[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 54 (Thursday, March 20, 1997)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 13351]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-6965]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
50 CFR Part 679

[I.D. 031497A]


Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Season 
Opening

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

ACTION: Notice of fishing season dates.

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SUMMARY: NMFS is opening the directed fishery for sablefish with fixed 
gear managed under the Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) program. The 
season will open on 12:00 noon, Alaska local time (A.l.t.), March 15, 
1997, and will close 12:00 noon, A.l.t., November 15, 1997. This period 
runs concurrently with the IFQ season for Pacific halibut announced by 
the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC).

EFFECTIVE DATE: March 15, 1997, 12:00 noon, A.l.t., through November 
15, 1997, 12:00 noon, A.l.t.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Lepore, 907-586-7228.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Beginning in 1995, fishing for Pacific 
halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis) and sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria) 
with fixed gear in the IFQ regulatory areas defined in 50 CFR 679.2 has 
been managed under the IFQ Program. The IFQ Program is a regulatory 
regime designed to promote the conservation and management of these 
fisheries and to further the objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 
Conservation and Management Act and the Northern Pacific Halibut Act. 
Persons holding quota share receive an annual allocation of IFQ. 
Persons receiving an annual allocation of IFQ are authorized to harvest 
IFQ species within specified limitations. Further information on the 
implementation of the IFQ Program, and the rationale supporting it, is 
contained in the preamble to the final rule implementing the IFQ 
Program published in the Federal Register, November 9, 1993 (58 FR 
59375) and subsequent amendments.
    This announcement is consistent with 50 CFR 679.23(g)(1), which 
requires that directed fishing for sablefish managed under the IFQ 
program be specified by the Administrator, Alaska Region, NMFS 
(Regional Administrator), and announced by publication in the Federal 
Register. This method of season announcement was selected to facilitate 
coordination between the sablefish season, chosen by the Regional 
Administrator, and the halibut season, chosen by the IPHC. The directed 
fishing season for sablefish with fixed gear managed under the IFQ 
program will open on 12:00 noon, A.l.t., March 15, 1997, and will close 
12:00 noon, A.l.t., November 15, 1997. This period runs concurrently 
with the IFQ season for Pacific halibut announced by the IPHC. The IFQ 
halibut season was announced by publication in the Federal Register, 
March 18, 1997.

Classification

    This action is taken under Sec. 679.23(g)(1) and is exempt from 
review under E.O. 12866.

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

    Dated: March 14, 1997.
Bruce Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries
    National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 97-6965 Filed 3-14-97; 4:34 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F