[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 232 (Monday, December 2, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 63812-63814]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-30634]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
50 CFR Part 679
[Docket No. 961121323-6323-01; I.D. 111396C]
RIN 0648-AJ05
Fisheries in the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Groundfish
of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Area; Increase Halibut Quota
Share Use Limits in Area 4
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Proposed rule; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: NMFS proposes to implement a regulatory amendment to the
Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) Program for fixed gear Pacific halibut
fisheries in and off Alaska. This action would increase halibut quota
share (QS) use limits for QS holders in IFQ regulatory
[[Page 63813]]
areas 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, and 4E (Area 4) of the Bering Sea and Aleutian
Islands (BSAI). This action is necessary to increase individual harvest
limits of IFQ halibut in Area 4 and is intended to improve the profits
for IFQ halibut fishermen operating in Area 4.
DATES: Comments on the proposed rule and supporting documents must be
received by January 2, 1997.
ADDRESSES: Comments must be sent to Ronald J. Berg, Chief, Fisheries
Management Division, Alaska Region, NMFS, Room 453, 709 West 9th
Street, Juneau, AK 99801, or P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802,
Attention: Lori J. Gravel.
Copies of the environmental assessment/regulatory impact review/
initial regulatory flexibility analysis (EA/RIR/IRFA) are available
from the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, 605 West 4th Avenue,
Suite 306, Anchorage, AK 99501.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James Hale, 907-586-7228.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The fixed gear halibut fishery is managed by the IFQ Program, a
limited access system for fixed gear Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus
stenolepis) and sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria) fisheries in and off
Alaska. The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council), under
authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management
Act and the Northern Pacific Halibut Act of 1982 (Halibut Act),
recommended the IFQ Program to reduce excessive fishing capacity, while
maintaining the social and economic character of the fixed gear fishery
and the Alaskan coastal communities where many of these fishermen are
based. NMFS implemented the IFQ Program in 1995. Various constraints
were placed on QS and IFQ that limit consolidation of QS and ensure
that practicing fishermen, rather than investment speculators, retain
harvesting privileges. Use limits on BSAI sablefish QS are written into
the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for the Groundfish Fishery of the
Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Area. This action does not propose any
change to sablefish QS use limits. No FMP for halibut exists; the
halibut fishery is subject to the regulations of the International
Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) and additional management measures
developed by the Council that allocate harvesting privileges among U.S.
fishermen. The Halibut Act provides NMFS, in consultation with the
Council, with authority to implement such allocation measures through a
regulatory amendment.
Limits on QS use were created in response to concerns that an
unrestricted market for QS could result in a few powerful interests
controlling most of the IFQ landings and thus result in excessive
decreases in the number and demographic distribution of vessels and
fishermen participating in the fixed gear halibut fishery. The use
limits restrict the amount of QS that a single QS holder may use to
harvest IFQ species. Current regulations at 50 CFR 679.42(f)(3) allow a
single QS holder to use no more than \1/2\ percent (0.005) of the total
amount of halibut QS for IFQ regulatory areas 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, and 4E
combined, unless the amount in excess of this limit was received in the
initial allocation of QS. The \1/2\ percent limit for these regulatory
areas combined limited QS use to 165,015 QS units per IFQ holder in
1996.
The amount of halibut, in pounds, that a fisherman is allowed to
harvest each year is calculated annually by dividing the number of QS
units a fisherman holds by the QS pool, the total of all QS for each
respective IFQ regulatory area. From the resulting figure is derived
the percentage of the catch limit of halibut that a fisherman may
harvest in each IFQ regulatory area for which the fisherman holds QS.
This percentage is then multiplied by the catch limit in each IFQ
regulatory area determined annually for halibut by the IPHC. The
mathematical formula for deriving IFQ pounds from QS is given at 50 CFR
679.40(c). Because the total allowable catch can change annually in
response to changes in fish stocks, IFQ based on a certain amount of QS
can also vary from year to year. The QS pool can also change as appeals
are decided and additional QS issued, or as QS are revoked due to
violations.
