[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 42 (Monday, March 5, 2007)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 9676-9707]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-3775]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 679

[Docket No.070213032-7032-01; I.D. 112206B]


Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Gulf of 
Alaska; 2007 and 2008 Final Harvest Specifications for Groundfish

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

ACTION: Final rule; closures.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces 2007 and 2008 final harvest specifications, 
reserves and apportionments thereof, Pacific halibut prohibited species 
catch (PSC) limits, and associated management measures for the 
groundfish fishery of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is 
necessary to establish harvest limits and associated management 
measures for groundfish during the 2007 and 2008 fishing years and to 
accomplish the goals and objectives of the Fishery Management Plan for 
Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska (FMP). The intended effect of this 
action is to conserve and manage the groundfish resources in the GOA in

[[Page 9677]]

accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act (MSA).

DATES: The 2007 and 2008 final harvest specifications and associated 
management measures are effective at 1200 hrs, Alaska local time 
(A.l.t.), March 5, 2007, through 2400 hrs, A.l.t., December 31, 2008.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), 
Record of Decision (ROD), and Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 
(FRFA) prepared for this action are available from the Alaska Region, 
NMFS, P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802, Attn: Ellen Sebastian, or from 
the Alaska Region website at http://www.fakr.noaa.gov. Copies of the 
final 2006 Stock Assessment and Fishery Evaluation (SAFE) report for 
the groundfish resources of the GOA, dated November 2006, are available 
from the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council), West 4th 
Avenue, Suite 306, Anchorage, AK 99510 2252 (907 271 2809), or from its 
website at http://www.fakr.noaa.gov/npfmc.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tom Pearson, Sustainable Fisheries 
Division, Alaska Region, 907-481-1780, or e-mail at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS manages the groundfish fisheries in the 
exclusive economic zone of the GOA under the FMP. The Council prepared 
the FMP under the authority of the MSA, 16 U.S.C. 1801, et seq. 
Regulations governing U.S. fisheries and implementing the FMP appear at 
50 CFR parts 600, 679, and 680.
    The FMP and its implementing regulations require NMFS, after 
consultation with the Council, to specify and apportion the total 
allowable catch (TAC) for each target species and for the ``other 
species'' category, the sum of which must be within the optimum yield 
(OY) range of 116,000 to 800,000 metric tons (mt). The final 
specifications set forth in Tables 1 through 22 of this document 
satisfy this requirement. For 2007, the sum of the TAC amounts is 
269,912 mt. For 2008, the sum of the TAC amounts is 286,173 mt.
    Section 679.20(c)(1) further requires NMFS to publish and solicit 
public comment on proposed annual TACs, halibut PSC amounts, and 
seasonal allowances of pollock and inshore/offshore Pacific cod. The 
proposed GOA groundfish specifications and Pacific halibut PSC 
allowances for 2007 and 2008 were published in the Federal Register on 
December 15, 2006 (71 FR 75437). Comments were invited and accepted 
through January 16, 2007. NMFS received 2 letters of comment on the 
proposed specifications. These letters of comment are summarized in the 
Response to Comments section of this action. In December 2006, NMFS 
consulted with the Council regarding the 2007 and 2008 harvest 
specifications. After considering public comments received, as well as 
biological and economic data that were available at the Council's 
December 2006 meeting, NMFS is implementing the 2007 and 2008 final 
harvest specifications, as recommended by the Council.

Acceptable Biological Catch (ABC) and TAC Specifications

    In December 2006, the Council, its Advisory Panel (AP), and its 
Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC), reviewed current biological 
and harvest information about the condition of groundfish stocks in the 
GOA. This information was compiled by the Council's GOA Plan Team and 
was presented in the final 2006 SAFE report for the GOA groundfish 
fisheries, dated November 2006 (see ADDRESSES). The SAFE report 
contains a review of the latest scientific analyses and estimates of 
each species= biomass and other biological parameters, as well as 
summaries of the available information on the GOA ecosystem and the 
economic condition of the groundfish fisheries off Alaska. From these 
data and analyses, the Plan Team estimates an ABC for each species or 
species category.
    The final ABC levels are based on the best available biological and 
socioeconomic information, including projected biomass trends, 
information on assumed distribution of stock biomass, and revised 
methods used to calculate stock biomass. The FMP specifies the 
formulas, or tiers, to be used to compute ABCs and overfishing levels 
(OFLs). The formulas applicable to a particular stock or stock complex 
are determined by the level of reliable information available to 
fisheries scientists. This information is categorized into a successive 
series of six tiers with tier one representing the highest level of 
information and tier six the lowest level of information.
    The final TAC recommendations were based on the ABCs as adjusted 
for other biological and socioeconomic considerations, including 
maintaining the total TAC within the required OY range of 116,000 to 
800,000 mt. The Council adopted the AP's TAC recommendations. The 
Council recommended TACs for 2007 and 2008 equal to ABCs for pollock, 
deep-water flatfish, rex sole, sablefish, Pacific ocean perch, 
shortraker rockfish, rougheye rockfish, northern rockfish, pelagic 
shelf rockfish, thornyhead rockfish, demersal shelf rockfish, big 
skate, longnose skate, and other skates. The Council recommended TACs 
less than the ABCs for Pacific cod, flathead sole, shallow-water 
flatfish, arrowtooth flounder, other rockfish, and Atka mackerel. None 
of the Council's recommended TACs for 2007 and 2008 exceeds the final 
ABC for any species or species category. The 2007 and 2008 harvest 
specifications approved by the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) are 
unchanged from those recommended by the Council and are consistent with 
the preferred harvest strategy alternative in the EIS. The 2007 and 
2008 TACs are less than the maximum permissible ABCs recommended by the 
Council's plan teams and SSC NMFS finds that the recommended ABCs and 
TACs are consistent with the biological condition of the groundfish 
stocks as described in the 2006 SAFE report and approved by the 
Council. The apportionment of TAC amounts among gear types, processing 
sectors, and seasons is discussed below.
    NMFS finds that the Council's recommendations for OFL, ABC, and TAC 
amounts are consistent with the biological condition of groundfish 
stocks as adjusted for other biological and socioeconomic 
considerations, including maintaining the total TAC within the OY 
range. NMFS reviewed the Council's recommended TAC specifications and 
apportionments and approves these specifications under Sec.  
679.20(c)(3)(ii).
    Tables 1 and 2 list the final 2007 and 2008 OFLs, ABCs, TACs, and 
area apportionments of groundfish in the GOA. The sum of 2007 ABCs is 
490,327 mt, which is lower than the 2006 ABC total of 500,625 mt (71 FR 
10870, March 3, 2006), while the sum of 2008 ABCs of 511,838 mt is 
higher than the 2006 total.

Specification and Apportionment of TAC Amounts

    As in 2006, the SSC and Council recommended the method of 
apportioning the sablefish ABC among management areas in 2007 and 2008 
include commercial fishery and survey data. NMFS stock assessment 
scientists believe the use of unbiased commercial fishery data 
reflecting catch-per-unit effort provides a desirable input for stock 
distribution assessments. The use of commercial fishery data is 
evaluated annually to ensure unbiased information is included in stock 
distribution models. The Council's recommendation for sablefish area 
apportionments also takes into account

[[Page 9678]]

the prohibition on the use of trawl gear in the Southeast Outside (SEO) 
District of the Eastern Regulatory Area and makes available 5 percent 
of the combined Eastern Regulatory Area ABCs to trawl gear for use as 
incidental catch in other directed groundfish fisheries in the West 
Yakutat (WYK) District (Sec.  679.20(a)(4)(i)).
    Since the inception of a State of Alaska (State) managed pollock 
fishery in Prince William Sound (PWS), the GOA Plan Team has 
recommended the guideline harvest level (GHL) for the pollock fishery 
in PWS be deducted from the ABC for the western stock of pollock in the 
GOA in the Western/Central/West Yakutat (W/C/WYK) Area. For the 2007 
and 2008 pollock fisheries in PWS the State's GHL is 1,650 mt.
    The apportionment of annual pollock TAC among the Western and 
Central Regulatory Areas of the GOA reflects the seasonal biomass 
distribution and is discussed in greater detail below. The annual 
pollock TAC in the Western and Central Regulatory Areas of the GOA is 
apportioned among Statistical Areas 610, 620, and 630, as well as 
equally among each of the following four seasons: the A season (January 
20 through March 10), the B season (March 10 through May 31), the C 
season (August 25 through October 1), and the D season (October 1 
through November 1) (Sec. Sec.  693.23(d)(2)(i) through (iv) and 
679.20(a)(5)(iii)(B)).
    The SSC, AP, and Council adopted the Plan Team's OFL and ABC 
recommendations for all groundfish species categories.
    The SSC, AP, and Council recommended apportionment of the ABC for 
Pacific cod in the GOA among regulatory areas based on the three most 
recent NMFS summer trawl surveys.
    The 2007 and 2008 Pacific cod TACs are affected by the State's 
fishery for Pacific cod in State waters in the Central and Western 
Regulatory Areas, as well as in PWS. The SSC, AP, and Council 
recommended that the sum of all State and Federal water Pacific cod 
removals not exceed the ABC. Accordingly, the Council recommended 
reduction of the 2007 and 2008 Pacific cod TACs from the ABCs in the 
Central and Western Regulatory Areas to account for State GHLs. 
Therefore, the 2007 Pacific cod TACs are less than the ABCs by the 
following amounts: (1) Eastern GOA, 413 mt; (2) Central GOA, 9,468 mt; 
and (3) Western GOA, 6,714 mt. Similarly, the 2008 Pacific cod TACs are 
less than the ABCs as follows: (1) Eastern GOA, 428 mt; (2) Central 
GOA, 9,817 mt; and (3) Western GOA, 6,961 mt. These amounts reflect the 
sum of the State's 2007 and 2008 GHLs in these areas, which are 10 
percent, 25 percent, and 25 percent of the Eastern, Central, and 
Western GOA ABCs, respectively. The percentages of ABC used to 
calculate the GHLs for the State managed Pacific cod fisheries are 
unchanged from 2006.
    NMFS also is establishing seasonal apportionments of the annual 
Pacific cod TAC in the Western and Central Regulatory Areas. Sixty 
percent of the annual TAC is apportioned to the A season for hook-and-
line, pot, and jig gear from January 1 through June 10, and for trawl 
gear from January 20 through June 10. Forty percent of the annual TAC 
is apportioned to the B season for hook-and-line, pot, and jig gear 
from September 1 through December 31, and for trawl gear from September 
1 through November 1 (Sec. Sec.  679.23(d)(3) and 679.20(a)(11)).
    As in 2006, NMFS establishes for 2007 and 2008 an A season directed 
fishing allowance (DFA) for the Pacific cod fisheries in the GOA based 
on the management area TACs minus the recent average A season 
incidental catch of Pacific cod in each management area before June 10 
(Sec.  679.20(d)(1)). The DFA and incidental catch before June 10 will 
be managed such that total harvest in the A season will be no more than 
60 percent of the annual TAC. Incidental catch taken after June 10 will 
continue to accrue against the B season TAC. This action meets the 
intent of the Steller Sea Lion Protection Measures by achieving 
temporal dispersion of the Pacific cod removals and by reducing the 
likelihood of harvest exceeding 60 percent of the annual TAC in the A 
season (January 1 through June 10). The seasonal apportionments of the 
annual Pacific cod TAC are discussed in greater detail below.
    The FMP specifies that the amount for the ``other species'' 
category be set at an amount less than or equal to 5 percent of the 
combined TAC amounts for target species. The final 2007 and 2008 annual 
GOA-wide TACs of 4,500 mt are less than 5 percent of the combined TAC 
amounts for target species. The sums of the TACs for all GOA groundfish 
is 269,912 mt for 2007 and 286,173 mt for 2008, which are within the OY 
range specified by the FMP. The sums of the 2007 and 2008 TACs are 
lower than the 2006 TAC sum of 291,950 mt.

Central Gulf of Alaska Rockfish Pilot Program

    Congress granted NMFS specific statutory authority to manage 
Central GOA rockfish fisheries in Section 802 of the Consolidated 
Appropriations Act of 2004 (Public Law 108-199). The Council adopted a 
proposed Central Gulf of Alaska Rockfish Pilot Program (Rockfish 
Program) to meet the requirements of Section 802 on June 6, 2005. The 
elements of the Rockfish Program are discussed in detail in the 
proposed rule to Amendment 68 to the FMP (71 FR 33040, June 7, 2006) 
and in the final rule to implement the Rockfish Program (71 FR 67210, 
November 20, 2006). The final rule became effective December 20, 2006. 
The Rockfish Program is authorized for five years, from January 1, 
2007, until December 31, 2011. A brief overview of major provisions of 
the Rockfish Program which have implications for the 2007 and 2008 
harvest specifications follows.
    The Rockfish Program allocates exclusive harvesting and processing 
privileges for primary rockfish species and for associated species 
harvested incidentally to those rockfish in the Central GOA, an area 
from 147[deg] W. longitude to 159[deg] W. longitude. The primary 
rockfish species are northern rockfish, Pacific ocean perch, and 
pelagic shelf rockfish. Secondary species are those species 
incidentally harvested during the harvest of the primary rockfish 
species fisheries and include Pacific cod, rougheye rockfish, 
shortraker rockfish, sablefish, and thornyhead rockfish. The Rockfish 
Program also allocates a portion of the total GOA halibut mortality 
limit annually specified under Sec.  679.21 to participants based on 
historic halibut mortality rates in the primary rockfish species 
fisheries. The amounts of primary rockfish species, secondary species, 
and halibut mortality to be allocated to the Rockfish Program will not 
be known until eligible participants apply for participation in the 
Program. These amounts will be posted on the Alaska Region website at 
http://www.fakr.noaa.gov when they become available early in 2007.
    The Rockfish Program also establishes catch limits, commonly called 
``sideboards,'' to limit the ability of participants eligible for the 
Rockfish Program to harvest fish in fisheries other than the Central 
GOA rockfish fisheries. Sideboards limit the total amount of catch in 
other groundfish fisheries that can be taken by eligible harvesters to 
historic levels, including harvests made in the State's parallel 
groundfish fisheries. Parallel fisheries are authorized by the State in 
its waters concurrent with the Federal fishery. Parallel fisheries 
catch is deducted from the Federal TACs. Sideboards limit catch in 
specific rockfish fisheries and the amount of halibut bycatch that can 
be used in certain flatfish fisheries. Tables 18 and 19 list the 2007 
and 2008 final groundfish sideboard limitations.

[[Page 9679]]

Table 20 lists the 2007 and 2008 final halibut mortality limitations.

Changes From the Proposed 2007 and 2008 Harvest Specifications in the 
GOA

    In October 2006, the Council's recommendations for the proposed 
2007 and 2008 harvest specifications (71 FR 75437, December 15, 2006) 
were based largely upon information contained in the final 2005 SAFE 
report for the GOA groundfish fisheries, dated November 2005. The 
Council recommended that OFLs and ABCs for stocks in tiers 1 through 3 
be based on biomass projections as set forth in the 2005 SAFE report 
and estimates of groundfish harvests through the 2006 and 2007 fishing 
years. For stocks in tiers 4 through 6, for which biomass projections 
could not be made, the Council recommended the same OFL and ABC levels 
for 2006 until the final 2006 SAFE report could be completed.
    The 2006 SAFE report, dated November 2006, which was not available 
when the Council made its recommendations in October 2006, contains the 
best and most recent scientific information on the condition of the 
groundfish stocks. This report was considered in December 2006 by the 
Council when it made recommendations for the final 2007 and 2008 
harvest specifications. Based on the final 2006 SAFE report, the sum of 
the 2007 final TACs for the GOA (269,912 mt) is 5,544 mt greater than 
the sum of the proposed TACs (264,367 mt). The largest 2007 increases 
occurred for Pacific cod, from 44,705 mt to 52,264 mt (17 percent 
increase); rex sole, from 8,700 mt to 9,100 mt (5 percent increase); 
sablefish, from 13,700 mt to 14,310 mt (4 percent increase); and for 
pelagic shelf rockfish, from 5,461 mt to 5,542 mt (1 percent increase). 
The largest decreases occurred for pollock, from 70,507 mt to 68,307 mt 
(3 percent decrease); and for northern rockfish, from 5,900 mt to 4,938 
mt (16 percent decrease). Other increases or decreases in 2007 and 2008 
are within these ranges.
    Compared to the proposed 2007 and 2008 harvest specifications, the 
Council's final 2007 and 2008 TAC recommendations increase fishing 
opportunities for species for which the Council had sufficient 
information to raise TAC levels. These include, Pacific cod, rex sole, 
sablefish, and pelagic shelf rockfish. Conversely, the Council reduced 
TAC levels to provide greater protection for several species including 
pollock, deep water flatfish, Pacific ocean perch, and northern 
rockfish. The changes recommended by the Council for the 2007 and 2008 
fishing years were based on the best scientific information available, 
consistent with National Standard 2 of the MSA, and within a reasonable 
range of variation from the proposed TAC recommendations so that the 
affected public was fairly apprized and could have made meaningful 
comments based on the proposed specifications. Tables 1 and 2 list the 
2007 and 2008 final OFL, ABC, and TAC amounts of the GOA groundfish.

