[Federal Register: April 18, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 75)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 19160-19161]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr18ap03-11]
[[Page 19160]]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 030227050-3082-02; I.D. 020603D]
RIN 0648-AQ34
Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Spiny Dogfish
Fishery; 2003 Specifications
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Final rule; final specifications.
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SUMMARY: NMFS issues final specifications for the 2003 spiny dogfish
fishery. This final rule implements a commercial quota and possession
limits for the 2003 fishing year to address overfishing of the spiny
dogfish resource. The intent of this action is to comply with
implementing regulations for the Fishery Management Plan (FMP), which
require NMFS to publish measures for the upcoming fishing year that
will prevent overfishing of this resource.
DATES: The 2003 final specifications are effective from May 1, 2003,
through April 30, 2004.
ADDRESSES: Copies of supporting documents used by the Spiny Dogfish
Monitoring Committee; the Regulatory Impact Review (RIR), the Final
Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (FRFA) contained within the RIR, and
the Environmental Assessment (EA) are available from the Northeast
Regional Office, National Marine Fisheries Service, One Blackburn
Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930-2298. The EA/RIR/FRFA is also accessible
via the Internet at http://www.nero.nmfs.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eric Jay Dolin, Fishery Policy
Analyst, (978)281-9259, fax (978)281-9135, e-mail Eric.Dolin@Noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A proposed rule for this action was
published in the Federal Register on March 10, 2003, (68 FR 11346). The
comment period closed on March 25, 2003.
Background
The spiny dogfish fishery is managed under an FMP developed jointly
by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council and the New England
Fishery Management Council (Councils). The implementing regulations for
the dogfish fishery are found at 50 CFR part 648, subpart L.
Pursuant to 50 CFR 648.230, the Administrator, Northeast Region,
NMFS, (Regional Administrator) implements measures for the 2003 fishing
year to assure that the target fishing mortality rate (F), as specified
in the FMP, is not exceeded. The target F and management measures
(i.e., semi-annual commercial quota and possession limits) are
summarized below. Detailed background information regarding the
development of the proposed specifications for the 2003 spiny dogfish
fishery was provided in the preamble to the proposed rule (68 FR 11346,
March 10, 2003) and is not repeated here.
Annual Commercial Quota and Possession Limits
The FMP specifies a target F of 0.03 for 2003 to be attained
through a commercial quota, and possibly other management measures.
This final rule implements a commercial quota of 4 million lb (1.81
million kg) for the 2003 fishing year that is allocated on a semi-
annual basis as follows: Quota Period 1 (May 1-October 31) is allocated
57.9 percent of the 4-million lb (1.81-million kg) quota, or 2,316,000
lbs (1,050,512 kg), and Quota Period 2 (November 1-April 30) is
allocated 42.1 percent of the 4-million lb (1.81-million kg) quota, or
1,684,000 lbs (763,849 kg).
This final rule also maintains the existing possession limits of
600 lb (272 kg) and 300 lb (136 kg) for Quota Period 1 and Quota Period
2, respectively, to allow for the retention of spiny dogfish caught
incidentally while fishing for other species throughout the entire
fishing year.
Comments and Responses
One set of written comments was submitted during the comment period
in response to the proposed rule. The comments were prepared by a group
of environmental organizations, including The Ocean Conservancy,
Natural Resources Defense Council, National Audubon Society, and
Environmental Defense.
NMFS considered the organizations' comments in making the decision
to issue this final rule.
Comment 1: The environmental organizations supported a quota of no
more than the 4-million lb (1.81-million kg) commercial quota, despite
urging NMFS to consider a commercial quota lower than 4 million lb
(1.81-million kg) for the upcoming fishing season. They also supported
the proposed possession limits and strongly opposed higher possession
limits, which would result in a directed fishery and potentially derail
rebuilding efforts.
Response: NMFS is implementing the 4-million lb (1.81-million kg)
commercial quota and 600-lb (272-kg)/300-lb (136-kg) possession limits
for Quota Period 1 and 2, respectively, consistent with the Monitoring
Committee recommendation to maintain fishing mortality targets and
rebuilding objectives of the FMP. The Monitoring Committee did not
comment on a lower quota because the 4-million lb (1.81-million kg)
commercial quota is consistent with the FMP's fishing mortality target.
Any further reduction in landings would have to be considered in light
of potential increased spiny dogfish discards.
Changes From the Proposed Rule
The preamble of the proposed rule referenced trip limits, when, in
fact, this final rule implements possession limits--defined as the
maximum amount that can be landed in any one 24-hr period (calendar
day). In contrast, a trip limit is not tied to a specific time
interval. Thus, having a trip limit as opposed to a possession limit
could encourage a directed fishery consisting of multiple trips per
day.
Classification
This final rule has been determined to be not significant for
purposes of Executive Order 12866.
