[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 122 (Wednesday, June 25, 1997)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 34182-34184]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-16619]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 679

[Docket No. 970613138-7138-01; I.D. 060397E]
RIN 0648-AF81


Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Scallop 
Fisheries Off Alaska; 1997-98 Harvest Specifications

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

ACTION: Final 1997-98 scallop harvest specifications; closure.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: NMFS announces final specifications of total allowable catches 
(TACs) and crab bycatch limits (CBLs) for the scallop fishery off 
Alaska during the period July 1, 1997, through June 30, 1998. NMFS also 
is closing the scallop fishery in Registration Area A (Southeastern), 
because the TAC specified for that area is zero. This action is 
necessary to establish harvest limits and associated management 
measures for scallops during the new fishing year. The intended effect 
of this action is to conserve and manage the scallop resource under the 
Fishery Management Plan for the Scallop Fishery off Alaska (FMP).

DATES: The final 1997-98 harvest specifications and closure in 
Registration Area A are effective July 1, 1997, through June 30, 1998, 
or until changed by subsequent notification in the Federal Register. 
Comments on the final 1997-98 harvest specifications must be received 
at the following address by July 25, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Comments must be sent to Ronald J. Berg, Chief, Fisheries 
Management Division, Alaska Region, NMFS, P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 
99802-1668, Attn: Lori J. Gravel, or delivered to the Federal Building, 
709 West 9th Street, Juneau, AK. The final 1997 Stock Assessment and 
Fishery Evaluation (SAFE) report, and the Final Environmental 
Assessment/Regulatory Impact Review (EA/RIR) prepared for Amendment 1 
to the FMP are available from the North Pacific Fishery Management 
Council, West 4th Avenue, Suite 306, Anchorage, AK 99510-2252 (907-271-
2809).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kent Lind, NMFS, 907-586-7228.

[[Page 34183]]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The scallop fishery in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off Alaska 
is managed by NMFS under the FMP. The FMP was prepared by the North 
Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) under the Magnuson-Stevens 
Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) and 
approved by NMFS on July 26, 1995. Amendment 1 to the FMP was 
implemented on August 1, 1996 (61 FR 38099, July 23, 1996), and 
established a joint state-Federal management regime under which NMFS 
has implemented Federal management measures to parallel most State of 
Alaska (State) management measures. Regulations implementing the FMP 
are set out at 50 CFR part 679. General regulations that also affect 
fishing in the EEZ are set out at 50 CFR part 600.
    Under Amendment 1, scallop TACs and CBLs are specified annually by 
NMFS after consultation with the Alaska State Board of Fisheries 
(Board) and the Council. In March 1997, the Board reviewed scallop TAC 
and CBL recommendations made by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game 
(ADF&G) and forwarded these recommendations to the Council for review 
and adoption. The Council subsequently distributed the State's proposed 
TAC and CBL specifications to the public in its newsletter and notified 
the public of its intent to adopt final specifications at the April 
1997 Council meeting. At its April 1997 meeting, the Council adopted 
the State's recommended TACs and CBLs and forwarded them to NMFS for 
approval and publication in the Federal Register. The Council invited 
public comment on the 1997-98 scallop TACs and CBLs prior to and during 
the April 1997 Council meeting. No written or oral comments were 
received by the Council.

Scallop TACs

    The regulations implementing Amendment 1 contain the following 
requirements for specification of scallop TACs:
    1. The total annual TAC amount for scallops off Alaska will be 
established within the optimum yield (OY) range of 0 to 1.8 million lb 
(0 to 815.5 mt) of shucked scallop meat.
    2. The annual TACs for scallops in each Registration Area or part 
thereof will be established as a weight in pounds of shucked scallop 
meat, based on the best available information on the biological 
condition of the scallop resource and socioeconomic considerations that 
are consistent with the goals and objectives of the FMP.
    3. Annual scallop TACs will be specified for the 12-month period 
extending from July 1 through June 30 of the following year. An annual 
TAC amount is available for harvest only for the registration area or 
district specified, only during the applicable season set out in 
Sec. 679.64 and only if no closure or other restriction or limitation 
is applicable.
    The TAC recommendations made by the State and adopted by the 
Council fulfill these requirements and are set out in table 1 below. 
With the exception of the Kamishak District of Registration Area H 
(Cook Inlet) and Registration Area E (Prince William Sound), these TACs 
are unchanged from the 1996-97 fishing year.
    As a result of recent State surveys, the scallop TAC for the 
Kamishak District of Registration Area H was raised from 20,000 lb 
(9,074 kg) shucked meat to 28,000 lb (12,701 kg) shucked meat and the 
scallop TAC for Registration Area E was lowered from 50,000 lb (22,686 
kg) shucked meat to 17,400 lb (7,893 kg) shucked meat. These TACs are 
based on estimates of exploitable biomass, a 10-percent harvest rate 
and a conversion factor of 10 percent average meat weight to total 
animal weight. Exploitable biomasses for the Kamishak District and 
Registration Area E are calculated using area swept methods with 
information from fishermen on bed size, average towing speed, and 
pounds per tow.
    Scallop TACs in all other areas remain unchanged from the 1996-97 
fishing year. In the absence of surveys, the State's recommended TAC 
for each area is established as the average of the historic catch from 
1969 to 1994 minus years when no fishery and ``fishing-up effect'' 
occurs. The term ``fishing-up effect'' is used to describe the initial 
exploitation phase of a new fishery or removal of accumulated stock.
    The only known commercially viable scallop beds in Southeast Alaska 
are found in the Fairweather Grounds in District 16. For purposes of 
scallop management, this district has been shifted from the 
Registration Area A (Southeastern) to the adjacent Registration Area D 
(Yakutat). Because there are no other known commercially viable scallop 
beds in Registration Area A, the TAC for this area is set at zero. 
Vessel operators wishing to explore for new scallop beds in this area 
would apply for an experimental fishing permit under Sec. 679.6.

