[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 214 (Tuesday, November 7, 2017)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 51594-51596]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-24205]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 170828822-7822-01]
RIN 0648-XF669


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Scup Fishery; 2018 
and Projected 2019 Specifications

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Proposed rule; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS proposes revised scup specifications for the 2018 fishing 
year and projected specifications for 2019. Updated scientific 
information regarding the scup stock indicates that higher catch limits 
may be implemented to achieve optimum yield. This action is intended to 
inform the public of the proposed specifications for the 2018 fishing 
year and projected specifications for 2019.

DATES: Comments must be received by 5 p.m. local time, on November 22, 
2017.

ADDRESSES: An environmental assessment (EA) was prepared for this 
action and describes the proposed measures and other considered 
alternatives, and provides an analysis of the impacts of the proposed 
measures and alternatives. Copies of the Specifications Document, 
including the EA, are available on request from Dr. Christopher M. 
Moore, Executive Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, 
Suite 201, 800 North State Street, Dover, DE 19901. These documents are 
also accessible via the Internet at http://www.mafmc.org.
    You may submit comments on this document, identified by NOAA-NMFS-
2017-0121, by either of the following methods:
    Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public comments via 
the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal.
    1. Go to www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2017-0121,
    2. Click the ``Comment Now!'' icon, complete the required fields, 
and

[[Page 51595]]

    3. Enter or attach your comments.

--OR--
    Mail: Submit written comments to John Bullard, Regional 
Administrator, National Marine Fisheries Service, 55 Great Republic 
Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930. Mark the outside of the envelope, 
``Comments on the Proposed Rule for Revised Scup Specifications.''
    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 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).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Emily Gilbert, Fishery Policy Analyst, 
(978) 281-9244.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

General Background

    The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council and the Atlantic States 
Marine Fisheries Commission cooperatively manage the summer flounder, 
scup, and black sea bass fisheries. The Summer Flounder, Scup, and 
Black Sea Bass Fishery Management Plan (FMP) and its implementing 
regulations outline the Council's process for establishing 
specifications. Specifications in these fisheries include various catch 
and landing subdivisions, such as the commercial and recreational 
sector annual catch limits (ACLs), annual catch targets (ACTs), and 
sector-specific landing limits (i.e., the commercial fishery quota and 
recreational harvest limit). Annual specifications may be proposed for 
three-year periods, with the Council reviewing the specifications each 
year to ensure that previously established multi-year specifications 
remain appropriate. Following review, NMFS announces the final annual 
specifications in the Federal Register. The FMP also contains formulas 
to divide the specification catch limits into commercial and 
recreational fishery allocations, state-by-state quotas, and quota 
periods, depending on the species in question. Rulemaking for measures 
used to manage the recreational fisheries (minimum fish sizes, open 
seasons, and bag limits) for these three species occurs separately, and 
typically takes place in the spring of each year. The summer flounder 
and black sea bass specifications implemented through previous 
rulemaking remain unchanged by this action.
    On December 28, 2015, NMFS published a final rule implementing the 
Council's recommended 2016-2018 specifications for the scup fishery (80 
FR 80689). The Council intended to reconsider the specifications set 
for fishing year 2018 following the review of a scup assessment update 
provided in July 2017.
    The assessment update indicated the scup stock is not overfished 
and overfishing did not occur in 2016, the most recent year for which 
information is available. The update estimated that the scup spawning 
stock biomass (SSB) is 2.1 times the proxy reference point for SSB at 
maximum sustainable yield (MSY), and fishing mortality (F) in 2016 was 
about 63 percent of the F<INF>MSY</INF> proxy reference point. In 
addition, the update estimated that the 2015 year class was about 2.1 
times the average recruitment (i.e., number of age 0 scup) from 1984-
2016. The 2016 year class was 46 percent below the 1984-2016 
recruitment average. Although the 2016 year class was estimated to be 
below average, the 2015 year class was so large that the assessment 
update provided higher revised overfishing limit (OFL) recommendations 
for 2018 and 2019. Compared to the previously implemented 2018 OFL 
(29.68 million lb, 13,462 mt), the 2018 recommendation is a 52-percent 
increase.

