[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 202 (Friday, October 18, 2019)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 55900-55901]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-22780]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 622
[Docket No. 191011-0061]
RIN 0648-BJ01
Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic;
Spiny Lobster Trap Fishery of the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI); Control
Date
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Advance notice of proposed rulemaking; consideration of a
control date.
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SUMMARY: This notice announces the establishment of a control date of
September 1, 2017, that the Caribbean Fishery Management Council
(Council) may use if it decides to create restrictions limiting
participation in the spiny lobster trap fishery in the exclusive
economic zone (EEZ) off St. Thomas and St. John, or St. Croix, U.S.
Virgin Islands (USVI). Persons entering the fishery in either area
after the control date will not be assured of future access should a
management regime that limits participation in the fishery be prepared
and implemented. NMFS invites comments on the establishment of this
control date.
[[Page 55901]]
DATES: Written comments must be received by November 18, 2019.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by ``NOAA-NMFS-2019-
0070'' by either of the following methods:
Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public
comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to
www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2019-0070, click the
``Comment Now!'' icon, complete the required fields, and enter or
attach your comments.
Mail: Submit written comments to Sarah Stephenson, NMFS
Southeast Regional Office, 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: Sarah Stephenson, NMFS Southeast
Regional Office, telephone: 727-824-5305, or email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The spiny lobster trap fishery is managed
under the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for the Spiny Lobster Fishery
of Puerto Rico and the USVI. However, NMFS notes that the Council is in
the process of transitioning Federal fisheries management in the U.S.
Caribbean from four species-based FMPs for Puerto Rico and the USVI to
three island-based FMPs (Puerto Rico FMP, St. Thomas and St. John FMP,
and St. Croix FMP). The island-based FMPs would manage multiple
species, including spiny lobster, within the EEZ defined for each
island management area (appendix E to part 622).
Currently in the U.S. Caribbean, which includes Puerto Rico and the
USVI, there is no Federal permit for the spiny lobster trap fishery.
However, the territorial governments of Puerto Rico, St. Thomas and St.
John, and St. Croix issue commercial fishing licenses for their
territorial waters.
At their August 2018 meeting, the Council recommended a control
date of September 1, 2017, for the spiny lobster trap fishery off the
USVI. The control date would apply to persons who have entered or are
contemplating entering this fishery after September 1, 2017. The
control date would be applicable under the current FMP and it is the
Council's intent that is would also be applicable under the island-
based FMPs, if approved.
Previously, the Council established a control date of February 10,
2011 (78 FR 20496, April 5, 2013), for the commercial spiny lobster
trap fishery in the U.S. Caribbean operating in Federal waters off
Puerto Rico and the USVI. At their August 2018 meeting, the Council
discussed modifying the previous control date for the spiny lobster
trap fishery off the USVI to address more recent concerns presented at
that meeting by spiny lobster trap fishermen and the USVI government.
Specifically, with the planned implementation of the island-based FMPs,
potential increases in annual catch limits for spiny lobster in the EEZ
off the USVI could increase fishing effort that would affect the
fishery, which historically has been small-scale and market-driven.
Both spiny lobster trap fishermen and the USVI government were
concerned that, in the future, new participants may establish large-
scale operations for harvesting spiny lobster that would impact the
ecosystem (i.e., more traps deployed), historical participants, and
fishing communities.
In order to preserve and protect the economically and culturally
important spiny lobster trap fishery in the USVI, the Council decided
to update the previous control date of February 10, 2011, and establish
a September 1, 2017, control date for the spiny lobster trap fishery
around the USVI. The Council selected September 1, 2017, as the control
date because, soon thereafter, Hurricanes Maria and Irma severely
curtailed fishing activities in the USVI. Therefore, the Council
determined the period prior to September 1, 2017, best represents
historic participation in the spiny lobster trap fishery in the USVI.
The control date enables the Council to inform current and potential
participants that it may consider creating restrictions to limit
participation or other measures in the spiny lobster trap fishery
around St. Thomas and St. John, or St. Croix, USVI.
The Council requested that this control date be published in the
Federal Register to notify fishermen that if they entered the fishery
after September 1, 2017, they may not be assured of future access if
the Council or NMFS decide to limit entry or impose other measures to
manage the spiny lobster trap fishery around St. Thomas and St. John,
or St. Croix, USVI.
Establishment of this control date does not commit the Council or
NMFS to any particular management regime or criteria for entry into the
spiny lobster trap fishery around St. Thomas and St. John, or St.
Croix, USVI. Fishermen are not guaranteed future participation in the
trap fishery regardless of their level of participation before or after
the control date. The Council may recommend a different control date or
it may recommend a management regime that does not involve a control
date. Other criteria, such as documentation of landings or fishing
effort, may be used to determine eligibility for participation in a
limited access fishery. The Council or NMFS also may choose to take no
further action to control entry or access to the fishery, in which case
the control date may be rescinded. Any action by the Council will be
taken pursuant to the requirements for fishery management plan and
amendment development established under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act.
This notification also gives the public notice that interested
participants should locate and preserve records that substantiate and
verify their participation in the spiny lobster trap fishery in the EEZ
off St. Thomas and St. John, and St. Croix, USVI.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: October 15, 2019.
Samuel D. Rauch, III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2019-22780 Filed 10-17-19; 8:45 am]
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