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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 39 / Tuesday, March 2, 2021 / Proposed Rules
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king mackerel and Spanish mackerel, and HMS.
This proposed rule would prohibit fishing year-round for all species except HMS. However, as stated earlier, NMFS
may implement compatible regulations for HMS later, as requested by the Council.
Currently, fishing vessels with Gulf reef fish on board may transit through the MPAs as long as all fishing gear is appropriately stowed. This provision allows transiting fishing vessels to proceed between destinations, without the need to reroute to avoid a specific area even if they are in possession of reef fish. For these MPAs, transit means non-stop progression through the area and fishing gear appropriately stowed is defined in 50 CFR 622.34a4i through iv. This proposed rule would prohibit the possession of Gulf reef fish in the MPAs even when transiting unless the vessel was issued a valid Federal commercial permit for Gulf reef fish, which requires an operating satellite-based VMS. As with the current regulation, all fishing gear would need to be appropriately stowed.
Classification Pursuant to section 304b1A of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the NMFS
Assistant Administrator has determined that this proposed rule is consistent with the framework amendment, the FMP, the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and other applicable laws, subject to further consideration after public comment.
This proposed rule has been determined to be not significant for purposes of Executive Order 12866.
The Chief Counsel for Regulation of the Department of Commerce 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 basis for this certification is as follows. A copy of the full analysis is available from NMFS see ADDRESSES.
A description of the action, why it is being considered, and the objectives of and legal basis for this action are contained at the beginning of this SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section and in the SUMMARY section of the preamble.
The Magnuson-Stevens Act provides the statutory basis for this proposed rule. No duplicative, overlapping, or conflicting Federal rules have been identified. In addition, no new reporting or recordkeeping compliance requirements are introduced in this proposed rule.
The proposed rule concerns recreational and commercial fishing
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within the Madison-Swanson and Steamboat Lumps MPAs within the Gulf exclusive economic zone EEZ.
Currently, the possession of Gulf reef fish in these MPAs is generally prohibited, and surface trolling is the only allowable fishing activity during May through October. As stated previously, this proposed rule does not affect Atlantic HMS. Therefore, the proposed rule directly affects both anglers recreational fishers and commercial fishing businesses that harvest non-reef fish species, such as king mackerel, Spanish mackerel, or cobia within the MPAs by surface trolling and both anglers, and charter vessels and headboats for-hire fishing businesses that operate vessels that transit through the MPAs with reef fish onboard. Because of the proximity of the MPAs to the west coast of Florida, NMFS expects that any entity that may surface troll for CMP species within the MPAs or operate a vessel that transits through the MPAs with reef fish onboard lands its catch in Florida.
Anglers are not considered small entities as that term is defined in 5
U.S.C. 6016, whether fishing from forhire fishing, private, or leased vessels.
Therefore, neither estimates of the number of anglers, nor the impacts on them are required or provided in this analysis.
Any business that operates a commercial fishing vessel that harvests either king mackerel or Spanish mackerel in the Gulf EEZ must have a valid Federal permit for these Gulf CMP
species issued to that vessel. From 2014
through 2018, an annual average of 2,081 vessels had Federal commercial permits for one or both of those CMP
species, and 77 3.7 percent of those permitted vessels used surface trolling to harvest the CMP species and land their catch in Florida. An estimated 74
businesses operate the 77 vessels, and all of these businesses are expected to operate primarily in the commercial fishing industry NAICS code 11411.
No Federal permit is required for the commercial harvest and sale of Gulf cobia. However, from 2014 through 2018, an annual average of 5 of the above 77 commercial fishing vessels reported harvesting Gulf cobia by surface trolling.
For Regulatory Flexibility Act purposes, NMFS has 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 involved in commercial fishing NAICS
11411 is classified as a small business if it is independently owned and operated, is not dominant in its field of
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operation including its affiliates, and its combined annual receipts are not in excess of $11 million for all of its affiliated operations worldwide. The average annual revenue per vessel for the 77 vessels that harvest CMP species by surface trolling and land those fish in Florida is $14,707 2018 dollars.
Therefore, the 74 commercial fishing businesses that operate the 77 vessels are classified as small.
Any business that operates a for-hire fishing vessel that has reef fish onboard in the Gulf EEZ must have a valid Federal charter vessel/headboat permit for Gulf reef fish. As of June 23, 2020, there were 770 such permits held by entities residing in Florida. That figure is also consistent with the average annual number of Federal charter vessel/headboat permits for Gulf reef fish held by entities residing in Florida from 2014 through 2018. The proposed rule would not directly affect for-hire vessels with both valid Federal charter vessel/headboat permits and commercial permits for Gulf reef fish, and approximately 24 percent 183 of the for-hire vessels have both permits.
Therefore, 587 vessels with a Federal charter vessel/headboat permit for Gulf reef fish could be directly affected by the proposed rule. An estimated 411
businesses operate these 587 vessels.
A business in the for-hire fishing industry NAICS code 487210 is a small business if it is independently owned and operated, is not dominant in its field of operation including its affiliates and its combined annual receipts that are no more than $8.0
million for all of its affiliated operations worldwide. The average charter vessel operating in the Gulf with a Federal reef fish permit is estimated to receive approximately $88,095 2018 dollars in gross revenue annually. The average headboat operating in the Gulf with a Federal reef fish permit is estimated to receive approximately $267,358 2018
dollars in gross revenue annually. From that, NMFS concludes that the above 411 for-hire fishing businesses are classified as small.
Currently, from May through October, surface trolling is allowed within the MPAs. The proposed rule would prohibit surface trolling within the MPAs year-round.
Average annual dockside revenue from CMP species landed by federally permitted commercial vessels from May through October of 2014 through 2018
accounted for 20 percent $2,948 in 2018 dollars of the annual dockside revenue from all landings by the average federally permitted vessel that used surface trolling and landed CMP species in Florida. If all May through October
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