[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 138 (Friday, July 17, 2020)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 43528-43531]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-14949]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[Docket No. 200706-0179]
RIN 0648-BI15
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act
Provisions; Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Electronic
Vessel Trip Reporting
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 action proposes approval of, and regulations to
implement, an action to require commercially permitted vessels in both
New England and mid-Atlantic regions to submit vessel trip reports
electronically within 48 hours of the end of a trip. In addition, this
action would require for-hire vessels with permits for species
[[Page 43529]]
managed by the New England Fishery Management Council to submit vessel
trip reports electronically. Document retention requirements would also
be removed with this action. This action is intended to increase data
quality and timeliness of vessel trip reports.
DATES: Comments must be received by August 17, 2020.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by NOAA-NMFS-2020-0070,
by the following method:
Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public
comments via the Federal eRulemaking Portal.
1. Go to http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-
2020-0070;
2. Click the ``Comment Now!'' icon and complete the required
fields; and
3. Enter or attach your comments.
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 us. 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. We will accept anonymous
comments (enter ``N/A'' in the required fields if you wish to remain
anonymous). If you are unable to submit your comment through
www.regulations.gov, contact Moira Kelly, Senior Fishery Program
Specialist, phone: 978-281-9218; email: [email protected].
Copies of the Joint Omnibus Electronic Vessel Trip Reporting
Framework Adjustment prepared by the Mid-Atlantic and New England
Fishery Management Council in support of this action are available from
Dr. Christopher Moore, Executive Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery
Management Council, 800 North Street, Suite 201, Dover, DE 19901. The
supporting documents are also accessible via the internet at: https://www.mafmc.org/actions/commercial-evtr-framework, https://www.nefmc.org/library/omnibus-commercial-evtr-framework, or http://www.regulations.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Moira Kelly, Senior Fishery Program
Specialist, phone: 978-281-9218; email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In April 2019, NOAA's NMFS implemented a
requirement for vessels issued a for-hire permit for a Mid-Atlantic
Fishery Management Council-managed fishery to submit vessel trip
reports electronically (eVTR) within 48 hours of the end of the trip
when carrying passengers for hire. Shortly after, the Mid-Atlantic
Council initiated an action to require the same of its commercial
vessels. Given the substantial overlap in vessel permits across the two
Councils, the New England Fishery Management Council agreed to make the
action a joint omnibus action for all Fishery Management Plans of both
Councils. At their respective December 2019 and January 2020 meetings,
the Mid-Atlantic and New England Councils voted to submit the action to
NMFS for approval.
Currently, commercial vessels are required to submit vessel trip
reports either on paper or electronically following each trip. Several
fishery management plans require weekly submission (Atlantic herring;
Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, Butterfish; Northeast Multispecies; and
Surfclam and Ocean Quahog); others require monthly submission (Atlantic
Bluefish; Atlantic Deep-Sea Red Crab; Atlantic Sea Scallop; Summer
Flounder, Scup, Black Sea Bass; Monkfish; Northeast Skate Complex;
Spiny Dogfish; and Tilefish). With this action, all vessel trip reports
would be required to be submitted electronically within 48 hours of the
end of a fishing trip.
The Councils considered a variety of reporting timelines, including
status quo (monthly or weekly), 24 hours, 72 hours, or weekly
reporting. Ultimately, both Councils determined that 48 hours was
preferred, as this was consistent with the existing for-hire eVTR
requirements. In addition to the method and submission timeframe
changes, the Councils recommend removing document retention
requirements that are no longer necessary with electronic reporting.
New England Council For-Hire
Upon implementation of the Councils' proposed action, all federally
permitted vessels in the Greater Atlantic Region would be required to
submit vessel trip reports electronically, with two exceptions: (1)
Federally permitted lobster vessels; and (2) vessels holding only a New
England Council-managed for-hire permit. In conjunction with a
reporting action by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, we
are addressing the lobster reporting requirements separately from this
action. There are currently fewer than 15 vessels that are only issued
a New England for-hire permit. Of those, 10 were active in 2019, and 6
of those submitted vessel trip reports electronically.
At the outset of this action (June 2019), the New England Council
moved to include its own for-hire vessels in the framework. However,
after consulting with the Mid-Atlantic Council, the New England Council
agreed to move forward with just the commercial reporting changes. At
its April 2020 meeting, after completing the relevant analyses and
determining how few vessels would remain without an eVTR requirement,
the New England Council requested that NMFS use the Magnuson-Stevens
Fishery Conservation and Management Act authority at section 305(d) to
extend the eVTR requirement to New England Council for-hire vessels
through the same rulemaking to implement the commercial eVTR framework.
