[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 166 (Wednesday, August 27, 1997)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 45384-45386]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-22838]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[I.D. 082097D]
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast
Multispecies Fishery; Scoping Process for Atlantic Sea Herring
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a supplemental environmental impact
statement (SEIS) and notice of scoping process; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) announces
its intent to prepare a Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Atlantic sea
herring (Clupea harengus) and stocks, and to prepare an SEIS to analyze
the impacts of any proposed management measures, while the Atlantic
States Marine Fisheries Commission (Commission) develops a
complementary amendment to its Atlantic Herring FMP under the authority
of the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act. The
Council and Commission also formally announce a public process to
determine the scope of issues to be addressed in the environmental
impact analysis. The purpose of this notification is to alert the
interested public of the commencement of the scoping process, and to
provide for public participation in compliance with environmental
documentation requirements.
DATES: The Council will discuss and take scoping comments at public
meeetings in September 1997. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for specific
dates and times. Written scoping comments may be submitted until
September 15, 1997.
ADDRESSES: The Council will discuss and take scoping comments at public
meetings in Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island, and New Jersey. See
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for specific locations. Written comments and
requests for copies of the scoping document and other information can
be obtained from Paul J. Howard, Executive Director, New England
Fishery Management Council, 5 Broadway, Saugus, MA 01906, Telephone
(617) 231-0422.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul J. Howard, (617) 231-0422.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Atlantic herring fishery is currently managed as one stock
along the East Coast from Maine to Cape Hatteras although there is
evidence to suggest there are two separate biological stocks.
Generally, the resource has been divided into an inshore Gulf of Maine
(GOM) and an offshore Georges Bank (GB) component. The most recent
stock assessment (1995) concluded that the abundance of the coastal
stock complex is currently at a record high level of 3.6 million metric
tons (mt), while the most recent estimate of spawning stock biomass
(SSB) is 2.1 million mt. The current level of abundance has generated
great interest in new and expanded sectors of the herring fishery,
including: (1) Maintaining traditional use patterns in the fishery; (2)
increasing the bait fishery; (3) increasing participation in
cooperative ventures with foreign vessels (Internal Water Processing
(IWP) and Joint Venture Processing (JV)); (4) providing a viable
alternative fishery to vessels currently in the groundfish fishery; (5)
providing opportunities for increased development of U.S. shore-side
processing capacity; (6) interest in participating in the fishery from
Pacific Coast fishing operations; (7) maintaining high stock abundance
for ecological reasons (i.e., maintaining a forage base for base for
other species); and (8) providing opportunities for modernization and
improvement of the existing East coast vessels to be able to compete in
supplying human food export markets.
These potentially competing interests have generated different
views on how the herring fishery should be managed in the future.
Additionally, the interest in rapid expansion of the fishery has raised
concerns about potential overharvest, locally or on the entire stock.
In the late 1960s and the early 1970s, excessive foreign fishing led to
the collapse of the GB stock. The stock has collapsed a number of times
in the past due to over harvesting. There is currently great concern
over the condition of the GOM component of the herring population but
existing data are insufficient to separate individual
[[Page 45385]]
components such as the GOM into distinct stocks.
Current interest in expanding the fishery, from many sectors, has
raised the issues of: (1) Appropriate harvest levels overall and by
sub-unit; (2) appropriate end uses of herring (food, meal, roe, and
bait); (3) appropriate expansions in the fishery (IWP, JV, and use of
large factory trawlers); and (4) how to best cooperate with Canadian
herring interests.
Current management
The Commission FMP
The goal of the current Herring FMP is to: ``manage Atlantic
herring as an interjurisdictional resource in U.S. Atlantic coast
waters for sustained optimum utilization while conserving the resource
through complimentary management between the New England and Mid-
Atlantic Fishery Management Councils, the U.S. Atlantic coastal states,
and Canada in a manner which will provide the greatest benefit to the
nation.''
To accomplish this goal, the Commission FMP identifies the
following eight management objectives:
(1) Maintain the herring resource at or above 20 percent of its
maximum spawning potential, while reducing the risk of stock collapse;
(2) promote U.S./Canada cooperation to improve herring stock
assessments and establish complementary management practices;
(3) promote research, improve data collection, and improve
assessment procedures;
(4) provide adequate protection for spawning herring, prevent
damage to egg beds;
(5) avoid patterns of fishing mortality by age which are
inconsistent with the goal;
(6) establish complementary management throughout the species
range;
(7) promote utilization of the resource which maximizes social and
economic benefits to the nation; and
(8) promote recovery of herring on GB and control development of
the fishery.
The current Commission FMP imposes no restrictions on domestic
fishing or processing activities and because there is not yet a Federal
FMP, it does not permit joint venture fishing or processing activities
involving foreign owned vessels in federal waters.
Preliminary Management Plan (PMP)
In 1995 a Preliminary Management Plan (PMP) was prepared by NMFS,
in cooperation with the Commission and the Council. The purpose of the
PMP was to allow joint venture operations for herring in the EEZ. The
allocation of fish for joint ventures must take into account current
harvesting levels of herring by the domestic, IWP, and Canadian
sectors.
