Fisheries Off West Coast States and in the Western Pacific; Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; Spiny Dogfish; Open Access; Routine Management Measure; Closure Authority, 23804-23808 [05-9001]
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23804
Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 86 / Thursday, May 5, 2005 / Rules and Regulations
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
48 CFR Part 211
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
Defense Federal Acquisition
Regulation Supplement; Technical
Amendment
50 CFR Part 660
AGENCY:
ACTION:
Department of Defense (DoD).
RIN 0648–AT38
Final rule.
DoD is making a technical
amendment to the Defense Federal
Acquisition Regulation Supplement
(DFARS) to add a reference to new
DFARS Procedures, Guidance, and
Information (PGI) requirements relating
to the publication of justifications for
use of brand name contract
specifications.
SUMMARY:
DATES:
Effective Date: May 5, 2005.
Ms.
Angelena Moy, Defense Acquisition
Regulations Council,
OUSD(AT&L)DPAP(DAR), IMD 3C132,
3062 Defense Pentagon, Washington, DC
20301–3062. Telephone (703) 602–1302;
facsimile (703) 602–0350.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
List of Subjects in 48 CFR Part 211
Government procurement.
Michele P. Peterson,
Editor, Defense Acquisition Regulations
System.
Therefore, 48 CFR Part 211 is amended
as follows:
I
PART 211—DESCRIBING AGENCY
NEEDS
1. The authority citation for 48 CFR
Part 211 continues to read as follows:
I
Authority: 41 U.S.C. 421 and 48 CFR
Chapter 1.
2. Section 211.105 is added to read as
follows:
I
211.105 Items peculiar to one
manufacturer.
Follow the publication requirements
at PGI 211.105.
[FR Doc. 05–9005 Filed 5–4–05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 5001–08–P
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Fisheries Off West Coast States and in
the Western Pacific; Pacific Coast
Groundfish Fishery; Spiny Dogfish;
Open Access; Routine Management
Measure; Closure Authority
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Temporary rule; request for
comments.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: This emergency rule
establishes routine management
measure authority, under the Pacific
Coast Groundfish Fishery Management
Plan (Pacific Coast Groundfish FMP), to
reduce trip limits to incidental levels in
the open access fishery for groundfish
before the sector has taken its full target
groundfish species’ allocations, to
minimize impacts on overfished
species. This action establishes a
mechanism that can be used to quickly
restrict the directed open access
groundfish fishery if NMFS estimates
that the incidental catch of an
overfished species is too high.
DATES: Effective May 2, 2005, until
November 1, 2005. Comments must be
received no later than 5 p.m., local time
on June 6, 2005.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments,
identified by I.D. 042605G by any of the
following methods:
• E-mail: 2005oalimits.nwr@noaa.gov:
Include 042605G in the subject line of
the message.
• Federal eRulemaking Portal:
www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments.
• Fax: 206–526–6736, Attn: Yvonne
deReynier
• Mail: D. Robert Lohn, Administrator,
Northwest Region, NMFS, 7600 Sand
Point Way NE, Seattle, WA 98115–0070,
Attn: Yvonne deReynier.
Copies of the Final Environmental
Impact Statement (FEIS) for the harvest
specifications and management
measures for the 2005–2006 groundfish
fisheries are available from Donald
McIsaac, Executive Director, Pacific
Fishery Management Council (Council),
7700 NE Ambassador Place, Portland,
OR 97220, phone: 503–820–2280.
Copies of the Record of Decision, final
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regulatory flexibility analysis (FRFA),
and the Small Entity Compliance Guide
for the groundfish harvest specifications
for 2005–2006 are available from D.
Robert Lohn, Administrator, Northwest
Region (Regional Administrator), NMFS,
7600 Sand Point Way, NE, Seattle, WA
98115–0070.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Yvonne deReynier (Northwest Region,
NMFS), phone: 206–526–6129; fax: 206–
526–6736 and; e-mail:
yvonne.dereynier@noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Electronic Access
This emergency rule is accessible via
the Internet at the Office of the Federal
Register’s website at
www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/.
Background information and documents
are available at the NMFS Northwest
Region website at www.nwr.noaa.gov/
1sustfsh/gdfsh01.htm. and at the
Council’s website at www.pcouncil.org.
Federal regulations at 50 CFR
660.370(c) authorize the use of routine
management measures in the groundfish
fishery off Washington, Oregon, and
California for the purpose of rebuilding
and protecting overfished or depleted
stocks. This action is consistent with the
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act
(Magnuson-Stevens Act) requirements
on the protection and rebuilding of
overfished species.
New Entrant to the Open Access
Fishery for Spiny Dogfish off the U.S.
West Coast
In mid-April 2005, a representative of
a Seattle-based fishing company
contacted NMFS about the possibility of
using one of its vessels to operate off
Washington State in the West Coast
open access fishery for spiny dogfish,
Squalus acanthias. The vessel in
question is a freezer-longliner 124.5 ft
(38.3 m) in length. Vessel operators
were intending to both catch and
process dogfish and other groundfish
species at sea in May-June 2005. The
West Coast open access groundfish
fishery is open to any vessel that is
otherwise authorized to fish under U.S.
Coast Guard safety, registration, and
other requirements. Under the 2005–
2006 groundfish fishery specifications
and management measures, dogfish is
part of the ‘‘other fish’’ complex.
Dogfish is an unassessed species; NMFS
anticipates that there will be adequate
data available for its first assessment in
time for the 2007 assessment season.
There is no limit on the amount of
dogfish that may be taken in either the
limited entry or open access fisheries
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(69 FR 77012, December 23, 2004.)
NMFS’s normal preference would be to
coordinate with the Council on
accommodating this vessel into the
West Coast groundfish fisheries
management. Because the Council does
not meet again until June 13–17, 2005,
the agency believes that it must take
action in advance of any formal
coordination with the Council. In
developing this emergency rule, NMFS
consulted with representatives from the
three West Coast states, the Council
chair and staff, and with representatives
from the groundfish treaty tribes.
