[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 115 (Thursday, June 14, 2001)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 32310-32312]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-15065]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 300

[Docket No. 010607147-1147-01; I.D. 052101A]
RIN 0648-AP26


Pacific Halibut Fisheries; Primary Sablefish Fishery

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

ACTION: Proposed rule; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS issues this proposed rule to provide a regulatory 
framework that would implement an Area 2A Pacific halibut Catch Sharing 
Plan (CSP) allocation to the Pacific Coast, limited entry primary 
sablefish fishery. This rule would allow halibut taken incidentally in 
the primary sablefish fishery to be retained and landed and would 
provide a framework that would allow the Pacific Fishery Management 
Council (Council) to recommend halibut catch limits for the sablefish 
fishery when a halibut quota is available to that fishery.

DATES: Comments must be submitted in writing by July 16, 2001.

ADDRESSES: ADDRESSES: Send comments to Donna Darm, Acting Regional 
Administrator, Northwest Region, NMFS, 7600 Sand Point Way, Seattle, WA 
98115. Copies of the environmental assessment/regulatory impact review 
(EA/RIR) for this action are available from Donald McIsaac, Executive 
Director, Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council), 2130 SW Fifth 
Avenue, Suite 224, Portland, OR 97201.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Yvonne deReynier, 206-526-6140.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Convention between the United States and 
Canada for the Preservation of the Halibut Fishery of the North Pacific 
Ocean and the Bering Sea (Convention), signed at Ottawa, Ontario, 
Canada, on March 2, 1953, and amended by a Protocol Amending the 
Convention, signed at Washington, D.C., United States of America, on 
March 29, 1979, authorizes the International Pacific Halibut Commission 
(Commission) to promulgate regulations for the conservation and 
management of the Pacific halibut fishery. Before these regulations 
have any effect on U.S. fishermen, they must be approved by the 
Secretary of State of the United States pursuant to section 4 of the 
Northern Pacific Halibut Act (Halibut Act, 16 U.S.C. 773-773k) that 
executes the above Convention. Section 5 of the Halibut Act gives the 
Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) the responsibility to carry out the 
Convention between the United States and Canada and requires the 
Secretary to adopt such regulations as may be necessary to carry out 
the purposes and objectives of the Convention and the Halibut Act. The 
Secretary's authority has been delegated to the Assistant Administrator 
for Fisheries, NOAA. Section 5 of the Halibut Act also provides that 
the regional fishery management council, having authority for the 
geographical area concerned, may recommend to NMFS management measures 
governing Pacific halibut catch in U.S. Convention waters that are in 
addition to, but not in conflict with, regulations of the Commission.
    The Commission describes the waters off the coasts of Washington, 
Oregon, and California as ``Area 2A.'' The Council recommends 
management policies affecting Area 2A through the annually updated CSP, 
and NMFS and the Commission adopt them for implementation.
    This CSP has been in place since 1995, when the Council re-
considered its management of non-tribal fisheries in order to 
accommodate a court-ordered increase to the tribal halibut allocation. 
The tribal fisheries for halibut occur north of Pt. Chehalis, 
Washington. Under the CSP, non-tribal fisheries are divided into three 
shares, with the Washington sport fishery receiving 36.6 percent, the 
Oregon/California sport fishery receiving 31.7 percent, and the 
commercial fishery receiving 31.7 percent. The non-tribal commercial 
fisheries included a directed commercial fishery south of Pt. Chehalis 
and a coastwide incidental halibut retention opportunity for the salmon 
troll fishery. This CSP ended non-treaty directed commercial fishing 
north of Pt. Chehalis.
    In 1998, Washington State and the Council decided to allow non-
tribal commercial longliners who had traditionally taken halibut off 
the Washington coast to have access to some commercial halibut in years 
of greater halibut abundance. Amendments to the CSP in 1998 included a 
halibut allocation for longline vessels participating in the Pacific 
coast, limited entry primary sablefish fishery north of Pt. Chehalis. 
Longliner participants in the primary sablefish fishery were generally 
the same fishermen who had lost a directed commercial fishing 
opportunity in 1995. Under 1998 changes to the CSP, this halibut 
allocation would be available only to the sablefish fishery when the 
overall total allowable catch (TAC) for Area 2A was above 900,000 lb 
(408.2 mt). Implementing regulations for this portion of the CSP were 
not promulgated in 1998 because there were no fish available for this 
fishery. For the first time since 1998, the Area 2A TAC is above 
900,000 lb (408.2 mt); therefore, NMFS is now proposing implementing 
regulations. Because most of the non-tribal halibut quota for waters 
off Washington State is allocated to the sport fisheries, the CSP takes 
the commercial sablefish fishery allocation from the percentage 
previously set aside for the Washington recreational fishery 
allocation.
    At its January 22-25 meeting, the Commission set an Area 2A TAC of 
1,140,000 lb (517 mt). According to the CSP, the primary sablefish 
fishery would receive an allocation of the amount of halibut from the 
portion of the Washington sport fishery allocation (36.6 percent of the 
Area 2A TAC) that is in excess of 214,110 lb (97.1 mt), provided that a 
minimum of 10,000 lb

