[Federal Register: June 23, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 121)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 36049-36052]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr23jn06-18]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 665
[Docket No. 060606149-6149-01; I.D. 052506A]
RIN 0648-AT95
Fisheries in the Western Pacific; Omnibus Amendment for the
Bottomfish and Seamount Groundfish Fisheries, Crustacean Fisheries, and
Precious Coral Fisheries of the Western Pacific Region
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Proposed rule; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: This proposed rule would amend three fishery management plans
to include fisheries and waters around the Commonwealth of the Northern
Mariana Islands (CNMI) and Pacific Remote Island Areas (PRIA). These
amendments affect United States domestic fisheries that offload or
operate in Federal waters around the CNMI and the PRIA. These
amendments would establish new permitting and reporting requirements
for vessel operators targeting bottomfish species around the PRIA to
improve understanding of the ecology of these species and the
activities and harvests of the vessel operators that target them. They
would also establish new permitting and reporting requirements for
vessel operators targeting crustacean species and precious corals
around the CNMI and PRIA.
DATES: Comments on the proposed rule must be received by August 7,
2006.
ADDRESSES: Comments on the proposed rule, identified by 0648-AT95,
should be sent to any of the following addresses:
E-mail: AT95Omnibus@noaa.gov. Include in the subject line
of the e-mail comment the following document identifier AAT95 Omnibus.
Comments sent via e-mail, including all attachments, must not exceed a
5 megabyte file size.
Federal e-Rulemaking portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow
the instructions for submitting comments.
Mail: William L. Robinson, Administrator, NMFS, Pacific
Islands Region (PIR), 1601 Kapiolani Boulevard, Suite 1110, Honolulu,
HI 96814-4700.
Copies of the FMPs, Amendments, and Environmental Assessment (EA)
may be obtained from Kitty M. Simonds, Executive Director, Western
Pacific Fishery Management Council (WPFMC), 1164 Bishop Street, Suite
1400, Honolulu, HI 96813, or the Internet at http://www.wpcouncil.org.
Written comments regarding the burden-hour estimates or other
aspects of the collection-of-information requirements contained in this
proposed rule may be submitted to William L. Robinson (see ADDRESSES),
or by e-mail to David_Rostker@omb.eop.gov, or fax to 202-395-7285.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert Harman, NMFS PIR, 808-944-2271.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The NMFS Pacific Islands region encompasses
Federal waters, i.e., the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), around
the Territories of Guam and American Samoa, the State of Hawaii, the
CNMI, and the PRIA. The EEZ extends from this inner boundary to 200
nautical miles (nm) offshore. The inner boundary of the EEZ is the
seaward limit of each coastal state, commonwealth, territory and
possession. The EEZ extends from this inner boundary to 200 nautical
miles (nm) offshore. For the CNMI and PRIA, the inner boundary of the
EEZ is extends to the shoreline, while for the seaward limits of Guam,
American Samoa, and Hawaii, the inner boundary of the EEZ is extend to
3 nm from the shoreline.
The WPFMC has developed, and NMFS has approved and implemented,
five fishery management plans that cover pelagic species, crustaceans,
bottomfish and seamount groundfish, precious corals, and coral reef
ecosystems fisheries. The Federal waters surrounding the CNMI are
currently not included in the Fishery Management Plans for the
Bottomfish, Crustaceans, or Precious Corals Fisheries of the Western
Pacific Region (Bottomfish FMP), (Crustaceans FMP), and (Precious
Corals FMP). Similarly, Federal waters surrounding the PRIA are not
included in the Bottomfish or Crustaceans FMPs. Vessels have been known
to fish for bottomfish and crustaceans in the Federal waters
surrounding the CNMI and the PRIA, although on a small scale. While
there are currently no known fisheries operating in the PRIA, and no
precious corals fisheries operating in the CNMI, interest may arise in
the future. These proposed amendments would include the fisheries
operating in these areas under the FMPs.
