[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 224 (Thursday, November 20, 2014)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 69060-69062]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-27489]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 660

[Docket No. 120814338-2711-02]
RIN 0648-BE64


Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; Fisheries off West Coast States; 
Biennial Specifications and Management Measures; Inseason Adjustments

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

ACTION: Final rule; inseason adjustments to biennial groundfish 
management measures.

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SUMMARY: This final rule announces inseason changes to management 
measures in the Pacific Coast groundfish fisheries. This action, which 
is authorized by the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan 
(PCGFMP), is intended to allow fisheries to access more abundant 
groundfish stocks while protecting overfished and depleted stocks.

DATES: Effective 0001 hours (local time) November 20, 2014.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gretchen Hanshew (West Coast Region, 
NMFS), phone: 206-526-6147, fax: 206-526-6736, 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Electronic Access

    This final rule is accessible via the Internet at the Office of the 
Federal Register's Web site at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/search/home.action, or http://federalregister.gov. Background information and 
documents are available at the Pacific Fishery Management Council's Web 
site at http://www.pcouncil.org/. Copies of the final environmental 
impact statement (FEIS) for the 2013-2014 Groundfish Specifications and 
Management Measures are available from Donald McIsaac, Executive 
Director, Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council), 7700 NE 
Ambassador Place, Portland, OR 97220, phone: 503-820-2280.

Background

    The PCGFMP and its implementing regulations at title 50 in the Code 
of Federal Regulations (CFR), part 660, subparts C through G, regulate 
fishing for over 90 species of groundfish off the coasts of Washington, 
Oregon, and California. Groundfish specifications and management 
measures are developed by the Pacific Fishery Management Council 
(Council), and are implemented by NMFS.
    On November 14, 2012, NMFS published a proposed rule to implement 
the 2013-2014 harvest specifications and management measures for most 
species of the Pacific Coast groundfish fishery (77 FR 67974). The 
final rule to implement the 2013-2014 harvest specifications and 
management measures for most species of the Pacific Coast Groundfish 
Fishery was published on January 3, 2013 (78 FR 580).
    The Council, in coordination with Pacific Coast Treaty Indian 
Tribes and the States of Washington, Oregon, and California, 
recommended changes to current groundfish management measures at its 
October 17, 2014 meeting. Specifically, the Council recommended 
changing the amount of darkblotched rockfish initially deducted from 
the annual catch limit (ACL) to account for mortality in the incidental 
open access sector from 18.4 metric tons (mt) to 15.4 mt. The Council 
also recommended that the corresponding 3 mt of darkblotched rockfish 
previously deducted from the ACL be made available to the catcher/
processor (C/P) sector of the at-sea Pacific whiting fishery. On 
November 12, 2014, NMFS published an inseason action to implement the 
Council's recommended changes (79 FR 67095). That rule correctly 
described the action and the intent, but contained erroneous 
calculations in the footnotes to Table 2b to subpart C. As a result of 
those errors, only the 3 mt reduction of the amount of darkblotched 
rockfish deducted from the ACL to account for mortality in the 
incidental open access sector was made. The increase to the C/P 
allocation of darkblotched rockfish was calculated incorrectly. For the 
same reasons stated in the November 12, 2014 rule and summarized below, 
this rule

[[Page 69061]]

implements the Council's recommended changes to the darkblotched 
rockfish allocation to the C/P sector by superseding Table 2b to 
subpart C that published on November 12, 2014.

Transferring Darkblotched Rockfish to the Catcher/Processor Sector via 
Inseason Action

    At the start of 2014, the C/P and Mothership (MS) sectors of the 
Pacific whiting fishery were allocated 9.0 mt and 6.3 mt of 
darkblotched rockfish, respectively, per allocation regulations at 
Sec.  660.55(c)(1)(i)(A). On October 17, 2014 NMFS reapportioned 3.0 mt 
of darkblotched rockfish from the C/P sector to the MS sector as an 
automatic action pursuant to Sec. Sec.  660.60(d) and 660.160(c)(5), 
reducing the C/P darkblotched rockfish allocation from 9.0 mt to 6.0 mt 
and increasing the MS allocation from 6.3 mt to 9.3 mt. This action 
allowed the MS sector to reopen in a timely manner. At their October 
17, 2014 meeting, the Council recommended redistributing 3 mt of 
darkblotched rockfish from the ``off-the-top'' deductions that were 
made at the start of the 2013-2014 biennium, and giving that 3 mt to 
the C/P sector to accommodate potential bycatch of darkblotched 
rockfish as the C/P sector prosecutes the remainder of its 2014 Pacific 
whiting fishery. NMFS took an inseason action to transfer darkblotched 
rockfish to the C/P sector allocation in the November 12, 2014 rule, 
however, a footnote to Table 2b, Subpart C, incorrectly described the 
calculations made during the transfer of darkblotched rockfish from the 
``off-the-top'' deductions to the C/P sector. This rule implements the 
Council-recommended change to the C/P sector allocation by publishing 
the corrected Table 2b, including footnotes, and superseding the 
inaccurate regulations and bringing consistency between Tables 2a and 
2b.
    The action to transfer darkblotched rockfish from the ``off-the-
top'' deductions to the C/P sector was implemented, in part, on 
November 12, 2014. This rule completes the implementation of the 
transfer of darkblotched rockfish to the C/P sector, for the same 
reasons described in detail in the preamble to the November 12, 2014 
rule (79 FR 67095).

