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Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Allocating Gulf of Alaska Fishery Resources
Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.
[Federal Register: May 15, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 93)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 27984-27985]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr15my06-17]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 679
[I.D. 050306E]
RIN 0648-AT71
Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Allocating
Gulf of Alaska Fishery Resources
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Availability of fishery management plan amendment; request for
comments.
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SUMMARY: NMFS manages Gulf of Alaska (GOA) groundfish fisheries through
the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and
Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). Congress granted NMFS specific
regulatory authority to manage Central GOA rockfish fisheries in the
Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2004. Congress provided additional
guidance to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) in
the development of a program to allocate harvesting privileges to
fishermen and permit a defined group of processors to form associations
with these harvesters for the exclusive use of specific rockfish and
other groundfish in the Central GOA.
The Council adopted Amendment 68 in June 2005. Amendment 68 to the
Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska (FMP)
would establish a program to allocate Central GOA groundfish resources
among harvesters and processors (Program). Amendment 68 would modify
the FMP to increase resource conservation, improve economic efficiency,
and improve safety in the Central GOA rockfish fisheries and other
fisheries that are subject to the Program. This action is intended to
promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the FMP,
and other applicable laws.
DATES: Comments on the amendment must be received on or before July 14,
2006.
ADDRESSES: Send comments to Sue Salveson, Assistant Regional
Administrator, Sustainable Fisheries Division, Alaska Region, NMFS,
Attn: Ellen Walsh. Comments may be submitted by:
? Mail: P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802.
? Hand Delivery to the Federal Building: 709 West 9th
Street, Room 420A, Juneau, AK.
? Facsimile: 907-586-7557.
? E-mail: 0648-AT71-GOA68-NOA@noaa.gov. Include in the
subject line of the e-mail the following document identifier: ``Central
GOA Rockfish RIN 0648-AT71.'' E-mail comments, with or without
attachments, are limited to 5 megabytes.
? Webform at the Federal eRulemaking Portal:
http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions at that
site for submitting comments.
Copies of Amendment 68 and the Environmental Assessment/Regulatory
Impact Review/Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (EA/RIR/IRFA) for
this action may be obtained from the NMFS Alaska Region at the address
above or from the Alaska Region website at
http://www.fakr.noaa.gov/sustainablefisheries.htm.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Glenn Merrill, 907-586-7228 or
glenn.merrill@noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires that each
regional fishery management council submit any FMP amendment it
prepares to NMFS for review and approval, disapproval, or partial
approval by the Secretary. The Magnuson-Stevens Act also requires that
NMFS, upon receiving an FMP amendment, immediately publish a notice in
the Federal Register announcing that the amendment is available for
public review and comment.
The Council submitted Amendment 68 to the FMP for Secretarial
review, which would implement the Program designed to meet the
requirements of Section 802 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of
2004 (Public Law 108-199). Section 802 states:
SEC. 802. GULF OF ALASKA ROCKFISH DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM.
The Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the North
Pacific Fishery Management Council, shall establish a pilot program
that recognizes the historic participation of fishing vessels (1996
to 2002, best 5 of 7 years) and historic participation of fish
processors (1996 to 2000, best 4 of 5 years) for pacific ocean
perch, northern rockfish, and pelagic shelf rockfish harvested in
Central Gulf of Alaska. Such a pilot program shall (1) provide for a
set-aside of up to 5 percent for the total allowable catch of such
fisheries for catcher vessels not eligible to participate in the
pilot program, which shall be delivered to shore-based fish
processors not eligible to participate in the pilot program; (2)
establish catch limits for non rockfish species and non-target
rockfish species currently harvested with pacific
[[Page 27985]]
ocean perch, northern rockfish, and pelagic shelf rockfish, which
shall be based on historical harvesting of such bycatch species. The
pilot program will sunset when a Gulf of Alaska Groundfish
comprehensive rationalization plan is authorized by the Council and
implemented by the Secretary, or 2 years from date of
implementation, whichever is earlier.
The Council considered congressional guidance in the development of
the Program, particularly in the selection of specific years on which
to base participation and for the ``recognition'' of processor
participation. Additionally, Section 802 provides NMFS with the
authority to regulate processors under this Program. NMFS does not have
specific authority under the Magnuson-Stevens Act to regulate on-shore
processing activities.
