[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 132 (Wednesday, July 10, 2002)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 45671-45673]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-17045]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 679

[Docket No. 011218304-2062-02; I. D. 121701A]
RIN 0648-AP69


Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Steller Sea 
Lion Protection Measures and 2002 Harvest Specifications and Associated 
Management Measures for the Groundfish Fisheries off Alaska; Correction

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

[[Page 45672]]


ACTION: Emergency interim rule; correction, and request for comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: This document corrects an emergency interim rule implementing 
Steller sea lion protection measures and 2002 harvest specifications 
for the Alaska groundfish fishery. These corrections are needed to 
afford Atka mackerel fishery participants an additional opportunity to 
register for the 2002 B season harvest limit area fishery in the 
Aleutian Islands subarea.

DATES: Effective July 10, 2002. Comments must be received on or before 
5 p.m., A.l.t., August 9, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Comments must be sent to Sue Salveson, Assistant Regional 
Administrator, Sustainable Fisheries Division, Alaska Region, NMFS, 
P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802, Attn: Lori Gravel-Durall, or 
delivered to room 401 of the Federal Building, 709 West 9th Street, 
Juneau, AK. Comments will not be accepted if submitted via e-mail or 
Internet. Copies of the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement on 
Steller Sea Lion Protection Measures in the Federal Groundfish 
Fisheries Off Alaska (SEIS), including the 2001 biological opinion and 
regulatory impact review, and the Environmental Assessment (EA) for the 
Total Allowable Catch for the Year 2002 Alaska Groundfish Fisheries may 
be obtained from the same address. The SEIS and EA are also available 
on the NMFS Alaska Region home page at http://www.fakr.noaa.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Melanie Brown, NMFS, 907-586-7228 or 
e-mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The emergency interim rule published January 
8, 2002 (67 FR 956), amended and corrected May 1, 2002, (67 FR 21600) 
and extended May 16, 2002 (67 FR 34860), implements Steller sea lion 
protection measures and final 2002 harvest specifications for the 
groundfish fisheries of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management 
area (BSAI) and the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). As published, the final rule 
contains errors regarding the registration process for the Atka 
mackerel harvest limit area (HLA) directed fishery in the Aleutian 
Islands subarea. This document corrects these errors.

Corrections

    This action implements a registration process for the 2002 B season 
harvest limit area (HLA) directed fishery for Atka mackerel. The 
Council and NMFS intended that two separate lottery processes would be 
used, one for each of the A and B season Atka mackerel fisheries in the 
Aleutian Islands subarea and that vessels would be provided the 
opportunity to participate in the A and/or B season HLA directed 
fisheries.
    January 15, 2002, is specified in the regulations as the cut off 
date for registering to participate in the HLA directed fishery. This 
date was intended to ensure that registration was received in time to 
perform the lottery for vessel platoon assignments and to notify 
participants of the results before the A season began on January 20. As 
the regulatory text is currently written, vessels that were not 
registered by January 15, 2002, would be excluded from participating in 
both the A and B season HLA directed fishery. The emergency rule did 
not address the timing or process for the B season lottery. This 
omission is being corrected by this action.
    In order to conduct a B season lottery for the HLA directed fishery 
and provide all vessels the opportunity to participate, vessels 
maintaining their Atka mackerel Federal fisheries permit (FFP) 
endorsement through July 31 will be entered in the lottery to 
participate in the B season fishery. Vessels that were not used in the 
A season Atka mackerel HLA directed fishery but that register under 
Sec. 679.4(b)(5)(vii) by 4:30 p.m., A. l. t., August 1, 2002, may 
participate in the lottery for the B season HLA directed fishery, which 
begins September 1, 2002.
    Under Sec. 679.7(a)(19), vessels participating in an HLA directed 
fishery are restricted from other groundfish fishing during the first 
directed fishery assignment in the season. If the owner of a vessel 
that was used in the A season HLA directed fishery wishes to 
participate in a directed fishery for other groundfish species during 
the B season HLA directed fishery, the owner must have the FFP amended 
to remove the Atka mackerel HLA directed fishery endorsement before 
August 1, 2002. Otherwise, the vessel will be entered into the HLA 
directed fishery lottery and assigned a platoon for the Atka mackerel B 
season fishery.

