[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 174 (Friday, September 8, 1995)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 46811-46813]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-22285]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
50 CFR Part 675
[Docket No. 950830223-5223-01; I.D. 082395C]
RIN 0648-AE97
Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Area; Chinook
Salmon Savings Areas
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 proposes regulations that would implement Amendment 21b
to the Fishery Management Plan for the Groundfish Fishery of the Bering
Sea and Aleutian Islands Area (FMP). This amendment proposes to
prohibit the use of trawl gear in specified areas of the Bering Sea and
Aleutian Islands (BSAI) management area through April 15 of each
fishing year once a chinook salmon bycatch of 48,000 fish has been
reached in the BSAI management area trawl fisheries. This action is
necessary to limit chinook salmon bycatch in the BSAI management area
and is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the FMP.
DATES: Comments on the FMP amendment must be received by October 20,
1995.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be sent to Ronald J. Berg, Chief, Fisheries
Management Division, Alaska Region, NMFS, P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK,
99802, Attention: Lori Gravel, or delivered to the Federal Building,
709 West 9th Street, Juneau, AK. Copies of Amendment 21b and the
environmental assessment/regulatory impact review/initial regulatory
flexibility analysis (EA/RIR/IRFA) prepared for Amendment 21b are
available from the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, P.O. Box
103136, Anchorage, AK 99510; telephone: 907-271-2809.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sally Bibb, 907-586-7228.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Fishing for groundfish by U.S. vessels in
the exclusive economic zone of the BSAI management area is managed by
NMFS according to the FMP. The FMP was prepared by the North Pacific
Fishery Management Council (Council) under the Magnuson Fishery
Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) (Magnuson
Act), and is implemented by regulations governing the U.S. groundfish
fisheries at 50 CFR parts 675 and 676. General regulations that also
pertain to U.S. fisheries are codified at 50 CFR part 620.
This action proposes regulations to implement Amendment 21b to the
FMP. If approved by NMFS, this amendment would prohibit the use of
trawl gear in specified areas of the BSAI management area that
historically contributed to relatively high chinook salmon bycatch
rates during winter months.
Chinook salmon are caught incidentally in trawl fisheries in the
BSAI management area. They are a prohibited species in the trawl
fisheries and must be discarded after being counted by a NMFS-certified
observer.
During the foreign fisheries, the estimated chinook salmon bycatch
reached a high of 115,000 salmon in 1980. As a result, the foreign
fleet was put on a bycatch reduction schedule starting at 65,000
chinook salmon and decreasing to 16,500 chinook by 1986. According to
reported bycatch, the foreign fleet did not exceed the reduction
schedule bycatch level in any year.
The domestic groundfish trawl fleet has caught the majority of the
chinook salmon bycatch since 1987. Chinook salmon bycatch exceeded
20,000 fish in 1987, 1988, and 1989 and exceeded 40,000 fish in 1991,
1992, 1993, and 1994. Estimated chinook salmon bycatch in the domestic
trawl fisheries from 1990 to the present is summarized below:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
No. of
Year Chinook
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1990......................................................... 13,990
1991......................................................... 48,821
1992......................................................... 41,903
1993......................................................... 45,964
1994......................................................... 44,437
\1\ 1995..................................................... 17,701
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Preliminary through 7/29/95.
Observer data from the foreign, joint-venture, and domestic trawl
fisheries for pollock and Pacific cod were examined for seasonal and
spacial patterns in chinook salmon bycatch and groundfish catch. The
pollock and Pacific cod fisheries were selected because nearly all
chinook salmon bycatch occurs in these fisheries (92 percent in 1994).
These data showed that chinook salmon bycatch was largely associated
with groundfish catches along the 200-m contour (continental shelf
break), in the
[[Page 46812]]
``horseshoe'' area of the contour, and north of Unimak Island. Chinook
salmon bycatch did not extend, for the most part, far from the contour,
from the horseshoe, or from north of Unimak Island. In addition,
analysis of haul-by-haul observer data showed that chinook salmon
bycatch rates were higher in the winter months--from September or
October through April.
