[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 42 (Monday, March 4, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14076-14078]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-04920]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RIN 0648-XC507


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

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

ACTION: Notification of standard prices and fee percentage.

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SUMMARY: NMFS publishes the standard ex-vessel prices and fee 
percentage for cost recovery under the Central Gulf of Alaska Rockfish 
Program. This action is intended to provide participants in a rockfish 
cooperative with the standard prices and fee percentage for the 2012 
fishing year, which was authorized from May 1 through November 15. The 
fee percentage is 1.4 percent. The fee liability payments were due from 
each rockfish cooperative by February 15, 2013.

DATES: Effective March 4, 2013.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gwen Herrewig, 907-586-7228.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    The rockfish fisheries are conducted in Federal waters near Kodiak, 
AK, by trawl and longline vessels. Regulations implementing the Central 
Gulf of Alaska (GOA) Rockfish Program (Rockfish Program) are set forth 
at 50 CFR part 679. Exclusive harvesting privileges are allocated under 
the Rockfish Program for rockfish primary and secondary species. The 
rockfish primary species are northern rockfish, Pacific ocean perch, 
and pelagic shelf rockfish. The rockfish secondary species include 
Pacific cod, rougheye rockfish, shortraker rockfish, sablefish, and 
thornyhead rockfish. Rockfish cooperatives began fishing under the 
Rockfish Program on May 1, 2012.
    The Rockfish Program is a type of limited access privilege program 
established under the provisions of section 303A of the Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA). Section 303A 
requires that NMFS collect fees for limited access programs to recover 
the actual costs directly related to management, data collection and 
analysis, and enforcement activities. Section 304(d)(2) of the MSA 
requires that NMFS collect fees for the Rockfish Program equal to the 
actual costs directly related to management, enforcement and data 
collection (management costs). Section 304(d)(2) of the MSA also limits 
the cost recovery fee so that it may not exceed 3 percent of the ex-
vessel value of the fish harvested under the Rockfish Program.

Standard Prices

    NMFS calculates cost recovery fees based on standard ex-vessel 
value price, rather than actual price data provided by each rockfish 
cooperative quota (CQ) holder. Use of a standard ex-vessel price is 
allowed under sections 303A and 304(d)(2) of the MSA. NMFS generates a 
standard ex-vessel price for each rockfish primary and secondary 
species on a monthly basis to determine the average price paid per 
pound for all shoreside processors receiving rockfish primary and 
secondary species CQ.

[[Page 14077]]

    Regulations at Sec.  679.85(b)(2) require the Regional 
Administrator to publish rockfish standard ex-vessel values during the 
first quarter of each calendar year. The standard prices are described 
in U.S. dollars per pound for rockfish primary and secondary species CQ 
landings made during the previous year.

Fee Percentage

    NMFS assesses a fee on the standard ex-vessel value of rockfish 
primary species and rockfish secondary species CQ harvested by rockfish 
cooperatives in the Central GOA and waters adjacent to the Central GOA 
when rockfish primary species caught by a cooperative is deducted from 
the Federal total allowable catch. The rockfish entry level longline 
fishery and opt-out vessels are not subject to cost recovery fees. 
Specific details on the Rockfish Program's cost recovery provision may 
be found in the implementing regulations set forth at Sec.  679.85.
    NMFS informs each rockfish cooperative of the fee percentage 
applied to the previous year's landings and the total amount due 
through a letter. Fees are due on February 15 of each year. Failure to 
pay on time would result in the permit holder's QS becoming non-
transferable and the person would be ineligible to receive any 
additional QS by transfer. In addition, cooperative members would not 
receive any rockfish CQ the following year until full payment of the 
fee liability is received by NMFS.
    NMFS calculates and publishes in the Federal Register the fee 
percentage in the first quarter of each year according to the factors 
and methodology described in Federal regulations at Sec.  679.85(c)(2). 
NMFS determines the fee percentage that applies to landings made in the 
previous year by dividing the total actual costs during the previous 
year by the total value of the rockfish primary species and rockfish 
secondary species for all rockfish cooperatives made during the 
previous year. NMFS captures the actual cost of managing the fishery 
through an established accounting system that allows staff to track 
labor, travel, and procurement. Fee collections for any given year may 
be less than, or greater than, the actual costs and fishery value for 
that year, because, by regulation, the fee percentage is established in 
the first quarter of the calendar year based on the fishery value and 
the costs of the previous calendar year. The rockfish fee percentage 
amount must not exceed 3.0 percent pursuant to 16 U.S.C. 1854(d)(2)(B). 
This is the first year of fee collection under the Rockfish Program.
    Using the fee percentage formula described above, the estimated 
percentage of costs to value for the 2012 calendar year is 1.4 percent 
of the standard ex-vessel value.

