[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 250 (Thursday, December 29, 2011)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 81860-81872]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-33448]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 679

[Docket No. 111220788-1785-02]
RIN 0648-XA855


Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Gulf of 
Alaska; Final 2011 and 2012 Harvest Specifications for Groundfish

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

ACTION: Final rule; closures.

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SUMMARY: NMFS publishes revisions to the final 2011 and 2012 harvest 
specifications and prohibited species catch allowances for the 
groundfish fisheries of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) that are required by 
the final rule implementing Amendment 83 to the Fishery Management Plan 
for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska (FMP). This action is necessary to 
establish harvest limits for Pacific cod at the beginning of the 2012 
fishing year consistent with the new Pacific cod

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sector allocations implemented by Amendment 83 and to accomplish the 
goals and objectives of the FMP. The intended effect of this action is 
to conserve and manage the groundfish resources in the GOA in 
accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act.

DATES: The final 2011 and 2012 harvest specifications and associated 
apportionment of reserves are effective at 0001 hrs, Alaska local time 
(A.l.t.), January 1, 2012, until the effective date of the final 2012 
and 2013 harvest specifications for GOA groundfish, which will be 
published in the Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the Final Alaska Groundfish Harvest Specifications 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), 2011 Supplemental Information 
Report to the EIS, and the Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (FRFA) 
prepared for the final 2011 and 2012 harvest specifications, as well as 
the Environmental Assessment (EA), Regulatory Impact Review, and FRFA 
prepared for Amendment 83 to the FMP, may be obtained from the NMFS 
Alaska Region Web site at http://www.alaskafisheries.noaa.gov. Copies 
of the 2011 Stock Assessment and Fishery Evaluation report for the 
groundfish resources of the GOA, dated November 2011, are available 
from the North Pacific Fishery Management Council at http://www.alaskafisheries.noaa.gov/npfmc.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Obren Davis, (907) 586-7228.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Federal regulations at 50 CFR parts 679 and 
680 implement the FMP and govern the groundfish fisheries in the GOA. 
The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) prepared the 
FMP, and NMFS approved it under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 
Conservation and Management Act. General regulations governing U.S. 
fisheries also appear at 50 CFR part 600.
    The final rule implementing Amendment 83 to the FMP was published 
in the Federal Register on December 1, 2011 (76 FR 74670) and is 
effective January 1, 2012. Amendment 83 to the FMP allocates the 
Western and Central GOA Pacific cod total allowable catch (TAC) limits 
among various gear and operational sectors. Sector-level allocations 
will limit the annual amount of Pacific cod that each sector is allowed 
to harvest. A complete description of the purpose and background of 
Amendment 83 is in the proposed rule published for that action (76 FR 
44700, July 26, 2011), as well as in the final rule noted above.

Amendment 83 to the Gulf of Alaska FMP

    Amendment 83 was adopted by the Council in December 2009 to 
supersede the current inshore/offshore processing allocation of Western 
and Central GOA Pacific cod. Under the inshore/offshore management 
regime, 90 percent of the Western, Central, and Eastern TAC is 
allocated to vessels catching Pacific cod for processing by the inshore 
component and 10 percent to vessels catching Pacific cod for processing 
by the offshore component. The inshore component is composed of three 
types of processors: (1) Shoreside plants, (2) stationary floating 
processors, and (3) vessels with catcher/processor (C/P) endorsements 
less than 125 ft (45.7 m) in length overall (LOA) that process less 
than 126 mt (round weight) per week of inshore pollock and Pacific cod, 
combined. Catcher vessels operating inshore component use a variety of 
gear types, and vary widely in size. The offshore component is 
comprised of C/Ps, which catch and process fish, and motherships, which 
take deliveries of fish from catcher vessels. The Council recognized 
that competition among participants in the Western and Central GOA 
Pacific cod fisheries has intensified in recent years. Because the TACs 
are not divided among gear or operation types, there is a derby-style 
race for fish and competition among the various gear types for shares 
of the Pacific cod TACs.
    Amendment 83 divides the Western and Central GOA Pacific cod TACs 
among various gear and operation types, based primarily on historical 
dependency and use by each sector, while also considering the needs of 
fishing communities. Amendment 83 does not establish sector allocations 
in the Eastern GOA. Historically, the Pacific cod TAC is much smaller 
in the Eastern GOA management area. In recent years, only a small 
proportion of the annual TAC has been harvested. Fishing sector 
characteristics also are different, as fishing with trawl gear is 
prohibited in the Southeast Outside district of the Eastern GOA. The 
changes implemented under Amendment 83 are intended to enhance 
stability in the fishery by enabling operators within each sector to 
plan harvesting or processing activity during a fishing year, reduce 
competition among sectors, and preserve the historical division of 
catch among sectors, while providing opportunities for new entrants in 
these fisheries.

