[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 250 (Wednesday, December 31, 1997)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 68246-68247]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-34077]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 622
[I.D. 121197E]
RIN 0648-AJ16
Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic;
Reef Fish Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico; Resubmission of Disapproved
and Revised Measure in Amendment 11
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of availability of a revised, previously disapproved
measure in an amendment to a fishery management plan; request for
comments.
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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management
Council (Council) has resubmitted a previously disapproved measure,
originally contained in Amendment 11 to the Fishery Management Plan for
the Reef Fish Resources of the Gulf of Mexico, for review, approval,
and implementation by NMFS. The measure would define optimum yield
(OY). Written comments are requested from the public.
DATES: Written comments must be received on or before March 2, 1998.
ADDRESSES: Comments should be mailed to the Southeast Regional Office,
NMFS, 9721 Executive Center Drive N., St. Petersburg, FL 33702.
Requests for copies of the Resubmission of the Previously
Disapproved Measure, Originally Contained in Amendment 11, which
includes an environmental assessment and a regulatory impact review,
should be sent to the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, 3081
U.S. Highway 301 North, Suite 1000, Tampa, FL 33619-2266; Phone: 888-
883-1844; Fax: 813-225-7015.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert Sadler, 813-570-5305.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation
and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) requires each regional
fishery management council to submit any fishery management plan or
amendment to NMFS for review and approval, disapproval, or partial
approval. The Magnuson-Stevens Act also requires that NMFS, upon
receiving an amendment, immediately publish a document in the Federal
Register
[[Page 68247]]
stating that the amendment is available for public review and comment.
Based on a preliminary evaluation of Amendment 11 in August 1995,
the Regional Administrator, Southeast Region, NMFS, disapproved the
definition of OY proposed in Amendment 11, because it was determined to
be inconsistent with the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management
Act. The disapproved definition of OY would have set OY for each stock
based on a SPR level corresponding to F0.1 until an
alternative operational definition that optimizes ecological, economic,
and social benefits to the Nation has been developed.
The Council's Spawning Potential Ratio (SPR) Strategy Committee
considered NMFS' disapproval and recommended a 30- to 40-percent SPR
level as a revised OY. SPR is defined as the number of eggs that could
be produced by an average female over its lifetime when the stock is
fished, divided by the number of eggs that could be produced by an
average female over its lifetime when the stock is unfished. The
Council's Reef Fish Stock Assessment Panel (RFSAP) recommended that OY
be based on a 35-percent SPR level and that the fishing mortality rate
at the 35-percent SPR level be used as a surrogate for the fishing
mortality rate that produces maximum sustainable yield (MSY). The
Council considered these recommendations, NMFS' prior disapproval, and
public comment, and subsequently resubmitted the revised OY definition
to NMFS for review under Amendment 11. The revised definition would
initially set OY for each reef fish stock managed under the FMP at a
yield level that would result in at least a 30-percent SPR for that
stock. This measure allows the Council to propose setting OY based on a
more conservative (higher) SPR level, if the RFSAP indicates that the
biological information supports such action.
Comments from the Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC)
indicate that OY should be defined at a more conservative level than
30-percent SPR for those species for which biological information is
presently unavailable, and for other species that change sex, may be
especially vulnerable to overfishing, and are believed to be less
resilient as they mature. The SEFSC recommended that OY be defined as a
fishing mortality rate that allows a 40-percent SPR for these 15
species: Red porgy, rock hind, speckled hind, yellowedge grouper, red
hind, jewfish, red grouper, misty grouper, warsaw grouper, snowy
grouper, Nassau grouper, yellowmouth grouper, gag, scamp, and yellowfin
grouper. The SEFSC concluded that approval of the resubmitted OY
definition would risk overfishing, since application of the proposed OY
definition to the 15 listed species may not be based on the best
available scientific information. The SEFSC also indicated that the
proposed definition may be inconsistent with the Magnuson-Stevens Act
provisions regarding OY and MSY. Comments on these concerns are
specifically invited.
If approved, no Federal regulatory action (i.e., no proposed and
final rules) will be necessary to implement the revised and resubmitted
measure.
In accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens Act, NMFS is evaluating the
resubmitted measure; comments received by March 2, 1998, will be
considered in the approval/disapproval decision. All comments received
during the comment period will be addressed in a notice of approval or
disapproval.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: December 23, 1997.
Gary C. Matlock,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 97-34077 Filed 12-30-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F