 Table 1 - Final 2007 ABCs, TACs, and OFLs of Groundfish for the Western/Central/West Yakutat (W/C/WYK), Western
   (W), Central (C), Eastern (E) Regulatory Areas, and in the West Yakutat (WYK), Southeast Outside (SEO), and
                                  Gulfwide (GW) Districts of the Gulf of Alaska
                                 (values are rounded to the nearest metric ton)
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              Species                     Area\1\               ABC                TAC                OFL
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Pollock\2\                          ..................  ..................  .................  .................
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                                    Shumagin (610)      25,012              25,012             n/a
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                                    Chirikof (620)      20,890              20,980             n/a
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                                    Kodiak (630)        14,850              14,850             n/a
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                                    WYK (640)           1,398               1,398              n/a
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Subtotal                            W/C/WYK             62,150              62,150             87,220
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                                    SEO (650)           6,157               6,157              8,209
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Total                               ..................  68,307              68,307             95,429
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Pacific cod\3\                      W                   26,855              20,141             n/a
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                                    C                   37,873              28,405             n/a
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                                    E                   4,131               3,718              n/a
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Total                               ..................  68,859              52,264             97,600
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Flatfish\4\ (deep-water)            W                   420                 420                n/a
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                                    C                   4,163               4,163              n/a
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                                    WYK                 2,677               2,677              n/a
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                                    SEO                 1,447               1,447              n/a
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Total                               ..................  8,707               8,707              10,431
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Rex sole                            W                   1,147               1,147              n/a
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                                    C                   5,446               5,446              n/a
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[[Page 9680]]

 
                                    WYK                 1,037               1,037              n/a
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                                    SEO                 1,470               1,470              n/a
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Total                               ..................  9,100               9,100              11,900
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Flathead sole                       W                   10,908              2,000              n/a
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                                    C                   26,054              5,000              n/a
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                                    WYK                 2,091               2,091              n/a
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                                    SEO                 57                  57                 n/a
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Total                               ..................  39,110              9,148              48,658
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Flatfish\5\(shallow-water)          W                   24,720              4,500              n/a
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                                    C                   24,258              13,000             n/a
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                                    WYK                 628                 628                n/a
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                                    SEO                 1,844               1,844              n/a
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Total                               ..................  51,450              19,972             62,418
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Arrowtooth flounder                 W                   20,852              8,000              n/a
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                                    C                   139,582             30,000             n/a
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                                    WYK                 16,507              2,500              n/a
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                                    SEO                 7,067               2,500              n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total                               ..................  184,008             43,000             214,828
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Sablefish\6\                        W                   2,470               2,470              n/a
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                                    C                   6,190               6,190              n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    WYK                 2,280               2,280              n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    SEO                 3,370               3,370              n/a
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Subtotal                            E(WYK and SEO)      5,650               5,650              n/a
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Total                               ..................  14,310              14,310             16,906
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Pacific ocean perch\7\              W                   4,244               4,244              4,976
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                                    C                   7,612               7,612              8,922
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                                    WYK                 1,140               1,140              n/a
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                                    SEO                 1,640               1,640              n/a
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Subtotal                            E(WYK and SEO)      2,780               2,780              3,260
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total                               ..................  14,636              14,635             17,158
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Shortraker rockfish\8\              W                   153                 153                n/a
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                                    C                   353                 353                n/a
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                                    E                   337                 337                n/a
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Total                               ..................  843                 843                1,124
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[[Page 9681]]

 
Rougheye rockfish\9\                W                   136                 136                n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    C                   611                 611                n/a
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                                    E                   241                 241                n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total                               ..................  988                 988                1,148
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Other rockfish\10,11\               W                   577                 577                n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    C                   386                 386                n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    WYK                 319                 319                n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    SEO                 2,872               200                n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total                               ..................  4,154               1,482              5,394
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Northern rockfish\11,12\            W                   1,439               1,439              n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    C                   3,499               3,499              n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    E                   0                   0                  n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total                               ..................  4,938               4,938              5,890
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pelagic shelf rockfish\13\          W                   1,466               1,466              n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    C                   3,325               3,325              n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    WYK                 307                 307                n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    SEO                 444                 444                n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total                               ..................  5,542               5,542              6,458
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thornyhead rockfish                 W                   513                 513                n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    C                   989                 989                n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    E                   707                 707                n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total                               ..................  2,209               2,209              2,945
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Big skates\14\                      W                   695                 695                n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    C                   2,250               2,250              n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    E                   599                 599                n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    ..................  3,544               3,544              4,726
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Longnose skates\15\                 W                   65                  65                 n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    C                   1,969               1,969              n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    E                   861                 861                n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    ..................  2,895               2,895              3,860
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Other skates\16\                    GW                  1,617               1,617              2,156
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Demersal shelf rockfish\17\         SEO                 410                 410                650
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Atka mackerel                       GW                  4,700               1,500              6,200
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Other species\18\                   GW                  n/a                 4,500              n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[[Page 9682]]

 
TOTAL\19\                           ..................  490,327             269,912            615,879
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\. Regulatory areas and districts are defined at Sec.   679.2.
\2\. Pollock is apportioned in the Western/Central Regulatory Areas among three statistical areas. During the A
  season, the apportionment is based on an adjusted estimate of the relative distribution of pollock biomass of
  approximately 30 percent, 48 percent, and 22 percent in Statistical Areas 610, 620, and 630, respectively.
  During the B season, the apportionment is based on the relative distribution of pollock biomass at 30 percent,
  59 percent, and 11 percent in Statistical Areas 610, 620, and 630, respectively. During the C and D seasons,
  the apportionment is based on the relative distribution of pollock biomass at 53 percent, 15 percent, and 32
  percent in Statistical Areas 610, 620, and 630, respectively. Tables 5 and 6 list the seasonal apportionments.
  In the West Yakutat and Southeast Outside Districts of the Eastern Regulatory Area, pollock is not divided
  into seasonal allowances.
\3\. The annual Pacific cod TAC is apportioned 60% to an A season and 40% to a B season in the Western and
  Central Regulatory Areas of the GOA. Pacific cod is allocated 90% for processing by the inshore component and
  10% for processing by the offshore component. Tables 7 and 8 list the 2007 and 2008 proposed seasonal
  apportionments and component allocations of TAC.
\4\. ''Deep-water flatfish'' means Dover sole, Greenland turbot, and deepsea sole.
\5\. ''Shallow-water flatfish'' means flatfish not including ''deep-water flatfish,'' flatheador arrowtooth
  flounder.
\6\. Sablefish is allocated to trawl and hook-and-line gears for 2007 and to trawl gear in 2008. Tables 3 and 4
  list these amounts.
\7\. ''Pacific ocean perch'' means Sebastes alutus.
\8\. ''Shortraker rockfish'' means Sebastes borealis.
\9\. ''Rougheye rockfish'' means Sebastes aleutianus.
\10\. ''Other rockfish'' in the Western and Central Regulatory Areas and in the West Yakutat District means
  slope rockfish and demersal shelf rockfish. The category ''other rockfish'' in the SEO District means slope
  rockfish.
\11\. ''Slope rockfish'' means Sebastes aurora (aurora), S. melanostomus (blackgill), S. paucispinis (bocaccio),
  S. goodei (chilipepper), S. crameri (darkblotch), S. elongatus (greenstriped), S. variegatus (harlequin), S.
  wilsoni (pygmy), S. babcocki (redbanded), S. proriger (redstripe), S. zacentrus (sharpchin), S. jordani
  (shortbelly), S. brevispinis (silvergrey), S. diploproa (splitnose), S. saxicola (stripetail), S. miniatus
  (vermilion), and S. reedi (yellowmouth). In the Eastern GOA only, slope rockfish also includes northern
  rockfish, S. polyspinous.
\12\. ''Northern rockfish'' means Sebastes polyspinis.
\13\. ''Pelagic shelf rockfish'' means Sebastes ciliatus (dark), S. variabilis (dusky), S. entomelas (widow),
  and S. flavidus (yellowtail).
\14\. Big skate means Raja binoculata.
\15\. Longnose skate means Raja rhina.
\16\. Other skates means Bathyraja spp.
\17\. ''Demersal shelf rockfish'' means Sebastes pinniger (canary), S. nebulosus (china), S. caurinus (copper),
  S. maliger (quillback), S. helvomaculatus (rosethorn), S. nigrocinctus (tiger), and S. ruberrimus (yelloweye).
\18\. ''Other species'' means sculpins, sharks, squid, and octopus. There is no OFL or ABC for ''other
  species.'' The FMP specifies that the amount for the ''other species'' category be set at an amount less than
  or equal to 5% of the combined TAC amounts for target species.
\19\. The total ABC and OFL is the sum of the ABCs and OFLs for assessed target species.


 Table 2 - Final 2008 ABCs, TACs, and OFLs of Groundfish for the Western/Central/West Yakutat (W/C/WYK), Western
   (W), Central (C), Eastern (E) Regulatory Areas, and in the West Yakutat (WYK), Southeast Outside (SEO), and
          Gulfwide (GW) Districts of the Gulf of Alaska (values are rounded to the nearest metric ton)
                                 (values are rounded to the nearest metric ton)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
              Species                     Area\1\               ABC                TAC                OFL
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pollock\2\                          ..................  ..................  .................  .................
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    Shumagin (610)      30,308              30,308             n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    Chirikof (620)      25,313              25,313             n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    Kodiak (630)        17,995              17,995             n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    WYK (640)           1,694               1,694              n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subtotal                            W/C/WYK             75,310              75,310             105,490
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    SEO (650)           6,157               6,157              8,209
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total                               ..................  81,467              81,467             113,699
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pacific cod\3\                      W                   27,846              20,885             n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    C                   39,270              29,453             n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    E                   4,284               3,856              n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total                               ..................  71,400              54,194             86,000
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Flatfish\4\ (deep-water)            W                   430                 430                n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    C                   4,296               4,296              n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[[Page 9683]]

 
                                    WYK                 2,763               2,763              n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    SEO                 1,494               1,494              n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total                               ..................  8,983               8,983              11,412
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rex sole                            W                   1,122               1,122              n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    C                   5,327               5,327              n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    WYK                 1,014               1,014              n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    SEO                 1,437               1,437              n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total                               ..................  8,900               8,900              11,600
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Flathead sole                       W                   11,464              2,000              n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    C                   27,382              5,000              n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    WYK                 2,198               2,198              n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    SEO                 60                  60                 n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total                               ..................  41,104              9,258              51,146
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Flatfish\5\(shallow-water)          W                   24,720              4,500              n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    C                   24,258              13,000             n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    WYK                 628                 628                n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    SEO                 1,844               1,844              n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total                               ..................  51,450              19,972             62,418
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Arrowtooth flounder                 W                   21,164              8,000              n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    C                   141,673             30,000             n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    WYK                 16,754              2,500              n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    SEO                 7,172               2,500              n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total                               ..................  186,763             43,000             218,020
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sablefish\6\                        W                   2,458               2,458              n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    C                   6,159               6,159              n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    WYK                 2,269               2,269              n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    SEO                 3,353               3,353              n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subtotal                            E(WYK and SEO)      5,622               5,622              n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total                               ..................  14,239              14,239             15,803
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pacific ocean perch\7\              W                   4,291               4,291              5,030
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    C                   7,694               7,694              9,019
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    WYK                 1,153               1,153              n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    SEO                 1,659               1,659              n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subtotal                            E(WYK and SEO)      2,812               2,812              3,296
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[[Page 9684]]

 
Total                               ..................  14,797              14,797             17,345
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shortraker rockfish\8\              W                   153                 153                n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    C                   353                 353                n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    E                   337                 337                n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total                               ..................  843                 843                1,124
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rougheye rockfish\9\                W                   137                 137                n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    C                   614                 614                n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    E                   242                 242                n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total                               ..................  993                 993                1,197
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Other rockfish\10,11\               W                   577                 577                n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    C                   386                 386                n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    WYK                 319                 319                n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    SEO                 2,872               200                n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total                               ..................  4,154               1,482              5,394
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Northern rockfish\11,12\            W                   1,383               1,383              n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    C                   3,365               3,365              n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    E                   0                   0                  n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total                               ..................  4,748               4,748              5,660
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pelagic shelf rockfish\13\          W                   1,752               1,752              n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    C                   3,973               3,973              n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    WYK                 366                 366                n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    SEO                 531                 531                n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total                               ..................  6,622               6,622              8,186
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thornyhead rockfish                 W                   513                 513                n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    C                   989                 989                n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    E                   707                 707                n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total                               ..................  2,209               2,209              2,945
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Big skates\14\                      W                   695                 695                n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    C                   2,250               2,250              n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    E                   599                 599                n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total                               ..................  3,544               3,544              4,726
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Longnose skates\15\                 W                   65                  65                 n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    C                   1,969               1,969              n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    E                   861                 861                n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[[Page 9685]]

 
Total                               ..................  2,895               2,895              3,860
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Other skates\16\                    GW                  1,617               1,617              2,156
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Demersal shelf rockfish\17\         SEO                 410                 410                650
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Atka mackerel                       GW                  4,700               1,500              6,200
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Other species\18\                   GW                  n/a                 4,500              n/a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOTAL\19\                           ..................  511,838             286,173            629,541
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\. Regulatory areas and districts are defined at Sec.   679.2.
\2\. Pollock is apportioned in the Western/Central Regulatory Areas among three statistical areas. During the A
  season, the apportionment is based on an adjusted estimate of the relative distribution of pollock biomass of
  approximately 30 percent, 48 percent, and 22 percent in Statistical Areas 610, 620, and 630, respectively.
  During the B season, the apportionment is based on the relative distribution of pollock biomass at 30 percent,
  59 percent, and 11 percent in Statistical Areas 610, 620, and 630, respectively. During the C and D seasons,
  the apportionment is based on the relative distribution of pollock biomass at 53 percent, 15 percent, and 32
  percent in Statistical Areas 610, 620, and 630, respectively. Tables 5 and 6 list the seasonal apportionments.
  In the West Yakutat and Southeast Outside Districts of the Eastern Regulatory Area, pollock is not divided
  into seasonal allowances.
\3\. The annual Pacific cod TAC is apportioned 60% to an A season and 40% to a B season in the Western and
  Central Regulatory Areas of the GOA. Pacific cod is allocated 90% for processing by the inshore component and
  10% for processing by the offshore component. Tables 7 and 8 list the 2007 and 2008 proposed seasonal
  apportionments and component allocations of TAC.
\4\. ''Deep-water flatfish'' means Dover sole, Greenland turbot, and deepsea sole.
\5\. ''Shallow-water flatfish'' means flatfish not including ''deep-water flatfish,'' flatheador arrowtooth
  flounder.
\6\. Sablefish is allocated to trawl and hook-and-line gears for 2007 and to trawl gear in 2008. Tables 3 and 4
  list these amounts.
\7\. ''Pacific ocean perch'' means Sebastes alutus.
\8\. ''Shortraker rockfish'' means Sebastes borealis.
\9\. ''Rougheye rockfish'' means Sebastes aleutianus.
\10\. ''Other rockfish'' in the Western and Central Regulatory Areas and in the West Yakutat District means
  slope rockfish and demersal shelf rockfish. The category ''other rockfish'' in the SEO District means slope
  rockfish.
\11\. ''Slope rockfish'' means Sebastes aurora (aurora), S. melanostomus (blackgill), S. paucispinis (bocaccio),
  S. goodei (chilipepper), S. crameri (darkblotch), S. elongatus (greenstriped), S. variegatus (harlequin), S.
  wilsoni (pygmy), S. babcocki (redbanded), S. proriger (redstripe), S. zacentrus (sharpchin), S. jordani
  (shortbelly), S. brevispinis (silvergrey), S. diploproa (splitnose), S. saxicola (stripetail), S. miniatus
  (vermilion), and S. reedi (yellowmouth). In the Eastern GOA only, slope rockfish also includes northern
  rockfish, S. polyspinous.
\12\. ''Northern rockfish'' means Sebastes polyspinis.
\13\. ''Pelagic shelf rockfish'' means Sebastes ciliatus (dark), S. variabilis (dusky), S. entomelas (widow),
  and S. flavidus (yellowtail).
\14\. Big skate means Raja binoculata.
\15\. Longnose skate means Raja rhina.
\16\. Other skates means Bathyraja spp.
\17\. ''Demersal shelf rockfish'' means Sebastes pinniger (canary), S. nebulosus (china), S. caurinus (copper),
  S. maliger (quillback), S. helvomaculatus (rosethorn), S. nigrocinctus (tiger), and S. ruberrimus (yelloweye).
\18\. ''Other species'' means sculpins, sharks, squid, and octopus. There is no OFL or ABC for ''other
  species.'' The FMP specifies that the amount for the ''other species'' category be set at an amount less than
  or equal to 5% of the combined TAC amounts for target species.
\19\. The total ABC and OFL is the sum of the ABCs and OFLs for assessed target species.

