82 FR 5429 - Pacific Island Fisheries; 2016-17 Annual Catch Limit and Accountability Measures; Main Hawaiian Islands Deep 7 Bottomfish

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 11 (January 18, 2017)

Page Range		5429-5430
FR Document		2017-00622

In this final rule, NMFS specifies an annual catch limit (ACL) of 318,000 lb of Deep 7 bottomfish in the main Hawaiian Islands (MHI) for the 2016-17 fishing year. As an accountability measure (AM), if the ACL is projected to be reached, NMFS would close the commercial and non-commercial fisheries for MHI Deep 7 bottomfish for the remainder of the fishing year. The ACL and AM support the long-term sustainability of Hawaii bottomfish.

Federal Register, Volume 82 Issue 11 (Wednesday, January 18, 2017)

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 11 (Wednesday, January 18, 2017)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 5429-5430]
From the Federal Register Online [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-00622]

=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 665

[Docket No. 160811726-6999-02]
RIN 0648-XE809

Pacific Island Fisheries; 2016-17 Annual Catch Limit and
Accountability Measures; Main Hawaiian Islands Deep 7 Bottomfish

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

ACTION: Final specifications.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In this final rule, NMFS specifies an annual catch limit (ACL)
of 318,000 lb of Deep 7 bottomfish in the main Hawaiian Islands (MHI)
for the 2016-17 fishing year. As an accountability measure (AM), if the
ACL is projected to be reached, NMFS would close the commercial and
non-commercial fisheries for MHI Deep 7 bottomfish for the remainder of
the fishing year. The ACL and AM support the long-term sustainability
of Hawaii bottomfish.

DATES: The final specifications are effective from February 17, 2017,
through August 31, 2017.

ADDRESSES: The environmental assessment and finding of no significant
impact for this action, identified as NOAA-NMFS-2016-0112, is available
at www.regulations.gov, or from Michael D. Tosatto, Regional
Administrator, NMFS Pacific Islands Region (PIR), 1845 Wasp Blvd. Bldg.
176, Honolulu, HI 96818.
The Fishery Ecosystem Plan for the Hawaiian Archipelago is
available from the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council
(Council), 1164 Bishop St., Suite 1400, Honolulu, HI 96813, tel 808-
522-8220, fax 808-522-8226, or www.wpcouncil.org.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sarah Ellgen, NMFS PIR Sustainable
Fisheries, 808-725-5173.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Through this action, NMFS is specifying an
ACL of 318,000 lb of Deep 7 bottomfish in the MHI for the 2016-17
fishing year. The fishing year began September 1, 2016, and ends on
August 31, 2017. The Council recommended this ACL, based on the best
available scientific, commercial, and other information, taking into
account the associated risk of overfishing. This ACL is 8,000 lb lower
than the ACL that NMFS specified for the 2015-16 fishing year, and is
the second annual reduction in a phased approach to lower the ACL
incrementally over three years, as recommended by the Council.
The MHI Management Subarea is the portion of U.S. Exclusive
Economic Zone around the Hawaiian Archipelago east of 161[deg]20' W.
The Deep 7 bottomfish are onaga (Etelis coruscans), ehu (E.
carbunculus), gindai (Pristipomoides zonatus), kalekale (P. sieboldii),
opakapaka (P. filamentosus), lehi (Aphareus rutilans), and hapuupuu
(Hyporthodus quernus).
The MHI bottomfish fishing year started September 1, 2016, and is
currently open. NMFS will monitor the fishery and, if we project that
the fishery will reach the ACL before August 31, 2017, we would, as an
AM authorized in 50 CFR 665.4(f), close the non-commercial and
commercial fisheries for Deep 7 bottomfish in Federal waters through
August 31, 2017. During a fishery closure for Deep 7 bottomfish, no
person may fish for, possess, or sell any of these fish in the MHI
Management Subarea. There is no prohibition on fishing for, possessing,
or selling other (non-Deep 7) bottomfish during such a closure. All
other management measures continue to apply in the MHI bottomfish
fishery. If NMFS and the Council determine that the final 2016-17 Deep
7 bottomfish catch exceeds the ACL, NMFS would reduce the Deep 7
bottomfish ACL for 2017-18 by the amount of the overage.
You may review additional background information on this action in
the preamble to the proposed specifications (81 FR 75803; November 1,
2016); we do not repeat that information here.

