[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 45 (Tuesday, March 7, 2000)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 11909-11911]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-5225]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 679

[Docket No. 000211039-0039-01; I.D. 111899A]


Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Final 2000 
Harvest Specifications for Groundfish; Correction

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

ACTION: Final 2000 harvest specifications; correction.

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SUMMARY: NMFS published final 2000 harvest specifications for the 
groundfish fishery of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) on February 18, 2000. 
These final 2000 harvest specifications for the GOA inadvertently 
omitted changes made by previous rulemaking. Therefore, NMFS is 
correcting the published final 2000 total allowable catch amounts 
(TACs) specified for pollock in the Western and Central Regulatory 
Areas of the Gulf of Alaska (W/C GOA).

DATES: Effective February 15, 2000, through 2400 hrs A.l.t. December 
31, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sue Salveson, 907-586-7228.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS manages the groundfish fishery in the 
GOA exclusive economic zone according to the Fishery Management Plan 
for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska (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.
    On January 3, 2000, NMFS published interim 2000 pollock TACs (65 FR 
65).

[[Page 11910]]

For pollock, the interim TAC consists of the entire A season 
allocation. These interim pollock TACs were not further apportioned by 
time and area. On January 25, 2000, NMFS published an emergency rule 
implementing Steller sea lion protection measures (65 FR 3892). The 
emergency rule amended the original interim TACs for pollock in the W/C 
GOA by revising the TAC levels to account for the best available 
scientific information and apportioned the TACs by area for the A 
season.
    On January 27, 2000, NMFS issued an inseason adjustment amending 
the time and area apportionments of the W/C GOA interim pollock TACs 
(65 FR 4892, February 2, 2000). The amended interim TAC apportionments 
reflected a revised procedure for more accurately allocating pollock as 
authorized under the emergency rule.
    NMFS published the final 2000 harvest specifications for the GOA 
groundfish fishery on February 18, 2000 (65 FR 8298). Inadvertently, 
the changes to the A season TACs and apportionments made by the 
emergency rule and the inseason adjustment to the emergency rule for 
the W/C GOA pollock TACs were omitted from the final 2000 harvest 
specifications for the GOA groundfish fishery.

Correction

    In the rule to implement the Final 2000 Harvest Specifications for 
Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska, published on February 18, 2000 (65 FR 
8298), FR Doc. 00-3910, the following corrections are made to the TAC 
amounts specified for pollock in the W/C GOA.
    1. On page 8301, in Table 1, the entire entry ``Pollock'' and 
footnote 2 are correctly revised to read as follows:

 Table 1. 2000 ABCs, TACs, Initial TACs (Pacific Cod Only) and Overfishing Levels of Groundfish for the Western/
 Central/West Yakutat (W/C/WYK), Western (W), Central (C), Shelikof Strait, Eastern (E) Regulatory Areas, and in
      the West Yakutat (WYK), Southeast Outside (SEO), and Gulf-Wide (GW) Districts of the Gulf of Alaska.
                                           [Values are in metric tons]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                     Initial TAC
                           Species                               Area1         ABC          TAC      Overfishing
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pollock2....................................................
    Shumagin................................................        (610)       32,340       32,340
    Chirikof................................................        (620)       13,372       13,372
    Kodiak..................................................        (630)       24,501       24,501
    Shelikof................................................  ...........       20,987       20,987
    WYK.....................................................        (640)        2,340        2,340
Subtotal....................................................      W/C/WYK       93,540       93,540      130,760
    SEO.....................................................        (650)        6,460        6,460        8,610
                                                                          --------------------------------------
      Total.................................................                   100,000      100,000      139,370
 
*                  *                  *                  *                  *                  *
                                                        *
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\2\ Under the emergency interim rule (65 FR 3892, January 25, 2000) pollock is apportioned in the Western/
  Central Regulatory areas to the Shelikof Strait conservation area (defined at Sec.  679.22(b)(3)(iii)(B)) in
  the A and B seasons only. In accordance with Sec.  679.22(b)(3)(iii)(C) the pollock TAC in the Shelikof Strait
  is determined by calculating a ratio equal to the most recent estimate of pollock biomass in the Shelikof
  Strait divided by the total pollock biomass in the GOA. This ratio is multiplied by the amount of the combined
  Western and Central GOA TAC available in the A and B seasons. The remainder of the combined Western and
  Central GOA TAC in the A and B seasons is then apportioned to areas 610, 620, 630 outside the Shelikof Strait
  based on the distribution of pollock outside the Shelikof Strait, which is 56 percent, 4 percent, and 40
  percent respectively. During the C and D seasons pollock is apportioned based on the relative distribution of
  pollock biomass at 42 percent, 25 percent, and 33 percent in Regulatory Areas 610, 620, and 630 respectively.
  These seasonal apportionments are shown in Tables 3 and 4. In the Eastern Regulatory Area, pollock is not
  divided into seasonal allowances.

[[Page 11911]]

 

* * * * *
    2. On page 8304, Table 3 is correctly revised to read as follows:

  Table 3. Distribution of Pollock in the Western and Central Regulatory Areas of the Gulf of Alaska (W/C GOA);
   Biomass Distribution, Area Apportionments, and Seasonal Allowances of Annual TAC for the A and B Seasons in
                                                      2000.
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                                                                                         Seasonal Allowances of
                                                                                               Annual TAC
                                                                Biomass    2000 Annual -------------------------
                      Statistical area                          percent        TAC           A            B
                                                                                       -------------------------
                                                                                           (30%)        (15%)
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Shelikof....................................................         51.1       20,987       13,991        6,996
Shumagin 610)...............................................         27.4       32,340        7,498        3,749
Chirik of1(620).............................................          2.0       13,372          546          273
Kodiak1 (630)...............................................         19.5       24,501        5,325        2,662
      TOTAL.................................................        100.0       91,200       27,360      13,680
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\1\ A and B seasonal allowances in the Chirikof and Kodiak Districts are outside the Shelikof Strait defined at
  Sec.  679.20(b)(2)(iii)(B).

Classification

    This action is required by Sec. 679.20 and is exempt from review 
under E.O. 12866.

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

    Dated: February 25, 2000.
Andrew A. Rosenberg,
Deputy Asst. Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 00-5225 Filed 3-6-00; 8:45 am]
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