Revisions to the Final 2011 and 2012 Harvest Specifications for the 
Gulf of Alaska

    Based on the approval of Amendment 83 and its implementing 
regulations at 50 CFR part 679 (effective January 1, 2012), NMFS is 
revising the final 2011 and 2012 specifications for Pacific cod in the 
GOA. In the Central GOA, the annual Pacific cod TAC must be apportioned 
between vessels using jig gear, catcher vessels (CVs) less than 50 feet 
length overall using hook-and-line gear, CVs equal to or greater than 
50 length overall using hook-and-line gear, catcher/processors (C/Ps) 
using hook-and-line gear, CVs using trawl gear, C/Ps using trawl gear, 
and vessels using pot gear. In the Western GOA, the Pacific cod TAC 
must be apportioned between vessels using jig gear, CVs using hook-and-
line gear, C/Ps using hook-and-line gear, CVs using trawl gear, and 
vessels using pot gear. In the Eastern GOA, the 2012 Pacific cod TAC 
will still be apportioned seasonally between the inshore and offshore 
components.
    With this final rule, NMFS revises those sections of the text and 
the tables in the final 2011 and 2012 harvest specifications for 
groundfish in the GOA (76 FR 11111, March 1, 2011) that change as the 
result of the final rule implementing Amendment 83. This includes 
Tables 8, 15, and 18 originally published in the final 2011 and 2012 
harvest specifications for the GOA (available at the NMFS, Alaska 
Region Web site: http://www.alaskafisheries.noaa.gov/frules/76fr11111.pdf). This final rule uses the same table numbers that were 
used in the final 2011 and 2012 harvest specifications. This action 
also adds a new table, Table 26, for the new halibut prohibited species 
catch (PSC) apportionment between hook-and-line CVs and hook-and-line 
C/Ps that was established as part of Amendment 83.
    This final rule is necessary to ensure that appropriate allocations 
will be in effect for the beginning of the 2012 fishing year for those 
fishery participants affected by the Pacific cod sector allocations 
established under Amendment 83. These allocations also will be 
incorporated in future harvest specification for the Alaska groundfish 
fisheries.

Allocation of the Pacific Cod TAC

    This action revises the Pacific cod allocations in Table 8 by 
incorporating the sector splits established for the various gear and 
operational modes in the Western and Central GOA. It eliminates the 
inshore and offshore

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sector allocations, with the exception of the Eastern GOA. The Pacific 
cod TAC in the Eastern GOA will continue to be apportioned to vessels 
catching Pacific cod for processing by the inshore (90 percent) and 
offshore (10 percent) components as required by Sec.  679.20(a)(6)(ii).
    The Pacific cod TAC for the Western and Central GOA is divided as 
follows. First, the jig sector receives 1.5 percent of the annual 
Pacific cod TAC in the Western GOA and 1.0 percent of the annual 
Pacific cod TAC in the Central GOA, as required by Sec.  679.20(c)(7). 
This annual allocation is further apportioned between the A season (60 
percent) and B season (40 percent) as required by Sec.  
679.20(a)(12)(i). NMFS allocates the remainder of the annual Pacific 
cod TAC based on gear type, operation type, and vessel length overall 
in the Western and Central GOA seasonally as required by Sec.  
679.20(a)(i)(12)(A) and (B). Table 8 lists the seasonal apportionments 
and allocations of the 2012 GOA Pacific cod TACs.
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Non-Exempt American Fisheries Act Catcher Vessel Harvest Limits

    This action revises the final 2012 GOA non-exempt American 
Fisheries Act (AFA) CV groundfish harvest sideboard limits, also known 
as sideboards. These limits are established by Sec.  679.64. Sideboard 
limits are necessary to protect the interests of fishermen and 
processors who do not directly benefit from the AFA from those 
fishermen and processors who receive exclusive harvesting and 
processing privileges under the AFA, typically by limiting access to 
non-pollock groundfish fisheries. AFA CVs are subject to harvesting 
sideboards unless exempted from such limits through the criteria 
established in Sec.  679.64(b)(2). Thus, the vessels to which 
sideboards do apply are known as ``non-exempt AFA CVs.''
    This action revises the Pacific cod sideboards in Table 15 of the 
final 2011 and 2012 harvest specifications (76 FR