The CNMI bottomfish fishery consists primarily of small boats (< 30
ft, 9.1 m) engaged in commercial and subsistence
[[Page 36050]]
fishing. These boats are usually limited to fishing in daylight hours
within 50 nm of Saipan, with fishermen relying on land features for
navigation (as opposed to GPS and fathometers). In addition to the
small boats, a few larger vessels (> 50 ft, 15.2 m) sometimes
participate in the fishery, ranging farther north on multi-day trips,
and with more sophisticated navigation tools. Data about bottomfish
landings from the larger vessels are collected only voluntarily, so the
future reliability of data collection cannot be assured. Similarly, an
offshore deep-water shrimp fishery at one time operated in the CNMI,
but knowledge of the fishery and collection of data about the catch was
not timely. Additionally, precious corals have been landed from Federal
waters around the CNMI, with little or no information about the fishery
collected. This history led the WPFMC to recommend the preliminary step
of including CNMI waters under the Bottomfish, Crustaceans, and
Precious Corals FMPs. This would facilitate further steps to monitor
catches and, if needed in the future, to implement other management
measures for these fisheries. While the EEZ around the CNMI extends
from the shoreline to 200 nm, the WPFMC recommended deferring to the
CNMI regulatory control for fishing toby by CNMI citizens, including
fishery permitting and data collection, in waters 0 to 3 nm of the EEZ
around CNMI. These FMP amendments do not, however, confer authority to
the CNMI over EEZ resources.
Although no fishing is being conducted currently in the PRIA, there
has been some recent historical activity by vessels using mixed fishing
gear in the PRIA. These vessels have targeted bottomfish with
handlines, and they troll for pelagic species, or trap for deep-water
shrimp. A 2002 regulatory amendment to the Pelagics FMP (67 FR 30346,
May 6, 2002) requires Federal reporting for vessels trolling for and
landing pelagic management unit species (PMUS) in the PRIA. Data
collection for other PRIA fisheries occurs at the landing port which,
to date, has been exclusively in Hawaii. However, Hawaii's state-
required landings data do not include details on effort, bycatch,
location, or protected species interactions. There is currently no
mechanism to gather fishery statistics for bottomfish landings from the
PRIA. As in the case of the CNMI, the Council determined that the PRIA
need to be included under its management plans to allow for the
collection of fishery data and the timely implementation of further
management actions should they become necessary.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) manages a number of
National Wildlife Refuges (NWR) in the western Pacific, including
fishing activities within refuge boundaries pursuant to the National
Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act (NWRSAA) of 1966, as amended
by the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997, and
other authorities. Under the NWRSAA, as amended, NWR waters are closed
to all uses until they are specifically opened for such uses, and that
the USFWS determines whether to open NWR waters for any use that is
compatible with the refuges'= primary purpose(s) and mission. While
commercial fishing is generally prohibited in NWR waters, specific
regulations are absent. Including NWR areas under the Bottomfish,
Crustaceans, and Precious Corals FMPs, as proposed in these amendments,
would add specific regulations to these areas. However, these
regulations would not supersede any valid existing Federal regulations
that are more restrictive to fishing operations.
Amendments 8, 12, and 6 also consider including in the management
unit a variety of bottomfish and crustacean species that are currently
or potentially targeted by fishermen. The importance of these species
as a component of catches is known from both existing data collection
programs and anecdotal information, and before Federal management
measures can be applied to these species they must be included in the
management unit. After consideration, the Council decided to designate
48 bottomfish species as part of the management unit. Subsequently,
however, these 48 species were included in the management unit of the
Fishery Management Plan for Coral Reef Ecosystems in the Western
Pacific Region, developed by the WPFMC and implemented in 2004. Thus,
this document does not include the designation of bottomfish species in
the preferred alternative. The WPFMC did not designate the three
crustacean species or species groups because they determined that these
species groups Federal waters are not sufficiently harvested in Federal
waters to warrant designation at this time. This action is designed to
establish monitoring systems and management mechanisms to implement
specific regulatory controls should the need arise; specific management
measures (such as time and area closures, or effort and landing limits)
are not included.
Classification
At this time, NMFS has not determined that the FMP amendments that
this rule would implement are consistent with the national standards of
the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and other
applicable laws. NMFS, in making that determination, will take into
account the data, views, and comments received during the comment
period.
This proposed rule has been determined to be not significant for
purposes of Executive Order 12866.
The Chief Counsel for Regulation of the Department of Commerce
certified to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business
Administration that this proposed rule, if adopted, would not have a
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.
