[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 67 (Wednesday, April 7, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18350-18352]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-7903]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 012304B]


Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Groundfish 
of the Gulf of Alaska; Exempted Fishing Permit

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

ACTION: Issuance of an Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP).

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces the issuance of EFP 04-01 to the Alaska 
Fisheries Development Foundation (applicant). The EFP authorizes the 
applicant to develop and test hook-and-line gear for rockfish harvest 
in the Southeast Outside District (SEO) of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) 
that historically had been harvested with trawl gear. This EFP is 
necessary to provide information not otherwise available through 
research or commercial fishing operations. The intended effect of this 
action is to promote the purposes and policies of the Magnuson-Stevens 
Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act).

ADDRESSES: Copies of the EFP and the Environmental Assessment (EA) 
prepared for the EFP are available from Lori J. Durall, Alaska Region, 
NMFS, P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish 
of the Gulf of Alaska authorizes the issuance of EFPs to fish for 
groundfish in a manner that would otherwise be prohibited under 
existing regulations. The procedures for issuing EFPs are set out at 50 
CFR 679.6.
    On February 5, 2004, NMFS announced in the Federal Register the 
receipt of an application for an EFP (69 FR 5509). The applicant 
requested authorization to develop and test hook-and-line gear for 
rockfish harvest in the SEO of the GOA. Pacific ocean perch, pelagic 
shelf rockfish, and other slope rockfish historically have been

[[Page 18351]]

