[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]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F