In 1995, representatives of the fishing industry testified to the
Council that the limited profits available from halibut harvests under
the \1/2\ percent limit were insufficient to justify the expense of
traveling to remote fishing grounds in the western BSAI. To further
exacerbate this problem, most QS are distributed among IFQ regulatory
areas 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, and 4E. Hence, QS units result in differing
amounts of IFQ poundage for each specific regulatory area. For example,
in 1996, the Area 4 use limit of \1/2\ percent (165,015 QS units)
resulted in 32,813 IFQ lb for IFQ regulatory area 4B, but only 16,005
IFQ lb for IFQ regulatory area 4C. Moreover, because the current use
limit is expressed as a percentage of the QS pool--and the size of the
QS pool can vary from year to year--a fisherman's QS holdings that are
at the use limit in one year could exceed the use limit in another year
without the fisherman adding more QS to his holdings.
At its meeting in January 1996, the Council initiated an analysis
of options for increasing Area 4 halibut use limits from the current
one-half percent to a range of from 1 percent to 2 percent and, at its
next meeting in April 1996, approved the analysis for public review.
The Council took final action to recommend a regulatory amendment
increasing the use limits to 1\1/2\ percent at its meeting in June
1996. Under this proposal, the halibut QS use limit in Area 4 would be
increased from one-half percent to 1\1/2\ percent of the QS pool. This
would allow halibut QS holders currently at the present limit to
increase their QS and would provide greater economic incentive to
harvest halibut in remote areas of the western BSAI.
Current regulations at 50 CFR 679.42 set the use limit as a
percentage of the QS pool in any given year; this action would set the
use limit for Area 4 at 1\1/2\ percent of the 1996 QS pool for a total
of 495,044 QS units. For consistency, regulations at 50 CFR 679.42(f)
(1) and (2), which set halibut QS use limits for IFQ regulatory areas
2C, 3A, and 3B, would be revised also to set the halibut QS use limit
for all IFQ regulatory areas at a fixed number of QS units rather than
a percentage of the annual QS pool. By setting the use limit at a fixed
number of QS units, this action would provide QS holders with an
unchanging QS limit that will not vary according to the size of the QS
pool. While the amount of IFQ produced from a certain amount of QS will
vary from year to year, an invariable use limit would allow QS holders
to judge more accurately whether their holdings exceed the use limit.
Classification
This proposed rule has been determined to be not significant for
purposes of E.O. 12866.
The Council prepared an IRFA as part of the RIR, which describes
the impact this proposed rule would have on small entities, if adopted.
A copy is available (see ADDRESSES). Approximately 500 halibut QS
holders in regulatory areas 4A through 4D would benefit from an
increase in the Area 4 QS use limit, either as QS buyers or sellers.
Area 4E would not be affected by this action, because all of the
halibut QS in this area is assigned to the CDQ Program, which would not
be impacted by this rule. Under this proposed action, 45 QS holders
would be allowed to increase
[[Page 63814]]
their holdings above the current limit to the new limit. Because
blocked QS are limited by block and vessel category restrictions,
unblocked QS units are more likely to be transferred. The unblocked
halibut QS units in regulatory areas 4A through 4D equal approximately
2.1 million lb (952 metric tons) of halibut worth more than $4.6
million in exvessel value. Therefore, this proposed action would have a
significant positive impact on a substantial number of small
businesses. It would significantly improve the profitability of
operations for fishermen wishing to harvest IFQ halibut in remote areas
of the western BSAI.
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 679
Alaska fisheries, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
Dated: November 25, 1996.
Gary Matlock,
Acting Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
For the reasons set out in the preamble, 50 CFR Part 679 is
proposed to be amended as follows:
PART 679--FISHERIES IN 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. 679.42, paragraphs (f)(1) through (f)(3) are revised to
read as follows:
Sec. 679.42 Limitations on use of QS and IFQ.
* * * * *
(f) * * *
(1) IFQ regulatory area 2C. 599,799 units of halibut QS.
(2) IFQ regulatory areas 2C, 3A, and 3B. 3,005,646 units of halibut
QS.
(3) IFQ regulatory areas 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, and 4E. 495,044 units of
halibut QS.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 96-30634 Filed 11-29-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P