Fishery conservation and management: Alaska; fisheries of Exclusive Economic Zone— Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands groundfish; vessel moratorium program,

[Federal Register: January 25, 1999 (Volume 64, Number 15)]

[Rules and Regulations]

[Page 3651-3653]

From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

[DOCID:fr25ja99-9]

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 679

[Docket No. 981016260-9018-02; I.D. 090998B]

RIN 0648-AL20

Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Vessel Moratorium Program

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: NMFS issues a final rule to implement Amendment 59 to the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for the Groundfish Fishery of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area (BSAI), Amendment 57 to the FMP for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska, and Amendment 9 to the FMP for the Commercial King and Tanner Crab Fisheries in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands submitted by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council). These amendments extend the Vessel Moratorium Program (VMP) authorized under the subject FMPs from January 1, 1999, through December 31, 1999. This action is necessary to prevent a 1-year hiatus between the original expiration of the VMP on December 31, 1998, and the start of fishing under the License Limitation Program (LLP) on January 1, 2000. This action is intended to implement approved amendments to, and further the objectives of, the subject FMPs.

DATES: Effective January 19, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the Regulatory Impact Review for this action can be obtained from the Sustainable Fisheries Division, Alaska Region, NMFS, 709 West 9‹SUP›th‹/SUP› Street, Room 453, Juneau, AK 99801, or P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802. Comments on the collection of information burden estimate or any other aspects of the data collection of this action can be sent to the preceding address and the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Washington, DC. 20503 (Attention: NOAA Desk Officer).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Lepore, 907-586-7228.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS manages the U.S. groundfish fisheries of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) and the BSAI in the exclusive economic zone pursuant to the FMPs for groundfish in the respective management areas. The State of Alaska manages the commercial king crab and Tanner crab fisheries in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands with Federal oversight, pursuant to the FMP for those fisheries. The Council prepared the FMPs pursuant to the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), 16 U.S.C. 1801, et seq. Regulations implementing the FMPs appear at 50 CFR part 679. General regulations at 50 CFR part 600 also apply.

NMFS implemented the VMP through regulations effective January 1, 1996, to impose a temporary moratorium on the entry of new vessels into the commercial groundfish fisheries in the Exclusive Economic Zone of the GOA and the BSAI and the commercial king crab and Tanner crab fisheries in the BSAI (60 FR 40763, August 10, 1995). The purpose of the VMP originally was, and still is, to curtail increases in fishing capacity and provide industry stability while additional measures, such as the LLP, were developed and implemented.

NMFS approved the LLP on September 12, 1997. However, fishing under the LLP will not begin until January 1, 2000. The extension of the VMP through December 31, 1999, under this final rule will eliminate the 1- year hiatus between fishing under the LLP and the expiration of the VMP on December 31, 1998.

NMFS published a Notice of Availability (NOA) for Amendments 59, 57, and 9 in the Federal Register on September 18, 1998 (63 FR 49892). The comment period for the NOA ended on November 17, 1998. FMP amendments were required for this extension because the FMPs specified an expiration date of December 31, 1998, for the VMP. NMFS published the proposed rule to implement Amendments 59, 57, and 9 in the Federal Register on November 13, 1998 (63 FR 63442). NMFS received no comments on the proposed rule; however, NMFS received one comment from the U.S. Coast Guard during the comment period for the NOA. The U.S. Coast Guard indicated that all its enforcement and safety concerns were addressed by the amendments.

NMFS approved the FMP amendments on December 16, 1998. The amendments include a provision to eliminate the potential for latent capacity entering the affected fisheries through a restriction on the submission of new moratorium permit applications during the extension. Under the original VMP, an applicant could apply for a new moratorium permit at any time during the VMP. To date, approximately 1,900 moratorium permits, out of a potential of approximately 3,350 permits, have been issued. If the VMP were extended without a restriction on applications, up to 1,450 more moratorium permits could be applied for and issued. Therefore, this action extending the VMP through December 31, 1999, provides that no person may apply for a new moratorium permit after the original VMP expiration date of December 31, 1998, unless the application is based on a moratorium qualification that was used as a basis for obtaining a moratorium permit issued on or before that date.

