishery Management Plan for the Reef 

Fish Resources of the Gulf of Mexico 

(FMP), for review, approval, and 

implementation by NMFS. Amendment 

46 would establish the rebuilding time 

period for the Gulf gray triggerfish stock. 

Amendment 46 would also revise the 

recreational fixed closed season, 

recreational bag limit, recreational 

minimum size limit, and commercial 

trip limit. The purpose of Amendment 

46 is to implement management 

measures to assist in rebuilding the Gulf 

gray triggerfish stock and to achieve 

optimum yield (OY). 

DATES: Written comments must be 

received on or before October 30, 2017. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

on the amendment identified by 

‘‘NOAA–NMFS–2017–0080’’ by either 

of the following methods: 

• Electronic Submission: Submit all 

electronic public comments via the 

Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to 

www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=

NOAA-NMFS-2017-0080, click the 

‘‘Comment Now!’’ icon, complete the 

required fields, and enter or attach your 

comments. 

• Mail: Submit written comments to 

Lauren Waters, Southeast Regional 

Office, NMFS, 263 13th Avenue South, 

St. Petersburg, FL 33701. 

Instructions: 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 by NMFS. 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.), 

confidential business information, or 

otherwise sensitive information 

submitted voluntarily by the sender will 

be publicly accessible. NMFS will 

accept anonymous comments (enter 

‘‘N/A’’ in the required fields if you wish 

to remain anonymous). 

Electronic copies of Amendment 46, 

which includes an environmental 

assessment, a fishery impact statement, 

a Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) 

analysis, and a regulatory impact 

review, may be obtained from the 

Southeast Regional Office Web site at: 

http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/sustainable_

fisheries/gulf_fisheries/reef_fish/2017/ 

am46_gray_trigger/documents/pdfs/ 

gulf_reef_am46_gray_trigg_final.pdf. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Lauren Waters, Southeast Regional 

Office, NMFS, telephone: 727–824– 

5305; email: Lauren.Waters@noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act 

(Magnuson-Stevens Act) requires each 

regional fishery management council to 

submit any FMP or amendment to 

NMFS for review and approval, partial 

approval, or disapproval. The 

Magnuson-Stevens Act also requires 

that NMFS, upon receiving an FMP or 

amendment, publish an announcement 

in the Federal Register notifying the 

public that the FMP or amendment is 

available for review and comment. 

The FMP being revised by 

Amendment 46 was prepared by the 

Council and implemented by NMFS 

through regulations at 50 CFR part 622 

under the authority of the MagnusonStevens Act. 

Background 

The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires 

NMFS and regional fishery management 

councils to prevent overfishing and 

achieve, on a continuing basis, the OY 

from Federally managed fish stocks. 

These mandates are intended to ensure 

that fishery resources are managed for 

the greatest overall benefit to the nation, 

particularly with respect to providing 

food production and recreational 

opportunities, and protecting marine 

ecosystems. To further this goal, the 

Magnuson-Stevens Act requires fishery 

managers to rebuild overfished stocks. 

The first Southeast Data, Assessment, 

and Review (SEDAR) benchmark stock 

assessment for gray triggerfish was 

completed in 2006 (SEDAR 9). SEDAR 

9 indicated that the gray triggerfish 

stock was both overfished and possibly 

undergoing overfishing. Subsequently, 

Amendment 30A to the FMP established 

a gray triggerfish rebuilding plan 

beginning in the 2008 fishing year (73 

FR 3813; July 3, 2008). In 2011, a 

SEDAR 9 update stock assessment for 

gray triggerfish determined that the gray 

triggerfish stock was still overfished and 

was undergoing overfishing, and had 

not made adequate progress toward 

rebuilding. As a result of the SEDAR 9 

update and to end overfishing, the final 

rule for Amendment 37 to the FMP 

revised the gray triggerfish commercial 

and recreational sector annual catch 

limits (ACLs) and annual catch targets 

(ACTs), revised the gray triggerfish 

recreational sector accountability 

measures (AMs), revised the gray 

triggerfish recreational bag limit, 

established a commercial trip limit for 

gray triggerfish, and established a fixed 

closed season for the gray triggerfish 

commercial and recreational sectors (78 

FR 27084; May 5, 2013). Additionally, 

Amendment 37 revised the rebuilding 

plan and projected that the stock would 

be rebuilt in 5 years, or by the end of 

2017 fishing year. 

Since implementation of Amendment 

37 in 2013, commercial harvest has not 

exceeded the commercial ACL, while 

the recreational sector has exceeded the 

recreational ACL or adjusted 

recreational ACL (that resulted from a 

ACL overage adjustment) in the 2013, 

2014, 2015, and 2016 fishing years. The 

most recent stock assessment for gray 

triggerfish was completed and reviewed 

by the Council’s Scientific and 

Statistical Committee (SSC) in October 

2015 (SEDAR 43). SEDAR 43 indicated 

that the gray triggerfish stock was not 

experiencing overfishing but remained 

overfished and would not be rebuilt by 

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41206 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 167 / Wednesday, August 30, 2017 / Proposed Rules 

the end of 2017 as previously projected. 

On November 2, 2015, NMFS notified 

the Council that the gray triggerfish 

stock was not making adequate progress 

toward rebuilding and the Council 

subsequently began development of 

Amendment 46 to establish a new 

rebuilding time period and other 

management measures to achieve OY 

and rebuild the stock. 

Actions Contained in Amendment 46 

Amendment 46 includes measures to 

set a rebuilding time period, revise the 

recreational fixed closed season, revise 

the recreational bag limit, revise the 

recreational minimum size limit, and 

revise the commercial trip limit. 

