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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 33 / Monday, February 22, 2021 / Proposed Rules
compared to the previous assessment.
Additionally, according to the recent stock assessment, the stock is overfished, but not subject to overfishing. The previous assessment indicated the stock was fished at sustainable levels. NMFS adopted the findings of the assessment and so notified the Council in February 2020.
ACLs designed to rebuild will be part of the Councils rebuilding plan.
The fishing year for bottomfish in Guam and the CNMI begins January 1
and ends December 31. NMFS would count bottomfish catches from both territorial waters and the Exclusive Economic Zone toward the ACL and ACT. Because real-time catch data are not currently available for this fishery, the Council and NMFS consider postseason AMs only. Specifically, for Guam, if NMFS and the Council determine that the average catch from the most recent three-year period exceeds the ACL, NMFS would reduce the ACL in the subsequent fishing years by the amount of the overage. For the CNMI, if NMFS and the Council determine that the average catch from the most recent three-year period exceeds the ACL, NMFS would reduce the ACL and ACT in the subsequent fishing year by the amount of the overage. If the average catch from the most recent three-year period exceeds the ACT, but is below the ACL, NMFS
would not apply a post-season AM.
The bottomfish fisheries in Guam and the CNMI share many similarities in terms of gear, fishing methods, and species targeted. Many people who participate in the bottomfish fishery are either subsistence or part-time commercial fishermen, and they generally do not sell all of their catch.
The majority of fishermen operate vessels less than 25 ft long, but a few longer vessels also participate in the fishery. Commercial vessels tend to concentrate effort on deepwater bottomfish at offshore banks, but they face higher operating costs than the shallow-water fishery operating closer to shore. In addition to sales to seafood dealers, some bottomfish sales are within community social networks.
In Guam, the number of vessels landing BMUS increased from 29
vessels in 2012 to 52 vessels in 2019.
Annual BMUS catch is variable, but has been trending upwards over the past eight years, ranging from a low of 10,882
lb 4,936 kg in 2015 to a high of 37,701
lb 17,101 kg in 2019. The annual catch
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for three out of the last eight years has exceeded the proposed ACL, and the average annual catch from 2017 to 2019
was 26,906 lb 12,204 kg, which is 99.6
percent of the proposed ACL. Data on the amount sold and revenue in 2019
are not available due to confidentiality requirements. Applying the 2018
percent sold 11 percent and price per pound $5.05 to the 2019 estimated catch, yields a projection that 4,147 lb 1,881 kg was sold in 2019 with an estimated revenue of $20,942.
In the CNMI, the number of vessels landing BMUS has fluctuated from a high of 51 vessels in 2005 to a low of two vessels in 2018. In 2019, eight vessels landed BMUS. The average annual catch of BMUS from 2017 to 2019 was 23,223 lb 10,534 kg. In 2019, the fishery landed 21,012 lb 9,531 kg, which is 27 percent of the ACL and 30
percent of the ACT, respectively, so the fishery is unlikely to reach the ACL or ACT in future years. We estimate that the 2019 revenue for this fishery was $35,840.
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 engaged in commercial fishing 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 its combined annual receipts are not in excess of $11 million for all of its affiliated operations worldwide. Based on available information, NMFS has determined that all vessels engaging in the Guam and CNMI commercial and non-commercial bottomfish fisheries NAICS Code: 114111 are small entities. That is, they are engaged in the business of finfish harvesting, independently owned or operated, not dominant in their field of operation, and have annual gross receipts not in excess of $11 million. Therefore, there would be no disproportionate economic impacts between large and small entities. Furthermore, NMFS has determined that there would be no disproportionate economic impacts among the universe of vessels based on gear, home port, or vessel length.
Even though this proposed action would apply to a substantial number of vessels, this action is not expected to result in significant adverse economic impact to individual vessels. While the fisheries could reach or exceed the ACL

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or ACT, the catch data are not available until six months after the local resource agencies have collected the data.
Therefore, the proposed rule would not subject the fisheries to an in-season AM, such as a fishery closure and, without an in-season AM, fishing activity is not likely to be constrained.
The proposed action does not duplicate, overlap or conflict with other Federal rules and is not expected to have significant impact on small entities as discussed above, organizations or government jurisdictions. The proposed action also will not place a substantial number of small entities at a significant competitive disadvantage to large entities. For the reasons above, NMFS
does not expect the proposed action to have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.
As such, an initial regulatory flexibility analysis is not required and none has been prepared.
This proposed rule has been determined to be not significant for purposes of Executive Order 12866.
This proposed rule contains no information collection requirements under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 665
Accountability measures, Annual catch limits, Bottomfish, Fisheries, Fishing, Guam, Mariana Archipelago, Northern Mariana Islands, Pacific Islands.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: February 12, 2021.
Samuel D. Rauch III, Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine Fisheries Service.

For the reasons set out in the preamble, NMFS proposes to amend 50
CFR part 665 as follows:
PART 665FISHERIES IN THE
WESTERN PACIFIC
1. The authority citation for 50 CFR
part 665 continues to read as follows:

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

2. Add 665.408 to read as follows:

665.408 Annual Catch Limits ACL and Annual Catch Targets ACT.

a In accordance with 665.4, the ACL and ACT for Guam and CNMI
bottomfish MUS fisheries for each fishing year are as follows:

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