[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 88 (Wednesday, May 7, 1997)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 24845-24848]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-11790]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 660

[Docket No. 961227373-6373-01; I.D. 042397A]


Fisheries off West Coast States and in the Western Pacific; 
Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; Trip Limit Reductions

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

ACTION: Fishing restrictions; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces further restrictions to the Pacific Coast 
groundfish fisheries for widow rockfish,

[[Page 24846]]

bocaccio, Dover sole, thornyheads, and sablefish, and clarifies the 
cross-over provisions for operating in areas with different trip 
limits. These actions are authorized by regulations implementing the 
Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP), which governs 
the groundfish fishery off Washington, Oregon, and California. These 
restrictions are intended to keep landings as close as possible to the 
1997 harvest guidelines for these species.

DATES: Effective from 0001 hours (local time) May 1, 1997, until the 
effective date of the 1998 annual specifications and management 
measures for the Pacific Coast groundfish fishery, which will be 
published in the Federal Register. For vessels operating in the B 
platoon, effective from 0001 hours (local time) May 16, 1997, until the 
effective date of the 1998 annual specifications and management 
measures for the Pacific Coast groundfish fishery, which will be 
published in the Federal Register. Comments will be accepted through 
May 22, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments to William Stelle, Jr., Administrator, 
Northwest Region (Regional Administrator), National Marine Fisheries 
Service, 7600 Sand Point Way NE., Seattle, WA 98115-0070; or William 
Hogarth, Acting Administrator, Southwest Region, National Marine 
Fisheries Service, 501 West Ocean Blvd., Suite 4200, Long Beach, CA 
90802-4213.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William L. Robinson at 206-526-6140 or 
Rodney McInnis at 310-980-4040.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The following changes to routine management 
measures were recommended by the Pacific Fishery Management Council 
(Council), in consultation with the states of Washington, Oregon, and 
California, at its April 8-11, 1997, meeting in San Francisco, CA.

Widow Rockfish

    The limited entry fishery for widow rockfish currently is managed 
under a 2-month cumulative trip limit of 70,000 lb (31,752 kg). The 
best available information at the April 1997 Council meeting indicated 
that 1,458 mt of widow rockfish had been taken through March 31, 1997, 
and that the 6,500-mt harvest guideline would be reached by mid-October 
1997 if the rate of landings is not slowed. The Council therefore 
recommended that the 2-month cumulative trip limit for widow rockfish 
be reduced May 1, 1997, from 70,000 lb (31,752 kg) to 60,000 lb (27,216 
kg) coastwide to keep landings within the harvest guideline in 1997.

Bocaccio

    Bocaccio, which are found predominantly off California south of 
Cape Mendocino (40 deg.30' N. lat.), comprise one component of the 
Sebastes complex of rockfish. The acceptable biological catch (ABC) and 
harvest guideline for bocaccio were severely reduced in 1997 as a 
result of a new stock assessment. The harvest guideline for bocaccio 
was set at its overfishing threshold in 1997, as a 1-year step down to 
fishing at the level of ABC. Bocaccio is particularly difficult to 
manage because many gear types are involved. It is caught with 
commercial trawl, longline, hook-and-line, set net, and pot gear, and 
substantial amounts also are taken in the recreational fishery.
    The best available information at the April 1997 Council meeting 
indicated that 80 mt of bocaccio had been taken through March 31, 1997, 
and that the 387-mt harvest guideline would be reached by the end of 
the year. However, uncertainty in recreational catch levels, and 
projections based on achievement of the 332-mt commercial harvest 
guideline (the harvest gudeline minus the recreational catch) indicate 
that the commercial harvest guideline would be reached by late October. 
To assure that the harvest guideline and overfishing threshold for 
bocaccio are not exceeded, the Council recommended two changes to trip 
limits south of Cape Mendocino, effective May 1, 1997: A reduction from 
12,000 lb (5,443 kg) to 10,000 lb (4,536 kg) in the 2-month cumulative 
trip limit for the limited entry fishery; and, for the open access 
fishery, a reduction from 300 lb (136 kg) to 250 lb (113 kg) per trip 
for hook-and-line and trap gear, with no change to the monthly 
cumulative limit of 2,000 lb (907 kg). No changes were recommended to 
the trip limits for the open access set net fishery south of Cape 
Mendocino, the open access fishery targeting on non-groundfish species, 
or to the bag limit for the recreational fishery, but such changes 
could be made in the future.