Under Federal groundfish regulations
at 50 CFR 660.314(c), an at-sea catcherprocessor shorter than 125 ft (38.4 m) in
length must carry one NMFS-certified
observer for each day that the vessel is
used to take, retain, receive, land,
process, or transport groundfish.
Pursuant to § 660.314(e), NMFS may
additionally require such vessels to
carry NMFS staff or individuals
authorized by NMFS, in addition to an
observer provided by a permitted
observer provider. The freezer-longliner
intending to fish in the open access
fishery has made plans to carry and pay
for one observer pursuant to
§ 660.314(c) and has been cooperating
with NMFS in its request that the vessel
carry an additional NMFS West Coast
Groundfish Observer Program (WCGOP)
staff observer. These observers will
allow NMFS to monitor the fishing and
processing activities of this vessel on a
daily basis, providing valuable bycatch
data on this fishery.
The freezer-longliner intending to fish
in the open access fishery for dogfish is
of a notably larger harvest capacity than
the West Coast vessels that traditionally
participate in the longline dogfish
fishery. Traditional West Coast longline
dogfish vessels use 1–2,000 hooks per
longline set, whereas freezer-longliners
of this vessel’s class will use 10–20,000
hooks per set. NMFS reviewed observer
data from this and similar vessels in
their operations off Alaska in order to
compare their catch capabilities against
that of vessels in the West Coast
longline dogfish fleet. Vessels of this
class routinely take 200 mt or more of
groundfish per month. In 2004, the West
Coast dogfish longline fleet landed 205
mt of dogfish, with vessels taking a high
of 40–50 mt each of landed groundfish
catch per month. These numbers are not
a straight comparison because the
freezer-longliner catch is in total
(landed + discard) catch, whereas the
traditional dogfish longliner boat catch
is in landed catch. There is, however, a
clear disparity between the amount of
groundfish that a freezer-longliner of
this vessel’s class is able to take when
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compared against the amount of
groundfish that a traditional West Coast
longline vessel is able to take.
Bycatch Management in the West Coast
Groundfish Fisheries
In the preamble to its proposed rule
to implement the 2005–2006 groundfish
harvest specifications and management
measures, NMFS discussed its threepart strategy to meet Magnuson-Stevens
Act mandates on minimizing and
monitoring bycatch: (1) Gather data
through a standardized reporting
methodology on the amount and type of
bycatch occurring in the fishery; (2)
assess this data through bycatch models
to estimate when, where, and with
which gear types bycatch of varying
species occurs; and (3) implement
management measures through Federal
fisheries regulations that minimize
bycatch and bycatch mortality (69 FR
56550, September 21, 2004). Bycatch
management and monitoring in the
West Coast groundfish fisheries is
particularly focused on monitoring the
total catch of overfished groundfish
species. There are eight overfished
groundfish species, several of which are
taken in a broad array of commercial
and recreational fisheries with a wide
variety of gear types. Based on observer,
survey, and exempted fishing permit
data, NMFS believes that canary and
yelloweye rockfish are the overfished
species most likely to be negatively
affected by an increase in open access
dogfish fishing effort off the northern
West Coast. Under Federal regulations
at § 660.383(a), retention of canary and
yelloweye rockfish is prohibited in the
open access fisheries. Current NMFS
data systems are already capable of
swiftly receiving and aggregating the
observer data that will be generated
through a freezer-longliner’s operating
in West Coast water, thus incorporating
this vessel into the first part of NMFS’s
bycatch strategy can be accommodated
through regular NMFS programs.
NMFS plans to provide its first release
of WCGOP data on the open access
fisheries in time for the June 13–17,
2005, Council meeting in Foster City,
CA. For the 2005–2006 management
cycle, NMFS and the Council developed
estimates of total overfished species
catch for the directed open access
fisheries based on historic catch levels
during years when fishing was less
constrained by overfished species
rebuilding efforts. Overfished species
total catch estimates for the incidental
open access fisheries, those fisheries
that do not target groundfish directly
but which may take groundfish
incidentally, were derived from a
combination of historic catch and state
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observation data. The combined
estimated effects of all of the fisheries
known to take groundfish either directly
or incidentally is summarized in Table
2–13a and 2–13b of the FEIS for the
2005–2006 groundfish harvest
specifications and management
measures. This table, informally known
in the Council process as the ‘‘bycatch
scorecard,’’ is used to both provide a
baseline for expected effects of the
different fisheries on overfished species
and to track those effects during a
fishing year, as they may be affected by
new data.
In the bycatch scorecard, 1.0 mt of
canary rockfish and 0.6 mt of yelloweye
rockfish are expected to be taken in the
2005 directed open access fisheries. An
additional 1.8 mt of canary rockfish and
0.8 mt of yelloweye rockfish are
expected to be taken in the 2005
incidental open access fisheries, those
fisheries that do not target groundfish
but which may take groundfish
incidentally. Both of these species also
have unassigned amounts of fish that
are not currently expected to be taken in
any fishery. The bycatch scorecard did
not anticipate the entrance of a vessel
like a 124.5 ft (38.3 m) freezer-longliner
into the open access fisheries. There are
no Federal fishery regulations, however,
prohibiting such a vessel from entrance
into the open access fishery. Barring
further recommendations from the
Council, any bycatch of canary and
yelloweye rockfish taken in the open
access longline dogfish fishery would
need to be accommodated within the
current bycatch scorecard amounts of
1.0 mt of canary rockfish and 0.6 mt of
yelloweye rockfish for the directed open
access fisheries. Constraining the
freezer-longliner to the directed open
access fishery’s bycatch scorecard
amounts would meet the second part of
NMFS’s bycatch strategy of managing
fisheries to attribute bycatch estimates
of overfished species to their
appropriate fishery sectors and gear
types.
