[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 44 (Monday, March 7, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-5125]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: March 7, 1994]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
50 CFR Part 625
[Docket No. [940262-4062; I.D. 012194A]]
Summer Flounder Fishery
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Final specifications for the 1994 summer flounder fishery.
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SUMMARY: NMFS issues this notification of final specifications to
implement the commercial catch quota and other restrictions for the
1994 summer flounder fishery. The intent of this notification is to
comply with implementing regulations for this fishery that require the
Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) to publish measures for the upcoming
fishing year that will prevent overfishing of the summer flounder
resource.
EFFECTIVE DATE: March 2, 1994.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the Environmental Assessment prepared for this
action are available from Richard B. Roe, Regional Director, National
Marine Fisheries Service, One Blackburn Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930-
3799. Copies of supporting documents used by the Monitoring Committee
are available from David R. Keifer, Chairman, Summer Flounder
Monitoring Committee, Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, Room
2115, Federal Building, 300 S. New Street, Dover, DE 19901-6790.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Hannah Goodale, 508-281-9101.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Fishery Management Plan for the Summer
Flounder Fishery (FMP) was developed jointly by the Atlantic States
Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) and the Mid-Atlantic Fishery
Management Council (Council) in consultation with the New England and
South Atlantic Fishery Management Councils. The management unit for the
FMP is summer flounder (Paralichthys dentatus) in U.S. waters of the
Atlantic Ocean from the southern border of North Carolina northward to
the Canadian border. Implementing regulations for the fishery are found
at 50 CFR part 625.
Section 625.20 outlines the process for determining the annual
commercial catch quota and other restrictions for the summer flounder
fishing year. Pursuant to Sec. 625.20, certain management measures have
been adopted for calendar year 1994 to ensure achievement of the
appropriate fishing mortality rate. These measures include: (1) A
coastwide harvest limit of 26,675,934 million pounds (12.1 million kg);
(2) a coastwide commercial quota of 16,005,560 million pounds (7.3
million kg); (3) a coastwide recreational harvest limit of 10,670,374
million pounds (4.8 million kg); (4) a minimum commercial fish size of
13 inches (33 cm)(no change from present minimum); (5) a minimum mesh
size of 5-1/2-inch (14.0-cm) diamond or 6-inch (15.2 cm) square (no
change from present minimum); and (6) a minimum recreational fish size
of 14 inches (35.6 cm)(no change in present minimum). These measures
are unchanged from the proposed specifications, which were published in
the Federal Register on December 7, 1993 (58 FR 64393). Recreational
catch data for 1993 are not yet available, and the Committee will
consider modifications to the recreational possession limit and
recreational season after a review of that information.
Table 1 presents the 1994 commercial quota (16,005,560 million
pounds (7.3 million kg)) apportioned among each state according to the
percentage shares specified by Amendment 4 to the FMP (58 FR 49937;
September 24, 1993). These state allocations do not reflect the
adjustments required under Sec. 625.20 if 1993 landings exceed the
quota for any state. A notification of allocation adjustment will be
published in the Federal Register if such an adjustment is necessary,
after final 1993 commercial landing values are available.
Table 1.--1994 State Commercial Quotas
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Share 1994 Quota
State (percent) (pounds)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
ME............................................. 0.04756 7,612
NH............................................. 0.00046 74
MA............................................. 6.82046 1,091,653
RI............................................. 15.68298 2,510,149
CT............................................. 2.25708 361,258
NY............................................. 7.64699 1,223,943
NJ............................................. 16.72499 2,676,928
DE............................................. 0.01779 2,847
MD............................................. 2.03910 326,369
VA............................................. 21.31676 3,411,867
NC............................................. 27.44584 4,392,860
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Comments and Responses
Comments were received on the proposed management measures from
Seafarers International Union of North America (SIU) and the Atlantic
Coast Conservation Association of Virginia (ACCA). Comments concerning
the recommended 1994 management measures are addressed below.
Comment: The SIU believes that the recommended commercial quota is
overly conservative and was adopted without question by the Council.
Response: The summer flounder stock assessment was intensively
reviewed in October 1992 and May 1993 by the Southern Demersal Working
Group, which is composed of biologists from both Federal and state
agencies. The Council staff's initial recommendation of management
measures was based on the assessment, which concluded that the resource
is at a low biomass level and is overexploited. This initial
recommendation was reviewed and debated by the Summer Flounder
Monitoring Committee (Committee), the Council's Demersal Species
Committee, and the ASMFC's Policy Board before adoption of the
management measures by the Council and ASMFC.
Comment: The SIU believes that the proposed quota ignores the fact
that fishing mortality in 1993 was below the 0.53 target.
