[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 62 (Friday, April 1, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16804-16806]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E5-1469]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 031005A]


Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; Fisheries of the Northeastern 
United States; Northeast Multispecies Fishery; 2005 Georges Bank Cod 
Hook Sector Operations Plan and Agreement and Allocation of GB Cod 
Total Allowable Catch

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

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: Amendment 13 to the Northeast (NE) Multispecies Fishery 
Management Plan (FMP) (Amendment 13) authorized allocation of up to 20 
percent of the annual Georges Bank (GB) cod total allowable catch (TAC) 
to the GB Cod Hook Sector (Sector). Pursuant to that authorization, the 
Sector has submitted an Operations Plan and Sector Contract entitled, 
``Amendment 1 to Georges Bank Cod Hook Sector Operations Plan and 
Agreement'' (together referred to as the Sector Agreement), and a 
Supplemental Environmental Assessment (EA), and has requested an 
allocation of GB cod, consistent with regulations implementing 
Amendment 13. This notice provides interested parties an opportunity to 
comment on the proposed Sector Agreement prior to final approval or 
disapproval of the Sector Operations Plan and allocation of GB cod TAC 
to the Sector for the 2005 fishing year.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before April 18, 2005.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to Patricia A. Kurkul, 
Regional Administrator, NMFS, Northeast Regional Office, 1 Blackburn 
Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930. Mark the outside of the envelope 
``Comments on GB Cod Hook Sector Operations Plan.'' Comments may also 
be sent via fax to (978) 281-9135, or submitted via e-mail to: 
[email protected].
    Copies of the Sector Agreement and the EA are available from the NE 
Regional Office at the mailing address specified above.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas Warren, Fishery Policy Analyst, 
phone (978) 281-9347, fax (978) 281-9135, e-mail 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS announces that the Administrator, 
Northeast Region, NMFS (Regional Administrator), has made a preliminary 
determination that the Sector Agreement, which contains the Sector 
Contract and Operations Plan, is consistent with the goals of the NE 
multispecies FMP and other applicable law and is in compliance with the 
regulations governing the development and operation of a sector as 
specified under 50 CFR 648.87. The final rule implementing Amendment 13 
(69 FR 22906, April 27, 2004) specified a process for the formation of 
sectors within the NE multispecies fishery and the allocation of TAC 
for a specific groundfish species (or Days-at-Sea (DAS)), implemented 
restrictions that apply to all sectors, authorized the GB Cod Hook 
Sector, established the GB Cod Hook Sector Area (Sector Area), and 
specified a formula for the allocation of GB cod TAC to the Sector.
    The principal Amendment 13 regulations applying to the Sector 
specify that: (1) All vessels with a valid limited access NE 
multispecies DAS permit are eligible to participate in the Sector, 
provided they have documented landings of GB cod through valid dealer 
reports submitted to NMFS of GB cod during the fishing years 1996 to 
2001 when fishing with hook gear (i.e., jigs, demersel longline, or 
handgear); (2) Membership in the Sector is voluntary, and each member 
would be required to remain in the Sector for the entire fishing year 
and could not fish outside the NE multispecies DAS program during the 
fishing year, unless certain conditions are met; (3) Vessels fishing in 
the Sector (participating vessels) would

[[Page 16805]]