This rule would amend three fishery management plans to include
fisheries and waters around the CNMI and PRIA in the management
units. Amendment 8 to the Bottomfish FMP would establish new
permitting and reporting requirements for vessel operators targeting
bottomfish species around the PRIA in order to improve our
understanding of the ecology of the species, and the activities and
harvests of the vessel operators that target them. For the same
reasons, Amendment 12 to the Crustaceans FMP would establish new
permitting and reporting requirements for vessel operators targeting
crustacean species around the CNMI or the PRIA, and Amendment 6 to
the Precious Corals FMP would establish new permitting and reporting
requirements for vessel operators targeting precious corals around
the CNMI.
This action is anticipated to affect the entire universe of
active bottomfish fishery participants (approximately 43) based in
the CNMI who fish more than three miles from shore, as well as an
unknown number of vessel operators who may enter the fishery in the
future. The CNMI bottomfish fishery consists primarily of small
boats (< 30 ft, 9.1 m) engaged in commercial and subsistence
fishing. These boats are usually limited to fishing in daylight
hours within 50 nm of Saipan, with fishermen relying on land
features for navigation (as opposed to GPS and fathometers). In
addition to the small boats, a few larger vessels (> 50 ft, 15.2 m)
sometimes participate in the fishery, ranging farther north on
multi-day trips, and with more sophisticated navigation tools. Data
about bottomfish landings from the larger vessels are now collected
only voluntarily. Given this fleet's aggregate annual ex-vessel
revenue of $142,260, the annual average per-vessel revenue is
$3,308; therefore, all affected operations are classified as ``small
entities'' because their annual revenues are below the $4 million
threshold set for this determination. The affected entities, CNMI
bottomfish vessels, landed a total of 54,400 lb (24,675 kg) of fish
in 2004.
Also affected will be future participants in the CNMI-based
offshore crustacean and precious coral fisheries. Available
[[Page 36051]]
information indicates that there are no current participants in
these fisheries and it is unlikely that an offshore commercial
crustacean (i.e., lobster) fishery will develop, as the topography
beyond three miles in most locations has limited lobster habitat and
access is difficult. Should such a lobster fishery develop, however,
the potential costs to fishermen would be minimal (i.e., no more
than those associated with permitting and reporting, discussed
below). Also affected would be future participants in the bottomfish
and crustacean fisheries around the PRIA, but available information
indicates that there are no current participants in these fisheries,
either.
The largest potential impact to affected participants would be
compliance costs associated with new Federal permitting and
reporting requirements. There is no monetary cost for these permits,
but a time burden of 30 minutes is required for each permit
application and renewal. The completion of Federal reporting forms
will be required for each fishing trip, with an associated time cost
of 5 minutes per reporting action. Lesser and uUnquantifiable
impacts may result from the future prohibition of the use of
destructive fishing gear (e.g., bottom set trawls, poisons and
explosives) in the current or future CNMI and PRIA bottomfish
fisheries, and the future prohibition of the use of non-selective
gear in any future NMI precious corals fishery. There is no evidence
that such gears are in use at this time, so any futurethe
prohibition against using such gear would have no immediate impact
on current fishery participants.
Because there are no management actions that affect operations
of the fishery, other than providing for potential data collection,
there will be no significant reductions in profitability for a
substantial number of small entities in any user groups, and there
will be no disproportionate impacts between gear types, vessels, or
port of landing.
The proposed rule does not impose impacts on a substantial
number of small entities. The proposed action is administrative in
nature and will not impact operations of the fishery. Most vessels
in the CNMI fishery are small vessels that operate in nearshore
areas, so the majority of small entities in the CNMI will be
unaffected by the action. A very small proportion of larger vessels
that may be impacted would be subject to the permit and reporting
requirements of the action.
The CNMI fishery is characterized based on data collected
through the Commercial Purchase Database, which indirectly records
actual landings by recording all local fish sales to commercial
establishments. This data collection program is dependeant on
voluntary participation by first level purchasers of locally caught
fresh fish to record purchases on specially designed invoices. These
figures are then expanded by 30 percent to represent the CNMI as a
whole, assuming 60 percent coverage of the commercial sales on
Saipan, and that Saipan is 90 percent of the total market.
As a result, an initial regulatory flexibility analysis is not
required and none has been prepared.
