[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 112 (Friday, June 9, 2000)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 36643-36646]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-14529]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 622
[Docket No. 991210334-0122-02; I.D. 112399A]
RIN 0648-AN41
Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic;
Reef Fish Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico; Extension of Effective Date of
Red Snapper Management Measures
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Interim rule; extension of effective date.
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SUMMARY: An interim rule is in effect through June 19, 2000, that
changes the management measures for the red snapper fishery in the
exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the Gulf of Mexico in order to reduce
overfishing, as requested by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management
Council (Council). That interim rule modifies the recreational and
commercial fishing seasons, increases the recreational minimum size
limit, and reinstates a 4-fish bag limit for the captain and crew of
for-hire vessels (i.e., charter vessels and headboats). NMFS extends
this interim rule for an additional 180 days. The intended effect is to
reduce overfishing of red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico.
DATES: The effective date for the interim rule published at 64 FR
71056, December 20, 1999, is extended from June 19, 2000, through
December 16, 2000.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the documents supporting this rule, i.e., an
analysis of the economic consequences and an environmental assessment,
may be obtained from the Southeast Regional Office, NMFS, 9721
Executive Center Drive N., St. Petersburg, FL 33702, telephone: 727-
570-5305, fax: 727-570-5583.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Roy Crabtree, telephone: 727-570-
5305; fax: 727-570-5583; e-mail: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The reef fish fishery of the Gulf of Mexico
is managed under the Fishery Management Plan for the Reef Fish
Resources of the Gulf of Mexico (FMP). The FMP was prepared by the
Council and is implemented under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens
Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) by
regulations at 50 CFR part 622.
In response to a request from the Council, NMFS issued an interim
rule (64 FR 71056, December 20, 1999), under section 305(c)(1) of the
Magnuson-Stevens Act, that changed the management measures for the red
snapper fishery in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the Gulf of
Mexico by (1) increasing the recreational minimum size limit to 16
inches (40.6 cm); (2) establishing a recreational season of April 21 to
October 31, 2000; (3) reinstating the 4-fish bag limit for captain and
crew of for-hire vessels; and (4) changing the openings of the spring
red snapper commercial season from the first 15 days of each month to
the first 10 days of each month, beginning February 1. This action was,
and remains, necessary to address overfishing of the red snapper
resource.
Under section 305(c)(3)(B) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, NMFS may
extend the effectiveness of an interim rule for one additional period
of 180 days, provided the public has had an opportunity to comment on
the interim rule and the Council is actively preparing proposed
regulations to address the overfishing on a permanent basis. NMFS
solicited public comments on the initial interim rule and received
numerous comments. These comments are summarized herein along with
agency responses. The Council has prepared a regulatory amendment,
under the FMP's framework procedure for regulatory adjustments, that is
intended to address overfishing of the red snapper resource; if
approved and implemented by NMFS, the regulatory amendment would
replace this interim rule. The expiration date of the interim rule is
being extended because red snapper remain overfished and NMFS cannot
take action to address the overfishing via the regulatory amendment by
June 19, 2000.
Additional details concerning the basis for these changes to the
red snapper management measures and discussion of the ongoing efforts
of the Council and NMFS to evaluate and implement measures to rebuild
the red snapper stock consistent with the requirements of the Magnuson-
Stevens Act are contained in the preamble to the interim rule and are
not repeated here.
Comments and Responses
NMFS received a total of 1,488 comments addressing the interim rule
(64 FR 71056, December 20, 1999). Most of these supported the Council's
request for the interim rule and were received prior to publication of
the interim rule. All comments received before, during, or after the
comment period are summarized and addressed below.
Comment 1: A total of 1,359 letters supported the measures
contained in the interim rule. Specifically, these letters supported
the April 21-to-October 31 recreational season because this season
would provide the greatest economic benefits.
Response: NMFS agrees that the measures implemented by the interim
rule will provide economic benefits to the greatest number of Gulf
fishers, as well as reduce overfishing and allow the recovery of the
red snapper stock.
Comment 2: A total of 179 letters opposed the interim rule. Most
opposition was from fishers and organizations in south Texas who
believe that the recreational season will cause economic hardship in
their area. Many of those who objected to the April 21-to-October 31
recreational season requested a year-round fishery.