Apportionment of Reserves

    Section 679.20(b)(2) requires 20 percent of each TAC for pollock, 
Pacific cod, flatfish, and the ``other species'' category be set aside 
in reserves for possible apportionment at a later date. In 2006, NMFS 
reapportioned all of the reserves in the final harvest specifications. 
For 2007 and 2008, NMFS proposed reapportionment of all the reserves in 
the proposed 2007 and 2008 harvest specifications published in the 
Federal Register on December 15, 2006 (71 FR 75437). NMFS received no 
public comments on the proposed reapportionments. For the final 2007 
and 2008 harvest specifications, NMFS apportioned as proposed all of 
the reserves for pollock, Pacific cod, flatfish, and ``other species.'' 
Specifications of TAC shown in Tables 1 and 2 reflect apportionment of 
reserve amounts for these species and species groups.

Allocations of the Sablefish TAC Amounts to Vessels Using Hook-and-Line 
and Trawl Gear

    Sections 679.20(a)(4)(i) and (ii) require allocations of sablefish 
TACs for each of the regulatory areas and districts to hook-and-line 
and trawl gear. In the Western and Central Regulatory Areas, 80 percent 
of each TAC is allocated to hook-and-line gear, and 20 percent of each 
TAC is allocated to trawl gear. In the Eastern Regulatory Area, 95 
percent of the TAC is allocated to hook-and-line gear, and 5 percent is 
allocated to trawl gear. The trawl gear allocation in the Eastern 
Regulatory Area may only be used to support incidental catch of 
sablefish in directed fisheries for other target species (Sec.  
679.20(a)(1)). In recognition of the trawl ban in the SEO District of 
the Eastern Regulatory Area, the Council recommended and NMFS concurs 
with the allocation of 5 percent of the combined Eastern Regulatory 
Area sablefish TAC to trawl gear in the WYK District and the remainder 
to vessels using hook-and-line gear. As a result, NMFS allocates 100 
percent of the sablefish TAC in the SEO District to vessels using hook-
and-line gear. The Council recommended that hook-and-line sablefish TAC 
be established annually to ensure that the Individual Fishery Quota 
(IFQ) fishery is conducted concurrent with the halibut IFQ fishery and 
is based on the most

[[Page 9686]]

recent survey information. This recommendation results in an allocation 
of 283 mt to trawl gear and 1,997 mt to hook-and-line gear in the WYK 
District and 3,370 mt to hook-and-line gear in the SEO District in 
2007, and 281 mt to trawl gear in the WYK District in 2008. Table 3 
lists the allocations of the 2007 sablefish TACs between hook-and-line 
and trawl gear. Table 4 lists the allocations of the 2008 sablefish 
TACs to trawl gear.

 Table 3 - Final 2007 Sablefish TAC Specifications in the Gulf of Alaska
             and Allocations to Hook-and-Line and Trawl Gear
             (values are rounded to the nearest metric ton)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                            Hook-and-line      Trawl
         Area/district              TAC       allocation     allocation
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Western                         2,470       1,976          494
Central                         6,190       4,952          1,238
West Yakutat                    2,280       1,997          283
Southeast Outside               3,370       3,370          0
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total                           14,310      12,295         2,015
------------------------------------------------------------------------


 Table 4 - Final 2008 Sablefish TAC Specifications in the Gulf of Alaska
                      and Allocation to Trawl Gear
             (values are rounded to the nearest metric ton)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                            Hook-and-line      Trawl
         Area/district              TAC       allocation     allocation
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Western                         2,458       n/a            492
Central                         6,159       n/a            1,232
West Yakutat                    2,269       n/a            281
Southeast Outside               3,353       n/a            0
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total                           14,239      n/a            2,005
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ The Council recommended that specifications for the hook-and-line
  gear sablefish IFQ fisheries be limited to 1 year.

Apportionments of Pollock TAC Among Seasons and Regulatory Areas, and 
Allocations for Processing by Inshore and Offshore Components

    In the GOA, pollock is apportioned by season and area, and is 
further allocated for processing by inshore and offshore components. 
Pursuant to Sec.  679.20(a)(5)(iv)(B), the annual pollock TAC specified 
for the Western and Central Regulatory Areas of the GOA is apportioned 
into four equal seasonal allowances of 25 percent. As established by 
Sec.  679.23(d)(2)(i) through (iv), the A, B, C, and D season 
allowances are available from January 20 to March 10, March 10 to May 
31, August 25 to October 1, and October 1 to November 1, respectively.
    Pollock TACs in the Western and Central Regulatory Areas of the GOA 
are apportioned among Statistical Areas 610, 620, and 630. In the A and 
B seasons, the apportionments are in proportion to the distribution of 
pollock biomass based on the four most recent NMFS winter surveys. In 
the C and D seasons, the apportionments are in proportion to the 
distribution of pollock biomass based on the four most recent NMFS 
summer surveys. For 2007 and 2008, the Council recommends averaging the 
winter and summer distribution of pollock in the Central Regulatory 
Area for the A season. The average is intended to reflect the 
distribution of pollock and the performance of the fishery in the area 
during the A season for the 2007 and 2008 fishing years. Within any 
fishing year, the underage or overage of a seasonal allowance may be 
added to, or subtracted from, subsequent seasonal allowances in a 
manner to be determined by the Regional Administrator. The rollover 
amount of unharvested pollock is limited to 20 percent of the seasonal 
apportionment for the statistical area. Any unharvested pollock above 
the 20 percent limit could be further distributed to the other 
statistical areas, in proportion to the estimated biomass in the 
subsequent season in those statistical areas (Sec.  
679.20(a)(5)(iv)(B)). The WYK and SEO District pollock TACs of 1,398 mt 
and 6,157 mt in 2007 and 1,694 mt and 6,157 mt in 2008, respectively, 
are not allocated by season.
    Section 679.20(a)(6)(i) requires the allocation of 100 percent of 
the pollock TAC in all regulatory areas and all seasonal allowances to 
vessels catching pollock for processing by the inshore component after 
subtracting amounts projected by the Regional Administrator to be 
caught by, or delivered to, the offshore component incidental to 
directed fishing for other groundfish species. The amount of pollock 
available for harvest by vessels harvesting pollock for processing by 
the offshore component is that amount actually taken as incidental 
catch during directed fishing for groundfish species other than 
pollock, up to the maximum retainable amounts allowed by Sec.  
679.20(e) and (f). At this time, these incidental catch amounts are 
unknown and will be determined during the fishing year.
    The 2007 and 2008 seasonal biomass distribution of pollock in the 
Western and Central Regulatory Areas, area apportionments, and seasonal 
apportionments for the A, B, C, and D seasons are summarized in Tables 
5 and 6, except that amounts of pollock for processing by the inshore 
and offshore components are not shown.

[[Page 9687]]



 Table 5 - Final 2007 Distribution of Pollock in the Central and Western Regulatory Areas of the Gulf of Alaska;
            Seasonal Biomass Distribution, Area Apportionments; and Seasonal Allowances of Annual TAC
                                 (values are rounded to the nearest metric ton)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                       Area Apportionments Resulting From Seasonal Distribution of Biomass
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                       Shumagin (Area      Chirikof (Area
               Season                       610)                620)        Kodiak (Area 630)        Total
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A                                    4,511 (29.70%)      7,357 (48.44%)     3,320 (21.86%)     15,188 (100%)
B                                    4,511 (29.70%)      8,924 (58.76%)     1,753 (11.54%)     15,188 (100%)
C                                    7,995 (52.64%)      2,304 (15.17%)     4,889 (32.19%)     15,188 (100%)
D                                    7,995 (52.64%)      2,304 (15.17%)     4,889 (32.19%)     15,188 (100%)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Annual Total                         25,012              20,890             14,850             60,752
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


 Table 6 - Final 2008 Distribution of Pollock in the Central and Western Regulatory Areas of the Gulf of Alaska;
            Seasonal Biomass Distribution, Area Apportionments; and Seasonal Allowances of Annual TAC
                                 (values are rounded to the nearest metric ton)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                       Area Apportionments Resulting From Seasonal Distribution of Biomass
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                       Shumagin (Area      Chirikof (Area
               Season                       610)                620)        Kodiak (Area 630)        Total
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A                                    5,466 (29.70%)      8,915 (48.44%)     4,023 (21.86%)     18,404 (100%)
B                                    5,466 (29.70%)      10,814 (58.76%)    2,124 (11.54%)     18,404 (100%)
C                                    9,688 (52.64%)      2,792 (15.17%)     5,924 (32.19%)     18,404 (100%)
D                                    9,688 (52.64%)      2,792 (15.17%)     5,924 (32.19%)     18,404 (100%)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Annual Total                         30,308              25,313             17,995             73,616
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Seasonal Apportionments of Pacific Cod TAC and Allocations for 
Processing of Pacific Cod TAC Between Inshore and Offshore Components

    Pacific cod fishing is divided into two seasons in the Western and 
Central Regulatory Areas of the GOA. For hook-and-line, pot, and jig 
gear, the A season is January 1 through June 10, and the B season is 
September 1 through December 31. For trawl gear, the A season is 
January 20 through June 10, and the B season is September 1 through 
November 1 (Sec.  679.23(d)(3)). After subtracting incidental catch 
from the A season, 60 percent of the annual TAC will be available as a 
DFA during the A season for the inshore and offshore components. The 
remaining 40 percent of the annual TAC will be available for harvest 
during the B season. The seasonal allocations will be apportioned 
between the inshore and offshore components, as provided in Sec.  
679.20(a)(6)(ii). Under Sec.  679.20(a)(11)(ii), any overage or 
underage of the Pacific cod allowance from the A season may be 
subtracted from or added to the subsequent B season allowance.
    Section 679.20(a)(6)(ii) requires allocation of the TAC 
apportionments of Pacific cod in all regulatory areas to vessels 
catching Pacific cod for processing by the inshore and offshore 
components. Ninety percent of the Pacific cod TAC in each regulatory 
area is allocated to vessels catching Pacific cod for processing by the 
inshore component. The remaining 10 percent of the TAC is allocated to 
vessels catching Pacific cod for processing by the offshore component. 
Tables 7 and 8 list the seasonal apportionments and allocations of the 
2007 and 2008 Pacific cod TACs.

  Table 7 - Final 2007 Seasonal Apportionments and Allocation of Pacific Cod TAC Amounts in the Gulf of Alaska;
                        Allocations for Processing by the Inshore and Offshore Components
                                 (values are rounded to the nearest metric ton)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                   Component allocation
               Season                 Regulatory area          TAC       ---------------------------------------
                                                                             Inshore (90%)      Offshore (10%)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                     Western            20,141            18,127              2,014
A season (60%)                       .................  12,085            10,876              1,208
B season (40%)                       .................  8,056             7,251               806
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                     Central            28,405            25,565              2,840
A season (60%)                       .................  17,043            15,339              1,704
B season (40%)                       .................  11,362            10,226              1,136
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                     Eastern            3,718             3,346               372
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total                                                   52,264            47,038              5,226
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


[[Page 9688]]


  Table 8 - Final 2008 Seasonal Apportionments and Allocation of Pacific Cod TAC Amounts in the Gulf of Alaska;
                        Allocations for Processing by the Inshore and Offshore Components
                                 (values are rounded to the nearest metric ton)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                   Component allocation
               Season                  Regulatory area         TAC       ---------------------------------------
                                                                             Inshore (90%)      Offshore (10%)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                     Western             20,885           18,796              2,089
A season (60%)                       ..................  12,531           11,278              1,253
B season (40%)                       ..................  8,354            7,519               835
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                     Central             29,453           26,508              2,945
A season (60%)                       ..................  17,672           15,905              1,767
B season (40%)                       ..................  11,781           10,603              1,178
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                     Eastern             3,856            3,470               386
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total                                                    54,194           48,775              5,419
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Demersal Shelf Rockfish (DSR)

    In a commercial fisheries news release dated December 18, 2006, the 
Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) announced the closure of 
directed fishing for DSR in the SEO District in 2007. The ADF&G 
estimates that the incidental catch mortality in the commercial halibut 
fishery will require the entire commercial TAC; therefore, a directed 
fishery in the SEO District cannot be prosecuted (5 AAC 28.160). NMFS 
reminds all fishermen that full retention of all DSR by federally 
permitted catcher vessels using hook-and-line or jig gear fishing for 
groundfish and Pacific halibut in the SEO District of the GOA is 
required (Sec.  679.20(j)).

Apportionments to the Central GOA Rockfish Pilot Program

    Section 679.81(a)(2) requires the allocation of the primary 
rockfish species after deducting incidental catch needs in other 
directed groundfish fisheries in the Central Regulatory Area. Five 
percent (2.5 percent to trawl gear and 2.5 percent to fixed gear) of 
the final TACs for Pacific ocean perch, northern rockfish, and pelagic 
shelf rockfish in the Central Regulatory Area are allocated to the 
entry level rockfish fishery and the remaining 95 percent to those 
vessels eligible to participate in the Rockfish Program as described in 
the proposed and final rules for the Rockfish Program (71 FR 33040, 
June 7, 2006, and 71 FR 67210, November 20, 2006, respectively). NMFS 
is setting aside in 2007 and 2008 incidental catch amounts of 330 mt of 
Pacific ocean perch, 120 mt of northern rockfish, and 100 mt of pelagic 
shelf rockfish for other directed fisheries in the Central Regulatory 
Area. These amounts are based on the 2003 through 2006 average 
incidental catch in the Central Regulatory Area by these other 
groundfish fisheries.

Halibut PSC Limits

    Section 679.21(d) establishes the annual halibut PSC limit 
apportionments to trawl, hook-and-line and pot gear. In December 2006, 
the Council recommended that NMFS maintain the 2006 halibut PSC limits 
of 2,000 mt for the trawl fisheries and 300 mt for the hook-and-line 
fisheries. Ten mt of the hook-and-line limit is further allocated to 
the DSR fishery in the SEO District. The DSR fishery is defined at 
Sec.  679.21(d)(4)(iii)(A). This fishery has been apportioned 10 mt in 
recognition of its small scale harvests. Most vessels in the DSR 
fishery are less than 60 ft (18.3 m) length overall (LOA) and are 
exempt from observer coverage. Therefore, observer data are not 
available to verify actual bycatch amounts. NMFS assumes the halibut 
bycatch in the DSR fishery is low because of the short soak times for 
the gear and duration of the DSR fishery. Also, the DSR fishery occurs 
in the winter when less overlap occurs in the distribution of DSR and 
halibut.
    Section 679.21(d)(4)(i) authorizes the exemption of specified non-
trawl fisheries from the halibut PSC limit. NMFS, after consultation 
with the Council, exempts pot gear, jig gear, and the sablefish IFQ 
hook-and-line gear fishery from the non-trawl halibut limit for 2007 
and 2008. The Council recommended these exemptions because (1) the pot 
gear fisheries have low annual halibut bycatch mortality (averaging 18 
mt annually from 2001 through 2006 and 21 mt in 2006 alone); (2) the 
halibut and sablefish IFQ fisheries have low halibut bycatch mortality 
because the IFQ program requires retention of legal-sized halibut by 
vessels using hook-and-line gear if a halibut IFQ permit holder is 
aboard and is holding unused halibut IFQ; and (3) halibut mortality for 
the jig gear fisheries is assumed to be negligible. Halibut mortality 
is assumed to be negligible in the jig gear fisheries given the small 
amount of groundfish harvested by jig gear (averaging 323 mt annually 
from 2001 through 2006 and 128 mt in 2006 alone), the selective nature 
of jig gear, and the likelihood that halibut caught with jig gear have 
high survival rates when released.
    Section 679.21(d)(5) provides NMFS authority to seasonally 
apportion the halibut PSC limits after consultation with the Council. 
The FMP and regulations require the Council and NMFS consider the 
following information in seasonally apportioning halibut PSC limits: 
(1) seasonal distribution of halibut, (2) seasonal distribution of 
target groundfish species relative to halibut distribution, (3) 
expected halibut bycatch needs on a seasonal basis relative to changes 
in halibut biomass and expected catch of target groundfish species, (4) 
expected bycatch rates on a seasonal basis, (5) expected changes in 
directed groundfish fishing seasons, (6) expected actual start of 
fishing effort, and (7) economic effects of establishing seasonal 
halibut allocations on segments of the target groundfish industry.
    The final 2006 and 2007 groundfish harvest specifications (71 FR 
10870, March 3, 2006) summarized the Council and NMFS' findings with 
respect to each of these FMP considerations. The Council and NMFS' 
findings for 2007 and 2008 are unchanged from 2006. The opening dates 
and halibut PSC limitations for vessels using trawl gear participating 
in the Rockfish Program in the Central Regulatory Area are described in 
the final rule to implement the Rockfish Program (71 FR 67210, November 
20, 2006).