This proposed rule contains a collection-of-information requirement
subject to review and approval by the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). This requirement has
been submitted to OMB for approval. The public reporting burden for the
permit application process is 30 minutes per application. In the
crustaceans fishery, it is estimated that one permit application would
be submitted annually for the permit area, resulting in a paperwork
burden of 30 min/yr. In the bottomfish fishery, it is estimated that no
more than five permit applications would be received annually for the
permit area, resulting in a paperwork burden of 2.5 hr/yr. In the
precious corals fishery, it is estimated that one permit would be
applied for annually for the permit area, resulting in 30 min/yr in
paperwork burden. Therefore, the total paperwork burden of these
collections of information would be no more than four hours annually.
The public burden for the proposed reporting requirements is five
minutes per daily logsheet. It is estimated that eight vessels would be
subject to the reporting requirement at any given time, and that each
vessel would fish, on average, no more than 50 days/yr, resulting in a
total paperwork burden of approximately 35 hr/yr. These estimates
include the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data
sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and
reviewing the collection information.
Public comment is sought regarding: whether this proposed
collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of
the functions of the agency, including whether the information shall
have practical utility; the accuracy of the burden estimate; ways to
enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be
collected; and ways to minimize the burden of the collection of
information, including through the use of automated collection
techniques or other forms of information technology. Send comments on
these or any other aspects of the collection of information to William
L. Robinson (see ADDRESSES), and email to David_Rostker@omb.eop.gov or
fax to 202-395-7285.
Notwithstanding any other provision of the law, no person is
required to respond to, and no person shall be subject to penalty for
failure to comply with, a collection of information subject to the
requirements of the PRA, unless that collection of information displays
a currently valid OMB control number.
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 665
Administrative practice and procedure, American Samoa, Fisheries,
Fishing, Guam, Hawaii, Hawaiian natives, Northern Mariana Islands,
Pacific Remote Island Areas, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
Dated: June 20, 2006.
James W. Balsiger,
Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National
Marine Fisheries Service.
For the reasons set out in the preamble, 50 CFR part 665 is
proposed to be amended as follows:
PART 665--FISHERIES IN THE WESTERN PACIFIC
1. The authority citation for part 665 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
In Sec. 665.12, the definitions for ``Crustaceans management
area'', ``Crustaceans permit area 3'', and ``Crustaceans receiving
vessel'' are revised, the definitions of ``Crustaceans permit area 4'',
``Pacific Remote Island Areas bottomfish fishing permit'', and
``Pacific Remote Island Areas crustacean fishing permit'' are added,
and under the definition of ``Precious coral permit area'' paragraph
(4)(v) is added to read as follows:
Sec. 665.12 Definitions.
* * * * *
Crustaceans management area means the EEZ waters around American
Samoa, the CNMI, Guam, Hawaii, and the PRIA.
* * * * *
Crustacean Permit Area 3 (Permit Area 3) means the EEZ around Guam
and American Samoa, and the EEZ seaward of points 3 nautical miles from
the shoreline of the CNMI.Crustaceans Permit Area 4 (Permit Area (4)
means the EEZ around the PRIA, with the exception of EEZ waters around
Midway Atoll.
* * * * *
Crustaceans receiving vessel means a vessel of the United States to
which lobsters taken in the crustaceans management area are transferred
from another vessel.
* * * * *
Pacific Remote Island Areas (PRIA) bottomfish fishing permit means
the permit required by Sec. 665.61 to use a vessel to fish for
bottomfish management unit species (MUS) in the EEZ, or to land
bottomfish MUS shoreward of the outer boundary of the EEZ around the
PRIA, with the exception of waters around Midway Atoll.
Pacific Remote Island Areas (PRIA) crustacean fishing permit means
the
[[Page 36052]]
permit required by Sec. 665.41 to use a vessel to fish for crustacean
management unit species (MUS) in the EEZ, or to land crustacean MUS
shoreward of the outer boundary of the EEZ around the PRIA, with the
exception of waters around Midway Atoll.
* * * * *
Precious coral permit area * * *
(4) * * *
(v) Permit Area X-P-CNMI includes all coral beds, other than
established beds, conditional beds, or refugia, in the EEZ seaward of
points 3 nautical miles from the shoreline of the CNMI.