Analysis of scale patterns, tagging study results, and parasite
information indicates that from about 50 percent to over 90 percent of
the chinook salmon encountered in the Bering Sea are of Western Alaskan
origin. Therefore, chinook salmon bycatch likely reduces the number of
chinook salmon available for escapement and subsistence, commercial,
and recreational fisheries in Western Alaska and elsewhere.
Salmon fishery managers have been concerned about the health of
chinook salmon stocks on the Yukon River, Kuskokwim River, and portions
of Bristol Bay, where minimum escapement goals in several systems were
not met in the mid- and late-1980's. Although escapement has improved
in recent years, these goals are only being met through careful
management of directed fisheries by time and area and through gear
restrictions.
Chinook salmon is one of the major food items of the Yup'ik Eskimo
and Athabaskan Indians of Western and Interior Alaska and plays an
important role in supporting the indigenous cultures and mixed,
subsistence-cash socioeconomic systems of these peoples. In addition,
commercial and recreational fishing provides an important source of
income in Western Alaska communities. Further description of the
biological, economic, and cultural importance of chinook salmon in
Western Alaska is contained in the EA/RIR/IRFA (see ADDRESSES).
The Council began developing alternatives for chinook salmon
bycatch management in the domestic groundfish trawl fisheries in 1992
under Amendment 21 to the FMP. A draft analysis was released for public
review in January 1993. However, in April 1993, the Council decided to
separate the chinook salmon bycatch management alternatives; identify
them as Amendment 21b; and postpone action to allow public review of a
Vessel Incentive Program and industry development of the Salmon
Research Foundation. During its June 1993 meeting, the Council voted to
endorse the Salmon Research Foundation (SRF), a non-profit corporation
that uses income generated from a $20 per chinook salmon assessment to
develop a salmon bycatch avoidance program and to fund research on the
origin of salmon caught in the trawl fisheries. In 1994, the SRF
developed a program to disseminate inseason observer data and other
information about individual vessel chinook salmon bycatch to the trawl
fleet. The intent of this program was to provide vessel operators
timely information to help reduce salmon bycatch rates. The long-term
effectiveness of the SRF in reducing chinook salmon bycatch is
difficult to evaluate, given the short time it has been in operation.
In June 1993, the Council voted to recommend the issuance of
regulations to: (1) Prohibit the discard of salmon until the number of
salmon are determined by a NMFS-certified observer, (2) implement data
gathering and analysis of bycatch patterns, and (3) require posting on
the NMFS bulletin board of salmon bycatch numbers for each vessel.
These regulations became effective May 20, 1994 (59 FR 18575, April 20,
1994).
In the meantime, the Council continued to consider additional
chinook salmon bycatch management alternatives, including a chinook
salmon prohibited species catch (PSC) limit and closures in times or
areas of historic high salmon bycatch. PSC limits ranging from 8,000 to
48,000 chinook salmon were analyzed. The lower bound of this range was
determined by applying the lowest average annual chinook salmon bycatch
rate since 1980 (0.004 salmon per metric ton of groundfish in 1986) to
current BSAI management area groundfish harvests. Additional PSC limits
analyzed included annual bycatch rates of 0.008 (16,000 salmon), 0.012
(24,000 salmon), and 0.024 (48,000 salmon).
The Council considered nine alternatives or options for area
closures once a PSC limit was reached, including the entire BSAI
management area, specific Federal statistical areas, a 30 mile-wide
(48,280 m) buffer strip along the 200-m contour, and specific \1/
2\ deg. lat. by 1 deg. long. blocks. In addition, alternatives or
options to close these areas during specific seasons, for specific
directed fisheries, or in the absence of a PSC limit also were
considered. Chinook Salmon Savings Areas.