Accordingly, NMFS will deny an application for a moratorium permit received after December 31, 1998, unless the moratorium qualification on which the application is based has been used as a basis for the issuance of a moratorium permit.

To reduce the administrative costs of extending the VMP, this action will extend existing moratorium permits through December 31, 1999, rather than authorizing the reissuance of new permits with the new expiration date. The only new moratorium permits that will be issued are those based on moratorium qualification transfers. These new permits will also expire on December 31, 1999.

[[Page 3652]]

Changes From the Proposed Rule to the Final Rule

The final rule includes changes from the proposed rule that NMFS does not consider substantial. These changes concern the expiration date of the purpose and scope of the VMP and its definitions. An expiration date of December 31, 1998, originally was established for these items and inadvertently was left unchanged in the proposed rule. The purpose and scope and definitions are an integral part of the VMP. Therefore, in the final rule, NMFS corrected the expiration date of the purpose and scope and the following definitions to December 31, 1999: Catcher/processor, catcher vessel, directed fishing, maximum LOA, moratorium crab species, moratorium groundfish species, moratorium qualification, moratorium species, original qualifying LOA, original qualifying vessel, person, qualifying period, and reconstruction.

Classification

The Administrator, Alaska Region, NMFS, determined that FMP Amendments 59, 57, and 9 are necessary for the conservation and management of the commercial groundfish fishery off Alaska and the commercial king and Tanner crab fisheries in the BSAI in and off Alaska and that these FMP amendments are consistent with the Magnuson-Stevens Act and other applicable laws.

This final rule has been determined to be not significant for purposes of E.O. 12866.

At the proposed rule stage, 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. No comments were received regarding this certification. As a result, a regulatory flexibility analysis was not prepared.

OMB approved a collection-of-information requirement for this rule subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) under control number 0648- 0282. Public reporting burden for applications for moratorium permits, or to transfer a moratorium permit, are estimated to average 30 minutes per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate, or any other aspect of this data collection, including suggestions for the burden, to NMFS and to OMB (see ADDRESSES).

Notwithstanding any other provision of the law, no person is required to respond to, and no person shall be subject to a penalty for failure to comply with, a collection of information subject to the requirements of the PRA, unless that collection of information displays a currently valid OMB control number.

The Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA, finds there is good cause under 5 U.S.C. 553(d) to waive the 30-day delay in effectiveness because (1) this rule does not establish any new requirements with which affected parties must come into compliance, (2) delay in effectiveness would frustrate the Council's intent to eliminate a hiatus in the VMP, and (3) delay in effectiveness may cause confusion to the affected industry concerning VMP requirements.

The President has directed Federal agencies to use plain language in their communications with the public, including regulations. To comply with this directive, we seek public comment on any ambiguity or unnecessary complexity arising from the language used in this final rule.

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 679

Alaska, Fisheries, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

Dated: January 15, 1999. Andrew A. Rosenberg, Deputy Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.

For reasons set out in the preamble, 50 CFR part 679 is amended to read 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., and 3631 et seq.

2. In Sec. 679.1, revise the heading of paragraph (c) to read as follows:

   Sec. 679.1 Purpose and scope.

   * * * * *

   (c) Moratorium on entry (applicable through December 31, 1999). * * * (1) * * *

   Sec. 679.2 [Amended]

3. In Sec. 679.2, remove the date ``December 31, 1998'' and add in its place the date ``December 31, 1999'' in the following definitions:

   Catcher/processor, paragraph (2)

   Catcher vessel, paragraph (2)

   Directed fishing, paragraph (2)

   Maximum LOA (MLOA), paragraph (1)

   Moratorium crab species

   Moratorium groundfish species

   Moratorium qualification

   Moratorium species, paragraph (2)

   Original qualifying LOA

   Original qualifying vessel

   Person, paragraph (3)

   Qualifying period

   Reconstruction

4. In Sec. 679.4, the heading of paragraph (c), paragraphs (c)(1)(ii), (c)(1)(iii)(E), (c)(6), and (c)(7) are revised to read as follows:

   Sec. 679.4 Permits.

