[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 169 (Thursday, August 31, 1995)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 45378-45379]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-21569]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 676

[Docket No. 950815207-5207-01; I.D. 080795E]
RIN 0648-AI09


Limited Access Management of Federal Fisheries In and Off of 
Alaska; Individual Fishing Quota Program

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

ACTION: Interim final rule; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS issues an interim rule to allow vessels subject to 
existing Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) Program recordkeeping and 
observer coverage requirements to fish for sablefish and Pacific 
halibut in a regulatory area in which persons aboard the vessel hold 
IFQ, even when the amount of IFQ held for the area is less than the 
total amount of IFQ species on board the vessel. This action is 
necessary to allow persons who hold IFQ for more than one IFQ 
regulatory area to harvest IFQ species in those areas during the same 
fishing trip and is intended to facilitate more efficient harvesting by 
IFQ holders.

DATES: Effective on August 25, 1995. Comments must be received at the 
following address no later than October 2, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Comments on the interim rule must be sent to Ronald J. Berg, 
Chief, Fisheries Management Division, Alaska Region, NMFS, 709 W. 9th 
Street, Room 453, Juneau, AK 99801, or P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 
99802, Attention: Lori J. Gravel. Copies of the Regulatory Impact 
Review (RIR) for this action may be requested from the same address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Lepore, 907-586-7228.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The IFQ Program limits access to the halibut 
and sablefish fixed gear fisheries through the annual issuance of IFQ. 
Further information about the IFQ program is contained in the preamble 
to the final implementing regulations published November 9, 1993 (58 FR 
59375). Holders of IFQ may harvest their IFQ, specific to species, 
vessel category, and regulatory area, any time during the IFQ fishing 
season. Close monitoring of the harvest of IFQ halibut and IFQ 
sablefish is essential to prevent exceeding the total allowable catch 
for the halibut and sablefish fixed gear fisheries in each regulatory 
area.
    A regulation at 50 CFR Sec. 676.16(d) was designed to ensure that 
IFQ holders harvested their IFQ in the designated regulatory area. This 
regulation, enforced by at-sea monitoring of catches, makes it unlawful 
for any person to:

    Retain IFQ halibut or IFQ sablefish on a vessel in excess of the 
total amount of unharvested IFQ, applicable to the vessel category 
and IFQ regulatory area in which the vessel is operating, and that 
is currently held by all IFQ card holders on board the vessel.

    Although this provision was not intended to require persons to 
offload all IFQ species caught in one regulatory area before fishing in 
another regulatory area, this is the practical effect, especially for 
an IFQ holder with small amounts of IFQ in multiple areas, because the 
IFQ held in one regulatory area frequently is too small to cover the 
IFQ species harvested in another regulatory area. For example, a 
fisherman with 5 mt of IFQ for halibut in each of two adjacent areas is 
not able to harvest the total of 10 mt of halibut during the same 
fishing trip. The fisherman would be in violation of Sec. 676.16(d) as 
soon as he harvested any IFQ halibut in the second area in addition to 
the 5 mt already harvested in the first area and still on board the 
vessel because the total amount on board the vessel would exceed the 
fisherman's 5 mt IFQ for halibut in the second area.
    Members of the fishing industry requested the North Pacific Fishery 
Management Council (Council) to relieve the requirement specified in 
Sec. 676.16(d). At its meeting on June 21-25, 1995, the Council 
recommended that NMFS implement an emergency rule that would allow 
catcher/processor and catcher vessels subject to existing recordkeeping 
and observer coverage requirements to retain IFQ halibut or IFQ 
sablefish in excess of the total amount of unharvested IFQ applicable 
to that vessel in the IFQ regulatory area in which the vessel is 
operating. The Council also recommended that Sec. 676.16(d), which 
currently prohibits such retention, be amended for future years.
    NMFS determined that an interim rule could relieve this requirement 
for vessels subject to existing recordkeeping and observer coverage 
requirements. A vessel operator must continue to comply with the 
requirements in paragraph (d), unless the vessel has an observer aboard 
pursuant to 50 CFR part 677 while fishing for the IFQ species in the 
regulatory area of concern and complies with the applicable existing 
daily fishing logbook requirements at 50 CFR Secs. 301.15, 672.5(b)(2), 
and 675.5(b)(2). The observer and recordkeeping requirements will 
enable authorized officers to verify that the IFQ halibut or IFQ 
sablefish on board was lawfully harvested in the appropriate IFQ 
regulatory area by an IFQ card holder with sufficient unused IFQ 
applicable to the vessel category and IFQ regulatory area in which the 
IFQ halibut or IFQ sablefish was harvested.
    Relieving the requirement provides added flexibility to the IFQ 
holder's fishing schedule while still allowing NMFS to monitor closely 
IFQ harvests. A vessel not subject to the daily fishing logbook 
requirements or without observer coverage will still remain prohibited 
from having more of an IFQ species on board in a particular regulatory 
area than authorized under existing paragraph (d).
    Although the Council requested that this relief be provided in all 
IFQ regulatory areas, current provisions in 50 CFR part 301 require 
vessel clearances for IFQ halibut harvested in most of Area 4. This 
vessel clearance requirement, while not in direct conflict with the 
interim rule, will diminish some of the interim rule's relief. 
Specifically, Sec. 301.14 requires a vessel operator who intends to 
harvest halibut in Areas 4A, 4B, 4C, or 4D to obtain a vessel clearance 
in designated ports before commencing harvest of halibut and before 
unloading any halibut. Although the requirements of Sec. 301.14 will 
diminish the benefits of relieving the requirements of Sec. 676.16(d), 
additional changes to the requirements of Sec. 301.14 must be approved 
and adopted by the International Pacific Halibut Commission. Vessel 
clearances required in Sec. 301.14 do not apply to vessels that do not 
harvest halibut.
Classification

