[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 186 (Monday, September 27, 2004)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 57651-57653]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-21553]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 300

[Docket No. 040209049-4117-02; I.D. 091404G]


Pacific Halibut Fisheries; Oregon Sport Fisheries

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

ACTION: Inseason action; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces changes to the regulations for the Area 2A 
sport halibut fisheries off the central coast of Oregon. This action 
would increase the daily bag limit and make additional potential season 
reopening dates available to halibut fishing in the Oregon central 
coast recreational fishing subarea. The purpose of this action is to 
allow increased access to Oregon's central coast recreational halibut 
quota.

DATES: Effective September 22, 2004, through the 2005 annual management

[[Page 57652]]

measures which will publish in a later Federal Register document. 
Comments on this rule will be accepted through October 7, 2004.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on the inseason action, identified 
by I.D. 091404G, by any of the following methods:
     E-mail: [email protected]. Include 091404G in 
the subject line of the message.
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     Fax: 206-526-6736, Attn: Jamie Goen.
     Mail: D. Robert Lohn, Administrator, Northwest Region, 
NMFS, 7600 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA 98115-0070.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jamie Goen (NMFS, Northwest Region), 
phone: 206-526-4646.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: International Pacific Halibut Commission 
(IPHC) annual management measures for the Pacific halibut fisheries 
were published on February 27, 2004 (69 FR 9231). The Area 2A Catch 
Sharing Plan for Pacific halibut off Washington, Oregon, and California 
was implemented subsequently at 69 FR 24524, May 4, 2004. Those 
regulations established the 2004 area quota for the central coast of 
Oregon (Cape Falcon, OR to Humbug Mountain, OR) all-depth fishery of 
282,178 lb (128 mt) and the related management measures. The third all-
depth sport fishery season in the central area is scheduled to be open 
2 days per week (Friday and Saturday) on previously announced specific 
dates, and the nearshore fishery (shoreward of 40-fathoms) is scheduled 
for 7 days per week, both with a one-fish bag limit.
    The pace of the all-depth halibut fishery has been slow off the 
Oregon central coast in recent years. Oregon Department of Fish and 
Wildlife (ODFW), the agency that directly monitors the sport halibut 
fishery off Oregon's coast, reports sport halibut catch in the 2004 
fishery, as of September 1, 2004, to have 77,736 lb (35.3 mt) of quota 
remaining out of a 282,178 lb (128 mt) quota for the Oregon central 
coast fishery (Note: the remaining quota includes 20,858 lb (9.5 mt) 
remaining in the nearshore fishery). For the remainder of the year, 
this fishery is scheduled to be open, as quota allows, on September 17, 
18 and October 1, 2, 15, 16, 29 and 30. In order to increase 
opportunity for participation in sport halibut fisheries in the Oregon 
central coast subarea, ODFW consulted with NMFS and the IPHC, and they 
together recommended that additional potential season reopening dates 
be available for the all-depth fishery, that the fishery be changed 
from a 2-day per week (Friday and Saturday) fishery to a 3-day per week 
(Friday through Sunday) fishery, and that the fishery be changed from a 
one-fish bag limit to a two-fish bag limit. The increased bag limit 
would apply to the nearshore fishery, shoreward of 40-fathoms, in this 
subarea as well.
    These changes would increase the days available that a vessel could 
fish for halibut in the all-depth area and allow the retention of an 
additional fish (up to two) in both the all-depth and nearshore areas, 
as quota allows. The additional potential reopening dates and increased 
bag limit announced in this document allow flexibility in scheduling 
the remainder of the season and increased opportunity to attain the 
2004 sport halibut quota for this subarea. ODFW hopes that by adding 
potential reopening dates and increasing the bag limit, anglers will be 
able to access the full halibut quota for this subarea and not leave 
quota remaining, as in 2002 and in 2003, where about 50,000 lb (22.7 
mt) and 80,000 lb (36.3 mt) of combined central coast quota remained 
unharvested, respectively.
    Section 25 of the 2004 Pacific halibut regulations provides NMFS 
with the authority to make certain inseason management changes, 
provided that the action is necessary to allow allocation objectives to 
be met, and that the action will not result in exceeding the catch 
limit for the area. The Catch Sharing Plan's (CSP's) structuring 
objective for the Oregon central coast area is to provide two periods 
of fishing opportunity in Spring and in Summer in productive deeper 
water areas along the coast, principally for charterboat and larger 
private boat anglers, and to provide a period of fishing opportunity in 
the summer for nearshore waters for small boat anglers.
    In consultation with the ODFW and the IPHC, NMFS has determined to 
increase the bag limit in this subarea to two-fish per day and to allow 
the following additional potential reopening dates to sport halibut 
fishing in the Oregon central coast all-depth subarea for the remainder 
of 2004: September 24, 25, 26, and October 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 
17, 22, 23, 24, 29, 30 and 31, in order to meet the CSP's objectives. 
Additionally, this action is not expected to result in bycatch of 
overfished groundfish species above the amounts previously projected to 
be taken in Oregon sport fisheries in 2004, particularly the 3.2 mt for 
yelloweye rockfish.

