§ 679.133 - PCTC Program ownership caps, use caps, and sideboard limits.

§ 679.133 PCTC Program ownership caps, use caps, and sideboard limits.

(a) Ownership and use caps —

(1) General.

(i) Ownership caps limit the amount of PCTC Program QS that may be owned by a harvester or processor and their affiliates. Use caps limit the amount of CQ that may be harvested by a vessel or received and processed by a processor.

(ii) Use caps do not apply to halibut or crab PSC CQ.

(iii) Ownership and use caps may not be exceeded except as provided under paragraph (a)(6) of this section.

(iv) All QS ownership caps are a percentage of the initial PCTC Program QS pool established by NMFS at § 679.130(e).

(v) The CQ processing use cap is a percentage of the total amount of CQ issued to cooperatives during a calendar year.

(vi) The vessel use cap is a percentage of the amount of CQ assigned to the PCTC Program during a calendar year.

(2) Harvester PCTC Program QS ownership cap. A person may not individually or collectively own more than 5 percent of the PCTC Program QS initially assigned to harvesters unless that person qualifies for an exemption to this ownership cap under paragraph (a)(6) of this section based on their qualifying catch history. Processor-issued QS does not count toward this ownership cap.

(3) Vessel use cap. A catcher vessel may not harvest an amount of CQ greater than 5 percent of the CQ issued to the PCTC Program during a calendar year unless that vessel qualifies for an exemption to this use cap under paragraph (a)(6) of this section based on their qualifying catch history.

(4) Processor ownership cap. A person may not individually or collectively own more than 20 percent of the PCTC Program QS initially assigned to processors unless that person qualifies for an exemption to this ownership cap under paragraph (a)(6) of this section based on their qualifying processing history.

(5) Processing use cap. A processor, at the firm or company level, may not process more than 20 percent of the CQ assigned to the PCTC Program during a calendar year unless that processor qualifies for an exemption to this use cap under paragraph (a)(6) of this section based on their qualifying processing history. The amount of CQ that is received by a PCTC Program processor is calculated based on the sum of all landings made with CQ received or processed by that processor and the CQ received or processed by any person affiliated with that processor as that term is defined at § 679.2.

(6) Cap exemptions.

(i) A person may receive an initial allocation of PCTC Program QS in excess of the harvester ownership cap. This exemption is non-transferable.

(ii) A person may receive an initial allocation of PCTC Program QS in excess of the processor ownership cap. This exemption is non-transferable.

(iii) A vessel designated on an LLP license that received an initial allocation of PCTC Program QS in excess of the harvester ownership cap may harvest CQ in excess of the vessel use cap up to the amount of CQ resulting from QS assigned to the LLP license. This exemption is non-transferable.

(iv) Processor use cap exemptions. A processor that received an initial allocation of PCTC Program QS in excess of the processor ownership cap may process more than 20 percent of CQ during a calendar year up to an amount of CQ proportional to the ratio of QS held by the processor to the total amount of QS held by processors. This exemption is non-transferable. An Aleutian Islands shoreplant is not subject to this processor use cap.

(7) Transfer limitations. An eligible harvester that receives an initial allocation of PCTC Program QS that exceeds the ownership cap listed in paragraph (a)(2) of this section shall not receive any PCTC Program QS by transfer unless and until the eligible harvester's holdings of PCTC Program QS in the PCTC Program are reduced to an amount below the use cap specified in this paragraph (a).

(b) Sideboard limits—general. The regulations in this section restrict the holders of LLP licenses issued PCTC Program QS from using the increased flexibility provided by the PCTC Program to expand their level of participation in GOA groundfish fisheries.

(1) Sideboard limit restrictions for LLP licenses authorizing AFA non-exempt catcher vessels. LLP licenses that authorize AFA non-exempt catcher vessels will be subject to the sideboard limitations specified at § 679.64(b)(4)(i).

(2) At-Sea Processing Sideboard Limit. A sideboard limit will be specified on each LLP license with a BSAI Pacific cod trawl mothership endorsement. Each LLP license with a BSAI Pacific cod trawl mothership endorsement may receive CQ deliveries from a catcher vessel not to exceed 125 percent of a catcher/processor's processing history as defined at § 679.130 and subject to eligibility requirements under BSAI FMP Amendment 120 to limit CPs acting as motherships.