[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 55 (Tuesday, March 24, 2009)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 12300-12302]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-6462]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 679

RIN 0648-AX42


Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Central Gulf 
of Alaska Rockfish Program; Amendment 85

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

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

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SUMMARY: The North Pacific Fishery Management Council submitted 
Amendment 85 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf 
of Alaska (GOA FMP) to NMFS for review. If approved, Amendment 85 would 
modify the GOA FMP and the Central Gulf of Alaska Rockfish Program to 
remove a restriction that prohibits certain catcher/processors from 
participating in directed groundfish fisheries in the Bering Sea and 
Aleutian Islands Management Area in July. This action is necessary to 
improve flexibility and reduce operating costs for catcher/processors 
that participate in the Central Gulf of Alaska Rockfish Program. This 
action is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the GOA FMP, and other 
applicable laws.

DATES: Comments on the amendment must be received on or before May 26, 
2009.

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-AX42,'' by any one of the following methods:
     Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic public 
comments via the Federal eRulemaking 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.
    Copies of Amendment 85 to the Fishery Management Plan for 
Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska, the Regulatory Impact Review (RIR), 
the Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (IRFA), the categorical 
exclusion prepared for this action, and the Environmental Assessment 
(EA), RIR, and Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (FRFA) prepared 
for the Central Gulf of Alaska Rockfish Program are available from the 
NMFS Alaska Region at the address above or from the Alaska Region 
website at http://www.alaskafisheries.noaa.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Glenn Merrill, 907-586-7228, or Rachel 
Baker, 907-586-7425.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation 
and Management Act (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 (Secretary). 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 85 to the 
Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA FMP) 
is available for public review and comment.
    The groundfish fisheries in the exclusive economic zone of Alaska 
are managed under the GOA FMP and the Fishery Management Plan for 
Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area (BSAI 
FMP). The FMPs were prepared by the North Pacific Fishery Management 
Council (Council) under the Magnuson-Stevens Act. Section 802 of the 
Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2004 (Public Law 108-199) granted 
NMFS specific authority to manage Central Gulf of Alaska (GOA) rockfish 
fisheries, and directed the Secretary, in consultation with the 
Council, to

[[Page 12301]]