[[Page 9689]]

    NMFS concurs with the Council's recommendations described here and 
listed in Table 9. Section 679.21, paragraphs (d)(5)(iii) and (iv) 
specify that any underages or overages in a seasonal apportionment of a 
PSC limit will be deducted from or added to the next respective 
seasonal apportionment within the 2007 and 2008 fishing years. The 
information to establish the halibut PSC limits was obtained from the 
2006 SAFE report, NMFS, ADF&G, the International Pacific Halibut 
Commission (IPHC), and public testimony.

            Table 9 - Final 2007 and 2008 Pacific Halibut PSC Limits, Allowances, and Apportionments
                                           (values are in metric tons)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                  Trawl gear                                          Hook-and-line gear\1\
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                         Other than DSR                         DSR
             Dates                   Amount    -----------------------------------------------------------------
                                                       Dates            Amount          Dates           Amount
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
January 20-April 1               550            January 1-June 10    250          January 1-         10 (100%)
                                 (27.5%)                             (86%)         December 31
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
April 1-July 1                   400            June 10-September 1  5 (2%)       .................  ...........
                                 (20%)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
July 1-September 1               600 (30%)      September 1-         35           .................  ...........
                                                 December 31         (12%)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
September 1-October 1            150 (7.5%)     n/a                  n/a          .................  ...........
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
October 1-December 31            300 (15%)      n/a                  n/a          .................  ...........
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total                            2,000          n/a                  290          .................  10 (100%)
                                 (100%)                              (100%)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ The Pacific halibut PSC limit for hook-and-line gear is allocated to the demersal shelf rockfish (DSR)
  fishery andfisheries other than DSR. The hook-and-line sablefish fishery is exempt from halibut PSC limits.

    Section 679.21(d)(3)(ii) authorizes further apportionment of the 
trawl halibut PSC limit to trawl fishery categories. The annual 
apportionments are based on each category's proportional share of the 
anticipated halibut bycatch mortality during the fishing year and 
optimization of the total amount of groundfish harvest under the 
halibut PSC limit. The fishery categories for the trawl halibut PSC 
limits are (1) a deep-water species complex, comprised of sablefish, 
rockfish, deep-water flatfish, rex sole and arrowtooth flounder; and 
(2) a shallow-water species complex, comprised of pollock, Pacific cod, 
shallow-water flatfish, flathead sole, Atka mackerel, skates, and 
``other species'' (Sec.  679.21(d)(3)(iii)). Table 10 lists the final 
2006 and 2007 apportionments for these two fishery complexes.

   Table 10 - Final 2006 and 2007 Apportionment of Pacific Halibut PSC
 Trawl Limits Between the Trawl Gear Deep-Water Species Complex and the
                      Shallow-Water Species Complex
                       (values are in metric tons)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                 Shallow-
            Season                 water      Deep-water       Total
------------------------------------------------------------------------
January 20-April 1             450           100           550
April 1-July1                  100           300           400
July 1-September1              200           400           600
September 1-October1           150           Any           150
                                              remainder
                              ------------------------------------------
Subtotal January 20-October1   900           800           1,700
                              ------------------------------------------
October 1-December 31\1\       n/a           n/a           300
                              ------------------------------------------
Total                          n/a           n/a           2,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ No apportionment between shallow-water and deep-water trawl fishery
  categories during the fifth season (October 1 through December 31).

Estimated Halibut Bycatch in Prior Years

    The best available information on estimated halibut bycatch is data 
collected by observers during 2006. The calculated halibut bycatch 
mortality by trawl, hook and line, and pot gear through December 31, 
2006, is 2,002 mt, 290 mt, and 21 mt, respectively, for a total halibut 
mortality of 2,313 mt.
    Halibut bycatch restrictions seasonally constrained trawl gear 
fisheries during the 2006 fishing year. Trawling during the second 
season closed for the deep-water species category April 27 (71 FR 
25781, May 2, 2006) and during the fourth season September 5 (71 FR 
52754, September 7, 2006). Trawling during the first season closed for 
the shallow-water species category from February 23 to February 27 (71 
FR 9977, February 28, 2006, and 71 FR 10625, March 2, 2006) and during 
the second season on June 10 (71 FR 34021, June 13, 2006). To prevent 
exceeding the fourth season halibut PSC limit for the shallow-water 
species category, directed fishing using trawl gear was limited to four 
12-hour open periods on September 1 (71 FR 51784,

[[Page 9690]]

August 31, 2006), September 6 (71 FR 53339, September 11, 2006), 
September 20 (71 FR 55134, September 21, 2006), and September 25 (71 FR 
56898, September 28, 2006). Trawling for all groundfish targets (with 
the exception of pollock by vessels using pelagic trawl gear) was 
closed for the fifth season on October 8 (71 FR 60078, October 12, 
2006). Fishing for groundfish using hook-and-line gear remained open in 
2006 as the halibut PSC limit was not reached. The amount of groundfish 
that trawl gear might have harvested if halibut PSC limits had not 
restricted the 2006 season is unknown.

Expected Changes in Groundfish Stocks and Catch

    The final 2007 and 2008 ABCs for Pacific cod, deep-water flatfish, 
flathead sole, arrowtooth flounder, Pacific ocean perch, and pelagic 
shelf rockfish are higher than those established for 2006. However, the 
final 2007 and 2008 ABCs for pollock, sablefish, rex sole, and northern 
rockfish are lower than those established for 2006. For the remaining 
target species, the Council recommended that ABC levels remain 
unchanged from 2006. More information on these changes is included in 
the final SAFE report (November 2006) and in the Council, SSC, and AP 
minutes from the December 2006 meeting available from the Council (see 
ADDRESSES).
    In the GOA, the total final TAC amounts are 269,912 mt for 2007, 
and 286,173 mt for 2008, a decrease of about 8 percent in 2007 and 2 
percent in 2008 from the 2006 TAC total of 291,950 mt. Table 11 
compares the final TACs for 2006 to the final TACs for 2007 and 2008.

    Table 11 - Comparison of Final 2006 and Final 2007 and 2008 Total
                  Allowable Catch in the Gulf of Alaska
             (values are rounded to the nearest metric ton)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
           Species                  2006          2007          2008
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pollock                        86,807         68,307        81,467
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pacific cod                    52,264         52,264        54,194
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sablefish                      14,840         14,310        14,239
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rex sole                       9,200          9,100         8,900
------------------------------------------------------------------------
``Other species''              13,856         4,500         4,500
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Deep-water flatfish            8,665          8,707         8,983
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Flathead sole                  9,077          9,148         9,258
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Arrowtooth flounder            38,000         43,000        43,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pacific ocean perch            14,261         14,636        14,797
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Northern rockfish              5,091          4,938         4,748
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pelagic shelf rockfish         5,436          5,542         6,622
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Current Estimates of Halibut Biomass and Stock Condition

    The most recent halibut stock assessment was conducted by the IPHC 
in December 2006 for the 2007 commercial fishery. The 2006 assessment 
contains substantial changes from the previous year. Information 
accruing from ongoing passive integrated transponder (PIT) tag 
recoveries, as well as inconsistencies in the traditional closed-area 
stock assessments for some areas has prompted the IPHC to examine stock 
assessment frameworks. It had been assumed that once the halibut 
reached legal commercial size there was little movement between 
regulatory areas. PIT tag recoveries indicate greater movement between 
regulatory areas than previously thought. The IPHC then developed a 
coast wide assessment based on a single stock. The assessment adopted a 
coast wide harvest rate of 20 percent of the exploitable biomass 
overall but higher for some areas with net immigration. The IPHC staff 
have recommended a harvest rate of 25 percent in Area 2C, 20 percent in 
Areas 3A, 3B, and 4A, and 15 percent in Areas 4 B, C, D, and E. The 
current exploitable halibut biomass in Alaska for 2007 was estimated to 
be 169,000 mt, down from 189,543 mt in 2006. The female spawning 
biomass remains far above the minimum which occurred in the 1970s.
    The exploitable biomass of the Pacific halibut stock peaked at 
326,520 mt in 1988. According to the IPHC, the long-term average 
reproductive biomass for the Pacific halibut resource was estimated at 
118,000 mt. Long-term average yield was estimated at 26,980 mt, round 
weight. The species is fully utilized. Recent average catches (1994-
2004) in the commercial halibut fisheries in Alaska have averaged 
34,241 mt, round weight. Catch in waters off Alaska is 27 percent 
higher than long-term potential yield for the entire halibut stock, 
reflecting the good condition of the Pacific halibut resource. In 
December 2006, the IPHC recommended Alaska commercial catch limits 
totaling 33,560 mt, round weight, in 2007, a slight increase from 
33,421 mt in 2006. Through December 31, 2006, commercial hook-and-line 
harvests of halibut off Alaska totaled 31,581 mt, round weight.
    Additional information on the Pacific halibut stock assessment may 
be found in the IPHC's 2006 Pacific halibut stock assessment (December 
2006), available on the IPHC website at http://www.iphc.washington.edu. 
The IPHC will consider the 2006 Pacific halibut assessment for 2007 at 
its January 2007 annual meeting when it sets the 2007 commercial 
halibut fishery quotas.

Other Factors

    The proposed 2006 and 2007 harvest specifications (71 FR 75437, 
December 15, 2006) discuss potential impacts of expected fishing for 
groundfish on halibut stocks, as well as methods available for, and 
costs of, reducing halibut bycatch in the groundfish fisheries.

[[Page 9691]]

Halibut Discard Mortality Rates

    The Council recommends and NMFS concurs that the halibut discard 
mortality rates (DMRs) recommended by the staff of the IPHC for the 
2007 and 2008 GOA groundfish fisheries be used to monitor the 2007 and 
2008 GOA halibut bycatch mortality limits. The IPHC recommended use of 
long-term average DMRs for the 2007 and 2008 groundfish fisheries. The 
IPHC will analyze observer data annually and recommend changes to the 
DMRs where a DMR shows large variation from the mean. Most of the 
IPHC's assumed DMRs were based on an average of mortality rates 
determined from NMFS observer data collected between 1996 and 2005. 
Long-term average DMRs were not available for some fisheries, so rates 
from the most recent years were used. For the ``other species'' and 
skate fisheries, where insufficient mortality data are available, the 
mortality rate of halibut caught in the Pacific cod fishery for that 
gear type was recommended as a default rate. The GOA DMRs for 2007 and 
2008 are revised from those used in 2006. The DMRs for hook-and-line 
targeted fisheries range from 10 to 14 percent. The DMRs for trawl 
target fisheries range from 53 to 76 percent. The DMRs for pot target 
fisheries are 16 percent. The final DMRs for 2007 and 2008 are listed 
in Table 12. A copy of the document justifying these DMRs is available 
from the Council (see ADDRESSES) and is discussed in Appendix A of the 
final 2006 SAFE report, dated November 2006.

   Table 12 - Final 2007 and 2008 Halibut Discard Mortality Rates for
                  Vessels Fishing in the Gulf of Alaska
       (values are percent of halibut bycatch assumed to be dead)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                          Mortality Rate
               Gear                        Target               (%)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hook-and-line                       Other species         14
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    Skates                14
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    Pacific cod           14
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    Rockfish              10
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trawl                               Arrowtooth flounder   69
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    Atka mackerel         60
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    Deep-water flatfish   53
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    Flathead sole         61
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    Non-pelagic pollock   59
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    Other species         63
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    Skates                63
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    Pacific cod           63
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    Pelagic pollock       76
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    Rex sole              63
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    Rockfish              67
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    Sablefish             65
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    Shallow-water         71
                                     flatfish
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pot                                 Other species         16
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    Skates                16
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    Pacific cod           16
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Non-exempt American Fisheries Act (AFA) Catcher Vessel Groundfish 
Harvest and PSC Sideboard Limitations

    Section 679.64 established groundfish harvesting and processing 
sideboard limitations on AFA catcher/processors and catcher vessels in 
the GOA. These sideboard limits are necessary to protect the interests 
of fishermen and processors who have not directly benefitted from the 
AFA from fishermen and processors who have received exclusive 
harvesting and processing privileges under the AFA. Listed AFA catcher/
processors are prohibited from harvesting any species of fish in the 
GOA (Sec.  679.7(k)(1)(ii)). The listed AFA catcher/processors are also 
prohibited from processing any pollock in the GOA and any groundfish 
harvested in Statistical Area 630 of the GOA (Sec.  679.7(k)(1)(iv)). 
AFA catcher vessels less than 125 ft (38.1 m) LOA whose annual Bering 
Sea and Aleutian Islands pollock landings totaled less than 5,100 mt 
and that made 40 or more GOA groundfish landings from 1995 through 1997 
are exempt from sideboard limits (Sec.  679.64(b)(2)(ii)).
    Sideboard limits for non-exempt AFA catcher vessels in the GOA are 
based on their traditional harvest levels of TAC in groundfish 
fisheries covered by the GOA FMP. Section 679.64(b)(3)(iii) establishes 
the groundfish sideboard limitations in the GOA based on the retained 
catch of non-exempt AFA catcher vessels of each sideboard species from 
1995 through 1997 divided by the TAC for that species over the same 
period. These amounts are listed in Table 13 for 2007 and in Table 14 
for 2008. All catch of sideboard species made by non-exempt AFA catcher 
vessels, whether as targeted catch or incidental catch, will be 
deducted from the sideboard limits in Tables 13 and 14.

  Table 13 - Final 2007 GOA Non-Exempt American Fisheries Act Catcher Vessel (CV) Groundfish Harvest Sideboard
                                                   Limitations
                                           (values are in metric tons)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                           Ratio of 1995-1997
                                      Apportionments and    non-exempt AFA CV                   2007 non-exempt
              Species                allocations by area/  catch to 1995-1997     2007 TAC        AFA catcher
                                    season/processor/gear          TAC                          vessel sideboard
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pollock                             A Season (W/C areas    ..................  ..............  .................
                                     only)
                                    January 20 - February  ..................  ..............  .................
                                     25
                                    Shumagin (610)         0.6112              4,511           2,757
                                    Chirikof (620)         0.1427              7,357           1,050
                                    Kodiak (630)           0.2438              3,320           809
                                   -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    B Season (W/C areas    ..................  ..............  .................
                                     only)
                                    March 10 - May 31      ..................  ..............  .................
                                    Shumagin (610)         0.6112              4,511           2,757
                                    Chirikof (620)         0.1427              8,924           1,273
                                    Kodiak (630)           0.2438              1,753           427
                                   -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    C Season (W/C areas    ..................  ..............  .................
                                     only)

[[Page 9692]]

 
                                    August 25 - September  ..................  ..............  .................
                                     15
                                    Shumagin (610)         0.6112              7,995           4,887
                                    Chirikof (620)         0.1427              2,304           329
                                    Kodiak (630)           0.2438              4,889           1,192
                                   -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    D Season (W/C areas    ..................  ..............  .................
                                     only)
                                    October 1 - November   ..................  ..............  .................
                                     1
                                    Shumagin (610)         0.6112              7,995           4,887
                                    Chirikof (620)         0.1427              2,304           329
                                    Kodiak (630)           0.2438              4,889           1,192
                                   -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    Annual                 ..................  ..............  .................
                                    WYK (640)              0.3499              1,398           489
                                    SEO (650)              0.3499              6,157           2,154
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pacific cod                         A Season\1\            ..................  ..............  .................
                                    January 1 - June 10    ..................  ..............  .................
                                    W inshore              0.1423              10,876          1,548
                                    W offshore             0.1026              1,208           124
                                    C inshore              0.0722              15,339          1,107
                                    C offshore             0.0721              1,704           123
                                    B Season\2\            ..................  ..............  .................
                                    September 1 -          ..................  ..............  .................
                                     December 31
                                    W inshore              0.1423              7,251           1,032
                                    W offshore             0.1026              806             83
                                    C inshore              0.0722              10,226          738
                                    C offshore             0.0721              1,136           82
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    Annual                 ..................  ..............  .................
                                    E inshore              0.0079              3,346           26
                                    E offshore             0.0078              372             3
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Flatfish                            W                      0                   420             0
deep-water                          C                      0.0670              4,163           279
                                    E                      0.0171              4,124           71
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rex sole                            W                      0.0010              1,147           1
                                    C                      0.0402              5,466           219
                                    E                      0.0153              2,507           38
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Flathead sole                       W                      0.0036              2,000           7
                                    C                      0.0261              5,000           131
                                    E                      0.0048              2,148           10
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Flathead shallow-water              W                      0.0156              4,500           70
                                    C                      0.0598              13,000          777
                                    E                      0.0126              2,472           31
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Arrowtooth flounder                 W                      0.0021              8,000           17
                                    C                      0.0309              30,000          927
                                    E                      0.0020              5,000           10
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sablefish                           W trawl gear           0                   494             0
                                    C trawl gear           0.0720              1,238           89
                                    E trawl gear           0.0488              283             14
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pacific ocean perch                 W                      0.0623              4,244           264
                                    C                      0.0866              7,612           659
                                    E                      0.0466              2,780           130
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shortraker rockfish                 W                      0                   153             0
                                    C                      0.0237              353             8
                                    E                      0.0124              337             4
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rougheye rockfish                   W                      0                   136             0
                                    C                      0.0237              611             14
                                    E                      0.0124              241             3
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Other rockfish                      W                      0.0034              557             2

[[Page 9693]]

 
                                    C                      0.2065              386             80
                                    E                      0                   519             0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Northern rockfish                   W                      0.0003              1,439           0
                                    C                      0.0336              3,499           128
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pelagic shelf rockfish              W                      0.0001              1,466           0
                                    C                      0                   3,325           0
                                    E                      0.0067              751             5
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thornyhead rockfish                 W                      0.0308              513             16
                                    C                      0.0308              989             30
                                    E                      0.0308              707             22
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Big skates                          W                      0.0090              695             6
                                    C                      0.0090              2,250           20
                                    E                      0.0090              599             5
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Longnose skates                     W                      0.0090              65              1
                                    C                      0.0090              1,969           18
                                    E                      0.0090              861             8
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Other skates                        GW                     0.0090              1,617           15
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DSR                                 SEO                    0,0020              410             1
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Atka mackerel                       Gulfwide               0.0309              1,500           46
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Other species                       Gulfwide               0.0090              4,500           41
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ The Pacific cod A season for trawl gear does not open until January 20.
\2\ The Pacific cod B season for trawl gear closes November 1.