Comments and Responses

The comment period for the proposed specifications ended on
November 16, 2016. NMFS received comments from four individuals, and
responds, as follows:
Comment 1: The 2016-2017 ACL serves as a precautionary measure for
bottomfish stocks that supports healthy fisheries. The proposed ACL is
greater than recent annual catches, so it would not significantly
inconvenience fishermen.
Response: NMFS agrees. We assessed the potential beneficial and
adverse impacts of the ACL and AM on the environment, including the
fishery itself, and concluded that the action is necessary to prevent
overfishing while supporting the long-term sustainability of Hawaii
bottomfish.
Comment 2: We need to punish anyone who harms the ocean and any of
our waters.
Response: While the comment is not specific to the proposed action,
violations of Federal fishery regulations are subject to penalties
pursuant to Section 308 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation
and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act).
Comment 3: Legislation is needed to reduce overfishing and to
protect marine life in Hawaiian waters.
Response: Federal laws and regulations already protect Hawaii fish
stocks from overfishing pressure. The Magnuson-Stevens Act includes
requirements for ACLs and AMs and other provisions for preventing and
ending overfishing and rebuilding fisheries. Unless exempted by law,
all fisheries in Federal waters must have ACLs and AMs. Fishery
scientists and managers use the best scientific information available,
including catch, fishing effort, biological information, etc., to
determine the maximum catch that would not harm the conservation needs
of the fish stock, and ACLs must be set at or below the levels that
account for uncertainty about the fishery information.
AMs are management controls to prevent ACLs from being exceeded,
and to correct or mitigate overages when they occur. For the MHI
bottomfish fishery, one AM would close the fishery before the scheduled
end of the fishing year to prevent exceeding the ACL, and

[[Page 5430]]

another AM would reduce next year's ACL by the amount of any overage.
These measures help to ensure sustainable harvests.
The reader may find more information on fishing regulations in
Hawaii at http://www.fpir.noaa.gov/SFD/SFD_regs_index.html.
Comment 4: The MHI Deep 7 bottomfish stock assessment does not
account for fish biomass within the State of Hawaii Bottomfish
Restricted Fishing Areas (BRFA), marine protected areas (MPA), and the
Kahoolawe Island Reserve.
Response: The 2011 MHI Deep 7 bottomfish stock assessment, as
updated with three additional years of data, treats the MHI as a single
fishing area and calculates the biomass required to produce the catch
and catch per unit effort (CPUE) according to commercial fishery data.
The assessment does not make a distinction between biomass inside and
outside of protected areas, such as the BRFA, MPA, and Kahoolawe Island
Reserve. Nevertheless, the 2011 MHI Deep 7 bottomfish stock assessment,
as updated, represents the best scientific information available for
this stock complex.
NMFS and the Council are working with the State and the fishing
industry to obtain accurate information needed for stock assessments,
including data on bottomfish distribution, relative abundance, stock
structure, size, and age. Current efforts include working with
bottomfish fishermen to conduct scientific surveys using standardized
fishing gears and underwater video cameras.
Although stock assessments will likely continue to treat the MHI as
a single fishing area, both the State and NMFS continue to try to
quantify the effects of the BRFA, MPA, and Kahoolawe Island Reserve on
unfished biomass for the MHI Deep 7 bottomfish stock. In Fall 2016,
with the cooperation of the State of Hawaii and help from cooperative
research fishing partners, NMFS sampled bottomfish inside these
protected areas as part of a scientific survey. NMFS will take into
account information from this survey in future stock assessments, as
appropriate.
Comment 5: Fishing prohibitions in BFRA and MPA result in more
concentrated fishing in unrestricted areas, leading to decreased fish
size and lower CPUE.
Response: Because the State catch reporting statistical area
boundaries do not match the BRFA boundaries, it is not currently
possible to determine if concentrated fishing that may be occurring in
unrestricted areas could lead to decreased fish size and lower CPUE in
those unrestricted areas. NMFS continues to evaluate the effect of the
protected areas on the MHI bottomfish stock (see response to Comment
4).
Comment 6: The recent El Ni[ntilde]o and unpredictable winds and
seas have adversely affected the 2015-16 and 2016-17 MHI Deep 7 fishing
seasons, resulting in uncaught fish. How would NMFS consider uncaught
biomass in future ACLs?
Response: Councils recommend ACLs in consideration of all relevant
information and scientific recommendations concerning stock status. The
newly revised National Standard 1 guidelines (81 FR 71858, October 18,
2016) allow councils to develop an acceptable biological catch control
rule that would allow for changes in the catch limit to account for the
carry-over of some of the unused portion of the ACL from one year to
the next, in certain circumstances. The 2016-17 ACL of 318,000 lb is
the second annual reduction in a three-year phased approach to prevent
overfishing, while supporting the long-term sustainability of Hawaii
bottomfish. Therefore, in developing future ACL recommendations, the
Council could evaluate a carry-over provision for MHI Deep 7
bottomfish, if the Council determines that such a provision is
appropriate and desirable.
Comment 7: The MHI Deep 7 bottomfish fishery is experiencing
ongoing problems with shark predation. How is NMFS addressing this
issue?
Response: This comment is beyond the scope of the ACL and AM
specifications, and NMFS is not currently studying shark predation in
the bottomfish fishery. Interested persons may inquire about the
availability of fisheries research project funding through, among other
sources, the Saltonstall-Kennedy Grant Program (information at http://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/mb/financial_services/skhome.htm).

