[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 178 (Wednesday, September 13, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55223-55224]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-23533]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 032800C]


Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone off Alaska; Groundfish 
of the Gulf of Alaska; Exempted Fishing Permit

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

ACTION: Issuance of an exempted fishing permit.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces the issuance of an exempted fishing permit 
(EFP) 00-01 to Groundfish Forum, Inc., and the At-sea Processors 
Association (applicants). The EFP authorizes the applicants to conduct 
an experiment in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) and the Bering Sea that will 
test the effectiveness of a halibut excluder device for Pacific cod 
trawls in reducing halibut bycatch rates without significantly lowering 
catch rates of cod. This EFP is necessary to provide information not 
otherwise available through research or commercial fishing operations. 
The intended effect of this action is to promote the purposes and 
policies of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management 
Act.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the EFP and the Environmental Assessment (EA) 
prepared for the EFP are available from Lori J. Gravel, Alaska Region, 
NMFS, P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nina Mollett, 907-586-7462.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish 
of the Gulf of Alaska and the Fishery Management Plan for the 
Groundfish Fishery of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Area 
authorize the issuance of EFPs to fish for groundfish in a manner that 
would otherwise be prohibited under existing regulations. The 
procedures for issuing EFPs are set out at 50 CFR 679.6.
    On April 11, 2000, NMFS announced in the Federal Register the 
receipt of an application for an EFP from the applicants (65 FR 19363). 
The applicants requested authorization to test the effectiveness of a 
halibut excluder device intended to reduce halibut bycatch rates in the 
Pacific cod trawl fishery, without lowering the catch of Pacific cod. 
The purpose of this research is to assist industry in developing gear 
modifications that will reduce the bycatch of halibut in the cod 
fisheries off Alaska. This EFP will provide information not otherwise 
available through research or commercial fishing operations because it 
is not economically feasible for vessels to participate in an 
experiment of this extent and rigor during the commercial fisheries.
    The Administrator, Alaska Region, NMFS (Regional Administrator), 
has approved the EFP application and has issued EFP 00-01 to the 
applicants. The experiment will take place in two parts. Part A will be 
conducted by a head-and-gut catcher/processor vessel in the GOA in 
September 2000. The rationale for the timing is that few options exist 
for open access fishing in the fall, and participating vessels would 
have a low opportunity cost. Part B will be conducted by a pollock/cod 
fillet catcher/processor vessel in the Bering Sea in March 2001, during 
or following the winter cod fishery.
    Vessels wishing to participate in the experiment have submitted or 
will submit applications that include fishing plans describing the 
vessel's observer sampling facilities, the general area to be fished, 
number of tows expected per day, the proposed coordination of observer 
sampling and deck crew duties during the experiment, and the number of 
observers (from one to three, subject to NMFS approval).
    The vessel for Part A was chosen by a NMFS panel headed up by a 
NMFS gear expert working with the applicants on this experiment. The 
vessel for Part B will be a member of the pollock fishery cooperative 
associated with the At-sea Processors Association (the Pollock 
Conservation Cooperative). Selection of the vessel will be made by the 
cooperative, subject to approval by NMFS of the fishing plan and number 
of observers.
    Each part of the experiment will consist of 30 tows. At a rate of 
4-5 tows per day, each of the two parts will take 7-10 days to 
complete. Groundfish and prohibited species catch amounts authorized 
under the EFP will not be deducted from total allowable catch or 
prohibited species catch allowances specified for the 2000-2001 
groundfish fisheries. This will not cause a conservation problem 
because estimated total removals under the EFP are within acceptable 
levels biologically and will not cause the fishery to exceed 
overfishing levels already considered in the EA for the 2000 
specifications.
    The EFP authorizes taking up to 396 metric tons (mt) of groundfish 
in the GOA and 594 mt of groundfish in the Bering Sea, principally cod. 
Vessels selected for participation will retain all cod and pollock and 
may retain other groundfish species in accordance with the maximum 
retainable incidental catch amounts at 50 CFR 679.20(e) and (f), using 
only cod as the basis species.
    The authorized halibut bycatch for this experiment is 47 mt in the 
GOA and 12 mt in the Bering Sea. Based on the assumed 2000 halibut 
mortality rates for the GOA cod fishery (63 percent) and the Bering Sea 
cod fishery (66 percent)(65 FR 8298, February 18, 2000; and 65 FR 8282, 
February 18, 2000, respectively), these amounts are

[[Page 55224]]

equivalent to 30 mt of halibut mortality in the GOA and 8 mt of halibut 
mortality in the Bering Sea. Halibut catch will be measured through a 
census conducted while deck sorting halibut under the direction of 
NMFS-certified observers. The applicants expect that this process will 
enable halibut mortality from the experiment to be lower than the 
estimated rates for the Pacific cod trawl fisheries.
    Bering Sea crab bycatch will not exceed 2,500 C. bairdi crab, 600 
C.opilio crab or 75 red king crab. In the GOA, the bycatch of C. 
bairdiwill be limited to 200 crab. Trace amounts of red king crab 
bycatch may occur in the GOA. Although such small amounts of crab do 
not warrant a specified bycatch allowance, the EFP could be amended to 
establish one if bycatch is higher than anticipated.
    The researchers will use a recapture bag, as opposed to doing 
blocks of similar tows to measure the effects of using an excluder 
device. The latter method was used by Groundfish Forum, Inc., in a 
similar experiment conducted in 1998 to develop a halibut excluder 
device for the deepwater flatfish fisheries. The recapture bag is 
considered a more powerful design than paired tows for assessing the 
efficacy of an excluder, but increases the amount of labor and 
dedicated staff needed to collect the required data from each tow and 
to get halibut overboard with minimal mortality.
    The prototype device was developed during a research trip conducted 
in July 2000 by a NMFS gear specialist. The researchers' goal is to 
develop a device with the following characteristics:
    1. It will release a large percentage of the halibut that come into 
the trawl;
    2. It will avoid significant reductions in target catch;
    3. It will function with limited failures or breakages;
    4. It will be resistant to clogging and debris jams;
    5. It will be durable and easily stored on deck;
    6. It will be constructed from affordable materials that are 
readily available.
    The Regional Administrator may terminate the experiment if 
prohibited species bycatch exceeds the high-end projections of the 
permit applicants. The experiment may not be conducted in Steller sea 
lion critical habitat (as defined at 50 CFR 226.202) in the Bering Sea 
and in the GOA west of 144 deg. W. long.
    Failure of the permittees to comply with the terms and conditions 
of the EFP and all applicable provisions of 50 CFR parts 600 and 679, 
the Magnuson-Stevens Act, or any regulations promulgated thereunder, or 
any other applicable laws, may be grounds for revocation, suspension or 
modification of this permit as well as civil or criminal sanctions 
imposed under those laws.

Classification

    NMFS prepared an EA for this EFP. The Assistant Administrator for 
Fisheries, NOAA, concluded that no significant impact on the human 
environment will occur as a result of fishing under this EFP. A copy of 
the EA is available from NMFS (see ADDRESSES). The Regional 
Administrator determined that fishing activities conducted pursuant to 
this EFP will not affect endangered and threatened species or critical 
habitat under the Endangered Species Act, and that a consultation is 
not required under the essential fish habitat provisions of the 
Magnuson-Stevens Act.
    This notice is exempt from review under Executive Order 12866. It 
also is exempt under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) because prior 
notice and opportunity for public comment are not required. Therefore, 
the analytical requirements of the RFA are inapplicable.

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

    Dated: September 8, 2000.
Bruce C. Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 00-23533 Filed 9-12-00; 8:45 am]
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