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11111, March 1, 2011). The Pacific cod sideboards are revised by 
combining the Western and Central GOA inshore and offshore 
apportionments into a single apportionment, further divided by season. 
This reduces the number of non-exempt AFA CV sideboards in these two 
areas to four sideboards, rather than eight prior to Amendment 83. The 
Eastern GOA Pacific cod sideboards are not revised.
    These sideboard revisions are based on changes implemented under 
Amendment 83. The Council recommended sideboard allocations for the 
non-exempt AFA CVs and non-AFA crab vessels that now supersede the 
inshore/offshore processing sideboards established under the AFA and 
Crab Rationalization Program. These sideboards are calculated annually 
as part of the harvest specification process. Non-exempt AFA CV 
sideboards are now calculated as area-specific sideboard accounts, 
rather than inshore and offshore sideboards in each respective Western 
and Central GOA regulatory areas. The Council recognized that in recent 
years the offshore sideboard allocations have not been fully harvested, 
while inshore allocations are typically fully caught. The intent of 
combining the two sideboard categories into a single sideboard for each 
regulatory area is to make the offshore sideboard allocation available 
to the CVs historically associated with the inshore processing 
components. The new, combined sideboard amounts will continue to be 
apportioned seasonally. This action revises only the Pacific cod 
sideboards in Table 15; however, the entire suite of species and 
sideboards in the table are re-published in order to eliminate 
potential confusion that the other sideboards specified in Table 15 are 
no longer effective.
    The following Table 15 replaces Table 15 in the final 2011 and 2012 
GOA harvest specifications (76 FR 11111, March 1, 2011).
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Non-AFA Crab Vessel Groundfish Harvest Sideboard Limits

    This action also revises the final 2012 GOA non-AFA crab vessel 
groundfish harvest limits. Such limits preclude vessels that benefit 
from exclusive crab harvesting privileges under the Bering Sea and 
Aleutian Islands Crab Rationalization Program from expanding their 
participation in the GOA groundfish fisheries. This action revises the 
Pacific cod sideboards in Table 18 of the final 2011 and 2012 harvest 
specifications (76 FR 11111; March 1, 2011). Under Amendment 83 (76 FR 
74670, December 1, 2011), the non-AFA crab vessel sideboards for the 
inshore and offshore components in the Western and Central GOA were 
combined. These combined sideboards must then be allocated to sectors 
as required by the final rule implementing Amendment 83.

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Thus, NMFS must specify revised non-AFA crab vessel sideboard limits in 
the Western and Central GOA.
    The non-AFA crab vessel Pacific cod sideboards are revised by 
apportioning the Pacific cod sideboards for the Western and Central GOA 
among gear and operational sectors, as well as seasons. This change 
eliminates the inshore and offshore area and seasonal apportionments, 
and replaces them with sector-level area and seasonal apportionments. 
The Eastern GOA Pacific cod sideboards are not revised, and continue to 
be apportioned between the inshore and offshore components.
    The basis for these sideboard limits is described in detail in the 
final rules implementing the Crab Rationalization Program (70 FR 10174, 
March 2, 2005) and Amendment 83 (76 FR 74670, December 1, 2011). Table 
18 lists the revised 2012 groundfish sideboard limitations for non-AFA 
crab vessels. It replaces Table 18 in the final 2011 and 2012 GOA 
harvest specifications (76 FR 11131-11132, March 1, 2011). All targeted 
or incidental catch of sideboard species made by non-AFA crab vessels 
or associated License Limitation Program groundfish licenses will be 
deducted from these sideboard limits. This action revises only the 
Pacific cod sideboards in Table 18; however, the entire suite of 
species and sideboards in the table are re-published in order to 
eliminate potential confusion that the other groundfish sideboards 
specified in Table 18 are no longer effective.
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Changes to Halibut PSC Apportionments