This action establishes annual quotas and maintains the current
possession limits for the spiny dogfish fishery, which are used to
control the harvest of spiny dogfish and to restrict landings when
quotas are attained. This action must be taken immediately at the start
of the 2003 fishing year on May 1, 2003, to conserve this resource. It
would be inconsistent with the conservation goals of the FMP to delay
implementation of the quota provisions because a hiatus in harvest
restrictions represented by the quota would allow for an unrestricted
harvest and, if spiny dogfish are congregated in areas where other
species are being targeted, or targeted by some vessels, the Period 1
quota will quickly be attained. In the absence of a commercial quota,
there would be no ability to close the fishery to prevent further
increases in fishing mortality and potential deleterious effects to
rebuilding efforts. In addition, because this final rule maintains
measures implemented in the 2002 specifications, there is no
requirement for participants to come into compliance with any new gear
requirements. Therefore, the AA finds good cause under 5 U.S.C.
553(d)(3) to partially waive the 30-day
[[Page 19161]]
delayed effectiveness period for the implementation of the 2003 Federal
spiny dogfish quota.
NMFS and the Mid-Atlantic Council prepared a FRFA for this action.
The FRFA includes comments on the Initial Regulatory Flexibility
Analysis (IRFA), the discussion and the responses contained in the
preamble to this final rule, and a summary of the analyses prepared in
support of this action. Copies of the analysis are available from the
Regional Administrator (see ADDRESSES). The preamble to the proposed
rule included a detailed summary of the analyses contained in the IRFA,
and that entire discussion is not repeated here. A summary of the FRFA
follows:
The reason that action is being taken by the agency and the
objectives of this final rule are explained in the preambles to the
proposed rule and this final rule and are not repeated here. This
action does not contain any new collection-of-information, reporting,
recordkeeping, or other compliance requirements. It does not duplicate,
overlap, or conflict with any other Federal rules.
Public Comments
The single set of comments received on the measures contained in
the proposed rule did not specifically reference the IRFA analyses of
the expected impacts of the proposed possession limit levels on small
entities.
Number of Small Entities
The small entities considered in the analysis include 280 vessels
that have reported spiny dogfish landings to NMFS in 2001 (the most
recent year for which there are vessel-specific data). In addition,
there are vessels that are not subject to the Federal reporting
requirements because they fish exclusively in state waters.
Furthermore, there are a large number of vessels that have been
issued Federal spiny dogfish permits, but have not fished for spiny
dogfish in recent years (a total of 2,825 vessels were issued the
permit in 2001). Because these vessels have obtained spiny dogfish
permits, it is presumed that these vessels are interested in the
fishery but have chosen not to participate under the restrictive
possession limits. If any of these vessels should choose to participate
in the upcoming fishing year, they might experience revenue increases
associated with landings of spiny dogfish, but those increases cannot
be estimated because it is impossible to determine both the number of
vessels that would participate and their fishing behavior (e.g., level
of effort).
Minimizing Significant Economic Impact on Small Entities
This FRFA summary includes a discussion of minimizing significant
economic impacts on small entities. The IRFA analyzed three
alternatives: Alternative 1 is implemented by this action (commercial
quota of 4 million lb (1.81 million kg) and possession limits of 600 lb
(272 kg) and 300 lb (136 kg) for Quota Period 1 and Quota Period 2,
respectively); both Alternative 2 (commercial quota of 8.8 million lb
(4 million kg) and possession limits of 7,000 lb (3,175 kg) and 5,000
lb (2,273 kg) for quota periods 1 and 2, respectively) and Alternative
3 (no quota or possession limits) would have a lower economic impact on
small entities, but neither meets the conservation objectives of the
FMP. Alternatives 2 and 3 could not be implemented without amending the
FMP to modify the F target specified in the rebuilding program.
The FMP determined that the spiny dogfish stock could not support a
directed fishery as would be the case under Alternatives 2 and 3. In
the absence of a directed fishery, long-term profitability and solvency
issues cannot be computed with a great degree of confidence. The
information necessary to perform a profitability assessment is not
available. Therefore, we have used changes in gross revenues in lieu of
profitability. The potential changes in 2003 revenues under the 4-
million lb (1.81-million kg) quota were evaluated relative to landings
and revenues derived during 2001: 4.94 million lb (2.25 million kg) of
landings, valued at $1,126,000. The analysis is based on the last full
fishing year of landings data for 280 vessels. The reduction in gross
revenues to the fishery as a whole for 2003 was estimated to be about
$214,259, or about $765 per vessel, compared to fishing year 2001. It
is only due to the landings for 2001 being in excess of the quota that
this quota specification for spiny dogfish is expected to result in a
reduction in revenues.
Section 212 of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness
Act of 1996 states that, for each rule or group of related rules for
which an agency is required to prepare a FRFA, the agency shall publish
one or more guides to assist small entities in complying with the rule,
and shall designate such publications as ``small entity compliance
guides.'' The agency shall explain the actions a small entity is
required to take to comply with a rule or group of rules. As part of
this rulemaking process, a letter to permit holders that also serves as
the small entity compliance guide (the guide) was prepared. Copies of
this final rule are available from the Northeast Regional Office, and
the guide, i.e., permit holder letter, will be sent to all holders of
permits issued for the spiny dogfish fishery. The guide and this final
rule will be available upon request (see ADDRESSES).
Dated: April 15, 2003.
John Oliver,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Operations, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 03-9633 Filed 4-17-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S