Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone off Alaska; Cook Inlet; Final 2024 Harvest Specifications for Salmon

<RULE> DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE <SUBAGY>National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration</SUBAGY> <CFR>50 CFR Part 679</CFR> <DEPDOC>[Docket No. 240612-0158; RTID 0648-XD877]</DEPDOC> <SUBJECT>Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone off Alaska; Cook Inlet; Final 2024 Harvest Specifications for Salmon</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce. <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Final rule; harvest specifications. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> NMFS announces the final 2024 harvest specifications for the salmon fishery of the Cook Inlet exclusive economic zone (EEZ) Area. This action is necessary to establish harvest limits for salmon during the 2024 fishing year and to accomplish the goals and objectives of the Fishery Management Plan for Salmon Fisheries in the EEZ off Alaska (Salmon FMP). The intended effect of this action is to conserve and manage the salmon resources in Cook Inlet EEZ Area in accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> Harvest specifications and closures are effective at 0700 hours, Alaska local time (A.l.t.), June 17, 2024, until the effective date of the final 2025 harvest specifications for the Cook Inlet EEZ Area. </EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">ADDRESSES:</HD> A plain language summary of this rule is available at <E T="03">https://www.regulations.gov/docket/NOAA-NMFS-2024-0028.</E> Electronic copies of the Environmental Assessment (EA)/Regulatory Impact Review/Social Impact Review (collectively, the Analysis) for amendment 16 to the Salmon FMP are available from <E T="03">https://www.regulations.gov</E> or from the NMFS Alaska Region website at <E T="03">https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/amendment-16-fmp-salmon-fisheries-alaska.</E> The final 2024 Stock Assessment and Fishery Evaluation (SAFE) report for Cook Inlet salmon is available on the Alaska Region website at <E T="03">https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/alaska/population-assessments/alaska-stock-assessments.</E> <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> Adam Zaleski, 907-586-7228, <E T="03">adam.zaleski@noaa.gov.</E> </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Background</HD> NMFS prepared the Salmon FMP under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 <E T="03">et seq.</E> ). Regulations governing U.S. fisheries and implementing the Salmon FMP appear at 50 CFR parts 600 and 679. Section 679.118(b)(2) requires that NMFS consider public comment on the proposed harvest specifications and publish the final harvest specifications in the <E T="04">Federal Register</E> . The proposed 2024 harvest specifications for the Cook Inlet EEZ Area were published in the <E T="04">Federal Register</E> on April 12, 2024 (89 FR 25857). Comments were invited and accepted through May 13, 2024. NMFS received 21 letters and 19 distinct comments during the public comment period for the proposed 2024 Cook Inlet EEZ Area harvest specifications. NMFS responses are addressed in the Response to Comments section below. After considering public comments submitted for the proposed rule (89 FR 25857, April 12, 2024), NMFS is implementing the final 2024 harvest specifications for the salmon fishery of the Cook Inlet EEZ Area consistent with the Scientific and Statistical Committee's (SSC) fishing level recommendations and that account for the significant management uncertainty associated with this new fishery. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Final 2024 Overfishing Levels (OFL), Acceptable Biological Catch (ABC), and Total Allowable Catch (TAC) Specifications</HD> The final 2024 SAFE report contains a review of the latest scientific analyses and estimates of biological parameters for five salmon species, and because harvest specifications must be in place before the fishery begins, the SAFE report relies on forecasts of the coming year's salmon runs. The 2024 forecasted returns, and, consequently, the OFLs, ABCs, and TACs were developed by NMFS and reviewed by the SSC. Status determination criteria (SDC) and harvest specifications are calculated in terms of potential yield for the Cook Inlet EEZ Area. The potential yield is the total forecasted run size minus the number of salmon required to achieve spawning escapement targets and the estimated mortality from other sources including in other fisheries. For the final 2024 SAFE report, NMFS developed suitable alternative forecasts based on historical data for some stocks and used fishery catch in prior years for other stocks and stock complexes to inform the 2024 harvest specifications. Amendment 16 to the Salmon FMP specifies the tiers used to calculate OFLs and ABCs. The tiers applicable to a particular stock or stock complex are determined by the level of reliable information available. This information is categorized into a