Atlantic Highly Migratory Species:

Federal Register Volume 76, Number 210 (Monday, October 31, 2011)

Proposed Rules

Pages 67121-67127

From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]

FR Doc No: 2011-28083

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 50 CFR Part 635

Docket No. 110913585-1625-01

RIN 0648-BB36

Atlantic Highly Migratory Species; 2012 Atlantic Shark Commercial

Fishing Season

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Proposed rule; request for comments.

SUMMARY: This proposed rule would establish opening dates and adjust quotas for the 2012 fishing season for the Atlantic commercial shark fisheries. Quotas would be adjusted based on any over- and/or underharvests experienced during the 2010 and 2011 Atlantic commercial shark fishing seasons. In addition, NMFS proposes season openings based on previously implemented adaptive management measures to provide, to the extent practicable, fishing opportunities for commercial shark fishermen in all regions and areas. The proposed measures could affect fishing opportunities for commercial shark

Page 67122

fishermen in the northwestern Atlantic, including the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean.

DATES: Written comments will be accepted until November 30, 2011.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on this document, identified by 0648-BB36, by any of the following methods:

Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic public comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov. To submit comments via the e-Rulemaking Portal, first click the ``submit a comment'' icon, then enter 0648-BB36 in the keyword search. Locate the document you wish to comment on from the resulting list and click on the ``Submit a Comment'' icon on the right of that line.

Mail: Submit written comments to 1315 East-West Highway,

Silver Spring, MD 20910. Please mark the outside of the envelope

``Comments on the Proposed Rule to Establish Quotas and Opening Dates for the 2012 Atlantic Shark Commercial Fishing Season.''

Fax: (301) 427-8503, Attn: Karyl Brewster-Geisz, Guy

DuBeck, or Jennifer Cudney.

Instructions: Comments must be submitted by one of the above methods to ensure that the comments are received, documented, and considered by NMFS. 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. All comments received are a part of the public record and will generally be posted for public viewing on http://www.regulations.gov without change. All personal identifying information (e.g., name, address, etc.) submitted voluntarily by the sender will be publicly accessible. Do not submit confidential business information, or otherwise sensitive or protected information. NMFS will accept anonymous comments (enter ``N/A'' in the required fields if you wish to remain anonymous). Attachments to electronic comments will be accepted in Microsoft Word or Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe PDF file formats only.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The Atlantic commercial shark fisheries are managed under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management

Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). The 2006 Consolidated HMS Fishery

Management Plan (FMP) and its amendments under the Magnuson-Stevens Act are implemented by regulations at 50 CFR part 635. For the Atlantic commercial shark fisheries, the 2006 Consolidated HMS FMP and its amendments established, among other things, commercial quotas for species and species complexes, accounting measures for under- and overharvests for the shark fisheries, and adaptive management measures such as flexible opening dates for the fishing season and inseason adjustments to shark trip limits, which provide flexibility in management in the furtherance of equitable fishing opportunities, to the extent practicable, for commercial shark fishermen in all regions and areas.

Accounting for Under- and Overharvests

Consistent with Sec. 635.27(b)(1)(i)(A), if the available non- sandbar Large Coastal Shark (LCS) quota in a particular region or in the research fishery is exceeded in any fishing season, NMFS will deduct an amount equivalent to the overharvest(s) from the quota in that region or in the research fishery for the following fishing season or, depending on the level of overharvest(s), NMFS may deduct an amount equivalent to the overharvest(s) spread over a number of subsequent fishing seasons to a maximum of 5 years, in the specific region or research fishery where the overharvest occurred. If the available quota for sandbar sharks, blacknose sharks, non-blacknose SCS, blue sharks, porbeagle sharks, and pelagic sharks (other than porbeagle or blue sharks) is exceeded in any fishing season, NMFS will deduct an amount equivalent to the overharvest(s) from the following fishing season quota or, depending on the level of overharvest(s), NMFS may deduct an amount equivalent to the overharvest(s) spread over a number of subsequent fishing seasons to a maximum of 5 years. If the blue shark quota is exceeded, NMFS will deduct an amount equivalent to the overharvest(s) from the following fishing season quota or, depending on the level of overharvest(s), deduct an amount equivalent to the overharvest(s) spread over a number of subsequent fishing years to a maximum of 5 years.

Consistent with Sec. 635.27(b)(1)(i)(B), if an annual quota for sandbar sharks, blacknose sharks, non-blacknose Small Coastal Sharks

(SCS), blue sharks, porbeagle sharks, or pelagic sharks (other than porbeagle or blue sharks) is not exceeded, NMFS may adjust the annual quota, depending on the status of the stock or quota group. If the annual quota for non-sandbar LCS is not exceeded in either region or in the research fishery, NMFS may adjust the annual quota for that region or the research fishery for the following year, depending on the status of the stock or quota group. If the stock/complex (e.g., sandbar sharks, porbeagle sharks, non-sandbar LCS, blue sharks) or specific species within a quota group (e.g., blacktip sharks within the non- sandbar LCS complex) is declared to be overfished, to have overfishing occurring, or to have an unknown status, NMFS will not adjust the following fishing year's quota for any underharvest, and the following fishing year's quota will be equal to the base annual quota (or the adjusted base quota for sandbar sharks and non-sandbar LCS) until

December 31, 2012.

Recently, NMFS published new stock determinations for blacknose and sandbar sharks (76 FR 62331; October 7, 2011). The blacknose shark stock was split into regions with the Atlantic stock being determined as overfished with overfishing occurring, while the Gulf of Mexico stock status was determined to be unknown. Sandbar sharks have been determined to be overfished with no overfishing occurring. Porbeagle sharks have been determined to be overfished. Blue sharks and pelagic sharks (other than porbeagle or blue sharks) have an unknown stock status. NMFS recently determined that scalloped hammerhead sharks were overfished with overfishing occurring (76 FR 23794; April 28, 2011).

