[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 185 (Monday, September 26, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-23754]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: September 26, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 675

[Docket No. 940958-4258; I.D. 081894A]
RIN: 0648-AG92

 

Groundfish Fishery of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Area

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

ACTION: Proposed rule; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS proposes regulations to delay the opening of the first 
(roe) directed fishing season for the offshore component pollock 
fishery in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) management area 
from January 1 to January 26 of each fishing year. This action is 
necessary to achieve optimum roe quality and increase revenues from the 
BSAI pollock processed by the offshore component during the roe season. 
The proposed action also would prohibit vessels used to fish for BSAI 
or Gulf of Alaska (GOA) groundfish or BSAI king or Tanner crab prior to 
January 26 from participating in the offshore component pollock fishery 
until February 5. This 10-day prohibition on entry into the offshore 
component fishery would not apply to vessels used to participate in the 
Community Development Quota (CDQ) program prior to January 26 and is 
necessary to discourage participants in the offshore component pollock 
fishery from contributing to increased fishing effort in other 
fisheries prior to the start of the offshore component roe season. This 
action is intended to promote the fishery management objectives of the 
Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for the Groundfish Fishery of the BSAI.

DATES: Comments must be received by October 26, 1994.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be sent to Ronald J. Berg, Chief, Fisheries 
Management Division, Alaska Region, National Marine Fisheries Service, 
P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802 (Attn: Lori Gravel). Copies of the 
environmental assessment/regulatory impact review/initial regulatory 
flexibility analysis (EA/RIR/IRFA) may be obtained from the 
aforementioned address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Susan J. Salveson, 907-586-7228.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Fishing for groundfish by vessels in the exclusive economic zone of 
the BSAI is managed by the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) according 
to the FMP for the Groundfish Fishery of the BSAI. The FMP was prepared 
by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) under the 
Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act and is implemented by 
regulations governing the U.S. groundfish fisheries at 50 CFR parts 620 
and 675.
    Current regulations authorize all BSAI trawl fisheries, including 
the pollock fisheries, to start on January 20 of each year. Existing 
regulations at Sec. 675.20(a)(2)(ii) also authorize the establishment 
of separate pollock total allowable catch (TAC) amounts for the Bering 
Sea and Aleutian Islands subareas and the Bogoslof District.
    Through 1995, the pollock TACs specified for each subarea and 
district initially are allocated among the Western Alaska CDQ reserve 
(7.5 percent), the BSAI operational reserve (7.5 percent), and the open 
access fisheries (85 percent, of which 35 percent is allocated to the 
inshore component and 65 percent to the offshore component). The 
portion of the TACs allocated to the inshore and offshore components is 
further apportioned into two seasonal allowances. The first allowance 
(roe season) is available for directed fishing from January 1, until 
April 15, and the second allowance (non-roe season) is available for 
directed fishing from August 15, until December 31.
    The Bering Sea pollock fishery has experienced increased harvesting 
and processing capacity and increased effort in recent years under the 
existing open access management regime. While the TAC annually 
specified for pollock in the last few years has remained fairly stable 
between 1.2 and 1.3 million metric tons, the increase in harvesting and 
processing capacity has led to increasing daily catch rates and reduced 
season lengths for both the inshore and offshore components.
    Three major factors affect the length of the pollock roe season: 
Annual TAC, the amount of pollock TAC apportioned to the pollock roe 
season, and amount of fishing effort. Regulations authorizing the 
seasonal apportionment of pollock TACs have been effective since 1991. 
In 1991 and 1992, 40 percent of the Bering Sea pollock initial TAC was 
apportioned to the roe season, and 45 percent was apportioned in 1993 
and 1994. Since 1991, the length of the Bering Sea pollock roe season 
has decreased each year. The roe season pollock quota was harvested in 
52 days in 1991 and 46 days in 1992. Effective June 1, 1992, through 
December 31, 1995, pollock TACs are apportioned among the offshore 
component, inshore component, and CDQ pollock fisheries. The 1993 roe 
season allowance apportioned to the offshore component was harvested in 
33 days. The inshore component roe fishery lasted 63 days from January 
20, through March 24. However, a strike by vessels delivering onshore 
delayed fishing until the first week of February. The inshore 
component's roe season pollock apportionment was harvested in about 48 
days. In 1994, the offshore component roe season closed on February 18 
(29 days), and the inshore component roe season closed on March 2 (41 
days).
    Pollock roe produced from the roe season harvests represents a 
substantial portion of the gross wholesale value of the pollock fishery 
and roe maturity is one of the most important factors in determining 
product value. Good quality mature roe receives the highest price, 
followed by immature and over-mature roe. Therefore, in order to 
maximize the value of roe production, industry prefers to harvest as 
much roe as possible during the period of peak roe maturity and to 
minimize the harvest of immature and over-mature roe. Although the 
timing of peak roe maturity varies depending on the age of the fish, 
the location where fish spawn, and ocean conditions, industry sources 
report that the period of peak roe maturity usually occurs between 
February 10 and February 20.
    The pollock roe season length has shortened to the degree that some 
offshore processors participating in the open access fishery believe 
that the fishery closes before or during the timing of peak roe 
maturity. Consequently, the value of the pollock harvest is 
significantly lower than it could be if the season were delayed. This 
trend likely will continue under the open access management system.
    Concerns about a shortened roe season do not appear to be shared by 
participants in the inshore component pollock fishery or some of the 
offshore processors who also participate in the CDQ pollock fisheries, 
which occur after the close of the open access fishery. Inshore 
processors report that peak roe maturity generally occurs during the 
first 2 weeks of February and, because the 1994 roe season extended 
into early March, the fishery fully encompassed the period of peak roe 
maturity. Delay of the inshore component roe season would likely 
