80 FR 15691 - Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; Shrimp Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico; Amendment 16

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 57 (March 25, 2015)

NMFS issues this final rule to implement Amendment 16 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Shrimp Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico (FMP), as prepared and submitted by the Gulf of Mexico (Gulf) Fishery Management Council (Council). This final rule revises the annual catch limit (ACL) for royal red shrimp, removes the royal red shrimp quota, and revises the accountability measures (AMs) for royal red shrimp to remove an inconsistency in the regulations. The purpose of this rule is to prevent overfishing of the royal red shrimp resource while helping to achieve optimum yield and reconcile conflicting Federal regulations.

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 57 (Wednesday, March 25, 2015)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 15691-15692]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-06571]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 622

[Docket No. 140903744-5258-02]
RIN 0648-BE46


Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; 
Shrimp Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico; Amendment 16

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: NMFS issues this final rule to implement Amendment 16 to the 
Fishery Management Plan for the Shrimp Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico 
(FMP), as prepared and submitted by the Gulf of Mexico (Gulf) Fishery 
Management Council (Council). This final rule revises the annual catch 
limit (ACL) for royal red shrimp, removes the royal red shrimp quota, 
and revises the accountability measures (AMs) for royal red shrimp to 
remove an inconsistency in the regulations. The purpose of this rule is 
to prevent overfishing of the royal red shrimp resource while helping 
to achieve optimum yield and reconcile conflicting Federal regulations.

DATES: This rule is effective April 24, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Electronic copies of Amendment 16, which includes an 
supplemental environmental impact statement, a Regulatory Flexibility 
Act analysis, and a regulatory impact review, may be obtained from the 
Southeast Regional Office Web site at http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/sustainable_fisheries/gulf_fisheries/shrimp/2014/am16/index.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Susan Gerhart, telephone: 727-824-
5305, or email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The shrimp fishery in the Gulf is managed 
under the FMP. The FMP was prepared by the Council and implemented 
through regulations at 50 CFR part 622 under the authority of the 
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-
Stevens Act).
    On March 11, 2014, NMFS published a notice of intent to prepare a 
supplemental environmental impact statement for Amendment 16 and 
requested public comment (79 FR 13623). NMFS published a notice of 
availablility for Amendment 16 on December 24, 2014, (79 FR 77425) and 
published the proposed rule on January 26, 2015, (80 FR 3937) and 
requested public comment. A summary of the actions implemented by 
Amendment 16 and this final rule is provided below.
    On January 30, 2012, NMFS implemented regulations developed through 
the Generic ACL/AMs Amendment to multiple fishery management plans, 
including the Shrimp FMP (December 29, 2011, 76 FR 82044). That 
amendment included actions to establish the commercial ACL and AM for 
royal red shrimp. However, the ``no action'' alternatives and 
discussions in the Generic ACL Amendment incorrectly stated that there 
were currently no catch limits or AMs for royal red shrimp, even though 
a quota and in-season quota closure were in the regulations. As a 
consequence, through the Generic ACL Amendment, both a royal red shrimp 
ACL and AM were added to the regulations, but the existing quota and 
in-season quota closure provision were not removed.
    Federal regulations currently include a royal red shrimp ACL of 
334,000 lb (151,000 kg), tail weight, and a quota of 392,000 lb (177.8 
mt), tail weight. This final rule removes the royal red shrimp quota 
and updates the ACL to 337,000 lb (152,861 kg), tail weight, which is 
equal to the acceptable biological catch as recommended by the 
Council's Scientific and Statistical Committee.
    Federal regulations also include a royal red shrimp in-season 
closure if the quota is met or projected to be met, based on in-season 
monitoring (which functions as an AM), and include an AM that 
implements in-season monitoring and an ACL closure in the year 
following any ACL overage. The presence of two AMs in the regulations 
presents an inconsistency in the management of royal red shrimp. This 
final rule removes the in-season quota closure associated with the 
royal red shrimp quota and retains the AM associated with the ACL.

[[Page 15692]]

Comments and Responses

    NMFS received one comment on the proposed rule related to analysis 
in the final supplemental environmental impact statementfrom a Federal 
agency. That comment is outside the scope of the rule and is addressed 
in the Record of Decision for Amendment 16. No other comments were 
received. No changes were made to the final rule based on public 
comment.

Classification

    The Regional Administrator, Southeast Region, NMFS has determined 
that this final rule is necessary for the conservation and management 
of royal red shrimp and is consistent with Amendment 16, the FMP, the 
Magnuson-Stevens Act, and other applicable law.
    This final rule has been determined to be not significant for 
purposes of Executive Order 12866.
    The Magnuson-Stevens Act provides the statutory basis for this 
rule. No duplicative, overlapping, or conflicting Federal rules have 
been identified. In addition, no new reporting, record-keeping, or 
other compliance requirements are introduced by this final rule.
    The Chief Counsel for Regulation of the Department of Commerce 
certified to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business 
Administration during the proposed rule stage that this rule would not 
have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small 
entities. The factual basis for this determination was published in the 
proposed rule and is not repeated here. No comments were received 
regarding the certification and NMFS has not received any new 
information that would affect its determination. As a result, a final 
regulatory flexibility analysis is not required and none was prepared.

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 622

    Accountability measures, Annual catch limits, Fisheries, Fishing, 
Gulf of Mexico, Royal red shrimp, Shrimp.

    Dated: March 18, 2015.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.

    For the reasons set out in the preamble, 50 CFR part 622 is amended 
as follows:

PART 622--FISHERIES OF THE CARIBBEAN, GULF OF MEXICO, AND SOUTH 
ATLANTIC

0
1. The authority citation for part 622 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.


Sec.  622.57  [Removed and Reserved]

0
2. Section 622.57 is removed and reserved.

0
3. In Sec.  622.58, paragraph (a)(1) is revised to read as follows:


Sec.  622.58  Annual catch limits (ACLs), annual catch targets (ACTs), 
and accountability measures (AMs).

    (a) * * *
    (1) Commercial sector. If commercial landings, as estimated by the 
SRD, exceed the commercial ACL, then during the following fishing year, 
if commercial landings reach or are projected to reach the commercial 
ACL, the AA will file a notification with the Office of the Federal 
Register to close the commercial sector for the remainder of that 
fishing year. When the commercial sector is closed, royal red shrimp in 
or from the Gulf EEZ may not be retained, and the sale or purchase of 
royal red shrimp taken from the Gulf EEZ is prohibited. This 
prohibition on sale or purchase during a closure for royal red shrimp 
does not apply to royal red shrimp that were harvested, landed ashore, 
and sold prior to the effective date of the closure and were held in 
cold storage by a dealer or processor. The commercial ACL for royal red 
shrimp is 337,000 lb (152,861 kg), tail weight.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2015-06571 Filed 3-24-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P