[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 124 (Tuesday, June 29, 2010)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 37371-37374]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-15767]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 679

RIN 0648-AY34


Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Fisheries of 
the Bering Sea Subarea

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

ACTION:  Availability of a fishery management amendment; request for 
comments.

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SUMMARY:  The North Pacific Fishery Management Council has submitted 
Amendment 94 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the 
Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area (FMP). Amendment 94, if 
approved, would require the use of modified nonpelagic trawl gear to 
directed fish for flatfish in the Bering Sea subarea and would change 
the boundaries of the Northern Bering Sea Research Area to establish 
the Modified Gear Trawl Zone and to expand the Saint Matthew Island 
Habitat Conservation Area. The amendment also would make several minor 
technical changes to the FMP. This action is necessary to reduce the 
potential adverse effects of nonpelagic trawl gear on benthic habitat, 
to protect additional blue king crab habitat near St. Matthew Island, 
to provide for efficient flatfish harvest under changing ocean 
conditions, and to revise the FMP by removing errors and ensuring 
program descriptions are consistent with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 
Conservation and Management Act. This action is intended to promote the 
goals and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act, the FMP, and other applicable laws. Comments from the 
public are encouraged.

DATES:  Written comments on the amendment must be received by 1700 
hours, A.D.T., on August 30, 2010.

ADDRESSES:  Send comments to Sue Salveson, Assistant Regional 
Administrator, Sustainable Fisheries Division, Alaska Region, NMFS, 
Attn: Ellen Sebastian. You may submit comments, identified for this 
action by RIN 0648-AY34 (NOA), by any one of the following methods:
     Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic public 
comments via the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
     Mail: P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802.
     Hand delivery to the Federal Building: 709 West 9th 
Street, Room 420A, Juneau, AK.
     Fax: 907-586-7557.
    No comments will be posted for public viewing until after the 
comment period has closed. 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). You may submit attachments to 
electronic comments in Microsoft Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe PDF 
file formats only.
    Electronic copies of Amendment 94, maps of the action area, and the 
Environmental Assessment/Regulatory Impact Review/Initial Regulatory 
Flexibility Analysis (EA/RIR/IRFA) prepared for this action may be 
obtained from http://www.regulations.gov or from the Alaska Region 
website at http://alaskafisheries.noaa.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  Melanie Brown, 907-586-7228.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation 
and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) requires that the North 
Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) submit any FMP amendment 
it prepares to the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) for review and 
approval, disapproval, or partial approval. The Magnuson-Stevens Act 
also requires that the Secretary, upon receiving an FMP amendment, 
immediately publish a notice in the Federal Register that the FMP 
amendment is available for public review and comment. The 
responsibilities of the Secretary under the Magnuson-Stevens Act have 
been delegated to NMFS.
    If approved, Amendment 94 would require modified nonpelagic trawl 
gear for directed fishing for flatfish in the Bering Sea subarea and 
would change the boundaries of the Northern Bering Sea Research Area 
(NBSRA) to establish the Modified Gear Trawl Zone (MGTZ) and to expand 
the Saint Matthew Island Habitat Conservation Area (SMIHCA). The 
amendment also would make several minor technical changes to the FMP.
    In October 2009, the Council unanimously recommended Amendment 94. 
The consideration of modified nonpelagic trawl gear was initiated with 
the Council's development of Amendment 89 to the FMP (73 FR 43362, July 
25, 2008). Amendment 89 established the Bering Sea Habitat Conservation 
Measures, closing portions of the Bering Sea subarea to nonpelagic 
trawling, and established the NBSRA and SMIHCA. The Council adopted 
Amendment 89 in June 2007, but pursued the development of modified 
nonpelagic trawl gear through subsequent coordination with NMFS and the 
nonpelagic trawl fishing industry. Based on research by the Alaska 
Fisheries Science Center (AFSC), nonpelagic trawl gear can be modified 
to raise the sweeps off the bottom to reduce potential adverse effects 
on benthic habitat and maintain effective catch rates for flatfish 
target species. The gear would be modified by adding elevating devices 
to the trawl sweeps, which contribute up to 90 percent of the trawl 
gear contact with the bottom. AFSC studies have shown the use of 
modified nonpelagic trawl gear reduces mortality and disturbance of sea 
whips, basket stars, sponges, and crab species. The modified nonpelagic 
trawl gear did not significantly reduce catch rates of flatfish 
species. In 2008 and 2009, the AFSC and NOAA Office of Law Enforcement 
worked with the fishing industry to test the modified nonpelagic trawl 
gear under normal fishing conditions and determined that this gear can 
be safely and effectively used.
    Amendment 94 would reduce the NBSRA to establish the MGTZ and to 
increase the SMIHCA (Figure 1). The NBSRA and the SMIHCA are currently 
closed to fishing with nonpelagic trawl gear. The NBSRA was established 
to provide a location with very little to no nonpelagic trawling for 
the purpose of studying the effects of nonpelagic trawling on bottom 
habitat. The SMIHCA was established to provide protection to blue king 
crab habitat from the impacts from nonpelagic trawl gear. Figure 1 
shows the current southern boundary of the NBSRA and how this boundary 
would change with the proposed revision to the SMIHCA eastern border 
and with establishing the MGTZ.