Scalloped hammerhead sharks are included in the non-sandbar LCS complex for the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico regions. As a result, based on their stock status, no underharvests from the 2011 Atlantic commercial shark fishing season would be applied to the 2012 annual quotas or adjusted base quotas of these species or complexes.

Thus, the 2012 proposed quotas would be equal to the appropriate annual quota minus any overharvests that occurred in the 2010 and 2011 fishing seasons. For blacknose sharks, porbeagle sharks, blue sharks, and pelagic sharks (other than porbeagle or blue sharks), NMFS would use the base annual quota established at Sec. 635.27(b)(1)(iv)(A). For sandbar sharks and non-sandbar LCS, NMFS would use the adjusted base annual quota established at Sec. 635.27(b)(1)(iii).

The non-blacknose SCS complex has been determined to not be overfished and has no overfishing occurring; therefore, any underharvest up to 50 percent of the base quota from the 2011 Atlantic commercial shark fishing season could be applied to the 2012 annual quotas. 2012 Proposed Quotas

This rule proposes adjustments to the base commercial quotas due to over and underharvests that occurred in 2010 and

Page 67123

2011, where allowable, taking into consideration the stock status as required under existing regulations. The proposed 2012 quotas by species and species group are summarized in Table 1.

The quotas in this proposed rule are based on dealer reports received as of August 31, 2011. In the final rule, NMFS will adjust the quotas based on dealer reports received as of October 31, 2011. Thus, all of the 2012 proposed quotas for the respective shark complexes/ species are subject to further adjustment for any overharvests reflected after considering the October 31 dealer reports. All dealer reports that are received by NMFS after October 31, 2011, will be used to adjust the 2013 quotas, as appropriate.

Table 1--2012 Proposed Quotas and Opening Dates for the Atlantic Shark Fisheries. All Quotas and Landings Are Dressed Weight (dw), in Metric Tons (mt),

Unless Specified Otherwise. Table Includes Landings Data Through August 31, 2011, and Quotas Are Subject to Change Based on Landings Through October 31, 2011

2012 Base

Species group

Region

2011 Annual

Preliminary 2011

Overharvest/

annual quota 2012 Proposed

Season opening quota

landings \1\

underharvest

\2\

quota

dates

................ (A)............. (B)............. (C)............. (D)............ (D + C)........

Non-Sandbar Large Coastal

Gulf of Mexico.. 351.9 (775,740 327.0 (720,868

\3\ 2.3 (5,167 390.5 (860,896 392.8 (866,063 March 1, 2011.

Sharks.

lb dw).

lb dw).

lb dw).

lb dw).

lb dw).

Atlantic........ 190.4 (419,756 79.9 (176,052 lb \4\-4.6 (-10,135 187.8 (414,024 183.2 (403,889 Effective Date lb dw).

dw).

lb dw).

lb dw).

lb dw).

for HMS

Electronic

Reporting

System or July 15, 2011.\7\

Non-Sandbar LCS Research

No regional

37.5 (82,673 lb 37.0 (81,627 lb ................ 37.5 (82,673 lb 37.5 (82,673 lb On or about

Quota.

quotas.

dw).

dw).

dw).

dw).

January 1, 2011.

Sandbar Research Quota....... ................ 87.9 (193,784 lb 53.0 (116,706 lb ................ 87.9 (193,784 87.9 (193,784 dw).

dw).

lb dw).

lb dw).

Non-Blacknose Small Coastal

................ 314.4 (693,257 132.9 (292,926

\5\ 89.0

221.6 (488,539 310.6 (684,687

Sharks.

lb dw).

lb dw).

(196,148 lb dw). lb dw).

lb dw).

Blacknose Sharks............. ................ 19.9 (43,872 lb 13.1 (28,856 lb ................ 19.9 (43,872 lb 19.9 (43,872 lb dw).

dw).

dw).

dw).

Blue Sharks.................. ................ 273 (601,856 lb 7.2 (15,968 lb

................ 273 (601,856 lb 273 (601,856 lb dw).

dw).

dw).

dw).

Porbeagle Sharks............. ................ 1.6 (3,479 lb

2.4 (5,350 lb

\6\ 0.9 (-2,083 1.7 (3,748 lb 0.8 (1,665 lb

On or about dw).

dw).

lb dw).

dw).

dw).

January 1, 2011.\8\

Pelagic Sharks Other Than

................ 488 (1,075,856 85.7 (188,896 lb ................ 488 (1,075,856 488 (1,075,856

Porbeagle or Blue.

lb dw).

dw).

lb dw).

lb dw).

\1\ Landings are from January 1, 2011, until August 31, 2011, and are subject to change.

\2\ 2010 annual base quotas for sandbar and non-sandbar LCS are the annual adjusted base quotas that are effective from July 24, 2008, until December 31, 2012 (50 CFR 635.27(b)(1)(iii) and (iv)).

\3\ NMFS proposes to adjust the 2012 quota for the Gulf of Mexico non-sandbar LCS to account for the 2.3 mt dw that was over estimated in the landings report in 2011 after the final rule establishing the 2011 quota published.

\4\ NMFS proposes to adjust the 2012 quota for Atlantic non-sandbar LCS to account for the 4.6 mt dw overharvest reflected in the landings report in 2011 after the final rule establishing the 2011 quota published.

\5\ NMFS proposes to adjust the 2012 quota for non-blacknose SCS to account for the 21.8 mt dw that was over estimated in the landings report in 2011 after the final rule establishing the 2011 quota published and the underharvest of 110.8 mt dw in 2011.

\6\ NMFS proposes to adjust the 2012 quota for porbeagle sharks to account for the

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