[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 92 (Friday, May 13, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-11729]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: May 13, 1994]


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 DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 301

[Docket No. 940425-4125; I.D. 041894A]

 

Pacific Halibut Fisheries

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of control date for charterboat entry into the Pacific 
halibut sport fishery.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that any charterboat entering the Pacific 
halibut sport fishery off Washington, Oregon, and California after 
March 10, 1994, may not be assured of future access to the fishery if a 
limited access regime is developed and implemented. The intended effect 
of announcing this control date is to discourage speculative entry into 
the Pacific halibut fisheries in this area while discussions by the 
Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) on access control 
continue.

EFFECTIVE DATE: March 10, 1994.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joe Scordino, 206-526-6140, or 
Lawrence D. Six, 503-326-6352.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Northern Pacific Halibut Act of 1982 
(Halibut Act) at 16 U.S.C. 773c provides that the Secretary of Commerce 
(Secretary) shall have general responsibility to carry out the Halibut 
Convention between the United States and Canada, and that the Secretary 
shall adopt such regulations as may be necessary to carry out the 
purposes and objectives of the Convention and the Halibut Act. The 
Halibut Act at 16 U.S.C. 773c(c) also authorizes the Regional Fishery 
Management Council having authority for the geographic area concerned 
to develop regulations governing the Pacific halibut catch in U.S. 
Convention waters that are in addition to, but not in conflict with, 
regulations of the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC). 
Pursuant to this authority, the Council has recommended allocations 
between user groups and restrictions on catch and fishing effort in the 
Pacific halibut fishery off Washington, Oregon, and California (IPHC 
statistical Area 2A).
    Pacific halibut in Area 2A are harvested in treaty Indian fisheries 
and in non-Indian commercial and sport fisheries. Because the total 
harvest in any one of these three fisheries can exceed the total 
allowable catch (TAC) for Area 2A, Catch Sharing Plans (Plan) that 
allocate the TAC in Area 2A have been implemented by the Secretary each 
year since 1988. The intended effect of each year's Plan is to ensure 
the conservation and management of Pacific halibut stocks by limiting 
the total harvest to a biologically acceptable level while equitably 
distributing the allowable harvest among user groups in Area 2A. 
However, because of decreased TACs in recent years and increased user 
access, additional measures to restrict fishing effort within the non-
Indian commercial and recreational fisheries have been necessary. For 
example, the non-Indian commercial fishery has been limited by the IPHC 
to a single 10-hour opening with vessel trip limits to prevent this 
fishery from exceeding its allocation. Also, sport fisheries in some 
geographic areas have been limited to 1- or 2-day seasons to prevent 
allocations from being exceeded. In order to maintain viable Pacific 
halibut fisheries in Area 2A without exceeding the domestic allocations 
or the conservation goals established by the IPHC, the Council is 
considering development of additional management measures including 
limited access regimes to control fishing effort starting in 1995.
    Access to the Pacific halibut sport fishery currently is not 
limited, although charterboat operators must obtain a fishing license 
from the IPHC. At the March 8-11, 1994, public meeting in Portland, 
Oregon, the Council met to address concerns about the additional 
charterboats entering the sport fishery, additional effort restrictions 
in the sport fisheries and priorities for future participation by 
charterboats in Area 2A Pacific halibut fishery. The control date of 
March 10, 1994, was adopted at this meeting and public notice was 
provided. A charterboat in the Pacific halibut fishery is defined at 50 
CFR 301.2 as follows: ``Charter vessel means a vessel used for hire in 
sport fishing for halibut, but not including a vessel without a hired 
operator''.
    For the non-Indian commercial fisheries, during its November 12-15, 
1991, public meeting in Millbrae, California, the Council adopted 
November 13, 1991, as a control date to be used in determining 
priorities for issuance and shares in a potential individual quota-
based limited access system or other access controls for Pacific coast 
groundfish fisheries, as well as the Area 2A Pacific halibut non-Indian 
commercial fishery. Notice of this control date and its implications 
for the non-Indian commercial fishery for Pacific halibut in Area 2A 
was published in the Federal Register on February 5, 1992 (57 FR 4394). 
At its March public meeting in Oregon, the Council reaffirmed the 
November 13, 1991, control date for future access to the non-Indian 
commercial halibut fishery if a limited access regime is developed and 
implemented.
    This announcement of a control date does not commit the Council or 
the Secretary to any particular management regime or priority criteria 
for access to the halibut fisheries. As the Council further develops a 
halibut limited access program, fishing activity in the halibut fishery 
in Area 2A, prior to the control date, may be considered in determining 
eligibility and allocating harvest shares under a future access 
limitation program. Fishermen are not necessarily guaranteed issuance 
of permits or access, regardless of their activity prior to the control 
dates.
    The Council may recommend additional criteria for qualifying 
fishermen or vessels as participants in the halibut fishery. Some 
additional criteria that were applied to the groundfish fishery in 
Amendment 6 to the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan 
were minimum amounts landed and minimum numbers of landings. The 
Council also may choose to take no further action to control entry or 
access to the fisheries. This announcement does not prevent the 
development or implementation of other eligibility criteria or restrict 
the type of management regime selected for limited access.

    Authority: 5 UST 5; TIAS 2900; 16 U.S.C. 773-773(k).

    Dated: May 6, 1994.
Charles Karnella,
Acting Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 94-11729 Filed 5-12-94; 8:45 am]
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