[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 106 (Tuesday, June 2, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33633-33635]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-11778]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RTID 0648-XY102


Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Prohibited 
Species Donation Program

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

ACTION: Notice; selection of an authorized distributor.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces the renewal of two prohibited species donation 
(PSD) permits to SeaShare, authorizing this organization to distribute 
Pacific salmon and Pacific halibut to economically disadvantaged 
individuals under the PSD program. Salmon and halibut are caught 
incidentally during directed fishing for groundfish with trawl gear off 
Alaska. This action is necessary to comply with provisions of the PSD 
program and is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the 
North Pacific Fishery Management Council.

DATES: The permits are effective from June 2, 2020 through May 28, 
2023.

ADDRESSES: Electronic copies of the PSD permits for salmon and halibut 
prepared for this action may be obtained from the Alaska Region website 
at https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/region/alaska.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Megan Mackey, 907-586-7228.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    Fishing for groundfish by United States (U.S.) vessels in the 
exclusive economic zone of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands 
management area (BSAI) and Gulf of Alaska (GOA) is managed by NMFS in 
accordance with the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the 
Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area (BSAI FMP) and the 
Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA FMP). 
These fishery management plans (FMPs) were prepared by the North 
Pacific Fishery Management Council under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery

[[Page 33634]]

Conservation and Management Act, 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. Regulations 
governing the Alaska groundfish fisheries and implementing the FMPs 
appear at 50 CFR parts 600 and 679. Fishing for halibut in waters in 
and off Alaska is governed by the Convention between the U.S. and 
Canada for the Preservation of the Halibut Fishery of the North Pacific 
Ocean and Bering Sea (Convention). The International Pacific Halibut 
Commission (IPHC) promulgates regulations pursuant to the Convention. 
The IPHC's regulations are subject to approval by the Secretary of 
State with concurrence from the Secretary of Commerce. After approval 
by the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Commerce, the IPHC 
regulations are published in the Federal Register as annual management 
measures pursuant to 50 CFR 300.62.
    Retention of incidentally caught prohibited species is prohibited 
in the groundfish fisheries except for salmon and halibut for the 
purposes of the PSD program. Amendments 26 and 29 to the BSAI and GOA 
FMPs, respectively, authorize a salmon donation program and were 
approved by NMFS on July 10, 1996; a final rule implementing this 
program was published in the Federal Register on July 24, 1996 (61 FR 
38358). The salmon donation program was expanded to include halibut as 
part of the PSD program under Amendments 50 and 50 to the FMPs that 
were approved by NMFS on May 6, 1998. A final rule implementing 
Amendments 50 and 50 was published in the Federal Register on June 12, 
1998 (63 FR 32144). Although that final rule contained a sunset 
provision for the halibut PSD program of December 31, 2000, the halibut 
PSD program was permanently extended under a final rule published in 
the Federal Register on December 14, 2000 (65 FR 78119). A full 
description of the PSD program may be found in the preambles to the 
proposed rules for Amendments 26 and 29, and Amendments 50 and 50 (61 
FR 24750, May 16, 1996, and 63 FR 10583, March 4, 1998).
    Section 679.26 authorizes the voluntary distribution of salmon and 
halibut taken incidentally in the groundfish trawl fisheries off Alaska 
to economically disadvantaged individuals by tax-exempt organizations 
through an authorized distributor. The Administrator, Alaska Region, 
NMFS (Regional Administrator), may select one or more tax-exempt 
organizations to be authorized distributors, as defined by Sec.  679.2, 
based on the information submitted by applicants under Sec.  679.26. 
After review of qualified applicants, NMFS must announce the selection 
of each authorized distributor in the Federal Register and issue one or 
more PSD permits to each selected distributor.

Renewal of Permits to SeaShare

    Currently, SeaShare, a tax-exempt organization founded to help the 
seafood industry donate to U.S. hunger relief efforts, is the sole 
authorized distributor of salmon and halibut taken incidentally in the 
groundfish trawl fisheries off Alaska. SeaShare's current salmon and 
halibut PSD permits became effective June 14, 2017, and authorize 
SeaShare to participate in the PSD program through June 15, 2020 (82 FR 
27238, June 14, 2017).
    On April 23, 2020, the Regional Administrator received an 
application from SeaShare to renew its salmon and halibut PSD permits. 
The Regional Administrator reviewed the application and determined that 
it is complete and that SeaShare continues to meet the requirements for 
an authorized distributor under the PSD program. As required by Sec.  
679.26(b)(2), the Regional Administrator based his selection on the 
following criteria:
    1. The number and qualifications of applicants for PSD permits. 
SeaShare is the only applicant for PSD permits at this time. NMFS has 
previously approved applications submitted by SeaShare. As of the date 
of this notice, no other applications have been approved by NMFS. 
SeaShare has been coordinating the distribution of salmon taken 
incidentally in trawl fisheries since 1993, and of halibut taken 
incidentally in trawl fisheries since 1998, under exempted fishing 
permits from 1993 to 1998 and under the PSD program since 1998. 
SeaShare employs independent seafood quality control experts to ensure 
product quality is maintained by cold storage facilities and common 
carriers servicing the areas where salmon and halibut donations would 
take place.
    2. The number of harvesters and the quantity of fish that 
applicants can effectively administer. Current participants in the PSD 
program administered by SeaShare include 12 shoreside processors and 
136 catcher vessels delivering to shoreside processors, 34 catcher/
processors, and 3 motherships. Two reprocessing plants that generate 
steaked salmon and halibut participate in the PSD program. SeaShare has 
the capacity to receive and distribute salmon and halibut from up to 60 
processors and the associated catcher vessels. Therefore, it is 
anticipated that SeaShare has more than adequate capacity for any 
foreseeable expansion of donations.
    Table 1 shows the total pounds of headed-and-gutted and steaked 
salmon and halibut donated to food bank organizations from 2017 through 
2019. NMFS does not have information to convert accurately the net 
weights of salmon and halibut to numbers of salmon and numbers of 
halibut.