Response: Based on public testimony and the best available
scientific information, NMFS concluded that a season from April 21 to
October 31 offers the greatest benefits to Gulf anglers and is
compatible with the recreational quota. A year-round fishery is
expected to exceed the 2000 recreational quota.
The measures implemented by this interim rule are based, in part,
on the recommendations to the Council from a stakeholder conference
held in New Orleans, LA, on September 27, 1999. Stakeholders'
recommendations for the 2000 recreational red snapper fishery included
a 4-fish bag limit for the captain and crew of for-hire vessels, a size
limit not to exceed 16 inches (40.6
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cm), and a March 1-to-October 31 recreational season.
The Council attempted, to the extent possible, to implement the
stakeholders' recommendations; however, based on the best available
scientific information, the harvest from a March 1 to October 31 season
would exceed the current recreational quota. A group of south Texas
anglers who participated in the stakeholders conference submitted a
minority report requesting a year-round fishery with a 4-fish bag limit
and a 13-inch (33.0-cm) minimum size limit. However, the harvest from a
year-round fishery, if implemented, would greatly exceed the quota and
jeopardize the recovery of the stock. Therefore, the Council
recommended a shorter season as close to the stakeholders'
recommendation as possible.
The stakeholders discussed the request for a winter fishery from
some south Texas anglers, but neither the stakeholders nor the south
Texas minority report recommended a winter fishery. At its November
1999 meeting, the Council considered adding a January-February opening
with a reduced bag limit to allow a winter fishery but concluded that,
to do so, the reduced bag limit would substantially shorten the prime
April-to-October season and, thus, increase the likelihood of illegal
fishing during the closed season; such occurrence would result in a
harvest that would exceed the recreational quota. Further, because
other Gulf states, including Texas, would not likely enact the
compatible closures required to accommodate a winter fishery, the EEZ
would be closed without compatible state closures, thereby resulting in
overfishing of red snapper.
The interim rule provides Texas anglers, as well as anglers in
other states, the opportunity to fish during the months of the greatest
historical demand. During 1996, the last year that the red snapper
recreational fishery was open all year, Texas monthly recreational
landings during May-October exceeded those of any other monthly period.
Analyses based on recent years (1995-1998) show that, during January-
March, monthly landings in Texas average 96,000 lb (43,545 kg),
substantially less than during August-October when monthly landings
average 137,000 lb (62,142 kg). Furthermore, the interim rule will
provide economic benefits to the Texas for-hire industry by allowing
the industry to operate during the months of greatest demand. Texas
headboat trips during January-March average 5,000 trips per month as
opposed to 8,000 trips per month during August-October. Texas charter
boat trips show a similar trend, with an average of 1,200 trips per
month during January-March and of 2,000 trips per month during August-
October.
Comment 3: An environmental organization and several individuals
expressed concerns regarding regulatory discards, mortality rates of
released fish, and the use of minimum size limits as conservation
measures in the red snapper fishery.
Response: NMFS is also concerned with regulatory discards and the
mortality rates of released red snapper. Based on the best scientific
information available, NMFS believes that minimum size limits are an
effective conservation measure in this fishery. Minimum size limits are
a widely used fishery management tool designed to allow females to
spawn at least once before entering the fishery. This pool of unfished
mature females acts as a buffer against overfishing and recruitment
failure in a severely overfished stock. The effectiveness of this
strategy depends on the survival rate of released fish. NMFS' stock
assessments assume a survival rate of 80 percent for released red
snapper in the recreational fishery and 67 percent in the commercial
fishery. NMFS is currently reviewing recent studies on the release
mortality rates of red snapper and will recommend changes in management
measures, if justified.
Comment 4: One commercial fishing organization objected to the
status quo total allowable catch (TAC) of 9.12 million lb (4.14 million
kg) and stated that the TAC should be no greater than 6 million lb
(2.72 million kg). Two individuals also expressed concerns regarding
the magnitude of the TAC.
Response: The interim rule was intended to reduce overfishing by
increasing the probability of achieving compatible state and Federal
regulations. The Council recommended no change to the status quo TAC of
9.12 million lb (4.14 million kg); thus, this interim rule does not
address or alter the current TAC.
