[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 64 (Tuesday, April 4, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16764-16765]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-4802]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[I.D. 032906G]


North Pacific Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting

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

ACTION: Notice of a public meeting.

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SUMMARY: The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) Charter 
Halibut Stakeholder Committee will meet in Anchorage, AK.

DATES: The meeting will be held on April 18-20, 2006, 8:30 a.m. to 5 
p.m.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Anchorage Hilton Hotel, 500 
West 3rd Avenue, Aspen/Spruce Room, Anchorage, AK 99501.
    Council address: North Pacific Fishery Management Council, 605 W. 
4th Ave., Suite 306, Anchorage, AK 99501-2252.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jane DiCosimo, Council staff, 
telephone: (907) 271-2809.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Charter Halibut Stakeholder Committee 
will convene for its third meeting to continue development of two

[[Page 16765]]

alternatives to allocate halibut between the charter and commercial 
sectors. One alternative would be a percentage allocation to the 
charter sector. Elements to be considered include, but are not limited 
to: (1) A percentage based allocation that would float up and down with 
halibut abundance; (2) Subdivision of Area 2C and 3A into smaller 
geographic sub-districts; (3) Management measures that will be used to 
enforce the allocation, including: (a) the current suite of measures to 
reduce harvests under the Guideline Harvest Level (GHL) (i.e., one trip 
per vessel per day, no harvest by skipper and crew, and annual limit of 
5 or 6 fish per person (for Area 2C only); (b) Limits on the number of 
lines fished to the number of clients; (c) Other annual bag limits; (d) 
Limits on days fished (either total number of days or by excluding 
specific days of the week); (e) Reduced daily limits including size 
limitations for the second fish caught; (f) Subtraction of any 
allocation overage from the following year's allocation; (g) Federal 
limited entry program with delayed transferability; (h) Mechanisms 
which, if the charter harvest continues to grow, would allow for an 
orderly and compensated allocation shift from the longline sector to 
the charter sector, including the use of a charter stamp or other 
funding mechanisms to generate funds to buy commercial quota shares to 
convert commercial allocation to the charter sector and to pay for 
management of the charter fishery.
    A second alternative would be an Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) 
program, including, but not be limited to: (1) Elements of the 
previously proposed (2001) charter IFQ program; (2) A modified IFQ 
program, including, but not be limited to, including recent 
participants who were not included in the 2001 plan. Such approaches 
might include a ``leveling'' plan, other effort based mechanisms to 
update 1998 and 1999 history, new history approaches, an effort based 
transferable seat program, or other options; (3) Subdivision of Area 2C 
and 3A into smaller geographic sub-districts; and (4) Other elements to 
be identified by the committee.
    Although non-emergency issues not contained in this agenda may come 
before this group for discussion, those issues may not be the subject 
of formal action during this meeting. Action will be restricted to 
those issues specifically identified in this notice and any issues 
arising after publication of this notice that require emergency action 
under section 305(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act, provided the public has been notified of the Council's 
intent to take final action to address the emergency.

Special Accommodations

    These meetings are physically accessible to people with 
disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other 
auxiliary aids should be directed to Gail Bendixen at (907) 271-2809 at 
least 7 working days prior to the meeting date.

    Dated: March 30, 2006
Tracey L. Thompson,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E6-4802 Filed 4-3-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S