[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 30 (Thursday, February 13, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7348-7350]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-3590]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 013103A]


Antarctic Marine Living Resources Convention Act of 1984; 
Conservation and Management Measures

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

ACTION: Final notice.

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SUMMARY: At its Twenty-first meeting in Hobart, Tasmania, October 21 to 
November 1, 2002, the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic 
Marine Living Resources (the Commission or CCAMLR), of which the United 
States is a member, adopted conservation measures, pending members' 
approval, pertaining to fishing in the CCAMLR Convention Area in 
Antarctic waters. These have been agreed upon in accordance with 
Article IX of the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine 
Living Resources (the Convention) and are in effect with respect to the 
United States.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the CCAMLR measures and the framework 
environmental assessment may be obtained from the Assistant 
Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA, National Marine Fisheries Service, 
1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robin Tuttle, 301-713-2282.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    See 50 CFR part 300, subpart G - Antarctic Marine Living Resources, 
and 67 FR 77876 (December 19, 2002).
    The measures restrict overall catches and bycatch of certain 
species of fish, krill and crab; limit participation in several 
exploratory fisheries; restrict fishing in certain areas and to certain 
gear types; set fishing seasons; amend and clarify the catch 
documentation scheme for Dissostichus species; amend

[[Page 7349]]

a previously adopted measure on the use of automated satellite-linked 
vessel monitoring systems (VMS) on Contracting Party vessels fishing in 
the Convention Area; and promote compliance by Contracting and non-
Contracting Party vessels. Resolutions urge Member efforts to reduce 
illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing in Convention Areas 
adjacent to high seas Statistical Areas 51 and 57 and by flags of non-
compliance.
    The measures and resolutions were announced by the Department of 
State by a preliminary notice in the Federal Register on December 19, 
2002 (67 FR 77887). Public comments were invited, but none were 
received. Through this action, NMFS notifies the public that the United 
States has accepted the measures adopted at CCAMLR's twenty-first 
meeting, and that pursuant to the Convention and 16 U.S.C. 2431 et 
seq., these measures are in effect. For the full text of the measures 
adopted, see 67 FR 77887, December 19, 2002. NMFS provides the 
following summary of the measures as a courtesy.

Compliance

    The Scheme to Promote Compliance by Non-Contracting Party Vessels 
with CCAMLR Conservation Measures is revised to establish a list of 
non-Contracting Party vessels (Vessel List) whose fishing activities in 
the Convention Area have diminished the effectiveness of CCAMLR 
conservation measures in force.
    The Scheme to Promote Compliance by Contracting Party Vessels with 
CCAMLR Conservation Measures is a new measure. It requires the 
Commission to identify those Contracting Parties whose vessels have 
engaged in fishing activities in the Convention Area in a manner which 
has diminished the effectiveness of CCAMLR conservation measures in 
force, and to establish a list of such vessels (IUU Vessel List).
    Measures regulating new and exploratory fisheries are revised to 
restrict access to these fisheries to vessels that are equipped and 
configured so that they can comply with all relevant conservation 
measures. A vessel with a confirmed involvement in IUU fishing with 
respect to the CCAMLR schemes to promote compliance by Contracting and 
non-Contracting Party vessels is not allowed to participate in these 
fisheries.
    The measure on Port Inspections of Vessels Carrying Toothfish is 
revised to require that Contracting Parties promptly provide the CCAMLR 
Secretariat with a report on the outcomes of each inspection conducted 
under the conservation measure.
    The measure requiring the use of an Automated Satellite-Linked 
Vessel Monitoring System on vessels fishing within the Convention Area 
is revised to require that both the hardware and software components of 
the VMS must be tamper proof, i.e., must not permit the input or output 
of false positions nor be capable of being manually overridden. In 
addition, Contracting Parties may not issue licenses to fish in the 
Convention Area unless the VMS used on licensed vessels complies with 
every specification of the conservation measure.
    The Commission adopted a resolution on Flags of Non-Compliance 
(FONC), urging all Contracting and non-Contracting Parties cooperating 
with the Commission to: (1) without prejudice to the primacy of the 
responsibility of the Flag State, to take measures or otherwise 
cooperate to ensure, to the greatest extent possible, that the 
nationals subject to their jurisdiction do not support or engage in IUU 
fishing, including engagement on board FONC vessels in the Convention 
Area is this is consistent with their national law; (2) ensure the full 
cooperation of their relevant national agencies and industries in 
implementing the measures adopted by CCAMLR: (3) develop ways to ensure 
that the export or transfer of fishing vessels from their State to FONC 
State is prohibited; and (4) prohibit the landings and transhipments of 
fish and fish products from FONC vessels.

Catch Documentation Scheme (CDS)

    The CDS measure is revised in two ways. First, it requires that the 
master of a vessel completing a Dissostichus Catch 
Document(DCD)indicate whether a Dissostichus catch was caught in an 
Exclusive Economic Zone or on the high seas, as appropriate. Second, 
the Flag State can only issue a DCD confirmation number when it is 
convinced that the information submitted by the vessel requesting the 
confirmation number fully satisfies the provisions of the CDS 
conservation measure.

Incidental Mortality of Seabirds

    The measure to minimize the incidental mortality of seabirds in the 
course of longline fishing or longline fishing research is amended to 
require that fishers remove fish hooks from all discarded material, 
including offal and fish heads.The Commission adopted minor changes to 
the bottle test in the experimental line-weighting trials required in 
all longline fisheries.