The Magnuson-Stevens Act, as amended by the Sustainable Fisheries
Act of 1996 (SFA), mandates that overfished stocks be rebuilt to a
biomass level capable of producing maximum sustainable yield (MSY). On
November 17, 1999, NMFS disapproved the Council's red snapper
rebuilding plan, as proposed in the Generic SFA Amendment to the Gulf
of Mexico Fishery Management Council's Fishery Management Plans,
because it specified a fishing-mortality-based rebuilding target rather
than a biomass-based target and because it did not estimate the time to
rebuild in the absence of fishing mortality; these are requirements of
the Magnuson-Stevens Act and the national standard guidelines. The
Council must submit a new red snapper rebuilding plan as soon as
possible to NMFS for agency review, approval, and implementation.
The recent stock assessment included a wide range of estimates of
MSY and the stock biomass associated with MSY for red snapper. NMFS
recognizes that a considerable uncertainty associated with these
estimates exists and that the Council has latitude to consider this
uncertainty when developing a new rebuilding plan. Conditions
approaching those estimated to exist for red snapper resource near MSY
have not been seen in decades, and, thus, the assessment models for
estimatinng MSY require assumptions regarding the productivity of the
stock. The SFA requires greater reductions in the red snapper harvest
and in shrimp trawl bycatch mortality of juvenile red snapper to
rebuild this resource than were required by the Magnuson-Stevens Act
prior to the SFA. The Council's Reef Fish Stock Assessment Panel
estimate of the acceptable biological catch (ABC) of red snapper for
2000 ranges from 0 to 9.12 million lb (0 to 4.14 million kg), depending
on the reduction of red snapper bycatch mortality achieved in the
shrimp fishery and appropriate rebuilding parameters. The best
available scientific information indicates that the status quo 9.12
million-lb (4.14 million-kg) TAC for 2000 may slow the rate of recovery
in the early years of any rebuilding program but would not jeopardize
recovery of the stock consistent with the rebuilding requirements of
the Magnuson-Stevens Act, particularly if greater reductions in bycatch
mortality are achieved as expected. However, an immediate and
significant reduction in TAC would have devastating effects upon
participants in the fishery.
NMFS will continue to provide the Council with the best available
scientific information regarding the status of the red snapper stock,
the effectiveness of bycatch reduction devices (BRDs), and the
effectiveness of the FMP's management measures in rebuilding the
overfished red snapper resource. NMFS is working with the commercial
shrimp fishing industry to develop new BRDs that will further reduce
finfish bycatch while minimizing shrimp loss. Also, NMFS will continue
to work with the Council in implementing the FMP's current red snapper
stock rebuilding plan and in modifying this plan as necessary to
restore the stock to a biomass level
[[Page 36645]]
capable of producing MSY. Management options include, but are not
limited to, adjustments to the fishing season, bag limit changes, quota
reductions, fishing effort reduction, vessel buy-back programs, and
additional measures to reduce shrimp trawl bycatch mortality.
Comment 5: One environmental group stated that a set recreational
fishing season, i.e., beginning and closing dates fixed, violates the
Sustainable Fisheries Act requirement that the red snapper recreational
fishery be closed once its quota is reached.
Response: NMFS disagrees. The SFA requires that the Gulf of Mexico
red snapper recreational fishery be closed when the quota is reached.
To comply with this requirement, NMFS works jointly with the Council to
implement management measures and establish closure dates that, based
upon the best available scientific information, are likely to result in
annual catches that approximate the quota within the margin of error of
the harvest projections. NMFS uses a computer simulation model to
assess the future status of the red snapper stock. The model integrates
estimates of stock abundance with fishing effort to project estimates
of how many fish will be caught for various time periods. This
projection assumes that the current year's fishing effort will be
similar to that of previous years. In-season data are not used to
establish or adjust closure dates; instead, closure is based entirely
on projections. This is the only practicable method of setting closure
dates because the NMFS Marine Recreational Fisheries Statistics Survey
(MRFSS) is not designed for real-time quota monitoring. MRFSS data are
available only in 2-month blocks, referred to as waves, and landings
are not available until 5 weeks after the end of a wave. Thus, there is
a time lag of at least 3 months before even preliminary MRFSS landings
data can be evaluated; consequently, NMFS cannot determine the closure
date based on real-time fishery data. In projecting recreational
fishery harvest rates, NMFS attempts to approximate the quota in the
long term, while recognizing that annual variations in the catch are
inevitable.
Classification
The Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA (AA), after
considering all public comments received on the interim rule, has
determined that this extension of the interim rule is necessary to
reduce overfishing of red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico and is
consistent with the Magnuson-Stevens Act and other applicable laws.