       Table 1--Headed-and-Gutted (H&G) and Steaked Salmon and Halibut Donated to Food Bank Organizations
                                                    [Pounds]
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                                                       2017            2018            2019            Total
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Salmon H&G......................................             759           3,465           3,293           7,517
Salmon steaked..................................         323,700         351,620         368,850       1,044,170
Halibut H&G.....................................          15,676          17,750          35,895          69,321
Halibut steaked.................................          23,361          24,200          15,213          62,774
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
    Total Inventory.............................         363,496         397,035         423,251       1,183,782
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    3. The anticipated level of salmon and halibut incidental catch 
based on salmon and halibut incidental catch from previous years. The 
incidental catch of salmon and incidental catch mortality of halibut in 
the GOA and BSAI trawl fisheries are shown in Table 2.

[[Page 33635]]



     Table 2--Incidental Catch of Salmon and Incidental Catch Mortality of Halibut in the GOA and BSAI Trawl
                                                    Fisheries
                                       [In number of fish or metric tons]
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           Area fishery                       2017                      2018                      2019
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BSAI Trawl Chinook Salmon           36,277 fish.............  17,394 fish.............  31,322 fish.
 Incidental Catch \1\.
BSAI Trawl Other Salmon Incidental  471,447 fish............  309,045 fish............  358,804 fish.
 Catch \2\.
GOA Trawl Chinook Salmon            24,801 fish.............  17,104 fish.............  23,893 fish.
 Incidental Catch \3\.
GOA Trawl Other Salmon Incidental   5,634 fish..............  8,989 fish..............  6,407 fish.
 Catch \4\.
BSAI Trawl Halibut Mortality \5\..  1,635 mt................  1,799 mt................  2,079 mt.
GOA Trawl Halibut Mortality \6\...  1,216 mt................  1,163 mt................  1,102 mt.
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\1\ https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/akro/chinook_salmon_mortality2020.html accessed on 04/26/
  20.
\2\ https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/akro/chum_salmon_mortality2020.html accessed on 04/26/20.
\3\ https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/akro/chum_salmon_mortality2020.html accessed on 4/27/20.
\4\ https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/akro/chum_salmon_mortality2020.html accessed on 4/27/20.
\5\ https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/alaska/commercial-fishing/fisheries-catch-and-landings-reports#bsai-prohibited-species accessed on 4/27/20.
\6\ https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/alaska/commercial-fishing/fisheries-catch-and-landings-reports#goa-prohibited-species species accessed on 4/27/20.

    Halibut incidental catch amounts are constrained by an annual 
prohibited species catch (PSC) limits in the BSAI and GOA. Future 
halibut incidental catch levels likely will be similar to those 
experienced from 2017 through 2019.
    Chinook salmon PSC limits are established for the Bering Sea and 
central and western GOA pollock fisheries that, when attained, result 
in the closure of pollock fishing. The Chinook salmon PSC limits for 
the Bering Sea pollock fisheries were originally established by 
Amendment 91 to the BSAI FMP (75 FR 53026, August 30, 2010) and 
established for the central and western GOA pollock fisheries by 
Amendment 93 to the GOA FMP (77 FR 42629, July 20, 2012). In 2016, 
Amendment 110 to the BSAI FMP was implemented to improve the management 
of Chinook and chum salmon bycatch in the Bering Sea pollock fishery by 
creating a comprehensive salmon bycatch avoidance program (81 FR 37534, 
June 10, 2016). In 2015, Amendment 97 to the GOA FMP established annual 
Chinook salmon PSC limits for the groundfish trawl fisheries, except 
for pollock trawl fisheries, in the Western and Central GOA (79 FR 
71350, December 2, 2014). While salmon incidental catch amounts tend to 
vary between years, making it difficult to accurately predict future 
incidental take amounts, the total, or maximum, amount of annual 
Chinook salmon incidental catch in the Bering Sea and GOA pollock 
fisheries is constrained by the PSC limits.
    4. The number of vessels and processors participating in the PSD 
program. For the 2020 permit renewal, there will be 12 shoreside 
processors, and vessels delivering to shoreside processors will 
decrease slightly from 137 to 136. Catcher/processors participating in 
the PSD program for salmon will decrease slightly from 35 to 34 under 
the 2020 permit renewal. Catcher vessels delivering to motherships will 
remain at 15 vessels.
    NMFS issues PSD permits to SeaShare for a 3-year period unless the 
permits are suspended or revoked under Sec.  679.26. The permits may 
not be transferred; however, they may be renewed following the 
application procedures in Sec.  679.26.
    If the authorized distributor modifies the list of participants in 
the PSD program or delivery locations, the authorized distributor must 
submit a modified list of participants or a modified list of delivery 
locations to the Regional Administrator.
    These permits may be suspended, modified, or revoked under 15 CFR 
part 904 for violation of Sec.  679.26 or other regulations in 50 CFR 
part 679.

Classification

    This action is taken under Sec.  679.26.

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 773 et seq.; 1801 et seq.; 3631 et seq.; 
Pub. L. 108-447; Pub. L. 111-281.

    Dated: May 27, 2020.
H[eacute]l[egrave]ne M.N. Scalliet,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2020-11778 Filed 6-1-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P