[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 1 (Monday, January 3, 2000)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 65-72]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-34029]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 679

[Docket No. 991223348-9348-01; I.D. 122199B]


Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Gulf of 
Alaska; Interim 2000 Harvest Specifications

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

ACTION: Interim 2000 harvest specifications for groundfish and 
associated management measures.

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SUMMARY: NMFS issues interim 2000 total allowable catch (TAC) amounts 
for each category of groundfish and specifications for prohibited 
species bycatch allowances for the groundfish fishery of the Gulf of 
Alaska (GOA). Without interim specifications in effect on January 1, 
the groundfish fisheries would not be able to open on that date, which 
would result in unnecessary closures and disruption within the fishing 
industry. This action is necessary to conserve and manage the 
groundfish resources of the GOA, and is intended to implement the goals 
and objectives of the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the 
Gulf of Alaska (FMP).

DATES: Effective 0001 hrs, Alaska local time (A.l.t.), January 1, 2000, 
until the effective date of the final 2000 harvest

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specifications for GOA groundfish, which will be published in the 
Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the Environmental Assessment (EA) prepared for 
this action and the Preliminary 2000 Stock Assessment and Fishery 
Evaluation (SAFE) Report, dated September 1999, are available from the 
North Pacific Fishery Management Council, 605 West 4th Avenue, Suite 
306, Anchorage, AK 99501-2252, (907-586-7237).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas Pearson, 907-481-1780 or 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Federal regulations at 50 CFR part 679 implement the FMP and govern 
the groundfish fisheries in the GOA. The North Pacific Fishery 
Management Council (Council) prepared the FMP, and NMFS approved it 
under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act. General regulations that also pertain to the U.S. 
fisheries appear at 50 CFR part 600.
    The Council met October 12 to 18, 1999, to review scientific 
information concerning groundfish stocks. At that meeting the Council 
adopted the preliminary SAFE Report for the 2000 GOA groundfish 
fisheries. The preliminary SAFE Report, dated September 1999, provides 
an update on the status of stocks. Copies of the preliminary SAFE 
Report are available for public review from the Council (see 
ADDRESSES). The Council recommended a proposed total TAC of 306,535 
metric tons (mt) and a proposed total acceptable biological catch (ABC) 
of 532,590 mt for the 2000 fishing year. The proposed TAC amounts for 
each species are based on the best available biological and socio-
economic information.
    In accordance with Sec. 679.20(c)(1), NMFS published in the Federal 
Register proposed harvest specifications and associated management 
measures for groundfish in the GOA for the 2000 fishing year (December 
13, 1999, 64 FR 69457). That document discusses in detail the 2000 
specification process, as well as 2000 proposed specifications, 
reserves, apportionments for groundfish, and prohibited species catch 
(PSC) limits.
    This action provides interim harvest specifications and 
apportionments thereof of GOA groundfish for the 2000 fishing year that 
will become available on January 1, 2000, and remain in effect until 
superseded by the final 2000 harvest specifications.

Establishment of Interim TACs

    Regulations at Sec. 679.20(c)(2) require that one-fourth of each 
proposed TAC and apportionment thereof (not including the reserves and 
the first seasonal allowance of pollock), one-fourth of the proposed 
halibut PSC amounts, and the proposed first seasonal allowance of 
pollock become available for harvest at 0001 hours, A.l.t., January 1, 
on an interim basis and remain in effect until superseded by the final 
harvest specifications.
    Regulations at Sec. 679.20(a)(6)(ii) and (iii) allocate 100 percent 
of the pollock TAC to vessels catching pollock for processing by the 
inshore component, 90 percent of the Pacific cod TAC to vessels 
catching Pacific cod for processing by the inshore component, and 10 
percent to vessels catching Pacific cod for processing by the offshore 
component.
    Regulations at Sec. 679.20(b)(2) establish reserves for the GOA at 
20 percent of the TAC amounts for pollock, Pacific cod, flatfish 
species, and the ``other species'' category. The GOA groundfish TAC 
amounts have been utilized fully since 1987. NMFS expects this trend to 
continue in 2000, and, with the exception of Pacific cod, has proposed 
reapportioning all the reserves to TAC. With the exception of Pacific 
cod, the interim TAC amounts contained in Table 1 reflect the 
reapportionment of reserves back to the TAC.

Interim 2000 GOA Groundfish Harvest Specifications and 
Apportionments

    Table 1 provides interim TAC amounts, interim TAC allocations of 
Pacific cod to the inshore and offshore components, and interim 
sablefish TAC apportionments to hook-and-line and trawl gear. These 
interim TAC amounts and apportionments become effective at 0001 hours, 
A.l.t., January 1, 2000.
    Under separate rulemaking, NMFS will establish apportionments of 
pollock TAC among the Western and Central Regulatory Areas of the GOA 
in order to permanently implement reasonable and prudent alternatives 
(RPAs) to avoid the likelihood that the pollock fisheries off Alaska 
will jeopardize the continued existence of the western population of 
Steller sea lions or adversely modify its critical habitat. Final 
regulations implementing the RPAs must be effective before the start of 
the GOA pollock fisheries on January 20, 2000, or NMFS will be 
obligated under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) to close all fishing 
for pollock until such measures can be implemented.

