[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 96 (Thursday, May 16, 1996)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 24729]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-12240]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
50 CFR Part 672

[Docket No. 950727194-6118-03; I.D. 062795C]


Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska; Recordkeeping and Reporting 
Requirements; General Limitations

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

ACTION: Final rule; technical amendment.

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SUMMARY: NMFS issues a technical amendment to the final rule 
implementing regulations for recordkeeping and reporting under the 
authority of the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of 
Alaska (GOA) and the Fishery Management Plan for the Groundfish Fishery 
of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Area (BSAI). This action 
corrects the definition for ``fishing trip.''

EFFECTIVE DATE: May 16, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Patsy A. Bearden, 907-586-7228.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The final rule implementing recordkeeping 
and reporting requirements for the GOA and BSAI was published in the 
Federal Register on February 13, 1996 (61 FR 5608). The rule 
consolidated and revised recordkeeping and reporting requirements for 
the GOA and BSAI groundfish fisheries, including revisions to various 
definitions for the term, ``fishing trip.'' Several very similar 
definitions for the term had existed previously and were to be 
reconciled and consolidated into one definition for the term in the 
final rule. The definition for ``fishing trip'' used to calculate 
maximum retainable bycatch amounts and retention of pollock roe in the 
GOA were found at Sec. 672.20(h)(2) and (i)(4). Similar but slightly 
different definitions for this term as it applied to the BSAI also were 
found at Sec. 675.20(i)(2) and (j)(4). Inadvertently, the reconciled 
definition in the final rule did not include some of the language of 
the original definitions.
    The final rule implementing the recordkeeping and reporting 
requirements specified that an operator of a vessel is engaged in a 
fishing trip from the time the harvesting, receiving, or processing is 
begun or resumed until the transfer or offloading of all groundfish 
product, the vessel leaves the area where fishing activity commenced, 
or the end of a weekly reporting period, whichever occurs first. NMFS 
is amending the regulation to correct that definition to specify that a 
single fishing trip in an area continues until the offload or transfer 
of all groundfish or groundfish product, the vessel enters or leaves an 
area to which a directed fishing prohibition applies, or the end of a 
weekly reporting period, whichever occurs first. This change is based 
on language from earlier definitions and is designed to add additional 
precision and clarity concerning when a fishing trip begins and ends.

Classification

    Because this technical amendment makes only minor, non-substantive 
corrections to an existing rule, notice and public procedure thereon 
and a delay in effective date would serve no purpose. Accordingly, 
under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B) and (d), notice and public procedure thereon 
and a delay in effective date are unnecessary.
    Because this rule is being issued without prior comment, it is not 
subject to the Regulatory Flexibility Act requirement for a regulatory 
flexibility analysis and none has been prepared.
    This rule makes minor technical changes to a rule that has been 
determined to be not significant under E.O. 12866. No changes in the 
regulatory impact previously reviewed and analyzed will result from 
implementation of this technical amendment.

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 672

    Fisheries, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements

    Dated: May 9, 1996.
Gary Matlock,
Program Management Officer, National Marine Fisheries Service.
    For reasons set out in the preamble 50 CFR part 672 is amended to 
read as follows:

PART 672--GROUNDFISH OF THE GULF OF ALASKA

    1. The authority citation for part 672 continues to read as 
follows:

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

    2. In Sec. 672.20, paragraph (h)(2) is revised to read as follows:


Sec. 672.20  General limitations.

* * * * *
    (h) * * *
    (2) Fishing trip. For purposes of this section, an operator of a 
vessel is engaged in a single fishing trip in an area from the time the 
harvesting, receiving, or processing of groundfish is begun or resumed 
until:
    (i) The offload or transfer of all groundfish or groundfish product 
from that vessel;
    (ii) The vessel enters or leaves an area to which a directed 
fishing prohibition applies; or
    (iii) The end of a weekly reporting period, whichever comes first.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 96-12240 Filed 5-15-96; 8:45 am]
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