harvested in this area by trawl gear. Trawling in the SEO has been 
prohibited since March 23, 1998 (63 FR 8356, February 19, 1998). This 
EFP will provide information not otherwise available through research 
or commercial fishing operations because it is not economically 
feasible for vessels to participate in an experiment of this extent and 
rigor during the commercial fisheries. The goal of this project is to 
improve the utilization of rockfish species in the SEO in ways that are 
consistent with Magnuson-Stevens Act national standard 1, which directs 
that conservation and management measures must achieve optimum yield 
from each fishery, and national standard 5, which seeks to promote 
efficiency in the utilization of fishery resources.
    The Regional Administrator has approved the EFP application and has 
issued EFP 04-01 to the applicant. Details of the project are in the 
environmental assessment prepared for this action (see ADDRESSES). The 
project has two phases: (1) development of two hook-and-line gear types 
that can be effectively handled on typical Southeast Alaska fishing 
vessels and that successfully target rockfish species, and (2) 
comparative testing of the gear types developed in Phase I in terms of 
catch of target rockfish species per unit of effort and incidental 
catch of nontarget species. Because this project is in two phases, the 
applicant is permitted to conduct Phase I activities only, with 
permitting for Phase II contingent on the final report from Phase I and 
the Alaska Fisheries Science Center's approval of the experimental 
design for Phase II. The time period of the project is April 15, 2004, 
through April 15, 2005, with the possibility to extend the permit up to 
12 months in case unforseen events delay completion of the project.
    The EFP is necessary to allow the applicant to develop and test 
hook-and-line gear for rockfish in the SEO with certain exemptions from 
fishery closures, prohibited species catch (PSC) limits, and fish 
retention and discard requirements. The exemptions are necessary to 
allow the permit holder to efficiently conduct the testing and to 
reduce potential impacts on other hook-and-line fisheries. The EFP 
provides exemptions from: (1) hook-and-line fishery closures under 50 
CFR 679.7(a)(2) due to reasons other than overfishing concerns, (2) 
individual fishing quota retention requirements under 50 CFR 
679.7(f)(11), (3) PSC limits for halibut under the GOA annual harvest 
specifications (69 FR 9261, February 27, 2004) and 50 CFR 
679.21(d)(4)(iii)(C), and (4) maximum retainable amounts for rockfish 
fisheries under 50 CFR 679.20(e). The total amount of groundfish 
allowed to be harvested is 179 metric tons (mt), including a 10 mt 
limit on sablefish. Because sufficient total allowable catch (TAC) 
amounts are available in the SEO for the rockfish species likely to be 
taken during the project, all groundfish, except sablefish, will be 
deducted from the annual TAC amounts specified in the annual harvest 
specifications (69 FR 9261, February 27, 2004). Hook-and-line sablefish 
is fully allocated and managed under the individual fishing quota (IFQ) 
program pursuant to 50 CFR 679.40, therefore, no sablefish may be 
retained during the project nor counted against the annual sablefish 
TAC. Halibut mortality is limited to 2 mt.
    Fishing contrary to notification of inseason actions, closures, or 
adjustments under 50 CFR 679.20, 679.21, and 679.25 is prohibited by 50 
CFR 679.7(a)(2). The applicant is exempt from this prohibition to allow 
the project to proceed without interruption. The PSC limit for halibut 
may be reached during the project time period, requiring the closure of 
the hook-and-line fisheries in accordance with 50 CFR 679.25. Because 
the amounts of halibut bycatch in the hook-and-line Pacific cod fishery 
has caused the closure of all hook-and-line fisheries (except demersal 
shelf rockfish) GOA-wide in the spring of 1999, 2000, and 2001, and in 
the fall of 2003, the closure of the hook-and-line fisheries in the GOA 
is likely. The halibut mortality during the project will not be counted 
against the PSC limit so that other hook-and-line fisheries will not be 
impacted by the project.
    The EFP allows the retention and sale of all groundfish species 
(except sablefish) taken while fishing under the EFP to offset some of 
the costs of the project. The applicant is exempt from the maximum 
retainable amounts specified in Table 10 of 50 CFR part 679 for 
rockfish fisheries. Because demersal shelf rockfish (DSR) are managed 
by the State of Alaska, which has special provisions for the retention 
and sale of DSR, the EFP will not relieve the applicant from compliance 
with the State's DSR regulations at 5 AAC 28.171. These regulations 
require full retention of DSR but limit the numbers of DSR that may be 
sold for revenue to the harvester.
    Because the applicant is required to discard all halibut and 
sablefish, the permit exempts the applicant from the retention 
requirement of 50 CFR 679.7(f)( 11). Under this regulation, all halibut 
and sablefish are required to be retained if a person on the vessel has 
IFQ available for halibut or sablefish for that class of vessel. 
Recruiting qualified individuals for the project would be difficult if 
the IFQ retention requirement was applied because the project does not 
provide an efficient use of IFQ. Because qualified participants are 
likely to be IFQ holders who would not want to use their IFQ during the 
project, the applicant is exempted from the retention requirements. All 
halibut and sablefish caught will be returned to the sea with minimal 
injury.
    The applicant expects to harvest the following amounts of 
groundfish species during the project: 50 mt each of Pacific ocean 
perch, other slope rockfish, and pelagic shelf rockfish; 15 mt of 
rougheye/shortraker rockfish; 2 mt each of thornyhead rockfish and DSR; 
10 mt of sablefish and 2 mt of halibut mortality. These levels of 
harvest and manner of harvest are determined to not have a significant 
impact on the human environment, as described in the EA (see 
ADDRESSES).
    All fishing under the EFP will stop if the groundfish or halibut 
mortality limits in the EFP are reached. The Regional Administrator may 
modify the EFP to allow continuation of the project after consideration 
of factors including: (1) the present amount of harvest of groundfish 
species by the groundfish fisheries compared to the annual TACs, (2) 
the progress of the project to date, and (3) the potential impacts of 
any modification of the EFP. A draft report will be available to the 
public 60 days after the completion of Phase I. A final report of the 
results of the experiment will be made available to the public 
approximately six months after the end of Phase II.
    Failure to comply with the terms and conditions of the EFP and all 
applicable provisions of 50 CFR parts 600 and 679, the Magnuson-Stevens 
Act, or any regulations promulgated thereunder, or any other applicable 
laws, may be grounds for revocation, suspension, or modification of 
this permit as well as civil or criminal sanctions imposed under those 
laws.

Classification

    NMFS prepared an EA for this EFP. The Alaska Regional Administrator 
for NMFS concluded that no significant impact on the human environment 
will occur as a result of fishing under this EFP. A copy of the EA is 
available from NMFS (see ADDRESSES).
    The Regional Administrator determined that fishing activities 
conducted pursuant to this EFP will not affect endangered and 
threatened species listed or critical habitat designated under the 
Endangered Species Act. Because fishing activities

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under this EFP will have no effects on essential fish habitat, a 
consultation is not required under the essential fish habitat 
provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
    This notice is exempt from review under E.O. 12866 and the 
Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA). The analytical requirements of the 
RFA are inapplicable because prior notice and opportunity for public 
comment are not required for this notice.

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

    Dated: April 2, 2004.
Bruce C. Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 04-7903 Filed 4-6-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S