Fisheries Off West Coast States; Coastal Pelagic Species Fisheries; Annual Specifications

NMFS issues this final rule to implement an annual catch limit (ACL), harvest guideline (HG), annual catch target (ACT), and associated annual reference points for Pacific sardine in the U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off the Pacific coast for a one-time interim harvest period of January 1, 2014, through June 30, 2014, and to set annual harvest levels, such as overfishing limit (OFL), acceptable biological catch (ABC), annual catch limit (ACL), for Pacific sardine for the whole calendar year 2014. These specifications were determined according to the Coastal Pelagic Species (CPS) Fishery Management Plan (FMP), and reflect the recent 6-month change to the starting date of the annual Pacific sardine fishery from January 1 to July 1. The 2014 ACT or maximum directed HG is 19,846 (mt). Based on the seasonal allocation framework in the FMP, this equates to a first period (January 1 to June 30) allocation of 6,946 mt (35% of ACT). This rule also establishes an adjusted directed non-tribal harvest allocation for this period of 5,446 mt. This value was reduced from the total first period allocation by 1000 mt for potential harvest by the Quinault Indian Nation as well as 500 mt to be used as an incidental set aside for other non-tribal commercial fisheries if the 5,446 mt limit is reached and directed fishing for sardine is closed. This rule is intended to conserve and manage the Pacific sardine stock off the U.S. West Coast.