[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 47 (Tuesday, March 11, 1997)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 11109-11110]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-5977]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
50 CFR Part 679

[Docket No. 961220363-7038-02; I.D. 120296B]
RIN 0648-AI65


Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Maximum 
Retainable Bycatch Percentages

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

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: NMFS implements a regulatory amendment to reduce maximum 
retainable bycatch percentages for sablefish in the Gulf of Alaska 
(GOA) groundfish trawl fisheries and to allow the use of GOA arrowtooth 
flounder as a basis species for the retention of bycatch amounts of 
pollock and Pacific cod when either of these two species is closed to 
directed fishing. This action is necessary to slow the harvest rate of 
GOA sablefish and to provide for fuller utilization of pollock and 
Pacific cod incidentally taken in the arrowtooth flounder fishery. This 
action is intended to further the objectives of the Fishery Management 
Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska (FMP).

EFFECTIVE DATE: April 10, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the environmental assessment/regulatory impact 
review prepared for this action may be obtained from the Fisheries 
Management Division, Alaska Region, NMFS, P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 
99802, Attn: Lori Gravel.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sue Salveson, 907-586-7228.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Fishing for groundfish by U.S. vessels in 
the exclusive economic zone of the GOA is managed by NMFS according to 
the FMP. The FMP was prepared by the North Pacific Fishery Management 
Council (Council) under authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 
Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). Fishing by U.S. 
vessels is governed by regulations implementing the FMP at subpart H of 
50 CFR part 600 and 50 CFR part 679.
    Regulations at Sec. 679.20(e) establish maximum retainable bycatch 
(MRB) percentages for groundfish species or species groups. These MRB 
percentages establish the amount of a species that is closed to 
directed fishing that may be retained on board a vessel, relative to 
amounts of other retained species open to directed fishing.
    At the Council's September 1996 meeting, the Council requested that 
NMFS initiate rulemaking to change several MRB percentages. This 
request was in response to (1) concerns about the extent to which some 
existing MRB percentages allow vessel operators to top off their 
retained catch of bycatch species up to the MRB amount and (2) 
testimony that a limited fishery for GOA arrowtooth flounder exists and 
that this species should be allowed as a basis species for the 
retention of pollock and Pacific cod. A proposed rule to implement the 
Council's recommended changes was published in the Federal Register on 
January 6, 1997 (62 FR 724). No comments were received within the 
public comment period that ended February 5, 1997.
    This final rule implements the following changes to the MRB 
percentages established for GOA groundfish:
    1. The MRB percentage for sablefish relative to deep water species 
is reduced from 15 percent to 7 percent; and
    2. The use of GOA arrowtooth flounder is allowed as a basis species 
for the retention of pollock and Pacific cod. An MRB of 5 percent of 
each these species relative to arrowtooth flounder is established.
    Further justification of these changes is discussed in the preamble 
to the proposed rule.

Changes from the proposed rule

    NMFS clarifies Sec. 679.20(f)(2) so that regulatory constraints to 
using arrowtooth flounder as a basis to calculate retained amounts of 
other groundfish species are consistent with the allowances provided 
under the final rule for GOA pollock and Pacific cod.

Classification

    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 rule would not have a 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. 
The reasons were published in the Federal Register with the proposed 
rule (62 FR 724, January 6, 1997). No comments were received regarding 
this certification. As a result, a regulatory flexibility analysis was 
not prepared.
    This proposed rule has been determined to be not significant for 
purposes of E.O. 12866.

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 679

    Fisheries, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

    Dated: March 3, 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 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 part 679, Table 10 is revised to read as follows:

                                                              Table 10 to Part 679.--Current Gulf of Alaska Retainable Percentages                                                              
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                                                                                                                       Bycatch species \1\                                                      
                                                                               Pacific    Deep             -------------------------------------------  Aggregated  DSR SEEO    Atka      Other 
                                                                     Pollock     cod    flatfish  Rex sole  Flathead   Shallow                           rockfish      \4\    mackerel   species
                                                                                                              sole    flatfish  Arrowtooth  Sablefish      \2\                                  
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Basis Species:                                                                                                                                                                                  
    Pollock.......................................................    \3\ na        20        20        20        20        20         35           1           5         10        20        20
    Pacific cod...................................................        20    \3\ na        20        20        20        20         35           1           5         10        20        20
    Deep flatfish.................................................        20        20    \3\ na        20        20        20         35           7          15          1        20        20
    Rex sole......................................................        20        20        20    \3\ na        20        20         35           7          15          1        20        20
    Flathead sole.................................................        20        20        20        20    \3\ na        20         35           7          15          1        20        20
    Shallow flatfish..............................................        20        20        20        20        20    \3\ na         35           1           5         10        20        20
    Arrowtooth....................................................         5         5         0         0         0         0     \3\ na           0           0          0         0         0
    Sablefish.....................................................        20        20        20        20        20        20         35      \3\ na          15          1        20        20
    Pacific Ocean perch...........................................        20        20        20        20        20        20         35           7          15          1        20        20
    Shortraker/rougheye...........................................        20        20        20        20        20        20         35           7          15          1        20        20

[[Page 11110]]

                                                                                                                                                                                                
    Other rockfish................................................        20        20        20        20        20        20         35           7          15          1        20        20
    Northern rockfish.............................................        20        20        20        20        20        20         35           7          15          1        20        20
    Pelagic rockfish..............................................        20        20        20        20        20        20         35           7          15          1        20        20
    DSR-SEEO......................................................        20        20        20        20        20        20         35           7          15     \3\ na        20        20
    Thornyhead....................................................        20        20        20        20        20        20         35           7          15          1        20        20
    Atka mackerel.................................................        20        20        20        20        20        20         35           1           5         10    \3\ na        20
    Other species.................................................        20        20        20        20        20        20         35           1           5         10        20    \3\ na
    Aggregated amount non-groundfish species......................        20        20        20        20        20        20         35           1           5         10        20       20 
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\1\ For definition of species, see Table 1 of the Gulf of Alaska groundfish specifications.                                                                                                     
\2\ Aggregated rockfish means rockfish of the genera Sebastes and Sebastolobus except in the southeast Outside District where demersal shelf rockfish (DSR) is a separate category.             
\3\ na=not applicable.                                                                                                                                                                          
\4\ SEEO=Southeast Outside District.                                                                                                                                                            

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


Sec. 679.20  General limitations.

* * * * *
    (f) * * *
    (2) Retainable amounts. Except as provided in Table 10 to this 
part, arrowtooth flounder, or any groundfish species for which directed 
fishing is closed, may not be used to calculate retainable amounts of 
other groundfish species.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 97-5977 Filed 3-10-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P