[[Page 32311]]

(4.5 mt) is available to the sablefish fishery. Under the 2001 Area 2A 
TAC of 1,140,000 lb (517 mt), the primary sablefish fishery allocation 
would be 47,946 lb (21.7 mt).
    While the CSP provides the formula for calculating the primary 
sablefish fishery's halibut allocation, it does not specify a 
regulatory framework for the retention of halibut taken incidentally 
during the sablefish fishery. Similarly, the CSP specifies a formula 
for determining the amount of halibut available for incidental 
retention in the salmon troll fishery without setting a regulatory 
framework managing per-vessel retention levels. To implement the CSP 
for the salmon troll fishery, Federal halibut regulations at 50 CFR 
300.63(a)(2) state: ``A portion of the commercial [halibut] TAC is 
allocated as incidental catch in the salmon troll fishery in Area 2A. 
Each year the landing restrictions necessary to keep the fishery within 
its allocation will be recommended by the Pacific Fishery Management 
Council (Council) at its spring meetings and will be published in the 
Federal Register along with the annual salmon management measures.'' 
The Council has recommended revising the Federal halibut regulations to 
provide a similar framework for allowable incidental halibut retention 
for the limited entry, primary sablefish fishery.
    At the March and April 2001 Council meetings, following the 
Commission's adoption of a 1,140,000 lb (517 mt) TAC for Area 2A, the 
Council discussed how to best manage incidental halibut retention in 
the primary sablefish fishery. According to the CSP, only longline 
vessels fishing for sablefish in the limited entry, primary sablefish 
fishery north of Pt. Chehalis, WA (46 deg.53'18" N. lat.) are eligible 
to retain halibut taken in a sablefish fishery. Commission regulations, 
which govern fisheries off both Canada and the United States, do not 
allow fishermen to retain, possess, or land halibut taken with gear 
other than hook-and-line gear. Commission regulations also require that 
all non-tribal commercial vessels in Area 2A carry a commercial license 
issued by the Commission, which is free to an applicant. In Area 2A, 
commercial hook-and-line vessels south of Pt. Chehalis participate in a 
directed halibut fishery managed with per vessel cumulative limits. 
Longliners fishing for sablefish north of Pt. Chehalis may only retain 
and land halibut taken incidentally during the primary sablefish 
fishery. Participation in the primary sablefish fishery is restricted 
by Federal groundfish regulations to limited entry permit holders with 
sablefish endorsements.
    Under the combined constraints of the CSP, Commission regulations, 
and groundfish regulations, only limited entry longline vessels with 
sablefish endorsements fishing for sablefish north of Pt. Chehalis 
during the primary sablefish fishery are eligible to retain 
incidentally caught halibut. Approximately 55 longline vessels with 
sablefish endorsements commonly fish in waters north of Pt. Chehalis. 
For 2001 and beyond, the Council had to design a regulatory structure 
that would allow these vessels access to their halibut quota without 
exceeding that quota. Council priorities were to (1) ensure that 
halibut could only be retained and landed if they were taken 
incidentally to sablefish fishing rather than targeted, and (2) provide 
a regulatory framework similar to the salmon troll framework that could 
be used each year.
    At its April 2001 meeting, the Council recommended amending Federal 
halibut regulations to add a framework for the primary sablefish 
fishery that would be similar to the existing regulatory framework for 
halibut retention limits in the salmon troll fishery. This framework 
would allow the Council to annually determine limits for halibut 
retention in the primary sablefish fishery based on the halibut quota 
for this fishery, number of vessels licensed to participate, and the 
expected sablefish harvest by the participating vessels. Each year, 
NMFS would publish the Council's recommended halibut retention limit in 
the Federal Register.
    The Commission's commercial licensing process requires that 
applicants submit their license requests by April 30. Thus, the Council 
will not know the exact number of vessels expected to land halibut 
during the primary sablefish fishery until its June meeting. At its 
June meeting, the Council will set a ratio of allowable landed halibut 
to landed sablefish. For example, with the 2001 quota of 47,946 lb 
(21.7 mt) and the estimated 55 participating vessels, the halibut 
landing limit would be one halibut for every 480 lb (0.22 mt) of 
sablefish landed and up to two additional halibut in excess of the one 
fish per 480 lb (0.22 mt) ratio per landing. Ratios would be set to 
ensure, as much as possible, that halibut would be available to 
sablefish fishery participants throughout the sablefish season. Higher 
halibut limits might encourage vessels to either target halibut or to 
race each other for access to the halibut, possibly allowing the fleet 
to exceed the halibut quota before the sablefish season closes. The 
program under which vessels participating in the sablefish fishery fish 
under vessel-specific cumulative sablefish limits simplifies managers' 
efforts to calculate the ratio between available halibut and expected 
sablefish landings.
    There are no other expected biological effects of this proposed 
action beyond those contemplated by the Commission when it set the Area 
2A TAC. The only expected socio-economic effects of this proposed 
action are positive, in that fishermen operating north of Pt. Chehalis 
who have not been permitted to land commercially harvested halibut in 
past years because there was no allocation of halibut will be able to 
do so in 2001.