* * * * *
3. In Sec. 665.14, paragraph (a) is revised to read as follows:
Sec. 665.14 Reporting and recordkeeping.
(a) Fishing record forms. The operator of any fishing vessel
subject to the requirements of Sec. Sec. 665.21, 665.41, 665.81, or
665.602 must maintain on board the vessel an accurate and complete
record of catch, effort, and other data on report forms provided by the
Regional Administrator. All information specified on the forms must be
recorded on the forms within 24 hr after the completion of each fishing
day. Each form must be signed and dated by the fishing vessel operator.
For the fisheries managed under Sec. Sec. 665.21, 665.41, and 665.81,
the original logbook form for each day of the fishing trip must be
submitted to the Regional Administrator within 72 hr of each landing of
MUS, unless the fishing was authorized under a PRIA troll and handline
permit, a PRIA crustaceans fishing permit, or a PRIA precious corals
fishing permit, in which case the original logbook form for each day of
fishing within the PRIA EEZ waters must be submitted to the Regional
Administrator within 30 days of each landing of MUS. For fisheries
managed under Sec. 665.602, the original logbook form for each day of
the fishing trip must be submitted to the Regional Administrator within
30 days of each landing of MUS.
* * * * *
4. In Sec. 665.41, paragraph (a)(2) is revised to read as follows:
Sec. 665.41 Permits.
(a) * * *
(2) The owner of any vessel used to fish for lobster in Permit Area
2, Permit Area 3, or Permit Area 4, must have a permit issued for that
vessel.
* * * * *
5. In Sec. 665.42, paragraph (c) is added to read as follows:
Sec. 665.42 Prohibitions.
* * * * *
(c) In Permit Area 3 and Permit Area 4, it is unlawful for any
person to refuse to make available to an authorized officer or employee
of NMFS designated by the Regional Administrator for inspection and
copying any records that must be made available in accordance with
Sec. 665.14(f)(2).
6. In Sec. 665.61, paragraph (a)(1) is revised to read as follows:
Sec. 665.61 Permits.
(a) * * *
(1) The owner of any vessel used to fish for bottomfish management
unit species in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Subarea or Pacific
Remote Island Areas Subarea must have a permit issued under this
section and the permit must be registered for use with that vessel.
* * * * *
7. In Sec. 665.62 paragraph (b) is revised, and paragraph (f) is
added to read as follows:
Sec. 665.62 Prohibitions.
* * * * *
(b) Fish for, or retain on board a vessel, bottomfish management
unit species in the Hoomalu Zone, the Mau Zone, or the Pacific Remote
Island Areas without the appropriate permit registered for use with
that vessel issued under Sec. 665.13.
* * * * *
(f) Falsify or fail to make or file all reports of bottomfish
management unit species landings taken in the Pacific Remote Island
Areas, containing all data in the exact manner, as specified in Sec.
665.14(a).
8. In Sec. 665.69, paragraphs (a) introductory text, (b), and (c)
are revised, and paragraphs (a)(6), (a)(7), and (a)(8) are added, to
read as follows:
Sec. 665.69 Management subareas.
(a) The bottomfish fishery management area is divided into eight
subareas with the following designations and boundaries:
* * * * *
(6) CNMI Inshore Area means that portion of the EEZ shoreward of 3
nautical miles of the shoreline of the CNMI.
(7) CNMI Offshore Area means that portion of the EEZ seaward of 3
nautical miles from the shoreline of the CNMI.
(8) Pacific Remote Island Areas means that portion of the EEZ
seaward of the Pacific Remote Island Areas, with the exception of
Midway Atoll.
(b) The inner boundary of each fishery management area is a line
coterminous with the seaward boundaries of the State of Hawaii, the
Territory of American Samoa, the Territory of Guam and the Commonwealth
of the Northern Mariana Islands.
(c) The outer boundary of each fishery management area is a line
drawn in such a manner that each point on it is 200 nautical miles from
the baseline from which the territorial sea is measured, or is
coterminous with adjacent international maritime boundaries. The
boundary between the fishery management areas of Guam and the Northern
Mariana IslandsCNMI extends to those points which are equidistant
between Guam and the island of Rota in the CNMINorthern Mariana
Islands.
[FR Doc. E6-9966 Filed 6-22-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S