[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 135 (Friday, July 12, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 36702-36703]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-17788]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 679
[I.D. 070196E]
RIN 0648-AI95
Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; North
Pacific Fisheries Research Plan
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) has
submitted for review by NMFS the repeal of the North Pacific Fisheries
Research Plan (Research Plan), Amendment 47 to the Fishery Management
Plan (FMP) for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska, Amendment 47 to the
FMP for the Groundfish Fishery of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands
Area (Groundfish FMPs), and Amendment 6 to the FMP for the Commercial
King and Tanner Crab Fisheries in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands
Area (Crab FMP). NMFS is requesting comments on these proposed actions
from the public. Repeal of the Research Plan would terminate the
comprehensive North Pacific groundfish and crab observer program and
the associated user-fee system developed by NMFS and the Council as
authorized by section 313 of the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and
Management Act (Magnuson Act). Amendments 47 and 47 to the groundfish
FMPs would establish an interim groundfish observer program to
supersede the Research Plan and authorize mandatory groundfish observer
coverage requirements for 1997. Amendment 6 to the crab FMP would
remove reference to the Research Plan. Copies of the amendments may be
obtained from the Council (see ADDRESSES).
DATES: Comments should be submitted by September 9, 1996.
A public hearing on the proposed repeal of the Research Plan will
be held
[[Page 36703]]
by teleconference on Monday, August 19, 1996, at 1 p.m., Alaska local
time. (For information regarding how to participate, see ADDRESSES.)
ADDRESSES: Comments should be submitted to Ronald J. Berg, Chief,
Fisheries Management Division, Alaska Region, NMFS, P.O. Box 21668,
Juneau, AK, 99802-1668, Attn: Lori Gravel, or delivered to the Federal
Building, 709 West 9th Street, Juneau, AK.
Copies of the FMP amendments and the Environmental Assessment/
Regulatory Impact Review/Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
prepared for the amendments are available from the North Pacific
Fishery Management Council, 605 West Fourth Ave., Anchorage, AK 99501-
2252; telephone: 907-271-2809.
See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for locations of public hearings by
teleconference.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kim S. Rivera, 907-586-7228.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Locations where interested persons may
participate in the August 19, 1996, public hearing by teleconference
are as follows:
1. Anchorage--North Pacific Fishery Management Council, 600 West
4th Avenue, Anchorage, AK 99501, telephone: 907-271-2809;
2. Juneau--National Marine Fisheries Service, Alaska Region, 706
West 9th Street, Juneau, AK 99802, telephone: 907-586-7228;
3. Kodiak--National Marine Fisheries Service Laboratory, Bldg. 53,
U.S. Coast Guard Support Center, Kodiak, AK 99615, telephone: 907-487-
5961;
4. Seattle--Alaska Fisheries Science Center, 7600 Sand Point Way
Northeast, Building 4, Room 7600, Seattle, WA 98115, telephone: 206-
526-4197;
5. Newport--Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, 2040 Southeast
Marine Science Drive, Newport, OR 97365, telephone: 503-867-0300.
The Magnuson Act requires that each Regional Fishery Management
Council submit any fishery management plan (FMP) or plan amendment it
prepares to NMFS for review and approval, disapproval, or partial
disapproval. The Magnuson Act also requires that NMFS, upon receiving
an FMP or amendment, immediately publish a document that the FMP or
amendment is available for public review and comment. During this
comment period, NMFS will conduct public hearings, as required by
section 313(c)(2) of the Magnuson Act, in Alaska, Oregon, and
Washington to receive public comments on the proposed repeal of the
Research Plan. NMFS will consider the public comments received during
the comment period in determining whether to approve the repeal of the
Research Plan and these amendments.
Repeal of the Research Plan
Beginning in April 1995, the Council and industry representatives
voiced numerous concerns about certain elements of the Research Plan.
The fundamental issues were cost-related and included: (1) Cost equity
issues associated with the redistribution of observer costs throughout
the crab, groundfish, and halibut sectors; (2) the ability of NMFS to
require necessary observer coverage levels for special management
programs (e.g., community development quotas, individual vessel bycatch
and discard accountability) given the fee limitations outlined in the
Magnuson Act (i.e., fees cannot exceed 2 percent of the exvessel value
of retained Research Plan fish); and (3) potential reductions in
observer coverage due to cost increases associated with Research Plan
objectives to address observer data integrity. As a result, the Council
recommended delaying full implementation of the Research Plan and
requested that NMFS work with Council-appointed industry
representatives on the Observer Oversight Committee (OOC) to address
these concerns and others of a less substantial nature.
The OOC met with NMFS and interested parties in September and
October 1995. Through discussion and negotiation, the OOC arrived at
acceptable solutions to most of the Council's stated Research Plan
implementation problems. The OOC was unable to reach consensus on
issues associated with the redistribution of costs under the Research
Plan. The distribution of costs throughout the crab, groundfish, and
halibut fleets on the basis of landed value of catch, and implemented
through the Research Plan user fee, resulted in significantly increased
observer costs for some industry sectors and generally reduced costs
for catcher vessels and small processors. Even though this change in
cost distribution was integral to the Research Plan, some participants
in the groundfish and crab fisheries asserted that they had been
encumbered with an inequitably high share of the cost of the North
Pacific observer programs.
Because of the inability to resolve these critical issues, the
Council voted at its December 1995 meeting to repeal the Research Plan
and its associated fee-based funding mechanism. In response, NMFS
issued an interim final rule (61 FR 13782, March 28, 1996) that
discontinued the 1995 Research Plan fee collection process, authorized
the issuance of annual Federal processor permits without regard to
payment of Research Plan fees, and established a procedure to refund
all fees collected (approximately $5.6 million) by NMFS under the 1995
Research Plan, along with accrued interest.
FMP Amendments
Amendments 47 to the Groundfish FMPs would authorize an interim
North Pacific groundfish observer program and authorize groundfish
observer coverage requirements through 1997. Amendment 6 to the Crab
FMP would remove language associated with the Research Plan.
A proposed rule to implement the repeal of the Research Plan and
the FMP amendments has been submitted for Secretarial review and
approval and is scheduled to be published within 15 days of the date of
publication of this document. The proposed rule to implement Amendments
47 also will include 1997 observer coverage requirements, vessel and
processor responsibilities under the interim groundfish observer
program, and criteria for the certification, suspension, and
decertification of observers and observer contractors.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: July 8, 1996.
Richard W. Surdi,
Acting Director, Office of Fisheries Conservation and Management,
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 96-17788 Filed 7-9-96; 1:23 pm]
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