[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 169 (Friday, August 30, 2019)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 45706-45708]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-18794]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 660

RIN 0648-BI35


Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; Fisheries off West Coast States; 
Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery 
Management Plan; Amendment 21-4; Trawl Catch Share Program

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

ACTION: Announcement of availability of fishery management plan 
amendment; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the Pacific Fishery Management Council 
submitted Amendment 21-4 to the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery 
Management Plan to the Secretary of

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Commerce for review. If approved, Amendment 21-4 would adjust the 
Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Catch Share Program to complete 
outstanding elements of the program, respond to problems identified 
after program implementation, and modify outdated regulations. The 
proposed Amendment would convert bycatch allocations of canary and 
widow rockfish to set-asides in the at-sea whiting fishery and remove 
fixed formulas used to determine bycatch amounts of Pacific Ocean 
Perch, darkblotched rockfish and widow rockfish in the at-sea whiting 
sectors. Bycatch amounts would instead be determined through the 
biennial harvest specification process, which would offer more flexible 
bycatch management for the at-sea sectors. The proposed rule 
implementing this proposed FMP amendment includes other regulatory 
changes which would provide increased opportunity to trade individual 
fishing quota, accumulation limits for catcher-processor permits, and 
expand economic data collections. The rule will help to ensure the 
Pacific Coast Groundfish fishery achieves optimum yield, minimize costs 
of participation, provide fair and equitable access to fishery 
resources, and avoid adverse economic impacts to fishing communities.

DATES: Comments on Amendment 21-4 must be received on or before October 
29, 2019.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on this document, identified by 
NOAA-NMFS-2019-0106, by any of the following methods;
     Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public 
comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to 
www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2019-0106, click the 
``Comment Now!'' icon, complete the required fields, and enter or 
attach your comments.
     Mail: Submit written comments to Barry A. Thom., Regional 
Administrator, 7600 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA 98115.
    Instructions: Comments sent by any other method, to any other 
address or individual, or received after the end of the comment period, 
may not be considered by NMFS. All comments received are a part of the 
public record and will generally be posted for public viewing on 
www.regulations.gov without change. All personal identifying 
information (e.g., name, address, etc.), confidential business 
information, or otherwise sensitive information submitted voluntarily 
by the sender will be publicly accessible. NMFS will accept anonymous 
comments (enter ``N/A'' in the required fields if you wish to remain 
anonymous).
    Information relevant to Amendment 21-4, which includes two memos 
categorically excluding this action from further National Environmental 
Protection Act review, a regulatory impact review (RIR), and an initial 
regulatory flexibility analysis (RFA) are available for public review 
during business hours at the NMFS West Coast Regional Office at 7600 
Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA 98115, or by requesting them via phone 
or the email address listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT 
section. Copies of additional reports referred to in this document may 
also be obtained from the Pacific Fishery Management Council.

Electronic Access

    FMP Amendment 21-4, background information and documents are 
available at the Pacific Fishery Management Council website at http://www.pcouncil.org/groundfish/fishery-management-plan/groundfish-amendments-in-development/. Additional background documents are 
available at the NMFS West Coast Region website at http://www.westcoast.fisheries.noaa.gov/fisheries/groundfish/index.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Colin Sayre, phone: 206-526-4656, or 
email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS manages the groundfish fisheries in the 
exclusive economic zone off Washington, Oregon, and California under 
the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP). The Pacific 
Fishery Management Council (Council) prepared and NMFS implemented the 
Pacific Coast Groundfish FMP under the authority of the Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), 
16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. and through regulations at 50 CFR parts 600 and 
660.
    The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires each regional fishery management 
council to submit any federal management plan (FMP) or plan amendment 
to NMFS for review and approval, disapproval, or partial approval by 
the Secretary of Commerce. The Magnuson-Stevens Act also requires that 
NMFS, upon receiving an FMP or amendment, immediately publish 
notification that the FMP or amendment is available for public review 
and comment. This document announces that Amendment 21-4 to the Pacific 
Coast Groundfish FMP is available for public review and comment. NMFS 
will consider the public input received during the comment period in 
determining whether to approve, partially approve, or disapprove 
Amendment 21-4 to the Pacific Coast Groundfish FMP. Amendment 21-4 
proposes changing the bycatch allocation for canary and widow rockfish 
to set-asides in the at-sea whiting sectors and removing formulas for 
determining amounts of expected bycatch in the at-sea whiting sectors 
for three species: Pacific ocean perch (POP), darkblotched rockfish, 
and widow rockfish. This change would allow the at-sea whiting sector 
to more efficiently harvest its full allocation through set-aside 
management of constraining bycatch species.
    The proposed rule implementing the proposed FMP amendment also 
includes several follow-on action adjustments to regulations for the 
Pacific Coast Groundfish Catch Share Program to complete outstanding 
elements of the program, respond to problems identified after program 
implementation, and modify outdated regulations. These changes would 
improve the quota trading system to increase overall fishing quota 
utilization for the shorebased IFQ sector; ensure fair and equitable 
access to fishery resources in the event the C/P co-op dissolves; and 
provide a more complete socio-economic evaluation of Catch Share 
program performance.

