[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 210 (Monday, November 1, 1999)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 58796-58797]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-28438]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 679

[Docket No. 990304063-9063-01; I.D. 102699D]


Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Pollock by 
Vessels Catching Pollock for Processing by the Inshore Component in the 
Bering Sea Subarea

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

ACTION: Inseason adjustment; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS issues an inseason adjustment closing the season for 
pollock by vessels catching pollock for processing by the inshore 
component in the Bering Sea subarea of the Bering Sea and Aleutian 
Islands management area (BSAI). This adjustment is necessary to prevent 
the underharvest of the 1999 pollock total allowable catch (TAC) 
specified to the inshore component in the Bering Sea subarea of the 
BSAI.

DATES: Effective 1800 hrs, Alaska local time (A.l.t.),October 26, 1999, 
until 2400 hrs, A.l.t., December 31, 1999.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Andrew Smoker, 907-586-7228.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS manages the groundfish fishery in the 
BSAI according to the Fishery Management Plan for the Groundfish 
Fishery of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Area (FMP) prepared by 
the North Pacific Fishery Management Council under authority of the 
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. Regulations 
governing fishing by U.S. vessels in accordance with the FMP appear at 
subpart H of 50 CFR part 600 and 50 CFR part 679.
    In accordance with section 206(b)(1) of the American Fisheries Act, 
50 percent of the remainder of the pollock TAC in the BSAI after the 
subtraction of the allocation to the pollock Community Development 
Quota and the subtraction of allowances for the incidental catch of 
pollock by vessels harvesting other groundfish species shall be 
allocated as a directed fishing allowance to catcher vessels harvesting 
pollock for processing by the inshore component. The Final 1999 Harvest 
Specifications of Groundfish for the BSAI (64 FR 12103, March 11, 
1999), and subsequent reallocation (64 FR 56474, October 20, 1999), 
established the final 1999 amount of pollock allocated for processing 
by the inshore component of the Bering Sea subarea as 424,187 metric 
tons.
    In accordance with Sec. 679.20(d)(1)(iii), the Regional 
Administrator finds that this directed fishing allowance soon will be 
reached. Consequently, NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for pollock 
by vessels catching pollock for processing by the inshore component in 
the Bering Sea subarea of the BSAI.
    Current information shows the catching capacity of vessels catching 
pollock for processing by the inshore component is in excess of 5,000 
mt per day.
    Section 679.23(b) specifies that the time of all openings and 
closures of fishing seasons other than the beginning and end of the 
calendar fishing year is 1200 hrs, A.l.t. The Administrator, Alaska 
Region, NMFS, has determined that the remaining portion of the 
allocation to the inshore component would be underharvested if a 1200 
hrs closure were allowed to occur.

[[Page 58797]]

    NMFS, therefore, in accordance with Sec. 679.25(a)(1)(i), is 
adjusting the season for pollock by vessels catching pollock for 
processing by the inshore component in the Bering Sea subarea by 
closing directed fishing at 1800 hrs, A.l.t., October 26, 1999. NMFS is 
taking this action to prevent the underharvest of the pollock 
allocation to vessels catching pollock for processing by the inshore 
component in the Bering Sea subarea of the BSAI as authorized by 
Sec. 679.25(a)(2)(i)(C). In accordance with Sec. 679.25(a)(2)(iii), 
NMFS has determined that closing the season at 1800 hrs on October 26, 
1999 is the least restrictive management adjustment to harvest the 
pollock allocated to vessels catching pollock for processing by the 
inshore component in the Bering Sea subarea of the BSAI and will allow 
other fisheries to continue in noncritical areas and time periods.
    Maximum retainable bycatch amounts may be found in the regulations 
at Sec. 679.20(e) and (f).

Classification

    This action responds to the TAC limitations and other restrictions 
on the fisheries established in the 1999 harvest specifications for 
groundfish for the BSAI. Without this inseason adjustment, the pollock 
allocation for vessels catching pollock for processing by the inshore 
component in the Bering Sea of the BSAI could be underharvested, by 
5,000 mt, resulting in an economic loss of more than five hundred 
thousand dollars.
    Under Sec. 679.25(c)(2), interested persons are invited to submit 
written comments on this action to the above address until November 12, 
1999.
    This action is required by Sec. 679.22 and is exempt from review 
under E.O. 12866.

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

    Dated: October 26, 1999.
Richard W. Surdi,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 99-28438 Filed 10-27-99; 10:21 am]
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