  Table 14 - Final 2008 GOA Non-Exempt American Fisheries Act Catcher Vessel (CV) Groundfish Harvest Sideboard
                                                   Limitations
                                           (values are in metric tons)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                           Ratio of 1995-1997
                                      Apportionments and    non-exempt AFA CV                   2008 non-exempt
              Species                allocations by area/  catch to 1995-1997     2008 TAC      AFA CV sideboard
                                    season/processor/gear          TAC                               limit
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pollock                             A Season (W/C areas    ..................  ..............  .................
                                     only)
                                    January 20 - February  ..................  ..............  .................
                                     25
                                    Shumagin (610)         0.6112              5,466           3,341
                                    Chirikof (620)         0.1427              8,915           1,272
                                    Kodiak (630)           0.2438              4,023           981
                                   -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    B Season (W/C areas    ..................  ..............  .................
                                     only)
                                    March 10 - May 31      ..................  ..............  .................
                                    Shumagin (610)         0.6112              5,466           3,341
                                    Chirikof (620)         0.1427              10,814          1,543
                                    Kodiak (630)           0.2438              2,124           518
                                   -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    C Season (W/C areas    ..................  ..............  .................
                                     only)
                                    August 25 - September  ..................  ..............  .................
                                     15
                                    Shumagin (610)         0.6112              9,688           5,921
                                    Chirikof (620)         0.1427              2,304           329
                                    Kodiak (630)           0.2438              5,924           1,444
                                   -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    D Season (W/C areas    ..................  ..............  .................
                                     only)
                                    October 1 - November   ..................  ..............  .................
                                     1
                                    Shumagin (610)         0.6112              9,688           5,921
                                    Chirikof (620)         0.1427              2,304           329
                                    Kodiak (630)           0.2438              5,924           1,444
                                   -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    Annual                 ..................  ..............  .................
                                    WYK (640)              0.3499              1,694           593

[[Page 9694]]

 
                                    SEO (650)              0.3499              6,157           2,154
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pacific cod                         A Season\1\            ..................  ..............  .................
                                    January 1 - June 10    ..................  ..............  .................
                                    W inshore              0.1423              11,278          1,605
                                    W offshore             0.1026              1,253           129
                                    C inshore              0.0722              15,905          1,148
                                    C offshore             0.0721              1,767           127
                                    B Season\2\            ..................  ..............  .................
                                    September 1 -          ..................  ..............  .................
                                     December 31
                                    W inshore              0.1423              7,519           1,070
                                    W offshore             0.1026              835             86
                                    C inshore              0.0722              10,603          766
                                    C offshore             0.0721              1,178           85
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    Annual                 ..................  ..............  .................
                                    E inshore              0.0079              3,470           27
                                    E offshore             0.0078              386             3
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Flatfish                            W                      0                   430             0
deep-water                          C                      0.0670              4,296           288
                                    E                      0.0171              4,257           73
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rex sole                            W                      0.0010              1,122           1
                                    C                      0.0402              5,327           214
                                    E                      0.0153              2,451           38
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Flathead sole                       W                      0.0036              2,000           7
                                    C                      0.0261              5,000           131
                                    E                      0.0048              2,258           11
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Flathead shallow-water              W                      0.0156              4,500           70
                                    C                      0.0598              13,000          777
                                    E                      0.0126              2,472           31
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Arrowtooth flounder                 W                      0.0021              8,000           17
                                    C                      0.0309              30,000          927
                                    E                      0.0020              5,000           10
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sablefish                           W trawl gear           0                   492             0
                                    C trawl gear           0.0720              1,232           89
                                    E trawl gear           0.0488              281             14
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pacific ocean perch                 W                      0.0623              4,291           267
                                    C                      0.0866              7,694           666
                                    E                      0.0466              2,812           131
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rougheye rockfish                   W                      0                   153             0
                                    C                      0.0237              353             8
                                    E                      0.0124              337             4
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shortraker rockfish                 W                      0                   137             0
                                    C                      0.0237              614             15
                                    E                      0.0124              242             3
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Other rockfish                      W                      0.0034              577             2
                                    C                      0.2065              386             80
                                    E                      0                   519             0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Northern rockfish                   W                      0.0003              1,383           0
                                    C                      0.0336              3,365           123
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pelagic shelf rockfish              W                      0.0001              1,752           0
                                    C                      0                   3,973           0
                                    E                      0.0067              897             6
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thornyhead rockfish                 W                      0.0308              513             16
                                    C                      0.0308              989             30

[[Page 9695]]

 
                                    E                      0.0308              707             22
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Big skates                          W                      0.0090              695             6
                                    C                      0.0090              2,250           20
                                    E                      0.0090              599             5
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Longnose skates                     W                      0.0090              65              1
                                    C                      0.0090              1,969           18
                                    E                      0.0090              861             8
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Other skates                        GW                     0.0090              1,617           15
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DSR                                 SEO                    0,0020              410             1
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Atka mackerel                       Gulfwide               0.0309              1,500           46
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Other species                       Gulfwide               0.0090              4,500           41
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ The Pacific cod A season for trawl gear does not open until January 20.
\2\ The Pacific cod B season for trawl gear closes November 1.

    The PSC sideboard limits for non-exempt AFA catcher vessels in the 
GOA are based on the aggregate retained groundfish catch by non-exempt 
AFA catcher vessels in each PSC target category from 1995 through 1997 
divided by the retained catch of all vessels in that fishery from 1995 
through 1997 (Sec.  679.64(b)(4)). Table 15 lists these amounts.

 Table 15 - Final 2007 and 2008 Non-Exempt American Fisheries Act Catcher Vessel Prohibited Species Catch (PSC)
                                               Limits for the GOA
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                     Ratio of 1995-
                                                                       1997 non-
                                                                     exempt AFA CV                 2007 and 2008
                                                          Target        retained    2007 and 2008    non-exempt
          PSC species                  Season            fishery        catch to      PSC limit      AFA CV PSC
                                                                         total           (mt)        limit (mt)
                                                                        retained
                                                                         catch
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Halibut                         Trawl 1st seasonal    shallow-water  0.34           450            153
                                 allowance
                               ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                January 20 - April 1  deep-water     0.07           100            7
                               ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                Trawl 2nd seasonal    shallow-water  0.34           100            34
                                 allowance
                               ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                April 1- July 1       deep-water     0.07           300            21
                               ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                Trawl 3rd seasonal    shallow-water  0.34           200            68
                                 allowance
                               ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                July 1 - September 1  deep-water     0.07           400            28
                               ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                Trawl 4th seasonal    shallow-water  0.34           150            51
                                 allowance
                               ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                September 1 -         deep-water     0.07           0              0
                                 October 1
                               ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                Trawl 5th seasonal    all targets    0.205          300            61
                                 allowance
 
                                October 1 - December  .............  .............  .............  .............
                                 31
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Non-AFA Crab Vessel Groundfish Harvest Limitations

    Section 680.22 establishes groundfish catch limits for vessels with 
a history of participation in the Bering Sea snow crab fishery from 
using the increased flexibility provided by the Crab Rationalization 
Program to expand their level of participation in the GOA groundfish 
fisheries. These sideboard limits restrict these vessels' catch to 
their collective historical landings in each GOA groundfish fishery 
(except the fixed-gear sablefish fishery). Sideboard limits also will 
apply to catch made using a License Limitation Program (LLP) license 
derived from the history of a restricted vessel, even if that LLP is 
used on another vessel.
    Sideboard limits for non-AFA crab vessels in the GOA are based on 
their traditional harvest levels of TAC in groundfish fisheries covered 
by the GOA FMP. Section 680.22 (d) and (e) base the groundfish 
sideboard limitations in the GOA on the retained catch by non-AFA crab 
vessels of each

[[Page 9696]]

sideboard species from 1996 through 2000 divided by the total retained 
harvest of that species over the same period. These amounts are listed 
in Table 16 for 2007 and in Table 17 for 2008. All targeted or 
incidental catch of sideboard species made by non-AFA crab vessels will 
be deducted from the sideboard limits in Tables 16 and 17. Vessels 
exempt from Pacific cod sideboards are those that landed less than 
45,359 kg of Bering Sea snow crab and more than 500 mt of groundfish 
(in round weight equivalents) from the GOA between January 1, 1996, and 
December 31, 2000, and any vessel named on an LLP that was generated in 
whole or in part by the fishing history of a vessel meeting the 
criteria in Sec.  680.22(a)(3).

    Table 16 - Final 2007 GOA Non-American Fisheries Act Crab Vessel Groundfish Harvest Sideboard Limitations
                                   (Values are rounded to nearest metric ton)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                           Ratio of 1996-2000
                                      Apportionments and      non-AFA crab                     2007 non-AFA crab
              Species                allocations by area/    vessel catch to    Proposed 2007   vessel sideboard
                                    season/processor/gear    1996-2000 total         TAC             limit
                                                                 harvest
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pollock                             A Season (W/C areas    ..................  ..............  .................
                                     only)
                                    January 20 - March 10  ..................  ..............  .................
                                    Shumagin (610)         0.0098              4,511           44
                                    Chirikof (620)         0.0031              7,357           23
                                    Kodiak (630)           0.0002              3,320           1
                                   -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    B Season (W/C areas    ..................  ..............  .................
                                     only)
                                    March 10 - May 31      ..................  ..............  .................
                                    Shumagin (610)         0.0098              4,511           44
                                    Chirikof (620)         0.0031              8,924           28
                                    Kodiak (630)           0.0002              1,753           0
                                   -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    C Season (W/C areas    ..................  ..............  .................
                                     only)
                                    August 25 - October 1  ..................  ..............  .................
                                    Shumagin (610)         0.0098              7,995           78
                                    Chirikof (620)         0.0031              2,304           7
                                    Kodiak (630)           0.0002              4,889           1
                                   -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    D Season (W/C areas    ..................  ..............  .................
                                     only)
                                    October 1 - November   ..................  ..............  .................
                                     1
                                    Shumagin (610)         0.0098              7,995           78
                                    Chirikof (620)         0.0031              2,304           7
                                    Kodiak (630)           0.0002              4,889           1
                                   -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    Annual                 ..................  ..............  .................
                                    WYK (640)              0                   1,398           0
                                    SEO (650)              0                   6,157           0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pacific cod                         A Season\1\            ..................  ..............  .................
                                    January 1 - June 10    ..................  ..............  .................
                                    W inshore              0.0902              10,876          981
                                    W offshore             0.2046              1,208           247
                                    C inshore              0.0383              15,339          587
                                    C offshore             0.2074              1,704           353
                                    B Season\2\            ..................  ..............  .................
                                    September 1 -          ..................  ..............  .................
                                     December 31
                                    W inshore              0.0902              7,251           654
                                    W offshore             0.2046              806             165
                                    C inshore              0.0383              10,226          392
                                    C offshore             0.2074              1,136           236
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    Annual                 ..................  ..............  .................
                                    E inshore              0.0110              3,346           37
                                    E offshore             0                   372             0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Flatfish                            W                      0.0035              420             1
deep-water                          C                      0                   4,163           0
                                    E                      0                   4,124           0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rex sole                            W                      0                   1,147           0
                                    C                      0                   5,446           0
                                    E                      0                   2,507           0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Flathead sole                       W                      0.0002              2,000           0
                                    C                      0.0004              5,000           2
                                    E                      0                   2,148           0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Flathead shallow-water              W                      0.0059              4,500           27
                                    C                      0.0001              13,000          1

[[Page 9697]]

 
                                    E                      0                   2,472           0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Arrowtooth flounder                 W                      0.0004              8,000           3
                                    C                      0.0001              30,000          3
                                    E                      0                   5,000           0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sablefish                           W trawl gear           0                   494             0
                                    C trawl gear           0                   1,238           0
                                    E trawl gear           0                   283             0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pacific ocean perch                 W                      0                   4,244           0
                                    C                      0                   7,612           0
                                    E                      0                   2,780           0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shortraker rockfish                 W                      0.0013              153             0
                                    C                      0.0012              353             0
                                    E                      0.0009              337             0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rougheye rockfish                   W                      0.0067              136             1
                                    C                      0.0047              611             3
                                    E                      0.0008              241             0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Other rockfish                      W                      0.0035              577             2
                                    C                      0.0033              386             1
                                    E                      0                   519             0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Northern rockfish                   W                      0.0005              1,439           1
                                    C                      0                   3,499           0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pelagic shelf rockfish              W                      0.0017              1,466           2
                                    C                      0                   3,325           0
                                    E                      0                   751             0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thornyhead rockfish                 W                      0.0047              513             2
                                    C                      0.0066              989             7
                                    E                      0.0045              707             3
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Big skate                           W                      0.0392              695             27
                                    C                      0.0159              2,250           36
                                    E                      0                   599             0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Longnose skate                      W                      0.0392              65              3
                                    C                      0.0159              1,969           31
                                    E                      0                   861             0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Other skates                        GW                     0.0176              1,617           28
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DSR                                 SEO                    0                   410             0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Atka mackerel                       Gulfwide               0                   1,500           0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Other species                       Gulfwide               0.0176              4,500           79
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ The Pacific cod A season for trawl gear does not open until January 20.
\2\ The Pacific cod B season for trawl gear closes November 1.