Without the action finalized in this
emergency rule, NMFS does not believe
that it would have adequate Federal
regulations to accommodate the
entrance of a freezer-longliner into the
open access dogfish fishery while
minimizing bycatch and preventing
overfished species optimum yields
(OYS) from being exceeded. NMFS is
implementing this emergency rule to
ensure that the third part of NMFS’s
bycatch strategy of minimizing bycatch
through appropriate regulatory
measures is met for this and any other
similar entrants to the open access
fishery.
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Routine Management Measures
The regulatory measures available to
manage the West Coast groundfish
fisheries include, but are not limited to,
harvest guidelines, quotas, landing
limits, frequency limits, gear restrictions
(escape panels or ports, codend mesh
size, etc.), time/area closures, prohibited
species, bag and size limits, permits,
other forms of effort control, allocation,
reporting requirements, and onboard
observers. Routine management
measures are those regulatory measures
that the Council determines are likely to
be adjusted on an annual or more
frequent basis.
Routine management measures are
necessary to meet the varied and
interwoven mandates of the MagnusonStevens Act and the Pacific Coast
Groundfish FMP. These mandates
include: implementing the overfished
species rebuilding plans, reducing
bycatch, preventing overfishing,
allowing the harvest of healthy stocks as
much as possible while protecting and
rebuilding overfished and depleted
stocks, and equitably distributing the
burden of rebuilding among the fishing
sectors. Routine management measures
may be used to address a resource
problem with an overfished species.
Measures are classified as routine
through a rulemaking process. For a
measure to be classified as routine,
NMFS determines whether the measure
is appropriate to address a particular
management issue. Once a measure is
classified as routine, it may be modified
thereafter by recommendation of the
Council at a single Council meeting,
providing it is used for the same
intended purpose as the original
measure. This allows for a swift
adjustment of management measures to
respond to updated information
received during the fishing year. (See
the Pacific Coast Groundfish FMP at
Section 6.2)
In August 2004, NMFS implemented
an emergency rule to set a canary
rockfish bycatch limit for the whiting
fisheries as a routine management
measure (69 FR 46448, August 3, 2004.)
This action used the 2004 bycatch
scorecard to set a canary rockfish
bycatch limit of 7.3 mt. That emergency
rule provided NMFS with a regulatory
mechanism to close one or all non-tribal
sectors of the whiting fishery if the
whiting sectors collectively achieved 7.3
mt of incidental canary rockfish catch.
At its September 2004 meeting, the
Council adjusted the canary bycatch
limit for the Pacific whiting fisheries to
6.2 mt and added a bycatch limit for
darkblotched rockfish of 9.5 mt (69 FR
59816, October 6, 2004). NMFS
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implemented bycatch limits for the
Pacific whiting fishery as a routine
management measure available by
permanent regulation through its final
rule for the 2005–2006 groundfish
harvest specifications and management
measures. The authority to set bycatch
limits for the Pacific whiting fishery is
found in § 660.370(c)(1)(ii) and the
2005–2006 bycatch limits for canary and
widow rockfish taken incidentally in
that fishery are found in § 660.373(b)(4).
Because bycatch limits for the Pacific
whiting fishery are now permanent
routine management measures, the
Council may recommend that NMFS
adjust those limits inseason, or may
recommend that NMFS add bycatch
limits for additional species inseason.
Regulatory Changes put into Effect
Through This Emergency Action
The freezer-longliner planning on
entering the northern West Coast
dogfish fishery has similar bycatch
reporting requirements and capabilities
to at-sea whiting catcher-processors.
Like observer data from whiting catcherprocessors, observer data from a freezerlongliner would be available to NMFS
on a daily basis, with an approximate
one-day lag time. NMFS uses observer
data to monitor the inseason total catch
in the whiting fisheries, including
incidental catch levels of non-target
species. Because the agency would have
access to a similar quality of data for a
freezer-longliner vessel, NMFS believes
that management via bycatch limits
would be appropriate for this vessel’s
participation in the directed open access
fishery. Therefore, with this action,
NMFS is implementing the bycatch
scorecard limits of 1.0 mt of canary
rockfish and 0.6 mt of yelloweye
rockfish for the directed open access
fishery for groundfish. If those limits are
estimated to have been achieved
inseason, the open access fishery would
be subject to incidental trip limit levels
via NMFS automatic action at
§ 660.370(d). These bycatch limits for
the directed open access fishery are
intended to ensure that any increased
open access harvest levels that may
result from the participation of any
freezer-longliner or other high capacity
vessels in the open access fishery will
not jeopardize either overfished species’
OYs or the availability of incidental
overfished species catch in fisheries
other than the directed open access
fishery.
Under Federal groundfish regulations
at § 660.302, the open access fishery is
defined as ‘‘the fishery composed of
vessels using open access gear fished
pursuant to the harvest guidelines,
quotas, and other management measures
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governing the open access fishery. Any
commercial fishing vessel that does not
have a limited entry permit and which
lands groundfish in the course of
commercial fishing is a participant in
the open access fishery.’’ Because open
access fishery participants are simply
defined as all vessels that do not have
limited entry permits and which land
groundfish, there are no regulatory
mechanisms for distinguishing between
the directed and incidental open access
fisheries.
The bycatch scorecard, which
represents the division of estimated
effects of the various directed and
incidental groundfish fisheries on the
environment, differentiates between
directed and incidental open access
fisheries. If the directed open access
fisheries were to achieve the canary and
yelloweye rockfish bycatch limits, the
bycatch scorecard would still
accommodate incidental take of these
species in incidental open access
groundfish fisheries (salmon troll,
California halibut trawl, Dungeness crab
pot, etc.) At its April 4–8, 2005, meeting
in Tacoma, WA, the Council discussed
whether to implement vessel monitoring
system (VMS) requirements for the open
access fishery. During its discussion, the
Council indicated a desire to
differentiate between the directed and
open access fisheries through a review
of some minimal groundfish level that
might be needed to accommodate
incidental groundfish catch in nongroundfish fisheries.