At its April 1995 meeting, the Council voted to recommend an FMP
amendment that would close three non-contiguous areas of the BSAI
management area comprised of nine \1/2\ deg. lat. by 1 deg. long.
blocks to all trawling through April 15, once an annual PSC limit of
48,000 chinook salmon was reached. The areas would reopen April 15 for
the remainder of the year, regardless of the amount of chinook salmon
bycatch. Accounting of chinook salmon towards the bycatch limit would
start at the beginning of each fishing year (January 1).
The Chinook Salmon Savings Areas (CHSSA) are:
(1) The area defined by straight lines connecting the following
coordinates in the order listed:
56 deg. 30' N., 171 deg. 00' W.;
56 deg. 30' N., 169 deg. 00' W.;
56 deg. 00' N., 169 deg. 00' W.;
56 deg. 00' N., 171 deg. 00' W.; and
56 deg. 30' N., 171 deg. 00' W.
(2) The area defined by straight lines connecting the following
coordinates in the order listed:
54 deg. 00' N., 171 deg. 00' W.;
54 deg. 00' N., 170 deg. 00' W.;
53 deg. 00' N., 170 deg. 00' W.;
53 deg. 00' N., 171 deg. 00' W.; and
54 deg. 00' N., 171 deg. 00' W.
(3)The area defined by straight lines connecting the following
coordinates in the order listed:
56 deg. 00' N., 165 deg. 00' W.;
56 deg. 00' N., 164 deg. 00' W.;
5 deg. 00' N., 164 deg. 00' W.;
55 deg. 00' N., 165 deg. 00' W.;
54 deg. 30' N., 165 deg. 00' W.;
54 deg. 30' N., 167 deg. 00' W.;
55 deg. 00' N., 167 deg. 00' W.;
55 deg. 00' N., 166 deg. 00' W.;
55 deg. 30' N., 166 deg. 00' W.;
55 deg. 30' N., 165 deg. 00' W.; and
56 deg. 00' N., 165 deg. 00' W.
Data from observed trawl vessels participating in the pollock and
Pacific cod fisheries from 1990 through 1993 were used to compare catch
and bycatch in the CHSSA and other areas of the BSAI management area.
During the high bycatch months of January through April and September
through December, the CHSSA represented 52, 66, 64, and 60 percent of
the chinook bycatch, and 20, 36, 38, and 49 percent of the total
groundfish catch in observed hauls between 1990 and 1993. In other
words, the CHSSA represented a larger share of chinook salmon bycatch
relative to total groundfish catch. The importance of these areas, in
terms of both groundfish catch and chinook salmon bycatch, increased
between 1990 and 1993. However, the increase in groundfish catch in the
areas was greater than the increase in chinook salmon bycatch over the
4-year period.
Although high chinook salmon bycatch was identified in two seasons
(January through April and September through December), through
analysis of observer data aggregated by month, the Council recommended
a closure only
[[Page 46813]]
from January 1 through April 15, because the majority of the chinook
salmon bycatch in recent years has been caught between January and
April. For example, in 1993, approximately 71 percent of the chinook
salmon bycatch by observed trawl vessels in the pollock and Pacific cod
fisheries in the CHSSA occurred between January and April.
Since 1990, chinook salmon bycatch between January 1 and April 15
was estimated to be:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
No. of
Chinook
Year by April
15
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1990......................................................... 11,626
1991......................................................... 44,234
1992......................................................... 30,703
1993......................................................... 23,129
1994......................................................... 37,967
\1\ 1995..................................................... 17,064
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Preliminary through 7/29/95.
Based on historical bycatch estimates, reaching the 48,000 PSC
limit or closing the CHSSA in future years is not likely. In selecting
this preferred alternative, the Council expressed the view that current
levels of chinook salmon bycatch probably did not represent biological
harm to Western Alaska chinook salmon stocks. Furthermore, existing
groundfish fisheries should not be constrained in order to reduce the
current level of chinook salmon bycatch. However, future increases in
bycatch in the BSAI management area trawl fisheries need to be limited
to prevent detrimental impact on Western Alaska chinook salmon stocks
and fisheries.
