[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 90 (Wednesday, May 9, 2001)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 23660-23661]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-11700]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 660

[I.D. 050101D]
RIN 0648-Al50


Fisheries off West Coast States and in the Western Pacific; 
Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; Amendment 14

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

ACTION: Notice of availability of an amendment to a fishery management 
plan; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the Pacific Fishery Management Council 
(Council) has submitted Amendment 14 to the Pacific Coast Groundfish 
Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Secretarial review. Amendment 14 
would implement a permit stacking program for limited entry permits 
with sablefish endorsements. This permit stacking program would 
lengthen the limited entry, fixed gear primary sablefish fishery. It is 
intended to increase safety in that fishery and provide flexibility to 
participants. The permit stacking program would also associate 
sablefish cumulative limits with permits, rather than with vessels, so 
that a single vessel could carry multiple permits and harvest multiple 
sablefish cumulative limits during the primary sablefish fishery.

DATES: Comments on Amendment 14 must be received on or before July 9, 
2001.

ADDRESSES: Comments on Amendment 14 or supporting documents should be 
sent to Donna Darm, Acting Administrator, Northwest Region, NMFS, Sand 
Point Way NE., BIN C15700, Seattle, WA 98115-0070; or to Rebecca Lent, 
Administrator, Southwest Region, NMFS, 501 West Ocean Boulevard, Suite 
4200, Long Beach, CA 90802-4213.
    Copies of Amendment 14 and the environmental assessment/ regulatory 
impact review (EA/RIR) are available from Donald McIsaac, Executive 
Director, Pacific Fishery Management Council, 2130 SW Fifth Ave., Suite 
224, Portland, OR 97201.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Yvonne deReynier or Becky Renko 
(Northwest Region, NMFS), phone: 206-526-6140; fax: 206-526-6736 and; 
e-mail: [email protected], [email protected] or Svein 
Fougner (Southwest Region, NMFS) phone: 562-980-4000; fax: 562-980-4047 
and; e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Electronic Access

    This Federal Register document is also accessible via the Internet 
at the website of the Office of the Federal Register: http://www.access.gpo.gov/su-docs/aces/aces140.html.
    The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 
(Magnuson-Stevens Act) requires that each regional fishery management 
council submit any FMP or plan amendment it prepares to NMFS for review 
and approval, disapproval, or partial approval. The Magnuson-Stevens 
Act also requires that NMFS, upon receiving an FMP or amendment,

[[Page 23661]]

immediately publish a notification in the Federal Register that the FMP 
or amendment is available for public review and comment. NMFS will 
consider the public comments received during the comment period 
described here in determining whether to approve the FMP or amendment. 
Amendment 14 would expand on Amendment 9 to the FMP, which restricted 
participation in the limited entry, regular fixed gear fishery to 
permits that met historical landings qualifications. Permit holders who 
met the landings qualifications were issued sablefish endorsements. The 
regulations that implemented Amendment 9 require that vessels hold 
permits with sablefish endorsements to participate in the regular 
sablefish fishery. Under a 1998 rulemaking following Amendment 9, 
permits with sablefish endorsements were assigned to one of three tiers 
based on their landings histories. During the regular fishery, a vessel 
is allowed to fish up to the cumulative limit associated with its 
particular tier. Cumulative limits are graduated so that permits 
associated with higher historic landings are in tiers that receive 
higher cumulative landings limits for current fisheries.
    Under the current FMP, cumulative limits are associated with 
vessels, which means that a vessel may land no more of a particular 
species than its cumulative limit for a given period. Amendment 14 
would allow sablefish cumulative limits in the regular fishery to be 
associated with permits rather than vessels, and would allow a single 
vessel to carry multiple permits. As a result, a single vessel could 
land multiple cumulative limits of sablefish during the period of the 
regular fishery. Allowing vessels to ``stack'' permits to harvest 
multiple cumulative limits of sablefish is expected to improve fleet 
efficiency by reducing the number of vessels participating in the 
fishery. Pub. L. 106-554 has also granted this fishery exemption from 
the ongoing Magnuson-Stevens Act moratorium on implementing new 
individual quota programs to allow the Council to set a season of 
several months duration. For the past several years, the regular 
fishery has been brief, 5-10 days duration. Amendment 14 is intended to 
take advantage of this new exemption from Congress to improve the 
safety of this derby fishery by giving participants sufficient time to 
fully harvest their cumulative limits.
    Public comments on Amendment 14 must be received by July 9, 2001, 
to be considered by NMFS in the decision whether to approve Amendment 
14. A proposed rule to implement Amendment 14 has been submitted for 
Secretarial review and approval. NMFS expects to publish and request 
public comment on the proposed regulations to implement Amendment 14 in 
the near future.

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

    Dated: May 3, 2001.
Bruce C. Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 01-11700 Filed 5-8-01; 8:45 am]
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