NMFS reviewed landings data to
estimate the minimal amount of
groundfish that would be needed to
allow vessels catching groundfish
incidentally in fisheries directed at nongroundfish species to land their
incidentally caught groundfish.
Landings data indicates that vessels
participating in non-groundfish fisheries
that take groundfish incidentally would
need access to approximately 200 lb
(90.7 kg) of groundfish per month in
order to continue to prosecute their nongroundfish fisheries and land
incidentally caught groundfish. To
recognize the bycatch scorecard’s
differentiation between directed and
open access fisheries, NMFS is,
therefore, implementing a provision that
if the open access bycatch limits are
reached, open access fishery
participants would be permitted to land
up to 200 lb (90.7 kg) of groundfish per
month.
Classification
This emergency rule establishes
routine management measure authority
to reduce groundfish trip limits to
incidental levels in the open access
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groundfish fishery before the sector has
taken its full target groundfish species’
allocations in order to address bycatch
concerns for overfished species. It is
issued under the authority of the
Magnuson-Stevens Act at section
305(c)(1) and is consistent with the
regulations implementing the Pacific
Coast Groundfish FMP at 50 CFR part
660.
The Assistant Administrator for
Fisheries, NOAA (AA) finds good cause
to waive the requirement to provide
prior notice and comment on this action
pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3)(B),
because providing prior notice and
opportunity for public comment would
be impracticable. The information on
which this action is based was not
available to NMFS until mid-April 2005,
for a fishing activity intended for MayJune 2005. There was insufficient time
in April to undergo a proposed and final
rulemaking, since this action needs to
be in effect as soon as possible in early
May. Prior notice and comment would
be impracticable because affording prior
notice and opportunity for public
comment would impede the Agency’s
mandated duty to manage fisheries to
protect overfished species from
overfishing.
The Pacific Coast Groundfish FMP
and implementing regulations provide
that closed areas, seasons, trip limits,
and other measures may be used to
protect overfished species in any
commercial fisheries and for any gear
type. This action provides a mechanism
to reduce groundfish trip limits to an
incidental level in the open access
fisheries for groundfish to keep the
harvest of canary and yelloweye
rockfish within their OYs. NMFS has
been made aware of a new highercapacity intended participant in the
directed open access groundfish
fisheries. This intended fishery
participant comes to the fishery with
notably greater fishing capacity than
current participants, but also without
the long experience of current fishery
participants in avoiding bycatch of
overfished species. Due to the expected
faster pace of fishing of this intended
fishery participant, delaying this rule
could result in unexpectedly high
bycatch of canary or yelloweye rockfish
in the open access fishery. Both of these
species are overfished and their 2005
OYs were established at rebuilding
levels. High bycatch levels of these
stocks could result in their OYs being
exceeded, or in the closure of some or
all portions of the groundfish fishery
being closed because of bycatch in the
open access fishery.
NMFS sets overfished species OYs
using the guidance of those species’
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rebuilding plans, which are part of the
Pacific Coast Groundfish FMP. To meet
the goals of the rebuilding plans of
canary and yelloweye rockfish, NMFS
set 2005 OYs for those species at 46.8
mt and 26 mt, respectively. NMFS made
catch projections for all West Coast
groundfish fisheries before the start of
the 2005 fishing year to determine if the
preferred management measures would
keep harvests of overfished species
within their OYs. The projected catches
of canary and yelloweye rockfish in the
directed open access fisheries are 1.0 mt
and 0.6 mt, respectively. As noted
above, NMFS has recently been
contacted by a high-capacity at-sea
longline catcher-processor intending to
join the West Coast groundfish open
access fisheries to target spiny dogfish.
This emergency rule is needed to
address concerns that this and any other
unexpected high-capacity entrants to
the directed open access fisheries could
jeopardize the OYs for canary and
yelloweye rockfish, and thereby take
away fishing opportunities from
hundreds of other commercial vessels
and thousands of recreational vessels
that also take these species incidentally.
For the reasons described above,
pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3), the AA
also finds good cause to waive the 30day delay in effectiveness, so that this
rule may become effective as soon as
possible to enable NMFS to reduce trip
limits to an incidental level in the open
access fisheries should either the 1.0 mt
canary bycatch limit or the 0.6 mt
yelloweye rockfish bycatch limit be
reached by the directed open access
fishery.
This emergency rule has been
determined to be not significant for
purposes of Executive Order 12866.
This action is within the scope of the
October 2004 Environmental Impact
Statement (EIS) prepared by the Council
for the 2005–2006 Pacific Coast
groundfish ABCs, OYS, and
management measures. Copies of this
EIS are available from the Council [See
ADDRESSES].
This emergency rule is exempt from
the procedures of the Regulatory
Flexibility Act because the rule is issued
without opportunity for prior notice and
opportunity for public comment.
The proposed and final rules to
implement the 2005–2006 groundfish
harvest specifications and management
measures were developed after
meaningful consultation and
collaboration with tribal officials from
the area covered by the Pacific Coast
Groundfish FMP. Under the MagnusonStevens Act at 16 U.S.C. 1852(b)(5), one
of the voting members of the Pacific
Council must be a representative of an
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Indian tribe with federally recognized
fishing rights from the area of the
Council’s jurisdiction. The tribal
representative on the Council made a
motion to adopt the 2005–2006 tribal
management measures, which was
passed by the Council. This emergency
rule is intended in part to constrain the
incidental catch of overfished species in
the directed open access fishery, so that
excessive catch in that fishery does not
negatively affect tribal and other
fisheries for groundfish. NMFS
consulted with the representatives from
the groundfish treaty tribes on this
emergency rule before publishing it in
the Federal Register.
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 660
Administrative practice and
procedure, American Samoa, Fisheries,
Fishing, Guam, Hawaiian Natives,
Indians, Northern Mariana Islands,
Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements.