    Section 679.21(d) establishes annual halibut PSC limit 
apportionments for trawl and hook-and-line gear. The trawl gear 
apportionment is further divided seasonally and between the deep-water 
and shallow-water species categories. The hook-and-line gear 
apportionment is divided seasonally, and also between the demersal 
shelf rockfish (DSR) fishery and the remaining groundfish fisheries. 
This action revises the annual hook-and-line gear ``other than DSR'' 
halibut PSC limit to the ``other hook-and-line fisheries'' by dividing 
the annual halibut PSC limit between the hook-and-line CV and C/P 
sectors.
    This change is intended to increase the ability of each hook-and-
line sector to plan its fishing operations and harvest its respective 
Pacific cod allocation. Apportioning the halibut PSC limit to hook-and-
line CV and C/P sectors will prevent one sector from pre-empting the 
other sector's fishing season by taking a greater proportion of the 
hook-and-line halibut PSC limit than expected. These PSC apportionments 
also will apply to hook-and-line CVs and C/Ps operating in the Eastern 
GOA; however, the halibut PSC limit apportionments only are derived 
from Pacific cod TAC allocations to the Western and Central GOA. 
Annually, NMFS will calculate the halibut PSC limit apportionments for 
the entire GOA to hook-and-line CVs and C/Ps.
    This action adds Table 26 to the final 2011 and 2012 harvest 
specifications to specify new halibut PSC limits by each hook-and-line 
sector and by season as required by Sec.  679.21(d)(4)(iii)(B). These 
changes reflect the halibut PSC allocation revisions made under 
Amendment 83 (76 FR 74670, December 1, 2011), which modified the 
``other than DSR'' hook-and-line halibut PSC apportionment to the 
``other hook-and-line fisheries'' by dividing it between the two hook-
and-line sectors. The halibut PSC limit apportioned to the trawl gear 
sector was not changed by Amendment 83. Comprehensive changes to GOA 
halibut PSC limits and apportionments currently are under development 
and consideration by the Council.
    A comprehensive description and example of the calculations 
necessary to apportion the ``other than DSR'' hook-and-line halibut PSC 
limit to the ``other hook-and-line fisheries'' between the hook-and-
line CV and C/P sectors was included in the final rule to implement 
Amendment 83 (76 FR 74670, December 1, 2011) and is not repeated here. 
For 2012, NMFS is apportioning halibut PSC limits of 167 mt and 123 mt 
to the hook-and-line CV and hook-and-line C/P sectors, respectively. In 
addition, these annual limits are divided into three seasonal 
apportionments, using seasonal percentages of 86 percent, 2 percent, 
and 12 percent. These annual limits and seasonal apportionments are 
shown in Table 26, which augments Table 10 in the final GOA harvest 
specifications (76 FR 11111, March 1, 2011). Table 26 lists the 2012 
annual and seasonal halibut PSC apportionments between the hook-and-
line sectors in the GOA.

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Directed Fishing Closures

    Section 680.22 provides for the management of non-AFA crab vessel 
sideboards using directed fishing closures in accordance with Sec.  
680.22(e)(2) and (3). The Regional Administrator has determined that 
the non-AFA crab vessel sideboards listed in Table 18 are insufficient 
to support a directed fishery and has set the sideboard directed 
fishing allowance at zero, with the exception of the Pacific cod pot CV 
sector limits in the Western and Central Regulatory Areas. Therefore, 
NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing by non-AFA crab vessels in the GOA 
for all species and species groups listed in Tables 17 and 18, with the 
exception of Pacific cod sideboard limits established for the pot CV 
sector in the Western and Central Regulatory Areas.

Small Entity Compliance Guide

    The following information is a plain language guide to assist small 
entities in complying with this final rule as required by the Small 
Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996. This final rule 
is necessary to revise final 2012 Pacific cod harvest specifications 
and halibut PSC limits for the groundfish fishery of the GOA so that 
these amounts are consistent with new fishery allocations and 
limitations established under Amendment 83. This action affects all 
fishermen who participate in the Pacific cod fishery in the GOA. The 
specific amounts of TAC limits and PSC amounts, and respective 
allocations thereof, are provided in tabular form to assist the reader. 
NMFS will announce closures of directed fishing in the Federal Register 
and in information bulletins released by the Alaska Region. Affected 
fishermen should keep themselves informed of such closures.