Additionally, Amendment 46 considers 

alternatives to the commercial and 

recreational ACLs and ACTs. 

Rebuilding Time Period and 

Commercial and Recreational ACTs and 

ACLs 

Amendment 37 established a 5-year 

rebuilding time period, expiring in 

2017, and the current gray triggerfish 

commercial and recreational ACTs and 

ACLs. The current commercial ACT is 

60,900 lb (27,624 kg), round weight, and 

the commercial ACL is 64,100 lb (29,075 

kg), round weight. The current 

recreational ACT is 217,000 lb (98,475 

kg), round weight, and the recreational 

ACL is 242,200 lb (109,406 kg), round 

weight. Amendment 46 would establish 

a new rebuilding time period for the 

Gulf gray triggerfish stock as a result of 

the stock status determined through 

SEDAR 43, and maintain the current 

commercial and recreational ACLs and 

ACTs. 

The Council’s SSC reviewed SEDAR 

43 and recommended alternative 

rebuilding time periods of 8, 9, or 10 

years and the acceptable biological 

catch (ABC) yield streams for each 

period. There is a 60 percent probability 

of rebuilding the stock within these time 

periods if landings are appropriately 

constrained to the recommended catch 

levels. In Amendment 46, the Council 

considered these rebuilding time 

periods and their associated catch 

levels, as well as a 6-year period, which 

would be the time needed to rebuild the 

stock in the absence of fishing mortality. 

The Council determined that the 9-year 

rebuilding time period was as short as 

possible, taking into account the status 

and biology of the stock and the needs 

of the associated fishing communities. 

Although the ABC recommendation 

associated with the 9-year time period 

allowed for an increase in harvest, the 

Council chose to adopt a more 

conservative approach and maintain the 

current commercial and recreational 

ACLs and ACTs for gray triggerfish that 

were set through the final rule for 

Amendment 37 (78 FR 27084, May 9, 

2013). 

Recreational Seasonal Closure 

The current recreational seasonal 

closure for gray triggerfish in the Gulf is 

from June 1 through July 31, and was 

established in Amendment 37 to protect 

gray triggerfish during the peak 

spawning season and help constrain 

landings to the recreational ACT (78 FR 

27084; May 5, 2013). However, as 

explained above, recreational landings 

have exceeded the recreational ACL or 

adjusted ACL the last four years. 

Amendment 46 would establish an 

additional recreational fixed closed 

season for gray triggerfish from January 

1 through the end of February, which is 

expected to reduce recreational landings 

and help rebuild the stock within the 

rebuilding time period established in 

Amendment 46. 

Recreational Bag Limit 

The current recreational bag limit was 

set in Amendment 37 and is a 2-fish per 

person per day limit within the overall 

20-fish aggregate reef fish bag limit. 

Amendment 46 would reduce the 

recreational gray triggerfish bag limit to 

1 fish per person per day within the 20- 

fish aggregate reef fish bag limit. 

As described in Amendment 46, from 

2013 through 2015, approximately 10 

percent of recreational trips with reef 

fish landings harvested 2 gray triggerfish 

within the 20-fish aggregate bag limit. 

NMFS expects the proposed change to 

the bag limit to reduce recreational 

landings by 15 percent, which will help 

constrain harvest to the recreational 

ACT to allow the sector to remain open 

through the end of the fishing year. 

Recreational Size Limit 

The current recreational minimum 

size limit for gray triggerfish is 14 

inches (35.6 cm), FL, and was 

established in Amendment 30A to the 

FMP (73 FR 38139, July 3, 2008). 

Amendment 46 would increase the 

minimum size limit to 15 inches (38.1 

cm), FL. 

Increasing the recreational minimum 

size limit is expected to increase the 

gray triggerfish spawning potential by 

maintaining larger-sized fish, which are 

more fecund, in the stock, and is 

expected to help slow recreational 

harvest. 

Commercial Trip Limit 

The current commercial trip limit is 

12 fish per trip, and was established in 

Amendment 37 to constrain commercial 

harvest to the commercial ACT and 

avoid an in-season closure (78 FR 

27084, May 5, 2013). Amendment 46 

would increase the commercial trip 

limit to 16 fish per trip. 

As described in Amendment 46, since 

implementation of the 12-fish 

commercial trip limit in 2013, 

commercial landings have been 

consistently below the commercial ACT. 

Analysis of commercial trips 

demonstrated that 80 percent of trips 

caught 10 gray triggerfish or less. This 

indicates that gray triggerfish is 

primarily a non-target species by the 

commercial sector and that increasing 

the commercial trip limit would likely 

result in only a small change in the 

weight projected to be landed during a 

fishing year. However, increasing the 

commercial trip limit would allow those 

fishermen who encounter the species 

the opportunity to harvest more fish. 

This would help achieve OY for the 

stock while continuing to constrain 

commercial landings to the commercial 

ACT. 

Proposed Rule for Amendment 46 

A proposed rule that would 

implement Amendment 46 has been 

drafted. In accordance with the 

Magnuson-Stevens Act, NMFS is 

evaluating the proposed rule 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 

The Council has submitted 

Amendment 46 for Secretarial review, 

approval, and implementation. 

Comments on Amendment 46 must be 

received by October 30, 2017. 

Comments received during the 

respective comment periods, whether 

specifically directed to Amendment 46 

or the proposed rule, will be considered 

by NMFS in its decision to approve, 

partially approve, or disapprove 

Amendment 46 and will be addressed in 

the final rule. 

All comments received by NMFS on 

Amendment 46 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: August 25, 2017. 

Alan D. Risenhoover, 

Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2017–18417 Filed 8–25–17; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

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