[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 225 (Wednesday, November 20, 1996)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 59029-59030]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-29677]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 679

[Docket No. 960815223-6315-02; I.D. 081296A]
RIN 0648-AI70


Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone off Alaska; Allocations 
of Pacific Cod in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Area

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

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: NMFS issues this final rule to implement Amendment 46 to the 
Fishery Management Plan for the Groundfish Fishery in the Bering Sea 
and Aleutian Islands Area (FMP). The measures established under 
Amendment 46 and implemented by this final rule include: Allocation of 
the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area (BSAI) Pacific cod 
total allowable catch (TAC) among vessels using trawl gear, fixed gear 
(hook-and-line and pot), and jig gear; seasonal allowances of the fixed 
gear allocation of Pacific cod; and procedures for unused portions of 
one gear's allocation to be reallocated to other gear types. This 
action is necessary to respond to socioeconomic needs of the fishing 
industry that have been identified by the North Pacific Fishery 
Management Council (Council) and is intended to further the goals and 
objectives of the FMP.

EFFECTIVE DATE: January 1, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Copies of Amendment 46 and the environmental assessment/
regulatory impact review (EA/RIR) prepared for Amendment 46 may be 
obtained from the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, 605 West 
Fourth Avenue, Suite 306, Anchorage, AK 99501; telephone: 907-271-2809.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kent Lind, 907-586-7228.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Pacific cod fishery in the exclusive 
economic zone (EEZ) of the BSAI is managed by NMFS under the FMP. The 
FMP was prepared by the Council under the Magnuson Fishery Conservation 
and Management Act (Magnuson Act). Regulations governing the groundfish 
fishery of the BSAI are set out at 50 CFR part 679. General regulations 
governing fisheries in the EEZ are set out at 50 CFR part 600.

Background

    At its June 1996 meeting, the Council adopted Amendment 46 and 
recommended that NMFS prepare a rulemaking to implement the amendment. 
A notice of availability of Amendment 46 was published in the Federal 
Register on August 20, 1996 (61 FR 43035), and invited comment on the 
amendment through October 15, 1996. No written comments were received 
on the amendment. A proposed rule to implement Amendment 46 was 
published in the Federal Register on August 22, 1996 (61 FR 43325). 
Comments on the proposed rule were invited through October 3, 1996. One 
written comment on the proposed rule was received and is responded to 
in the Response to Comments section below.
    Amendment 46 was approved by NMFS on November 7, 1996, under 
section 304(b) of the Magnuson Act. This amendment establishes FMP 
authority to: Allocate the BSAI Pacific cod TAC among vessels using 
trawl gear, fixed gear, and jig gear; divide the fixed gear allocation 
of Pacific cod into seasonal allowances; and reallocate unused portions 
of one gear's allocation to other gear types. Upon reviewing the 
reasons for Amendment 46, and the comments on the proposed rule to 
implement it, NMFS has determined that this action is necessary for the 
conservation and management of the BSAI Pacific cod fishery. Additional 
information on this action may be found in the preamble to the proposed 
rule and in the EA/RIR.

Management Measures

    The following management measures are established by Amendment 46:
    1. The BSAI Pacific cod TAC is allocated among gear types as 
follows: Fixed gear, 51 percent; trawl gear, 47 percent; and jig gear, 
2 percent.
    2. The BSAI Pacific cod TAC allocated to vessels using trawl gear 
is further allocated 50 percent to catcher vessels and 50 percent to 
catcher/processors.
    3. The BSAI Pacific cod TAC allocated to vessels using fixed gear 
is divided into three seasons of 4 months each. The percentage of TAC 
apportioned to each season will be determined by NMFS in consultation 
with the Council according to the following criteria: The seasonal 
distribution of prohibited species, the seasonal distribution of 
Pacific cod relative to prohibited species distribution, the expected 
variations in Pacific halibut bycatch rates throughout the fishing 
year, and the economic effects of any seasonal allowance of Pacific cod 
on the fixed gear fisheries.
    4. NMFS may reallocate Pacific cod from vessels using trawl gear to 
vessels using fixed gear and vice versa anytime during the fishing year 
that the Administrator, Alaska Region, NMFS (Regional Administrator), 
determines that one gear group or the other would not be able to 
harvest its allocation of Pacific cod.
    5. Any portion of the Pacific cod TAC allocated to vessels using 
jig gear and projected by NMFS to be unused by the end of the fishing 
year will be reallocated to vessels using fixed gear on September 15 of 
each fishing year.
    6. Any unused fixed gear seasonal allocation will be reallocated in 
a manner determined by NMFS in annual consultation with the Council to 
promote the goals and objectives of the FMP. This measure could, for 
example, allow NMFS to reallocate unused fixed gear allocation from the 
first season to the third season when halibut bycatch rates, product 
quality, and markets are most advantageous.