Dated: May 2, 2005.
Rebecca Lent,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for
Regulatory Programs, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
For the reasons set out in the preamble,
50 CFR part 660 is amended as follows:
I
PART 660—FISHERIES OFF WEST
COAST STATES AND IN THE
WESTERN PACIFIC
l. The authority citation for part 660
continues to read as follows:
I
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
2. In § 660.370, paragraphs (c)(1)(ii)
and (d) are suspended and paragraphs
(c)(1)(iii) and (i) are added to read as
follows:
I
§ 660.370 Specifications and management
measures.
*
*
*
*
*
(c) * * *
(1) * * *
(iii) Differential trip landing limits
and frequency limits based on gear type,
closed seasons. Trip landing and
frequency limits that differ by gear type
and closed seasons may be imposed or
adjusted on a biennial or more frequent
basis for the purpose of rebuilding and
protecting overfished or depleted stocks.
To achieve the rebuilding of an
overfished or depleted stock, the Pacific
whiting primary seasons described at
§ 660.373(b), may be closed for any or
all of the fishery sectors identified at
§ 660.373 (a) before the sector allocation
is reached if any of the bycatch limits
identified at § 660.373(b)(4) are reached.
To achieve the rebuilding of an
overfished or depleted stock, groundfish
trip limits in the open access fishery
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Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 86 / Thursday, May 5, 2005 / Rules and Regulations
may be reduced to an incidental level if
any of the bycatch limits identified at
§ 660.383(f) are reached.
*
*
*
*
*
(i) Automatic actions. Automatic
management actions may be initiated by
the NMFS Regional Administrator
without prior public notice, opportunity
to comment, or a Council meeting.
These actions are nondiscretionary, and
the impacts must have been taken into
account prior to the action. Unless
otherwise stated, a single notice will be
published in the Federal Register
making the action effective if good cause
exists under the APA to waive notice
and comment. Automatic actions are
used in the Pacific whiting fishery to
close the fishery or reinstate trip limits
when a whiting harvest guideline,
commercial harvest guideline, or a
sector’s allocation is reached, or is
VerDate jul<14>2003
14:24 May 04, 2005
Jkt 205001
projected to be reached; or to
reapportion unused allocation to other
sectors of the fishery. An automatic
action may also be used in the open
access fishery to reduce groundfish trip
limits to an incidental level when
overfished species bycatch limits at
§ 660.383(f) are reached.
I 3. In § 660.383, paragraph (f) is added
to read as follows:
§ 660.383 Open access fishery
management measures.
*
*
*
*
*
(f) 2005 bycatch limits in the directed
open access fishery. Bycatch limits for
the directed open access fishery may be
used inseason to reduce overall
groundfish trip limits to incidental
levels to achieve the rebuilding of an
overfished or depleted stock, under
routine management measure authority
at § 660.370(c)(1)(ii). These limits are
PO 00000
Frm 00034
Fmt 4700
Sfmt 4700
routine management measures under
§ 660.370(c) and, as such, may be
adjusted inseason or may have new
species added to the list of those with
bycatch limits. For 2005, the directed
open access fishery bycatch limits are
1.0 mt of canary rockfish and 0.6 mt of
yelloweye rockfish. Under automatic
action authority at § 660.370(d), if either
of these limits is reached, groundfish
trip limits will be reduced to an
incidental level. Under this authority,
reducing groundfish trip limits to an
incidental level means that any vessel
operating off the West Coast that is not
registered for use with a limited entry
permit will be constrained to a trip limit
for all groundfish, excluding Pacific
whiting of no more than 200 lb (90.7 kg)
per month.
[FR Doc. 05–9001 Filed 5–2–05; 2:58 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–S
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Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 86 (Thursday, May 5, 2005)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 23804-23808]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-9001]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 660
[Docket No. 050302053-5120-03; I.D. 042605G]
RIN 0648-AT38
Fisheries Off West Coast States and in the Western Pacific;
Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; Spiny Dogfish; Open Access; Routine
Management Measure; Closure Authority
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Temporary rule; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: This emergency rule establishes routine management measure
authority, under the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan
(Pacific Coast Groundfish FMP), to reduce trip limits to incidental
levels in the open access fishery for groundfish before the sector has
taken its full target groundfish species' allocations, to minimize
impacts on overfished species. This action establishes a mechanism that
can be used to quickly restrict the directed open access groundfish
fishery if NMFS estimates that the incidental catch of an overfished
species is too high.
DATES: Effective May 2, 2005, until November 1, 2005. Comments must be
received no later than 5 p.m., local time on June 6, 2005.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by I.D. 042605G by any
of the following methods:
E-mail: 2005oalimits.nwr@noaa.gov: Include 042605G in the
subject line of the message.
Federal eRulemaking Portal: www.regulations.gov. Follow
the instructions for submitting comments.
Fax: 206-526-6736, Attn: Yvonne deReynier
Mail: D. Robert Lohn, Administrator, Northwest Region,
NMFS, 7600 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA 98115-0070, Attn: Yvonne
deReynier.
Copies of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the
harvest specifications and management measures for the 2005-2006
groundfish fisheries are available from Donald McIsaac, Executive
Director, Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council), 7700 NE
Ambassador Place, Portland, OR 97220, phone: 503-820-2280. Copies of
the Record of Decision, final regulatory flexibility analysis (FRFA),
and the Small Entity Compliance Guide for the groundfish harvest
specifications for 2005-2006 are available from D. Robert Lohn,
Administrator, Northwest Region (Regional Administrator), NMFS, 7600
Sand Point Way, NE, Seattle, WA 98115-0070.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Yvonne deReynier (Northwest Region,
NMFS), phone: 206-526-6129; fax: 206-526-6736 and; e-mail:
yvonne.dereynier@noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Electronic Access
This emergency rule is accessible via the Internet at the Office of
the Federal Register's website at www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/.