Dover Sole, Thornyheads, and Trawl-Caught Sablefish (the DTS 
Complex)

    The Council recommended that changes be made May 1, 1997, to the 2-
month cumulative trip limits for Dover sole north of Cape Mendocino and 
thornyheads coastwide, which also result in a reduction to the trip 
limit for the DTS complex north of Cape Mendocino.

Dover Sole

    The limited entry fishery for Dover sole is managed with a 
coastwide harvest guideline which includes a separate harvest guideline 
for the Columbia area. Coastwide landings of Dover sole are projected 
to reach the 11,050-mt harvest guideline on November 26, 1997, but this 
is due predominantly to exceeding the 2,850-mt Columbia area harvest 
guideline by 827-1,288 mt. If landing rates are not slowed, the harvest 
guideline in the Columbia area is projected to be reached in early to 
late September. The Council therefore recommended lowering the 2-month 
cumulative trip limit from 38,000 lb (17,237 kg) to 30,000 lb (13,608 
kg) for the limited entry fishery north of Cape Mendocino, with the 
intent that both the Columbia and coastwide harvest guidelines would 
not be exceeded.

Thornyheads (Shortspine and Longspine)

    The limited entry fishery for the two species of thornyheads is 
managed with a coastwide, 2-month cumulative trip limit for both 
species combined, which includes a separate limit for shortspine 
thornyheads. The harvest guideline for longspine thornyheads will not 
be reached in order to protect shortspine thornyheads. Shortspine 
thornyheads are managed so as not to exceed total catch of 1,500 mt in 
1997 (1,380 mt for the landed catch harvest guideline and 120 mt for 
trip-limit induced discards), and therefore is above the 1,000-mt ABC 
but below the 1,757-mt overfishing threshold (total catch). 
Approximately 400 mt of shortspine thornyheads had been landed through 
March 31 and the harvest guideline is projected to be reached on 
October 26, 1997, if landing rates are not slowed. The Council 
therefore recommended a reduction in the 2-month cumulative trip limit 
for thornyheads from 4,000 lb (1,814 kg) to 3,000 lb (1,361 kg). 
Because both species often are caught together, a reduction also was 
recommended to the overall limit for thornyheads, from 20,000 lb (9,072 
kg) to 15,000 lb (6,804 kg), to maintain the same proportion between 
longspine and shortspine thornyheads. Otherwise, additional discards of 
shortspine thornyheads could occur, with no real reduction in the level 
of catch.

DTS-North of Cape Mendocino

    The limited entry, 2-month cumulative trip limit for the DTS 
complex north of Cape Mendocino is the sum of the trip limits for Dover 
sole, thornyheads, and trawl-caught sablefish.

[[Page 24847]]

The 2-month cumulative limit for the DTS complex therefore is reduced 
by 13,000 lb (5,897 kg), from 70,000 lb (31,752 kg) to 57,000 lb 
(25,855 kg), reflecting the reductions in the trip limits for Dover 
sole north of Cape Mendocino and for thornyheads coastwide. However, 
the 2-month cumulative trip limit of 100,000 lb (45,359 kg) south of 
Cape Mendocino is not changed to reflect the reduction in the trip 
limits for thornyheads. This has the effect of increasing the maximum 
amount of Dover sole that may be taken south of Cape Mendocino, because 
the limit for Dover sole in that area is the DTS limit minus the 
landings of thornyheads and trawl-caught sablefish.

Fixed-Gear Sablefish Fishery North of 36 deg. N. lat.

