[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 47 (Tuesday, March 11, 1997)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 11109-11110]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-5977]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
50 CFR Part 679
[Docket No. 961220363-7038-02; I.D. 120296B]
RIN 0648-AI65
Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Maximum
Retainable Bycatch Percentages
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: NMFS implements a regulatory amendment to reduce maximum
retainable bycatch percentages for sablefish in the Gulf of Alaska
(GOA) groundfish trawl fisheries and to allow the use of GOA arrowtooth
flounder as a basis species for the retention of bycatch amounts of
pollock and Pacific cod when either of these two species is closed to
directed fishing. This action is necessary to slow the harvest rate of
GOA sablefish and to provide for fuller utilization of pollock and
Pacific cod incidentally taken in the arrowtooth flounder fishery. This
action is intended to further the objectives of the Fishery Management
Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska (FMP).
EFFECTIVE DATE: April 10, 1997.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the environmental assessment/regulatory impact
review prepared for this action may be obtained from the Fisheries
Management Division, Alaska Region, NMFS, P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK
99802, Attn: Lori Gravel.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sue Salveson, 907-586-7228.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Fishing for groundfish by U.S. vessels in
the exclusive economic zone of the GOA is managed by NMFS according to
the FMP. The FMP was prepared by the North Pacific Fishery Management
Council (Council) under authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act). Fishing by U.S.
vessels is governed by regulations implementing the FMP at subpart H of
50 CFR part 600 and 50 CFR part 679.
Regulations at Sec. 679.20(e) establish maximum retainable bycatch
(MRB) percentages for groundfish species or species groups. These MRB
percentages establish the amount of a species that is closed to
directed fishing that may be retained on board a vessel, relative to
amounts of other retained species open to directed fishing.
At the Council's September 1996 meeting, the Council requested that
NMFS initiate rulemaking to change several MRB percentages. This
request was in response to (1) concerns about the extent to which some
existing MRB percentages allow vessel operators to top off their
retained catch of bycatch species up to the MRB amount and (2)
testimony that a limited fishery for GOA arrowtooth flounder exists and
that this species should be allowed as a basis species for the
retention of pollock and Pacific cod. A proposed rule to implement the
Council's recommended changes was published in the Federal Register on
January 6, 1997 (62 FR 724). No comments were received within the
public comment period that ended February 5, 1997.
This final rule implements the following changes to the MRB
percentages established for GOA groundfish:
1. The MRB percentage for sablefish relative to deep water species
is reduced from 15 percent to 7 percent; and
2. The use of GOA arrowtooth flounder is allowed as a basis species
for the retention of pollock and Pacific cod. An MRB of 5 percent of
each these species relative to arrowtooth flounder is established.
Further justification of these changes is discussed in the preamble
to the proposed rule.
Changes from the proposed rule
NMFS clarifies Sec. 679.20(f)(2) so that regulatory constraints to
using arrowtooth flounder as a basis to calculate retained amounts of
other groundfish species are consistent with the allowances provided
under the final rule for GOA pollock and Pacific cod.
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 rule would not have a
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.
The reasons were published in the Federal Register with the proposed
rule (62 FR 724, January 6, 1997). No comments were received regarding
this certification. As a result, a 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 679
Fisheries, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
Dated: March 3, 1997.
Nancy Foster,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
For the reasons set out in the preamble, 50 CFR part 679 is amended
as follows:
PART 679--FISHERIES OF THE EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE OFF ALASKA
1. The authority citation for part 679 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 773 et seq., 1801 et seq.
2. In part 679, Table 10 is revised to read as follows:
Table 10 to Part 679.--Current Gulf of Alaska Retainable Percentages
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Bycatch species \1\
Pacific Deep ------------------------------------------- Aggregated DSR SEEO Atka Other
Pollock cod flatfish Rex sole Flathead Shallow rockfish \4\ mackerel species
sole flatfish Arrowtooth Sablefish \2\
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Basis Species:
Pollock....................................................... \3\ na 20 20 20 20 20 35 1 5 10 20 20
Pacific cod................................................... 20 \3\ na 20 20 20 20 35 1 5 10 20 20
Deep flatfish................................................. 20 20 \3\ na 20 20 20 35 7 15 1 20 20
Rex sole...................................................... 20 20 20 \3\ na 20 20 35 7 15 1 20 20
Flathead sole................................................. 20 20 20 20 \3\ na 20 35 7 15 1 20 20
Shallow flatfish.............................................. 20 20 20 20 20 \3\ na 35 1 5 10 20 20
Arrowtooth.................................................... 5 5 0 0 0 0 \3\ na 0 0 0 0 0
Sablefish..................................................... 20 20 20 20 20 20 35 \3\ na 15 1 20 20
Pacific Ocean perch........................................... 20 20 20 20 20 20 35 7 15 1 20 20
Shortraker/rougheye........................................... 20 20 20 20 20 20 35 7 15 1 20 20
[[Page 11110]]
Other rockfish................................................ 20 20 20 20 20 20 35 7 15 1 20 20
Northern rockfish............................................. 20 20 20 20 20 20 35 7 15 1 20 20
Pelagic rockfish.............................................. 20 20 20 20 20 20 35 7 15 1 20 20
DSR-SEEO...................................................... 20 20 20 20 20 20 35 7 15 \3\ na 20 20
Thornyhead.................................................... 20 20 20 20 20 20 35 7 15 1 20 20
Atka mackerel................................................. 20 20 20 20 20 20 35 1 5 10 \3\ na 20
Other species................................................. 20 20 20 20 20 20 35 1 5 10 20 \3\ na
Aggregated amount non-groundfish species...................... 20 20 20 20 20 20 35 1 5 10 20 20
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\1\ For definition of species, see Table 1 of the Gulf of Alaska groundfish specifications.
\2\ Aggregated rockfish means rockfish of the genera Sebastes and Sebastolobus except in the southeast Outside District where demersal shelf rockfish (DSR) is a separate category.
\3\ na=not applicable.
\4\ SEEO=Southeast Outside District.
3. In Sec. 679.20, paragraph (f)(2) is revised to read as follows:
Sec. 679.20 General limitations.
* * * * *
(f) * * *
(2) Retainable amounts. Except as provided in Table 10 to this
part, arrowtooth flounder, or any groundfish species for which directed
fishing is closed, may not be used to calculate retainable amounts of
other groundfish species.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 97-5977 Filed 3-10-97; 8:45 am]
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