Classification

    The Council has prepared an EA/RIR for this proposed rule that 
describes the management background, the purpose and need for action, 
the managment action alternatives, and the environmental and socio-
economic impacts of the alternatives. Copies of the EA/RIR are 
available from the Council (see ADDRESSES).
    This proposed rule has been determined to be not significant for 
purposes of Executive Order 12866.
    The Chief Council for Regulation, Department of Commerce, certified 
to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration 
(SBA) that this rule would not have a significant economic impact on a 
substantial number of small entities as follows:
    A fish-harvesting business is considered a ``small'' business by 
the SBA if it has annual receipts not in excess of $3.0 million. The 
approximately 55 businesses that would be affected by this rule are 
all small businesses, and all are expected to benefit from this 
proposed rule. In years when the Area 2A Pacific halibut TAC is high 
enough to allow halibut retention in the primary, fixed gear 
sablefish fishery, these businesses will be able to supplement their 
income by landing incidentally caught halibut. Participating vessels 
would be allowed to land halibut that they would normally discard 
during the course of fishing, thus these vessels will incur no extra 
expenses in harvesting this quota. Depending on the halibut quota 
available to this fishery, the proposed action could result in about 
$1,500 to $15,000 additional annual income per vessel. Thus, the 
effect of this action on small businesses would be modest but 
positive. Because this quota is taken off the top of the Washington 
State recreational fishery quota only in years of an overall Area 2A 
TAC above 900,000 lb (408.2 mt) and because the TAC has not been 
this high in many years, it does not leave Washington recreational 
anglers and charter businesses with less halibut than they have had 
in recent years. A catch-sharing plan governs the allocation of 
halibut in Area 2A. That plan was amended in 1998 to establish this 
quota. The Commission has already set

[[Page 32312]]

aside this quota for this year. This proposed rule merely 
establishes the framework to annually distribute that quota among 
the affected fishers.
    As a result, a regulatory flexibility analysis was not prepared.

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 300

    Fisheries, Fishing, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, 
Treaties.

    Dated: June 11, 2001.
William T. Hogarth,
Acting Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.

    For reasons set out in the preamble, 50 CFR part 300 is proposed to 
be amended as follows:

PART 300--INTERNATIONAL FISHERIES REGULATIONS

    1. The authority citation for 50 CFR part 300, subpart E continues 
to read as follows:

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 773-773k

    2. In Sec. 300.63, paragraphs (a) (3) and (a) (4) are redesignated 
as (a) (4) and (a) (5), respectively, and a new paragraph (a) (3) is 
added to read as follows:


Sec. 300.63  Catch sharing plans, local area management plans, and 
domestic management measures.

* * * * *
    (a) * * *
    (3) A portion of the Area 2A Washington recreational TAC is 
allocated as incidental catch in the primary directed longline 
sablefish fishery north of 46 deg.53'18" N. lat., (Pt. Chehalis, 
Washington), which is regulated under 50 CFR 660.323(a)(2). This 
fishing opportunity is only available in years in which the Area 2A TAC 
is greater than 900,000 lb (408.2 mt), provided that a minimum of 
10,000 lb (4.5 mt) is available above a Washington recreational TAC of 
214,100 lb (97.1 mt). Each year that this harvest is available, the 
landing restrictions necessary to keep this fishery within its 
allocation will be recommended by the Pacific Fishery Management 
Council at its spring meetings, and will be published in the Federal 
Register. These restrictions will be designed to ensure the halibut 
harvest is incidental to the sablefish harvest and will be based on the 
amounts of halibut and sablefish available to this fishery. The 
restrictions may include catch or landing ratios, landing limits, or 
other means to control the rate of halibut landings.
    (i) In years when this incidental harvest of halibut in the 
directed sablefish fishery north of 46 deg.53'18" N. lat. is allowed, 
it is allowed only for vessels using longline gear that are registered 
under groundfish limited entry permits with sablefish endorsements and 
that possess the appropriate incidental halibut harvest license issued 
by the Commission.
    (ii) It is unlawful for any person to possess or land halibut south 
of 46 deg.53'18" N. lat. that were taken and retained north of 
46 deg.53'18" N. lat. as incidental catch in the directed sablefish 
fishery authorized by this section.
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[FR Doc. 01-15065 Filed 6-13-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S