successive series of three tiers to define OFLs and ABCs, with Tier 1 representing the highest level of information quality available and Tier 3 representing the lowest level of information quality available. NMFS used this tier structure to calculate OFLs and ABCs for each salmon stock or stock complex (a stock complex is an aggregate of multiple stocks of a species). The SSC, Advisory Panel (AP), and North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) reviewed NMFS's preliminary 2024 SAFE report for the Cook Inlet EEZ Area salmon fishery in February 2024. From these data and analyses, the SSC recommended an OFL and ABC for each salmon stock and stock complex. The SSC further recommended changing the buffers that reduce ABC from the OFL for aggregate Chinook, aggregate pink, and aggregate chum salmon to be sufficiently precautionary. For each stock and stock complex, the SSC made recommendations regarding OFLs and ABCs and the AP recommended TACs, but after NMFS's consultation with the Council, the Council took no action to recommend Cook Inlet EEZ Area salmon harvest specifications. NMFS is implementing the OFLs and ABCs recommended by the SSC and TACs consistent with the SSC's fishing level recommendations and that account for the significant management uncertainty associated with this new fishery. In making its motion at the February Council meeting, NMFS discussed the sources of scientific and management uncertainty in detail. Following the February SSC and Council meeting, NMFS updated the 2024 SAFE report to include SSC recommendations (see <E T="02">ADDRESSES</E> ). The final specifications are based on the final 2024 SAFE report, which represents the best scientific information available on the biological condition of salmon stocks in Cook Inlet and other social and economic considerations. The recommended specifications of OFL, ABC, and TAC are consistent with the harvest strategy outlined in the Salmon FMP, the biological condition of salmon as described in the final 2024 SAFE, SSC recommendations, and with National Standard 1. ABC is less than or equal to the OFL for each stock and stock complex. TACs are established for species rather than stocks or stock complexes because it is not possible to differentiate among stocks of the same species through catch accounting during the fishing season. TACs for each species are set less than the aggregate ABC for each component stock and stock complex, and these TACs account for the assumed contribution of each stock or stock complex to total catch to ensure ABC is not exceeded for any stock and stock complex. NMFS is publishing the final 2024 harvest specifications after: (1) considering comments received within the comment period (see <E T="02">DATES</E> ); (2) considering information presented in the Analysis (see <E T="02">ADDRESSES</E> ); and (3) considering information presented in the final 2024 SAFE report prepared for the 2024 Cook Inlet EEZ Area salmon fisheries (see 50 CFR 679.118(b)(2)). The final 2024 OFLs, ABCs, and TACs are based on the best scientific information available. The SAFE report was subject to peer review by the SSC, which recommended ABCs in table 1, as is consistent with §§ 600.310(f)(3) and 600.315(c)-(d). The TACs are adjusted to account for other relevant biological and social and economic considerations presented in the resource assessment documents ( <E T="03">i.e.,</E> the 2024 SAFE report) (see 50 CFR 679.118(a)(2)), including to account for management uncertainty for this new fishery, the estimated contribution of each stock or stock complex to total catch of a species, and to prevent catch in the Cook Inlet EEZ Area from exceeding the ABC for any stock or stock complex. <GPOTABLE COLS="4" OPTS="L2,i1" CDEF="s50,12,12,12"> <TTITLE>Table 1—Final 2024 Cook Inlet EEZ Area Salmon OFLs, ABCs, and TACs in Numbers of Fish</TTITLE> <CHED H="1"> Stock  <SU>1</SU> </CHED> <CHED H="1">OFL</CHED> <CHED H="1">ABC</CHED> <CHED H="1">TAC</CHED> <ENT I="01">Kenai River Late-Run sockeye salmon</ENT> <ENT>902,000</ENT> <ENT>431,100</ENT> <ENT>492,100</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Kasilof River sockeye salmon</ENT> <ENT>541,100</ENT> <ENT>375,500</ENT> <ENT/> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Aggregate other sockeye salmon</ENT> <ENT>887,500</ENT> <ENT>177,500</ENT> <ENT/> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Aggregate Chinook salmon</ENT> <ENT>2,700</ENT> <ENT>270</ENT> <ENT>240</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Aggregate coho salmon</ENT> <ENT>357,700</ENT> <ENT>35,800</ENT> <ENT>25,000</ENT> The TAC for sockeye salmon is combined for Kenai River Late-Run, Kasilof River, and aggregate other sockeye salmon because of the mixed stock fishery. </TNOTE> </GPOTABLE> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Response to Comments</HD> NMFS published its proposed harvest specifications on April 12, 2024 (89 FR 25857) and accepted public ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 81k characters. 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