increase the harvest of pollock with lower valued, over-mature roe.
    At the request of offshore component processors, the Council first 
considered alternatives for delaying the pollock roe season at its June 
1993 meeting. Lack of industry consensus on a preferred alternative 
prevented the Council from taking action. The continued shortening of 
the roe season in 1994 prompted the Council again to consider 
alternative season opening dates for the pollock roe season.
    At its June 1994 meeting, the Council considered the testimony and 
recommendations of its Advisory Panel, Scientific and Statistical 
Committee, fishing industry representatives, and the public on 
alternative dates for the start of the pollock roe season. For the 
reasons given below, the Council determined that delaying the offshore 
component roe season opening date to January 26 would provide the most 
benefit to the fishing industry and recommended that NMFS initiate 
rulemaking to delay the opening of the offshore component pollock roe 
season until this date.
    To discourage a shift in fishing effort into other fisheries by 
pollock vessels prior to January 26, the Council also recommended that 
vessels used to fish for BSAI or GOA groundfish or BSAI king or Tanner 
crab prior to January 26 be prohibited from participating in the 
offshore component pollock fishery until February 5. This prohibition 
would not apply to vessels participating in a CDQ fishery.
    Section 14.3 of the FMP requires that the Council consider the 
following criteria when recommending a regulatory amendment to change 
season opening dates: Biological, bycatch, exvessel and wholesale 
prices, product quality, safety, cost, other fisheries, coordinated 
season timing, enforcement and management costs, and allocation 
effects. The EA/RIR/IRFA prepared for this action addresses anticipated 
effects of the proposed delay relative to these criteria. The following 
discussion summarizes these effects relative to how the Council's 
objectives for an offshore component roe season delay are met under the 
proposed action.
    Biological or bycatch effects. A delay of the roe season opening 
date for the offshore component pollock fishery to January 26 would 
affect neither the amount of pollock harvested during the roe season 
nor the overall duration of the fishery. Although the proposed action 
would result in a 6-day shift of trawl effort, significant spatial 
differences in trawl effort distribution would not be expected because 
the location of spawning stocks of pollock likely would not vary 
significantly during this 6-day period. Similarly, a 6-day delay in the 
opening date of the pollock roe season would not affect the size of 
pollock taken in this fishery. When female pollock are entering a 
spawning condition, their energy is going into the production of eggs 
and maintenance, and not into growth.
    In the BSAI, Pacific halibut, red king crab, C. bairdi Tanner crab, 
and herring are prohibited species for which bycatch limits are 
established and apportioned each year to the pollock and other 
groundfish trawl fisheries based on Council recommendations. Pacific 
salmon also are prohibited species that may not be retained in the 
groundfish fisheries; however, no salmon bycatch limits currently are 
established. Few data exist to suggest that the proposed change in the 
pollock roe season would have any positive or negative impact on the 
prohibited species bycatch amounts. Observer data indicate that an 
opening date later into the season could help to reduce chinook salmon 
bycatch in the trawl fisheries. However, the effects of a change of 
less than 1 week for a start date are difficult to measure.
    The proposed action would not have an adverse effect on marine 
mammals or seabirds, because it would not increase pollock harvests or 
significantly change the temporal or spatial distribution of this 
harvest.
    Product quality and value. The proposed delay of the offshore 
component pollock roe season is intended to increase the value of the 
pollock harvested during the roe season by delaying the offshore 
component fishery so the season fully encompasses the period of optimum 
roe maturity. This action likely would affect the roe product quality 
and value experienced in the CDQ pollock fisheries.
    Participants in the CDQ pollock fisheries include the Western 
Alaska community groups that have been allocated pollock quota and the 
processors with which they contract for the harvest and processing of 
the quota. In 1993 and 1994, the roe season CDQ pollock fisheries 
occurred immediately after the close of the open access roe season, 
when the proportion of mature roe produced was still quite high. Under 
the proposed action, CDQ harvests likely would occur between January 20 
and January 26 and after the offshore component fishery closed. In 
either case, if the offshore component roe season delay achieves the 
primary objective of allowing this fishery to be prosecuted when 
pollock roe maturity is optimum, the overall gross wholesale value of 
the pollock CDQ fishery would be reduced. However, based on the volume 
of pollock harvested and the number of participants in the fisheries, 
an increase in the value of roe production during the offshore 
component fishery (due to increased roe quality) probably would be 
greater than the decrease in the value of roe production in the CDQ 
fisheries.
    Allocation, coordinated season timing, and impacts on other 
fisheries. The proposed action is intended to discourage vessels 
participating in the offshore component pollock fishery from 
contributing to increased fishing effort in other fisheries prior to 
the start of the offshore component roe season on January 26. Under the 
proposed action, vessels used to participate in a BSAI groundfish 
fishery, a GOA groundfish fishery, or the BSAI king or Tanner crab 
fishery would be prevented from entering the offshore component pollock 
fishery until February 5--10 days after the opening of the offshore 
component roe season. The intent of this action is to encourage vessel 
owners to choose between fishing for pollock or for another species, 
thus minimizing any preemptive impacts on other fisheries that may 
otherwise occur under the proposed delay of the pollock roe season.
    Costs. Vessels used to participate in a BSAI or GOA groundfish 
fishery or the BSAI king or Tanner crab fisheries prior to January 26 
would be prohibited from participating in the offshore pollock fishery 
before February 5. This limitation could impose costs on those vessels 
that target on more than one species during the pollock roe season. 
These vessels would be precluded from participating in other fisheries 
prior to the roe season if they also wanted to continue their pollock 
target fisheries.
    If approved by NMFS, the Council's recommended action to delay the 
offshore component pollock roe season would be effective only through 
December 31, 1995, when regulations authorizing the allocation of 
pollock between the inshore and offshore component expire. Continued 
effectiveness of the proposed delay would require new rulemaking 
contingent on the implementation of a separate FMP amendment that would 
authorize inshore/offshore groundfish allocations beyond 1995.