Classification

    The Administrator, Alaska Region, NMFS (Regional Administrator), 
has determined that this correction is necessary for the conservation 
and management of the groundfish fisheries of the BSAI and GOA. The 
Regional Administrator also has determined that this correction is 
consistent with the Magnuson-Stevens Act and other applicable laws. No 
relevant Federal rules exist that may duplicate, overlap, or conflict 
with this action.
    This correction has been determined to be not significant for 
purposes of Executive Order 12866.
    Consistent with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), NMFS 
prepared an environmental assessment (EA) for the total allowable catch 
specifications portion of the January 8, 2002, emergency interim rule. 
NMFS also prepared a supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS) 
for the Steller sea lion protection measures; a notice of availability 
of the draft SEIS was published in the Federal Register on August 31, 
2001 (66 FR 45984). Comments were received and responded to in the 
final SEIS and the final document was issued November 23, 2001 (66 FR 
58734). The final SEIS and EA are available from NMFS (see ADDRESSES). 
Based on a comparison of the effects of the other alternatives in the 
SEIS, NMFS determined that this action meets the Endangered Species Act 
(ESA) requirements for Steller sea lion protection and environmental 
protection without providing extreme economic hardship that was 
anticipated from the most environmentally desirable alternative. 
Potential adverse impacts on marine mammals resulting from fishing 
activities conducted under the emergency interim rule (67 FR 956, 
January 8, 2002) are discussed in the EA and final SEIS. The correction 
in this action is within the scope of these NEPA analyses.
    A formal section 7 consultation under the ESA was initiated for the 
emergency interim rule (67 FR 956, January 8, 2002) under the FMPs for 
the groundfish fisheries of the BSAI and the GOA. In a biological 
opinion dated October 17, 2001, the Director of the Office of Protected 
Resources determined that fishing activities conducted under the 
Steller sea lion protection measures implemented by the emergency 
interim rule (67 FR 956, January 8, 2002) are not likely to jeopardize 
the continued existence of any endangered or threatened species or 
result in the destruction or adverse modification of critical habitat. 
In a memorandum dated December 11, 2001, from the Office of Protected 
Resources to the Office of Sustainable Fisheries, biological opinions 
dated December 22, 1999, and December 23, 1999, were extended for 1 
year from January 1, 2002, for purposes of the harvest specifications 
implemented by the January 8, 2002 emergency interim rule. This 
correction is consistent with the objectives for Steller sea lion 
protection measures implemented in 2002, the ESA, and other applicable 
laws, and will not affect listed species or critical

[[Page 45673]]

habitat in any manner not previously evaluated in prior consultations.
    By this action, NMFS is correcting the Steller sea lion protection 
measures which have been in effect since January 1, 2002, for the BSAI 
and GOA. This correction clarifies the requirements for registration in 
the Atka mackerel HLA directed fishery for the B season starting 
September 1, 2002. Registration for this fishery must be completed by 
August 1, 2002, to allow NMFS to conduct the lottery and to notify 
participants of results before the start of the fishery. Because delay 
in implementing this correction would unnecessarily limit opportunity 
for participation in the Atka mackerel HLA directed fishery, it is 
impracticable to provide prior notice and an opportunity for public 
comment and contrary to the public interest pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 
553(b)(3). For the same reasons, a delay in the effective date is 
hereby waived pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3). Because prior notice and 
opportunity for public comment are not required for this correction to 
the emergency interim rule by 5 U.S.C. 553 or any other law, the 
analytical requirements of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601 
et seq.are not applicable. Therefore, a regulatory flexibility analysis 
has not been prepared.

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 679

    Alaska, Fisheries, Recordkeeping and reporting requirements.

    Dated: July 1, 2002.
William T. Hogarth,
Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
    For reasons set out in the preamble, 50 CFR part 679 is amended as 
follows:

PART 679--FISHERIES OF THE EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE OFF ALASKA

    1. The authority citation for part 679 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 773 et seq.; 1801 et seq.; 3631 et seq.; 
Title II of Division C, Pub. L. 105-277; Sec. 3027, Pub. L. 106-31; 
113 Stat. 57; 16 U.S.C. 1540(f); and Sec. 209, Pub. L. 106-554.

    2. In Sec. 679.20, paragraphs (a)(8)(iii) and (a)(8)(iii)(A) are 
revised to read as follows:


Sec. 679.20  General limitations.

* * * * *
    (a) * * *
    (8) * * *
    (iii) Platoon management of Atka mackerel harvest limit area 
directed fishing (applicable through December 31, 2002)--(A) 
Registration. All vessels using trawl gear for directed fishing for 
Atka mackerel in the HLA, as defined in Sec.  679.2, are required to 
register with NMFS. To register, the vessel owner or operator must 
provide information required by Sec.  679.4(b)(5)(vii) for an 
endorsement to the vessel's Federal fishery permit issued under Sec.  
679.4.
    (1) To participate in the A season HLA fishery, registration 
information must be received by NMFS, Restricted Access Management 
Program, by 4:30 p.m., A.l.t., on the first working day following 
January 15, 2002.
    (2) To participate in the B season HLA fishery,
    (i) The vessel must be registered for the A season HLA fishery and 
must be registered for the HLA fishery through August 1, 2002, or
    (ii) Registration information for the HLA fishery must be received 
by NMFS, Restricted Access Management Program, by 4:30 p.m., A.l.t., 
August 1, 2002.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 02-17045 Filed 7-9-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S