[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 99 (Tuesday, May 24, 2005)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 29713-29714]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-10352]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 660

[Docket No. 050504121-5121-01; I.D. 050205B]
RIN 0648-AT40


Fisheries Off West Coast States and in the Western Pacific; 
Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; Spiny Dogfish Management Program and 
Trawl Individual Quota Program and Establishment of a Control Date

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

ACTION: Advance notice of proposed rulemaking; notice of control date 
for the Pacific Coast groundfish fishery; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Pacific Fishery Management Council (Pacific Council) is 
considering implementing management measures for the spiny dogfish 
(Squalus acanthias) fishery off Washington, Oregon and California. This 
document announces a control date of April 8, 2005, for the spiny 
dogfish fishery. The control date for the spiny dogfish fishery is 
intended to discourage increased fishing effort in the limited entry 
and open access groundfish fisheries targeting spiny dogfish based on 
economic speculation while the Pacific Council develops and considers 
management measures for the spiny dogfish fishery. In addition, this 
document provides supplemental information on a control date for a 
limited entry groundfish trawl individual quota (IQ) program announced 
in the Federal Register on January 9, 2004, by clarifying that the 
control date does not preclude processors from being eligible to own 
quota as part of the trawl IQ program.

DATES: Comments may be submitted in writing by June 23, 2005.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by I.D. 050205B by any 
of the following methods:
     E-mail: [email protected]: Include 050205B in the 
subject line of the message.
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: 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, Attn: Jamie Goen

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The Pacific Fishery Management Council 
at 866-806-7204; or Steve Freese at 206-526-6140.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Pacific Council established under 
section 302(a)(1)(F) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1852(a)(1)(F)) (Magnuson-Stevens Act) is 
considering management measures for the spiny dogfish (Squalus 
acanthias) fishery off Washington, Oregon and California. In addition, 
NMFS previously announced a control date for a limited entry groundfish 
trawl IQ program off Washington, Oregon and California that is 
clarified later in this notice. The Pacific Coast groundfish fishery is 
managed under the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan 
(FMP) approved on January 4, 1982 (47 FR 43964, October 5, 1982), as 
amended 18 times. Implementing regulations for the FMP and its 
amendments are codified at 50 CFR part 660, subpart G.

Control Date for the Spiny Dogfish Fishery

    Recent interest in the spiny dogfish fishery and concern over the 
status of the stock has led the Pacific Council to consider management 
measures for the spiny dogfish fishery off Washington, Oregon and 
California. On May 5, 2005 (70 FR 23804), NMFS published a temporary 
emergency rule to set bycatch limits in the directed open access 
fishery for canary and yelloweye rockfish in order to protect those 
species from impacts from new vessels interested in participating in 
the open access fishery for dogfish (Historically, a limited number of 
vessels have targeted dogfish off the West Coast even though harvest of 
the species is currently not limited. [Note: Spiny dogfish are included 
in the ``Other Fish'' category in Pacific Coast groundfish management. 
Thus, the harvest of spiny dogfish is included in the optimum yield 
(OY) for ``Other Fish,'' which is not limited.]
    In the past few years, large areas along the coast have been closed 
to the non-trawl groundfish fishery to protect overfished rockfish 
species. Some vessels explored accessing these closed areas through an 
experimental fishing permit (EFP) sponsored by the Washington 
Department of Fish and Wildlife in an effort to test whether vessels 
can target spiny dogfish in the closed area while keeping catch of 
overfished rockfish species limited. EFP results proved promising in 
terms of participating vessels maintaining low bycatch rates while 
targeting dogfish. However, before the Pacific Council and NMFS might 
consider moving forward with management measures to create a targeted 
spiny dogfish fishery additional information is necessary, including an 
assessment of the status of the stock.
    A formal stock assessment has not been conducted on the West Coast 
stock of spiny dogfish. A formal stock assessment is planned for the 
2007 stock assessment cycle. In the meantime, little is known about the 
status of spiny dogfish on the West Coast, except that like other shark 
species, they are slow growing, late to mature, and have a low 
fecundity, making them susceptible to becoming overfished.
    Thus, in an effort to discourage increased fishing effort on spiny 
dogfish in the limited entry and open access groundfish fisheries based 
on speculative new entrants while the Pacific Council considers 
management measures, the Pacific Council recommended and NMFS is 
announcing a control date of April 8, 2005, in advance of a rulemaking. 
Management measures may include setting an acceptable biological catch 
(ABC) and OY specific to spiny dogfish. While a control date is not 
necessary for setting an ABC/OY, it may be used if management measures 
include limiting future participation in the spiny dogfish fishery. If 
the Pacific Council recommends and NMFS adopts management measures for 
the spiny dogfish fishery, the measures would be implemented through a 
proposed and final rulemaking, and possibly an FMP amendment.
    The control date announces to the public that the Pacific Council 
may decide not to count activities occurring after the control date 
toward determining a person's qualification for participation in the 
spiny dogfish fishery. Spiny dogfish landed after April 8, 2005, 
potentially may not be included in the catch history used to qualify 
for participation in the spiny dogfish fishery.
    Implementation of any management measures for the fishery will 
require