be confined to fishing in the Sector Area, which is that portion of the 
GB cod stock area north of 39[deg]00' N. lat. and east of 71[deg]40' W. 
long; and (4) Participating vessels would be required to comply with 
all pertinent Federal fishing regulations, unless specifically exempted 
by a Letter of Authorization, and the provisions of an approved 
Operations Plan.
    While Amendment 13 authorized the Sector, in order for GB cod to be 
allocated to the Sector and the Sector authorized to fish, the Sector 
must submit an Operations Plan and Sector Contract to the Regional 
Administrator annually for approval. The Operations Plan and Sector 
Contract must contain certain elements, including a contract signed by 
all Sector participants and a plan containing the management rules that 
the Sector participants agree to abide by in order to avoid exceeding 
the allocated TAC. An additional analysis of the impacts of the 
Sector's proposed operations may be required in order to comply with 
the National Environmental Policy Act. Further, the public must be 
provided an opportunity to comment on the proposed Operations Plan and 
Sector Contract. The regulations require that, upon completion of the 
public comment period, the Regional Administrator will make a 
determination regarding approval of the Sector Contract and Operations 
Plan. If approved by the Regional Administrator, participating vessels 
would be authorized to fish under the terms of the Operations Plan and 
Sector Contract.
    The Sector was authorized for fishing year (FY) 2004 and, based 
upon the hook gear landings history of its 58 members, was allocated 
371 mt of cod, which is 12.587 percent of the total 2004 GB cod TAC.
    On March 3, 2005, the Sector Manager submitted to NMFS, Amendment 1 
to the 2004 Sector Agreement and a supplemental EA entitled ``The 
Georges Bank Cod Hook Sector Operations Plan'' which analyzes the 
impacts of the proposed Sector Agreement.
    With three substantive exceptions, the proposed 2005 Sector 
Agreement contains the same elements as the 2004 Sector Agreement. The 
first substantive modification to the 2004 Sector Agreement is the 
eligibility criteria for membership. The 2004 eligibility criteria for 
membership in the Sector specified issuance of a limited access NE 
multispecies DAS permit, and documented landings of GB cod by hook 
gear, during the qualifying period. Framework Adjustment 40-B, which is 
currently under review by NMFS, proposes to modify the eligibility 
criteria for the Sector and the basis upon which the TAC allocation is 
determined. If Framework 40-B is approved, the eligibility criteria 
will be expanded to include landings of GB cod by all gears (beginning 
in 2005), and the TAC allocated to the Sector would be based on the 
members' landings of GB cod using any gear rather than being based only 
on historic landings of GB cod by hook gear.
    The second substantive modification proposed in the 2005 Sector 
Agreement is a change to the Penalty Schedule, which proposes more 
severe penalties for violations of the time or area restrictions. The 
third modification proposed is the removal of the current gear 
requirement limiting the number of bundles of hooks in set in the 
Sector's inshore gear restriction area (the maximum number of 4,500 
hooks is the same).
    The Sector Agreement would be overseen by a Board of Directors and 
a Sector Manager. The Sector Agreement specifies, in accordance with 
Amendment 13, that the Sector's GB cod TAC would be based upon the 
number of Sector members and their historic landings of GB cod. The GB 
cod TAC is a ``hard'' TAC, meaning that, once the TAC is reached, 
Sector vessels could not fish under a DAS, possess or land GB cod or 
other regulated species managed under the FMP (regulated species), or 
use gear capable of catching groundfish (unless fishing under charter/
party or recreational regulations).
    As of March 18, 2005, 52 prospective Sector members had signed the 
2005 Sector Contract. Because a new method of TAC calculation could be 
implemented under Framework 40-B, two GB cod TAC allocations were 
calculated: One based upon historic cod landings by hook gear only 
(i.e., when fishing with jigs, demersal longline, or handgear), and a 
second allocation based upon landings by all gear. The allocation 
percentages were calculated by dividing the sum of total landings of GB 
cod by Sector members for the fishing years 1996 through 2001, by the 
sum of the total accumulated landings of GB cod harvested by all NE 
multispecies vessels for the same time period (113,278,842 lb). The 
resulting numbers are 11.32 percent and 11.65 percent, for hook gear 
and all gear, respectively. Based upon these 52 prospective Sector 
members, the Sector TACs of GB cod would be either 463 mt or 477 mt 
(11.32 or 11.65 percent times the fishery-wide GB cod target TAC of 
4,090 mt, respectively). The fishery-wide GB cod target TAC of 4,090 mt 
is less than the GB cod target TAC specified in Amendment 13 (4,830 mt) 
because the 4,830 mt included Canadian catch. That is, the fishery-wide 
GB cod target TAC of 4,090 mt was calculated by subtracting the GB cod 
TAC specified for Canada under the U.S./Canada Resource Sharing 
Understanding for the 2005 fishing year (740 mt), from the overall GB 
cod target TAC of 4,830 mt specified in Amendment 13. If prospective 
members of the Sector change their minds after the publication of this 
notice and prior to a final decision by the Regional Administrator, it 
is possible that the total number of participants in the Sector and the 
TAC for the Sector may be slightly reduced from the numbers above.
    The Sector Agreement contains procedures for the enforcement of the 
Sector rules, a schedule of penalties, and provides the authority to 
the Sector Manager to issue stop fishing orders to members of the 
Sector. Participating vessels would be required to land fish only in 
designated landing ports and would be required to provide the Sector 
Manager with a copy of the Vessel Trip Report (VTR) within 48 hours of 
offloading. Dealers purchasing fish from participating vessels would be 
required to provide the Sector Manager with a copy of the dealer report 
on a weekly basis. On a monthly basis, the Sector Manager would 
transmit to NMFS a copy of the VTRs and the aggregate catch information 
from these reports. After 90 percent of the Sector's allocation has 
been harvested, the Sector Manager would be required to provide NMFS 
with aggregate reports on a weekly basis. A total of 1/12 of the 
Sector's GB cod TAC, minus a reserve, would be allocated to each month 
of the fishing year. GB cod quota that is not landed during a given 
month would be rolled over into the following month. Once the aggregate 
monthly quota of GB cod is reached, for the remainder of the month, 
participating vessels could not fish under a NE multispecies DAS, 
possess or land GB cod or other regulated species, or use gear capable 
of catching regulated NE multispecies. Once the annual TAC of GB cod is 
reached, Sector members could not fish under a NE multispecies DAS, 
possess or land GB cod or other regulated species, or use gear capable 
of catching regulated NE multispecies for the rest of the fishing year. 
The harvest rules would not preclude vessels from fishing under the 
charter/party or recreational regulations, provided the vessel fishes 
under the applicable charter/party and recreational rules on separate 
trips. For each fishing trip, participating vessels would be required 
to fish under the NE multispecies DAS program to account