Classification

    NMFS determined that these revisions to the final 2011 and 2012 
harvest specifications are necessary for the conservation and 
management of the Alaska groundfish fisheries and that it is consistent 
with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and 
other applicable laws.
    This action is authorized under Sec.  679.20 and is exempt from 
review under Executive Order 12866.
    Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B), the Assistant Administrator for 
Fisheries, NOAA (AA) finds good cause to waive prior notice and 
opportunity for public comment on this action as notice and comment is 
unnecessary. Through this action, NOAA seeks to revise the final 2011 
and 2012 GOA harvest specifications consistent with the final rules 
implementing Amendment 83 to the FMP and to ensure that the Pacific cod 
allocations and halibut PSC limits implemented under Amendment 83 will 
be effective at the beginning of the 2012 fishing year. Prior notice 
and opportunity for public comment on this action is unnecessary 
because the revisions being made by this action merely update the 2011 
and 2012 GOA harvest specifications to reflect allocations and 
limitations implemented and required by Amendment 83, and which have 
already been subject to notice and comment.
    This action does not revise the final 2011 and 2012 GOA harvest 
specifications in any substantive manner not previously the subject of 
notice and comment during the development of Amendment 83. The Pacific 
cod fisheries in the Western and Central GOA are intensive, fast-paced 
fisheries. U.S. fishing vessels have demonstrated the capacity to catch 
the Pacific cod TAC allocations in these fisheries. Any delay in 
allocating the Pacific cod TACs under Amendment 83 would cause 
confusion to the industry and potential economic harm through 
unnecessary discards. Determining which fisheries may close is 
impossible because these fisheries are affected by several factors that 
cannot be predicted in advance, including fishing effort, weather, 
movement of fishery stocks, and market price. Furthermore, the closure 
of one fishery has a cascading effect on other fisheries by freeing up 
fishing vessels, allowing them to move from closed fisheries to open 
ones, increasing the fishing capacity in those open fisheries and 
causing them to close at an accelerated pace.
    In fisheries subject to declining sideboards, a failure to 
implement the updated sideboards before initial season's end could 
preclude the intended economic protection to the non-sideboarded 
sectors. Conversely, in fisheries with increasing sideboards, economic 
benefit could be precluded to the sideboarded sectors.
    The AA also finds good cause to waive the 30-day delay in the 
effective date requirement of 5 U.S.C. 553(d). The waiver of the 30-day 
delay in effective date requirement of 5 U.S.C. 553(d) is necessary to 
ensure that the allocations and limitations required under Amendment 83 
will be effective at the beginning of the 2012 fishing year and to 
provide the regulated community

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with timely, adequate, and accurate information necessary to allow the 
industry to plan for the fishing season, to conduct orderly and 
efficient fisheries, and to avoid potential disruption to the fishing 
fleet and processors. Per the implementing requirements of Amendment 83 
to the GOA FMP (76 FR 74670, December 1, 2011), the Pacific cod TAC 
apportionments between the inshore and offshore components in the 
Western and Central Management Areas are superseded and replaced by 
apportionments among various gear and operational sectors. Absent 
waiver of the 30-day delay in effective date, the Pacific cod fisheries 
in the Western and Central Management Areas would be subject to 
obsolete management measures for a several weeks at the onset of the 
2012, as the regulations requiring NMFS to apportion the Pacific cod 
TAC limits in these two areas to the inshore and offshore components 
(Sec.  679.20(a)(6)(ii)) no longer exist as of January 1, 2012.
    NMFS prepared a Final EIS for the harvest strategy implemented by 
the annual harvest specifications and made it available to the public 
on January 12, 2007 (72 FR 1512). On February 13, 2007, NMFS issued the 
Record of Decision (ROD) for the Final EIS. Copies of the Final EIS and 
ROD for this action are available (see ADDRESSES). NMFS also prepared 
an EA in conjunction with Amendment 83 to the GOA FMP (See ADDRESSES).
    Two separate final regulatory flexibility analyses (FRFAs) were 
prepared to evaluate the impacts on small entities resulting from (1) 
alternative harvest strategies employed in establishing the final 2011 
and 2012 harvest specifications and (2) alternatives considered during 
the development and approval of Amendment 83. Both of these FRFAs met 
the statutory requirements of the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980, 
as amended by the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 
1996 (5 U.S.C. 601-612). A summary of each FRFA was published with its 
relevant final rule and is not repeated here. The summary of the FRFA 
supporting the final 2011 and 2012 harvest specifications was published 
March 1, 2011 (76 FR 11111), and the summary of the FRFA supporting 
Amendment 83 to the FMP was published December 1, 2011 (76 FR 74670).

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 773 et seq., 1801 et seq., 3631 et seq.; 
Pub. L. 108-447.

    Dated: December 22, 2011.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-33448 Filed 12-28-11; 8:45 am]
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