    The Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA (AA), finds that 
the requirement specified in Sec. 676.16(d) for a vessel that has 
observer coverage and that complies with daily fishing log requirements 
does not benefit the accuracy of catch monitoring and has an unintended 
wasteful effect. Any delay in removing that requirement could result in 
unnecessary waste without providing significant public benefit. 
Accordingly, the AA finds good cause to waive the requirement to 
provide prior 

[[Page 45379]]
notice and the opportunity for public comment, pursuant to authority 
set forth at 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B), as such procedures would be contrary 
to the public interest. Similarly, because this interim final rule 
exempts vessels that have observer coverage and that comply with daily 
fishing log regulations from the requirements of Sec. 676.16(d), the AA 
finds that this interim final rule relieves a restriction and, as 
authorized by 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(1), may be made effective upon filing at 
the Office of the Federal Register.
    This interim rule does not require the collection of new 
information. The collection of information necessary for this interim 
rule has been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), 
OMB control number 0648-0272 (regarding IFQs for Pacific halibut and 
sablefish), OMB control number 0648-0280 (North Pacific Fisheries 
Research Plan), and OMB control number 0648-0213 (logbook family of 
forms).
    This interim rule implements minor revisions to the final rule 
implementing the IFQ Program and is categorically excluded from the 
requirement to prepare an environmental assessment (EA) in accordance 
with NAO 216-6.
    This interim rule has been determined to be not significant for 
purposes of E.O. 12866.

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 676

    Fisheries, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

    Dated: August 24, 1995.
Gary Matlock,
Program Management Officer, National Marine Fisheries Service.

    For the reasons set out in the preamble, 50 CFR part 676 is amended 
as follows:

PART 676--LIMITED ACCESS MANAGEMENT OF FEDERAL FISHERIES IN AND OFF 
OF ALASKA

    1. The authority citation for 50 CFR part 676 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 773 et seq. and 1801 et seq.

    2. In Sec. 676.16, paragraph (d) is revised to read as follows:


Sec. 676.16  General prohibitions.

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    (d) Except as provided at Sec. 676.17, retain IFQ halibut or IFQ 
sablefish on a vessel in excess of the total amount of unharvested IFQ, 
applicable to the vessel category and IFQ regulatory area in which the 
vessel is deploying fixed gear, and that is currently held by all IFQ 
card holders aboard the vessel, unless the vessel has an observer 
aboard under Sec. 677.10 of this chapter and maintains the applicable 
daily fishing log under Sec. 301.15 of this title, Secs. 672.5, and 
675.5 of this chapter.
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[FR Doc. 95-21569 Filed 8-25-95; 3:39 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-D