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[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP29JN10.061

    The Council recommended moving the eastern boundary of the SMIHCA 
to the eastern edge of the 12-nautical mile (nm) Territorial Sea 
surrounding Saint Matthew Island. NMFS trawl annual surveys in 2007 
through 2009 have found blue king crab in the area east of the SMIHCA 
out to the edge of the 12 nm Territorial Sea. Based on this 
information, the Council's Crab Plan Team recommended moving the 
eastern boundary of the SMIHCA to the eastern extent of the 12 nm 
Territorial Sea. Expanding the SMIHCA based on the best available 
information would ensure the SMIHCA meets the Council's intent to 
protect blue king crab habitat near Saint Matthew Island. The Council 
recommended that the eastern border of the SMIHCA meet the western 
border of the MGTZ so that no portion of the NBSRA would lie between 
these areas, simplifying management. This common boundary also would 
lie along a division in habitat types, with the habitat in the western 
side of the proposed MGTZ being more favorable to flatfish species and 
the habitat in the eastern side of the proposed SMIHCA being more 
favorable to crab species. More detailed information regarding the NMFS 
resource surveys and bottom habitats of the SMIHCA and the proposed 
MGTZ are in the EA/RIR/IRFA for this action (see ADDRESSES).
    The northern boundary of the MGTZ follows a whole number latitude 
to facilitate mapping and management in the area. Based on public 
testimony in October 2009, the Council recommended the proposed eastern 
boundary of the MGTZ to allow for a buffer between an area of fishing 
and the Nunivak Island, Etolin Strait, and Kuskokwim Bay Habitat 
Conservation Area, an area important for subsistence activities. The 
AFSC surveys in the western portion of the MGTZ show primarily flatfish 
species with little Pacific halibut occurrence.
    Nonpelagic trawling within the MGTZ would require the use of 
modified nonpelagic trawl gear, regardless of the target species. This 
requirement would reduce the potential adverse effects on bottom 
habitat from nonpelagic trawl gear used for flatfish and the Pacific 
cod fishing in the MGTZ. The opening of this area to fishing with 
modified nonpelagic trawl gear was an incentive to the fishing industry 
to continue the development of modified nonpelagic trawl gear after the 
Council's recommendation of Amendment 89.
    The Council also recommended four minor technical changes to the 
FMP. The first would remove the description of the Crab and Halibut 
Protection Area, which was effectively superseded by the Nearshore 
Bristol Bay Trawl Closure at Sec.  679.22(a)(9). The second change 
would renumber figures and correct cross-references to these figures in 
Section 3 of the FMP, which became confused with the adoption of 
figures under Amendment 89. The third change would revise the northern 
boundary of the NBSRA to match the southern

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boundary of Statistical Area 400 at the Bering Strait. Area 514 of the 
Bering Sea subarea extends north to the southern boundary of Area 400 
(Figure 2). The current northern boundary of the NBSRA leaves an area 
open to nonpelagic trawling near the Bering Strait due to the wrong 
coordinates being used for this boundary. The Council intended for the 
entire northern portion of the Bering Sea subarea to be part of the 
NBSRA, and this minor technical amendment would close this area of 
water currently open to nonpelagic trawling.
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP29JN10.062

    The fourth minor technical amendment would replace outdated 
language describing the structure of the Community Development Quota 
Program (CDQ), as stated in the reauthorized Magnuson-Stevens Act of 
2006 (see section 305(i) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act). The 2006 
amendments to the Magnuson-Stevens Act included changes in the way 
allocations to the CDQ groups are established and adjusted, listed the 
eligible communities and the groups through which they can participate 
in the CDQ program, and increased many of the groundfish allocations to 
the CDQ Program to 10.7 percent of the total allowable catch for each 
species. Amendment 94 would ensure that the FMP accurately describes 
these CDQ program changes from the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

Public Comments

    NMFS is soliciting public comments on the proposed FMP amendment 
through August 30, 2010. A proposed rule that would implement Amendment 
94 will be published in the Federal Register for public comment at a 
later date, following NMFS' evaluation pursuant to the Magnuson-Stevens 
Act. Public comments on the proposed rule must be received by the end 
of the comment period on Amendment 94 in

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order to be considered in the approval/disapproval decision on the 
amendment. All comments received on the amendment by the end of the 
comment period, whether specifically directed to the amendment or to 
the proposed rule, will be considered in the 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 1700 hours, A.D.T., on the last day of the comment period (See DATES 
and ADDRESSES).

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

    Dated: June 23, 2010.
Carrie Selberg,
Acting Director, Office Sustainable Fisheries, National Fisheries 
Marine Service.
[FR Doc. 2010-15767 Filed 6-28-10; 8:45 am]
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