    Sablefish are managed to achieve the limited entry allocation for 
nontrawl gear of 2,754 mt in 1997. Projected landings to the end of the 
year are not available because the regular (or ``primary'') season 
which accounts for the majority of landings has not yet occurred. 
However, the Council has declared its intent to keep landings in the 
daily trip limit fishery, that occurs outside the regular and any mop-
up seasons, to about the same level (385 mt) as in 1996. Testimony at 
the April Council meeting indicated that landings by the limited entry 
fixed gear fleet were accelerating, possibly by vessels expecting not 
to qualify for the proposed sablefish endorsement that would be 
required to participate in the regular and mop-up seasons for the 
limited entry sablefish fishery in 1997 and beyond. Therefore the 
Council recommended that landings under the current daily trip limit of 
300 lb (136 kg) be further restricted with a cumulative limit of 5,100 
lb (2,313 kg) of sablefish per month in the limited entry fishery north 
of 36 deg. N. lat.

Fixed-Gear Sablefish Fishery South of 36 deg. N. lat.

    The Council also considered a proposal from limited entry, fixed 
gear sablefish fishers who operate in the Conception area south of 
36 deg. N. lat. The Council recommended that if at the end of July, 
cumulative landings of sablefish in the Conception area are 210 mt or 
less, then, effective September 1, 1997, limited entry fixed gear 
fishers operating in that area will have the option of continuing under 
the current daily trip limit or making one landing a week above 350 lb 
(159 kg) but less than 1,050 lb (476 kg). If sablefish landings reach, 
or are projected to reach, 400 mt before the end of the year, the 
option to make one landing a week above 350 lb (159 kg) will be 
rescinded. Landings of sablefish by all gears (including open access 
and limited entry trawl and nontrawl fisheries) will be included when 
monitoring or projecting the 210-mt and 400-mt levels. If this proposal 
is implemented, it will be announced in the Federal Register before 
September 1, 1997.

Future Inseason Changes to Management Measures

    The Council meetings in September and November 1997 occur just 
after the beginning of 2-month cumulative periods, making it impossible 
to implement changes at the beginning of those periods. To resolve this 
problem, the Council will consider several courses of action at its 
June meeting. Possible solutions include: Resuming 1-month cumulative 
trip limits on September 1 (which means the 60 percent monthly limits 
would become obsolete); or providing general guidance to NMFS to make 
inseason adjustments after consultation through a conference call 
rather than at a Council meeting. The Council also may consider 
imposing, for some period of time, very restrictive trip limits or even 
fishery closures as early as July 1, 1997, to ensure that harvest 
guidelines or other allocations are not exceeded, or to make sure that 
some commercially important species are available at the end of the 
year. These issues will be discussed further, and may be acted on, at 
the June 23-25, 1997, Council meeting in Seattle, WA. At its June 1997 
meeting, the Council also will review the progress of the groundfish 
fishery and may recommend rapid changes to the limits announced herein, 
as early as July 1, 1997. Any changes approved by NMFS will be 
announced in the Federal Register.

Cross-Over Provisions

    After publication of the annual management measures for 1997, NMFS 
received a comment that the cross-over provisions were confusing. NMFS 
is taking this opportunity to clarify that in paragraph A.(12)(b) of 
section IV., which discusses fishing in a more liberal area before 
fishing in a more restrictive area. That paragraph states:

    ``If a vessel takes and retains a species (or species complex) 
in an area where a higher trip limit (or no trip limit) applies, and 
possesses or lands that species (or species complex) in an area 
where a more restrictive trip limit applies, then that vessel is 
subject to the more restrictive trip limit for that trip limit 
period.''

    This paragraph is revised to clarify that ``that species'' refers 
to the same species but not necessarily the identical fish that were 
caught in the more liberal area.