Classification

    This final rule makes routine inseason adjustments to groundfish 
fishery management measures, based on the best available information, 
consistent with the PCGFMP and its implementing regulations.
    This action is taken under the authority of 50 CFR 660.60(c) and is 
exempt from review under Executive Order 12866.
    The aggregate data upon which these actions are based are available 
for public inspection at the Office of the Administrator, West Coast 
Region, NMFS, during business hours.
    NMFS finds good cause to waive prior public notice and comment on 
the revisions to groundfish management measures under 5 U.S.C. 553(b) 
because notice and comment would be impracticable and contrary to the 
public interest. Also, for the same reasons, NMFS finds good cause to 
waive the 30-day delay in effectiveness pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3), 
so that this final rule may become effective November 20, 2014.
    At the October emergency Council meeting, the Council recommended 
that reapportionment of darkblotched rockfish to the C/P sector be 
implemented as quickly as possible. There was not sufficient time after 
that meeting to undergo proposed and final rulemaking before this 
action needs to be in effect. For the actions implemented in this final 
rule, affording the time necessary for prior notice and opportunity for 
public comment would prevent transfer of darkblotched rockfish to the 
C/P sector until later in the season, or potentially eliminate the 
possibility or doing so during the 2014 calendar year entirely, and is 
therefore impractical. Failing to transfer darkblotched rockfish to the 
C/P sector in a timely manner could result in unnecessary restriction 
of fisheries if the C/P sector exceeded its darkblotched allocation. 
Providing the C/P sector fishermen an opportunity to harvest their 
limits of Pacific whiting without interruption and without exceeding 
their darkblotched rockfish bycatch limit allows harvest as intended by 
the Council, consistent with the best scientific information available. 
The Pacific whiting fishery contributes a large amount of revenue to 
the coastal communities of Washington and Oregon and this change allows 
continued harvest of Pacific whiting while continuing to prevent ACLs 
of overfished species and the allocations for target species from being 
exceeded. No aspect of this action is controversial, and changes of 
this nature were anticipated in the biennial harvest specifications and 
management measures established for 2013-2014.
    Delaying these changes would also keep management measures in place 
that are not based on the best available information. Such delay would 
impair achievement of the PCGFMP goals and objectives of managing for 
appropriate harvest levels while providing for year-round fishing and 
marketing opportunities. Accordingly, for the reasons stated above, 
NMFS finds good cause to waive prior notice and comment and to waive 
the delay in effectiveness.
    NMFS has reinitiated section 7 consultation on the PCGFMP with 
respect to its effects on listed salmonids. In the event the 
consultation identifies either reasonable and prudent alternatives to 
address jeopardy concerns or reasonable and prudent measures to 
minimize incidental take, NMFS would exercise necessary authorities in 
coordination to the extent possible with the Council to put such 
additional alternatives or measures into place. After reviewing the 
available information, NMFS has concluded that, consistent with 
sections 7(a)(2) and 7(d) of the ESA, this action will not jeopardize 
any listed species, would not adversely modify any designated critical 
habitat, and will not result in any irreversible or irretrievable 
commitment of resources that would have the effect of foreclosing the 
formulation or implementation of any reasonable and prudent alternative 
measures.

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 660

    Fisheries, Fishing, Indian Fisheries.

    Dated: November 17, 2014.
Alan D. Risenhoover,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
    For the reasons set out in the preamble, 50 CFR part 660 is amended 
as follows:

PART 660--FISHERIES OFF WEST COAST STATES

0
1. The authority citation for part 660 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. and 16 U.S.C. 773 et seq.


0
2. Table 2b to subpart C is revised to read as follows:

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[[Page 69062]]

[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TR20NO14.011

    \a\ Allocations decided through the biennial specification 
process.
    \b\ 13 mt of the total trawl allocation of canary rockfish is 
allocated to the at-sea whiting fisheries, as follows: 5.4 mt for 
the mothership fishery, and 7.6 mt for the catcher/processor 
fishery.
    \c\ 9 percent (26.4 mt) of the total trawl allocation for 
darkblotched rockfish is allocated to the whiting fisheries, as 
follows: 11.1 mt for the shorebased IFQ fishery, 6.3 mt for the 
mothership fishery, and 9.0 mt for the catcher/processor fishery. 
Effective at 2000 hours local time on October 17, 2014, the amount 
of darkblotched rockfish available to the catcher/processor fishery 
was reduced by 3.0 mt, to 6.0 mt, and the amount available to the 
mothership fishery was raised by 3.0 mt, to 9.3 mt. The amount 
available to the catcher/processor fishery was subsequently raised 
back to 9.0 mt by distributing to the catcher/processor fishery 3.0 
mt of the 18.4 mt initially deducted from the ACL to account for 
mortality in the incidental open access fishery, consistent with 
Sec.  660.60(c)(3)(ii). The tonnage calculated here for the whiting 
portion of the shorebased IFQ fishery contributes to the total 
shorebased trawl allocation, which is found at Sec.  
660.140(d)(1)(ii)(D).
    \d\ 30 mt of the total trawl allocation for POP is allocated to 
the whiting fisheries, as follows: 12.6 mt for the shorebased IFQ 
fishery, 7.2 mt for the mothership fishery, and 10.2 mt for the 
catcher/processor fishery. The tonnage calculated here for the 
whiting portion of the shorebased IFQ fishery contributes to the 
total shorebased trawl allocation, which is found at Sec.  
660.140(d)(1)(ii)(D).
    \e\ 500 mt of the total trawl allocation for widow rockfish is 
allocated to the whiting fisheries, as follows: 210 mt for the 
shorebased IFQ fishery, 120 mt for the mothership fishery, and 170 
mt for the catcher/processor fishery. The tonnage calculated here 
for the whiting portion of the shorebased IFQ fishery contributes to 
the total shorebased trawl allocation, which is found at Sec.  
660.140(d)(1)(ii)(D).

[FR Doc. 2014-27489 Filed 11-19-14; 8:45 am]
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