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Interim Halibut PSC Limits

    Under Sec. 679.21(d), annual Pacific halibut PSC limits are 
established for trawl and hook-and-line gear and may be established for 
pot gear. The Council proposed to reestablish the 1999 halibut limits 
for 2000 because no new information was available. Consistent with 
1999, the Council recommended exemptions for pot gear, jig gear, and 
the sablefish hook-and-line fishery from halibut PSC limits for 2000. 
The interim PSC limits are effective on January 1, 2000, and remain in 
effect until superseded by the final 2000 harvest specifications. The 
interim halibut PSC limits are: (1) 500 mt to trawl gear, (2) 72.5 mt 
to hook-and-line gear for fisheries other than sablefish and demersal 
shelf rockfish, and (3) 2.5 mt to hook-and-line gear for the demersal 
shelf rockfish fishery in the Southeast Outside District.
    Regulations at Sec. 679.21(d)(3)(iii) authorize apportionments of 
the trawl halibut PSC limit allowance as bycatch allowances to a deep-
water species complex, comprised of rex sole, sablefish, rockfish, 
deep-water flatfish, and arrowtooth flounder, and a shallow-water 
species complex, comprised of pollock, Pacific cod, shallow-water 
flatfish, flathead sole, Atka mackerel, and ``other species.'' The 
interim 2000 apportionment for the shallow-water species complex is 417 
mt and for the deep-water species complex is 83 mt.
    NMFS will implement fishery closures for those fisheries where 
insufficient TAC exists to support a directed fishery. The closures 
will be implemented for the beginning of the 2000 fishing year.

Classification

    This action is authorized under 50 CFR 679.20 and is exempt from 
review under Executive Order 12866.
    NMFS has prepared an EA for this action, which describes the impact 
on the human environment that would result from implementation of the 
interim specifications. In December 1998 NMFS issued a Supplemental 
Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) for the groundfish TAC 
specifications and PSC limits under the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands 
(BSAI) and GOA groundfish FMPs. In July 1999, the District Court for 
the Western District of Washington held that the 1998 SEIS did not 
adequately address aspects of the BSAI and GOA FMPs. Notwithstanding 
the deficiencies the court noted in the 1998 SEIS, NMFS believes that 
the discussion of impacts and alternatives in the 1998 SEIS is directly 
applicable to this interim action and the draft EA for the interim 2000 
harvest specifications, which ``tiers off'' (incorporates by reference) 
the 1998 SEIS.
    Pursuant to section 7 of the ESA, NMFS completed a consultation on 
the effects of the 1999 to 2002 pollock and Atka mackerel fisheries on 
listed species, including the Steller sea lion and designated critical 
habitat. The Biological Opinion prepared for this consultation, dated 
December 3, 1998, concluded that the Atka mackerel fisheries in the 
BSAI are not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of Steller 
sea lions or adversely modify their designated critical habitat. 
However, the Biological Opinion concluded that the pollock fisheries in 
the BSAI and the GOA would cause jeopardy and adverse modification.
    NMFS has identified measures that would avoid the likelihood that 
the pollock fisheries off Alaska will jeopardize the continued 
existence of the western population of Steller sea lions or adversely 
modify its critical habitat and is developing a proposed rule to 
permanently implement those measures. Emergency measures, which 
implemented RPAs for 1999, are in effect until December 31, 1999 (July 
21, 1999, 64 FR 39087). Regulations implementing the permanent RPAs 
must be effective prior to the start of the BSAI and GOA pollock 
fisheries on January 20, 2000, or NMFS will be obligated under the ESA 
to close all fishing for pollock until such measures can be 
implemented.
    NMFS also completed consultations on the effects of the 2000 BSAI 
groundfish fisheries on listed species, including the Steller sea lion 
and salmon, and on designated critical habitat. These consultations 
were completed December 23, 1999 and December 22, 1999 respectively.
    A Biological Opinion on the BSAI hook-and-line groundfish fishery 
and the BSAI trawl groundfish fishery for the ESA-listed short-tailed 
albatross was issued by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service in 
March 1999. The conclusion continued the no jeopardy determination and 
the incidental take statement expressing the requirement to immediately 
reinitiate consultations if incidental takes exceed four short-tailed 
albatross over a 2-year period (1999-2000).
    In order for the GOA groundfish fishing season to begin on January 
1 (see Sec. 679.23), Sec. 679.20(c)(2) requires NMFS to establish 
interim harvest specifications to be effective on January 1 and to 
remain in effect until superseded by the filing of final harvest 
specifications with the Office of the Federal Register. Without interim 
specifications in effect on January 1, the groundfish fishery would not 
be able to open on that date, which would result in unnecessary 
closures and disruption within the fishing industry and would run 
counter to investment-backed expectations. NMFS anticipates that the 
interim specifications will be in effect for only a short period of 
time before they are superseded by the final specifications. The 
proposed specifications were published as a proposed rule in the 
Federal Register on December 13, 1999 (64 FR 69457). Regulations at 
Sec. 679.20(c)(2)(i) require that the interim TACs and apportionments 
thereof be established at specified fractional amounts of the proposed 
specifications and apportionments thereof. Accordingly, the opportunity 
for public comment on the proposed specifications provides opportunity 
for public comment on the interim specifications. The Assistant 
Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA (AA), finds for good cause under 5 
U.S.C. 553(b)(B) that the need to establish interim TAC limitations and 
related management measures for fisheries in the GOA, effective on 
January 1, 2000, makes it impracticable and contrary to the public 
interest to provide prior notice and opportunity for public comment on 
this rule. For these same reasons, the AA finds for good cause under 5 
U.S.C. 553(d)(3) that the need to establish interim TAC limitations and 
related management measures effective on January 1, 2000, makes it 
impractical and contrary to the public interest to delay their 
effective date for 30 days.
    Because these interim specifications are not required to be issued 
with prior notice and opportunity for public comment, the analytical 
requirements of the Regulatory Flexibility Act do not apply. 
Consequently, NMFS has not prepared a regulatory flexibility analysis.

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

    Dated: December 27, 1999.
Penelope D. Dalton,
Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 99-34029 Filed 12-28-99; 4:25 pm]
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