[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 45 (Monday, March 9, 1998)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 11401-11402]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-6001]


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

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 300

[Docket No. 980225048-8048-01; I.D. 021898B]
RIN 0648-AK58


Pacific Halibut Fisheries; Retention of Undersized Halibut in 
Regulatory Area 4E

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

ACTION: Proposed rule; request for comments.

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

SUMMARY: NMFS issues a proposed rule that would allow the retention of 
undersized halibut (halibut less than 32 inches, 81.3 centimeters (cm) 
with the head on; or halibut less than 24 inches, 61 cm) caught with 
authorized commercial gear in International Pacific Halibut Commission 
(IPHC) Regulatory Area 4E for personal use. Commercial sale of 
undersized halibut would remain prohibited. This action is necessary to 
implement the recommendation of the North Pacific Fishery Management 
Council (Council) to allow the legal harvest of undersized halibut by 
persons using Community Development Quota (CDQ) in Regulatory Area 4E. 
This action is intended to provide for the continued existence of the 
customary and traditional food practices of indigenous inhabitants by 
allowing them to retain all halibut caught with deployed gear in 
Regulatory Area 4E.

DATES: Comments must be received by March 24, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Comments must be sent to Sue Salveson, Assistant 
Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries, Sustainable Fisheries 
Division, Alaska Region, NMFS, 709 West 9th Street, Room 453, Juneau, 
AK 99801, or P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802, Attention: Lori J. 
Gravel. Copies of the Environmental Assessment/Regulatory Impact Review 
(EA/RIR) for this action may be obtained from the above address.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Convention between the United States and 
Canada for the Preservation of the Halibut Fishery of the North Pacific 
Ocean and the Bering Sea (Convention), signed at Ottawa, Ontario, 
Canada, on March 2, 1953, and amended by a Protocol Amending the 
Convention, signed at Washington, DC, United States of America, on 
March 29, 1979, authorizes the IPHC to promulgate regulations for the 
conservation and management of the Pacific halibut fishery. These 
regulations must be approved by the Secretary of State of the United 
States pursuant to section 4 of the Northern Pacific Halibut Act 
(Halibut Act, 16 U.S.C. 773-773k) that executes the above Convention. 
The Halibut Act, in section 5, provides that the Regional Fishery 
Management Council having authority for the geographical area concerned 
may recommend management measures governing Pacific halibut catch in 
U.S. Convention waters that are in addition to, but not in conflict 
with, regulations of the IPHC. Section 5 of the Halibut Act also 
provides that the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) shall have the 
general responsibility to carry out the Convention between the United 
States and Canada and that the Secretary shall adopt such regulations 
as may be necessary to carry out the purposes and objectives of the 
Convention and the Halibut Act. The Secretary's authority has been 
delegated to the Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA (AA).
    In 1996, the Council was requested by Alaska Native tribal 
organizations to review the prohibition on retaining undersized halibut 
caught with authorized commercial gear. This request was made on behalf 
of Western Alaska Natives who retained undersized halibut harvested 
along with CDQ halibut of commercial length. Traditionally, Western 
Alaska Natives of Yupik descent keep all fish caught and endeavor to 
utilize this fish to the fullest extent possible. This practice is in

[[Page 11402]]

keeping with their traditional belief that the fish, as well as the 
stock of fish to which a captured fish is returned, is irreparably 
harmed by its capture and release.
    In September 1996, the Council received a NMFS report about 
enforcement issues related to halibut fishing practices of Western 
Alaska Natives. In October 1996, staff from the Council, NMFS, NOAA 
General Counsel, and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game met with 
Alaska Native tribal representatives to exchange information on the 
Council process for developing fishing regulations that would recognize 
traditional fishing customs. In December 1996, the Council established 
a Halibut Subsistence Committee (Committee) to review undersized 
halibut retention and other issues related to subsistence fishing for 
halibut. The Committee met in January 1997 and provided its 
recommendations to the Council in February 1997. After receiving the 
Committee's recommendations, the Council initiated preparation of an 
EA/RIR for a regulatory amendment to allow for subsistence fishing for 
halibut. In April 1997, the Council approved release of the EA/RIR for 
public review. In June 1997, although the Council tabled the majority 
of halibut subsistence issues until February 1998, it recommended that 
regulations be developed that would allow the retention of undersized 
halibut caught with authorized commercial gear in Regulatory Area 4E 
for personal use.