Research Vessel Activity

    The conservation measure specifying the application of CCAMLR 
conservation measures to scientific research is revised to include a 
taxa-specific schedule for use by Members in notifying the CCAMLR 
Secretariat of research vessel activity.

Krill

    Data requirements for the fisheries for Euphausia superba (krill) 
in Statistical Area 48 and Statistical Divisions 58.4.1 and 58.4.2 are 
revised to require that each Contracting Party obtain from each of its 
vessels the data required to complete the CCAMLR fine-scale catch and 
effort data form for trawl fisheries and that it aggregate these data 
monthly by 10 x 10 nautical mile rectangle and 10-day periods and 
transmit them to the CCAMLR Secretariat no late that 1 April of the 
following year. While fishers have been required previously to collect 
this data, Contracting Parties have not routinely provided it to the 
CCAMLR Secretariat.

Crab

    The Commission eliminated a measure requiring fishers to process 
crab sections on board.

Champsocephalus gunnari

    The Commission set the overall catch limit for C.gunnari in 
Statistical Subarea 48.3 for the 2002/2003 season at 2,181 tons, and 
otherwise continued previously adopted restrictions on the fishery.
    The Commission set the catch limit for C. gunnari within defined 
areas of Statistical Division 58.5.2 for the 2002/03 season 2,980 tons 
and otherwise continued previously adopted restrictions on the fishery.

Electrona carlsbergi

    The Commission set the catch limit for E. carlsbergiin Statistical 
Subarea 48.3 at 109,000 tons for the 2002/03 season. A special 
provision for Shag Rocks applies.

Dissostichus species

    The Commission prohibited directed fishing for Dissostichus species 
in Statistical Subareas 48.5, 88.2 north of 65[deg]S and 88.3, and 
Divisions 58.4.1, 58.5.1 and 58.5.2 outside the French EEZ and east of 
79[deg] 20'E outside the Australian EEZ from December 1, 2002 to 
November 30, 2003.
    The Commission prohibited directed fishing for Dissostichus species 
in Statistical Division 58.4.4 and Subarea 58.6 outside areas of 
national jurisdiction until such time that further scientific 
information is gathered and

[[Page 7350]]

reviewed by the Working Group on Fish Stock Assessment and the 
Scientific Committee.
    The Commission amended the general measures for exploratory fishing 
for Dissostichus species to limit longline soak times, except in the 
case of exceptional circumstances beyond the control of a vessel, to 48 
hours, measured from the completion of the setting process to the 
beginning of the hauling process. In addition, the measure was modified 
to more precisely define the fine-scale rectangle within which vessels 
are to fish.
    The Commission set the catch limit for the longline fishery for D. 
eleginoides in Subarea 48.3 in the 2002/03 season at 7,810 tons, 
counting any catch of D. eleginoides taken in other fisheries in 
Subarea 48.3 against the catch limit.
    The Commission set the catch limit for trawl fishing in Division 
58.5.2 during the December 1, 2002, to November 30, 2003, season and 
for longline fishing for D. eleginoides in Division 58.5.2 west of 
79[deg]20'E from May 1, 2003 to August 31, 2003, at 2,879 tons. This is 
the first season a longliner may operate in this fishery.
    The Commission approved several fisheries as exploratory fisheries 
for the 2002/03 fishing season. These fisheries are limited total 
allowable catch (TAC) fisheries and are open only to the flagged 
vessels of the countries that notified CCAMLR of an interest by 
participants in the fisheries. The United States was not a notifying 
country, and, thus, U.S. fishers are not eligible to participate in 
them.
    The exploratory fisheries for Dissostichus species are for longline 
fishing in Statistical Subarea 48.6 by Japan, New Zealand, South Africa 
and Uruguay; longline fishing in Statistical Division 58.4.2 by 
Australia; longline fishing in 58.4.3a (the Elan Bank) outside areas 
under national jurisdiction by Australia and Japan; longline fishing in 
Statistical Division 58.4.3b (the BANZARE Bank) by Australia and Japan; 
longline fishing in Statistical Subarea 88.1 by Japan, New Zealand, 
Russia, South Africa and Spain; longline fishing in Statistical Subarea 
88.2 by Japan, New Zealand and South Africa.
    The Commission extended the limitations on bycatch in new and 
exploratory fisheries in 58.5.2 for the 2002/03 season.
    The Commission limited the bycatch of Macrourus species, skates and 
rays and other species in new and exploratory fisheries small-scale 
research units for Dissostichus in Statistical Area 48.6, Statistical 
Divisions 58.4.2, 58.4.3a, 58.4.3b, and Statistical Areas 88.1 and 88.2 
for the 2002/03 season.
    The Commission adopted a resolution relating to Harvesting D. 
eleginoides in Areas Outside of Coastal State Jurisdiction Adjacent to 
the CCAMLR Area in FAO Statistical Areas 51 and 57. The resolution 
recommends that Members provide data and other information, subject to 
their laws and regulations, relevant to understanding the biology and 
estimating the status of stocks in these areas. It also recommends that 
Members take steps necessary to conduct only that level of toothfish 
harvesting in these areas, which will ensure the conservation of this 
species in the Convention Area.

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 2431 et seq.

    Dated: February 7, 2003.
William T. Hogarth,
Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 03-3590 Filed 2-12-03; 8:45 am]
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