Amendment 68 would amend the FMP to allow the implementation the
Program consistent with Section 802. If approved, the proposed Program
would be effective through December 31, 2008. Broadly, the Program
would provide exclusive harvesting and processing privileges for a
specific set of rockfish species and associated species harvested
incidentally to those rockfish in the Central GOA, an area from
147[deg] W. long. to 159[deg] W. long. The granting of exclusive
harvesting and processing privileges is commonly called
rationalization. The rockfish species rationalized under the Program
are: northern rockfish, Pacific Ocean perch (POP), and pelagic shelf
rockfish. These rockfish species are called the primary species. The
incidentally harvested groundfish taken in the primary rockfish
fisheries and which also are rationalized under the Program are called
the secondary species. The secondary species are: Pacific cod, rougheye
rockfish, shortraker rockfish, and sablefish that are harvested by
vessels using trawl gear. In addition to these secondary species, the
Program would allocate a portion of the halibut bycatch mortality limit
annually specified for the GOA trawl fisheries to Program participants
based on their historic mortality rates in the primary species
fisheries. This allocation of bycatch mortality could be used by
Program participants during harvest activities in the fisheries
rationalized under the Program.
Basic provisions of the Program implemented under Amendment 68 would:
(1) Allocate a catch history of primary rockfish species, secondary
species, and halibut bycatch mortality to harvesters that use trawl
gear in the Central GOA. To receive this catch history allocation, a
harvester must have harvested primary rockfish species during a
specific time period and meet other eligibility requirements. On an
annual basis, this catch history allocation would yield a specific
harvest amount of primary and secondary species and halibut bycatch
mortality that could be exclusively caught by a group of harvesters if
they are part of a harvesting cooperative. Cumulatively, these amounts,
when allocated to a cooperative, are referred to as a cooperative
fishing quota (CFQ);
(2) Establish eligibility criteria for processors to have an
exclusive privilege to receive and process primary rockfish and
secondary species allocated to harvesters in the Program;
(3) Allow a harvester that receives a catch history allocation to
form a cooperative with other harvesters and a processor on an annual
basis. This cooperative would be allocated an amount of fish that could
be harvested in that year based on the sum of the catch history
allocation held by all of the participants in the cooperative. This
amount of fish could only be harvested by that cooperative.
Cooperatives could only form under specific conditions. Harvesters that
catch and process (catcher/processor) their catch at sea could form
cooperatives with each other. Harvesters that deliver their catch
onshore could only form a cooperative in association with the processor
to whom they have historically delivered most of their catch;
(4) Allow cooperatives to transfer their CFQ of fish to and from
other cooperatives.
(5) Provide an opportunity for harvesters not in a cooperative to
fish in a limited access fishery. All harvesters in the limited access
fishery compete with all other harvesters in the fishery to catch the
total amount of fish assigned to the limited access fishery;
(6) Establish an entry level fishery for Central GOA rockfish for
harvesters and processors not eligible to receive a catch history
allocation under this Program;
(7) Allow catcher/processor harvesters to opt-out of the Program,
with certain limitations;
(8) Limit the ability of processors to process catch outside of the
communities in which they have traditionally processed Central GOA
rockfish and associated secondary species;
(9) Establish catch limits, commonly called ``sideboards,'' that
limit the ability of participants eligible for this Program to harvest
fish in other fisheries. Sideboard provisions are intended to prevent
harvesters in the Program from using their economic advantage to out
compete participants in other fisheries. Sideboard harvest limits are
established for groundfish outside of the Central GOA and for the
amount of GOA halibut bycatch mortality annually specified for the GOA
flatfish fisheries; and
(10) Establish monitoring and enforcement provisions to ensure that
harvesters maintain catches within their annual allocations and do not
exceed sideboard limits.
By creating an exclusive harvest privilege, the Program would
provide greater security to harvesters in cooperatives. Although
participants in the limited access fishery, opt-out fishery, and entry
level fishery would not receive a guaranteed annual catch amount, most
harvesters likely would participate in a cooperative that receives this
allocation. A CFQ allocation would increase the focus on quality,
promote a slower paced fishery, enhance safety by providing a vessel
operator more flexibility to choose when to fish and therefore avoid
poor weather, and provide greater stability for processors by spreading
out production over a greater period of time.
Public comments are being solicited on proposed Amendment 68
through the end of the comment period (see DATES). NMFS intends to
publish a proposed rule that would implement Amendment 68 in the
Federal Register for public comment, following NMFS' evaluation under
the Magnuson-Stevens Act procedures. Public comments on the proposed
rule must be received by the end of the comment period on Amendment 68
to be considered in the approval/disapproval decision on Amendment 68.
All comments received by the end of the comment period on Amendment 68,
whether specifically directed to the FMP amendment or the proposed
rule, will be considered in the approval/disapproval decision. Comments
received after that date will not be considered in the approval/
disapproval decision on the amendments. To be considered, comments must
be received not just postmarked or otherwise transmitted by the close
of business on the last day of the comment period (see DATES).
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 773 et seq., 1801 et seq., 3631 et seq.;
and Pub. L. 108-199, 118 Stat. 110.
Dated: May 9, 2006.
Alan D. Risenhoover,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E6-7352 Filed 5-12-06; 8:45 am]
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