develop a program that recognizes the historical participation of 
fishing vessels and fish processors for Central GOA rockfish species. 
The Central Gulf of Alaska Rockfish Program (Rockfish Program) was 
recommended by the Council in June 2005 as Amendment 68 to the GOA FMP. 
Regulations implementing Amendment 68 were published on November 20, 
2006 (71 FR 67210), and are located at 50 CFR part 679. Fishing began 
under the Rockfish Program on May 1, 2007.
    Amendment 85 would make minor changes to the GOA FMP to enable 
catcher/processors that fish in the Central GOA under the Rockfish 
Program to participate in groundfish fisheries in the BSAI in July.
    Under the Rockfish Program, NMFS issued quota share (QS) to persons 
who held a License Limitation Program (LLP) license that has been 
associated with a trawl catcher vessel or a trawl catcher/processor 
vessel that made legal landings of rockfish species and species 
harvested incidentally in the Central GOA rockfish fisheries during the 
rockfish fishing seasons from 1996 to 2002. Each year, an eligible 
rockfish harvester who received a QS allocation at the time the 
Rockfish Program was implemented may assign all QS associated with the 
LLP license either to a cooperative formed with other QS holders, or to 
a limited access fishery in which eligible harvesters compete for a 
share of the total allowable catch (TAC) for the Central GOA rockfish 
species. The total amount of QS assigned to all members of a 
cooperative yields cooperative quota (CQ), an exclusive annual harvest 
privilege for a portion of the TAC assigned to the Central GOA rockfish 
species. In addition, a cooperative receives CQ that may be used to 
harvest certain species caught incidentally in the rockfish fisheries. 
Eligible harvesters in either the catcher vessel sector or the catcher/
processor sector may join cooperatives formed in their respective 
sectors.
    Vessels that fish under the Rockfish Program are subject to a suite 
of catch and fishery participation limits called sideboards. Sideboard 
limits are intended to prevent program participants from using the 
economic benefits and improved flexibility provided by exclusive 
harvesting privileges to increase effort in other fisheries and 
adversely affect participants that depend on those fisheries. The 
Rockfish Program sideboard limits were developed to restrict fishing by 
eligible Central GOA rockfish harvesters in non-Rockfish Program 
fisheries during the historical timing of the rockfish fishery, which 
generally began on July 1 and lasted two to three weeks. Several 
harvesters that participate in the Rockfish Program also historically 
participated in other groundfish fisheries in the GOA and BSAI after 
completing the Central GOA rockfish fisheries. Hence, the sideboard 
restrictions were limited to the month of July to enable these 
harvesters, particularly in the catcher/processor sector, to continue 
participating in these fisheries.
    Under current Rockfish Program regulations, all vessels in the 
catcher/processor sector that are assigned to a Central GOA rockfish 
cooperative and some vessels that participate in the limited access 
fishery are prohibited from fishing in BSAI groundfish fisheries, other 
than pollock and fixed-gear sablefish, for a period beginning July 1. 
This type of fishery participation sideboard is commonly called a stand 
down. When the Rockfish Program was implemented, the season opening 
date for the Central GOA rockfish fishery shifted from July 1 to May 1 
for vessels that join a cooperative. In the first year of the Rockfish 
Program, most cooperative participants in the catcher/processor sector 
had completed fishing in the Rockfish Program fisheries and other GOA 
fisheries in June, but were prohibited from participating in BSAI 
groundfish fisheries in early July by the Rockfish Program stand down. 
Some catcher/processor vessels remained idle for the two-week stand 
down period, which was costly to vessel operators because maintenance 
and crew costs continue to accrue while a vessel is idle.
    The Council was prompted to reexamine the BSAI stand downs by 
participants in the catcher/processor sector of the Rockfish Program, 
who suggested that some Rockfish Program sideboard limits may be too 
restrictive. In April 2007, the Council initiated an analysis to 
examine the impacts of relieving certain catcher/processors that 
participate in the Rockfish Program from the BSAI stand downs. Based on 
the analysis and public comment, the Council adopted Amendment 85 to 
the GOA FMP in October 2008 and submitted it to NMFS for review by the 
Secretary.
    Amendment 85 to the GOA FMP would remove the BSAI stand downs that 
apply to catcher/processors that participate in the cooperative and 
limited access fisheries in the Rockfish Program. All other sideboard 
limits in the Rockfish Program would remain unchanged. The Council 
determined that the BSAI stand down requirements for vessels 
participating in the catcher/processor sector were no longer necessary 
to protect fishery participants in BSAI groundfish fisheries. Since 
implementation of the Rockfish Program, NMFS implemented Amendments 80 
and 85 to the BSAI FMP. Amendment 80 allocated exclusive harvesting 
privileges for several BSAI directed trawl groundfish fisheries and 
Amendment 85 refined sector allocations for Pacific cod, which is a 
directed fishery. These management changes significantly increased the 
number of BSAI directed groundfish fisheries for which participants can 
receive exclusive harvesting privileges, and reduced the likelihood 
that catcher/processors participating in the Rockfish Program could 
increase effort in BSAI groundfish fisheries to the detriment of other 
participants, particularly during the short period in early July when 
the BSAI stand downs are in effect. The Council recommended Amendment 
85 to the GOA FMP to improve flexibility and reduce operating costs for 
catcher/processors that participate in the Rockfish Program.
    The RIR/IRFA prepared for this action describes 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 for catcher/processors that 
participate in the Rockfish Program to coordinate harvesting operations 
in the GOA and BSAI.
    Public comments are being solicited on proposed Amendment 85 to the 
GOA FMP 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 85, 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 85 to be considered in the approval/
disapproval decision on Amendment 85. All comments received by the end 
of the comment period on Amendment 85, whether specifically directed to 
the GOA FMP amendment or the proposed rule, will be considered in the 
FMP approval/disapproval decision. Comments received after that date 
will not be considered in the approval/disapproval 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.


[[Page 12302]]


    Dated: March 19, 2009.
Emily H. Menashes
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E9-6462 Filed 3-23-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S