    Table 17- Final 2008 GOA Non-American Fisheries Act Crab Vessel Groundfish Harvest Sideboard Limitations
                                   (values are rounded to nearest metric ton)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                           Ratio of 1996-2000
                                      Apportionments and      non-AFA crab                     2008 non-AFA crab
              Species                allocations by area/    vessel catch to      2008 TAC      vessel sideboard
                                    season/processor/gear    1996-2000 total                         limit
                                                                 harvest
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pollock                             A Season (W/C areas    ..................  ..............  .................
                                     only)
                                    January 20 - March 10  ..................  ..............  .................
                                    Shumagin (610)         0.0098              5,466           54
                                    Chirikof (620)         0.0031              8,915           28

[[Page 9698]]

 
                                    Kodiak (630)           0.0002              4,023           1
                                   -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    B Season (W/C areas    ..................  ..............  .................
                                     only)
                                    March 10 - May 31      ..................  ..............  .................
                                    Shumagin (610)         0.0098              5,466           54
                                    Chirikof (620)         0.0031              10,814          34
                                    Kodiak (630)           0.0002              2,124           0
                                   -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    C Season (W/C areas    ..................  ..............  .................
                                     only)
                                    August 25 - October 1  ..................  ..............  .................
                                    Shumagin (610)         0.0098              9,688           95
                                    Chirikof (620)         0.0031              2,304           7
                                    Kodiak (630)           0.0002              5,924           1
                                   -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    D Season (W/C areas    ..................  ..............  .................
                                     only)
                                    October 1 - November   ..................  ..............  .................
                                     1
                                    Shumagin (610)         0.0098              9,688           95
                                    Chirikof (620)         0.0031              2,304           7
                                    Kodiak (630)           0.0002              5,924           1
                                   -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    Annual                 ..................  ..............  .................
                                    WYK (640)              0                   1,694           0
                                    SEO (650)              0                   6,157           0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pacific cod                         A Season\1\            ..................  ..............  .................
                                    January 1 - June 10    ..................  ..............  .................
                                    W inshore              0.0902              11,278          1,017
                                    W offshore             0.2046              1,253           256
                                    C inshore              0.0383              15,905          609
                                    C offshore             0.2074              1,767           366
                                    B Season\2\            ..................  ..............  .................
                                    September 1 -          ..................  ..............  .................
                                     December 31
                                    W inshore              0.0902              7,519           678
                                    W offshore             0.2046              835             171
                                    C inshore              0.0383              10,603          406
                                    C offshore             0.2074              1,178           244
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    Annual                 ..................  ..............  .................
                                    E inshore              0.0110              3,470           38
                                    E offshore             0                   386             0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Flatfish                            W                      0.0035              430             2
deep-water                          C                      0                   4,296           0
                                    E                      0                   4,257           0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rex sole                            W                      0                   1,122           0
                                    C                      0                   5,327           0
                                    E                      0                   2,551           0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Flathead sole                       W                      0.0002              2,000           0
                                    C                      0.0004              5,000           2
                                    E                      0                   2,258           0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Flathead shallow-water              W                      0.0059              4,500           27
                                    C                      0.0001              13,000          1
                                    E                      0                   2,472           0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Arrowtooth flounder                 W                      0.0004              8,000           3
                                    C                      0.0001              30,000          3
                                    E                      0                   5,000           0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sablefish                           W trawl gear           0                   492             0
                                    C trawl gear           0                   1,232           0
                                    E trawl gear           0                   281             0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pacific ocean perch                 W                      0                   4,291           0
                                    C                      0                   7,694           0
                                    E                      0                   2,812           0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[[Page 9699]]

 
Shortraker rockfish                 W                      0.0013              153             0
                                    C                      0.0012              353             0
                                    E                      0.0009              337             0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rougheye rockfish                   W                      0.0067              137             1
                                    C                      0.0047              614             3
                                    E                      0.0008              242             0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Other rockfish                      W                      0.0035              577             2
                                    C                      0.0033              386             1
                                    E                      0                   519             0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Northern rockfish                   W                      0.0005              1,383           1
                                    C                      0                   3,365           0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pelagic shelf rockfish              W                      0.0017              1,752           3
                                    C                      0                   3,973           0
                                    E                      0                   897             0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thornyhead rockfish                 W                      0.0047              513             2
                                    C                      0.0066              989             7
                                    E                      0.0045              707             3
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Big skate                           W                      0.0392              695             27
                                    C                      0.0159              2,250           36
                                    E                      0                   599             0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Longnose skates                     W                      0.0392              65              3
                                    C                      0.0159              1,969           31
                                    E                      0                   861             0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Other skates                        GW                     0.0176              1,617           28
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Demersal shelf rockfish             SEO                    0                   410             0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Atka mackerel                       Gulfwide               0                   1,500           0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Other species                       Gulfwide               0.0176              4,500           79
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ The Pacific cod A season for trawl gear does not open until January 20.
\2\ The Pacific cod B season for trawl gear closes November 1.

Rockfish Program Groundfish Sideboard Limitations and Halibut Mortality 
Limitations

    Section 679.82(d)(7) establishes sideboards to limit the ability of 
participants eligible for the Rockfish Program to catch fish in 
fisheries other than the Central GOA rockfish fisheries. The Rockfish 
Program provides certain economic advantages to harvesters. Harvesters 
could use this economic advantage to increase their participation in 
other fisheries, adversely affecting the participants in other 
fisheries. These final sideboards limit the total amount of catch in 
other groundfish fisheries that could be taken by eligible harvesters 
and limit the amount of halibut mortality to historic levels. The 
sideboard measures are in effect only during the month of July. 
Historically, the Central GOA trawl rockfish fisheries opened in July. 
The sideboards are designed to restrict fishing during the historical 
season for the fishery, but allow eligible rockfish harvesters to 
participate in fisheries before or after the historical rockfish 
season. The two categories of sideboard limits are catch amount 
constraints and closures of specific directed fisheries during July. 
The sideboard provisions are discussed in detail in the Rockfish 
Program proposed rule (71 FR 33040, June 7, 2006) and final rule (71 FR 
67210, November 20, 2006). Tables 18 and 19 list the final 2007 and 
2008 harvest limits for rockfish in the WYK District and the Western 
Regulatory Area. Table 20 lists the final 2007 and 2008 halibut 
mortality limits for the Western and Central Regulatory Areas and the 
WYK District.

[[Page 9700]]



Table 18 - Final 2007 Rockfish Program Harvest Limits by Sector for West Yakutat District and Western Regulatory Area by the Catcher/Processor (C/P) and
                                                               Catcher Vessel (CV) Sectors
                                                       (values are rounded to nearest metric ton)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                            C/P sector (% of   CV sector (% of
          Management Area                  Fishery                TAC)               TAC)             2007 TAC        2007 C/P limit     2007 CV limit
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
West Yakutat District               Pelagic shelf          72.4               1.7                307                222                5
                                     rockfish
                                   ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    Pacific ocean perch    76.0               2.9                1,140              866                33
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WesternRegulatory Area              Pelagic shelf          63.3               0.0                1,466              928                0
                                     rockfish
                                   ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    Pacific ocean perch    61.1               0.0                4,244              2,593              0
                                   ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    Northern rockfish      78.9               0.0                1,439              1,135              0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Table 19 - Final 2008 Rockfish Program Harvest Limits by Sector for West Yakutat District and Western Regulatory Area by the Catcher/Processor (C/P) and
                                                               Catcher Vessel (CV) Sectors
                                                       (values are rounded to nearest metric ton)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                            C/P sector (% of   CV sector (% of
          Management Area                  Fishery                TAC)               TAC)             2008 TAC        2008 C/P limit     2008 CV limit
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
West Yakutat District               Pelagic shelf          72.4               1.7                366                265                5
                                     rockfish
                                   ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    Pacific ocean perch    76.0               2.9                1,153              876                25
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Western GOA                         Pelagic shelf          63.3               0.0                1,752              1,109              0
                                     rockfish
                                   ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    Pacific ocean perch    61.1               0.0                4,291              2,622              0
                                   ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    Northern rockfish      78.9               0.0                1,383              1,091              0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


 Table 20 - Final 2007 and 2008 Rockfish Program Halibut Mortality Limits for the Catcher/Processor and Catcher
                                                 Vessel Sectors
                                   (values are rounded to nearest metric ton)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                    Deep-water                    Annual shallow-  Annual deep-
                                  Shallow-water       complex     Annual halibut   water complex   water complex
             Sector              complex halibut    halibut PSC      mortality      halibut PSC     halibut PSC
                                  PSC sideboard      sideboard      limit (mt)       sideboard       sideboard
                                      ratio            ratio                        limit (mt)      limit (mt)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Catcher/processor                3.99             0.54            2,000           80              11
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Catcher vessel                   1.08             6.32            2,000           22              126
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Directed Fishing Closures

    Pursuant to Sec.  679.20(d)(1)(i), if the Regional Administrator 
determines (1) that any allocation or apportionment of a target species 
or ``other species'' category allocated or apportioned to a fishery 
will be reached or, (2) with respect to pollock and Pacific cod, an 
allocation or apportionment to an inshore or offshore component 
allocation will be reached, the Regional Administrator may establish a 
DFA for that species or species group. If the Regional Administrator 
establishes a DFA and that allowance is or will be reached before the 
end of the fishing year, NMFS will prohibit directed fishing for that 
species or species group in the specified GOA regulatory area or 
district (Sec.  679.20(d)(1)(iii)).
    The Regional Administrator has determined that the following TAC 
amounts in Table 21 are necessary as incidental catch to support other 
anticipated groundfish fisheries for the 2007 and 2008 fishing years.

                          Table 21 - Directed Fishing Closures in the GOA 2007 and 2008
              (Amounts needed for incidental catch in other directed fisheries are in metric tons)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                Target                      Regulatory Area         Gear/Component               Amount
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Atka mackerel                           entire GOA              all                     1,500
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thornyhead rockfish                     entire GOA              all                     2,209
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shortraker rockfish                     entire GOA              all                     843
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[[Page 9701]]

 
Rougheye rockfish                       entire GOA              all                     988 (2007)
                                                                                        993 (2008)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Other rockfish                          entire GOA              all                     1,482
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sablefish                               entire GOA              trawl                   2,015 (2007)
                                                                                        2,004 (2008)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Big skates                              entire GOA              all                     3,544
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Longnose skates                         entire GOA              all                     2,895
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Other skates                            entire GOA              all                     1,617
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pollock                                 entire GOA              all/offshore            unknown\1\
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\Pollock is closed to directed fishing in the GOA by the offshore component under Sec.   679.20(a)(6)(i).

    Consequently, in accordance with Sec.  679.20(d)(1)(i), the 
Regional Administrator establishes the DFA for the species or species 
groups listed in Table 21 as zero. Therefore, in accordance with Sec.  
679.20(d)(1)(iii), NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for those 
species, regulatory areas, gear types, and components listed in Table 
21. These closures will remain in effect through 2400 hrs, A.l.t., 
December 31, 2008.
    Section 679.64(b)(5) provides for management of AFA catcher vessel 
groundfish harvest limits and PSC bycatch limits using directed fishing 
closures and PSC closures according to procedures set out at Sec. Sec.  
679.20(d)(1)(iv), 679.21(d)(8), and 679.21(e)(3)(v). The Regional 
Administrator has determined that, in addition to the closures listed 
above, many of the non-exempt AFA catcher vessel sideboard limits 
listed in Tables 13 and 14 are necessary as incidental catch to support 
other anticipated groundfish fisheries for the 2007 and 2008 fishing 
years. In accordance with Sec.  679.20(d)(1)(iv), the Regional 
Administrator sets the DFAs for the species and species groups in Table 
22 at zero. Therefore, in accordance with Sec.  679.20(d)(1)(iii), NMFS 
is prohibiting directed fishing by non-exempt AFA catcher vessels in 
the GOA for the species and specified areas set out in Table 22. These 
closures will remain in effect through 2400 hrs, A.l.t., December 31, 
2008.

      Table 22 - 2007 and 2008 Non-Exempt AFA Catcher Vessel Sideboard Directed Fishing Closures in the GOA
              (Amounts needed for incidental catch in other directed fisheries are in metric tons)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                           Regulatory Area/
                Species                        District                  Gear                    Amount
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pacific cod                             Eastern                 all                     26 (inshore 2007)
                                                                                        27 (inshore 2008)
                                                                                        3 (offshore 2007)
                                                                                        3 (offshore 2008)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Deep-water flatfish                     Western                 all                     0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rex sole                                Western                 all                     1
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Flathead sole                           Eastern and Western     all                     10 and 7 (2007)
                                                                                        11 and 7 (2008)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shallow-water flatfish                  Eastern                 all                     31
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Arrowtooth flounder                     Eastern and Western     all                     10 and 17
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Northern rockfish                       Western                 all                     0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pelagic shelf rockfish                  entire GOA              all                     0(W), 0(C), 5(E) in 2007
                                                                                        0(W), 0(C), 6(E) in 2008
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Demersal shelf rockfish                 SEO District            all                     1
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Section 680.22 provides for the management of non-AFA crab vessel 
groundfish harvest limits using directed fishing closures in accordance 
with Sec.  680.22(e)(2) and (3). The Regional Administrator has 
determined that the non-AFA crab vessel sideboards listed in Tables 16 
and 17 are insufficient to support a directed fishery and set the 
sideboard DFA at zero, with the exception of pollock in the Western 
Regulatory Area and Pacific cod in the Western and Central Regulatory 
Areas. Therefore in accordance with Sec.  680.22(e)(3), NMFS is 
prohibiting directed fishing by non-AFA crab vessels in the GOA for all 
species and species groups listed in Tables 16 and

[[Page 9702]]

17, with the exception of pollock in the Western Regulatory Area and 
Pacific cod in the Western and Central Regulatory Areas.
    Section 679.82 provides for the management of Rockfish Program 
sideboard limits using directed fishing closures in accordance with 
Sec.  679.82(d)(7)(i) and (ii). The Regional Administrator has 
determined that the catcher vessel sideboards listed in Tables 18 and 
19 are insufficient to support a directed fishery and set the sideboard 
DFA at zero. Therefore, NMFS is closing directed fishing for pelagic 
shelf rockfish and Pacific ocean perch in the WYK District and the 
Western Regulatory Area and northern rockfish in the Western Regulatory 
Area by catcher vessels participating in the Central GOA Rockfish 
Program during the month of July in 2007 and 2008. These closures will 
remain in effect through 2400 hrs, A.l.t., December 31, 2008.
    Under authority of the final 2006 specifications (71 FR 10870, 
March 3, 2006), pollock fishing opened on January 20, 2006, for amounts 
specified in that notice. NMFS has since closed Statistical Area 610 to 
directed fishing for pollock effective 1200 hrs, A.l.t., January 22, 
2007 (72 FR 2462, January 19, 2007) until 1200 hrs, A.l.t., February 5, 
2007 (72 FR 6177, February 09, 2007), and 1200 hrs, A.l.t., February 7, 
2007, until 1200 hrs, A.l.t., February 8, 2007 (72 FR 6694, February 
13, 2007), and 1200 hrs, A.l.t., February 10, 2007, until 1200 hrs, 
A.l.t., March 10, 2007. NMFS closed Statistical Area 630 to directed 
fishing for pollock effective 1200 hrs, A.l.t., January 22, 2007 (72 FR 
2793, January 23, 2007) until 1200 hrs, A.l.t., February 6, 2007 (72 FR 
5346, February 6, 2007), and 1200 hrs, A.l.t., February 8, 2007, until 
1200 hrs, A.l.t, February 12, 2007 (72 FR 7353, February 15, 2007), and 
1200 hrs, A.l.t., February 14, 2007, until 1200 hrs, A.l.t., February 
20, 2007 (72 FR 8132, February 23, 2007) and 1200 hrs, A.l.t., February 
22, 2007, until 1200 hrs, A.l.t., March 10, 2007. NMFS prohibited 
directed fishing for the A season allowance of the 2007 Pacific cod 
sideboard limits apportioned to non AFA crab vessels catching Pacific 
cod for processing by the inshore component in the Central Regulatory 
Area of the GOA, effective 12 noon, A.l.t., January 24, 2007 until 1200 
hrs, A.l.t., September 1, 2007 (72 FR 3748, January 26, 2007). NMFS 
prohibited directed fishing for the A season allowance of the 2007 
Pacific cod sideboard limits apportioned to non AFA crab vessels 
catching Pacific cod for processing by the inshore component in the 
Western Regulatory Area of the GOA, effective 12 noon, A.l.t., February 
16, 2007 until 1200 hrs, A.l.t., September 1, 2007 (72 FR 7750, 
February 20, 2007). NMFS prohibited directed fishing for Pacific cod by 
vessels catching Pacific cod for processing by the offshore component 
of the Western Regulatory Area of the GOA, effective 12 noon, A.l.t., 
February 14, 2007 until 1200 hrs, A.l.t., September 1, 2007 (72 FR 
7749, February 20, 2007). NMFS prohibited directed fishing for Pacific 
cod by vessels catching Pacific cod for processing by the offshore 
component of the Central Regulatory Area of the GOA, effective 12 noon, 
A.l.t., February 14, 2007 until 1200 hrs, A.l.t., September 1, 2007 (72 
FR 7750, February 20, 2007). NMFS rescinds the closure in the Chiniak 
Gully Research Area of the GOA to all commercial trawl fishing and 
testing of trawl gear from August 1 to September 20, 2007 (72 FR 7751, 
February 20, 2007). While these closures are in effect, the maximum 
retainable amounts at Sec.  679.20(e) and (f) apply at any time during 
a fishing trip. These closures to directed fishing are in addition to 
closures and prohibitions found in regulations at 50 CFR part 679. NMFS 
may implement other closures during the 2007 and 2008 fishing years as 
necessary for effective conservation and management.

