[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 73 (Friday, April 15, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-9093]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: April 15, 1994]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
[I.D. 030194C]
Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Approval of a fishery management plan amendment.
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SUMMARY: NMFS announces approval of Amendment 32 to the Fishery
Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska (FMP). This
amendment establishes a plan to rebuild stocks of the rockfish Pacific
ocean perch (POP) (Sebastes alutus) in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This
action is necessary to improve the conservation and management of POP
and is intended to further the goals and objectives of the FMP.
EFFECTIVE DATE: March 31, 1994.
ADDRESSES: Copies of Amendment 32, the environmental assessment (EA),
and the economic analyses prepared for the amendment are available from
the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, P.O. Box 103136,
Anchorage, AK 99510; telephone 907-271-2809.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Susan J. Salveson, NMFS, Alaska
Region, 907-586-7228.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: POP is a highly valued groundfish that has
been commercially harvested in the GOA since the early 1960's. Annual
harvest amounts of this species peaked in 1965 when foreign trawl
operations took an estimated 350,000 metric tons (mt). Since then,
harvests of POP have declined drastically and the 1993 domestic catch
of POP totaled just over 2,000 mt. The current spawner biomass is
estimated to be 15-20 percent of the level observed during the 1960's.
The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) believes
that increasing the biomass of POP is necessary to achieve optimum
yield in the POP fishery. During 1992, the Council requested the
development of an FMP amendment that would establish a plan to rebuild
POP stocks. In spite of increasingly conservative management, these
stocks remain below optimum levels. At its September 1993 meeting, the
Council reviewed the resultant EA and approved Amendment 32 for review
by the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) under section 304(b) of the
Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson Act).
A Notice of Availability of Amendment 32, which described the
proposed action and solicited comments from the public until March 7,
1994, was published in the Federal Register (59 FR 295, January 4,
1994). Due to a miscalculation in the comment period deadline of March
7, 1994, the Office of the Federal Register subsequently published a
correction in the Federal Register (59 FR 4978, February 2, 1994) that
adjusted the comment period deadline to February 28, 1994, the end of
the 60-day comment period provided for FMP amendments under section
304(a)(1)(C) of the Magnuson Act.
NMFS received a request to extend the 60-day comment period to
allow time for consideration of preliminary results of the NMFS 1993
Triennial Trawl Survey of GOA groundfish resources, including POP. NMFS
agreed that 1993 survey information on POP stocks should be considered
prior to the final decision by the Secretary and extended the comment
period through March 11, 1994 (59 FR 10612, March 7, 1994). Three
letters of comments were received through March 11 and are summarized
and responded to in the ``Response to Comments'' section of this
preamble. After review under the Magnuson Act, the Secretary determined
that Amendment 32 is consistent with the Magnuson Act and other
applicable laws and approved Amendment 32 on March 31, 1994. Additional
information on the POP rebuilding strategy set forth under Amendment 32
is contained in the January 4, 1994, Notice of Availability (59 FR
295).
Implementation of the Amendment
No regulatory changes are necessary to implement this FMP
amendment. POP stocks will be considered to be rebuilt when the total
biomass of mature females is equal to or greater than BMSY
(currently estimated at 150,000 mt). Annual total allowable catch (TAC)
amounts for POP established for the GOA regulatory areas will be based
on procedures set forth under Amendment 32 and will be specified
annually under existing regulations at Sec. 672.20(a)(2).
Response to Comments
Three letters of comments were received within the comment period
that ended March 11, 1994. Two letters were supportive of the POP stock
rebuilding strategy proposed under Amendment 32 and one letter opposed
it. A summary of comments and NMFS's response follow.
Comment 1. The proposed Rockfish Rebuilding Plan is supported
because it provides a good framework within which the Council can
manage the POP stocks.
Response: NMFS concurs and has approved the amendment.
Comment 2. The results of the 1993 Triennial Trawl Survey in the
GOA are encouraging. The new survey data and age structure data in NMFS
stock assessment models should show the POP stock much closer to the
target biomass of 150,000 mt. Under Amendment 32, the optimal target
biomass should be reached even sooner than projected.
Response: Preliminary analysis of data collected during the 1993
Triennial Trawl Survey of the GOA groundfish resource indicates an
increase in POP biomass relative to 1990 survey results. NMFS notes
that the length-frequency samples collected during the 1993 survey show
a relatively unimodal size composition with no obvious evidence of new
recruitment which would account for the biomass increase from 1990.
NMFS is cautious about placing too much emphasis on the results of the
1993 survey as the only indication of a strong recovery of the POP
resource in the GOA, given the apparent lack of significant recruitment
since 1990, the difficulties in assessing the biomass of rockfish
resources, and the large uncertainty associated with estimating the
biomass of POP (plus or minus 45 percent based on the 1993 trawl survey
data). Additional data will need to be collected and assessed before
definitive statements about the apparent recovery of the POP resource
can be supported.
Comment 3. The POP stock rebuilding strategy proposed under
Amendment 32 is inappropriate given the NMFS 1993 Triennial Trawl
Survey data, which support vastly increased biomass estimates relative
to those available to the Council when it adopted Amendment 32. Using
data from the 1993 Triennial Survey and a 95 percent confidence
interval, NMFS preliminarily estimates the POP biomass to be within the
255,000 mt to 666,000 mt range. This biomass estimate exceeds the
target biomass of 150,000 mt and indicates that the costly rebuilding
strategies proposed under Amendment 32 are unnecessary.
Response: Increasing the biomass of POP is necessary to achieve
optimum yield in the POP fishery. The Council justified the lower POP
harvests and resultant foregone revenues under the POP stock rebuilding
strategy set forth under Amendment 32 as being necessary to rebuild
stock biomass to the desired target level (BMSY = 150,000 mt
mature females) within a reasonable period of time (14 years).
Although the results of the 1993 Triennial Survey appear promising,
NMFS does not recommend that resource abundance trends be projected
from the results of a single survey (see the response to Comment 2). As
a point of clarification, the preliminary biomass estimate from the
1993 survey data (255-666 thousand mt) is calculated for all POP in the
GOA, not just the component of the POP resource comprised of mature
females. Additional analyses will need to be completed to estimate the
biomass of mature females based on data collected during the 1993
Triennial Trawl Survey and to assess the status of this component of
the POP resource relative to the target BMSY. NMFS, in
consultation with the Council and its Scientific and Statistical
Committee, will continue to assess the status of the POP stocks and
will adjust the management of the resource consistent with the intent
of Council's rebuilding policy set forth under Amendment 32.
Comment 4. Rather than pursue unnecessary and costly POP stock
rebuilding strategies under Amendment 32, a more appropriate action
would be to foster better understanding of POP population dynamics
through resource funded annual survey programs, similar to the pilot
project conducted during the summer of 1993.
Response: NMFS acknowledges that greater understanding of POP
population dynamics generally would provide better stock assessments
and biomass projections for this fishery resource. As a result, NMFS
will continue to consider research projects that are designed to
collect additional data on GOA fishery resources in addition to the
triennial trawl surveys. However, NMFS believes that the POP stock
rebuilding strategy set forth under Amendment 32 is a prudent
conservation policy that should be pursued until analyses of data
collected through either the NMFS triennial surveys or other research
indicate that the target abundance level recommended by the Council has
been reached.
Dated: April 11, 1994.
David S. Crestin,
Acting Director, Office of Fisheries Conservation and Management,
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 94-9093 Filed 4-14-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
