[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 226 (Wednesday, November 24, 1999)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 66158-66159]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-30657]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 660
[Docket No. 991118308-9308-01; I.D. 101899C]
RIN 0648-AN33
Fisheries off West Coast States and in the Western Pacific;
Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; Control Date
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Advance notice of proposed rulemaking; notice of control date
for the Pacific Coast groundfish fishery; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: This document announces a control date of September 16, 1999,
after which vessels eligible for benefits under the American Fisheries
Act (AFA) may be subject to restrictions on participation in the
Pacific Coast groundfish fisheries. The intended effect of announcing
this control date is to discourage speculative entry into the Pacific
coast groundfish fisheries by AFA-qualified vessels while the Pacific
Fishery Management Council (Council) develops recommendations to
protect the Pacific Coast groundfish fisheries from adverse impacts
caused by the AFA.
DATES: Comments may be submitted in writing by December 27, 1999.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to Jerry Mallet, Chairman, Pacific
Fishery Management Council, 2130 SW Fifth Avenue, Suite 224, Portland,
OR 97201.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The Pacific Fishery Management Council
at 503-326-6352; or Bill Robinson at 206-526-6140; or Svein Fougner at
562-980-4000.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Pacific Fishery Management Council
(Council) established under section 302(a)(1)(F) of the Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C.
1852(a)(1)(F)) is considering recommendations for approval by NMFS of
conservation and management measures to protect fisheries under its
jurisdiction and the participants in those fisheries from adverse
impacts caused by the AFA (Pub.L. 105-277, Div. C, Title II, October
21, 1998, 112 Stat. 2681-616; 16 U.S.C. 1851 note; 46 U.S.C. 101 note,
12102, 31322; 46 App. 1274 note), or by any
[[Page 66159]]
fishery cooperatives in the Alaska pollock fishery, as required by
section 211(c)(3)(A) of the AFA. Pursuant to the AFA, the Council's
recommendations are due to NMFS not later than July 1, 2000. The AFA at
section 211(b)(5) also provides that catcher/processors and motherships
eligible under the AFA are prohibited from harvesting or processing
fish in any U.S. fishery outside Alaska, except the Pacific whiting
fishery, unless harvesting or processing by those catcher-processor
motherships is specifically authorized under a fishery management plan.
Pacific whiting is a major component of the species aggregate in the
Pacific Coast groundfish fisheries.
Conservation and management measures under consideration by the
Council to offset adverse impacts of the AFA include possible
restrictions on participation in the Pacific coast groundfish fisheries
by vessels eligible for benefits under the AFA (AFA-qualified vessels).
During its September 13-17, 1999, meeting in Portland, Oregon, the
Council adopted September 16, 1999, as a control date to be used in
placing restrictions on participation in the Pacific Coast groundfish
fisheries by AFA-qualified vessels. In making this announcement, NMFS
and the Council intend to prevent speculative entry into the fisheries
after the control date by AFA-qualified vessels, while the Council
develops and analyzes its recommendations. The control date applies to
catcher vessels in the mothership and shore-based sectors of the
Pacific whiting fishery, and to all other non-whiting groundfish
fisheries in which catch is landed shoreside. The control date provides
notice to AFA-qualified vessels that might seek to participate in the
Pacific Coast groundfish fisheries that current requirements for
accessing these fisheries may change. Vessels entering the fisheries
after the control date may be subject to new restrictions that do not
currently exist, and they may not receive credit for fishing after the
control date.
The Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP) was
approved on January 4, 1982 (47 FR 43964, October 5, 1982), and has
been amended 10 times. Implementing regulations for the FMP and its
amendments are codified at 50 CFR part 660, Subpart G.
The AFA, enacted in 1998, reduced the harvest capacity in the
Alaska pollock fishery by retiring nine Bering Sea catcher/processors.
It also redistributed pollock allocations between the inshore and
offshore sectors, and defined conditions for creating fishery
cooperatives in the pollock fleet. Vessels that participate in such
cooperatives are likely to have increased flexibility in arranging
their fishing schedules and could consider entering additional
fisheries.
At its September 13-17, 1999, meeting, the Council and its
Groundfish Advisory Panel heard proposals from West Coast fishers and
processors concerned that some AFA-qualified vessels with no previous
or low levels of participation in the Pacific groundfish fishery will
increase their fishing effort in the Pacific Coast groundfish fishery.
A particular problem is posed if AFA-qualified vessels participating in
pollock fishing cooperatives rearrange their pollock fishing schedules
to allow them time to fish in non-pollock fisheries such as the Pacific
Coast groundfish fishery. To participate in most limited entry
groundfish fisheries vessels only need to purchase a general limited
entry permit. No permit is required to participate in the open access
fisheries. Because new permit holders and entrants into the open access
fishery currently have access rights that are equal to those who have
historically participated in the fishery, speculative entry may be
encouraged. Additional effort could exacerbate existing management
problems and erode the effectiveness of future measures recommended by
the Council.
The Council unanimously voted to establish a control date of
September 16, 1999, and to initiate the development of recommendations
to restrict AFA-qualified vessels from participating in the Pacific
Coast groundfish fishery if, during a qualifying period between January
1, 1994, and September 16, 1999, the vessel: (1) did not harvest at
least 50 metric tons (mt) of Pacific whiting in the mothership sector;
(2) did not land at least 50 mt of Pacific whiting in the shore-based
sector; or (3) did not land groundfish shoreside in the Pacific Coast
groundfish fishery (not including fish landed in the Pacific whiting
fishery).
Implementation of any management measures for the fishery will
require amendment of the regulations implementing the FMP and may also
require amendment of the FMP itself. Any action will require Council
development of a regulatory proposal with public input and a supporting
analysis, NMFS approval, and publication of implementing regulations in
the Federal Register. If catch history is used as basis for
participation, it is likely that AFA-qualified vessel participation in
the fishery after the control date will receive little or no credit.
Fishers are not guaranteed future participation in the groundfish
fishery, regardless of their date of entry or level of participation in
the fishery.
This advance notice of proposed rulemaking has been determined to
be not significant for purposes of Executive Order 12866.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.; Pub. L. 105-277, Div. C,
Title II, October 21, 1988.
Dated: November 18, 1999.
William Fox,
Acting Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 99-30657 Filed 11-23-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F
