[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 62 (Friday, March 31, 1995)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 16587-16588]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-7904]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
50 CFR Part 675

[Docket No. 940710-4292; I.D. 010695A]


Groundfish Fishery of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Area; 
Trawl Closure to Protect Red King Crab

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

ACTION: Emergency interim rule; response to comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS responds to comments submitted on the interim emergency 
rule closing a portion of the Bering Sea to trawl vessels to protect 
red king crab. NMFS published this emergency rule in the Federal 
Register on January 25, 1995 for comment. No change in the trawl 
closure was made as a result of this action.

DATES: The emergency interim rule published at 60 FR 4866, January 25, 
1995, is effective January 20, 1995, through April 25, 1995.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kaja Brix, 907-586-7228.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS published an emergency interim rule in 
the Federal Register on January 25, 1995 (60 FR 4866) that implemented 
a closure to trawl vessels in the Bristol Bay area of the Bering Sea. 
The closure area encompasses the area from 56 deg. to 57  deg. N. lat. 
and 162 deg. to 164 deg. W. long. and is intended to protect female red 
king crab, in view of the declining Bristol Bay red king crab stocks. 
Two letters of comment on the emergency rule were received within the 
comment period and are summarized in the ``Response to Comments'' 
section, below. After review of the comments received, NMFS determined 
that no change to the emergency rule is warranted.

Response to Comments

    Two letters of comment were received within the comment period that 
ended February 9, 1995. A summary of the comments and NMFS' response 
follows.
    Comment 1. The emergency trawl closure area should be reconfigured 
to remove the 10 minutes of latitude from 56 deg. to 56 deg.10' N. lat. 
The closure should have been designed to protect female red king crab, 
but, for this purpose, the best available biological data do not 
support inclusion of the 10 minutes of latitude from 56 deg. to 
56 deg.10' N. lat. in the trawl closure area.
    Response. NMFS chose the closure area implemented under the 
emergency rule based on the distribution of female red king crab. 
Annual NMFS crab survey data show distribution and relative abundance 
of female red king crab vary from year to year. However, survey data 
since 1990 indicate that relatively large numbers of female crab have 
been taken at survey stations in Bristol Bay located around 56 deg. N. 
lat. Recent 1993 and 1994 trawl survey data show female red king crab 
are present at survey stations located along 56 deg. N. lat. The 
relative abundance of female red king crab at these stations was 
significantly greater in 1993 compared to 1994. The distribution of 
crab indicated from summer trawl surveys may not represent the 
distribution of various stock components during winter months; however, 
because no recent winter trawl survey data exist, NMFS must use the 
best available scientific data as a basis for the closure 
determination.
    Available observer data on the sex composition of Bristol Bay red 
king crab taken as bycatch in the trawl fisheries are limited. Sex 
composition data collected in 1993 for observed hauls between 56 deg. 
and 56 deg.10' N. lat. show about one third of the crab sampled for sex 
composition were females. Between 56 deg. and 57 deg. N. lat. almost 80 
percent of the crab sampled for sex composition were females. Despite 
the fact that the red king crab bycatch limit is still in place and the 
rock sole fishery can still take the same number of crab, inclusion of 
the area between 56 deg. and 56 deg.10' N. lat. provides greater 
protection to female red king crab.
    Comment 2. The emergency rule was undertaken without any economic 
analysis of the impact of the closure on the trawl fisheries. It was 
undertaken without any analysis of the impact of other fisheries, such 
as the C. bairdi Tanner crab and red king crab fisheries, on Bristol 
Bay red king crab stocks.
    Response. The short time frame that was available to implement the 
[[Page 16588]] emergency rule precluded an extensive economic analysis. 
However, the emergency rule does contain economic information that was 
considered in making the decision for the most appropriate closure 
area. A more comprehensive economic analysis will be conducted for 
alternative time/area closures being considered by the Council for an 
amendment to the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for the Groundfish 
Fishery of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands area that would address 
concerns about the red king crab resource on a long-term basis. A 
bycatch simulation model is also being updated to analyze the impacts 
of these alternative closure areas on the affected fisheries. The 
Council is scheduled to take action on the FMP amendment at its April 
1995 meeting. NMFS approved the closure area implemented under the 
emergency rule based on the best data that was available at the time.
    Data that were presented in both the original environmental 
assessment (EA) prepared for the emergency rule and in a subsequent 
addendum to the EA indicated the amount of bycatch in the various 
closure options. This information was used to determine the potential 
savings in red king crab bycatch and the impacts on other prohibited 
species bycatch.

    Dated: March 27, 1995.
Nancy Foster,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 95-7904 Filed 3-30-95; 8:45 am]
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