[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 32 (Thursday, February 16, 2006)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 8269-8270]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-2231]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 679

[Docket No. 060201022-6022-01; I.D. 012606A]
RIN 0648-AU16


Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Control Date 
for Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Pacific Cod Fishery

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

ACTION: Advance notice of proposed rulemaking; consideration of control 
date.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: This document announces that anyone entering the Bering Sea 
and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) Pacific cod fishery after December 11, 2005 
(control date), will not be assured of future access to the Pacific cod 
resource if a management regime is developed and implemented that 
limits the number of participants, licenses or vessels in the fishery. 
This announcement is necessary for public awareness of a potential 
eligibility criterion for access with commercial fishing gear to the 
BSAI Pacific cod resource. This announcement does not prevent any other 
date for eligibility in the fishery or another method of controlling 
fishing effort from being proposed and implemented. The intended effect 
of this announcement is to discourage new entry into the fishery based 
on speculation while discussions continue on whether and how access to 
the Pacific cod resource should be limited.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeff Hartman, 907-586-7442, or 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On December 11, 2005 the North Pacific 
Fishery Management Council (Council) recommended that NMFS provide a 
notice to the public that a control date of December 11, 2005, for 
participation in the BSAI Pacific cod fishery be set. The purpose of 
this notice is to inform the public that participation in the BSAI 
Pacific cod commercial fishery after this date may not count for 
consideration of an allocation or eligibility to fish for Pacific cod.
    The BSAI Pacific cod fishery is managed pursuant to the Fishery 
Management Plan for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands 
Management Area (FMP). The total allowable catch (TAC) for BSAI Pacific 
cod currently is allocated among trawl, fixed, and jig gear sectors at 
50 CFR 679.20(a)(7). The Council is developing a proposed amendment to 
the FMP (Amendment 85) that would further divide and refine these 
allocations. During the development of this amendment, the Council 
became aware that new entrants into some sectors of the Pacific cod 
fishery would exacerbate competition for increasingly smaller sector 
allocations under Amendment 85.
    In October 2005, the Council developed a problem statement for 
Amendment 85 identifying that:
    Participants in the BSAI Pacific cod fishery who have made 
significant investments and have a long-term dependence on the 
resource need stability in the allocations to the trawl, jig, fixed 
gear, and CDQ [Community Development Quota] sectors. To reduce 
uncertainty and provide stability for these participants, 
allocations should be adjusted to better reflect historic use by 
sector. The basis for determining sector allocations will be catch 
history as well as consideration of socio-economic and community 
factors. As other fisheries in the BSAI and GOA [Gulf of Alaska] are 
incrementally rationalized, historical participants in the BSAI 
Pacific cod fishery may be put at a disadvantage. Each sector in the 
BSAI Pacific cod fishery currently has different degrees of license 
requirements and levels of participation. Allocations to the sector 
level are a necessary step on the path towards comprehensive 
rationalization. Prompt action is needed to maintain stability in 
the BSAI Pacific cod fisheries.
    In October 2005, the public testified to the Council that new entry 
into the Pacific cod fishery likely would erode the Pacific cod 
allocations and associated prohibited species catch amounts available 
to long-term participants, especially under proposed Amendment 85. On 
December 11, 2005, the Council recommended that NMFS provide a notice 
to the public that a control date of December 11, 2005, be set for 
participation in the BSAI Pacific cod fishery. This notice informs the 
public that participation in the BSAI Pacific cod commercial fishery 
after this date may not be considered by the Council for purposes of 
any future limited entry program developed for this fishery.
    NMFS and the Council intend, in making this announcement, to 
discourage speculative entry into the Pacific cod fishery while 
potential entry or access control management regimes are considered by 
the Council. If the Council decides to develop an access or entry 
control regime, some fishermen who do not currently fish for Pacific 
cod in the BSAI and never have done so may decide to enter the fishery 
for the sole purpose of establishing a record of making commercial 
landings of this species.
    A record of making commercial landings generally is considered 
indicative of economic dependence on a fishery. On this basis, a new 
entrant may successfully claim access to a fishery that otherwise is 
limited to traditional participants. New entrants may have to buy the 
fishing history or a permit from an earlier participant. Hence, initial 
access to the fishery at little or no entry cost may result in a 
transfer of wealth to entities with little investment in a fishery and 
away from those that have substantial investment in the fishery as 
indicated by their fishing history. Any anticipated increase in the 
security of an allocation also may encourage speculative entry, which 
is associated with a rapid and wasteful increase in fishing effort in 
fisheries already fully or over-exploited. Specification of a control 
date may communicate helpful investment and operational information to 
businesses considering entry to a fishery, or those currently operating 
in a fishery.

[[Page 8270]]

    This action does not commit the Council or Secretary to a 
particular management regime or criterion for entry to the Pacific cod 
fishery. Fishermen are not guaranteed future participation in the 
fishery before or after the control date. The Council may choose a 
different control date, or it may choose a management regime that does 
not make use of such a date. The Council may choose to give variably 
weighted consideration to fishermen in the fishery before and after the 
control date. The Council may choose also to take no further action to 
control entry or access to the fishery.

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

    Dated: February 13, 2006.
John Oliver,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Operations, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E6-2231 Filed 2-15-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S