[[Page 16806]]

for any incidental groundfish species that they may catch while fishing 
for GB cod. In addition, participating vessels would be required to 
call the Sector Manager prior to leaving port. There would be no trip 
limit for GB cod for participating vessels. All legal-sized cod caught 
would be retained and landed and counted against the Sector's aggregate 
allocation. Participating vessels would not be allowed to fish with or 
have on board gear other than jigs, non-automated demersal longline, or 
handgear. Participating vessels would be limited to using 4,500 hooks 
within the inshore gear restriction area, but may use an unlimited 
number of hooks in the rest of the Sector Area. NE multispecies DAS 
used by participating vessels while conducting fishery research under 
an Exempted Fishing Permit during the 2005 fishing year would be 
deducted from that Sector member's individual DAS allocation. 
Similarly, all GB cod landed by a participating vessel while conducting 
research would count toward the Sector's allocation of GB cod TAC. 
Participating vessels would be exempt from the GB Seasonal Closure Area 
during the month of May.
    The EA prepared for the Sector operations concludes that the 
biological impacts of the Sector will be positive because the hard TAC 
and the use of DAS will provide two means of restricting both the 
landings and effort of the Sector. Implementation of the Sector would 
have a positive impact on essential fish habitat and bycatch by 
allowing a maximum number of hook vessels to remain active in the hook 
fishery, rather than converting to (or leasing DAS to) other gear types 
that have greater environmental impacts. The analysis of economic 
impacts of the Sector concludes that Sector members would realize 
higher economic returns if the Sector were implemented. The EA asserts 
that fishing in accordance with the Sector Agreement rules enables more 
efficient harvesting of GB cod with hook gear than would be possible if 
the vessels were fishing in accordance with the common pool (non-
Sector) rules. The social benefits of the Sector would accrue to both 
Sector members as well as the Chatham/Harwichport, MA, community, which 
is highly dependent upon groundfish revenues and is likely to be 
negatively affected by the reduced cod trip limit that was implemented 
under Amendment 13. The EA concludes that the self-governing nature of 
the Sector and the development of rules by the Sector enables 
stewardship of the cod resource by Sector members. The cumulative 
impacts of the Sector are expected to be positive due to a positive 
biological impact, neutral impact on habitat, and a positive social and 
economic impact. In contrast, the cumulative impact of the no action 
alternative is estimated to be neutral, with negative social and 
economic impacts.
    Should the Regional Administrator approve the Sector Agreement as 
proposed, a Letter of Authorization would be issued to each member of 
the Sector exempting them, conditional upon their compliance with the 
Sector Agreement, from the GB cod possession restrictions and the 
requirements of the Gulf of Maine trip limit exemption program, limits 
on the number of hooks, and the GB Seasonal Closure Area, as specified 
in Sec. Sec.  648.86(b), 648.80(a)(4)(v), and 648.81(g), respectively.
    Regulations under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) require publication of this 
notification to provide interested parties the opportunity to comment 
on proposed TAC allocations and plans of operation of sectors.

    Dated: March 29, 2005.
Alan D. Risenhoover,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E5-1469 Filed 3-31-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S