   * * * * *

   (c) Moratorium permits (applicable through December 31, 1999)

   (1) * * *

   (ii) Duration. Notwithstanding the expiration date printed on the permit, a moratorium permit is valid through December 31, 1999, unless otherwise specified.

   (iii) * * *

   (E) The permit's term indicates an expiration of December 31, 1998, or December 31, 1999. * * * * *

   (6) Application for permit--(i) General. A moratorium permit will be issued to the owner of a vessel of the United States if he/she submits to the Regional Administrator a complete application that is subsequently accepted and approved and if the vessel's LOA does not exceed the maximum LOA as specified in Sec. 679.2.

   (ii) Contents of application. A complete application for a moratorium permit must include the following information for each vessel:

   (A) Name of the vessel, state registration number of the vessel, and the USCG documentation number of the vessel, if any;

   (B) Name(s), business address(es), and telephone and fax numbers of the owner of the vessel;

   (C) Name of the managing company;

   (D) Valid documentation of the vessel's moratorium qualification, if requested by the Regional Administrator due to an absence of landings records for the vessel from January 1, 1988, through February 9, 1992;

   (E) Reliable documentation of the vessel's original qualifying LOA, if requested by the Regional Administrator, such as a vessel survey, builder's plan, state or Federal registration certificate, fishing permit records, or other reliable and probative documents that clearly identify the vessel and its LOA and that are dated before June 24, 1992;

   [[Page 3653]]

   (F) Specifications of the fishing gear(s) used from January 1, 1988, through February 9, 1992, and, if necessary, the fishing gear(s) used from February 10, 1992, through December 11, 1994;

   (G) Specification of the vessel as either a catcher vessel or a catcher/processor vessel;

   (H) If applicable, transfer authorization if a permit request is based on the transfer of moratorium qualification pursuant to paragraph (c)(9) of this section; and

   (I) Signature of the person who is the owner of the vessel or the person who is responsible for representing the vessel owner.

   (iii) An application for a moratorium permit received after December 31, 1998, will be denied unless it is based on a moratorium qualification for which a moratorium permit was issued on or before December 31, 1998.

   (7) Moratorium qualification--(i) Qualification by landings. A vessel has moratorium qualification if:

   (A) The vessel is an original qualifying vessel based on a legal landing of moratorium species between January 1, 1988, and February 9, 1992;

   (B) The vessel is not a moratorium exempt vessel under paragraph (c)(2) of this section;

   (C) The vessel's moratorium qualification has not been transferred; and

   (D) A moratorium permit for the vessel's moratorium qualification has been issued based on an application submitted on or before December 31, 1998.

   (ii) Qualification by transfer. A vessel has moratorium qualification if:

   (A) The vessel receives a valid moratorium qualification by a transfer approved by the Regional Administrator under paragraph (c)(9) of this section;

   (B) The vessel is not a moratorium exempt vessel under paragraph (c)(2) of this section;

   (C) The moratorium qualification received by transfer has not been subsequently transferred; and

   (D) A moratorium permit for the vessel's moratorium qualification has been issued based on an application submitted on or before December 31, 1998.

   (iii) Expiration of moratorium qualification. A vessel's moratorium qualification will expire on December 31, 1998, unless a moratorium permit has been applied for on or before December 31, 1998, and subsequently issued based on that moratorium qualification. * * * * *

   [FR Doc. 99-1456Filed1-19-99; 4:22 pm]

   BILLING CODE 3510-22-F