Background information and documents are available at the NMFS
Northwest Region website at www.nwr.noaa.gov/1sustfsh/gdfsh01.htm. and
at the Council's website at www.pcouncil.org.
Federal regulations at 50 CFR 660.370(c) authorize the use of
routine management measures in the groundfish fishery off Washington,
Oregon, and California for the purpose of rebuilding and protecting
overfished or depleted stocks. This action is consistent with the
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-
Stevens Act) requirements on the protection and rebuilding of
overfished species.
New Entrant to the Open Access Fishery for Spiny Dogfish off the U.S.
West Coast
In mid-April 2005, a representative of a Seattle-based fishing
company contacted NMFS about the possibility of using one of its
vessels to operate off Washington State in the West Coast open access
fishery for spiny dogfish, Squalus acanthias. The vessel in question is
a freezer-longliner 124.5 ft (38.3 m) in length. Vessel operators were
intending to both catch and process dogfish and other groundfish
species at sea in May-June 2005. The West Coast open access groundfish
fishery is open to any vessel that is otherwise authorized to fish
under U.S. Coast Guard safety, registration, and other requirements.
Under the 2005-2006 groundfish fishery specifications and management
measures, dogfish is part of the ``other fish'' complex. Dogfish is an
unassessed species; NMFS anticipates that there will be adequate data
available for its first assessment in time for the 2007 assessment
season. There is no limit on the amount of dogfish that may be taken in
either the limited entry or open access fisheries
[[Page 23805]]
(69 FR 77012, December 23, 2004.) NMFS's normal preference would be to
coordinate with the Council on accommodating this vessel into the West
Coast groundfish fisheries management. Because the Council does not
meet again until June 13-17, 2005, the agency believes that it must
take action in advance of any formal coordination with the Council. In
developing this emergency rule, NMFS consulted with representatives
from the three West Coast states, the Council chair and staff, and with
representatives from the groundfish treaty tribes.
Under Federal groundfish regulations at 50 CFR 660.314(c), an at-
sea catcher-processor shorter than 125 ft (38.4 m) in length must carry
one NMFS-certified observer for each day that the vessel is used to
take, retain, receive, land, process, or transport groundfish. Pursuant
to Sec. 660.314(e), NMFS may additionally require such vessels to
carry NMFS staff or individuals authorized by NMFS, in addition to an
observer provided by a permitted observer provider. The freezer-
longliner intending to fish in the open access fishery has made plans
to carry and pay for one observer pursuant to Sec. 660.314(c) and has
been cooperating with NMFS in its request that the vessel carry an
additional NMFS West Coast Groundfish Observer Program (WCGOP) staff
observer. These observers will allow NMFS to monitor the fishing and
processing activities of this vessel on a daily basis, providing
valuable bycatch data on this fishery.
The freezer-longliner intending to fish in the open access fishery
for dogfish is of a notably larger harvest capacity than the West Coast
vessels that traditionally participate in the longline dogfish fishery.
Traditional West Coast longline dogfish vessels use 1-2,000 hooks per
longline set, whereas freezer-longliners of this vessel's class will
use 10-20,000 hooks per set. NMFS reviewed observer data from this and
similar vessels in their operations off Alaska in order to compare
their catch capabilities against that of vessels in the West Coast
longline dogfish fleet. Vessels of this class routinely take 200 mt or
more of groundfish per month. In 2004, the West Coast dogfish longline
fleet landed 205 mt of dogfish, with vessels taking a high of 40-50 mt
each of landed groundfish catch per month. These numbers are not a
straight comparison because the freezer-longliner catch is in total
(landed + discard) catch, whereas the traditional dogfish longliner
boat catch is in landed catch. There is, however, a clear disparity
between the amount of groundfish that a freezer-longliner of this
vessel's class is able to take when compared against the amount of
groundfish that a traditional West Coast longline vessel is able to
take.
Bycatch Management in the West Coast Groundfish Fisheries
In the preamble to its proposed rule to implement the 2005-2006
groundfish harvest specifications and management measures, NMFS
discussed its three-part strategy to meet Magnuson-Stevens Act mandates
on minimizing and monitoring bycatch: (1) Gather data through a
standardized reporting methodology on the amount and type of bycatch
occurring in the fishery; (2) assess this data through bycatch models
to estimate when, where, and with which gear types bycatch of varying
species occurs; and (3) implement management measures through Federal
fisheries regulations that minimize bycatch and bycatch mortality (69
FR 56550, September 21, 2004). Bycatch management and monitoring in the
West Coast groundfish fisheries is particularly focused on monitoring
the total catch of overfished groundfish species. There are eight
overfished groundfish species, several of which are taken in a broad
array of commercial and recreational fisheries with a wide variety of
gear types. Based on observer, survey, and exempted fishing permit
data, NMFS believes that canary and yelloweye rockfish are the
overfished species most likely to be negatively affected by an increase
in open access dogfish fishing effort off the northern West Coast.
Under Federal regulations at Sec. 660.383(a), retention of canary and
yelloweye rockfish is prohibited in the open access fisheries. Current
NMFS data systems are already capable of swiftly receiving and
aggregating the observer data that will be generated through a freezer-
longliner's operating in West Coast water, thus incorporating this
vessel into the first part of NMFS's bycatch strategy can be
accommodated through regular NMFS programs.
NMFS plans to provide its first release of WCGOP data on the open
access fisheries in time for the June 13-17, 2005, Council meeting in
Foster City, CA. For the 2005-2006 management cycle, NMFS and the
Council developed estimates of total overfished species catch for the
directed open access fisheries based on historic catch levels during
years when fishing was less constrained by overfished species
rebuilding efforts. Overfished species total catch estimates for the
incidental open access fisheries, those fisheries that do not target
groundfish directly but which may take groundfish incidentally, were
derived from a combination of historic catch and state observation
data. The combined estimated effects of all of the fisheries known to
take groundfish either directly or incidentally is summarized in Table
2-13a and 2-13b of the FEIS for the 2005-2006 groundfish harvest
specifications and management measures. This table, informally known in
the Council process as the ``bycatch scorecard,'' is used to both
provide a baseline for expected effects of the different fisheries on
overfished species and to track those effects during a fishing year, as
they may be affected by new data.
