[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 228 (Tuesday, November 25, 2008)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 71598-71599]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-28015]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 680

RIN 0648-AW97


Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Bering Sea 
and Aleutian Islands Crab Rationalization Program

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

ACTION: Notice of availability of fishery management plan amendment; 
request for comments.

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SUMMARY: Congress amended the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) to require the Secretary of 
Commerce to approve the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands Crab 
Rationalization Program (CR Program). The CR Program allocates Bering 
Sea and Aleutian Islands crab resources among harvesters, processors, 
and coastal communities. Amendment 28 would modify the Fishery 
Management Plan for Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands King and Tanner Crabs 
(FMP) and the CR Program to allow unlimited post-delivery transfers of 
all classes of individual fishing quota and individual processing 
quota. This action is necessary to improve the flexibility to the 
fleet, reduce the number of violations for overages, reduce enforcement 
costs, and allow for more complete harvest of allocations. This action 
is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens 
Act, the FMP, and other applicable laws.

DATES: Comments on the amendment must be received by November 25, 2008.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Sue Salveson, Assistant Regional 
Administrator, Sustainable Fisheries Division, Alaska Region, NMFS, 
Attn: Ellen Sebastian. You may submit comments, identified by ``RIN 
0648-AW97,'' by any one of the following methods:
     Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic public 
comments via the FederaleRulemaking Portal website at http://www.regulations.gov.
     Mail: P. O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802.
     Fax: (907) 586-7557.
     Hand delivery to the Federal Building: 709 West 9\th\ 
Street, Room 420A, Juneau, AK.
    All comments received are a part of the public record and will 
generally be posted to http://www.regulations.gov without change. All 
personal identifying information (e.g., name, address) voluntarily 
submitted by the commenter may be publicly accessible. Do not submit 
confidential business information or otherwise sensitive or protected 
information.
    NMFS will accept anonymous comments (enter N/A in the required 
fields, if you wish to remain anonymous). Attachments to electronic 
comments will be accepted in Microsoft Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or 
Adobe portable document file (pdf) formats only.
    The proposed rule to implement Amendment 28 to the FMP was 
categorically excluded from the need to prepare an environmental 
assessment under the National Environmental Policy Act. Copies of 
Amendment 28, the categorical exclusion memorandum, the Regulatory 
Impact Review/Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (RIR/IRFA) for 
this action, as well as the Environmental Impact Statement prepared for 
the Crab Rationalization Program may be obtained from the NMFS Alaska 
Region at the address above or from the Alaska Region website at http://alaskafisheries.noaa.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Glenn Merrill, 907-586-7459, or Julie 
Scheurer, 907-586-7356.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires that each 
regional fishery management council submit any fishery management plan 
amendment it prepares to NMFS for review and approval, disapproval, or 
partial approval by the Secretary of Commerce. The Magnuson-Stevens Act 
also requires that NMFS, upon receiving a fishery management plan 
amendment, immediately publish a notice in the Federal Register 
announcing that the amendment is available for public review and 
comment. This notice announces that proposed Amendment 28 to the 
Fishery Management Plan for Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands King and Tanner 
Crabs is available for public review and comment.
    The king and Tanner crab fisheries in the exclusive economic zone 
of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) are managed under the 
FMP. The FMP was prepared by the North Pacific Fishery Management 
Council (Council) under the Magnuson-Stevens Act. Amendments 18 and 19 
amended the FMP to include the CR Program. Regulations implementing 
Amendments 18 and 19 were published on March 2, 2005 (70 FR 10174), and 
are located at 50 CFR part 680.
    The Council submitted Amendment 28 to the FMP for Secretarial 
review. Amendment 28 would make minor changes to the FMP to allow 
unlimited transfers of individual fishing quota (IFQ) and individual 
processing quota (IPQ) to cover overages.
    Under the CR Program, NMFS issued quota share (QS) to persons based 
on their qualifying harvest histories in the BSAI crab fisheries during 
a specific time period. Each year, the QS issued to a person yields an 
amount of IFQ in pounds of raw crab as a proportion of the total QS 
pool in a crab fishery. There are four types of IFQ: Class A, Class B, 
C shares, and catcher processor vessel owner IFQ. Similarly, crab 
processors were issued processor quota share that yields annual IPQ. 
Class A IFQ is subject to regional delivery requirements. Crab 
harvested with Class A IFQ must be delivered to processors with an 
equivalent amount of IPQ available. This proposed amendment would 
primarily affect holders of Class A IFQ.
    Under existing regulations, harvesters are prohibited from 
exceeding the amount of IFQ that is issued to them, either 
individually, or to their cooperative (see Sec.  680.7(e)(2)), and 
processors are prohibited from receiving more IFQ than the amount of 
unused IPQ that they hold (see regulations at Sec.  680.7(a)(5)). If a 
harvester delivers more crab than the amount of IFQ that he holds, he 
has violated existing regulations, commonly known as an overage. 
Overages can occur either through deliberate actions, or more commonly 
through unintentional errors. Generally, overages of less than 3 
percent are subject to forfeiture of the overage, with larger or repeat 
violations subject to additional penalties at the discretion of NOAA 
Office for Law Enforcement.
    Amendment 28, if approved, would allow post-delivery transfers to 
cover overages of IPQ as well as all classes of IFQ. There would be no 
limit on the size of a post-delivery transfer or on the number of post-
delivery transfers a person could undertake. However, a person could 
not begin a new fishing trip if any of the IFQ accounts of the IFQ 
permits used on a vessel were negative or zero, and no person could 
have a negative balance in an IFQ or IPQ account after June 30, the end 
of a crab fishing year. The Council recommended Amendment 28 to the FMP 
to improve flexibility to the fleet, reduce the number of violations 
for overages, reduce enforcement costs, and allow more complete harvest 
of allocations.

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    The RIR/IRFA prepared for this action describes in detail the costs 
and benefits of the proposed amendment (see ADDRESSES for 
availability). All of the directly regulated entities would be expected 
to benefit from this action relative to the status quo because the 
proposed amendment would allow greater flexibility and a longer time 
period over which to account for overages.
    Public comments are being solicited on proposed Amendment 28 
through the end of the comment period (see DATES). NMFS intends to 
publish in the Federal Register and seek public comment on a proposed 
rule that would implement Amendment 28, following NMFS' evaluation of 
the proposed rule under the Magnuson-Stevens Act. Public comments on 
the proposed rule must be received by the end of the comment period on 
Amendment 28 to be considered in the approval/disapproval decision on 
Amendment 28. All comments received by the end of the comment period on 
Amendment 28, whether specifically directed to the FMP amendment or the 
proposed rule, will be considered in the decision to approve or 
disapprove the amendment. Comments received after that date will not be 
considered in the decision on the amendment. To be considered, comments 
must be received, not just postmarked or otherwise transmitted, by the 
close of business on the last day of the comment period.

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

    Dated: November 19, 2008.
Emily H. Menashes
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E8-28015 Filed 11-24-08; 8:45 am]
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