Changes From the Proposed Specifications

There are no changes in the final specifications from the proposed
specifications.

Classification

The Regional Administrator, NMFS PIR, determined that this action
is necessary for the conservation and management of MHI Deep 7
bottomfish, and that it is consistent with the Magnuson-Stevens Act and
other applicable laws.
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 specification stage that this action
would not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of
small entities. NMFS published the factual basis for the certification
in the proposed specifications, and does not repeat it here. NMFS did
not receive comments regarding this certification. As a result, a final
regulatory flexibility analysis is not required, and one was not
prepared.
This action is exempt from review under Executive Order 12866.

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

Dated: January 9, 2017.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2017-00622 Filed 1-17-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P

5430 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 11 / Wednesday, January 18, 2017 / Rules and Regulations

another AM would reduce next year’s survey. NMFS will take into account Response: This comment is beyond
ACL by the amount of any overage. information from this survey in future the scope of the ACL and AM
These measures help to ensure stock assessments, as appropriate. specifications, and NMFS is not
sustainable harvests. Comment 5: Fishing prohibitions in currently studying shark predation in
The reader may find more information BFRA and MPA result in more the bottomfish fishery. Interested
on fishing regulations in Hawaii at concentrated fishing in unrestricted persons may inquire about the
http://www.fpir.noaa.gov/SFD/SFD_ areas, leading to decreased fish size and availability of fisheries research project
regs_index.html. lower CPUE. funding through, among other sources,
Comment 4: The MHI Deep 7 Response: Because the State catch the Saltonstall-Kennedy Grant Program
bottomfish stock assessment does not reporting statistical area boundaries do (information at http://
account for fish biomass within the not match the BRFA boundaries, it is www.fisheries.noaa.gov/mb/financial_
State of Hawaii Bottomfish Restricted not currently possible to determine if services/skhome.htm).
Fishing Areas (BRFA), marine protected concentrated fishing that may be
areas (MPA), and the Kahoolawe Island occurring in unrestricted areas could Changes From the Proposed
Reserve. lead to decreased fish size and lower Specifications
Response: The 2011 MHI Deep 7 CPUE in those unrestricted areas. NMFS There are no changes in the final
bottomfish stock assessment, as updated continues to evaluate the effect of the specifications from the proposed
with three additional years of data, protected areas on the MHI bottomfish specifications.
treats the MHI as a single fishing area stock (see response to Comment 4).
and calculates the biomass required to Comment 6: The recent El Niño and Classification
produce the catch and catch per unit unpredictable winds and seas have
effort (CPUE) according to commercial adversely affected the 2015–16 and The Regional Administrator, NMFS
fishery data. The assessment does not 2016–17 MHI Deep 7 fishing seasons, PIR, determined that this action is
make a distinction between biomass resulting in uncaught fish. How would necessary for the conservation and
inside and outside of protected areas, NMFS consider uncaught biomass in management of MHI Deep 7 bottomfish,
such as the BRFA, MPA, and Kahoolawe future ACLs? and that it is consistent with the
Island Reserve. Nevertheless, the 2011 Response: Councils recommend ACLs Magnuson-Stevens Act and other
MHI Deep 7 bottomfish stock in consideration of all relevant applicable laws.
