[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 61 (Friday, March 28, 2008)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 16619-16620]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-6457]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 300

[Docket No. 080118059-8067-01]
RIN 0648-AW41


South Pacific Tuna Fisheries; Establishment of Limits on Entry or 
Effort in the Purse Seine Fishery in the Western and Central Pacific 
Ocean

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

ACTION: Advance notice of proposed rulemaking; notification of control 
date; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that persons who enter the purse seine fishery 
in the western and central Pacific Ocean (WCPO), as managed under the 
South Pacific Tuna Act of 1988 (SPTA), the Western and Central Pacific 
Convention Implementation Act (WCPFCIA) and other law, after March 28, 
2008 (``control date''), are not guaranteed future participation in the 
fishery if NMFS decides to revise the criteria and procedures used to 
process license applications and/or to limit further the number of 
licenses available in the fishery. NMFS is considering the need to 
undertake such actions in order to provide greater clarity about the 
process used and thus help license holders and prospective license 
applicants in making business decisions, as well as to fulfill the 
obligations of the United States under international agreements to 
which it is party. This action does not commit NMFS to revising the 
criteria and procedures it uses or to establishing a new limit, and it 
does not prevent any other date or criteria from being selected for 
eligibility to participate in the fishery.

DATES: Comments must be submitted in writing by April 28, 2008.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on this advance notice of proposed 
rulemaking by any of the following methods:
     Federal e-Rulemaking portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     Mail: William L. Robinson, Regional Administrator, NMFS 
Pacific Islands Regional Office (PIRO), 1601 Kapiolani Blvd., Suite 
1110, Honolulu, HI 96814. Include the identifier ``0648-AW41'' in the 
comments.
     Fax: 808-973-2941. Include the identifier ``0648-AW41'' in 
the comments.
    Instructions: All comments received are part of the public record 
and will generally be posted to http://www.regulations.gov without 
change. All personal identifying information (for example, name and 
address) voluntarily submitted by the commenter may be publically 
accessible. Do not submit confidential business information or 
otherwise sensitive or protected information. NMFS will accept 
anonymous comments. Attachments to electronic comments will be accepted 
in Microsoft Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe PDF file formats only.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tom Graham, NMFS PIRO, 808-944-2219.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The WCPO purse seine fishery is regulated primarily under the 
authority of the SPTA (16 U.S.C. 973-973r) via implementing regulations 
at 50 CFR part 300, subpart D. The SPTA and its implementing 
regulations implement the terms of a treaty between the United States 
and 16 Members of the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (Treaty on 
Fisheries between the Governments of Certain Pacific Island States and 
the Government of the United States of America and its annexes, 
schedules, and implementing agreements, as amended; hereafter called 
``the Treaty''). The Treaty governs the conduct of U.S. fishing vessel 
operations in the Treaty Area. The Treaty Area, which is defined at 50 
CFR 300.31, encompasses approximately 10 million square miles (26 
million square kilometers). The Treaty provides access by U.S. purse 
seine vessels to a large portion of the WCPO by authorizing, and 
regulating through a licensing system, U.S. purse seine vessels 
operations within all or part of the exclusive economic zones (EEZs) of 
the 16 Pacific Island Parties to the Treaty (PIPs). Licenses are issued 
by the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA), based in Honiara, 
Solomon Islands, which acts as the Treaty administrator on behalf of 
the PIPs.
    The Treaty and SPTA and its implementing regulations allow U.S. 
longline vessels and U.S. vessels fishing for albacore by the trolling 
method to fish in the high seas portion of the Treaty Area, but such 
vessels are not subject to the Treaty's or SPTA's licensing 
requirements.
    The Treaty entered into force in 1988 following ratification by the 
U.S. and the PIPs. After an initial 5-year

[[Page 16620]]

