[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 145 (Thursday, July 28, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 45217-45219]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-19125]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 679

RIN 0648-BA97


Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Central Gulf 
of Alaska Rockfish Program; Amendment 88

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 National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) announces that 
the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) has submitted 
Amendment 88 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf 
of Alaska (FMP) for review by the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary). If 
approved, Amendment 88 would establish the Central Gulf of Alaska 
Rockfish Program (Rockfish Program). This proposed program would 
allocate exclusive harvest privileges to a select group of License 
Limitation Program (LLP) license holders who used trawl gear to target 
Pacific ocean perch, pelagic shelf rockfish, and northern rockfish 
during specific qualifying years. Amendment 88 would modify the FMP to 
retain the conservation, management, safety, and economic gains 
realized under the Rockfish Pilot Program and viability of the Gulf of 
Alaska fisheries. This action is necessary to replace particular 
Rockfish Pilot Program regulations that are scheduled to expire at the 
end of 2011. This action is intended to promote the goals and 
objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management 
Act, the FMP, and other applicable law.

DATES: Comments on Amendment 88 must be received on or before September 
26, 2011.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Glenn Merrill, Assistant Regional 
Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries, Alaska Region, NMFS, Attn: 
Ellen Sebastian. You may submit comments, identified by RIN 0648-BA97, 
by any one of the following methods:
     Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic public 
comments via the Federal eRulemaking Portal Web site 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 9th 
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.
    Electronic copies of Amendment 88 to the FMP, the Regulatory Impact 
Review, the Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis, and the 
Environmental Assessment, prepared for this action are available from 
http://wwww.regulations.gov or from the Alaska Region Web site at 
http://alaskafisheries.noaa.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gwen Herrewig, 907-586-7091.

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 document announces that proposed Amendment 88 to the 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. 
These fishery management plans were prepared by the North Pacific 
Fishery Management Council (Council) under the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
    Amendment 88 is necessary to replace Central Gulf of Alaska (GOA) 
Rockfish Pilot Program (Pilot Program) regulations that are scheduled 
to expire December 31, 2011. The Pilot Program was recommended by the 
Council in June 2005 as Amendment 68 to the Central GOA FMP. Section 
802 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2004 (Pub. L. 108-199) 
granted NMFS specific authority to manage Central GOA rockfish 
fisheries, and directed the

[[Page 45218]]

Secretary, in consultation with the Council, to develop a program that 
recognizes the historical participation of fishing vessels and fish 
processors in the Central GOA rockfish fishery. 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 
Pilot Program on May 1, 2007.
    The Council designed the Pilot Program to be used as a 
demonstration program for a long term Central GOA rockfish program. The 
Rockfish Program proposed in Amendment 88 meets the requirements for 
limited access privileges in section 303A of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. 
Amendment 88 would allow for the proposed Rockfish Program to retain 
the conservation, safety, and economic gains realized under the Pilot 
Program. It would be similar in the implementation, management, 
monitoring, and enforcement developed under the Pilot Program. It would 
also resolve identified issues in the management and viability of the 
fisheries.

