[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 127 (Tuesday, July 2, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54785-54786]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-14503]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[RTID 0648-XD994]


Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Bering Sea 
and Aleutian Islands Crab Rationalization Cost Recovery Program

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

ACTION: Notification of fee percentage.

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SUMMARY: NMFS publishes notification of a 3 percent fee for cost 
recovery under the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Crab Rationalization 
Program (Program). This action is intended to provide holders of crab 
allocations notice of the 2024/2025 crab fishing year fee percentage so 
they can calculate the required cost recovery fee payment,

[[Page 54786]]

which must be submitted to NMFS by July 31, 2025.

DATES: The Crab Rationalization Program Registered Crab Receiver permit 
holder is responsible for submitting the fee liability payment to NMFS 
by July 31, 2025.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Amy Hadfield, (907) 586-7228.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    NMFS Alaska Region administers the Program in the North Pacific. 
Fishing under the Program began on August 15, 2005. Regulations 
implementing the Program can be found at 50 CFR part 680.
    The Program is a limited access privilege program authorized by 
section 313(j) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). The Program includes a cost 
recovery provision to collect fees to recover the actual costs directly 
related to the management, data collection, and enforcement of the 
Program. The Program is consistent with the cost recovery provisions 
included under section 304(d)(2)(A) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. NMFS 
developed the cost recovery regulations to conform to statutory 
requirements and to reimburse the agency for the actual costs directly 
related to the management, data collection, and enforcement of the 
Program. The cost recovery provision allows collection of 133 percent 
of the actual management, data collection, and enforcement costs not to 
exceed 3 percent of the ex-vessel value of crab harvested under the 
Program. The Program provides that a proportional share of fees charged 
will be forwarded to the State of Alaska for reimbursement of its share 
of management and data collection costs for the Program.
    A crab allocation holder generally incurs a cost recovery fee 
liability for every pound of crab landed. Catcher vessel and processor 
quota shareholders split the cost recovery fees equally with each 
paying half, while catcher/processor quota shareholders pay the full 
fee percentage for crab processed at sea. The crab allocations subject 
to cost recovery include Individual Fishing Quota, Crew Individual 
Fishing Quota, Individual Processing Quota, Community Development 
Quota, and the Adak community allocation. The Registered Crab Receiver 
(RCR) permit holder must collect the fee liability from the crab 
allocation holder who is landing crab. Additionally, the RCR permit 
holder must collect their own fee liability for all crab delivered to 
the RCR. The RCR permit holder is responsible for submitting this 
payment to NMFS on or before July 31, in the year following the crab 
fishing year in which landings of crab were made.
    The dollar amount of the fee due is determined by multiplying the 
fee percentage (not to exceed 3 percent) by the ex-vessel value of crab 
debited from the allocation. Program details may be found in the 
implementing regulations at Sec.  680.44.

Fee Percentage

    Each year, NMFS calculates and publishes in the Federal Register 
the fee percentage according to the factors and methodology described 
at Sec.  680.44(c)(2). The formula for determining the fee percentage 
is the ``direct program costs'' divided by ``value of the fishery,'' 
where ``direct program costs'' are the direct program costs for the 
Program for the previous fiscal year, and ``value of the fishery'' is 
the ex-vessel value of the catch subject to the crab cost recovery fee 
liability for the current year. Fee collections for any given year may 
be less than or greater than the actual costs and fishery value for 
that year, as regulations establish the fee percentage in the first 
quarter of the crab fishing year based on the fishery value and costs 
in the prior year.
    According to the fee percentage formula described above, the 
estimated percentage of costs to value for the 2023/2024 fishery is 
higher than the maximum fee percentage of 3 percent. As the actual fee 
percentage is higher than the maximum fee percentage, the effective fee 
percentage will be 3 percent for the 2024/2025 crab fishing year. This 
is equal to the effective fee percentage for the 2023/2024 crab fishing 
year of 3 percent (88 FR 51301, August 3, 2023). While the fishery 
value increased by approximately 75 percent from last year, the current 
year fishery value is the second lowest value recorded for this fishery 
since 2013. Therefore, the overall low fishery value and the direct 
program costs result in a fee percentage higher than 3 percent. A more 
detailed explanation will be provided in the annual Crab Cost Recovery 
Report, which will be published in the first quarter of 2025. Similar 
to previous years, the largest direct Program costs were incurred by 
the NOAA Office of Law Enforcement and the State of Alaska Department 
of Fish and Game, respectively.
    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1862; Pub. L. 109-241; Pub. L. 109-479.

    Dated: June 26, 2024.
Lindsay Fullenkamp,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-14503 Filed 6-28-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P