[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 103 (Tuesday, June 1, 2021)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 29210-29211]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-11417]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 660

[Docket No. 201204-0325]
RIN 0648-BK53


Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; Fisheries Off West Coast States; 
Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; 2021-2022 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 routine inseason adjustments to the 
harvest limits for incidental Pacific halibut retention in the 
sablefish primary fishery. The Pacific Fishery Management Council 
recommended, and NMFS is implementing, a decrease to the incidental 
Pacific halibut catch limit to ensure equitable harvest opportunities 
without exceeding the harvest limit.

DATES: This final rule is effective June 1, 2021.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Abbie Moyer, phone: 206-305-9601 or 
email: [email protected].

Electronic Access

    This rule is accessible via the internet at the Office of the 
Federal Register website at https://www.federalregister.gov. Background 
information and documents are available at the Pacific Fishery 
Management Council's website at http://www.pcouncil.org/.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (PCGFMP), and 
its implementing regulations at 50 CFR part 660, subparts C through G, 
regulate fishing for over 90 species of groundfish off the coasts of 
Washington, Oregon, and California. The Pacific Fishery Management 
Council (Council) develops groundfish harvest specifications and 
management measures for two-year periods (i.e., a biennium). NMFS 
published the final rule to implement harvest specifications and 
management measures for the 2021-2022 biennium for most species managed 
under the PCGFMP on December 11, 2020, (85 FR 79880). NMFS also 
published a correction (85 FR 86853, December 31, 2020), and a 
correcting amendment (86 FR 14379, March 16, 2021) to implement the 
Council's recommendations for the 2021-2022 harvest specifications and 
management measures.
    In general, the management measures set at the start of the 
biennial harvest specifications cycle help the various sectors of the 
fishery attain, but not exceed, the catch limits for each stock. The 
Council, in coordination with Pacific Coast Treaty Indian Tribes and 
the states of Washington, Oregon, and California, recommends 
adjustments to the management measures during the fishing year to 
achieve this goal. At its March 2-5 and 8-11, 2021, meeting, the 
Council recommended decreasing the amount of Pacific halibut that 
vessels in the sablefish primary fishery north of Point Chehalis, WA, 
may take incidentally to ensure that catch of Pacific halibut stays 
within the allocated amount.
    Pacific halibut is generally a prohibited species for vessels 
fishing in Pacific coast groundfish fisheries, unless explicitly 
allowed in groundfish regulations. The Council developed a Catch 
Sharing Plan for the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) 
Regulatory Area 2A, as provided for in the Northern Pacific Halibut Act 
of 1982 (16 U.S.C. 773-773k), to allocate the Area 2A annual total 
allowable catch (TAC) for Pacific halibut among fisheries off 
Washington, Oregon, and California.
    Under the Catch Sharing Plan, the sablefish primary fishery north 
of Point Chehalis, WA (46[deg]53.30' N lat.) is allocated a portion of 
the Washington recreational allocation, which varies via a TAC-
dependent formula, as described in the Catch Sharing Plan.
    The sablefish primary fishery season is open from April 1 to 
October 31, though the fishery may close for individual participants 
prior to October 31 once they reach the cumulative limit associated 
with their tier assignment(s). Regulations at Sec.  660.231(b)(3)(iv) 
allow vessels fishing in the sablefish primary fishery with a permit 
from the IPHC to retain Pacific halibut up to a set landing limit, 
which may be reviewed and modified throughout the sablefish primary 
fishery season to allow for attainment, but not exceedance of the 
Pacific halibut allocation. The objectives for the annual landing 
restrictions are to allow incidental Pacific halibut catch to attain 
the Pacific halibut allocation at about the same time the sablefish 
primary season ends (October 31), and to ensure an equitable sharing of 
the Pacific halibut landings among the fishers.
    On March 9, 2021, NMFS implemented a 2021 Area 2A TAC of 1,510,000 
pound (lb) (684.9 metric tons (mt)) (86 FR 13475). As specified by the 
Catch Sharing Plan, since the 2021 Area 2A catch limit is greater than 
1.5 million pounds (680.4 mt), the incidental halibut limit for the 
sablefish primary fishery's allocation is 70,000 lb (31.8 mt) (86 FR 
13475, March 9, 2021), the same limit as was in place in 2020. In 2020, 
due to the COVID-19 pandemic affecting vessel participation, harvest 
during the regular sablefish primary fishery season was lower than 
predicted. As a result, at the September 2020 Council meeting, the 
Council recommended, and NMFS implemented, an emergency rule to extend 
the sablefish primary season, normally scheduled to end on October 31, 
until December 31, 2020 (85 FR 68001, October 27, 2020). Also, as part 
of that emergency rule, the incidental Pacific halibut retention 
allowance continued until the close of the Pacific halibut season on 
November 15, 2020. The 2020 season concluded with 90.5 percent of the 
70,000 lb (31.8 mt) allowance for Pacific halibut landed. The effects 
of the COVID-19 pandemic on sablefish primary fishery harvest are 
expected to be lessened in 2021, compared to 2020. If fishing patterns 
return to more typical seasonal efforts in 2021, the incidental Pacific 
halibut retention limit in place in 2020 may be too high, and harvest 
of Pacific halibut may accrue too quickly to allow retention throughout 
the entire sablefish primary season, which is expected to run through 
October 31, 2021. Therefore, at the March 2021 virtual meeting, the 
Council recommended a precautionary reduction in Pacific halibut 
retention allowance early in the 2021 sablefish primary fishery season 
to discourage targeted fishing while allowing small incidental catches 
through the end of the season on October 31.
    The Council recommended, and NMFS is revising the incidental 
Pacific halibut retention regulations at