In the bycatch scorecard, 1.0 mt of canary rockfish and 0.6 mt of
yelloweye rockfish are expected to be taken in the 2005 directed open
access fisheries. An additional 1.8 mt of canary rockfish and 0.8 mt of
yelloweye rockfish are expected to be taken in the 2005 incidental open
access fisheries, those fisheries that do not target groundfish but
which may take groundfish incidentally. Both of these species also have
unassigned amounts of fish that are not currently expected to be taken
in any fishery. The bycatch scorecard did not anticipate the entrance
of a vessel like a 124.5 ft (38.3 m) freezer-longliner into the open
access fisheries. There are no Federal fishery regulations, however,
prohibiting such a vessel from entrance into the open access fishery.
Barring further recommendations from the Council, any bycatch of canary
and yelloweye rockfish taken in the open access longline dogfish
fishery would need to be accommodated within the current bycatch
scorecard amounts of 1.0 mt of canary rockfish and 0.6 mt of yelloweye
rockfish for the directed open access fisheries. Constraining the
freezer-longliner to the directed open access fishery's bycatch
scorecard amounts would meet the second part of NMFS's bycatch strategy
of managing fisheries to attribute bycatch estimates of overfished
species to their appropriate fishery sectors and gear types.
Without the action finalized in this emergency rule, NMFS does not
believe that it would have adequate Federal regulations to accommodate
the entrance of a freezer-longliner into the open access dogfish
fishery while minimizing bycatch and preventing overfished species
optimum yields (OYS) from being exceeded. NMFS is implementing this
emergency rule to ensure that the third part of NMFS's bycatch strategy
of minimizing bycatch through appropriate regulatory measures is met
for this and any other similar entrants to the open access fishery.
[[Page 23806]]
Routine Management Measures
The regulatory measures available to manage the West Coast
groundfish fisheries include, but are not limited to, harvest
guidelines, quotas, landing limits, frequency limits, gear restrictions
(escape panels or ports, codend mesh size, etc.), time/area closures,
prohibited species, bag and size limits, permits, other forms of effort
control, allocation, reporting requirements, and onboard observers.
Routine management measures are those regulatory measures that the
Council determines are likely to be adjusted on an annual or more
frequent basis.
Routine management measures are necessary to meet the varied and
interwoven mandates of the Magnuson-Stevens Act and the Pacific Coast
Groundfish FMP. These mandates include: implementing the overfished
species rebuilding plans, reducing bycatch, preventing overfishing,
allowing the harvest of healthy stocks as much as possible while
protecting and rebuilding overfished and depleted stocks, and equitably
distributing the burden of rebuilding among the fishing sectors.
Routine management measures may be used to address a resource problem
with an overfished species.
Measures are classified as routine through a rulemaking process.
For a measure to be classified as routine, NMFS determines whether the
measure is appropriate to address a particular management issue. Once a
measure is classified as routine, it may be modified thereafter by
recommendation of the Council at a single Council meeting, providing it
is used for the same intended purpose as the original measure. This
allows for a swift adjustment of management measures to respond to
updated information received during the fishing year. (See the Pacific
Coast Groundfish FMP at Section 6.2)
In August 2004, NMFS implemented an emergency rule to set a canary
rockfish bycatch limit for the whiting fisheries as a routine
management measure (69 FR 46448, August 3, 2004.) This action used the
2004 bycatch scorecard to set a canary rockfish bycatch limit of 7.3
mt. That emergency rule provided NMFS with a regulatory mechanism to
close one or all non-tribal sectors of the whiting fishery if the
whiting sectors collectively achieved 7.3 mt of incidental canary
rockfish catch. At its September 2004 meeting, the Council adjusted the
canary bycatch limit for the Pacific whiting fisheries to 6.2 mt and
added a bycatch limit for darkblotched rockfish of 9.5 mt (69 FR 59816,
October 6, 2004). NMFS implemented bycatch limits for the Pacific
whiting fishery as a routine management measure available by permanent
regulation through its final rule for the 2005-2006 groundfish harvest
specifications and management measures. The authority to set bycatch
limits for the Pacific whiting fishery is found in Sec.
660.370(c)(1)(ii) and the 2005-2006 bycatch limits for canary and widow
rockfish taken incidentally in that fishery are found in Sec.
660.373(b)(4). Because bycatch limits for the Pacific whiting fishery
are now permanent routine management measures, the Council may
recommend that NMFS adjust those limits inseason, or may recommend that
NMFS add bycatch limits for additional species inseason.
Regulatory Changes put into Effect Through This Emergency Action
The freezer-longliner planning on entering the northern West Coast
dogfish fishery has similar bycatch reporting requirements and
capabilities to at-sea whiting catcher-processors. Like observer data
from whiting catcher-processors, observer data from a freezer-longliner
would be available to NMFS on a daily basis, with an approximate one-
day lag time. NMFS uses observer data to monitor the inseason total
catch in the whiting fisheries, including incidental catch levels of
non-target species. Because the agency would have access to a similar
quality of data for a freezer-longliner vessel, NMFS believes that
management via bycatch limits would be appropriate for this vessel's
participation in the directed open access fishery. Therefore, with this
action, NMFS is implementing the bycatch scorecard limits of 1.0 mt of
canary rockfish and 0.6 mt of yelloweye rockfish for the directed open
access fishery for groundfish. If those limits are estimated to have
been achieved inseason, the open access fishery would be subject to
incidental trip limit levels via NMFS automatic action at Sec.