NMFS Action

    For the reasons stated above, NMFS announces the following change 
to the 2004 annual management measures (69 FR 24524, May 4, 2004) to 
read as follows:
    1. On page 24526, in the third column, in section 24. Sport Fishing 
for Halibut, paragraphs (4)(b)(v)(A)(3) and (4)(b)(v)(B) in the third 
column are revised to read as follows:
    24. Sport Fishing for Halibut
* * * * *
    (4) * * *
    (b) * * *
    (v) * * *
    (A) * * *
    (3) If sufficient unharvested catch remains, the third season 
(summer season), which is for the ``all-depth'' fishery, will be open 
August 6, 7, 20, and 21, September 3, 4, 17, 18, 24, 25, and 26, and 
October 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 17, 22, 23, 24, 29, 30, and 31, or 
until the combined spring season and summer season quotas in the area 
between Cape Falcon and Humbug Mountain, OR, totaling 259,604 lb (117.8 
mt), are estimated to have been taken and the area is closed by the 
Commission, whichever is earlier. NMFS will announce fishery openings 
and closures on the NMFS hotline.
    (B) The daily bag limit is the first two halibut taken, per person, 
of 32 inches (81.3 cm) or greater in length.
* * * * *

Classification

    This action is authorized by section 25 of the IPHC regulations 
published at 69 FR 24524 (May 4, 2004). The determination to take these 
actions is based on the most recent data available. The Assistant 
Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA (AA), has determined that good cause 
exists for this document to be published without affording a prior 
opportunity for public comment under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3)(B) because 
doing so would be impracticable. Providing prior notice and opportunity 
for public comment would be impracticable because it might prevent 
fishers from achieving their recreational harvest opportunity for 
halibut within this subarea's quota for the season. NMFS has concluded, 
based on the slow rate of catch of halibut in Oregon's central coast 
recreational fishery in 2004, fishers may not have an opportunity to 
harvest the 2004 quota if they are limited to the season open dates and 
one-fish bag limit established pre-season. Thus, potential season 
reopening dates and an increased bag limit of two-fish per day are 
announced in this action for the Oregon central

[[Page 57653]]

coast all-depth sport halibut fishery. The additional potential 
reopening dates and increased bag limit are intended to allow anglers 
an opportunity to attain the Oregon central coast halibut quota for 
2004 and flexibility in scheduling openings for any or all of those 
dates. However, there was not sufficient time between getting the 
information on the slow season catch for 2004 and the additional 
reopening dates to afford the public prior notice and opportunity for 
comment. NMFS received the information on September 1, 2004. The first 
new reopening date is September 24, 2003. NMFS needed time to write and 
review the changes to the regulations. In addition, this action 
relieves a restriction by providing additional opportunity for anglers 
to harvest halibut if sufficient quota remains. If there are no 
additional reopening dates added to the season or an increased bag 
limit, anglers may be restricted by not being able to harvest the full 
halibut quota for 2004. For the above reasons and because this action 
relieves a restriction, the AA has also determined that good cause 
exists to waive the delay of effectiveness of this action under 5 
U.S.C. 553(d)(1) and (d)(3).
    Public comments will be received for a period of 15 days after the 
publication in the  Federal Register . This action is authorized by 
section 25 of the IPHC's annual management measures for Pacific halibut 
fisheries published on May 4, 2004 (69 FR 24524), and has been 
determined to be not significant for purposes of Executive Order 12866.

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

    Dated: September 20, 2004.
John H. Dunnigan,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 04-21553 Filed 9-22-04; 12:07 pm]
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