[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 178 (Wednesday, September 13, 2000)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 55214-55215]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-23536]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 660

[Docket No.; 000830248-0248-01; I.D. 080400A]
RIN 0648-AN38


Fisheries off West Coast States and in the Western Pacific; 
Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 
to Establish a Control Date

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

ACTION: Advance notice of proposed rulemaking; notice of control date 
for the Pacific Coast groundfish fishery; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) as authorized 
by the American Fisheries Act (AFA) is considering management measures 
to recommend to the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) to protect the 
Pacific Coast groundfish fisheries from adverse impacts caused by the 
AFA. This document announces a control date of June 29, 2000; any 
limited entry permit on that date owned by an owner of a vessel 
eligible for benefits under the AFA (AFA-qualified) and registered for 
use with an AFA-qualified vessel that does not meet minimum 
participation requirements that may be established in the future may be 
subject to restrictions on being registered to participate in the 
Pacific Coast groundfish fisheries. Additionally, participation by AFA-
qualified catcher/processors and motherships not previously active in 
the at-sea whiting fishery may be restricted. The intended effect of 
this action is to discourage speculative entry or increased effort in 
the Pacific Coast groundfish fisheries by entities eligible for AFA 
benefits and to provide notice of potential permit restrictions or 
revocation to purchasers or lessees of limited entry permits owned by 
AFA-qualified vessel owners and registered for use with AFA-qualified 
vessels.

[[Page 55215]]


DATES: Comments may be submitted in writing by October 13, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to Jim Lone, Chairman, Pacific 
Fishery Management Council, 2130 SW Fifth Avenue, Suite 224, Portland 
OR 97201.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The Pacific Fishery Management Council 
at 503-326-6352; or Bill Robinson at 206-526-6140; or Svein Fougner at 
562-980-4000.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Pacific Council which was established 
under section 302(a)(1)(F) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation 
and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1852 (a)(1)(F) is considering 
conservation and management measures to recommend to the Secretary to 
protect fisheries under its jurisdiction and the participants in those 
fisheries from adverse impacts caused by the AFA (Pub.L. 105-277, Div. 
C, Title II, October 21, 1998, 112 Stat. 2681-616; 16 U.S.C. 1851 note; 
46 U.S.C. 101 note, 12102, 31322; 46 App. 1274 note), or by any fishery 
cooperatives in the Alaska pollock fishery, as required by section 
211(c)(3)(A) of the AFA. Section 211(b)(5) of the AFA prohibits 
catcher/processors and motherships eligible under the AFA from 
harvesting or processing fish in any U.S. fishery outside Alaska, 
except the Pacific whiting fishery, unless harvesting or processing by 
those catcher/processors and motherships is specifically authorized 
under a fishery management plan. The Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery 
Management Plan (FMP) was approved on January 4, 1982 (47 FR 43964, 
October 5 1982), and has been amended 11 times. Implementing 
regulations for the FMP and its amendments are codified at 50 CFR Part 
660, subpart G.
    Under the AFA, only certain vessels are eligible to participate in 
the Bering Sea pollock fishery. This eligibility provides greater 
operational flexibility in when and how these vessels participate in 
the pollock fishery. Because these AFA-qualified vessels are better 
able to arrange their schedules, they could potentially increase 
participation in other fisheries, including Pacific Coast groundfish 
fisheries. The concern is that AFA-qualified vessels will use benefits 
gained by the AFA to move into Pacific Coast groundfish fisheries, 
increase effort, and cause negative impacts on current participants. To 
prevent any negative impact or ``adverse impact'', the AFA provides the 
Council the opportunity to recommend management measures to the 
Secretary to protect fisheries under its jurisdiction and participants 
in those fisheries.
    To harvest fish in the limited entry groundfish fisheries, vessels 
only need to purchase a Federal limited entry permit. Currently, no 
Federal permit is required to participate as a mothership. Because new 
permit holders and motherships currently have access rights that are 
equal to those who have open access fishery currently have access 
rights that are equal to those who have historically participated in 
the fishery, speculative entry may be encouraged. Additional effort 
could exacerbate existing management problems and erode the 
effectiveness of future measures recommended by the Council. As a 
result, the Council is considering measures that would restrict the use 
of AFA-qualified vessels and their limited entry trawl permits in 
segments of the fishery in which the vessel had not been previously 
active, as determined by minimum participation requirements.
    At its September 1999 meeting, the Council adopted September 16, 
1999, as a control date to be used in placing restrictions on 
participation in the Pacific Coast groundfish fisheries by AFA-
qualified catcher vessels in the mothership and shore-based sectors of 
the Pacific whiting fishery, and to all other non-whiting groundfish 
fisheries in which catch is landed shoreside (64 FR 66158, November 24, 
1999), At the April 2000 meeting, the Council reviewed alternatives for 
providing protection to Pacific Coast groundfish fisheries and its 
participants from AFA-qualified vessels and processors that failed to 
meet minimum participation requirements in the Pacific Coast groundfish 
fisheries. In addition, the Council considered whether to restrict, 
suspend, or void permits registered to AFA-qualified vessels if the 
vessels did not meet the participation requirements.
    At its June 2000 meeting, the Council gave further consideration to 
management measures aimed at protecting Pacific Coast groundfish 
fishery participants from impacts caused by the AFA. The Council voted 
to establish a control date of June 29, 2000. Any limited entry permit 
on that date owned by an owner of a vessel eligible for benefits under 
the AFA (AFA-qualified) and registered for use with an AFA-qualified 
vessel that does not meet minimum participation requirements that may 
be established in the future, may be subject to restrictions on being 
registered to participate in the Pacific Coast groundfish fisheries, 
similarly to restrictions imposed on the vessel.
    The Council is also considering restricting future participation in 
the whiting fishery by AFA-qualified motherships and catcher/processors 
that do not have a history in the fishery. For motherships, the 
criterion being considered is a certain level of participation in the 
regular whiting season in either 1998 or 1999. For catcher/processors, 
the criterion being considered is whether the catcher/processor was 
licensed to harvest groundfish in 1997, 1998, or 1999 through September 
16, 1999. No new AFA-qualified motherships or catcher processors have 
entered the groundfish fishery since September of 1999.
    This document notifies the public that the Council is considering 
measures to protect the Pacific Coast groundfish fisheries from adverse 
impacts caused by the APA. The intended effect of this document is to 
discourage speculative entry or increased effort in the Pacific Coast 
groundfish fisheries by entities eligible for AFA benefits or 
revocation to purchasers or lessees of limited entry permits owned by 
AFA-qualified vessel owners and registered for use with AFA-qualified 
vessels on June 29, 2000.
    Implementation of any management measures for the fishery will 
require amendment of the regulations implementing the FMP, and may 
require amending the FMP. Any action will require Council development 
of a regulatory proposal with public input and a supporting analysis, 
NMFS approval, and publication of implementing regulations in the 
Federal Register. This advance notice of proposed rulemaking has been 
determined to be not significant for purposes of Executive Order 12866.

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.; Pub. L. 105-277, Div. C, 
Title II, October 21, 1988.

    Dated: September 7, 2000.
William T. Hogarth,
Deputy Assistant Administrator, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 00-23536 Filed 9-12-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S