Response to Comments

    NMFS received 2 letters of comment (16 comments) in response to 
proposed the 2007 and 2008 harvest specifications. These comments are 
summarized and responded to below.
    Comment 1: The proposed harvest specifications and accompanying 
Alaska Groundfish Harvest Specifications Environmental Impact Statement 
(EIS) do not represent a substantial implementation of the Alaska 
Groundfish Fisheries Final Programmatic Supplemental Environmental 
Impact Statement (PSEIS) policy statement, but rather a transparent 
attempt to indemnify the agency against the inadequacies of the status 
quo harvest strategy. The proposed harvest specifications lack the 
perspective of the ecosystem-based policy framework outlined in the 
PSEIS because there are no explicit procedures in the TAC-setting 
process to address the impacts of single-species fishing strategies on 
dependent and related species and their habitats in an ecosystem 
context. Therefore, the policy framework outlined in the PSEIS has not 
been implemented in the regulations governing the operation of the 
groundfish fisheries. Under the proposed harvest specifications, 
ecosystem concerns would remain at best ancillary to the process of 
allocating fish and maximizing short-term economic benefits.
    Response: The preferred harvest strategy alternative described in 
the EIS is derived from the policy adopted as the preferred alternative 
in the PSEIS (see ADDRESSES) and is one of the actions necessary to 
implement that policy statement. Ecosystem concerns are integral to the 
EIS analysis. The purpose of the EIS is to describe the potential 
environmental impacts of the alternative harvest strategies, including 
an analysis of the potential impacts of these alternatives on ecosystem 
components and the ecosystem as a whole.
    In addition to the EIS analysis, all available scientific 
information on the ecosystem is analyzed and presented to decision-
makers and the public on an annual basis during the harvest 
specifications process. The annual SAFE reports, which provide the 
scientific information to support the harvest specifications for each 
species, include ecosystem considerations sections that describe the 
role of each target species in the ecosystem. The SAFE report also 
contains a separate ``Ecosystems Considerations'' chapter.
    Groundfish fisheries management, including the harvest 
specification process, takes account of ecosystem requirements related 
to predation, competition, and habitat to provide protection for 
ecosystem components. Under the harvest strategy, the determination of 
annual harvest specifications incorporates ecosystem considerations, in 
the face of uncertainty in the quantitative links between species. The 
most significant ecosystem considerations are (1) the upper end of the 
OY range in the GOA, which imposes a constraint on total biomass 
removal, and (2) OFLs that prevent overfishing of each stock. A 
species' OFL is a harvest limit rather than a target and ABCs are set 
below OFLs. The tier system sets maximum ABCs and managers can set 
actual ABCs lower for ecosystem considerations. TACs never exceed ABCs 
and are frequently set at lower levels. TACs can also be adjusted 
downward for ecosystem considerations. Additionally, managers have 
established harvest control rules for pollock, Pacific cod, and Atka 
mackerel that prohibit directed fishing at low biomass levels, to 
account for Steller sea lion prey needs. TACs and actual catches, 
especially in the GOA, are often lower than ABCs to protect other 
species, especially halibut, that may be taken as bycatch. Managers 
frequently restrict

[[Page 9703]]

directed fishing for many species before TACs are reached to comply 
with PSC limits. Inseason management closes directed fisheries when 
TACs are reached, and restricts fishing in other fisheries taking the 
species as bycatch when OFLs are approached.
    As noted below in the response to Comment 2, the groundfish 
management framework includes many measures, in addition to the harvest 
strategy, to mitigate the ecosystem impacts of the groundfish 
fisheries.
    Comment 2: Existing management measures may be construed as 
consistent with an ecosystem-based approach, but they do not address 
major ecosystem impacts of the fisheries as promulgated in the annual 
catch specifications.
    Response: Existing management measures address major ecosystem 
impacts of the fisheries, and the Council and NMFS are engaged in an 
ongoing effort to improve the ways this is done.
    The existing regulatory framework imposes many constraints on 
fishing activity, including time, area, and gear restrictions, in order 
to mitigate or control ecosystem impacts created by fishing activity. 
Regulations impose maximum retainable amount (MRA) limits on the volume 
of bycatch a vessel may deliver or have onboard. Prohibited species 
catch (PSC) regulations impose limits on harvests of crab, salmon, 
herring, and halibut, and restrict fishing activity once those limits 
are reached. Important restrictions have been imposed on key fisheries 
to limit competition for Steller sea lion prey and to protect Steller 
sea lion critical habitat. The Council and NMFS have adopted numerous 
measures to limit bycatch and control the discards of low value fish 
by-products. Seabirds attracted to longlines are protected by mandatory 
gear requirements, such as streamers, meant to reduce incidental takes.
    NMFS and the Council are continuing to develop ecosystem management 
measures for the groundfish fisheries. The Council has created a 
committee to inform them of ecosystem developments and to assist in 
formulating positions with respect to ecosystem-based management. The 
Council has taken the lead in the establishment of the interagency 
Alaska Marine Ecosystem Forum to improve inter-agency coordination and 
communication on marine ecosystem issues. The SSC has begun to hold 
annual ecosystem scientific meetings at the February Council meetings. 
In addition to exploring how to develop ecosystem management efforts, 
the Council and NMFS continue to take account of ecosystem impacts of 
fishing activity as available information allows. For example, the 
Council is currently consulting under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) 
for Steller sea lions, sperm and humpback whales. Ecosystem protection 
is supported by an extensive research program by the Alaska Fisheries 
Science Center (AFSC) into ecosystem components and integrated 
ecosystem functioning. Exempted fishing permits (EFPs) are issued to 
research halibut excluder devices.
    Additionally, the EIS considers other actions taken to manage the 
fisheries, including reasonable future fisheries management actions, as 
these are relevant to the environmental consequences of the harvest 
strategy alternatives. The Council and NMFS have processes consistent 
with National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to evaluate each action 
to regulate other aspects of the fisheries. The overall fishery 
management policy within which the harvest strategies fall has been 
evaluated in the PSEIS. Moreover, NMFS and the Council evaluated each 
management measure at the time it was adopted in the relevant NEPA 
document. Considering different management measures in separate actions 
allows for more careful analysis of alternatives and the implications 
of each, and is often less confusing to the public. The Council and 
NMFS are actively evaluating a wide range of new management measures 
through these processes and will continue to do so.
    Comment 3: Levels of exploitation on single stocks are set with no 
explicit consideration of the impacts of dependent, competing species 
in the food web or other impacts on associated species that flow from 
the exploitation of a relative few commercially desirable species. The 
single species F40% policy ignores effects on the ecosystem 
and simply assumes that individual target species can be fished to the 
maximum sustainable yield (MSY) without significant consequences to 
other species in the food web.
    Response: The harvest strategy incorporates a key principle of 
ecosystem-based fisheries management by preserving individual stocks 
and preventing overfishing of those stocks. This is important for 
protecting ecosystem components that depend on these individual stocks. 
The effects of the groundfish fisheries and fishing rates are analyzed 
in the EIS and the annual SAFE reports.
    The tier system in the FMP and the harvest specifications process 
lead to TACs associated with fishing rates that are less than 
FMSY. FOFL is never greater than FMSY, 
or an appropriate FMSY proxy. Average multi-year fishery 
harvest rates fall below FMSY because the tier system treats FOFL 
as a limit rather than a target. The fishing rates associated with 
maximum permissible ABC, actual ABC, and the TAC, all fall below the 
FOFL, providing a margin between the actual F and the 
FMSY. Moreover, as discussed in response to Comment 2, other 
management measures often constrain actual catches and fishing rates 
below the TACs or the fishing rates associated with the TACs.
    With current levels of information, we cannot precisely specify the 
margin or threshold between FOFL and actual harvest rate 
that provides the appropriate level of protection for various ecosystem 
properties. The AFSC continues to develop and improve scientific 
information in the Ecosystems Considerations section of the SAFE 
report. New information added in 2006 included the relationship between 
predation/production and fishing/production, a metric proposed to 
evaluate the management implications of potential exploitation of 
forage species, and a metric proposed to evaluate the ``footprint'' of 
individual fisheries.
    The AFSC also continues to develop and improve several multispecies 
and ecosystem models to predict the possible effects of fishing and/or 
climate on ecosystem processes. Ecosystem modeling is extremely 
complex, and the incorporation of ecosystem considerations into the 
harvest specifications process is an evolving process. The AFSC is 
advancing this process through the development of multispecies fish 
stock assessment models that include predation, ecosystem mass-balance 
and simulation models, and single-species stock assessment models that 
include predation. The AFSC briefed the Groundfish Plan Teams on the 
results of these analyses to help them in their deliberations in the 
harvest specifications process.
    Comment 4: Selective removals of species and large differences in 
catch rates for managed stocks may be responsible for significant and 
lasting changes in the structure of groundfish assemblages and food 
webs in the North Pacific, as seen in other ecosystems. Selective 
extraction of a relatively few high-value species may provide a 
competitive opportunity for ``under-utilized'' species such as 
arrowtooth flounder, which appear to have increased dramatically since 
the 1970s. NMFS consistently attributes regional stock declines and 
broader system changes to the weather (``regime

[[Page 9704]]

shifts''), a transparent stratagem that serves to justify the status 
quo and absolve the agency of responsibility for fishery-related 
systemic changes.
    Response: NMFS analyzes and considers the interactions among fish 
species in its evaluations of the impacts of groundfish fishing. The 
nature of competitive interactions among species is an area of ongoing 
research by the AFSC. These issues are discussed in the ecosystem 
sections of individual species SAFE reports and by the Plan Teams as 
they formulate their ABC recommendations.
    Species interactions are complex and imperfectly understood in the 
North Pacific. The AFSC is collaborating to develop a detailed, age-
structured, multispecies statistical model to study this complex 
interaction of pollock and arrowtooth flounder. This ``cultivation/
depensation'' model is expected to be completed in the near future. In 
December 2006, a Groundfish Plan Team leader briefed the Council and 
its SSC and AP on the complex interactions between pollock and 
arrowtooth flounder and on the potential application of this model 
whereby a species such as pollock ``cultivates'' its young by preying 
on species that would eat its young.
    Regime shifts remain an important consideration. Regime shifts are 
well documented; these changes in climate are believed to have affected 
relative abundance of species in the past, and are expected to do so in 
the future.
    Comment 5: NMFS fails to analyze the cumulative and synergistic 
effects of selective exploitation, benthic habitat modification, and 
serial depletion of targeted stocks in the North Pacific. The 
``Ecosystem Considerations'' chapter in the annual SAFE reports does 
not consider the effects of large-scale fisheries off Alaska on long-
term restructuring of food web dynamics and on composition of species 
assemblages. An evaluation of this phenomenon, and consideration of 
alternatives to address it, is also missing from the EIS and the 
harvest specification process. Additionally, the proposed harvest 
specifications do not mitigate the effects of selective exploitation 
and disproportionate exploitation rates.
    Response: NMFS takes a conservative approach to management in 
response to uncertainties. Conservative elements in the harvest 
strategies and groundfish fisheries management are listed in the 
responses to Comments 1, 2, 12, and 13. The EIS analyzed alternative 
harvest strategies that met the scope of this action, as determined by 
the statement of purpose and need.
    The EIS analyzes the effects of the alternative harvest strategies 
on target stocks and habitat in a comprehensive way that looks at both 
the individual species impacts and the overall ecosystem function 
impacts. NMFS agrees that uncertainty exists in assessing the ecosystem 
effects of alternative harvest strategies. One of the functions of an 
EIS is to identify these uncertainties. The EIS and the Ecosystem 
Considerations chapter of the SAFE reports examine trends in the 
trophic level of catch and species diversity. As noted in the response 
to Comment 4, competitive interactions between fisheries are an active 
area of AFSC research, and are discussed, as appropriate, in the 
ecosystem discussions in the species-specific sections of the SAFE 
reports.
    Comment 6: Neither the EIS nor its alternatives address the issues 
of setting exploitation levels on single stocks with no explicit 
consideration of the impacts of dependent, competing species in the 
food web or other impacts on associated species that flow from the 
exploitation of a relative few commercially desirable species.
    Response: The EIS directly examines the impacts of the alternative 
harvest strategies on non-target species, including food web 
interactions. The EIS examines the impacts of groundfish fishing on 
forage fish availability in Chapter 6, and the trophic level of catches 
in Chapter 11. The EIS includes detailed analyses of the impacts on 
prey and habitat for key species and species groupings of marine 
mammals and seabirds in Chapters 8 and 9.
    Comment 7: The uncertainties of ecosystem mechanics underscore the 
need for a much more precautionary approach to fisheries management in 
the context of food web and habitat conservation, and illustrate why 
the agency's determinations of non-significance for fishery impacts on 
prey availability and spatial/temporal concentration of fisheries are 
arbitrary and capricious. NMFS cannot demonstrate that the current and 
proposed levels of fishing permitted in protected species' habitats are 
``safe'' or ``insignificant.'' Rather, NMFS assumes that the impact is 
insignificant in the absence of conclusive evidence to the contrary. 
The burden of proof is on the environment to show harm. This is 
opposite of precautionary and the opposite of an ecosystem-based 
approach.
    Response: NMFS did not make a determination of non-significance in 
the EIS. The EIS fully discloses known impacts, areas of uncertainty, 
and presents the information in comparative form to aid in decision-
making. NMFS agrees that uncertainty exists in assessing the ecosystem 
effects of alternative harvest strategies. Identifying these 
uncertainties is one of the functions of an EIS. The EIS identifies 
potential adverse impacts of the alternatives on the ecosystem and the 
uncertainty of those impacts. NMFS is actively taking steps to reduce 
uncertainty and better understand the environment through ongoing 
scientific research. Many elements built into the harvest 
specifications process, and into the groundfish fisheries management 
regime, described in the responses to Comments 1, 2, 12, and 13, 
contribute to conservative management.
    Comment 8: Major habitat impacts of fishing on the Essential Fish 
Habitat (EFH) of FMP-managed species and foraging habitats of ESA and 
Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA)-protected species are not addressed 
in the EIS or mitigated in the proposed harvest specifications.
    Response: NMFS has examined in the EIS the impacts of fishing on 
EFH of FMP-managed species, and on the foraging habitats of ESA- and 
MMPA-protected species. Chapter 8 examines the impacts of alternative 
groundfish harvest strategies on ESA- and MMPA-listed marine mammals. 
Chapter 9 provides a similar examination for ESA-listed seabirds. 
Chapter 10 examines the impacts of the harvest strategies on EFH and 
incorporates by reference the analysis in the Essential Fish Habitat 
Environmental Impact Statement (EFH EIS, see ADDRESSES) that examines 
the impact of fishing on benthic habitat.
    Habitat impacts of fishing on the EFH of FMP-managed species and 
foraging habitats of ESA- and MMPA-protected species are mitigated by 
the extensive habitat protection measures enacted in the GOA. These are 
described in the response to Comment 11.
    Comment 9: The EIS fails to evaluate the impacts of pelagic trawl 
gear on habitat and the impact of the spatial concentration of pollock 
and Pacific cod catches on stock size, in a meaningful fashion, and 
fails to consider an alternative to address these impacts. There is 
little scientific evidence that fishing on spawning stocks of Alaskan 
groundfish has had adverse impacts on recruitment success. The status 
quo practice of targeting groundfish on spawning grounds, when the fish 
are most vulnerable to fishing gear, is a habitat impact of particular 
significance that must be addressed. The dismal abundance trends of 
several regional pollock stocks and large uncertainties in stock 
structure among many groundfish