agreement, the Treaty was renewed in 1993 for an additional 10 years 
and renewed again in 2003 for an additional 10 years (through June 14, 
2013). Currently, the Treaty allows for a maximum of 45 licenses to 
U.S. purse seine fishing vessels to fish in the Licensing Area of the 
Treaty. Of the 45 licenses, 5 are reserved for ``joint venture'' 
arrangements with PIPs. The Licensing Area includes all or part of the 
EEZs of the following countries: Australia, Cook Islands, Federated 
States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, New 
Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, 
Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. Licenses are issued by the FFA, but license 
applications are first submitted to NMFS, which ensures they are 
complete and forwards them to the FFA on a first-come, first-served 
basis.
    In addition to being governed by the Treaty and the SPTA, the WCPO 
purse seine fishery is subject to the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens 
Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.), 
particularly with respect to the operation of the fishery within the 
U.S. EEZ. The fishery is also subject to the authority of the High Seas 
Fishing Compliance Act (16 U.S.C. 5501 et seq.), which governs the 
conduct of U.S. fishing vessels on the high seas. The fishery also 
falls under the purview of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries 
Convention Implementation Act (WCPFCIA) (Public Law 109-479, sec 501-
511), which implements the provisions of the Western and Central 
Pacific Fisheries (WCPF) Convention and the decisions of the WCPF 
Commission, established under the Convention. The area of competence of 
the WCPF Commission, or the Convention Area, includes the majority of 
the Treaty Area. As a Party to the WCPF Convention and a Member of the 
WCPF Commission, the United States is obligated to implement the 
decisions of the Commission. To date, the Commission has made several 
decisions that might affect the level of activity of the WCPO purse 
seine fishery, including decisions related to allowable levels of 
fishing capacity (e.g. numbers of vessels or some other measure of 
fishing power present in the fishery) as well as allowable levels of 
fishing effort (e.g. numbers of days fished or sets made per unit of 
time). These decisions can be found on the web site of the WCPF 
Commission (http://www.wcpfc.int/).

Recent Developments in the Fishery

    The number of U.S. purse seine vessels licensed under the Treaty 
has varied widely since its entry into force in 1988. The number of 
licensed vessels reached a high of 49 in 1994 (at which time the Treaty 
authorized up to 55 licenses, with 5 reserved for joint ventures) and a 
low of 11 in 2007. As of February 2008, there were 22 licenses issued 
and several additional license applications were being processed. No 
joint venture licenses have been issued under the Treaty.

Establishment of Control Date and Possible Rulemaking

    In part because of the recent increase in the number of purse seine 
vessel licenses issued and applications pending under the Treaty, NMFS 
is considering clarifying, and possibly revising, the criteria and 
procedures used to process license applications. Such clarification 
would help both current license holders and prospective license 
applicants in making future business decisions.
    Also, in order to comply with the decisions of the WCPF Commission 
and to implement the provisions of the WCPFCIA, NMFS may be required to 
limit the number of vessels in the WCPO purse seine fishery. This 
rulemaking may be used to implement future actions in that fishery.
    In addition, on August 15, 2005, NMFS published an advance notice 
of proposed rulemaking (70 FR 47782) that established a control date of 
June 2, 2005, applicable to persons contemplating entering the purse 
seine fishery in the U.S. EEZ in the western Pacific region (the 
control date also applied to persons interested in the longline fishery 
in the western Pacific region). That decision was based on a 
recommendation made by the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council 
on June 2, 2005, at its 127th meeting. The control date is limited in 
application (with respect to purse seine vessels) to vessels that 
operate within the U.S. EEZ. This control date has not yet been acted 
on. The control date announced here applies more broadly than the June 
2, 2005, control date: it applies to purse seine vessels that are 
subject to the Treaty and the SPTA; that is, to purse seine vessels 
operating anywhere on the high seas in the Treaty Area or in the EEZs 
of the 16 PIPs. The June 2, 2005, control date for the U.S. EEZ also 
remains in effect.
    One purpose of this advance notice of proposed rulemaking is to 
notify fishermen that if they attempt to enter the WCPO purse seine 
fishery after the control date of March 28, 2008, there is no assurance 
of being granted entry or of future participation if all available 
licenses have been issued or if NMFS must limit the number of available 
licenses or impose other management measures in the fishery.
    The second purpose is to solicit comments and input on possible 
criteria and procedures that could be used by NMFS to review, order, 
and process license applications. These criteria and procedures would 
be used by NMFS in determining eligibility for processing applications 
and requesting the FFA to provide licenses for US purse seine vessels 
operating in this fishery.
    Establishment of this control date does not commit NMFS to any 
particular management regime or any particular criteria for limiting 
entry into the WCPO purse seine fishery. Fishermen are not guaranteed 
future participation in the fishery, regardless of their level of 
participation before or after the control date. NMFS might adopt a 
different control date or it might adopt a management regime that does 
not involve a control date. Any number of possible criteria might be 
used to determine eligibility for participation in the fishery, 
including criteria involving date of license application (e.g. first-
come-first-served), historical participation (e.g. history of licenses 
or landings), vessel size or capacity, or a vessel hull's country of 
origin, among others.
    If and until NMFS issues a final rule to clarify and/or revise the 
process it uses to process license applications, NMFS will continue its 
practice of doing so on a first-come, first-served basis.

Classification

    This advance notice of proposed rulemaking has been determined to 
be not significant for the purposes of Executive Order 12866.

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 973-973r; PL 109-479 sec 501-511; 16 U.S.C. 
5501 et seq.; 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.].

    Dated: March 24, 2008.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E8-6457 Filed 3-27-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S