Response to Comments

    One letter of comment was received on the proposed rule and is 
summarized and responded to in the comment below:
    Comment: We participated in the industry allocation negotiations 
for Pacific cod and supported the allocation agreement arrived at by 
the Council's industry negotiating committee. We continue to support 
the industry agreement and have only one clarification to make 
regarding NMFS' interpretation of the agreement in the proposed rule.
    The proposed rule states that NMFS can reallocate unused portions 
of the annual Pacific cod TAC that one gear group or the other would 
not be able to harvest. From our perspective, the industry agreement 
was based on an understanding that reallocations within the trawl 
sector could be made, should that become necessary, and that type of 
reallocation would have the highest priority. The factory trawler 
sector's acceptance of the new 50/50 split of trawl sector allocation 
between catcher vessels and factory trawlers, which represents a 
smaller than historic share for factory trawlers, was in part based on 
an expectation that NMFS would, as a matter of priority, first 
reallocate any

[[Page 59030]]

Pacific cod TAC unused by one trawl sector to the other trawl sector. 
This condition is important because the 50/50 trawl split is a new 
feature and little or no understanding exists of how it will affect the 
amount of Pacific cod available to the trawl sector as a whole.
    Response: NMFS agrees. Language was added to the final rule to 
clarify that any portion of a trawl gear allocation that is unused by 
one sector of the trawl fleet will first be made available to the other 
sector of the trawl fleet before being reallocated to other gear types.

Changes from the Proposed Rule

    The only change from the proposed rule is the addition of a 
paragraph at Sec. 679.20(a)(7)(ii)(A) to clarify that any trawl gear 
allocation that is unused by one sector of the trawl fleet will first 
be made available to the other sector of the trawl fleet before being 
reallocated to other gear types.

Classification

    The Regional Administrator determined that Amendment 46 is 
necessary for the conservation and management of the BSAI Pacific cod 
fishery and that it is consistent with the Magnuson Act and other 
applicable laws.
    This proposed rule has been determined to be not significant for 
the purposes of E.O. 12866.
    The Assistant General Counsel for Legislation and Regulation of the 
Department of Commerce certified to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of 
the Small Business Administration when this rule was proposed, that it 
would not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of 
small entities. The comment received and the change made to the rule in 
response thereto do not change the reason for that certification.

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 679

    Fisheries, Reporting and Recordkeeping requirements.

    Dated: November 13, 1996.
Rolland A. Schmitten,
Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
    For the reasons set out in the preamble, 50 CFR part 679 is amended 
as follows:

PART 679--FISHERIES OF THE EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE OFF ALASKA

    1. The authority citation for 50 CFR part 679 continues to read as 
follows:

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

    2. In Sec. 679.20, paragraph (a)(7) is revised to read as follows:


Sec. 679.20  General limitations.

* * * * *
    (a) * * *
    (7) Pacific cod TAC, BSAI--(i) TAC by gear. (A) The BSAI TAC of 
Pacific cod, after subtraction of reserves, will be allocated 2 percent 
to vessels using jig gear, 51 percent to vessels using hook-and-line or 
pot gear, and 47 percent to vessels using trawl gear.
    (B) The portion of Pacific cod TAC allocated to trawl gear under 
paragraph (a)(7)(i)(A) of this section will be further allocated 50 
percent to catcher vessels and 50 percent to catcher/processors as 
defined for the purposes of recordkeeping and reporting at Sec. 679.2.
    (C) The Regional Director may establish separate directed fishing 
allowances and prohibitions authorized under paragraph (d) of this 
section for vessels harvesting Pacific cod using jig gear, hook-and-
line or pot gear, or trawl gear.
    (ii) Unused gear allocations--(A) Reallocation within the trawl 
sector. If, during a fishing year, the Regional Director determines 
that either trawl catcher vessels or trawl catcher/processors will not 
be able to harvest the entire amount of Pacific cod in the BSAI 
allocated to those vessels under paragraph (a)(7)(i) or (a)(7)(ii)(B) 
of this section, NMFS will first make the projected unused amount of 
Pacific cod available to the other trawl vessel sector before any 
reallocation to vessels using other gear types.
    (B) Reallocation between gear types. If, during a fishing year, the 
Regional Director determines that vessels using trawl gear or hook-and-
line or pot gear will not be able to harvest the entire amount of 
Pacific cod in the BSAI allocated to those vessels under paragraphs 
(a)(7)(i) or (a)(7)(iii) of this section, NMFS may reallocate the 
projected unused amount of Pacific cod to vessels harvesting Pacific 
cod using the other gear type(s) through notification in the Federal 
Register.
    (iii) Reallocation of TAC specified for jig gear. On September 15 
of each year, the Regional Director will reallocate any projected 
unused amount of Pacific cod in the BSAI allocated to vessels using jig 
gear to vessels using hook-and-line or pot gear through notification in 
the Federal Register.
    (iv) Seasonal allowances--(A) Time periods. NMFS, after 
consultation with the Council, may divide the TAC allocated to vessels 
using hook-and-line or pot gear under paragraph (a)(7)(i) of this 
section among the following three periods: January 1 through April 30, 
May 1 through August 31, and September 1 through December 31.
    (B) Factors to be considered. NMFS will base any seasonal allowance 
of the Pacific cod allocation to vessels using hook-and-line and pot 
gear on the following information:
    (1) Seasonal distribution of Pacific cod relative to prohibited 
species distribution.
    (2) Variations in prohibited species bycatch rates in the Pacific 
cod fisheries throughout the fishing year.
    (3) Economic effects of any seasonal allowance of Pacific cod on 
the hook-and-line and pot-gear fisheries.
    (C) Unused seasonal allowances. Any unused portion of a seasonal 
allowance of Pacific cod allocated to vessels using hook-and-line or 
pot gear will be reallocated to the remaining seasons during the 
current fishing year in a manner determined by NMFS, after consultation 
with the Council.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 96-29677 Filed 11-19-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F