Proposed FMP Amendment: At-Sea Whiting Fishery Bycatch Needs and Set-
Aside Management

    The proposed FMP amendment would adjust how bycatch allocations for 
darkblotched rockfish, Pacific ocean perch (POP), canary rockfish, and 
widow rockfish the at-sea whiting fishery are set and managed. The 2018 
final rule implementing Amendment 21-3 (January 8, 2018; 83 FR 757) 
converted formal ``hard cap'' bycatch allocations of darkblotched and 
POP in at-sea whiting sectors to set-asides, which are an off the top 
deductions of expected bycatch from the annual catch limits (ACL) for 
the at-sea sectors. The proposed FMP amendment would convert formal 
bycatch allocations of canary and widow rockfish to set-asides in the 
at-sea whiting fishery as well as remove existing formulas used to 
determine set-aside amounts of darkblotched rockfish, POP, and widow 
rockfish. The Council would instead determine set-aside amounts 
biennially as part of the Pacific Coast Groundfish harvest 
specifications. If a sector exceeds its set-aside amount the fishery 
would not be subject to automatic closure. Instead, NMFS would have the 
authority to take routine inseason action

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when a set-aside is exceeded to prevent risk of exceeding other key 
harvest guidelines. Routine inseason actions include temporary area 
closures, and other temporary effort restrictions that would prevent 
overfishing of bycatch stocks, but allow the Pacific whiting sectors to 
harvest their full allocation. The Council recommended these management 
measures to reduce the risk of the at-sea Pacific whiting sectors not 
attaining their respective whiting allocations because of fishery 
closures to limit incidental catch of widow, canary, darkblotched 
rockfish or POP. The proposed FMP amendment is intended to allow the 
Council increased flexibility to adjust bycatch limits inseason for the 
at-sea whiting sectors within annual catch limits and harvest 
guidelines, address specific needs of the sector in a timely manner, 
and allow full attainment of at-sea whiting allocations by reducing the 
risk of automatic closure.

Proposed Follow-On Action Regulatory Changes

    The proposed rule implementing Amendment 21-4 also includes the 
following regulatory changes:
A. Shorebased IFQ Trawl Sector Quota Trading
    This action would allow the shorebased individual fishing quota 
(IFQ) sector to trade unused quota pounds (QP) after the end of a 
fishing year to cover deficits from the previous fishing year. In 
covering deficits after the end of the fishing year, vessel account 
owners would be allowed to cover QP deficits that exceed the annual 
vessel limit for a given stock. This action would also eliminate the 
September 1st expiration deadline for QP that have not been transferred 
from quota share accounts to vessel accounts. These changes would 
provide shorebased IFQ participants greater flexibility and economic 
efficiency to fully utilize IFQ issued each year.
B. Catcher Processor (C/P) Sector Accumulation Limits
    This action would set accumulation limits for the Catcher Processor 
(C/P) co-op sector. The proposed rule would limit individuals or 
entities to owning or controlling a maximum of five C/P endorsed 
permits. Accumulation limits would become effective only in the event 
the current cooperative management structure for the at-sea C/P sector 
dissolves and an IFQ program is implemented.
C. New Data Collections
    This action would require new data collections from C/P permit 
owners and Quota Share permit owners. C/P endorsed permit owners would 
be required to complete trawl ownership interest forms currently 
required during annual renewal of Catcher Vessel and Mothership 
permits. Catcher Vessels, Motherships, and shorebased processors are 
currently required to respond to this data collection. This requirement 
is necessary to monitor compliance with accumulation limits. The 
proposed action would also require Quota Share permit owners that do 
not also own, charter or lease a vessel, shorebased processor or first 
receiver site to submit participation and quota cost/earning 
information through a subset of the Catch Share Economic Data 
Collection program. The new economic data collections would allow 
managers to better evaluate Catch Share program performance.
    NMFS welcomes comments on the proposed FMP amendment through the 
end of the comment period. NMFS submitted a proposed rule to implement 
Amendment 21-4 and associated actions for Secretarial review and 
approval, and expects to publish and request public review and comment 
on proposed regulations to implement Amendment 21-4 and associated 
actions in the near future. For public comments on the proposed rule to 
be considered in the approval or disapproval decision on Amendment 21-
4, those comments must be received by the end of the comment period on 
the amendment. All comments received by the end of the comment period 
for the amendment, whether specifically directed to the amendment or 
the proposed rule, will be considered in the approval/disapproval 
decision.

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

    Dated: August 27, 2019.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2019-18794 Filed 8-29-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-22-P