[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 250 (Friday, December 30, 2022)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 80519-80521]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-28467]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 679

RIN 0648-BL08


Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Amendment 
122 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and 
Aleutian Islands Management Area; Pacific Cod Trawl Cooperative Program

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

[[Page 80520]]

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

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

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SUMMARY: The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) 
submitted Amendment 122 to the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for 
groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area 
(BSAI) to the Secretary of Commerce for review. If approved, Amendment 
122 would implement the Pacific cod Trawl Cooperative (PCTC) Program, a 
limited access privilege program. Amendment 122 is intended to promote 
the goals and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation 
and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), Amendment 122, and the BSAI 
FMP.

DATES: Comments must be received no later than February 28, 2023.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by NOAA-NMFS-2022-0072, 
by any of the following methods:
     Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public 
comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to https://www.regulations.gov and enter NOAA-NMFS-2022-0072 in the Search box. 
Click on the ``Comment'' icon, complete the required fields, and enter 
or attach your comments.
     Mail: Submit written comments to the Assistant Regional 
Administrator, Sustainable Fisheries Division, Alaska Region NMFS. Mail 
comments to P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802-1668.
    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), 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).
    Electronic copies of Amendment 122 to the BSAI FMP, the 
Environmental Assessment/Regulatory Impact Review prepared for this 
action (the Analysis), and the Finding of No Significant Impact 
prepared for this action may be obtained from www.regulations.gov and 
the NMFS Alaska Region website at https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/region/alaska.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stephanie Warpinski, (907) 586-7228.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires that each regional fishery 
management council submit any FMP amendment it prepares 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 amendment, immediately publish a notice in the Federal 
Register announcing that the amendment is available for public review 
and comment. This notice announces that proposed Amendment 122 to the 
BSAI FMP is available for public review and comment.
    The Council prepared, and the Secretary approved, the BSAI FMP 
under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et 
seq.). The BSAI FMP is implemented by regulations governing U.S. 
fisheries at 50 CFR parts 600 and 679. The Council is authorized to 
prepare and recommend an FMP amendment for the conservation and 
management of a fishery covered under the FMP.
    Amendment 122 would create a limited access privilege program--the 
PCTC Program--in the BSAI Pacific cod trawl fishery, allocating harvest 
quota to participants based on their history in the fishery. Amendment 
122 would allocate quota share (QS) to groundfish License Limitation 
Program (LLP) license holders based on the harvest of BSAI Pacific cod 
during the qualifying years of 2009 through 2019. Amendment 122 would 
also allocate QS to a processor permit holder based on processing 
history during those qualifying years. Under this program, QS holders 
would be required to join a PCTC Program cooperative annually. 
Cooperatives would be allocated an exclusive harvest privilege in the 
form of cooperative quota (CQ), equal to the aggregate QS of all 
cooperative members. The Council's intent in recommending Amendment 122 
is to improve the prosecution of the fishery by promoting safety and 
stability in the harvesting and processing sectors, increasing the 
value of the fishery, minimizing bycatch to the extent practicable, 
providing for the sustained participation of fishery dependent 
communities, and ensuring the sustainability and viability of the 
Pacific cod resource in the BSAI.
    Amendment 122 would add section 3.7.6 of the FMP to: (1) Authorize 
the PCTC Program harvesters and processors to form cooperatives to 
harvest their QS; (2) Allocate QS to harvesters based on legal landings 
of targeted BSAI Pacific cod by trawl catcher vessels (CVs) during the 
2009 to 2019 qualifying years; (3) Allocate QS to Bering Sea processors 
based on deliveries of legal landings of targeted BSAI Pacific cod by 
trawl CVs during the 2009 to 2019 qualifying years; (4) Establish 
annual halibut and crab prohibited species catch (PSC) limits specific 
to the BSAI Pacific cod trawl CV sector during the annual harvest 
specifications process; (5) Require cooperatives to reserve 12 percent 
of A season CQ as a set-aside for delivery to an Aleutian Islands 
shoreplant if the community of Adak or Atka file a notice of intent to 
process Pacific cod that year; (6) Establish an aggregate Gulf of 
Alaska (GOA) groundfish sideboard and halibut PSC limit for all 
American Fisheries Act (AFA) CVs that are not currently exempt from GOA 
sideboards (except when participating in the Central GOA Rockfish 
Program); (7) Restrict PCTC Program harvesters that are exempt from GOA 
sideboards from leasing CQ derived from their QS; and (8) Establish 
limitations on transferability of QS, requirements for cooperative 
reporting to the Council, and ownership and use caps.
    Amendment 122 would remove section 3.6.5 of the FMP because 
Amendment 113 and its implementing regulations were vacated by the U.S. 
District Court for the District of Columbia (Court) on March 21, 2019. 
BSAI Amendment 113 required harvesters to deliver a certain amount of 
Pacific cod to AI shoreside processors, as recommended by the Council 
and implemented by NMFS at the start of the 2017 fishing year (81 FR 
84434, November 23, 2016). This proposed amendment would remove 
Amendment 113 and implement an alternative delivery set-aside under 
which PCTC Program cooperatives would reserve CQ for delivery to an 
Aleutian Island shoreplant under certain conditions.
    NMFS is soliciting public comments on proposed Amendment 122 
through the end of the comment period (see DATES). NMFS intends to 
publish in the Federal Register and seek public comment on a proposed 
rule that would implement Amendment 122 following NMFS's evaluation of 
the proposed rule under the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
    Respondents do not need to submit the same comments on Amendment 
122 and the proposed rule. All relevant written comments received by 
the end of the applicable comment period, whether specifically directed 
to the FMP amendment or the proposed rule, will be considered by NMFS 
in the approval/disapproval decision for

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Amendment 122 and addressed in the response to comments in the final 
rule. Comments received after that date may not be considered in the 
approval/disapproval decision on Amendment 122. To be certain of 
consideration, comments must be received, not just postmarked or 
otherwise transmitted, by the last day of the comment period (see 
DATES).

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

    Dated: December 27, 2022.
Ngagne Jafnar Gueye,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-28467 Filed 12-29-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P