Proposed contents of the new Commission FMP Amendment/Federal FMP
A. Additional management objectives
The Council and Commission are considering the following management
objectives:
(1) Achieve, on a continuing basis, optimum yield (OY) for the
United States fishing industry and to prevent overfishing of the
Atlantic sea herring resource;
(2) prevent the overfishing of discrete stock units consistent with
the national standards;
(3) provide opportunities for fishermen and vessels displaced by
fishing restrictions in other fisheries in the northeast;
(4) implement management measures in close coordination with other
federal and state FMPs;
(5) take into account the viability of current participants in the
fishery;
(6) provide for the orderly development of the offshore fishery;
(7) maximize shore-side utilization and value-added product; and
(8) achieve full utilization from the catch of herring (minimize
the waste from discards in the fishery);
B. Overfishing, OY, and corresponding stock size levels
To achieve the management objectives, the FMP will contain the
following:
(1) An overfishing definition;
(2) An estimate of maximum sustainable yield (MSY) and maximum
level of fishing mortality which would produce MSY in the long run;
(3) An MSY control rule - a hypothetical harvest strategy which
would produce long-term catch approximating MSY;
(4) An estimate of the MSY stock size - the long-term average size
of the stock that would be achieved under an MSY control rule in which
the fishing mortality rate is constant;
(5) Stock status determination criteria which would allow the
Council and the Commission to determine whether the herring resource is
overfished or whether overfishing is occurring;
(6) A specification of OY;
(7) Total Allowable Catch (TAC) levels for appropriate stock areas;
(8) Fishery sector allocations including JV and IWP allocations;
(9) Estimates of U.S. harvesting and processing capacity; and
(10) Data reporting requirements for permit holders and processors.
C. Management unit
The management unit for this FMP is defined as the Atlantic herring
resource throughout the range of the species within U.S. waters of the
northwest Atlantic Ocean from the shoreline to the seaward boundary of
the EEZ. This definition is consistent with recent stock assessments
which treated the entire resource in U.S. waters of the northwest
Atlantic as a single stock. It is also recognized that the herring
resource, as defined here, is a transboundary one and that effective
assessment and management can be enhanced through cooperative efforts
with Canadian scientists and managers.
D. Catch control measures
To ensure the achievement of OY and to prevent overfishing, the
Council and the Commission will consider a range of alternatives for
limiting the potential catch of herring. Management measures would be
consistent throughout the range of the species to the extent
practicable. There may, however, be different measures by region if
justified.
(1) Target Total Allowable Catch (TAC) levels with effort controls.
The Council and the Commission could restrict fishing levels through
the following measures to achieve target TACs: (a) Limited entry; (b)
closed seasons; (c) closed areas; (d) limits on the amount of fishing
time (days-at-sea limits); (e) gear controls including vessel size
limits and horsepower restrictions; (f) trip limits; (g) minimum sizes
for adults, juveniles or both; and (h) a prohibition on the harvest of
herring primarily for the production of fish meal.
(2) Catch quotas. The FMP could close the fishery when target TACs
are reached through the following types of quotas: (a) Fleet quota
(options include allocating quota annually, seasonally, by vessel
category, etc.); (b) vessel catch limits; (c) management area quotas;
and (d) sector quotas.
E. Potential habitat protection and stock enhancement measures
(1) Spawning and juvenile protection area closures;
(2) Allowance for predation by other fish and marine mammals;
(3) Gear impact assessments;
(4) Essential fish habitat description and recommendations. NMFS,
together with the Council's Habitat PDT, will provide the Council and
the ASMFC information about and draft recommendations for the
enhancement and protection of the essential fish habitat for herring.
F. Potential bycatch minimization measures
[[Page 45386]]
(1) Gear modifications; and
(2) Area closures.
G. Recommendations for future research
(1) Natural mortality (current estimates assume an 18 percent
natural mortality rate for herring, including predation by other
species); and
(2) Other recommendations.
H. Fishing community considerations
(1) Protection of traditional uses of inshore stocks; and
(2) Description and analysis of impacts on fishing communities.
I. An analysis of the impacts of proposed measures on safety at sea
J. Administrative provisions
(1) A requirement for vessel fishing permits;
(2) A requirement for fishing vessel operator permits;
(3) Dealer permits; and
(4) Requirement to provide end-use information on IWP permits.
K. Data needs
(1) Reporting of landings from stock components;
(2) Mandatory observer coverage; and
(3) Data on end-products and uses.
L. The Commission/Council process for allocating herring among JV
and IWP operations
Scoping Process
All persons affected by or otherwise interested in herring
fisheries management are invited to participate in determining the
scope and significance of issues to be analyzed by submitting written
comments (see ADDRESSES) or attending one of the scoping hearings.
Scope consists of the range of actions, alternatives, and impacts to be
considered. Alternatives include not developing a management plan
(taking no action), developing amendments to existing plans or other
reasonable courses of action. Impacts may be direct, indirect,
individual or cumulative. The scoping process also will identify and
eliminate from detailed study issues that are not significant. Once a
draft management plan and an Environmental Impact Statement or
Environmental Assessment is developed, the Council and Commission will
hold public hearings to receive comments.
Public Meeting Schedule
The Council will discuss and take scoping comment at public
meetings as follows:
(1) September 2, 1:00 p.m, Gloucester House Restaurant, Seven Seas
Wharf, Gloucester, MA, (508) 283-1812;
(2) September 3, 1:00 p.m., Maine Dept. of Marine Resources
Fisheries Laboratory, 194 McKown Point Road, Boothbay Harbor, ME, (207)
633-9500;
(3) September 9, 1:00 p.m., Holiday Inn, Route 1, South Kingston,
RI, (401) 789-1051; and
(4) September 11, 7:00 p.m., Rutgers Marine Advisory Service, Cape
May County Extension Office, Dennisville Road, Rt. 657, Cape May
Courthouse, NJ, (609) 465-5115.
Additional scoping meetings may be scheduled as needed.
Special Accommodations
The meetings are physically accessible to people with disabilities.
Requests for sign language interpretation or other auxiliary aids
should be directed to Paul J. Howard (see ADDRESSES) at least 5 days
prior to the meeting date.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: August 21, 1997.
George H. Darcy,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 97-22838 Filed 8-26-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F