Including for-hire vessels with permits for New England Council-
managed species in the action would streamline this rulemaking and
regulatory text, improve our outreach efforts, and reduce the
administrative burden of maintaining two reporting systems. Further, as
noted above, the majority of vessels that would be impacted are already
using electronic reporting voluntarily.
Classification
Pursuant to section 304(b)(1)(A) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Assistant Administrator has
made a preliminary determination that this proposed rule is consistent
with the Joint Omnibus Electronic Vessel Trip Reporting Framework
Adjustment, other provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and other
applicable law. In addition, under the authority granted in section
305(d), NMFS is proposing to extend the requirements of this action to
vessels issued for-hire permits for New England Council fisheries.
This proposed rule has been determined to be not significant for
purposes of Executive Order (E.O.) 12866. This proposed rule is
expected to be an E.O. 13771 deregulatory action.
This proposed rule does not contain policies with Federalism or
takings implications as those terms are defined in E.O. 13132 and E.O.
12630, respectively.
The Chief Counsel for Regulation of the Department of Commerce has
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.
The factual determination for this determination is as follows.
[[Page 43530]]
This is an administrative action that would change the method of
submission and reporting frequency of vessel trip reports. Currently,
commercial vessels are required to submit vessel trip reports either on
paper or electronically following each trip. Several fishery management
plans require weekly submission (Atlantic herring; Atlantic Mackerel,
Squid, Butterfish; Northeast Multispecies; and, Surfclam and Ocean
Quahog); others require monthly submission (Atlantic Bluefish; Atlantic
Deep-Sea Red Crab; Atlantic Sea Scallop; Summer Flounder, Scup, Black
Sea Bass; Monkfish; Northeast Skate Complex; Spiny Dogfish; and,
Tilefish). With this action, vessel trip reports would be required to
be submitted electronically, within 48 hours of the end of a fishing
trip.
The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) requires Federal agencies to
consider disproportionality and profitability to determine the
significance of regulatory impacts. For RFA purposes only, NMFS
established a small business size standard for businesses, including
their affiliates, whose primary industry is commercial fishing (see 50
CFR 200.2). A business primarily engaged in commercial fishing (NAICS
code 11411) is classified as a small business if it is independently
owned and operated, is not dominant in its field of operation
(including its affiliates), and has combined annual receipts less than
not in excess of $11 million for all its affiliated operations
worldwide. The determination of whether the entity is large or small is
based on the average annual revenue for the most recent 3 years for
which data are available (from 2016 through 2018).
The measures proposed in this action apply to the vessels that hold
commercial Federal permits for species managed by the New England or
Mid-Atlantic Council. There were 3,832 affiliates that reported revenue
from commercial landings in 2016, 2017, and/or 2018. Based on combined
receipts in 2018, 3,820 of these commercial entities were classified as
small businesses and 12 were classified as large businesses. When
considering affiliates that reported revenues from commercial fishing
activities, the 3-year average (2016-2018) annual combined gross
receipts from all commercial fishing activity was $1.1 billion for all
combined affiliates classified as small businesses and $229,738,842 for
all combined affiliates classified as large businesses. The Small
Business Administration threshold for a small business is $8 million
for for-hire entities and $11 million for commercial fishing entities.
There are an additional 15 for-hire vessels not considered in the
Councils' original analysis. The majority of these 15 vessels are
issued only a Northeast multispecies for-hire permit (one vessel also
holds a lobster permit). Seven of the 15 vessels submitted vessel trip
reports in 2019, ranging from 6 to nearly 70 trips, with an average of
22 trips. Charters (private trips for up to 6 people) typically cost
around $1,000 for groundfish trips, while a party boat can carry around
70 people and typically charge approximately $70 per customer. As a
result, gross revenue from these vessels' trips likely averaged between
$20,000 and $100,000 in 2019, ranging from $6,000 to upwards of
$330,000, well below the $8 million small business threshold for for-
hire fishing entities.
Complying with the proposed eVTR submission requirements can be
accomplished for no cost using several of the available eVTR
applications with a smartphone, personal computer, or tablet and
internet connection/cellular data. The ubiquitous nature of
smartphones, computers, and internet availability in private homes and
businesses, as well as free access to Wi-Fi in most public libraries
and other locations, provides a free to minimal cost means for permit
holders to access eVTRs. Therefore, there is little to no direct
negative economic impact to permit holders. Although this low-cost
option is available, captains may voluntarily choose a different
reporting mechanism, additional services, or upgraded hardware options
that would increase their costs to varying degrees.
