Fishery conservation and management: Alaska; fisheries of Exclusive Economic Zone License limitation program,
[Federal Register: September 10, 1999 (Volume 64, Number 175)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 49104]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr10se99-28]
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[I.D. 082599A]
Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; License Limitation Program
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notification of application period.
SUMMARY: NMFS announces an application period for persons applying for a groundfish or crab species license under the License Limitation Program (LLP) for the Groundfish Fishery of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area, the Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska, and the Commercial King and Tanner Crab Fisheries in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands. This announcement is necessary to begin the application process to determine eligible participants in the fisheries managed under the LLP and is intended to provide potential eligible applicants with notice of the opportunity to apply for a groundfish or crab species license.
DATES: Applications must be postmarked or delivered to NMFS (see ADDRESSES) during the application period beginning September 13, 1999, and ending at the close of business on December 17, 1999.
ADDRESSES: Applications can be requested from, and must be sent to, Restricted Access Management, NMFS, P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802- 1668. Hand delivery or courier delivery of applications must be delivered to the Federal Building, 709 West 9th Street, Room 453, Juneau, AK 99801.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Restricted Access Management, 1-800- 304-4846.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In June 1995, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) recommended that NMFS implement the LLP to address concerns of excess capital and capacity in the groundfish and crab fisheries off Alaska. As the next stage of a multistaged process to reduce capacity and capital in the affected fisheries, the LLP will replace the Vessel Moratorium Program (VMP). NMFS implemented the VMP to impose a temporary moratorium on the entry of new capacity into the groundfish and crab fisheries off Alaska and to define the class of entities that would be eligible for licenses under the LLP. The VMP is scheduled to expire on December 31, 1999. The final rule implementing the LLP (63 FR 52642, October 1, 1998) specifies that fishing will begin under the LLP on January 1, 2000.
A final rule establishing the application period and the procedures to apply for a license will become effective on September 7, 1999 (64 FR 42826, August 6, 1999). This rule provides at Sec. 679.4(k)(6)(ii) that an application period of no less than 90 days will be specified by notification in the Federal Register. This rule also provides at Sec. 679.4(k)(6)(i) that a person may request an application for a groundfish license or a crab species license issued under the LLP.
This notification is intended to comply with the application procedures established in Sec. 679.4(k)(6). An application will be sent to the last known address of a person that appears to be an eligible applicant based on information in the official LLP record. All other persons are hereby notified that they must request an application from Restricted Access Management, NMFS (see ADDRESSES). The application period for groundfish licenses and crab species licenses under the LLP begins on September 13, 1999, and ends at the close of business on December 17, 1999. Incomplete applications will be returned to the applicant with specific kinds of information identified that are necessary to make the application complete. Applications postmarked after December 17, 1999, or delivered after the close of business on December 17, 1999, will be denied.
Classification
This action is taken under 50 CFR 679.4(k)(6) and is exempt from review under E.O. 12866.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: September 2, 1999. Bruce C. Morehead, Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 99-23487Filed9-9-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F
