[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 210 (Monday, November 1, 1999)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 58796-58797]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-28438]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 679
[Docket No. 990304063-9063-01; I.D. 102699D]
Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Pollock by
Vessels Catching Pollock for Processing by the Inshore Component in the
Bering Sea Subarea
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Inseason adjustment; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: NMFS issues an inseason adjustment closing the season for
pollock by vessels catching pollock for processing by the inshore
component in the Bering Sea subarea of the Bering Sea and Aleutian
Islands management area (BSAI). This adjustment is necessary to prevent
the underharvest of the 1999 pollock total allowable catch (TAC)
specified to the inshore component in the Bering Sea subarea of the
BSAI.
DATES: Effective 1800 hrs, Alaska local time (A.l.t.),October 26, 1999,
until 2400 hrs, A.l.t., December 31, 1999.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Andrew Smoker, 907-586-7228.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS manages the groundfish fishery in the
BSAI according to the Fishery Management Plan for the Groundfish
Fishery of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Area (FMP) prepared by
the North Pacific Fishery Management Council under authority of the
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. Regulations
governing fishing by U.S. vessels in accordance with the FMP appear at
subpart H of 50 CFR part 600 and 50 CFR part 679.
In accordance with section 206(b)(1) of the American Fisheries Act,
50 percent of the remainder of the pollock TAC in the BSAI after the
subtraction of the allocation to the pollock Community Development
Quota and the subtraction of allowances for the incidental catch of
pollock by vessels harvesting other groundfish species shall be
allocated as a directed fishing allowance to catcher vessels harvesting
pollock for processing by the inshore component. The Final 1999 Harvest
Specifications of Groundfish for the BSAI (64 FR 12103, March 11,
1999), and subsequent reallocation (64 FR 56474, October 20, 1999),
established the final 1999 amount of pollock allocated for processing
by the inshore component of the Bering Sea subarea as 424,187 metric
tons.
In accordance with Sec. 679.20(d)(1)(iii), the Regional
Administrator finds that this directed fishing allowance soon will be
reached. Consequently, NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for pollock
by vessels catching pollock for processing by the inshore component in
the Bering Sea subarea of the BSAI.
Current information shows the catching capacity of vessels catching
pollock for processing by the inshore component is in excess of 5,000
mt per day.
Section 679.23(b) specifies that the time of all openings and
closures of fishing seasons other than the beginning and end of the
calendar fishing year is 1200 hrs, A.l.t. The Administrator, Alaska
Region, NMFS, has determined that the remaining portion of the
allocation to the inshore component would be underharvested if a 1200
hrs closure were allowed to occur.
[[Page 58797]]
NMFS, therefore, in accordance with Sec. 679.25(a)(1)(i), is
adjusting the season for pollock by vessels catching pollock for
processing by the inshore component in the Bering Sea subarea by
closing directed fishing at 1800 hrs, A.l.t., October 26, 1999. NMFS is
taking this action to prevent the underharvest of the pollock
allocation to vessels catching pollock for processing by the inshore
component in the Bering Sea subarea of the BSAI as authorized by
Sec. 679.25(a)(2)(i)(C). In accordance with Sec. 679.25(a)(2)(iii),
NMFS has determined that closing the season at 1800 hrs on October 26,
1999 is the least restrictive management adjustment to harvest the
pollock allocated to vessels catching pollock for processing by the
inshore component in the Bering Sea subarea of the BSAI and will allow
other fisheries to continue in noncritical areas and time periods.
Maximum retainable bycatch amounts may be found in the regulations
at Sec. 679.20(e) and (f).
Classification
This action responds to the TAC limitations and other restrictions
on the fisheries established in the 1999 harvest specifications for
groundfish for the BSAI. Without this inseason adjustment, the pollock
allocation for vessels catching pollock for processing by the inshore
component in the Bering Sea of the BSAI could be underharvested, by
5,000 mt, resulting in an economic loss of more than five hundred
thousand dollars.
Under Sec. 679.25(c)(2), interested persons are invited to submit
written comments on this action to the above address until November 12,
1999.
This action is required by Sec. 679.22 and is exempt from review
under E.O. 12866.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: October 26, 1999.
Richard W. Surdi,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 99-28438 Filed 10-27-99; 10:21 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F