Response: The basis for the SIU comment is unclear. In the absence
of actual data for 1993, the assessment used as the basis of the 1994
quota recommendation makes several assumptions that the SIU may have
misinterpreted to be statements of fact. These assumptions are: That
the target fishing mortality is not exceeded, the overall 1993 quota is
not exceeded, discards do not increase, and all landings are reported.
All of these assumptions are incorporated into the specified quota
level.
Comment: The SIU believes that the estimates of discard mortality
in the analysis are too high. It cites a study conducted by the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts that showed a 94-percent survival rate
for summer flounder.
Response: The Massachusetts study provides data of interest to the
Committee and to NMFS, and there is interest in further study. However,
the study was limited in both scope and sample size, and the results
cannot be extrapolated to the summer flounder commercial fishery as a
whole.
Comment: The SIU believes that the Council should consider a higher
commercial quota, in part because the SIU believes that data indicate
that the stock was recovering before implementation of the current
management measures.
Response: The assessment results indicate that recruitment has
improved since 1988, but that it remains at or below an average level.
The fishery is dependent upon incoming recruitment because of the
limited number of ages of fish in the population. Given the uncertainty
of stock size estimates for 1993, the assessment recommends a cautious
strategy in setting the 1994 quota.
Comment: The SIU believes that the target fishing mortality rate
for 1996 of Fmax will not be 0.23. The SIU believes that the
management measures enacted under the FMP during the period 1993
through 1995 will result in a recalculated Fmax, which will be
higher. Therefore, SIU believes that the Council should not be
influenced by concern about the 1996 reduction in target fishing
mortality rate.
Response: Fmax is a biological reference point, which could
require recalculation if the production parameters of the stock change
significantly. The production parameters to consider are growth rate,
natural mortality rate, and partial recruitment. There is no evidence
of change in any of these parameters, but partial recruitment will be
monitored in case change occurs in response to the implementation of
the management measures in the FMP. If change is detected and
determined to be both significant and sustained, recalculation of
Fmax could be required. Unless such change occurs, the target
fishing mortality specified in the FMP for 1996 is 0.23. It is
appropriate for the Council to consider this when establishing annual
management measures.
Comment: The ACCA opposes any increase in the commercial quota for
1994 because it believes Amendment 2 requires the Council and NMFS to
err in favor of resource conservation if there is uncertainty about the
status of the resource.
Response: Amendment 2 requires the Council, ASMFC, and NMFS, to
adopt management measures that balance the probability of reaching the
target fishing mortality rate against reasonable impacts on the
industry. The commercial quota was set after an examination of stock
projections for 1994 that were conducted using low, mean, and high
estimates of recruitment and the number of age-1 fish. The adopted
management measures are based upon the low estimate of recruitment in
order to proceed conservatively due to several sources of uncertainty
in the assessment.
Comment: The ACCA questions the way in which state survey data were
used to estimate age-0 fish. They believe the assessment should have
relied on the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) index, which
indicates poor recruitment.
Response: The stock assessment incorporates the results of five
state surveys to estimate age-0 fish. Each of the state surveys is
limited in area and indicates recruitment trends locally. The overall
analysis combines all of the surveys and produces a moderate estimate
that is lower than the mean over the past 5 years. The uncertainty
concerning this estimate is one of the reasons cited by the Council and
ASMFC for the conservative quota adopted.
Comment: The ACCA questions the assumption that the 1993 commercial
quota will not be exceeded and states that the 1994 quota should not be
set until final 1993 landings figures are available. ACCA supports the
FMP provision that requires state landings in excess of the 1993 quota
to be deducted from state quota allocations for 1994.
Response: The FMP requires the Summer Flounder Monitoring Committee
to make a recommendation concerning management measures for the
upcoming year by August 15. Clearly, the Council was aware that it
would be impossible to incorporate landings data from one year into the
recommendations for the following year. The assumption that the 1993
quota is not exceeded is not unreasonable since the FMP requires weekly
dealer reports and gives NMFS the authority to close states to the
landing of summer flounder when a state quota is attained. If final
1993 landings exceed a state quota, the 1994 state quota will be
decreased by the overage amount.
Comment: The ACCA believes the 1994 quota recommendation does not
take into account the additional reduction in target fishing mortality
that the FMP requires in 1996.
Response: As stated in the proposed specifications, a conservative
quota level was selected for 1994 in part in anticipation of the FMP
requirement for reduction of the target fishing mortality rate to 0.23
in 1996. If a conservative quota level is implemented in 1994, and if
recruitment in 1993/94 exceeds the assumed level, then spawning stock
biomass is expected to increase at a rate faster than estimated. Larger
stock sizes in 1996 would allow for a quota level that would minimize
the impacts of the additional reduction on fishermen.
Classification
This action is authorized by 50 CFR part 625.
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 625
Fisheries, reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
(Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.)
Dated: March 1, 1994.
Samuel W. McKeen,
Acting Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 94-5125 Filed 3-2-94; 3:28 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