Central GOA Rockfish Program

    The Rockfish Program would provide exclusive harvesting privileges 
for vessels using trawl gear to harvest a specific set of rockfish 
species and associated species incidentally harvested to those rockfish 
in the Central GOA, an area from 147[deg] W. long. to 159[deg] W. long. 
The granting of exclusive harvesting is commonly called 
rationalization. The rockfish primary species rationalized under the 
Rockfish Program are northern rockfish, Pacific ocean perch, and 
pelagic shelf rockfish. The incidentally harvested groundfish taken in 
the primary rockfish fisheries and which also are rationalized under 
the Rockfish Program are called the secondary species. The secondary 
species are Pacific cod, rougheye rockfish, shortraker rockfish, and 
sablefish that are harvested by vessels using trawl gear. In addition 
to these secondary species, the Rockfish Program would allocate a 
portion of the halibut bycatch mortality limit annually specified for 
the GOA trawl fisheries to Rockfish Program participants. This 
allocation of bycatch mortality could be used by Rockfish Program 
participants during harvest activities in the fisheries rationalized 
under the Rockfish Program.
    The Rockfish Program would continue to assign quota share (QS) and 
cooperative quota (CQ) to participants for primary and secondary 
species, allow a participant holding an LLP license with Rockfish QS to 
form a rockfish cooperative with other persons, and allow holders of 
catcher/processor LLP licenses to opt-out of the fishery. The entry 
level fishery would continue for harvesters who are not eligible for 
the Rockfish Program and would be directed fishing for rockfish primary 
species using longline gear only. Additionally, the Rockfish Program 
continues to establish sideboard limits, as well as monitoring and 
enforcement provisions.
    If approved, the proposed Rockfish Program would be effective from 
January 1, 2012, through December 31, 2021. The Council reviewed and 
considered the duration of the permits under section 303A of the 
Magnuson-Stevens Act. All permits would expire after 10 years but would 
be renewed unless the Council takes action to discontinue the Rockfish 
Program. A formal review of the Rockfish Program by the Council would 
take place 3 years after the implementation of the program to determine 
if the program is functioning as intended.
    Even though the two programs are similar, the proposed Rockfish 
Program would change some provisions that were implemented under the 
Pilot Program. In summary, the proposed Rockfish Program would:
     Change the qualifying years for eligibility for QS from 
1996 through 2002 under the Pilot Program to 2000 though 2006 under the 
Rockfish Program;
     Utilize data from the new qualifying years to determine 
the allocation of QS and sideboard limits;
     Maintain a small portion of the annual allocation of 
primary rockfish species for persons not receiving QS to fish in an 
entry level fishery. The Rockfish Program would restrict the entry 
level fishery to longline gear only and discontinue the entry level 
trawl fishery; however, the Rockfish Program would allow participants 
in the Pilot Program entry level trawl fishery to qualify for QS;
     Relax the requirements to form a cooperative so that a 
person holding QS would not need to form an association with a specific 
processor and so that a minimum number of QS holders is not required to 
form a cooperative;
     Modify the required location where harvesters in 
cooperatives may deliver rockfish. Under the Rockfish Program, 
cooperatives could only deliver catch to shorebased processors 
operating within the boundaries of the City of Kodiak--the traditional 
rockfish delivery port;
     Require that QS holders form a cooperative to be able to 
fish in the Rockfish Program and discontinue the limited access fishery 
``race for fish'' that QS holders could participate in under the Pilot 
Program;
     Simplify sideboards and add slight modifications to 
sideboards for catcher processors;
     Implement a cost recovery program;
     Establish a catch monitoring and control plan specialist 
to monitor deliveries; and
     Be authorized for 10 years, from January 1, 2012, until 
December 31, 2021.
    Proposed Amendment 88 would continue management of Central GOA 
rockfish through an exclusive harvest privilege. Greater security for 
harvesters in cooperatives would continue to be realized under the 
Rockfish Program. Although participants that opt out of participating 
in cooperatives and participants in the entry level fishery would not 
receive a guaranteed annual catch amount, most harvesters would 
participate in a cooperative that receives a CQ allocation. A CQ 
allocation would continue to provide incentives to focus on quality, 
promote a slower paced fishery, enhance safety by providing a vessel 
operator more flexibility to choose when to fish, and provide greater 
stability for processors by spreading out production over a greater 
period of time.
    Public comments are being solicited on proposed Amendment 88 to the 
GOA FMP through the end of the comment period (see DATES). NMFS intends 
to publish this action in the Federal Register and seek public comment 
on a proposed rule that would implement Amendment 88, 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 for Amendment 88 to be considered in the approval/
disapproval decision on Amendment 88. All comments received by the end 
of the comment period on Amendment 88, 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. 773 et seq., 1801 et seq., 3631 et seq.; 
and Pub. L. 108-447.


[[Page 45219]]


    Dated: July 25, 2011.
 Margo Schulze-Haugen,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-19125 Filed 7-27-11; 8:45 am]
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