[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 7 (Monday, January 12, 1998)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 1812-1813]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-621]
[[Page 1812]]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
50 CFR Part 300
[Docket No. 971223311-7311-01; I.D. 120997B]
RIN 0648-AK18
Fisheries in the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Pacific
Halibut Fisheries; Remove Regulatory Areas 4A and 4B From the Catch
Sharing Plan
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Proposed rule and amendment to the catch sharing plan; request
for comments.
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SUMMARY: This proposed action would amend the halibut catch sharing
plan (CSP) by removing Halibut Regulatory Areas 4A and 4B, leaving the
specification of catch limits for Pacific halibut in these areas to the
International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC), and making a
corresponding change to the implementing regulations. This action is
necessary to facilitate new stock assessment methods developed by the
IPHC to determine catch limits for the Pacific halibut resource in
Regulatory Area 4. This action is intended to further the goals and
objectives of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council)
with respect to the Pacific halibut fishery, consistent with the
regulations and resource management objectives of the IPHC.
DATES: Comments on the proposed amendment to the CSP and the proposed
change to the implementing regulations must be received by February 11,
1998.
ADDRESSES: Comments must be sent to the Assistant Regional
Administrator for the Sustainable Fisheries Division, Alaska Region,
NMFS, Room 453, 709 West 9th Street, Juneau, AK 99801, or P.O. Box
21668, Juneau, AK 99802, Attention: Lori J. Gravel.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James Hale, 907-586-7228.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) is responsible for
implementing the Convention between the United States of America and
Canada for the Preservation of the Halibut Fishery of the Northern
Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea, as provided by the Northern Pacific
Halibut Act of 1982 (Halibut Act), at 16 U.S.C. 773c. Section 773c(c)
authorizes the Regional Fishery Management Council having authority for
the geographical area concerned to develop regulations governing the
allocation of Pacific halibut among U.S. fishermen. Such regulations
may be in addition to, but must not conflict with, regulations
developed by the IPHC and must be approved by the Secretary before
being implemented. Accordingly, the Council developed a halibut fishery
management regime that established for IPHC Areas 2C through 4E an
Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) limited access system and, for IPHC
Areas 4B through 4E, a Community Development Quota (CDQ) program for
certain western Alaska communities. The IFQ and CDQ programs were
designed to allocate specific harvesting privileges among U.S.
fishermen to resolve conservation and management problems that stem
from ``open access'' management and to promote the development of the
seafood industry in western Alaska. Both programs were approved by the
Secretary on January 29, 1993, and were initially implemented by rules
published in the Federal Register on November 9, 1993 (58 FR 59375).
Fishing for halibut under the IFQ and CDQ programs began on March 15,
1995.
The CSP was approved by the Secretary and published in the Federal
Register on March 20, 1996 (61 FR 11337). The CSP apportions the catch
limit specified by the IPHC for Regulatory Area 4 among Areas 4A, 4B,
4C, 4D, and 4E, in accordance with the Halibut Act. In February 1995,
the IPHC informed the Council that no basis existed other than
allocation based on historical commercial harvests for distribution of
catch limits among regulatory areas 4C, 4D, and 4E. Given indications
of separate halibut populations in Areas 4A and 4B, IPHC staff
recommended moving toward a biomass-based method of setting catch
limits for these two areas, while as yet no biological or conservation
basis exists for setting separate catch limits for Areas 4C, 4D, and
4E. At that time, the IPHC staff indicated that it was still reviewing
its methods of calculating biomass for Areas 4A and 4B and that they
were 1- to 2 years away from making final recommendations to the IPHC
on a biomass-based methodology for Area 4. The IPHC staff acknowledged
no evidence of harm to the Area 4 halibut resource due to the
traditional method of apportioning the catch limit among areas. In
order to achieve the socio-economic objectives of the IFQ and CDQ
programs, the historical apportionment of catch limits among areas must
be considered, and the Halibut Act authorizes the development of
regulations that have allocation of harvesting privileges as a primary
objective. Therefore, the Council initiated an analysis of a CSP as an
interim method for setting catch limits for Areas 4A-4E. In December
1995, the Council approved the Area 4 CSP while the IPHC staff refined
its biomass-based methodology for determining catch limits in Area 4.
NMFS implemented the CSP beginning in March 1996 (61 FR 11337, March 3,
1996).
The Proposed Revision of the CSP
Halibut Areas 4A and 4B would be removed from the CSP. The revised
CSP would thus constitute a framework applied to the annual combined
Areas 4C, 4D, and 4E catch limit established by the IPHC. The purpose
of the revised CSP would be to provide for the apportionment of Area
4C, 4D, and 4E catch limits apart from Areas 4A and 4B as necessary to
carry out the objectives of the IFQ and CDQ programs, which allocate
halibut among U.S. fishermen. The IPHC, consistent with its authority
and responsibilities, would implement the measures specified in this
CSP at its next annual meeting in January 1998. This revised CSP would
continue in effect until amended by the Council or superseded by action
of the IPHC.
