[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 46 (Tuesday, March 10, 1998)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 11649-11650]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-6134]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 300
[I.D. 022598B]
Pacific Halibut Fisheries
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of inquiry.
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SUMMARY: NMFS issues this notice of inquiry to inform the public that
the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) recommended that
Guideline Harvest Levels (GHLs) be established for the guided sport
fishery for Pacific halibut in International Pacific Halibut Commission
(IPHC) Regulatory Areas 2C and 3A. The Council's stated purpose for
recommending these GHLs was to place an upper limit on the future
harvest of halibut by the guided sport fishery.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Lepore, 907-586-7228.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
At its meeting in September 1997, the Council voted to recommend
that GHLs be established for the guided sport fishery for halibut in
IPHC Regulatory Areas 2C and 3A. The Council also recommended new
recordkeeping and reporting requirements for the guided sport fishery
for halibut. The Council, pursuant to the Northern Pacific Halibut Act
of 1982 [16 U.S.C. 773, et seq.], has the authority to develop
regulations governing halibut fisheries in the United States portion of
Convention waters in and off Alaska, as long as such regulations are in
addition to, and not in conflict with, regulations adopted by the IPHC.
Such regulations developed by the Council may be implemented only with
the approval of the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary). The Council has
not submitted regulations concerning the GHLs to the Secretary for
approval.
The Council's recommended GHLs for the guided sport fishery IPHC
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Regulatory Areas 2C and 3A would be based on the guided sport fleet
receiving 125 percent of its 1995 catch in each of these areas,
expressed each year as a percentage of each year's combined commercial
and guided sport harvest levels. The percentages are: 12.76 percent for
IPHC Regulatory Area 2C and 15.61 percent for IPHC Regulatory Area 3A.
For example, if the combined commercial and guided sport harvest for
IPHC Regulatory Area 2C is 10,000,000 lb (4,536 metric tons (mt)), then
the Guideline Harvest Level would be 1,276,000 lb (579 mt).
In a letter dated November 24, 1997, NMFS informed the Council that
establishing GHLs by regulations would be problematical unless
management measures were specified in the regulations that clearly
indicated what would happen if the GHLs were reached. The Council
reviewed the information provided in NMFS's letter at its meeting in
December 1997, and decided to form a Halibut Charterboat Committee
(Committee). The Committee is tasked with developing management
measures to keep guided sport catch under the established GHLs in IPHC
Regulatory Areas 2C and 3A. The Committee will report on these
management measures to the Council in April 1998. The Committee is
comprised of four persons representing the guided sport sector (two
persons from IPHC Regulatory Area 2C and two persons from IPHC
Regulatory Area 3A), three persons representing the non-guided sport
sector, one Council member, one Alaska Board of Fish member, and a
representative of the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission who
will serve as the chairman. The first meeting of the Committee was held
in Anchorage, Alaska on February 25 and 26, 1998. Future meetings may
be scheduled if needed.
NMFS has made no determinations with respect to the approvability
of the Council's recommended GHLs for the guided sport fishery for
halibut or associated management measures. If the Council adopts such
management measures in the future, the Council would submit the GHLs,
management measures, and regulations to the Secretary for review. At
that time, the Council's regulations would be published in the Federal
Register for public comment. NMFS encourages the interested public to
participate in the Council's development of recommendations concerning
GHLs for the guided sport fishery for halibut.
Dated: March 4, 1998.
Bruce C. Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 98-6134 Filed 3-9-98; 8:45 am]
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