Proposed Specifications

    The Council's Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) met on 
July 19-20, 2017, to discuss the assessment update results and 
resulting OFL estimates, to identify an updated acceptable biological 
catch (ABC) level for 2018, and to project an ABC for the 2019 fishing 
year. To derive the ABC recommendations, the SSC applied the Council's 
standard risk policy for a species with a typical life history, which 
produces ABCs estimated to result in a 60-percent probability of not 
overfishing the stock. The process resulted in ABCs of 39.14 million lb 
(17,755 metric tons (mt)) for 2018 and 36.43 million lb (16,525 mt) for 
2019 (Table 1). The revised 2018 ABC is approximately 45 percent higher 
than the previously established 2018 ABC. Under the FMP, 22 percent of 
the ABC is allocated to the recreational fishery, while 78 percent is 
allocation to the commercial fishery.
    Following the SSC meeting, the Monitoring Committee met on July 24, 
2017, to discuss ACLs, ACTs, commercial quotas, and recreational 
harvest limits for the 2018 and 2019 fishing years. In light of the 
substantial increase in the ABC, the Monitoring Committee recommended a 
moderate increase for the fishery and suggested setting the 2018 
commercial ACT at 25.85 million lb (11,725 mt) and the recreational ACT 
at 7.29 million lb (3,307 mt). These recommended ACTs were 15 percent 
lower than those formulaically resulting from the SSC's ABC 
recommendation, but 22.5 percent higher than what is currently in place 
for 2018. The Monitoring Committee also recommended setting the 2019 
ACTs at the same level as the 2018 ACTs. The Monitoring Committee 
decided that there was enough management uncertainty around the 
upcoming adjustments to the commercial quota periods in 2018 and the 
outcome of the upcoming recreational harvest estimate revisions through 
the Marine Recreational Information Program to warrant the inclusion of 
a buffer between the ACLs and ACTs, which would provide for more 
stability in the fishery by using constant ACTs for both years.
    The Council and Commission's Scup Management Board meet jointly on 
August 8, 2017, to review the SSC's and Monitoring Committee's 
recommendations. They found merit in the idea of offering stability in 
the fishery by allowing for a buffer between the ACLs and ACTs, but did 
not accept the Monitoring Committee's specific recommendations. 
Instead, the Council and Commission recommended constant sector-
specific ACTs across 2018 and 2019, based on the 2019 ABC and setting 
the ACLs for 2019 equal to the ACTs (i.e., 8.01 million lb (3,636 mt) 
for the recreational fishery and 23.98 million lb (10,879 mt) for the 
commercial fishery).
    After removing the sector-specific estimated discards from the 
ACTs, the scup commercial quotas and recreational harvest limits would 
be those shown in Table 1. These values are approximately 40 percent 
higher than the current 2018 commercial quota and recreational harvest 
limit. The Monitoring Committee did not recommend any changes to the 
current commercial measures, including the 9-inch (22.9-cm) minimum 
fish size, the mesh size requirements and seasonal possession limit 
thresholds, and the pot/trap gear requirements.
    The Council will revisit its decision on the projected 2019 
specifications following the SSC's review next summer. By providing 
projected specifications for 2019, NMFS hopes to assist fishery 
participants in planning

[[Page 51596]]

ahead. Final 2019 specifications will be published in the Federal 
Register before the start of the 2019 fishing year (January 1, 2019) 
based on the Council's review.

                                    Table 1--Council-Recommended Scup Specifications for 2018 and Projected for 2019
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                                                                                                Scup specifications
                                                         -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                  2018 (current)                  2018 (revised)                 2019 (projected)
                                                         -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                            million lb          mt          million lb          mt          million lb          mt
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OFL.....................................................           29.68          13,462           45.05          20,433           41.03          18,612
ABC.....................................................           27.05          12,270           39.14          17,755           36.43          16,525
Commercial ACL..........................................           21.10           9,571           30.53          13,849           28.42          12,890
Commercial ACT..........................................           21.10           9,571           28.42          12,890           28.42          12,890
Commercial Discards.....................................            3.76           1,705            4.43           2,011            4.43           2,011
Commercial Quota........................................           17.34           7,866           23.98          10,879           23.98          10,879
Recreational ACL........................................            5.95           2,699            8.61           3,906            8.01           3,636
Recreational ACT........................................            5.95           2,699            8.01           3,636            8.01           3,636
Recreational Discards...................................            0.75             338            0.65             293            0.65             293
Recreational Harvest Limit..............................            5.21           2,361            7.37           3,342            7.37           3,342
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Classification

    Pursuant to section 304(b)(1)(A) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the 
Assistant Administrator has determined that this proposed rule is 
consistent with the Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass FMP, 
other provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and other applicable law, 
subject to further consideration after public comment.
    This action is exempt from review under E.O. 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. 
The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council conducted an evaluation of 
the potential socioeconomic impacts of the proposed measures in 
conjunction with an EA. According to the commercial ownership database, 
517 affiliate firms landed scup during the 2014-2016 period, with 513 
of those business affiliates categorized as small businesses and 4 
categorized as large businesses. Scup represented approximately 3.94 
percent of the average receipts of the small entities considered and 
0.11 percent of the average receipts of the large entities considered 
over this time period.
    The ownership data for the for-hire fleet indicate that there were 
359 for-hire affiliate firms generating revenues from fishing 
recreationally for various species during the 2014-2016 period, all of 
which are categorized as small businesses. Although it is not possible 
to derive what proportion of the overall revenues came from specific 
fishing activities, given the popularity of scup as a recreational 
species it is likely that revenues generated from scup are important 
for some, if not all, of these firms.
    The proposed measure would increase both the 2018 commercial quota 
and the 2018 recreational harvest limit by around 40 percent. However, 
the scup fishery is a market-limited fishery (i.e., market conditions 
are typically the limiting factor, not allowable landings) and it is 
expected that, unless market conditions change drastically, commercial 
and recreational landings will likely be similar to current landings. 
As a result, this action is not expected to adversely impact revenues 
for vessels that fish for scup commercially. The increase in the 
recreational harvest limit does not directly impact the party/charter 
fishery. Future regulatory action may be needed to adjust current scup 
recreational management measures (i.e., bag limits, seasons, and 
minimum sizes), and consideration of the impact of those potential 
future measures on small entities engaged in the for-hire fishery will 
be evaluated at that time, should such a regulatory action become 
necessary. Because this rule will not have a significant economic 
impact on a substantial number of small entities, an initial regulatory 
flexibility analysis is not required and none has been prepared.
    There are no new reporting or recordkeeping requirements contained 
in any of the alternatives considered for this action.

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

    Dated: November 2, 2017.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2017-24205 Filed 11-6-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P