[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 175 (Monday, September 12, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-22478]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: September 12, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
50 CFR Part 677

[Docket No. 940839-4239; I.D. 081294A]

 

North Pacific Fisheries Research Plan

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

ACTION: Proposed specifications for 1995; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS proposes North Pacific Fisheries Research Plan (Research 
Plan) specifications for calendar year 1995. The specifications would 
be used to calculate fees to be paid by participants in the Gulf of 
Alaska (GOA) groundfish fishery, Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) 
management area groundfish fishery, BSAI area king and Tanner crab 
fisheries, and Pacific halibut fishery in convention waters off Alaska 
(Research Plan fisheries) to fund an observer program to promote 
management, conservation, and scientific understanding of groundfish, 
halibut, and crab resources off Alaska.

DATES: Comments must be received by October 12, 1994.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent to, and additional information can 
be obtained from, Ronald J. Berg, Chief, Fisheries Management Division, 
Alaska Region, National Marine Fisheries Service, P.O. Box 21668, 
Juneau, AK 99802-1668 (Attn: Lori Gravel).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kim S. Rivera, 907-586-7228.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Section 313 of the Magnuson Act, as amended by section 404 of the 
High Seas Driftnet Fisheries Enforcement Act, Public Law 102-582, 
authorizes the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) to 
prepare, in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary), a 
Research Plan for all fisheries under the Council's jurisdiction, 
except salmon fisheries. On September 6, 1994, NMFS published a final 
rule at 59 FR 46126 to implement the Research Plan. This rule requires 
that observers be stationed on certain fishing vessels and at U.S. fish 
processors participating in Research Plan fisheries, including 
extending these requirements to the halibut fishery off Alaska. 
Observers will be deployed for the purpose of collecting data necessary 
for the conservation, management, and scientific understanding of 
fisheries under the Council's authority. The Research Plan also 
establishes a system of fees to pay for the costs of implementing the 
Research Plan, beginning January 1, 1995. The fees are based on the 
exvessel value of retained catch from Research Plan fisheries. 
Additional background and rationale for measures implemented under the 
Research Plan are contained in the preamble of the proposed rule 
published May 6, 1994, and the final rule, and are not repeated here.
    NMFS is publishing these proposed specifications prior to the 
effective date of the final rule implementing the Research Plan. This 
is necessary because of the requirement for public comment on proposed 
specifications for the fee collection program, and because the 
specifications must be in place before the calendar year for which they 
apply. It also allows affected members of the industry to be notified 
and for the fee collection systems to be put in place.

Annual Research Plan Specifications

    Section 677.11 of the Research Plan regulations requires NMFS, 
after consulting with the Council, and, in the case of observer 
coverage levels in the crab fisheries, the State of Alaska, to publish 
certain proposed specifications for the upcoming calendar year in the 
Federal Register and to invite public comments. These proposed 
specifications include standard exvessel prices, total exvessel value, 
fee percentage, levels of observer coverage for Research Plan 
fisheries, and embarkment/disembarkment ports for observers.
    NMFS prepared a report, ``Establishing the Fee Percentage and 
Standard Ex-vessel Prices for 1995,'' for the Council's consideration 
at its June 1994 meeting. The report contains details of the derivation 
of these proposed specifications, including sources of information and 
assumptions that are not repeated here. In response to comments 
received from the Council and its advisory committees, the report was 
subsequently revised to provide a greater breakdown of exvessel prices 
and to reflect a revised first-year program. Copies of the revised 
report are available (see ADDRESSES).
    Proposed specifications for calendar year 1995 are as follows:
    1. Standard exvessel prices. Standard exvessel prices are used to 
determine the annual fee percentage for the calendar year and are the 
basis for calculating bimonthly fee assessments. Standard exvessel 
prices for species harvested in Research Plan fisheries are based on:
    a. Exvessel price information by applicable season, area, gear, and 
processing sector for the most recent 12-month period for which data 
are available;
    b. Factors that are expected to change exvessel prices in the 
upcoming calendar year; and
    c. Any other relevant information that may affect expected exvessel 
prices during the calendar year.
    For 1995, proposed standard exvessel prices of species from 
Research Plan fisheries, based on best available information, are as 
follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              Price per 
                                                                pound,  
                          Species                               round   
                                                              weight\1\ 
                                                               ($/lb)   
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Halibut....................................................         1.50
Tanner Crab:                                                            
    C. bairdi..............................................         1.80
    C. opilio..............................................         1.30
King Crab:                                                              
    Bristol Bay red........................................         3.70
    Adak red...............................................         4.07
    Pribilof red...........................................         5.00
    Norton Sound red.......................................         1.75
    St. Matthew blue.......................................         3.01
    Dutch Harbor brown.....................................         2.22
    Adak brown.............................................        2.31 
------------------------------------------------------------------------


