[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 137 (Tuesday, July 16, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 37041-37042]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-17945]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
50 CFR Part 679
[Docket No. 960703187-6187-01; I.D. 062096B]
RIN 0648-AI96
Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone off Alaska; Allow
Longline Pot Gear
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Proposed rule; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: NMFS issues a proposed rule to allow the use of longline pot
gear in the directed sablefish fishery in the Bering Sea. Sablefish
hook-and-line fishermen in the Bering Sea have faced increasing
depredation of hooked sablefish by killer whales. The use of longline
pot gear would effectively prevent such depredation. This action is
necessary to protect Bering Sea sablefish harvests and is intended to
resolve a conflict between fishermen and a species protected under the
Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 (MMPA).
DATES: Comments must be received by August 15, 1996.
ADDRESSES: Comments must be sent to Ronald J. Berg, Chief, Fisheries
Management Division, Alaska Region, NMFS, Room 453, 709 W. 9th Street,
Juneau, AK 99801, or P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802, Attention: Lori
J. Gravel.
Copies of the Environmental Assessment/Regulatory Impact Review/
Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (EA/RIR/IRFA) for this action
may be obtained from the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, 605
West 4th Ave., Suite 306, Anchorage, AK 99510-2252.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James Hale, 907-586-7228.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS manages the groundfish fisheries in the
exclusive economic zone of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands
management area (BSAI) according to the Fishery Management Plan for the
Groundfish Fishery in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Area (FMP).
The FMP was prepared by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council
(Council) and approved by NMFS under the authority of the Magnuson
Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson Act). This FMP,
implemented by regulations at 50 CFR parts 600, and 679, provides for
changes to gear restrictions by regulatory amendment without amendment
to the FMP. The regulations pertaining to this action, at Sec. 679.24,
specify gear types that may legally be employed to harvest sablefish in
the Bering Sea. Killer whales (Orcinus orca) are protected under the
MMPA, which prohibits harassment of marine mammals and authorizes the
Secretary of Commerce to consult with and assist regional fishery
management councils to reduce takings of marine mammals incidental to
commercial fishing operations.
In September 1995, commercial fishing industry representatives
reported to the Council that the annual Bering Sea sablefish quota had
been underharvested due in part to interactions with killer whales.
While fishermen retrieve their hook-and-line gear when fishing for
sablefish, killer whales frequently pick sablefish off the hooks.
Sablefish consumed by killer whales in this manner represent
undocumented fishing mortality. Even though the sablefish quota may be
underharvested by fishermen, overall fishing mortality could actually
be higher than the specified quota, resulting in overharvests. Although
NMFS is not able to quantify the amount of killer whale-caused fishing
mortality, such mortality is a conservation concern to the extent that
the amount of overharvests introduces
[[Page 37042]]
uncertainty in management of the fishery.
Attempts to deter the whales by various non-lethal means have
proven unsuccessful. Research referenced in the EA/RIR/IRFA for this
action concluded that the only viable method for reducing killer whale
interactions with this fishery is to harvest with longline pot gear
instead of hook-and-line gear, and thus deny killer whales the
opportunity to take fish being hauled to the surface.
Currently, regulations at Sec. 679.24(b)(1)(iii) prohibit longline
pot gear in the Bering Sea to prevent the pre-emption of fishing
grounds by one gear-type. Gear conflicts and the pre-emption of fishing
grounds by a single gear-type arise from the use of diverse gear in the
same area over the same period of time. The nature of longline pot gear
and strategies used in fishing longline pots deter fishermen from
deploying hook-and-line and trawl gear on fishing grounds where
longline pot gear is set. This effectively pre-empts common fishing
grounds. For this reason, the Council chose in 1991 to prohibit the use
of longline pot gear in the Bering Sea groundfish fisheries.
Regulations prohibiting longline pot gear were promulgated on August
21, 1992 (57 FR 37906).
In 1995, the Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) Program for fixed gear
Pacific halibut and sablefish fisheries extended sablefish seasons in
Federal waters off Alaska to a period of 8 months. By allowing the
fleet to spread its operations over time, the IFQ Program greatly
reduced the possibility of congestion and pre-emption of common fishing
grounds. The reintroduction of longline pot gear into the Bering Sea
fisheries would pose less of a grounds pre-emption threat now compared
to 1992 when longline pots were prohibited. Authorizing the use of
longline pot gear, with limitations, in the Bering Sea directed
sablefish fishery would allow fishermen to use this gear and reduce
interactions with killer whales.
In recommending this action, the Council expressed concern that,
despite the decreased likelihood of grounds pre-emption, fishermen
using traditional hook-and-line gear in relatively small boats may be
pre-empted from grounds by fishermen in larger boats using longline pot
gear. Therefore, this action would establish a Bering Sea closure to
longline pot gear from June 1 through June 30. Lifting the prohibition
on longline pot gear for sablefish fisheries would reduce interactions
with killer whales, while the month-long closure would continue to
provide a period for conducting other fisheries without the potential
for gear conflicts with longline pot gear.
Classification
This proposed rule has been determined to be not significant for
purposes of E.O. 12866.
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 rule, if adopted,
would not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of
small entities. The rule would reduce a restriction by allowing
fishermen to use longline pot gear to harvest sablefish. At the present
time, fishermen may use only hook-and-line gear, a gear subject to
depredation of harvests by killer whales. While a gear switch would
have direct costs, a switch would be voluntary and presumably would
only be made if the fisherman judge that the costs associated with
changing gear would be offset by the greater landed weight of sablefish
possible in the absence of killer whale depredation.
The Director, Alaska Region, NMFS, has determined that fishing
activities conducted under this rule would have no adverse impacts on
marine mammals. The express purpose of this rule is to reduce the
interactions with commercial fisheries in the Bering Sea and resident
killer whale populations.
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 679
Fisheries, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements
Dated: July 9, 1996.
Nancy Foster, Ph.D.,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
For the reasons set out in the preamble, 50 CFR part 679 is
proposed to be 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 Sec. 679.24, paragraphs (b)(1)(iii) and (c)(4) are revised to
read as follows:
Sec. 679.24 Gear limitations.
* * * * *
(b) * * *
(1) * * *
(iii) Longline pot gear. Any person using longline pot gear must
treat any catch of groundfish as a prohibited species, except:
(A) In the Aleutian Islands subarea.
(B) While directed fishing for sablefish in the Bering Sea, except
as provided in paragraph (c)(4)(ii) of this section.
* * * * *
(c) * * *
(4) BSAI. (i) Operators of vessels using gear types other than
hook-and-line, pot, or trawl gear in the BSAI must treat sablefish as a
prohibited species as provided by Sec. 679.21(b).
(ii) Longline pot gear is prohibited in directed fishing for
sablefish from 0001 hrs, A.l.t., on June 1 until 1200 hrs, A.l.t., on
June 30.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 96-17945 Filed 7-15-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F
