[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 35 (Friday, February 21, 1997)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 7993-7994]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-4263]
[[Page 7993]]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
50 CFR Part 679
[Docket No. 970206022-7022-01; I.D. 012197C]
RIN 0648-AJ35
Fisheries in the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Modify Prior
Notice of Landing Requirement
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
and sablefish fisheries in and off Alaska. This action would redefine
the length of time within which a 6-hour prior notice of landing is
valid and require that a new prior notice of IFQ landing be submitted
to NMFS if the landing originally reported will take place either
before or more than 2 hours after the date and time scheduled in the
original prior notice of IFQ landing. This action is necessary to
reinforce the enforcement rationale underlying the original requirement
and improve compliance with IFQ regulations. This action is intended to
improve the IFQ Program's ability to manage Pacific halibut and
sablefish resources efficiently.
DATES: Comments on the proposed rule and Regulatory Impact Review (RIR)
must be received by March 24, 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 RIR for this action may be
obtained from the same address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James Hale, 907-586-7228.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The fixed gear halibut and sablefish fisheries are 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, which NMFS implemented in
1995. The IFQ Program was designed 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.
In the implementing rules for the IFQ Program, NMFS requires that a
vessel operator wishing to land IFQ species notify NMFS no less than 6
hours prior to the landing and include in this notification the name
and location of the registered buyer to whom the fish will be landed
and the anticipated date and time of landing (Sec. 679.5(l)(1)(i)). The
intent of this prior-notice regulation is to provide NMFS with advance
notice of a pending landing so that NMFS Enforcement personnel may be
present to monitor the landing and ensure compliance with program
regulations.
After the first 2 years of the IFQ Program, NMFS has found that
this regulation does not adequately serve the enforcement function and
proposes to revise it to reflect more clearly the intended purpose of
the 6-hour prior notice requirement. The current regulations do not
require fishermen to make the landing at the time scheduled in the
prior-notice report; they are restricted only from making the landing
before 6 hours have elapsed since the prior-notice report was
submitted. Moreover, the current regulation requires only an
``anticipated date and time of landing'' and states that the prior-
notice report must be given ``no fewer than 6 hours before the
landing.'' The prior notice of landing can be waived at the discretion
of clearing officers on a case-by-case basis, but NMFS Enforcement can
neither enforce an ``anticipated date and time'' nor currently require
fishermen to land at the time reported in the prior-notice report as
long as the landing is not made within 6 hours from the time the prior-
notice report is submitted. The current regulation prevents efficient
use of enforcement resources, because it fails to require that
fishermen land IFQ species at the time scheduled in the prior notice
(or within a reasonable time thereof) so that enforcement personnel may
be present for the landing.
NMFS proposes a regulatory amendment to modify the requirement by
defining the length of time within which a 6-hour prior notice is
valid. This action would require that fishermen land IFQ species at the
time specified in the prior notice or within 2 hours after the
specified time. In the event that a vessel does not make the landing
within the 2-hour limit on an original prior-notice report, this action
would require the vessel operator to submit a new prior-notice report
subject to all the requirements of the original report. Note also that
a vessel operator wishing to make a landing earlier than the time
originally scheduled in a prior-notice report must still have a 6-hour
margin of time within which to submit a new 6-hour prior notice of
landing.
Also, the current regulations require that the prior-notice report
include the name and location of the registered buyer to whom a landing
will be made. ``Location'' may be misinterpreted to mean the business
address of the registered buyer rather than, as was intended, the
actual location of the landing. This action would clarify that the
prior notice report must provide NMFS with the location of the landing.
The prior-notice report is crucial to NMFS Enforcement's ability to
monitor IFQ landings. The proposed regulatory change would improve a
reporting requirement that is necessary to the integrity of the program
as a conservation and management tool.
Classification
This proposed rule contains a collection-of-information requirement
subject to the Paperwork Reduction At (PRA). The requirement for a 6-
hour prior notice of IFQ landings has been approved by the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) Control Number 0648-0272. Public reporting
burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 12
minutes per response, including the time for reviewing instructions,
searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data
needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information.
Comments are invited on (a) whether the proposed collection of
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of
the agency, including whether the information shall have practical
utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the
proposed collection of information; (c) ways to enhance the quality,
utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways
to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents,
including through use of automated collection techniques or other forms
of information technology. Send comments on this or another aspects of
the information collection to NMFS (See ADDRESSES) above, and to OMB at
the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management
and Budget, Washington, DC 20503 (Attn: NOAA Desk Officer).
Not withstanding any other provision of the law, no person is
required to respond to, nor shall any person be subject to a penalty
for failure to comply
[[Page 7994]]
with, a collection of information subject to the requirements of the
PRA, unless that collection displays a currently valid OMB Control
Number.
This proposed rule has been determined to be not significant for
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 that this proposed rule, if adopted,
would not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of
small entities as follows.
This change constitutes a minor regulatory amendment needed to
reinforce the intended purpose of the 6-hour prior notice of
landing. The current regulations do not require, as was intended,
fishermen to make the landing at the time scheduled in the Prior
Notice; they are restricted only from making the landing before 6
hours have elapsed since the Prior Notice was given. This action
would define the length of time within which a 6-hour prior notice
is valid and require that fishermen land IFQ species at the time
specified in the prior notice or within 2 hours after the specified
time.
The estimate of the reporting burden associated with the prior
notice of landing is .2 hours and $2.00 per response, as described
in the Supporting Statement for Collection of Information submitted
for OMB authorization of the IFQ Program (OMB control number 0648-
0272). NMFS expects instances when a vessel operator inadvertently
miscalculates the expected time of landing and thus needs to submit
an additional prior notice to be relatively infrequent. Hence, the
economic impact of this rule would not be significant.
Therefore, a regulatory flexibility analysis was not prepared.
List of Subjects in 50 CFR 679
Fisheries, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
Dated: February 13, 1997.
Nancy Foster
Deputy 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 OF THE EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE OFF ALASKA
1. The authority citation for part 679 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 773 et seq., 1801 et seq.
2. In Sec. 679.5, paragraph (l)(1)(i)(B) is revised and paragraph
(l)(1)(i)(D) is added to read as follows:
Sec. 679.5 Recordkeeping and reporting.
* * * * *
(l) * * *
(1) * * *
(i) * * *
(B) Notification must include: Name of the registered buyer(s) to
whom the IFQ halibut or IFQ sablefish will be landed and the location
of the landing; vessel identification; estimated weight of the IFQ
halibut or IFQ sablefish that will be landed; identification number(s)
of the IFQ card(s) that will be used to land the IFQ halibut or IFQ
sablefish; and the date and time that the landing will take place.
* * * * *
(D) The operator of any vessel wishing to land IFQ halibut or IFQ
sablefish before the date and time reported in the prior notice or
later than 2 hours after the date and time reported in the prior notice
must submit a new prior notice of IFQ landing in compliance with the
provisions set forth in paragraphs (l)(1)(i)(A) through (C) of this
section.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 97-4263 Filed 2-20-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F