NMFS issues this final rule to implement management measures described in Amendment 34 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Reef Fish Resources of the Gulf of Mexico (FMP) prepared by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council). This rule removes the income qualification requirements for renewal of Gulf of Mexico (Gulf) commercial reef fish permits and increases the maximum crew size to four for dual-permitted vessels (i.e. vessels that possess both a charter vessel/headboat permit for Gulf reef fish and a commercial vessel permit for Gulf reef fish) that are fishing commercially. The intent of this rule is to remove permit requirements that NMFS views as no longer applicable to current commercial fishing practices and to improve safety-at-sea in the Gulf reef fish fishery.
This rule is effective November 19, 2012.
ADDRESSES: Electronic copies of Amendment 34, which includes an environmental assessment and a regulatory impact review, may be obtained from the Southeast Regional Office Web site at http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/sf/GrouperSnapperandReefFish.htm.
Comments regarding the burden-hour estimates or other aspects of the collection-of-information requirements contained in this final rule may be submitted in writing to Anik Clemens, Southeast Regional Office, NMFS, 263 13th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701; and to OMB, by email at OIRA Submission@omb.eop.gov, or by fax to 202-395-7285.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cynthia Meyer, Southeast Regional Office, NMFS, telephone 727-824-5305; email: Cynthia.Meyer@noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS and the Council manage the Gulf reef fish fishery under the FMP. The Council prepared the FMP and NMFS implements the FMP under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magunson-Stevens Act) by regulations at 50 CFR part 622.
On July 10, 2012, NMFS published a notice of availability for Amendment 34 and requested public comment (77 FR 40561). NMFS published a proposed rule for Amendment 34 on July 18, 2012, and requested public comment (77 FR 42251). The purpose and rationale for the actions contained in this final rule can be found in the proposed rule and are not repeated here.
Management measures implemented through this final rule eliminate the income qualification requirements for renewal of commercial Gulf reef fish permits and increase the maximum crew size from three to four for dual-permitted vessels.
Comments and Responses
The following is a summary of the comments NMFS received on the proposed rule and NMFS' respective responses. During the comment period, NMFS received 11 comment letters, including nine from private citizens and two from fishing organizations. Of these comment letters, 10 were in support of the proposed rule and one opposed the proposed rule. Three of the comment letters were an identical form.
Comment 1: The comments supporting the proposed rule insisted that
the income requirement was no longer needed due to other existing
regulations for the reef fish fishery. The comment letter opposing the
proposed rule suggested that by removing the income requirement, there
would be no incentive to report catch.
Response: NMFS agrees that the income requirement is no longer
needed in the reef fish fishery. Currently, to obtain or renew a
commercial vessel permit for reef fish, more than 50 percent of the
applicant's earned income must have been derived from commercial
fishing or from charter fishing during either of the 2 calendar years
preceding the application. Due to recent regulatory changes in the
commercial sector including establishment of individual fishing quotas
(IFQs) for the most commercially sought after species, NMFS views
existing income qualification requirements as no longer necessary. The
regulations for the reef fish fishery require dealer reporting and the
IFQ programs require trip declarations, 3-hour notifications, and
detailed reporting. These requirements and the potential enforcement
measures are considered adequate incentives for fishermen to accurately
report their catches in the absence of the income requirement.
Further, the relative ease of fulfilling or circumventing income
requirement provisions has rendered them largely meaningless.
Currently, NMFS requires only that applicants submit affidavits
attesting that they meet the minimum income requirements. These
affidavits are not routinely validated by NMFS, because doing so is
difficult and costly. In addition, business entities such as
corporations and partnerships are the most common form of permitted
entity, and their operations are easily structured so as satisfy the
income requirement. Removing these requirements will streamline the
permit renewal process and eliminate ineffective regulations.
Comment 2: Regarding the increase in crew size for dual-permitted
vessels, the comments supporting this change were based on improving
safety-at-sea and allowing compliance with current Occupational Safety
and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations for commercial diving
operations. The comment opposing the change suggests that increasing
the crew size would result in overfishing by spear fishermen.
Response: The rule increases the maximum crew size regulations from
three to four people for dual-permitted vessels without a certificate
of inspection when fishing commercially. Historically, limiting the
crew size on a dual-permitted vessel when fishing commercially was
intended to prevent a vessel from taking out a number of passengers
under the pretense of making a charter trip, but subsequently selling
the catch. In addition to the implementation of the IFQ programs for
most of the commercially harvested species, all commercial reef fish
vessels are required to be equipped with vessel monitoring systems.
Vessel monitoring systems (VMSs) track the location of individual
vessels in the fleet. Having a VMS on board makes it clear when a
vessel is operating as a commercial vessel. Dual-permitted commercial
spear fishermen requested an increase in crew size to allow two divers
in the water, diving as a buddy pair, while two crew members remain
aboard the vessel. This conforms to safe operating procedures for
commercial diving (according to OSHA regulations) and directly promotes
the safety of human life at sea. The change in crew size could slightly
increase the vessel's efficiency in overall fishing effort by allowing
the crew to rest in between shifts. Spearfishing is a minor component
of the Gulf reef fish fishery and any increase in efficiency would be a
small percentage of overall harvest. If the dual-permitted vessels do
increase the overall fishing effort, then the regulations for the
commercial reef fish fishery requiring detailed monitoring and
reporting including VMS, trip declaration, and landing notifications
would provide the catch information. Additionally, other management
measures such as quotas and associated closures are tailored to prevent
overfishing of species in the reef fish fishery and there is no
evidence that an increase in crew size would lead to overfishing.