 Table 1.--Scallop TAC Amounts for the Period July 1, 1997, Through June
  30, 1998, in Pounds and Kilograms of Shucked Scallop Meat by Scallop  
                     Registration Area and District                     
------------------------------------------------------------------------
             Scallop registration area                  lb         kg   
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Area A (Southeastern).............................       zero       zero
Area D (Yakutat):.................................                      
  District 16.....................................     35,000     15,876
  All other districts.............................    250,000    113,398
Area E (Prince William Sound).....................     17,400      7,893
Area H (Cook Inlet):..............................                      
  Kamishak District...............................     28,000     12,701
Area K (Kodiak)...................................    400,000    181,437
Area M (Alaska Peninsula).........................    200,000     90,718
Area O (Dutch Harbor).............................    170,000     77,111
Area Q (Bering Sea)...............................    600,000    272,155
Area R (Adak).....................................     75,000     34,019
                                                   ---------------------
      Total.......................................  1,775,400    805,308
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Crab Bycatch Limits

    CBLs are established in registration areas where crab bycatch in 
the scallop fishery is a management concern. ADF&G has recommended CBLs 
be specified for all registration areas of concern, except Registration 
Area Q (Bering Sea), according to the following formula: If crab stocks 
in a registration area are sufficiently healthy to support a commercial 
crab fishery, the CBL for that area is established at 1 percent of the 
most recent crab population estimate for that area; if crab stocks in a 
registration area are insufficiently healthy to support a commercial 
crab fishery, the CBL for that area is established as 0.5 percent of 
the most recent crab population estimate.
    In Registration Area Q, regulations require that CBLs be specified 
according to the following formulas: For red king crab, the CBL must be 
specified within the range of 500 to 3,000 crab. Because red king crab 
populations in the Bering Sea are currently depressed, the Council 
adopted the lower end of the acceptable range--500 crab for 1997-98. 
Red king crab bycatch in the Area Q scallop fishery during 1996-97 was 
significantly below 500 crab and is expected to remain low in 1997-98, 
because the Area Q scallop fishery is not typically conducted in areas 
frequented by red king crab. For Chionoecetes opilio Tanner crab, the 
CBL is set at 0.003176 percent of the best available estimate of C. 
opilio abundance in Registration Area Q. For C. bairdi Tanner crab, the 
CBL is set at 0.13542 percent of the best available estimate of

[[Page 34184]]

C. bairdi abundance in Registration Area Q.
    The CBLs for the period July 1, 1997, through June 30, 1998, are 
shown in table 2.

Table 2.--Crab Bycatch Limits for the Period July 1, 1997, Through June 30, 1998, in Numbers of Crabs by Scallop
                                         Registration Area and District                                         
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                        Scallop registration area                            Red king    C. bairdi    C. opilio 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Area A (Southeastern)....................................................  ...........  ...........  ...........
Area D (Yakutat).........................................................  ...........  ...........  ...........
Area E (Prince William Sound)............................................  ...........          630  ...........
Area H (Cook Inlet):                                                                                            
    Kamishak District....................................................           60       29,000  ...........
    Outer/Eastern Districts..............................................           98        2,170  ...........
Area K (Kodiak):                                                                                                
    Shelikof District....................................................           35       51,000             
    Northeast District...................................................           50       91,600             
Area M (Alaska Peninsula)................................................           79       45,300             
Area O (Dutch Harbor)....................................................           10       10,700             
Area Q (Bering Sea)......................................................          500      238,000      172,000
Area R (Adak)............................................................           50       10,000  ...........
                                                                                                                
      Total..............................................................          882      478,400      172,000
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Closure in Registration Area A

    In Registration Area A, the final scallop TAC amount for the period 
July 1, 1997, through June 30, 1998, is zero. Therefore, under 
Sec. 679.62(c), NMFS is prohibiting the catch and retention of scallops 
in Registration Area A from July 1, 1997, through June 30, 1998.

Classification

    This action is authorized under 50 CFR part 679 and is exempt from 
review under E.O. 12866.
    The FMP takes into consideration, in the establishment of annual 
harvest guidelines, the timing of the receipt, development, review, and 
analysis of the fishery information necessary for setting the 
specifications, and the need to have the specifications in effect at 
the beginning of the 1997 fishing year to coordinate the Federal and 
State scallop fisheries. Amendment 1 to the FMP, implemented on August 
1, 1996, recognized these considerations and established a public 
notification process through Federal Register publication and Council 
mailings, of relevant meetings at which scallop fishery specifications 
will be developed. This FMP process was designed to provide an 
opportunity for public input during the annual development of the 
harvest guidelines. Thus, as the interested public had an opportunity 
to comment on the formulation of these specifications at the March 1997 
Board meeting and the April 1997 Council meeting, there is good cause 
under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B) to waive prior notice and opportunity for 
public comment as such additional procedures would be unnecessary. 
Additional public comment on the specifications will be accepted for 30 
days after publication of this document in the Federal Register. The 
Assistant Administrator (AA) will consider all comments made during 
this additional public comment period and may make modifications as 
appropriate. The specifications and closure announced in this rule do 
not revise the conservation and management measures currently in effect 
in a manner that would require time to plan or prepare for those 
revisions. Therefore, the AA finds good cause, under 5 U.S.C.(d)(3), to 
have a delayed effectiveness period shorter than the statutorily 
required 30 days, and makes these actions effective on July 1, 1997.

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 773 et seq., 1801 et seq. and 3631 et seq.

    Dated: June 19, 1997.
Rolland A. Schmitten,
Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 97-16619 Filed 6-24-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P