Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2009/12/11/E9-29589/magnuson-stevens-act-provisions-national-standard-2-scientific-information
Timestamp: 2016-09-26 02:17:23
Document Index: 240567280

Matched Legal Cases: ['§\u2009600', '§\u2009600', '§\u2009600', '§\u2009600', '§\u2009600', '§\u2009600', '§\u2009600', '§\u2009600', '§\u2009600', '§\u2009600', '§\u2009600', '§\u2009600', '§\u2009600', '§\u2009600']

:: Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; National Standard 2-Scientific Information
A Proposed Rule by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on 12/11/2009
65724-65731
E9-29589
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/E9-29589
Section 301(a)(2) of the MSA specifies that fishery conservation and management measures shall be based upon the best scientific information available. Section 301(b) of the MSA states that “the Secretary (of Commerce) shall establish advisory guidelines Start Printed Page 65725(which shall not have the force and effect of law), based on national standards, to assist in the development of fishery management plans.” The existing national standard guidelines appear at 50 CFR 600.310 through 600.355. The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act (MSRA) of 2006 included provisions to improve the use of science in decisionmaking, provide a stronger role for Councils' SSCs, and establish an optional peer review process for scientific information used to advise Councils about conservation and management of fisheries. Therefore, NMFS is proposing revisions to the NS2 guidelines to address these MSA provisions and provide guidance and recommendations on peer review processes. NMFS published an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) in the Federal Register on September 18, 2008 (73 FR 54132). NMFS has carefully considered the public comments received in developing this proposed rule.
In 2004, the National Research Council (NRC) of the National Academies examined the application of the BSIA standard in the development of fishery conservation and management measures. The NRC recommended approaches to more uniformly apply the BSIA standard for current and future fishery management actions. The NRC recommendations are available in the NRC (2004) publication entitled “Improving the Use of the `Best Scientific Information Available' Standard in Fisheries Management” (2004, http://books.nap.edu/​openbook.php).
Section 302(g)(1)(E) peer review processes must be carefully designed to maximize the likelihood of an outcome that is objective, provides useful information, and meets the intent or scope of work of the particular process. This proposed action adopts many of the OMB peer review standards, including balance in the peer review process in terms of expertise, knowledge, and bias; lack of conflicts of interest; independence from the work being reviewed; and transparency of the process. A peer review may take many forms, including individual letter or written review or panel reviews. The amount of time and resources spent on any particular review may depend on the novelty and complexity of the scientific information being reviewed. Peer reviewers who are federal employees must comply with all applicable federal ethics requirements (available at: http://www.usoge.gov/​federal_​employees.aspx). Potential reviewers who are not federal employees must be screened for conflicts of interest in accordance with the procedures set forth in the NOAA Policy on Conflicts of Interest for Peer Review subject to OMB's Peer Review Bulletin (available at: http://www.cio.noaa.gov/​Policy_​Programs/​NOAA_​PRB_​COI_​Policy_​110606.html). The nature and scope of each peer review should be developed and defined prior to the selection of reviewers, to ensure reviewers with the Start Printed Page 65726appropriate expertise and skills are selected.
The Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) has the responsibility for preparation and review of SAFE reports. The current NS2 guidelines state that the SAFE report is a document or set of documents that provides the Councils with a summary of scientific information, and contain specifications on the contents of SAFE reports. This proposed action would provide further clarification on the purpose and content of the SAFE report. Specifically, it provides guidance on the scientific Start Printed Page 65727information that should be included in the SAFE to enable the SSC to fulfill its role in providing its Council with ongoing scientific advice for fishery management decisions.
ANPR comments suggested that a SAFE report should be a single report; however the proposed action maintains the existing NS2 guidelines language that describes the SAFE as a document or set of documents. This is necessary to provide the Secretary flexibility in the preparation of the SAFE report and accommodates differing regional practices with regard to the SAFE report. These proposed guidelines clarify that the SAFE report should include essential fish habitat (EFH) information, in accordance with the EFH provisions contained in § 600.815(a)(10), as a stand-alone chapter or clearly noted section.
The proposed action would amend the existing NS2 guidelines by deleting the recommendation that the SAFE report contain information on safety for the fishery at issue. Safety of life at sea is now addressed in the National Standard 10 guidelines at § 600.355.
National Research Council of the National Academies (NRC). 2004. Improving the use of the “best scientific information available” standard in fisheries management. The National Academies Press, Washington, DC 105 pp.; http://www.nap.edu/​openbook.php.
NOAA Office of the Chief Information Officer & High Performance Computing and Communications. 2006. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Policy on Conflicts of Interest for Peer Review Subject to OMB Peer Review Bulletin. NOAA Memorandum, November 6, 2006; http://www.cio.noaa.gov/​Policy_​Programs/​NOAA_​PRB_​COI_​Policy_​110606.html.