This extension of the interim rule is not subject to review under
E.O. 12866.
This extension of the interim rule is exempt from the procedures of
the Regulatory Flexibility Act because the initial interim rule was
issued without opportunity for prior public comment.
NMFS prepared an economic analysis of the expected regulatory
impacts of the interim rule. NMFS analyzed commercial fishing derbies
during the last decade to determine the probable economic consequences
of commercial spring and fall seasons consisting of a series of 10-day
mini derbies during the year 2000. NMFS concluded that compared to 15-
day openings, a series of 10-day commercial derbies conducted under a
9.12 million-lb (4.14 million-kg) TAC could measurably increase the
average total and net revenues for the year. Shorter mini-seasons
during 1998-99 reduced landings per month, supported higher ex-vessel
prices, and extended domestic supplies. The expected economic
consequences for the recreational sectors are less definite because of
uncertainties regarding the recreational catch that may be realized
versus recreational catches that can be forecast with available data.
If the changes in the recreational fishery regulations, which
include an April 21 to October 31 season and an increase in the size
limit to 16 inches (40.6 cm), result in catches that are no greater
than the recreational quota, then NMFS expects an increase in net
benefits for all portions of the recreational fishery in aggregate.
However, if the realized catches exceed the quota, then longer term
benefits will be reduced because stock recovery will be slowed by an
indeterminate amount. In theory, if the management measures in this
interim rule are very different from the management measures preferred
by the Gulf states, it is unlikely that the Gulf states will adopt
compatible regulations. Under incompatible Federal and state
regulations, harvests will probably continue in state waters after
Federal closures. These harvests will impede stock rebuilding efforts.
Under the existing management scheme, for example, harvests during the
Federal closures could exceed 600,000 lb (272,155 kg) during a fishing
year. The Gulf states are more likely to adopt any scenario
approximating the Council's requested season of April 15-October 31,
thus reducing the negative effects of incompatible Federal and state
rules.
Copies of the economic analysis are available upon request (see
ADDRESSES).
This extension of the interim rule will help to ensure that
management measures necessary to address the overfishing of the red
snapper resource will remain in effect until a more permanent
regulatory solution can be implemented. In the past, the lack of
compatible management of the red snapper fishery by most Gulf states
resulted in continued fishing in state waters after Federal waters were
closed. This contributed to quota overruns and overfishing. NMFS
anticipates that four of the five Gulf states will adopt measures
compatible with the measures of the interim rule. This will enhance the
effectiveness of the closed seasons and will significantly reduce the
probability of overfishing. The increase in the recreational minimum
size limit will reduce the harvest rate and, in combination with the
bag limit and closed seasons, will help ensure that the recreational
quota is not exceeded and that overfishing does not occur. Reducing the
openings of the commercial fishery from 15 days per month to 10 days
per month will slow the harvest rate and reduce the probability of
exceeding the commercial quota and overfishing. Reinstating the 4-fish
bag limit for captain and crew of for-hire vessels relieves a
restriction on that sector of the fishery. The majority of public
comments received on the interim rule supported the rule. None of the
relatively few comments opposing various aspects of the interim rule
warranted a revision of any measures in the interim rule. Delaying
action to reduce overfishing in the red snapper fishery of the Gulf of
Mexico to provide further notice and an opportunity for public comment
would increase the likelihood of a loss of long-term productivity from
the fishery and increase the probable need for more severe restrictions
in the future. Furthermore, the Council has submitted for Secretarial
review a regulatory amendment that contains the measures implemented by
this interim rule; an opportunity for public comment on the proposed
rule for the regulatory amendment will be provided. Accordingly, under
authority set forth at 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B), the AA finds, for good
cause, namely the reasons set forth above, that providing prior notice
and the opportunity for prior public comment would be contrary to the
public interest. For these same reasons, under 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3), the
AA finds for good cause that a 30-day delay in the effective date of
this interim rule would be contrary to the public interest.
The President has directed Federal agencies to use plain language
in their communications with the public, including regulations. To
comply with this directive, we seek public comment
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on any ambiguity or unnecessary complexity arising from the language
used in this interim rule. Such comments should be directed to NMFS
Southeast Regional Office (see ADDRESSES).
Dated: June 2, 2000.
Bruce C. Morehead,
Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 00-14529 Filed 6-8-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F