[[Page 29211]]

Sec.  660.231(b)(3)(iv) to decrease the incidental Pacific halibut 
catch limit to enable some efficiency without exceeding the harvest 
limit. The limit will be reduced from 250 lb (113 kg) dressed weight of 
halibut for every 1,000 lb (454 kg) dressed weight of sablefish landed, 
and up to two halibut in excess of the ratio, to 225 lb (102 kg) 
dressed weight of halibut for every 1,000 lb (454 kg) dressed weight of 
sablefish landed, and up to two halibut in excess of the ratio. This 
decrease is expected to allow opportunity for total catch of Pacific 
halibut to approach, but not exceed, the 2021 allocation for the 
sablefish primary fishery north of Point Chehalis, WA (70,000 lb or 
31.8 mt).

Classification

    This final rule makes routine inseason adjustments to groundfish 
fishery management measures, based on the best scientific information 
available, 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 by contacting Abbie Moyer in NMFS' West Coast 
Region (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, above), or view at the 
NMFS West Coast Groundfish website: http://www.westcoast.fisheries.noaa.gov/fisheries/groundfish/index.html.
    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. The adjustments to management measures in this 
document affect commercial fisheries off the coast of Washington. No 
aspect of this action is controversial, and changes of this nature were 
anticipated in the final rule for the 2021-2022 harvest specifications 
and management measures, which was published on December 11, 2020 (85 
FR 79880). Accordingly, for the reasons stated below, NMFS finds good 
cause to waive prior notice and comment.
    At its March 2021 meeting, the Council recommended the decrease to 
the incidental Pacific halibut retention limit for vessels fishing in 
the sablefish primary fishery north of Point Chehalis. The sablefish 
primary fishery opened on April 1. The Council recommends this 
precautionary reduction be implemented as soon as possible, early in 
the season, in an effort to prolong the amount of time Pacific halibut 
may be retained in the sablefish primary fishery north of Point 
Chehalis.
    Additionally, if the new limit is not implemented until closer to 
the end of the season, after a full rulemaking, the sablefish primary 
fishery north of Point Chehalis would be more likely to reach or exceed 
its 2021 allocation of Pacific halibut before the end of the sablefish 
primary fishery season. Therefore, providing a comment period for this 
action could limit the equitable benefits to the fishery, and the 
vessels that participate in the fishery, as they rely on the Pacific 
halibut retention allowance throughout the entire season and could 
result in a greater risk of exceeding the Pacific halibut harvest 
allocation.
    Because prior notice and an opportunity for public comment are not 
required to be provided for this rule by 5 U.S.C. 553, or any other 
law, the analytical requirements of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 
U.S.C. 601 et seq., are not applicable. Accordingly, no Regulatory 
Flexibility Analysis is required for this rule and none has been 
prepared.
    For the same reasons stated above, NMFS has determined good cause 
exists to waive the 30-day delay in effectiveness pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 
553(d) so that this final rule may become effective upon publication in 
the Federal Register. The adjustments to management measures in this 
document affect commercial fisheries by decreasing the incidental 
halibut retention limit in the sablefish primary fishery north of Point 
Chehalis, WA. This adjustment was requested by the Council's advisory 
bodies, as well as members of industry during the Council's March 2021, 
meeting, and recommended unanimously by the Council. No aspect of this 
action is controversial, and changes of this nature were anticipated in 
the biennial harvest specifications and management measures established 
through a notice and comment rulemaking for 2021-2022 (85 FR 79880, 
December 11, 2020).

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 660

    Fisheries, Fishing, and Indian Fisheries.

    Dated: May 25, 2021.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting 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., 16 U.S.C. 773 et seq., and 
16 U.S.C. 7001 et seq.

0
2. In Sec.  660.231, revise paragraph (b)(3)(iv) to read as follows:


Sec.  660.231   Limited entry fixed gear sablefish primary fishery.

* * * * *
    (b) * * *
    (3) * * *
    (iv) Incidental Pacific halibut retention north of Pt. Chehalis, WA 
(46[deg]53.30' N lat.). From April 1 through October 31, vessels 
authorized to participate in the sablefish primary fishery, licensed by 
the International Pacific Halibut Commission for commercial fishing in 
Area 2A (waters off Washington, Oregon, California), and fishing with 
longline gear north of Pt. Chehalis, WA (46[deg]53.30' N lat.) may 
possess and land up to 225 lbs (102 kg) dressed weight of Pacific 
halibut for every 1,000 lbs (454 kg) dressed weight of sablefish 
landed, and up to two additional Pacific halibut in excess of the 225-
lbs-per-1,000-pound limit per landing. ``Dressed'' Pacific halibut in 
this area means halibut landed eviscerated with their heads on. Pacific 
halibut taken and retained in the sablefish primary fishery north of 
Pt. Chehalis may only be landed north of Pt. Chehalis and may not be 
possessed or landed south of Pt. Chehalis.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2021-11417 Filed 5-28-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P