[[Page 29714]]

amendment of the regulations implementing the FMP and may also require 
amendment of the FMP itself. Any action will require Council 
development of a regulatory proposal with public input and a supporting 
analysis, NMFS approval, and appropriate rulemaking procedures. 
Interested parties are urged to contact the Pacific Council office to 
stay informed of the development of any planned regulations. Fishers 
are not guaranteed future participation in the spiny dogfish fishery, 
regardless of their date of entry or level of participation in the 
fishery.
    This notification hereby establishes April 8, 2005, for potential 
use in determining historical or traditional participation in the spiny 
dogfish fishery. This action does not commit the Pacific Council to 
developing any particular management regime or to use any specific 
criteria for determining entry to the fishery. The Pacific Council may 
choose a different control date or a management program that does not 
make use of such a date. The Pacific Council may also choose to take no 
further action to control entry or access to the fishery. Any action by 
the Pacific Council will be taken pursuant to the requirement for FMP 
development established under the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
    This advance notice of proposed rulemaking has been determined to 
be not significant for purposes of Executive Order 12866.

Trawl IQ Program Control Date Clarification

    As announced in the Federal Register on January 9, 2004 in an 
advanced notice of proposed rulemaking (69 FR 1563), the Pacific 
Council is considering implementing an IQ program for the Pacific Coast 
groundfish limited entry trawl fishery off Washington, Oregon and 
California. In advance of a rulemaking on the trawl IQ program, that 
notice announced a control date of November 6, 2003, for the trawl IQ 
program as follows: ``the control date for the trawl IQ program is 
intended to discourage increased fishing effort in the limited entry 
trawl fishery based on economic speculation while the Pacific Council 
develops and considers a trawl IQ program. This control date will apply 
to any person potentially eligible for IQ shares. Persons potentially 
eligible for IQ shares may include vessel owners, permit owners, vessel 
operators, and crew.'' To clarify, the control date for the trawl IQ 
program does not preclude processors from being eligible to own quota 
in the trawl IQ program should the Pacific Council approve and NMFS 
implement a trawl IQ program.
    In addition, as mentioned above under the control date for spiny 
dogfish, the control date previously announced for the trawl IQ program 
does not commit the Pacific Council to developing any particular 
management regime or to use any specific criteria for determining entry 
into the trawl IQ program. The Pacific Council may choose a different 
control date or a management program that does not make use of such a 
date. The Pacific Council may also choose to take no further action. 
Any action by the Pacific Council will be taken pursuant to the 
requirement for FMP development established under the Magnuson-Stevens 
Act.

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

    Dated: May 18, 2005.
Rebecca Lent,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 05-10352 Filed 5-23-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S