Areas 4C, 4D, and 4E: For purposes of this revised CSP, definitions
of these areas are republished as follows:
Area 4C includes all waters in the Bering Sea north of Areas 4A and
north of the closed area, as defined in 62 FR 12759 (March 18, 1997),
that are east of 171 deg.00'00'' N. lat., and west of 168 deg.00'00''
W. long.
Area 4D includes all waters in the Bering Sea north of Areas 4A and
4B, north and west of Area 4C, and west of 168 deg.00'00'' W. long.
Area 4E includes all waters in the Bering Sea north and east of the
closed area, defined in 62 FR 12759 (March 18, 1997), east of
168 deg.00'00'' W. long and south of 65 deg.34'00'' N. lat.
Catch limit apportionments: The catch limits for Areas 4C, 4D, and
4E would be allocated as the percentages of the combined Area 4C-E
catch limit specified annually by the IPHC, as follows:
Area 4C, 46.42 percent
Area 4D, 46.42 percent
Area 4E, 7.14 percent
Removal of Areas 4A and 4B from the CSP would have a secondary effect
on the additional 80,000 lb (36.3 mt) allocation to Area 4E CDQ
fishermen. The CSP currently provides that the
[[Page 1813]]
amount of the Area 4 catch limit greater than 5,920,000 lb (2,685.3 mt)
but less than or equal to 6,000,000 lb (2,721.6 mt) be allocated to
Area 4E. With the proposed removal of Areas 4A and 4B from the CSP, the
amount of the combined area 4C-E greater than 1,657,600 lb (752 mt,
based on 28 percent of the total 1995 Area 4 catch limit) and less than
1,737,600 lb (788.2 mt) would be assigned to Area 4E. The amount of the
combined area 4C-E catch limit greater than 1,737,600 lb (788.2 mt)
would be distributed among areas 4C, 4D, and 4E according to the
revised CSP apportionment schedule.
Example: If the IPHC specified the Area 4 catch limit to be
5,920,000 lb (2,685.3 mt), 31.1 percent or 1,859,780 lb (843.6 mt) of
this total would be apportioned to the combined area 4C-4E. Of that
combined area 4C-4E catch limit, 1,657,600 lb (752 mt) plus 122,180 lb
(55.4 mt, the remaining amount over 1,737,600 lb (788.2 mt)) would be
distributed among Areas 4C, 4D, and 4E according to the revised CSP
apportionment schedule, and 80,000 lb (36.2 mt) added to the Area 4E
apportionment, as follows:
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Area Lb Mt
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4C................................. .4642 x 1,779,780........................... = 826,174 374.8
4D................................. .4642 x 1,779,780........................... = 826,174 374.8
4E................................. .0714 x 1,779,780+80,000.................... = 207,076 93.9
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Totals......................... .9998....................................... .. 1,859,324 843.4
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Classification
The Assistant General Counsel for Legislation and Regulation of the
Department of Commerce certified to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of
the Small Business Administration that this proposed revision to the
CSP would not have a significant economic impact on a substantial
number of small entities as follows:
The 1996 CSP set aside the first 80,000 lb (36.3 mt) of the
total Area 4 catch limit greater than 5,920,000 lb (2,685.3 mt), and
so distributed the impact of removing those pounds from the Area 4
catch limit among the 720 IFQ and 159 CDQ fishermen in Areas 4A-4D.
The revised CSP would set aside the first 80,000 lb (36.3 mt) of the
combined Area 4C-4E catch limit over 1,657,600 lb (752 mt). The
analysis prepared by the Council for this proposed revision of the
CSP indicates that the impact of the removal of that 80,000 lb (36.3
mt) would, under the revised CSP, be borne by the 146 IFQ and 119
CDQ fishermen in the remaining CSP Areas 4C and 4D. All of these
entities are considered small entities, and all would be affected by
this action. Thus, this action would affect a substantial number of
small entities. However, the analysis indicates that the potentially
foregone amounts of halibut from fishermen in Areas 4C and 4D would
amount to less than 5 percent of the annual gross revenues for
fishermen in these areas. The proposed revision of the CSP would not
increase compliance costs for any IFQ or CDQ fishermen.
Therefore, an initial regulatory flexibility analysis was not prepared.
This proposed rule has been determined to be not significant for
purposes of E.O. 12866.
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 300
Fisheries, Fishing, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements,
Treaties.
Dated: January 5, 1998.
Rolland A. Schmitten,
Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
For the reasons set out in the preamble, 50 CFR part 300 is
proposed to be amended as follows:
PART 300--INTERNATIONAL FISHERIES REGULATIONS
1. The authority citation for part 300 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 773 et seq.
2. In Sec. 300.63, paragraph (b) is revised to read as follows:
Sec. 300.63 Catch sharing plans and domestic management measures.
* * * * *
(b) The catch sharing plan for area 4 allocates the annual TAC
among Areas 4C, 4D, and 4E, and will be implemented by the Commission
in annual management measures published pursuant to Sec. 300.62.
[FR Doc. 98-621 Filed 1-9-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