Size limits for Pacific halibut in Area 4E

    Current regulations require that all undersized halibut caught with 
authorized commercial gear be released. This requirement conflicts with 
the customary and traditional halibut fishing practices of Western 
Alaska Natives of Yupik descent. The proposed action would revise 
current halibut fishing regulations to allow the retention of 
undersized halibut caught with authorized commercial gear in Regulatory 
Area 4E for personal use. Staff for the IPHC informed the Council that 
the IPHC would probably not object to the proposed action because the 
limited amount of removals retained for personal use from the 
commercial CDQ fishery in Regulatory Area 4E has little effect on the 
halibut resource. In 1997, the total allowable catch (TAC) of halibut 
for Regulatory Area 4E was 260,000 lb (117.9 mt). This amount was less 
than 3 percent of the combined TAC for Regulatory Area 4A through E 
(9,000,000 lb (4,082.3 mt), and less than .0005 percent of the combined 
TAC for all regulatory areas in and off Alaska (53,000,000 lb) 
(24,040.4 mt). These percentages illustrate the negligible impact the 
retention of undersized halibut in Regulatory 4E would have on the 
stock.
    Also, all halibut in Regulatory Area 4E are allocated to the CDQ 
Program, unlike other areas where the TAC is divided between the 
Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) Program and the CDQ Program. The 
exclusive nature of the Regulatory Area 4E allocation will eliminate 
potential difficulties in distinguishing between IFQ and CDQ halibut 
when enforcing the minimum size limit for IFQ halibut.
    At its annual meeting in Anchorage, AK during the week of January 
26, 1998, the IPHC relaxed its existing regulations on the minimum size 
retention limit to allow CDQ fishers in Area 4E to land undersized 
halibut caught with commercial gear for subsistence use. This proposed 
rule would allow the retention of undersized halibut in Area 4E as 
recommended by the Council in accordance with the Halibut Act and 
adopted by the IPHC.

Classification

    The Council prepared an EA/RIR for this rule that describes the 
management background, the purposes and need for action, the management 
action alternatives, and the environmental and the socio-economic 
impacts of the alternatives. A copy of the EA/RIR can be obtained from 
NMFS (see ADDRESSES).
    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:
    The proposed action would allow current Community Development 
Quota (CDQ) participants in Area 4E (88 fishermen), all of whom are 
small entities, to retain halibut that now must be discarded because 
of size limitations. This revision would provide a benefit to the 88 
fishermen who participate in Area 4E CDQ fisheries. Without this 
revision, undersized halibut caught while prosecuting the CDQ 
halibut fishery in Area 4E would have to be discarded. This result 
would pose a hardship on Area 4E participants for two reasons. 
First, most participants are indigenous inhabitants of Yupik descent 
who believe that discarding fish captured indicates ingratitude to 
the causal agent that provided the fish. Second, most participants 
live a subsistence lifestyle and could use discarded fish for 
personal use. Allowing participants to keep undersized halibut 
during the prosecution of CDQ fisheries reduces the need for these 
same participants to prosecute a separate subsistence fishery for 
personal use fish. This proposed action would have no effect on 
participants fishing in other regulatory areas or other fisheries.
    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 300

    Fisheries, Fishing, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, 
Treaties.

    Dated: March 3, 1998.
Rolland A. Schmitten,
Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
    For reasons set out in the preamble, 50 CFR part 300 is proposed to 
be amended as follows:

PART 300--INTERNATIONAL FISHERIES REGULATIONS

    1. The authority citation for part 300 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 773 et seq.; 16 U.S.C. 951-961 and 971 et 
seq.; 16 U.S.C. 973-973r; 16 U.S.C. 2431 et seq.; 16 U.S.C. 3371-
3378 et seq.; 16 U.S.C. 3636(b); 16 U.S.C. 5501 et seq.; and 16 
U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

    2. In Sec. 300.63, paragraph (c) is proposed to be added to read as 
follows:


Sec. 300.63  Catch sharing plans and domestic management measures.

* * * * *
    (c) A person may take and retain halibut in Area 4E that are 
smaller than the size limit specified in the annual management measures 
published pursuant to Sec. 300.62, provided that no person may sell or 
barter such halibut.
[FR Doc. 98-6001 Filed 3-6-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F