[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 77 (Tuesday, April 21, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22137-22139]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-08438]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[RTID 0648-XS031]
Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic;
Amendment 53 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Reef Fish Resources
of the Gulf of Mexico
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of intent (NOI) to prepare a draft environmental impact
statement (DEIS); request for comments.
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SUMMARY: NMFS, Southeast Region, in collaboration with the Gulf of
Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council) intends to prepare a DEIS
to describe and analyze management alternatives to be included in
Amendment 53 to the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for the Reef Fish
Resources of the Gulf of Mexico (Amendment 53). Amendment 53 will
address the conservation and management of Gulf of Mexico red grouper
and will consider alternatives to
[[Page 22138]]
revise the commercial and recreational sector allocation, the
overfishing limit (OFL), acceptable biological catch (ABC), annual
catch limits (ACLs), and annual catch targets (ACTs). The purpose of
this NOI is to solicit public comments on the scope of issues to be
addressed in the DEIS.
DATES: Written comments on the scope of issues to be addressed in the
DEIS must be received by NMFS by May 21, 2020.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on Amendment 53 identified by
``NOAA-NMFS-2020-0062'' by any of the following methods:
Electronic Submissions: Submit electronic comments via the
Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Go to
www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2020-0062, click the
``Comment Now!'' icon, complete the required fields, and enter or
attach your comments.
Mail: Submit written comments to Peter Hood, Southeast
Regional Office, NMFS, 263 13th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701.
Instructions: Comments sent by any other method, to any other
address or individual, or received after the end of the comment period,
may not be considered by NMFS. All comments received are a part of the
public record and will generally be posted for public viewing on
www.regulations.gov without change. All personal identifying
information (e.g., name, address, etc.), confidential business
information, or otherwise sensitive information submitted voluntarily
by the sender will be publicly accessible. NMFS will accept anonymous
comments (enter ``N/A'' in the required fields if you wish to remain
anonymous).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Peter Hood, Southeast Regional Office,
telephone: 727-824-5305; or email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The status of the Gulf red grouper stock was
evaluated in the Southeast Data, Assessment, and Review (SEDAR) 61
stock assessment that was completed in 2019. The results of SEDAR 61
indicated that the Gulf red grouper stock is not considered overfished
or undergoing overfishing. However, fishermen and the Council have
expressed concern about the health of the stock because of a decrease
in landings, fewer legal sized fish, and a recent red tide event off
the west coast of Florida. All weights described in this notice are in
gutted weight.
In 2018, the Council noted that the combined commercial and
recreational Gulf red grouper landings have trended downwards from over
7.26 million lb (3.29 million kg) in 2014 to approximately 4.16 million
lb (1.89 million kg) in 2017. The Council also heard public testimony,
primarily from commercial fishermen, who noted that Gulf red grouper
are harder to catch and that there appears to less legal-size and
larger fish throughout the species' range on the west Florida shelf. In
addition, the Council's Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC)
reviewed an interim stock analysis conducted by the NMFS Southeast
Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC) and concluded that the stock may be
declining. Therefore, the SSC recommended that the Council reduce the
2019 Gulf red grouper total ACL from 10.70 million lb (4.85 million kg)
to 4.60 million lb (2.09 million kg). The Council decided on a more
precautionary approach and reduced the 2019 ACL to 4.16 million lb
(1.89 million kg), which was the equal to the 2017 harvest (84 FR
52036; October 1, 2019).
The SSC reviewed the SEDAR 61 stock assessment in September 2019.
To predict recreational fishing effort and landings, the assessment
used the historical time series of recreational landings that has been
fully-calibrated to the new Marine Recreational Information Program
(MRIP) Fishing Effort Survey (FES). This survey provides a better
estimate of recreational effort and landings than the previous MRIP
survey, and indicates that landing estimates for many species,
including Gulf red grouper, are greater than previously thought. As a
result, the calibrated historical recreational landings, when compared
to commercial landings, are greater than the current allocation of 24
percent recreational and 76 percent commercial, which was established
in 2009 based on the average landings from 1986 through 2005.
The Council's SSC agreed with the determination in SEDAR 61 that
the Gulf red grouper stock was not overfished or experiencing
overfishing, but recognized the stock may have been adversely affected
by the 2018 red tide event. Therefore, the SSC recommended that the
catch level projections produced by the assessment assume that the
impact from the 2018 red tide is approximately the same as the impact
of a red tide event that occurred in 2005. In January 2020, the SSC
received additional information about how different sector allocations
impact the OFL and ABC projections produced by the assessment. The
SEFSC explained that if the commercial and recreational allocation is
changed to better reflect historical recreational harvest based on the
FES-adjusted MRIP landing estimates, the projected OFL and ABC are less
than if the allocation remains the same. This reduction is caused by
changes in the estimated size distribution of harvested fish and
greater estimates of discarded fish by the recreational sector.
The Council and NMFS are currently considering two actions in
Amendment 53. The first action would revise the Gulf red grouper
allocation between the commercial and recreational sectors. The Council
is currently considering historical landings as a basis to revise the
allocation. For the second action, the Council is considering revising
the sector ACLs and ACTs based on the allocation selected in the first
action of Amendment 53 and the results of SEDAR 61. The Council and
NMFS may add actions to Amendment 53 in the future, such as
recreational bag limits, minimum size limits, and seasonal closures,
after the scoping process or based on future discussions of this
amendment.
NMFS, in collaboration with the Council, will develop a DEIS to
describe and analyze alternatives to address the management needs
described above including the ``no action'' alternatives. In accordance
with the Companion Manual to NOAA Administrative Order 216-6A, Section
8(B), Scoping Requirements for an EIS, NMFS, in collaboration with the
Council, has identified preliminary environmental issues as a means to
initiate discussion for scoping purposes only. The public is invited to
provide written comments on the preliminary issues, which are
identified as actions in the Amendment 53 draft options paper. These
preliminary issues may not represent the full range of issues that
eventually will be evaluated in the DEIS. A copy of the Amendment 53
draft options paper is available at https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/amendment-53-red-grouper-allocations-and-catch-levels.
After the DEIS associated with Amendment 53 is completed, it will
be filed with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). After filing,
the EPA will publish a notice of availability (NOA) of the DEIS for
public comment in the Federal Register. The DEIS will have a 45-day
comment period. This procedure is pursuant to regulations issued by the
Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) for implementing the procedural
provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA; 40 CFR parts
1500-1508) and the Companion Manual to NOAA Administrative Order 216-
6A.
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The Council and NMFS will consider public comments received on the
DEIS in developing the final environmental impact statement (FEIS), and
before the Council votes to submit the final amendment to NMFS for
Secretarial review, approval, and implementation. NMFS will announce in
the Federal Register the availability of the final amendment and FEIS
for public review during the Secretarial review period, and will
consider all public comments prior to final agency action to approve,
disapprove, or partially approve the final amendment. During
Secretarial review, NMFS will also file the FEIS with the EPA and the
EPA will publish an NOA for the FEIS in the Federal Register.
NMFS will announce, through a document published in the Federal
Register, all public comment periods on the final amendment, its
proposed implementing regulations, and the availability of its
associated FEIS. NMFS will consider all public comments received during
the Secretarial review period, whether they are on the final amendment,
the proposed regulations, or the FEIS, prior to final agency action.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: April 15, 2020.
H[eacute]l[egrave]ne M.N. Scalliet,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2020-08438 Filed 4-20-20; 8:45 am]
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