Fisheries of Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska:

Federal Register Volume 76, Number 124 (Tuesday, June 28, 2011)

Proposed Rules

Pages 37763-37765

From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]

FR Doc No: 2011-16163

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 50 CFR Part 679

RIN 0648-AY53

Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Pacific Cod

Allocations in the Gulf of Alaska; Amendment 83

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notification of availability of fishery management plan amendment; request for comments.

SUMMARY: The North Pacific Fishery Management Council submitted

Amendment 83 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska (FMP) to NMFS for review. If approved, Amendment 83 would establish Pacific cod allocations in the Central and Western Gulf of

Alaska regulatory areas among various sectors and seasonal apportionments thereof. This action also would limit access to the

Pacific cod parallel fishery for Federal fishery participants. This action is necessary to reduce the uncertainty regarding the distribution of Pacific cod catch, enhance stability among the sectors, maintain processing limits to protect coastal fishing communities, and provide entry-level opportunities for the jig sector. This action is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens

Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the FMP, and other applicable laws.

DATES: Comments on the amendment must be received on or before August 29, 2011.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Sally Bibb, Acting Assistant Regional

Administrator, Sustainable Fisheries Division, Alaska Region, NMFS,

Attn: Ellen Sebastian. You may submit comments, identified by ``RIN 0648-AY53,'' by any one of the following methods:

Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic public comments via the Federal eRulemaking Portal http://www.regulations.gov.

Fax: (907) 586-7557, Attn: Ellen Sebastian.

Mail: P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802.

Hand delivery to the Federal Building: 709 West 9th

Street, Room 420A, Juneau, AK.

All comments received are a part of the public record. Comments will generally be posted without change. All Personal Identifying

Information (for example, name, address) voluntarily submitted by the commenter may be publicly accessible. Do not submit Confidential

Business Information or otherwise sensitive or protected information.

NMFS will accept anonymous comments (enter N/A in the required fields, if you wish to remain anonymous). You may submit attachments to electronic comments in Microsoft Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe PDF file formats only.

Electronic copies of the Environmental Assessment/Regulatory Impact

Review/Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (EA/RIR/IRFA) prepared for this action may be obtained from http://www.regulations.gov or from the Alaska Region Web site at http://alaskafisheries.noaa.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Seanbob Kelly, 907-586-7228.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) requires that each regional fishery management council submit any fishery management plan amendment it prepares to NMFS for review and approval, disapproval, or partial approval by the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary). The Magnuson-Stevens

Act also requires that NMFS, upon receiving a fishery management plan amendment, immediately publish a notice in the Federal Register announcing that the amendment is available for public review and comment. This notice announces that proposed Amendment 83 to the

Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska (FMP) is available for public review and comment.

The groundfish fisheries in the exclusive economic zone of the Gulf of Alaska are managed under the FMP. The FMP was prepared by the North

Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) under the Magnuson-Stevens

Act.

Pacific cod total allowable catch (TAC) in the Gulf of Alaska is apportioned on the basis of processor component and season, as established under Amendment 23 to the FMP (57 FR 23321, June 3, 1992).

Since implementation, 90 percent of the TAC is allocated to vessels catching Pacific cod for processing by the inshore

Page 37764

component and 10 percent of the TAC is allocated to vessels catching

Pacific cod for processing by the offshore component. TACs are further apportioned for Pacific cod in the Western, Central, and Eastern GOA regulatory areas. In recent years, competition among participants in the Western and Central GOA Pacific cod fisheries has intensified in recent years due in part to a derby-style race for fish and competition among the various gear types for shares of the TACs. Without sector allocations, future harvests by some sectors may increase and impinge on historical levels of catch by other sectors.

The proposed action would supersede the current 90 percent/10 percent inshore/offshore processing allocations and instead divide the

Western and Central GOA Pacific cod TACs among the various gear and operation types. If approved, this action would establish sector allocations for each gear and operation type in the Western and Central

GOA Pacific cod fishery, based primarily on historical catches, as well as conservation, catch monitoring, bycatch, PSC avoidance, and social objectives, including considerations for small-boat sectors and coastal communities. This action is expected to enhance stability in the fishery, reduce competition among sectors, and preserve the historical division of catch among sectors.

The Eastern GOA regulatory area would retain the current 90 percent/10 percent inshore/offshore processing allocations. In recent years, only a small proportion of the Eastern GOA TAC has been harvested, although effort and catch has increased in recent years. The potential exists that the lack of any sector allocations in the Eastern

GOA would provide an incentive for increased effort in that fishery.

However, the Council did not perceive a need for such an action due, in part, to the differences in the prosecution of the Pacific cod fisheries in the Eastern regulatory area, such as the extensive trawl closures effectively prohibiting trawl fishing in the Southeast Outside district of the Eastern regulatory area. As a result, the Council recommended that the Eastern GOA Pacific cod TAC would not be allocated among sectors in this action.

Two elements of Amendment 83 would apply to the entire GOA, including the Western, Central, and Eastern GOA regulatory areas.

First, the hook-and-line CV and C/P halibut PSC limits would apply to the entire GOA, described in more detail below. Second, NMFS is proposing new Federal Fishing Permits (FFPs) permitting requirements that would restrict the reissue of, or amendments to, FFPs by permit holders endorsed by gear and operation type to participate in all

Federal or parallel Pacific cod fisheries throughout the Western,

Central, and Eastern GOA, as described in more detail below.

This proposed action would define sectors based operation type and gear type, including hook-and-line, trawl, pot, and jig. In both the

Western and Central GOA, the pot catcher vessel (CV) sector and pot catcher/processor (C/P) sector would be combined. The rationale for combining these sectors is that the pot C/P sector has historically been relatively small and would receive a small, difficult-to-manage allocation. Moreover, the majority of vessels that have participated as pot C/Ps in the GOA Pacific cod fishery in recent years also have fishing history as pot CVs, and will contribute catch history to both the pot C/P and CV allocations. In the Central GOA, the hook-and-line

CV sector was further split by vessel length less than 50 ft (15.2 m) length overall (LOA). Historically, the majority of catch by hook-and- line CVs has been made by vessels less than 50 ft (15.2 m) LOA (