[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 231 (Monday, December 1, 2008)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 72740-72746]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-28457]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 660

[Docket No. 060824226-6322-02]
RIN 0648-AX43


Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; Fisheries Off West Coast States; 
Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; Biennial Specifications and 
Management Measures; Inseason Adjustments

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

ACTION: Final rule; inseason adjustments to biennial groundfish 
management measures; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: This final rule announces inseason changes to management 
measures in the commercial Pacific Coast groundfish fisheries. These 
actions, which are authorized by the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery 
Management Plan (FMP), are intended to allow fisheries to access more 
abundant groundfish stocks while protecting overfished and depleted 
stocks.

DATES: Effective 0001 hours (local time) December 1, 2008. Comments on 
this final rule must be received no later than 5 p.m., local time on 
December 26, 2008.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by RIN 0648-AX43 by any 
one of the following methods:
     Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic public 
comments via the Federal eRulemaking Portal http://www.regulations.gov.
     Fax: 206-526-6736, Attn: Gretchen Arentzen.
     Mail: D. Robert Lohn, Administrator, Northwest Region, 
NMFS, 7600 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA 98115-0070, Attn: Gretchen 
Arentzen.
    Instructions: 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 (for example, name, 
address, etc.) 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 PDF file formats only.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gretchen Arentzen (Northwest Region, 
NMFS), phone: 206-526-6147, fax: 206-526-6736 and e-mail 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Electronic Access

    This final rule is accessible via the Internet at http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/index.html. Background information and documents 
are available at the Pacific Fishery Management Council's website at 
http://www.pcouncil.org/.

Background

    The Pacific Coast Groundfish FMP and its implementing regulations 
at title 50 in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), part 660, subpart 
G, regulate fishing for over 90 species of groundfish off the coasts of 
Washington, Oregon, and California. Groundfish specifications and 
management measures are developed by the Pacific Fishery Management 
Council (Council), and are implemented by NMFS. A proposed rule to 
implement the 2007-2008 specifications and management measures for the 
Pacific Coast groundfish fishery and Amendment 16-4 of the FMP was 
published on September 29, 2006 (71 FR 57764). The final rule to 
implement the 2007-2008 specifications and management measures for the 
Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery was published on December 29, 2006 (71 
FR 78638). These specifications and management measures are codified in 
the CFR (50 CFR part 660, subpart G). The final rule was subsequently 
amended on: March 20, 2007 (71 FR 13043); April 18, 2007 (72 FR 19390); 
July 5, 2007 (72 FR 36617); August 3, 2007 (72 FR 43193); September 18, 
2007 (72 FR 53165); October 4, 2007 (72 FR 56664); December 4, 2007 (72 
FR 68097); December 18, 2007 (72 FR 71583); April 18, 2008 (73 FR 
21057), May 9, 2008 (73 FR 26325), July 24, 2008 (73 FR 43139), October 
7, 2008 (73 FR 58499), and October 14, 2008 (73 FR 60642).
    Changes to current groundfish management measures implemented by 
this action were recommended by the Council, in consultation with 
Pacific Coast Treaty Indian Tribes and the States of Washington, 
Oregon, and California, at its November 2-7, 2008, meeting in San 
Diego, California. The Council recommended adjustments to current 
groundfish management measures to respond to updated fishery 
information and other inseason management needs. This action is not 
expected to result in greater impacts to overfished species than 
originally projected at the beginning of 2008. Estimated mortality of 
overfished and target species are the result of management measures 
designed to meet the Pacific Coast Groundfish FMP objective of 
achieving, to the extent possible, but not exceeding, OYs of target 
species, while fostering the rebuilding of overfished stocks by 
remaining within their rebuilding OYs.

Limited Entry Non-Whiting Trawl Fishery Management Measures

    At their November 2008 meeting, the Council received new data and 
analyses on the catch of groundfish in the limited entry trawl fishery. 
The Council's recommendations for revising 2008 trawl fishery 
management measures provide additional harvest opportunities in some 
areas for target species with catches tracking behind projections.
    Catches of petrale sole in the limited entry trawl fishery were 
tracking ahead of projections in spring 2008, when approximately 40 
percent of the 2008 petrale sole OY was taken during the months of 
January and February. In response to projections that the 2008 petrale 
sole OY could be exceeded if the higher than projected catches 
continued throughout the year, the Council recommended, and NMFS 
implemented, precautionary reductions in petrale sole cumulative limits 
at their June 6-13, 2008, meeting. These reductions included a 
reduction in the cumulative limits for vessels using large and small 
footrope trawl gear from ``40,000 lb (18,144 kg) per two months'' to 
``30,000 lb (13,608 kg) per two months'' in period 6 (November-
December), and were intended to keep catches of petrale sole within the 
2008 OY. At their September 10-14, 2008, meeting, the Council 
considered the most recent available fishery information and catch 
projections through the end of the year, which indicated that catches 
of petrale sole had slowed considerably from the high catches observed 
in January and