NMFS Action

    For the reasons stated above, NMFS concurs with the Council's 
recommendations and makes the following changes to the 1997 annual 
management measures (62 FR 700, January 6, 1997). The trip limit 
changes for the limited entry fishery may also affect the open access 
fishery, including exempt trawl gear used to harvest pink shrimp and 
prawns, California halibut, and sea cucumbers. As stated in paragraph 
I. of the annual management measures: ``A vessel operating in the open 
access fishery must not exceed any trip limit, frequency limit, and/or 
size limit for the open access fishery; or for the same gear and/or 
subarea in the limited entry fishery; or, in any calendar month, 50 
percent of any 2-month cumulative trip limit for the same gear and/or 
subarea in the limited entry fishery, called the '50-percent monthly 
limit.''' The annual management measures are modified as follows:
    1. For crossovers, paragraph A.(12)(b) of section IV. is revised to 
read as follows:
    A. General Definitions and Provisions.
* * * * *
    (12) * * *
    (b) If a vessel takes and retains a species (or species complex) in 
an area where a higher trip limit (or no trip limit) applies, and takes 
and retains, possesses, or lands the same species (or species complex) 
in an area where a more restrictive trip limit applies, then that 
vessel is subject to the more restrictive trip limit for that trip 
limit period.
* * * * *
    2. For widow rockfish, paragraph B. of section IV. is amended as 
follows:
    B. Widow Rockfish * * *
    (1) Limited entry fishery. The cumulative trip limit for widow 
rockfish is 60,000 lb (27,216 kg) per vessel per 2-month period. The 
60-percent monthly limit is 36,000 lb (16,329 kg).
    (2) Open access fishery. Within the limits at paragraph IV.I. for 
the open access fishery, the 50-percent monthly limit for widow 
rockfish is 30,000 lb (13,608 kg).
    3. For bocaccio, paragraph C. of section IV. is amended as follows:
    C. Sebastes Complex (including Bocaccio, Yellowtail, and Canary 
Rockfish)
* * * * *
    (2) * * *
    (a) * * *
    (ii) South of Cape Mendocino. The cumulative trip limit for the 
Sebastes

[[Page 24848]]