[[Page 9705]]

populations cry out for explicit protection of spawning grounds.
    Response: The impacts of pelagic trawling on habitat are evaluated 
in the EFH EIS. Chapter 10 of the EIS provides an EFH Assessment that 
incorporates by reference the EFH EIS analysis of the impacts of the 
groundfish fisheries on EFH. Fisheries management measures, other than 
harvest strategies, are outside the scope of the action analyzed in the 
EIS. Pollock and Pacific cod catches are apportioned seasonally under 
existing measures adopted to protect Steller sea lions. Further 
seasonal apportionments of catch would require regulatory changes that 
were outside the scope of this action, as defined by the purpose and 
need.
    Comment 10: The MSA's EFH provisions should require the adoption of 
marine reserves to protect vulnerable reproductive habitats that are 
targeted by the fisheries.
    Response: This is not a comment on the content of the groundfish 
harvest specifications or on the accompanying EIS, and deals with 
issues that are beyond the scope of both.
    Comment 11: NMFS' assertions that the status quo EFH measures 
provide adequate protection or that the spatial/temporal concentration 
of the fisheries has insignificant impacts on EFH are not supported by 
evidence. The EIS fails to evaluate this information and consider 
alternatives that would address these impacts on fish habitat, and the 
proposed harvest specifications provide no adequate mitigation measures 
to address these impacts. NMFS cannot demonstrate that the current and 
proposed levels of fishing permitted in managed species' habitats are 
insignificant or compliant with the spirit and letter of the MSA's EFH 
provisions. Rather, NMFS assumes that the impact is insignificant in 
the absence of conclusive evidence to the contrary. The burden of proof 
is on the environment and the managed species to show harm. This is 
opposite of a precautionary approach to EFH conservation.
    Response: In this EIS NMFS fully discloses known impacts, 
identifies uncertainties, and presents information in comparative form 
to aid in decision-making. Detailed information on fishing on EFH 
contained in the 2005 EFH EIS was incorporated by reference in this 
EIS. As discussed in Chapter 2 of the EIS, fisheries management 
measures, other than harvest strategies, are outside the scope of this 
action, as defined by the statement of purpose and need.
    The discussion of habitat impacts in the EIS incorporated by 
reference the science and analysis in the EFH EIS. The analyses in 
Section 4.3 and Appendix B of the EFH EIS indicated that groundfish 
fishing has long-term effects on benthic habitat features off Alaska 
and acknowledged that considerable scientific uncertainty remains 
regarding the consequences of such habitat changes for the sustained 
productivity of managed species. Nevertheless, the EFH EIS concluded 
that the effects on EFH are minimal because the analysis found no 
indication that continued fishing activities at the current rate and 
intensity would alter the capacity of EFH to support healthy 
populations of managed species over the long term. Therefore, the EFH 
EIS determined that new protection measures for the fisheries to reduce 
the adverse effects on EFH were not required. Nevertheless, the Council 
recommended a suite of new conservative measures to reduce potential 
adverse effects to EFH and Habitat Areas of Particular Concerns from 
the effects of fishing activities. These actions continue the Council's 
policy of implementing conservative conservation measures for the 
Alaska fisheries, as described in the management policies and 
objectives added to the groundfish FMPs from the PSEIS policy 
statement. NMFS implemented the Council's recommendations in 2006 (71 
FR 36694; June 28, 2006).
    The Council and NMFS have taken a conservative approach to habitat 
protection by enacting substantial restrictions on fishing that 
minimize potential adverse effects on EFH. Measures to protect Steller 
sea lions have fully or partially closed about 58,000 square nautical 
miles to fishing in the AI subarea and GOA. More recently, the Council 
and NMFS adopted a suite of new measures to reduce the effects of 
fishing on EFH in the AI subarea and GOA, protecting nearly 300,000 
square nautical miles of habitat. Ten areas known as the GOA Slope 
Habitat Conservation Areas along the continental slope are closed to 
bottom trawling to protect hard bottom habitat that may be important to 
rockfish. Five GOA Coral Habitat Protection Areas in southeast Alaska 
are closed to all bottom contact fishing and anchoring to protect dense 
thickets of red tree corals. Another fifteen areas offshore, called the 
Alaska Seamount Habitat Protection Areas, are closed to all bottom 
contact fishing and anchoring to protect seamounts.
    The Council and NMFS have taken many other measures to protect 
habitat. These include wide range of protection measures, including the 
Kodiak king crab protections zones, the Cook Inlet trawl closure area, 
scallop dredge closure areas, and the Southeast Alaska trawl closure. 
These actions reflect a conservative management strategy.
    Comment 12: The lack of spatial-temporal management of groundfish 
stocks has potentially profound adverse consequences for ESA-listed 
Steller sea lions and MMPA-listed northern fur seals. The apportionment 
of ABCs according to broad management subareas does not address the 
impacts of fishing at local scales relevant to foraging sea lions, fur 
seals, and other species. NMFS fails to address localized effects 
adequately in any alternative considered in the EIS or the proposed 
harvest specifications. NMFS cannot demonstrate that the current and 
proposed levels of fishing permitted in protected marine mammal 
species' habitats are insignificant. Existing uncertainties underscore 
the need for a highly precautionary approach to habitat conservation, 
and illustrate why the agency's claims that spatial/temporal 
concentration of the fisheries under the status quo have insignificant 
impacts on marine mammal foraging habitats and prey are not supported 
by evidence. As in other instances, the burden of proof is on the 
environment to show harm. This is opposite of a precautionary approach.
    Response: NMFS did not make a determination of non-significance in 
the EIS. The EIS fully discloses known impacts, areas of uncertainty, 
and presents the information in comparative form to aid in decision-
making. The EIS describes localized impacts of fishing activity on 
marine mammals. Chapter 8 in the EIS evaluates the impacts of this 
action on marine mammals, with particular attention to impacts on 
Steller sea lions and northern fur seals. The chapter describes what is 
known about the spatial and temporal overlap between groundfish fishing 
activity and marine mammal foraging habitat. The EIS summarizes the 
available information on the impacts of fishing activity on marine 
mammals and their habitat. While information on the spatial and 
temporal impact of groundfish fishing on other species is relatively 
limited, the EIS provides a review of the information available and 
indicates where information is lacking.
    Endangered Steller sea lions have been protected by a suite of 
measures. Groundfish fisheries conducted in accordance with the Steller 
sea lion protection measures adopted in 2002 have been determined not 
to jeopardize Steller sea lions or adversely modify their critical 
habitat. The protection measures involve seasonal apportionments of 
annual TACs, limits

[[Page 9706]]

on the proportion of catch within habitat important for Steller sea 
lion foraging, limits on fishing activity within areas adjacent to 
haulouts and rookeries, and closure of directed fishing when biomass 
falls to low levels. The protection measures and the conclusions of no 
jeopardy or adverse modification of habitat were arrived at after 
careful evaluation in 2001. Since that time, NMFS has continued to 
investigate the determinants of Steller sea lion declines. These 
measures are currently being reevaluated in a new biological opinion 
and revised recovery plan.
    Comment 13: The proposed harvest specifications and the 
accompanying EIS fail in substantive ways to comply with the intent of 
the MSA, NEPA, the ESA, and the MMPA.
    Response: Prior to approval, the Secretary ensures that this action 
and all actions it takes are in compliance with the MSA, NEPA, the ESA, 
and the MMPA.
    Comment 14: Given the current uncertainties and lack of scientific 
information, it is essential to adopt a highly precautionary approach 
to exploitation of these ecosystems, in order to avoid the wholesale 
system reorganization and impoverishment that has been linked to 
fishing in other marine ecosystems.
    Response: The Council recommended and NMFS approves the use of a 
cautionary approach.
    Comment 15: There is no ``balance'' between the interests of 
fisheries and other public interests in the North Pacific region: the 
scales are tilted entirely to the advantage of the industrial fisheries 
whose interests are placed above all other public interests. The 
tradeoffs between often contrary FMP objectives are made by a decision-
making body that is not representative of the broader public interest 
and that is biased heavily in favor of commercial utilization of the 
public resource for its own benefit. This state of affairs cries out 
for basic reforms of the kind outlined by the Pew Oceans Commission 
(2003) and the U.S. Oceans Policy Commission (2004) so that other 
public interests and societal goals are fairly represented, in order to 
achieve a real ``balance between competing uses'' of the ocean commons.
    Response: This is not a comment on the content of the groundfish 
harvest specifications or on the accompanying EIS, and deals with 
issues that are beyond the scope of both.
    Comment 16: All quotas should be cut in half this year and cut by 
10 percent each year thereafter until we stop starving the marine life 
that depends on eating this fish too.
    Response: The decisions on the amount of harvest are based on the 
best available science and socioeconomic considerations. NMFS finds 
that the ABCs and TACs are consistent with the biological condition of 
the groundfish stocks as described in the 2006 SAFE report and approved 
by the Council.

Small Entity Compliance Guide

    The following information is a plain language guide to assist small 
entities in complying with this final rule as required by the Small 
Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996. This final rule's 
primary management measures announce 2007 and 2008 final harvest 
specifications and prohibited species bycatch allowances for the 
groundfish fishery of the GOA. This action is necessary to establish 
harvest limits and associated management measures for groundfish during 
the 2007 and 2008 fishing years and to accomplish the goals and 
objectives of the FMP. This action affects all fishermen who 
participate in the GOA fishery. The specific amounts of OFL, ABC, TAC, 
and PSC are provided in tabular form to assist the reader. NMFS will 
announce closures of directed fishing in the Federal Register and in 
information bulletins released by the Alaska Region. Affected fishermen 
should keep themselves informed of such closures.

Classification

    NMFS, determined that the FMP is necessary for the conservation and 
management of the GOA groundfish fishery and that it is consistent with 
the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and other 
applicable laws.
    NMFS prepared a Draft EIS for this action and made it available to 
the public for comment (71 FR 53093, September 8, 2006). NMFS prepared 
the Final EIS and made it available to the public on January 12, 2007 
(72 FR 1512). On February 13, 2007, NMFS issued the Record of Decision 
(ROD) for the Final EIS. Copies of the Final EIS and ROD for this 
action are available from NMFS (see ADDRESSES).
    The Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (FRFA) was prepared to 
evaluate the impacts on small entities of alternative harvest 
strategies for the groundfish fisheries in the Exclusive Economic Zone 
(EEZ) off of Alaska. This FRFA meets the statutory requirements of the 
Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) of 1980, as amended by the Small 
Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA) of 1996 (5 U.S.C. 
601-612). A summary of the FRFA follows.
    The action under consideration is adoption of a harvest strategy to 
govern the harvest of groundfish in the GOA Management Area. The 
preferred alternative is the status quo harvest strategy in which TACs 
fall within the range of ABCs recommended through the Council's harvest 
specification process and TACs recommended by the Council. This action 
is taken in accordance with the FMP and recommendations by the Council 
pursuant to the MSA.
    The need for and objectives of this rule are described in the 
preamble and not repeated here.

    Significant issues raised by public comment are addressed in the 
preamble and not repeated here.
    The proposed harvest specifications were published in the Federal 
Register on December 15, 2006 (71 FR 75437). An Initial Regulatory 
Flexibility Analysis (IRFA) was prepared and was described in the 
classifications sections of that preamble. The public comment period 
ended on January 16, 2006. No comments were received regarding the 
economic impacts of this action.
    The directly regulated small entities include approximately 747 
small catcher vessels and less than 20 small catcher/processors. The 
entities directly regulated by this action are those that harvest 
groundfish in the EEZ of the GOA, and in parallel fisheries within 
State of Alaska waters. These include entities operating catcher 
vessels and catcher-processor vessels within the action area, and 
entities receiving direct allocations of groundfish. Catcher vessels 
and catcher processors were considered to be small entities if they had 
annual gross receipts, from all of their economic activities, and 
including the revenue of their affiliated operations, less than or 
equal to $4 million per year. Data from 2005 was used because it was 
the most recent available.
    Estimates of first wholesale gross revenues for the GOA were used 
as indices of the potential impacts of the alternative harvest 
strategies on small entities. An index of revenues were projected to 
decline under the preferred alternative due to declines in ABCs for key 
species in the GOA. The index of revenues declined by less than four 
percent between 2006 and 2007 and by less than one percent between 2006 
and 2008.

    The preferred alternative (Alternative 2) was compared to four 
other alternatives. These included Alternative

[[Page 9707]]

1, which would set TACs so as to generate fishing rates equal to the 
maximum permissible ABC (if the full TAC were harvested), unless the 
sum of TACs would exceed the regional OY, in which case harvests would 
be limited to the OY. Alternative 3 would set TACs to produce fishing 
rates equal to the most recent five year average of fishing rates. 
Alternative 4 would set TACs to equal the lower bound of the regional 
OY range. Alternative 5 would set TACs equal to zero.
    Alternatives 3, 4, and 5 were all associated with smaller levels 
for important fishery TACs than Alternative 2. Estimated total first 
wholesale gross revenues were used as an index of potential adverse 
impacts to small entities. As a consequence of the lower TAC levels, 
Alternatives 3, 4, and 5 all had smaller values of these first 
wholesale revenue indices than Alternative 2. Thus, Alternatives 3, 4, 
and 5 had greater adverse impacts on small entities. Alternative 1 
appeared to generate higher values of the gross revenue index for 
fishing operations in the GOA than Alternative 2. A large part of the 
larger Alternative 1 GOA revenue appears to be due to the assumption 
that the full Alternative 1 TAC would be harvested. Much of the larger 
revenue is due to increases in flatfish TACs that were much larger for 
Alternative 1 than for Alternative 2. In recent years, halibut bycatch 
constraints in these fisheries have kept actual flatfish catches from 
reaching the Alternative 1 levels. Therefore, a large part of the 
revenues associated with Alternative 1 are unlikely to occur. Also, 
Alternative 2 TACs are constrained by the ABCs the Plan Team and SSC 
recommend to the Council on the basis of a full consideration of 
biological issues. These ABCs are often less than Alternative 1 maximum 
permissible ABCs. Therefore higher TACs under Alternative 1 may not be 
consistent with prudent biological management of the resource. For 
these reasons, Alternative 2 is the preferred alternative.
    This action does not modify recordkeeping or reporting 
requirements, or duplicate, overlap, or conflict with any Federal 
rules.

    This action is authorized under Sec.  679.20 and is exempt from 
review under Executive Order 12866.
    Adverse impacts on marine mammals resulting from fishing activities 
conducted under this rule are discussed in the EIS (see ADDRESSES).
    Under 5 U.S. C. 553(d)(3), an agency can waive the 30 day delay in 
effectiveness of a rule for good cause. These final harvest 
specifications were developed as quickly as possible, given Plan Team 
review in November 2006, Council consideration and recommendations in 
December 2006, and NOAA Fisheries review and development in January-
February 2007. For all fisheries not currently closed because the TACs 
established under the 2006 and 2007 final harvest specifications (71 FR 
10870, March 3, 2006) were reached, the likely possibility exists for 
their closures prior to the expiration of a 30 day delayed 
effectiveness period because their TACs could be reached. Certain 
fisheries, such as those for pollock and Pacific cod intensive fast 
paced fisheries. Other fisheries, such as those for flatfish, rockfish 
and ``other species,'' are critical as directed fisheries and as 
incidental catch in other fisheries. U.S. fishing vessels have 
demonstrated the capacity to catch the TAC allocations in all these 
fisheries. Any delay in allocating the final TAC in these fisheries 
would cause disruption to the industry and potential economic harm 
through unnecessary discards. Determining which fisheries may close is 
impossible because these fisheries are affected by several factors that 
cannot be predicted in advance, including fishing effort, weather, 
movement of fishery stocks, and market price. Furthermore, the closure 
of one fishery has a cascading effect on other fisheries by freeing up 
fishing vessels, allowing them to move from closed fisheries to open 
ones, increasing the fishing capacity in those open fisheries and 
causing them to close at an accelerated pace.

    If the final harvest specifications are not effective by March 10, 
2007, which is the start of the Pacific halibut season as specified by 
the IPHC, the hook-and-line sablefish fishery will not begin 
concurrently with the Pacific halibut season. This would cause a 
conservation issue as sablefish that is caught with Pacific halibut 
would have to be discarded, as both hook-and-line sablefish and Pacific 
halibut are managed under the same IFQ program. Immediate effectiveness 
of the 2007 and 2008 final harvest specifications will allow the 
sablefish fishery to begin concurrently with the Pacific halibut 
season, thus preventing needless discards. Also, the immediate 
effectiveness of this action is required to provide consistent 
management and conservation of fishery resources based on the best 
available scientific information, and to give the fishing industry the 
earliest possible opportunity to plan its fishing operations. These 
final harvest specifications were developed as quickly as possible, 
given Plan Team review in November 2006, Council consideration and 
recommendations in December 2006, and NOAA fisheries review and 
development in January and February 2007.
    Furthermore, the current allocation for GOA Pacific cod under the 
authority of the 2006 and 2007 final harvest specifications (71 FR 
10870, March 3, 2006) is lower (37,545 mt) than the allocation under 
the 2007 and 2008 final harvest specifications (52,264 mt), which is 
based on the best scientific information available. Unless this delay 
is waived and the 2007 and 2008 final harvest specifications become 
effective upon publication, the A season Pacific cod fisheries will 
close earlier than necessary. The GOA Pacific cod fishery is the second 
largest fishery in the GOA after pollock and all gear types are used to 
fish in the Pacific cod fisheries. Closures of the Pacific cod 
fisheries are restrictions on the industry that can be relieved by 
making the 2007 and 2008 final harvest specifications effective on 
publication. Premature closures disrupt fisheries and increase the 
potential for regulatory discards. The 2007 and 2008 final harvest 
specifications establish increased Pacific cod TACs to provide 
continued directed fishing for this species that would otherwise be 
prohibited under the 2006 and 2007 harvest specifications. Accordingly, 
NMFS finds that there is good cause to waive the 30 day delayed 
effectiveness period under 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3).

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 773 et seq.; 1540(f); 1801 et seq.; 1851 
note; and 3631 et seq.

    Dated: February 22, 2007.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for RegulatoryPrograms, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E7-3775 Filed 3-2-07; 8:45 am]
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