Classification

    NMFS prepared an IRFA as part of the RIR, which concludes that this 
proposed rule, if adopted, could have significant effects on a 
substantial number of small entities (i.e., small businesses, small 
organizations, and small governmental jurisdictions with limited 
resources). The Western Alaska community groups that have received CDQs 
in the pollock fishery are considered small entities, because they are 
government jurisdictions with populations less than 50,000. The 
proposed action would delay the start date of the offshore pollock roe 
season in the BSAI in order to increase the wholesale value of roe 
production in the open access fishery. If this action is successful in 
its purpose, the value of roe production in the CDQ pollock fisheries 
would probably decline, thereby reducing revenue to the Western Alaska 
community groups. The reduction in revenue generated from the CDQ 
program could have a ``significant impact'' on these small entities by 
reducing their annual gross revenues by more than 5 percent.
    This proposed rule has been determined to be not significant for 
purposes of E.O. 12866.

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 675

    Fisheries, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

    Dated: September 20, 1994.
Gary Matlock,
Program Management Officer, National Marine Fisheries Service.
    For the reasons set out in the preamble, part 675 is proposed to be 
amended as follows:

PART 675--GROUNDFISH OF THE BERING SEA AND ALEUTIAN ISLANDS AREA

    1. The authority citation for part 675 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

    2. In Sec. 675.23, paragraph (e) is revised to read as follows:


Sec. 675.23  Seasons.

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    (e) Directed fishing for pollock. (i) Subject to other provisions 
of this part, and except as provided in paragraph (e)(ii) of this 
section, directed fishing for pollock is authorized from January 1, 
until noon, A.l.t., April 15, and from noon, A.l.t., August 15, through 
the end of the fishing year.
    (ii) Applicable through December 31, 1995. (A) Subject to other 
provisions of this part and except as provided in paragraph (e)(ii)(B) 
of this section, directed fishing for pollock by the offshore 
component, defined at Sec. 675.2 of this part, or by vessels delivering 
pollock to the offshore component, is authorized from noon, A.l.t., 
January 26, until noon, A.l.t., April 15 and from noon, A.l.t., August 
15, through the end of the fishing year. Directed fishing for pollock 
under the Western Alaska Community Development Quota Program pursuant 
to Sec. 675.27 is authorized from January 1, through the end of the 
fishing year.
    (B) Directed fishing for pollock by the offshore component or 
vessels delivering pollock to the offshore component is prohibited 
until noon, A.l.t., February 5, for those vessels that are used to fish 
prior to noon, A.l.t., January 26, for groundfish in the Bering Sea and 
Aleutians management area, groundfish in the Gulf of Alaska, as defined 
at Sec. 672.2 of this chapter, or king or Tanner crab in the Bering Sea 
and Aleutians Area, as defined at Sec. 671.2 of this chapter.
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[FR Doc. 94-23754 Filed 9-23-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-W