Details:

Corporate Authors:
United States. National Marine Fisheries Service. ; Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (U.S.) ; Pacific Fishery Management Council (U.S.)
United States. National Marine Fisheries Service. ; Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (U.S.) ; Pacific Fishery Management Council (U.S.) Less -
NOAA Program & Office:
NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service) ; PIFSC (Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center) ; NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act)
NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service) ; PIFSC (Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center) ; NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) Less -
Description:
The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) proposes to implement an annual catch limit (ACL), an annual catch target (ACT), and accountability measures (AM) for Kona crab, Ranina ranina, in the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) around the main Hawaiian Islands (MHI), as recommended by the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council). The ACL, ACT, and AM would apply to Kona crab catches for fishing years 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023.

The Council developed the proposed ACL, ACT, and AM for Kona crab in accordance with requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) and with the approved processes specified in the Fishery Ecosystem Plan for the Hawaiian Archipelago (FEP). At its June 2019 meeting, the Council recommended that NMFS implement an ACL of 30,802 lb and an ACT of 25,491 lb of Kona crab in each fishing year from 2020 through 2023. The fishing year for Kona crab is the calendar year. The fishery has landed an annual average of 3,316 lb of Kona crab in the past three years.

The proposed action also includes two AM for this fishery, an in-season AM and a post-season AM. As a first AM, if an ACT is projected to be reached in any fishing year, NMFS would implement an in-season closure of the commercial and non-commercial fisheries for MHI Kona crab in Federal waters. NMFS and the Council are able to monitor commercial catches of Kona crab on a monthly basis in both State and Federal waters using data collected by the State of Hawaii, and will use these data to monitor catch relative to the ACL and ACT. As a second AM, in the event that the fishery does not close in time and the catch exceeds the ACL, NMFS would reduce the ACL in the next fishing year by the amount of the overage and would make an adjustment to the ACT as well. In the event that the catch exceeds the ACT but is below the ACL, a post-season correction would not be applied. The proposed action would not require a change to monitoring or fishery data collection.

Prior to implementing a reduced ACL and ACT, the Council and its Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) would review fishery performance and other factors, and make a recommendation to NMFS. NMFS would conduct additional environmental analyses, if necessary, and the public would have the opportunity to provide input and comment on the ACL and ACT specification at that time. Also, under National Standard 1 (NS1) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, if an ACL is exceeded more than once in a four-year period, the Council is required to re-evaluate the ACL process, and adjust the system, as necessary, to improve its performance and effectiveness.

NMFS and the Council prepared this EA to evaluate the potential environmental impacts of the proposed ACL, ACT, and AMs. The EA includes a description of the information and methods used by the Council to develop the proposed management measures, and analyzes a range of alternatives. The EA describes the affected environment and the potential effects of the alternatives on target and non-target stocks, protected species, and other factors. Analyses described in the EA indicate that none of the alternatives are likely to change the catch, effort, participation or operation of the fishery and the fishery is expected to continue as it has in recent years under the proposed alternatives.

Management of Kona crab under the proposed ACL, ACT, and AMs are intended to prevent overfishing and provide for continued sustainable harvest of the Kona crab resource. The proposed action would not require a change to monitoring or fishery data collection.

NMFS provided the public with a review and comment period on the draft EA. We received comments from four individuals that generally supported the action. Copies of this EA and final rule are found under RIN 0648-BJ84 at www.regulations.gov, or by contacting the responsible official or Council at the above addresses.


Keywords:
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Environmental Impact Analysis Fisheries Management Raninidae Kona Crab United States. National Environmental Policy Act Of 1969
Document Type:
Environmental Assessment
Place as Subject:
Hawaii
Rights Information:
Public Domain
Compliance:
Submitted
Main Document Checksum:
[+]
urn:sha256:c51d8e6af89452e179e5ae77c28f48458ae6bf0ac5c6a56a90f04bbf17e1be4d
Download URL:
https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/27501/noaa_27501_DS1.pdf
File Type:

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