                                                                                                                
                                                          Bering Sea/         Gulf of Alaska regulatory areas   
                                                           Aleutians             Western/Central/Eastern        
            Groundfish, by area and gear             -----------------------------------------------------------
                                                        Other     Trawl     Other     Trawl     Other     Trawl 
                                                        gear      gear      gear      gear      gear      gear  
Arrowtooth flounder.................................     0.020     0.020     0.020     0.020     0.020     0.020
Atka mackerel.......................................     0.200     0.200     0.200     0.200     0.200     0.200
Deepwater flatfish..................................  ........  ........     0.154     0.112     0.112     0.090
Demersal rockfish...................................  ........  ........     0.292     0.249     0.473     0.249
Flatfish............................................     0.072     0.072  ........  ........  ........  ........
Flathead sole.......................................  ........  ........     0.151     0.149     0.151     0.146
Greenland turbot....................................     0.300     0.300  ........  ........  ........  ........
Other flatfish......................................     0.030     0.030     0.030     0.030     0.030     0.030
Other red rockfish..................................     0.200     0.200  ........  ........  ........  ........
Other rockfish......................................     0.200     0.200  ........  ........  ........  ........
Pacific ocean perch.................................     0.200     0.200     0.200     0.200     0.200     0.200
Pacific cod.........................................     0.200     0.149     0.208     0.167     0.317     0.156
Pelagic rockfish....................................  ........  ........     0.256     0.106     0.273     0.106
Pollock (A season)..................................     0.081     0.081     0.078     0.090     0.078     0.078
Pollock (B season)..................................     0.070     0.070     0.078     0.078     0.078     0.078
Rock sole (with roe)................................     0.352     0.352  ........  ........  ........  ........
Rock sole (w/o roe).................................     0.072     0.072  ........  ........  ........  ........
Sablefish...........................................     0.875     0.545     0.958     0.545     0.952     0.601
Shallow water flatfish..............................  ........  ........     0.147     0.150     0.147     0.193
Shortraker/rougheye.................................  ........  ........     0.267     0.172     0.273     0.172
Slope rockfish......................................  ........  ........     0.275     0.104     0.263     0.104
Thornyhead rockfish.................................  ........  ........     0.463     0.326     0.505     0.326
Yellowfin sole......................................     0.072     0.072  ........  ........  ........  ........
\1\For halibut, dressed weight is used (headed and gutted).                                                     
                                                                                                                
Note: The PacFIN data indicate that, in the BSAI, motherships and shore-based processors paid approximately the 
  same price for pollock during the roe season, but that motherships paid 17.4% less than shore-based plants    
  during the non-roe season. If a separate standard exvessel price is used for at-sea processors during the non-
  roe season, the proposed price is $0.058. If a separate standard exvessel price is used for shore-based       
  processors, the proposed price is $0.072.                                                                     

    2. Total exvessel value. The total exvessel value of Research Plan 
fisheries is calculated as the sum of the product of the standard 
exvessel prices established for the calendar year and projected 
retained catches, by species.
    For 1995, proposed total exvessel values of species from Research 
Plan fisheries, based on best available information, are as follows: 