Because the eVTR submission requirements can be accomplished at
low/no cost, no adverse impacts are expected from the proposed
measures, and in the long-term, electronic reporting is expected to
reduce reporting burden as we will be able to consolidate requirements
into the eVTR platforms.
Therefore, this action is not expected to have a significant
economic effect on a substantial number of small entities. Under the
proposed action, small entities would not be placed at a competitive
disadvantage relative to large entities, and the regulations would not
reduce the profits for any small entities relative to taking no action.
As a result, an initial regulatory flexibility analysis is not required
and none has been prepared.
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 648
Fisheries, Fishing, Recordkeeping, and reporting requirements.
Dated: July 7, 2020.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
For the reasons stated in the preamble, 50 CFR part 648 is proposed
to be amended as follows:
PART 648--FISHERIES OF THE NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES
0
1. The authority citation for part 648 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
0
2. Amend Sec. 648.7 by:
0
a. Revising paragraphs (b)(1), (c), (d), and (f)(2); and
0
b. Removing and reserving paragraph (e)(2).
The revisions read as follows:
Sec. 648.7 Recordkeeping and reporting requirements.
* * * * *
(b) * * *
(1) Fishing Vessel Trip Reports. The owner or operator of any
vessel issued a valid permit or eligible to renew a limited access
permit under this part must maintain on board the vessel, and submit,
an accurate fishing log report for each fishing trip, regardless of
species fished for or taken, by electronic means. This report must be
entered into and submitted through a software application approved by
NMFS. The reporting requirements specified in this paragraph (b)(1)(i)
for an owner or operator of a vessel fishing for, possessing, or
landing Atlantic chub mackerel are effective through December 31, 2020.
(i) With the exception of those vessel owners or operators fishing
under a surfclam or ocean quahog permit, at least the following
information as applicable and any other information required by the
Regional Administrator must be provided: Vessel name; USCG
documentation number (or state registration number, if undocumented);
permit number; date/time sailed; date/time landed; trip type; number of
crew; number of anglers (if a charter or party boat); gear fished;
quantity and size of gear; mesh/ring size; chart area fished; average
depth; latitude/longitude; total hauls per area fished; average tow
time duration; hail weight, in pounds (or count of individual fish, if
a party or charter vessel), by species, of all species, or parts of
species, such as monkfish livers, landed or discarded; and, in the case
of skate discards, ``small'' (i.e., less than 23 inches (58.42 cm),
total length) or ``large'' (i.e., 23 inches (58.42 cm) or greater,
total length) skates; dealer
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permit number; dealer name; date sold, port and state landed; and
vessel operator's name, signature, and operator's permit number (if
applicable).
(ii) The owner or operator of any vessel conducting any surfclam
and ocean quahog fishing operations must provide at least the following
information and any other information required by the Regional
Administrator: Name and permit number of the vessel, total amount in
bushels of each species taken, date(s) caught, time at sea, duration of
fishing time, locality fished, crew size, crew share by percentage,
landing port, date sold, price per bushel, buyer, tag numbers from
cages used, quantity of surfclams and ocean quahogs discarded, and
allocation permit number.
* * * * *
(c) When to fill out a vessel trip report. Vessel trip reports
required by paragraph (b)(1)(i) of this section must be filled out with
all required information, except for information not yet ascertainable,
prior to entering port. Information that may be considered
unascertainable prior to entering port includes dealer name, dealer
permit number, and date sold. Vessel trip reports must be completed as
soon as the information becomes available. Vessel trip reports required
by paragraph (b)(1)(ii) of this section must be filled out before
landing any surfclams or ocean quahogs.
(d) Inspection. Upon the request of an authorized officer or an
employee of NMFS designated by the Regional Administrator to make such
inspections, all persons required to submit reports under this part
must make immediately available for inspection reports, and all records
upon which those reports are or will be based, that are required to be
submitted or kept under this part.
* * * * *
(f) * * *
(2) Fishing vessel trip reports. For any vessel issued a valid
permit or eligible to renew a limited access permit under this part,
fishing vessel trip reports, required by paragraph (b)(1) of this
section, must be submitted within 48 hours at the conclusion of a trip.
(i) For the purposes of this paragraph (f)(2), the date when fish
are offloaded from a commercial vessel will establish the conclusion of
a commercial trip.
(ii) For the purposes of this paragraph (f)(2), the date a charter/
party vessel enters port will establish the conclusion of a for-hire
trip.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2020-14949 Filed 7-16-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P