   Table 1--Standard Ex-Vessel Prices by Species for the 2012 Rockfish
                    Program Season in Kodiak, Alaska
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                         Standard  ex-
             Species                 Period ending     vessel price  per
                                                             pound
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pelagic shelf rockfish *........  May 31.............               0.26
                                  June 30............               0.27
                                  July 31............               0.27
                                  August 31..........               0.26
                                  September 30.......               0.26
                                  October 31.........               0.27
                                  November 30........               0.26
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Northern rockfish...............  May 31.............               0.26
                                  June 30............               0.27
                                  July 31............               0.27
                                  August 31..........               0.27
                                  September 30.......               0.27
                                  October 31.........               0.27
                                  November 30........               0.27
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pacific cod.....................  May 31.............               0.30
                                  June 30............               0.28
                                  July 31............               0.35
                                  August 31..........               0.31
                                  September 30.......               0.28
                                  October 31.........               0.28
                                  November 30........               0.27
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pacific ocean perch.............  May 31.............               0.26
                                  June 30............               0.26
                                  July 31............               0.27
                                  August 31..........               0.27
                                  September 30.......               0.27
                                  October 31.........               0.27
                                  November 30........               0.27
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rougheye rockfish...............  May 31.............               0.27
                                  June 30............               0.19
                                  July 31............               0.14
                                  August 31..........               0.15
                                  September 30.......               0.01
                                  October 31.........               0.15
                                  November 30........               0.30
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sablefish.......................  May 31.............               4.16
                                  June 30............               3.63

[[Page 14078]]

 
                                  July 31............               2.25
                                  August 31..........               2.52
                                  September 30.......               2.61
                                  October 31.........               2.20
                                  November 30........               2.19
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shortraker rockfish.............  May 31.............               0.26
                                  June 30............               0.26
                                  July 31............               0.23
                                  August 31..........               0.25
                                  September 30.......            ** 0.26
                                  October 31.........               0.30
                                  November 30........               0.27
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thornyhead rockfish.............  May 31.............               0.59
                                  June 30............               0.48
                                  July 31............               0.29
                                  August 31..........               0.16
                                  September 30.......               0.20
                                  October 31.........               0.60
                                  November 30........               0.11
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* The pelagic shelf rockfish (PSR) species group has been changed to
  ``dusky rockfish'' in some NMFS publications, such as the 2012 and
  2013 groundfish harvest specifications for the GOA (77 FR 10669,
  February 23, 2012). The North Pacific Fishery Management Council
  recommended the removal of widow and yellowtail rockfish from the PSR
  species group at its October 2011 meeting, leaving the single species,
  dusky rockfish. NMFS intends to propose GOA fishery management plan
  and regulatory amendments to dissolve the PSR species group and
  substitute a description of the dusky rockfish target fishery, and
  revise the description of the ``other rockfish'' fishery in the GOA
  fishery management plan to include widow and yellowtail rockfish.
** NMFS uses the average annual price when no landings are reported.


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

    Dated: February 27, 2013.
Kara Meckley,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National 
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2013-04920 Filed 3-1-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P