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February 2008. Therefore the Council recommended and NMFS liberalized 
some of the petrale sole cumulative limits that had been lowered as a 
precautionary measure earlier in the year (73 FR 60642, October 14, 
2008).
    At their November 2-7, 2008, meeting, the Council considered data 
that indicated that catches of petrale sole were tracking behind 2008 
projections made at the Council's September 2008 meeting, and that 
catches of petrale sole are now projected to come in below the 2008 OY 
if no adjustments to RCAs or cumulative limits are made during period 6 
(November-December). The Council considered the most recently available 
data from the Pacific Fishery Information Network (PacFIN) at their 
November 2-7, 2008 meeting. These data, including catches through 
October 25, 2008, indicated that: 1,716 mt of the 2,499 mt petrale sole 
OY had been taken. Increases in petrale sole cumulative trip limits 
were analyzed for vessels using large and small footrope trawl gear 
North of 40[deg]10.00' N. lat. and for all trawl gear types South of 
40[deg]10.00' N. lat. Increases for target species opportunities for 
vessels using selective flatfish trawl gear North of 40[deg]10.00' N. 
lat. were considered, but not recommended by the Council due to the 
need to keep canary rockfish impacts within the 2008 canary rockfish 
OY.
    Many cumulative trip limits are established for two-month periods. 
A two-month limit can be raised in the middle of the period, therefore, 
this increase would become effective during the two-month cumulative 
limit, on December 1.
    Based on these analyses above, the Council recommended and NMFS is 
implementing an increase in the limited entry trawl fishery cumulative 
limits, in Period 6, effective December 1: for petrale sole taken with 
large and small footrope gears North of 40[deg]10.00' N. lat. from 
``45,000 lb (20,412 kg) per two months'' to ``60,000 lb (27,216 kg) per 
two months''; and for petrale sole South of 40[deg]10.00' N. lat. from 
``65,000 lb (29,484 kg) per two months'' to ``75,000 lb (34,019 kg) per 
two months''.

Classification

    These actions are taken under the authority of 50 CFR 660.370(c) 
and are exempt from review under Executive Order 12866.
    These actions are taken under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens 
Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), and are 
in accordance with 50 CFR part 660, the regulations implementing the 
FMP. These actions are based on the most recent data available. The 
aggregate data upon which these actions are based are available for 
public inspection at the Office of the Administrator, Northwest Region, 
NMFS, (see ADDRESSES) during business hours.
    For the following reasons, NMFS finds good cause to waive prior 
public notice and comment on the revisions to the 2008 groundfish 
management measures under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B) because notice and comment 
would be impracticable and contrary to the public interest. Also for 
the same reasons, NMFS finds good cause to waive part of the 30-day 
delay in effectiveness pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3), so that this 
final rule may become effective December 1, 2008.
    The recently available data upon which these recommendations were 
based was provided to the Council, and the Council made its 
recommendations, at its November 2-7, 2008, meeting in San Diego, 
California. The Council recommended that these changes be implemented 
on or as close as possible to December 1, 2008. There was not 
sufficient time after that meeting to draft this document and undergo 
proposed and final rulemaking before these actions need to be in 
effect. For the actions to be implemented in this final rule, affording 
the time necessary for prior notice and opportunity for public comment 
would prevent the Agency from managing fisheries using the best 
available science by approaching without exceeding the OYs for 
federally managed species. The adjustments to management measures in 
this document affect: the limited entry commercial trawl fishery off 
Washington, Oregon, and California. These adjustments to management 
measures must be implemented in a timely manner, by December 1, 2008, 
to: allow fishermen an opportunity to harvest higher trip limits for 
stocks with catch tracking behind their projected 2008 catch levels.
    Changes to the petrale sole cumulative limits in the limited entry 
trawl fishery are needed to relieve a restriction by allowing fishermen 
increased opportunities to harvest available healthy stocks and to 
approach, but not exceed, the 2008 OY for petrale sole. They must be 
implemented in a timely manner by December 1, 2008, so that fishermen 
are allowed to harvest healthy stocks when they are available in 
December and meet the objective of the Pacific Coast Groundfish FMP to 
allow fisheries to approach, but not exceed, OYs. It would be contrary 
to the public interest to wait to implement these changes until after 
public notice and comment, because allowing this additional harvest is 
important to coastal communities.
    Delaying these changes would keep management measures in place that 
are not based on the best available data which could deny fishermen 
access to available harvest. Such delay would impair achievement of one 
of the Pacific Coast Groundfish FMP objectives of providing for year-
round harvest opportunities or extending fishing opportunities as long 
as practicable during the fishing year.

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 660

    Fisheries, Fishing, Indian fisheries.

    Dated: November 25, 2008.
Emily H. Menashes
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.

0
For the reasons set out in the preamble, 50 CFR part 660 is amended as 
follows:

PART 660--FISHERIES OFF WEST COAST STATES

0
1. The authority citation for part 660 continues to read as follows:

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

0
2. Tables 3 (North) and 3 (South) to part 660, subpart G are revised to 
read as follows:

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[FR Doc. E8-28457 Filed 11-25-08; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S