NMFS has prepared a regulatory impact review of this action, which is available at: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/​msa2007/​otherprovisions.html. This analysis describes the economic impact this proposed action, if adopted, would have on small entities of the United States. NMFS invites the public to comment on this proposal and the supporting analysis.
§ 600.315 National Standard 2—Scientific Information.
(1) Fishery conservation and management require high quality and Start Printed Page 65728timely biological, ecological, economic, and sociological scientific information to effectively conserve and manage living marine resources. Successful fishery management depends, in part, on the thorough analysis of this information, and the extent to which the information is applied for evaluating the impact that conservation and management measures will have on living marine resources, essential fish habitat (EFH), marine ecosystems, fisheries participants, fishing communities, and the nation.
(A) Verification means that the data and procedures used to produce the Start Printed Page 65729scientific information are documented in sufficient detail to allow reproduction of the analysis by others with an acceptable degree of precision. External reviewers of scientific information require this level of documentation to conduct a thorough review.
(b) Peer review process. The Secretary and each Council may establish a peer review process for that Council for scientific information used to advise about the conservation and management of the fishery (Magnuson-Stevens Act section 302(g)(1)(E)). A peer review process is not a substitute for an SSC and should work in conjunction with the SSC (see § 600.310(b)(2)(v)(C)). This section provides guidance and standards that should be followed in order to establish a peer review process per section 302(g)(1)(E).
(iii) Independence. Peer reviewers must not have participated in the development of the work product or scientific information under review. For peer review of some work products or scientific information, a greater degree of independence may be necessary to assure credibility of the peer review process; reviewers should not be employed by the Council or entity that produced or utilizes the product for Start Printed Page 65730management decisions. Peer review responsibilities should rotate across the available pool of qualified reviewers or among the members on a standing peer review panel, recognizing that, in some cases, repeated service by the same reviewer may be needed because of essential expertise.
(3) If an SSC as a body, or individual members of an SSC, conducts or participates in a peer review, those SSC members must meet the peer reviewer selection criteria as described in paragraph (b)(2) of this section. These guidelines require separate consideration from those of § 600.235, Financial Disclosure for Councils and Council committees. Additionally, when the SSC as a body is conducting a peer review, it should strive for consensus and meet the transparency guidelines for best scientific information available and peer reviews as described in paragraphs (a)(6)(iv) and (b)(3) of this section. If consensus cannot be reached, minority viewpoints should be recorded.
(6) Annual catch limits (ACLs) may not exceed the SSC's recommendations for fishing levels (Magnuson-Stevens Act section 302(h)(6)). The SSC recommendation that is most relevant to ACLs is acceptable biological catch (ABC), as both ACL and ABC are levels of annual catch (see § 600.310(b)(2)(v)(D)). Any peer review related to such recommendations should be conducted early in the process as described in paragraph (c)(4) of this section. The SSC should resolve differences between its recommendations and any relevant peer review recommendations per paragraph (c)(5) of this section.
(1) The Secretary has the responsibility to assure that SAFE reports are prepared and updated or supplemented as necessary whenever new information is available that requires a revision to the status determination criteria (SDC) or is likely to affect the overfishing level (OFL), optimum yield, or ABC values (§ 600.310(c)). The SAFE report and any comments or reports from the SSC must be available to the Council for making its management decisions for each FMP to ensure that the best scientific information available is being used. The Secretary or Councils may utilize any combination of personnel from Council, state, Federal, university, or other sources to acquire and analyze data and produce the SAFE report.
(2) The SAFE report provides information to the Councils and the Start Printed Page 65731Secretary for determining annual catch limits (§ 600.310(f)(5)) for each stock in the fishery; documenting significant trends or changes in the resource, marine ecosystems, and fishery over time; implementing required EFH provisions (§ 600.815(a)(10)); and assessing the relative success of existing state and Federal fishery management programs. In addition, the SAFE report may be used to update or expand previous environmental and regulatory impact documents and ecosystem descriptions.
(i) A description of the SDC (e.g., maximum fishing mortality rate threshold and minimum stock size threshold for each stock or stock complex in the fishery) (§ 600.310(e)(2)), along with information to determine:
(ii) Information on which to base catch specifications, including the most recent stock assessment documents and associated peer review reports, and recommendations and reports from the Council's SSC on OFL and ABC, preventing overfishing, and achieving rebuilding targets. Documentation of the data collection, estimation methods, and consideration of uncertainty in formulating catch specification recommendations should be included (see also § 600.310(f)(2)-(4)).
(iii) Information on sources of fishing mortality (both landed and discarded), including commercial and recreational catch and bycatch in other fisheries and description of data collection and estimation methods used to quantify total catch mortality, as required by National Standard 1 (§ 600.310(i)).
(v) Review and evaluations of EFH information in accordance with the EFH provisions (§ 600.815(a)(10)), as a standalone chapter or in a clearly noted section.
(2) The fact that scientific information concerning a fishery is incomplete does not prevent the preparation and implementation of an FMP (see related §§ 600.320(d)(2) and 600.340(b)).