If bycatch amounts before April 15 of future years exceed amounts
caught in recent years, closure of the CHSSA would prevent trawlers
from fishing in areas that historically represented from 20 percent to
49 percent of annual groundfish catch. Although other areas of the BSAI
management area would continue to be open to trawling, vessels
displaced from the CHSSA would likely incur increased operating costs
and lower catch per unit effort.
Classification
Section 304(a)(1)(D) of the Magnuson Act requires NMFS to publish
regulations proposed by a Council within 15 days of receipt of the FMP
amendment and regulations. At this time, NMFS has not determined that
the FMP amendment these rules would implement is consistent with the
national standards, other provisions of the Magnuson Act, and other
applicable laws. NMFS in making that determination, will take into
account the data, views, and comments received during the comment
period.
The Council prepared an IRFA as part of the RIR, which describes
the impact this proposed rule would have on small entities, if adopted.
Approximately 107 trawl catcher vessels participate in the BSAI
management area groundfish fisheries. Most of these vessels are
considered small entities. Closure of the CHSSA is unlikely because the
PSC limit is higher than any bycatch estimate for the domestic
fisheries. However, the CHSSA represent a large proportion of
groundfish catch and many of these catcher vessels are likely to fish
in these areas. Therefore, closure of the CHSSA could result in a
significant impact on a substantial number of small entities in years
of high chinook salmon bycatch. On the other hand, the absence of a
mechanism to limit chinook salmon bycatch may adversely impact other
small entities that rely on chinook salmon returns to Western Alaska
and other areas. A copy of this analysis is available from the Council
(see ADDRESSES).
This proposed rule has been determined to be not significant for
purposes of E.O. 12866.
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 675
Fisheries, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
Dated: September 1, 1995.
Gary Matlock,
Program Management Officer, National Marine Fisheries Service.
For reasons set out in the preamble, 50 CFR part 675 is proposed to
be amended as follows:
PART 675--GROUNDFISH OF THE BERING SEA AND ALEUTIAN ISLANDS AREA
1. The authority citation for part 675 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
2. In Sec. 675.22, paragraph (i) is added to read as follows:
Sec. 675.22 Time and area closures.
* * * * *
(i) Chinook Salmon Savings Areas. When the Regional Director
determines that 48,000 chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) have
been caught by vessels using trawl gear during the time period of
January 1 through April 15 in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands
management area, NMFS will prohibit fishing with trawl gear for the
remainder of the period January 1 through April 15 within the following
three areas:
(1) The area defined by straight lines connecting the following
coordinates in the order listed:
56 deg. 30' N., 171 deg. 00' W.;
56 deg. 30' N., 169 deg. 00' W.;
56 deg. 00' N., 169 deg. 00' W.;
56 deg. 00' N., 171 deg. 00' W.; and
56 deg. 30' N., 171 deg. 00'' W.
(2) The area defined by straight lines connecting the following
coordinates in the order listed:
54 deg. 00' N., 171 deg. 00' W.;
54 deg. 00' N., 170 deg. 00' W.;
53 deg. 00' N., 170 deg. 00' W.;
53 deg. 00' N., 171 deg. 00' W.; and
54 deg. 00' N., 171 deg. 00' W.
(3) The area defined by straight lines connecting the following
coordinates in the order listed:
56 deg. 00' N., 165 deg. 00' W.;
56 deg. 00' N., 164 deg. 00' W.;
55 deg. 00' N., 164 deg. 00' W.;
55 deg. 00' N., 165 deg. 00' W.;
54 deg. 30' N., 165 deg. 00' W.;
54 deg. 30' N., 167 deg. 00' W.;
55 deg. 00' N., 167 deg. 00' W.;
55 deg. 00' N., 166 deg. 00' W.;
55 deg. 30' N., 166 deg. 00' W.;
55 deg. 30' N., 165 deg. 00' W.; and
56 deg. 00' N., 165 deg. 00' W.
[FR Doc. 95-22285 Filed 9-5-95; 1:16 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-W