   Projected 1995 Retained Catch, Price, and Exvessel Value by Species  
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                  Retained                    Exvessel  
           Species              catch(x1,000   Price\1\($/    value\2\  
                                    lbs)           lb)       (x$1,000)  
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Halibut.......................        44,000          1.50        66,000
Tanner Crab:                                                            
    C. bairdi.................        15,200          1.80        27,360
    C. opilio.................       100,000          1.30       130,000
King Crab:                                                              
    Bristol Bay red...........        13,200          3.70        48,840
    Adak red..................         1,000          4.07         4,070
    Pribilof red..............         2,600          5.00        13,000
    Norton Sound red..........           300          1.75           525
    St. Matthew blue..........         2,900          3.01         8,729
    Dutch Harbor brown........         1,200          2.22         2,664
    Adak brown................         4,100          2.31        9,471 
                               -----------------------------------------
      Total crab..............       140,500  ............    \3\242,559
Groundfish:                                                             
    Arrowtooth flounder.......         4,224         0.020            84
    Atka mackerel.............       106,175         0.200        21,231
    Deepwater flatfish........        12,628         0.112         1,416
    Demersal rockfish.........         1,620         0.407           659
    Flatfish..................        19,037         0.072         1,370
    Flathead sole.............         4,067         0.149           606
    Greenland turbot..........        13,798         0.300         4,139
    Other flatfish............        17,855         0.030           536
    Other red rockfish........         3,641         0.200           728
    Other rockfish............        33,092         0.200         6,617
    Pacific ocean perch.......           970         0.200           194
    Pacific cod...............       356,081         0.176        62,842
    Pelagic rockfish..........         5,896         0.116           686
    Pollock (A season)........     1,061,105         0.081        86,399
    Pollock (B season)........     1,719,046         0.071       121,497
    Rock sole (w/o roe).......        18,006         0.072         1,296
    Rock sole (with roe)......        28,399         0.352         9,995
    Sablefish.................        52,243         0.914        47,747
    Shallow water flatfish....        13,685         0.150         2,052
    Shortraker/rougheye.......         2,815         0.199           559
    Slope rockfish............        13,388         0.105         1,406
    Thornyhead rockfish.......         1,803         0.389           701
    Yellowfin sole............       152,489         0.072        10,977
                               -----------------------------------------
      Total Groundfish........     3,642,065  ............      383,737 
Research Plan Fisheries Total\4\ $693 million                           
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\Exvessel prices for groundfish are weighted average prices across    
  area and gear.                                                        
\2\The product of retained catch and price does not necessarily equal   
  the exvessel value due to rounding of retained catch and price.       
\3\After $2.1 million of catch in State waters is subtracted.           
\4\Total does not exactly equal sum of total groundfish, halibut, and   
  crab due to rounding.                                                 
                                                                        
Note: If a BSAI pollock non-roe season price of $0.058 per pound is used
  for at-sea processors instead of the shore-based processor price of   
  $0.072, total exvessel value is reduced by about $13 million. The use 
  of a shore-based processor rock sole price of $0.072 throughout the   
  year for rock sole deliveries to shore-based processors instead of the
  at-sea processor price of $0.352 during the roe rock sole fishery     
  reduces total value by less than $0.1 million.                        

    3. Research Plan fee percentage. The Research Plan fee percentage 
for a calendar year must equal the lesser of 2 percent of the exvessel 
value of retained catch in the Research Plan fisheries or the fee 
percentage calculated using the following equation:

Fee percentage=[100 x (RRPC-FB-OF)/V]/(1-NPR),

where:

RRPC is the projection of recoverable Research Plan costs for the 
coming year;
FB is the projected end of the year balance of funds collected under 
the Research Plan;
OF is the projection of other funding for the coming year;
V is the projected exvessel value of retained catch in the Research 
Plan fisheries for the coming year; and
NPR is the percent (expressed as a decimal) of fee assessments that are 
expected to result in nonpayment.

    For 1995, the best estimate of RRPC is $15.4 million. FB will be $0 
for 1995; because no fees will be collected in 1994, no balance of 
funds at the end of 1994 will be applied against program costs in 1995. 
OF for 1995 is projected to be $2.6 million, consisting of $2.1 million 
from NMFS and $0.5 million from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. 
V for 1995 is estimated to be $692.7 million, as described under item 2 
above. NPR is estimated at 2.5 percent. Therefore, applying the formula 
above, the calculated fee percentage would be:

[100 x ($15.4 million-$0-$2.6 million)/$692.7 million]/(1-.025) = 1.9 
percent.

    Because the calculated fee is less than the maximum assessable fee, 
the proposed fee percentage for 1995 is 1.9 percent.
    4. Observer coverage. For 1995, observer coverage levels in 
Research Plan fisheries are unchanged from 1994 and are set out at 
Sec. 677.10(a).
    5. Embarkment/disembarkment ports. For 1995, observer contractors 
and vessels required to have observer coverage arrange for observer 
embarkment and disembarkment. NMFS is not involved in this arrangement. 
Therefore, specification of embarkment/disembarkment ports for 1995 is 
not necessary.

Final Research Plan Specifications

    NMFS will consider comments received on these proposed 
specifications and, after consulting with the Council, will publish 
final specifications in the Federal Register.

Classification

    This action is proposed to be taken under the authority of 50 CFR 
677.11, as published at 59 FR 46126, September 6, 1994, and is exempt 
from review under E.O. 12866.

    Dated: September 6, 1994.
Gary Matlock,
Program Management Officer, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 94-22478 Filed 9-9-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P