[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 56 (Thursday, March 23, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14687-14688]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-4205]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 032006B]


Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Application 
for an Exempted Fishing Permit

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

ACTION: Notice of receipt of an application for an exempted fishing 
permit.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces receipt of an application for an 
exempted fishing permit (EFP) from the Alaska Longline Fishermen's 
Association (ALFA). If granted, the EFP would support a project to 
develop hook-and-line, troll, and jig techniques specific to the 
harvest of several rockfish species in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA), 
Southeast Outside District (SEO). This project is intended to promote 
the objectives of the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the GOA 
by improving utilization of the rockfish resources in the SEO. The 
project also would provide important biological information about 
rockfish in the SEO.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the EFP application and the environmental 
assessment (EA) are available by writing to Sue Salveson, Assistant 
Regional Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries, Alaska Region, NMFS, 
P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802, Attn: Ellen Walsh. The EA also is 
available from the Alaska Region, NMFS website at http://www.fakr.noaa.gov/index/analyses/analyses.asp.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS manages the domestic groundfish 
fisheries in the GOA under the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish 
of the GOA (FMP). The North Pacific Fishery Management Council 
(Council) prepared the FMP under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 
Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). Regulations 
governing the groundfish fisheries of the GOA appear at 50 CFR parts 
600 and 679. The FMP and the implementing regulations at Sec.  679.6 
and Sec.  600.745(b) authorize issuance of EFPs to allow fishing that 
would otherwise be prohibited. Procedures for issuing EFPs are 
contained in the implementing regulations.
    NMFS received an EFP application from the ALFA in February 2006. 
The proposed EFP would allow for the testing of unbaited artificial 
lures (shrimp flies) to target rockfish in the SEO. Prior to a ban on 
trawling in the SEO on March 23, 1998 (63 FR 8356, February 19,1998), 
trawl gear was used in the SEO to target the following rockfish 
species: Pacific Ocean perch (POP), pelagic shelf rockfish (PSR), and 
other slope rockfish (OSR). The goal of this project is to improve the 
utilization of rockfish species in the SEO using

[[Page 14688]]

methods 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.
    This project has been developed in cooperation with scientists at 
the NMFS Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC). The proposed EFP has 
the following three objectives: (1) collect demographic and growth 
information for rockfish species that have little baseline biological 
information; (2) document the fishing characteristics of a new type of 
gear (shrimp flies), including the calculation of bycatch rates for 
halibut, sablefish, and other non-target species; and (3) refine gear 
and fishing techniques to efficiently harvest POP, PSR, and OSR with 
minimal bycatch. The time period of the project is May 15, 2006, 
through May 15, 2009. Continuation of the project in 2007 and 2008 is 
contingent on approval from the AFSC.
    The proposed EFP exempts the applicant from certain fishery 
closures and prohibited species catch (PSC) limits. The exemptions are 
necessary to allow the permit holder to efficiently conduct the 
proposed project while minimizing impacts to the SEO hook-and-line 
fishery. The EFP provides exemptions from (1) hook-and-line fishery 
closures under Sec.  679.7(a)(2) due to reasons other than overfishing 
concerns; (2) PSC limits for halibut under the GOA annual harvest 
specifications (71 FR 10870, March 3, 2006) and Sec.  
679.21(d)(4)(iii)(C); and (3) maximum retainable amounts for rockfish 
fisheries under Sec.  679.20(e); and (4) sablefish retention 
requirements at Sec.  679.7(f)(8)(iii)(11). The total amount of 
groundfish allowed to be harvested is 189 metric tons (mt), including a 
10 mt mortality 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 (71 FR 10870, March 3, 2006). Because sablefish 
is fully allocated in the hook-and-line fishery, and managed under the 
individual fishing quota (IFQ) program pursuant to Sec.  679.40, no 
sablefish will 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 Sec. Sec.  679.20, 679.21, and 679.25 is prohibited 
by Sec.  679.7(a)(2). The applicant would be 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 
Sec.  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 and 2004, the closure of 
the hook-and-line fisheries in the GOA may occur. The halibut mortality 
during the project would not be counted against the PSC limit so that 
other hook-and-line fisheries will not be impacted by the project.
    The proposed 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 will be 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 would not relieve the applicant from 
compliance with the State's DSR regulations at 5 Alaska Administrative 
Code 28.171. These regulations require full retention of DSR but limit 
the numbers of DSR that may be sold for revenue by the harvester.
    Because the applicant will be required to discard all sablefish 
caught, the proposed permit exempts the applicant from the retention 
requirement of Sec.  679.7(f)(11) for sablefish only. 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 
could be difficult if the IFQ retention requirement is applied for 
sablefish because the project does not provide an efficient use of 
sablefish IFQ. Because qualified participants are likely to be 
sablefish IFQ holders who would not want to use their IFQ during the 
project, the applicant is exempted from the sablefish retention 
requirements. Furthermore, the primary gear used in the EFP will be 
troll and jig gear, neither of which is legal gear for the harvest of 
sablefish in the SEO. The proposed EFP requires that all sablefish 
caught be returned to the sea with minimal injury. Halibut catch would 
not be exempt from Sec.  679.7(f)(11) and would be subject to all 
applicable Federal regulations.
    All fishing under the proposed EFP would 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 the following factors: (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.
    In accordance with Sec.  679.6, NMFS has determined that the 
proposal warrants further consideration and has initiated consultation 
with the Council by forwarding the application to the Council. The 
Council will consider the EFP application during its April 3-11, 2006 
meeting. The applicant has been invited to appear in support of the 
application. Interested persons may comment on the application at the 
Council meeting during public testimony. Information regarding the 
April 2006 Council meeting is available at the Council's website at 
http://www.fakr.noaa.gov/npfmc/council.htm.
    Copies of the application and EA are available for review from NMFS 
(see ADDRESSES).

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

    Dated: March 20, 2006.
Alan D. Risenhoover,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E6-4205 Filed 3-22-06; 8:45 am]
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