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Statement of Need: The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA), as amended by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act of 2006 (MSRA) (Pub. L. 109-479), requires that "any fishery management plan which is prepared by any [Fishery Management] Council, or by the Secretary [of Commerce], with respect to any fishery, shall-establish a mechanism for specifying annual catch limits in the plan (including a multiyear plan), implementing regulations, or annual specifications, at a level such that overfishing does not occur in the fishery, including measures to ensure accountability" (see MSA section 303(a)(15)). NMFS, on behalf of the Secretary, has decided to revise the National Standard 1 (NS1) guidelines to include guidance about how to use annual catch limits (ACLs) and accountability measures (AMs) to end and prevent overfishing. NMFS believes that revisions to the NS1 guidelines will assist the Councils and the Secretary in addressing new MSA requirements, ensure greater consistency in approaches to ending overfishing and rebuilding stocks, increase efficiency in reviewing actions and tracking annual management performance, and improve communication between NMFS and the Councils.

Summary of the Legal Basis: Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

Alternatives: No Action. Do not revise the current NS1 guidelines to include guidance for ACLs and AMs. Councils are statutorily required to implement ACLs and AMs. Without guidelines, Councils may develop and submit fishery management plan (FMP) amendments that the Secretary may determine to be inadequate. Secretarial disapproval of an FMP amendment would be followed by a request that the Council modify and resubmit their amendment, making it unlikely that the ACLs and AMs can be implemented by the first statutory deadline of 2010, for stocks undergoing overfishing, and 2011, for all other stocks. Preferred Action. Revise the current NS1 guidelines to include guidance for ACLs and AMs. Councils and the Secretary are more likely to prepare adequate ACLs and AMs for ending and preventing overfishing, if NMFS provides guidance through the NS1 guidelines, than by relying on statutory language alone. Secretarial approval of FMP amendments that contain adequate ACLs and AMs for ending overfishing is more likely if NMFS provides new guidance on NS1, ACLs and AMs. Also, if NMFS provides such guidance, it is more likely that FMPs will have ACLs and AMs in place for stocks undergoing overfishing by the first statutory deadline of 2010, and the second statutory deadline of 2011, for all other stocks.

Anticipated Costs and Benefits: There are no economic, social or environmental impacts of the proposed guideline revisions themselves. When the Councils and/or the Secretary revise FMPs per the guidelines, they will develop specific management actions and evaluate the economic, social, and environmental impacts of those measures at that time.

Risks: The National Marine Fisheries Service intends to revise the NS1 guidelines to combine requirements for ACLs and AMs, and new rebuilding plan provisions with current NS1 guidelines that cover topics such as maximum sustainable yield, optimum yield, and status determination criteria for overfishing and overfished definitions. NMFS believes that by combining new guidance about how to use ACLs and AMs to end or prevent overfishing, along with the various principles already contained in the MSA such as overfishing, rebuilding overfished stocks, and achieving optimum yield, the Councils and stakeholders of fisheries would experience less confusion than they would in the absence of new guidelines.