assessment, as updated, represents the information and scientific The Chief Counsel for Regulation of
best scientific information available for recommendations concerning stock the Department of Commerce certified
this stock complex. status. The newly revised National to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the
NMFS and the Council are working Standard 1 guidelines (81 FR 71858, Small Business Administration during
with the State and the fishing industry October 18, 2016) allow councils to the proposed specification stage that
to obtain accurate information needed develop an acceptable biological catch this action would not have a significant
for stock assessments, including data on control rule that would allow for economic impact on a substantial
bottomfish distribution, relative changes in the catch limit to account for number of small entities. NMFS
abundance, stock structure, size, and the carry-over of some of the unused published the factual basis for the
age. Current efforts include working portion of the ACL from one year to the certification in the proposed
with bottomfish fishermen to conduct next, in certain circumstances. The specifications, and does not repeat it
scientific surveys using standardized 2016–17 ACL of 318,000 lb is the here. NMFS did not receive comments
fishing gears and underwater video second annual reduction in a three-year regarding this certification. As a result,
cameras. phased approach to prevent overfishing, a final regulatory flexibility analysis is
Although stock assessments will while supporting the long-term not required, and one was not prepared.
likely continue to treat the MHI as a sustainability of Hawaii bottomfish. This action is exempt from review
single fishing area, both the State and Therefore, in developing future ACL under Executive Order 12866.
NMFS continue to try to quantify the recommendations, the Council could Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
effects of the BRFA, MPA, and evaluate a carry-over provision for MHI
Kahoolawe Island Reserve on unfished Deep 7 bottomfish, if the Council Dated: January 9, 2017.
biomass for the MHI Deep 7 bottomfish determines that such a provision is Samuel D. Rauch III,
stock. In Fall 2016, with the cooperation appropriate and desirable. Deputy Assistant Administrator for
of the State of Hawaii and help from Comment 7: The MHI Deep 7 Regulatory Programs, National Marine
cooperative research fishing partners, bottomfish fishery is experiencing Fisheries Service.
NMFS sampled bottomfish inside these ongoing problems with shark predation. [FR Doc. 2017–00622 Filed 1–17–17; 8:45 am]
protected areas as part of a scientific How is NMFS addressing this issue? BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
mstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with RULES

VerDate Sep<11>2014 16:39 Jan 17, 2017 Jkt 241001 PO 00000 Frm 00096 Fmt 4700 Sfmt 9990 E:\FR\FM\18JAR1.SGM 18JAR1

Document Created: 2018-02-01 15:19:27
Document Modified: 2018-02-01 15:19:27

Category		Regulatory Information
Collection		Federal Register
sudoc Class		AE 2.7: GS 4.107: AE 2.106:
Publisher		Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration
Section		Rules and Regulations
Action		Final specifications.
Dates		The final specifications are effective from February 17, 2017, through August 31, 2017.
Contact		Sarah Ellgen, NMFS PIR Sustainable Fisheries, 808-725-5173.
FR Citation		82 FR 5429
RIN Number		0648-XE80

82 FR 5429 - Pacific Island Fisheries; 2016-17 Annual Catch Limit and Accountability Measures; Main Hawaiian Islands Deep 7 Bottomfish

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCENational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 11 (January 18, 2017)

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration