[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]
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