complex taken and retained south of Cape Mendocino is 150,000 lb 
(68,039 kg) per vessel per 2-month period. Within this cumulative trip 
limit for the Sebastes complex, no more than 10,000 lb (4,534 kg) may 
be bocaccio taken and retained south of Cape Mendocino, and no more 
than 14,000 lb (6,350 kg) may be canary rockfish.
    (iii) The 60-percent monthly limits are: For the Sebastes complex, 
18,000 lb (8,165 kg) north of Cape Mendocino, and 90,000 lb (40,823 kg) 
south of Cape Mendocino; for yellowtail rockfish, 3,600 lb (1,633 kg) 
north of Cape Mendocino; for bocaccio south of Cape Mendocino, 6,000 lb 
(2,722 kg); and for canary rockfish coastwide, 8,400 lb (3,810 kg).
* * * * *
    (3) Open access fishery. If smaller than the limits at paragraph 
IV.I., the following cumulative monthly trip limits apply (within the 
limits at paragraph IV.I.): For the Sebastes complex, 15,000 lb (6,804 
kg) north of Cape Mendocino, and 75,000 lb (34,019 kg) south of Cape 
Mendocino; for yellowtail rockfish, 3,000 lb (1,361 kg) north of Cape 
Mendocino; for bocaccio, 5,000 lb (2,268 kg) south of Cape Mendocino; 
and, for canary rockfish, 7,000 lb (3,175 kg) coastwide.
    4. For Dover sole, thornyheads, and the DTS complex, paragraph E. 
of section IV. is amended as follows:
    E. Sablefish and the DTS Complex (Dover Sole, Thornyheads, and 
Trawl-Caught Sablefish
* * * * *
    (2) * * *
    (b) * * *
    (i) North of Cape Mendocino. The cumulative trip limit for the DTS 
complex taken and retained north of Cape Mendocino is 57,000 lb (25,855 
kg) per vessel per 2-month period. Within this cumulative trip limit, 
no more than 12,000 lb (5,443 kg) may be sablefish, no more than 30,000 
lb (13,608 kg) may be Dover sole, and no more than 15,000 lb (6,804 kg) 
may be thornyheads. No more than 3,000 lb (1,361 kg) of the thornyheads 
may be shortspine thornyheads.
    (ii) South of Cape Mendocino. The cumulative trip limit for the DTS 
complex taken and retained south of Cape Mendocino is 100,000 lb 
(45,359 kg) per vessel per 2-month period. Within this cumulative trip 
limit, no more than 12,000 lb (5,443 kg) may be sablefish, and no more 
than 15,000 lb (6,804 kg) may be thornyheads. No more than 3,000 lb 
(1,361 kg) of the thornyheads may be shortspine thornyheads.
    (iii) The 60-percent monthly limits are: For the DTS complex, 
34,200 lb (15,513 kg) north of Cape Mendocino, and 60,000 lb (27,216 
kg) south of Cape Mendocino; for trawl-caught sablefish coastwide, 
7,200 lb (3,266 kg); for Dover sole north of Cape Mendocino, 18,000 lb 
(8,165 kg); for both species of thornyheads combined coastwide, 9,000 
lb (4,082 kg); and for shortspine thornyheads coastwide, 1,800 lb (816 
kg).
* * * * *
    (c) * * *
    (i) Daily trip limit. The daily trip limit for sablefish taken and 
retained with nontrawl gear north of 36 deg. N. lat. is 300 lb (136 
kg), not to exceed 5,100 lb (2,313 kg) per calendar month, and south of 
36 deg. N. lat. is 350 lb (159 kg) with no additional limit on the 
amount of sablefish that may be retained in a month. The daily trip 
limit, which applies to sablefish of any size, is in effect until the 
closed periods before or after the regular season (as specified at 50 
CFR 660.323(a)(2)(i) (formerly 50 CFR 663.23(b)(2)), between the end of 
the regular season and the beginning of the mop-up season, and after 
the mop-up season.
* * * * *
    (3) Open access fishery. Within the limits in paragraph IV.I. 
below, a vessel in the open access fishery is subject to the 50-percent 
monthly limits, which are as follows: For the DTS complex, 28,500 lb 
(12,927 kg) north of Cape Mendocino, and 50,000 lb (22,680 kg) south of 
Cape Mendocino; for Dover sole north of Cape Mendocino, 15,000 lb 
(6,804 kg); south of Pt. Conception, for both species of thornyheads 
combined, 7,500 lb (3,402 kg) of which no more than 1,500 lb (680 kg) 
may be shortspine thornyheads. (The open access fishery for thornyheads 
is closed north of Pt. Conception.) * * *
    5. For bocaccio taken in the open access fishery, paragraph I. of 
section IV. is amended as follows:
    I. Trip Limits in the Open Access Fishery * * *
    (1) * * *
    (b) * * *
    (i) Hook-and-line or pot gear: 10,000 lb (4,536 kg) of rockfish per 
vessel per fishing trip, of which no more than 250 lb (113 kg) per 
trip, not to exceed 2,000 lb (907 kg) cumulative per month, may be 
bocaccio taken and retained south of Cape Mendocino.
* * * * *

Classification

    These actions are authorized by the regulations implementing the 
FMP. The determination to take these actions is based on the most 
recent data available. The aggregate data upon which the determinations 
are based are available for public inspection at the office of the 
Administrator, Northwest Region, NMFS (see ADDRESSES) during business 
hours. Because of the need for immediate action to slow the rate of 
harvest of the species discussed above, and because the public had an 
opportunity to comment on the action at the April 1997 Council meeting, 
NMFS has determined that good cause exists for this document to be 
published without affording a prior opportunity for public comment or a 
30-day delayed effectiveness period. These actions are taken under the 
authority of 50 CFR 660.323(b)(1), and are exempt from review under 
E.O. 12866.

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

    Dated: May 1, 1997.
Gary C. Matlock,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 97-11790 Filed 5-1-97; 4:54 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F