660.370(d). These bycatch limits for the directed open access fishery
are intended to ensure that any increased open access harvest levels
that may result from the participation of any freezer-longliner or
other high capacity vessels in the open access fishery will not
jeopardize either overfished species' OYs or the availability of
incidental overfished species catch in fisheries other than the
directed open access fishery.
Under Federal groundfish regulations at Sec. 660.302, the open
access fishery is defined as ``the fishery composed of vessels using
open access gear fished pursuant to the harvest guidelines, quotas, and
other management measures governing the open access fishery. Any
commercial fishing vessel that does not have a limited entry permit and
which lands groundfish in the course of commercial fishing is a
participant in the open access fishery.'' Because open access fishery
participants are simply defined as all vessels that do not have limited
entry permits and which land groundfish, there are no regulatory
mechanisms for distinguishing between the directed and incidental open
access fisheries.
The bycatch scorecard, which represents the division of estimated
effects of the various directed and incidental groundfish fisheries on
the environment, differentiates between directed and incidental open
access fisheries. If the directed open access fisheries were to achieve
the canary and yelloweye rockfish bycatch limits, the bycatch scorecard
would still accommodate incidental take of these species in incidental
open access groundfish fisheries (salmon troll, California halibut
trawl, Dungeness crab pot, etc.) At its April 4-8, 2005, meeting in
Tacoma, WA, the Council discussed whether to implement vessel
monitoring system (VMS) requirements for the open access fishery.
During its discussion, the Council indicated a desire to differentiate
between the directed and open access fisheries through a review of some
minimal groundfish level that might be needed to accommodate incidental
groundfish catch in non-groundfish fisheries.
NMFS reviewed landings data to estimate the minimal amount of
groundfish that would be needed to allow vessels catching groundfish
incidentally in fisheries directed at non-groundfish species to land
their incidentally caught groundfish. Landings data indicates that
vessels participating in non-groundfish fisheries that take groundfish
incidentally would need access to approximately 200 lb (90.7 kg) of
groundfish per month in order to continue to prosecute their non-
groundfish fisheries and land incidentally caught groundfish. To
recognize the bycatch scorecard's differentiation between directed and
open access fisheries, NMFS is, therefore, implementing a provision
that if the open access bycatch limits are reached, open access fishery
participants would be permitted to land up to 200 lb (90.7 kg) of
groundfish per month.
Classification
This emergency rule establishes routine management measure
authority to reduce groundfish trip limits to incidental levels in the
open access
[[Page 23807]]
groundfish fishery before the sector has taken its full target
groundfish species' allocations in order to address bycatch concerns
for overfished species. It is issued under the authority of the
Magnuson-Stevens Act at section 305(c)(1) and is consistent with the
regulations implementing the Pacific Coast Groundfish FMP at 50 CFR
part 660.
The Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA (AA) finds good
cause to waive the requirement to provide prior notice and comment on
this action pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3)(B), because providing prior
notice and opportunity for public comment would be impracticable. The
information on which this action is based was not available to NMFS
until mid-April 2005, for a fishing activity intended for May-June
2005. There was insufficient time in April to undergo a proposed and
final rulemaking, since this action needs to be in effect as soon as
possible in early May. Prior notice and comment would be impracticable
because affording prior notice and opportunity for public comment would
impede the Agency's mandated duty to manage fisheries to protect
overfished species from overfishing.
The Pacific Coast Groundfish FMP and implementing regulations
provide that closed areas, seasons, trip limits, and other measures may
be used to protect overfished species in any commercial fisheries and
for any gear type. This action provides a mechanism to reduce
groundfish trip limits to an incidental level in the open access
fisheries for groundfish to keep the harvest of canary and yelloweye
rockfish within their OYs. NMFS has been made aware of a new higher-
capacity intended participant in the directed open access groundfish
fisheries. This intended fishery participant comes to the fishery with
notably greater fishing capacity than current participants, but also
without the long experience of current fishery participants in avoiding
bycatch of overfished species. Due to the expected faster pace of
fishing of this intended fishery participant, delaying this rule could
result in unexpectedly high bycatch of canary or yelloweye rockfish in
the open access fishery. Both of these species are overfished and their
2005 OYs were established at rebuilding levels. High bycatch levels of
these stocks could result in their OYs being exceeded, or in the
closure of some or all portions of the groundfish fishery being closed
because of bycatch in the open access fishery.
NMFS sets overfished species OYs using the guidance of those
species' rebuilding plans, which are part of the Pacific Coast
Groundfish FMP. To meet the goals of the rebuilding plans of canary and
yelloweye rockfish, NMFS set 2005 OYs for those species at 46.8 mt and
26 mt, respectively. NMFS made catch projections for all West Coast
groundfish fisheries before the start of the 2005 fishing year to
determine if the preferred management measures would keep harvests of
overfished species within their OYs. The projected catches of canary
and yelloweye rockfish in the directed open access fisheries are 1.0 mt
and 0.6 mt, respectively. As noted above, NMFS has recently been
contacted by a high-capacity at-sea longline catcher-processor
intending to join the West Coast groundfish open access fisheries to
target spiny dogfish. This emergency rule is needed to address concerns
that this and any other unexpected high-capacity entrants to the
directed open access fisheries could jeopardize the OYs for canary and
yelloweye rockfish, and thereby take away fishing opportunities from
hundreds of other commercial vessels and thousands of recreational
vessels that also take these species incidentally.
For the reasons described above, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3),
the AA also finds good cause to waive the 30-day delay in
effectiveness, so that this rule may become effective as soon as
possible to enable NMFS to reduce trip limits to an incidental level in
the open access fisheries should either the 1.0 mt canary bycatch limit
or the 0.6 mt yelloweye rockfish bycatch limit be reached by the
directed open access fishery.
This emergency rule has been determined to be not significant for
purposes of Executive Order 12866.
This action is within the scope of the October 2004 Environmental
Impact Statement (EIS) prepared by the Council for the 2005-2006
Pacific Coast groundfish ABCs, OYS, and management measures. Copies of
this EIS are available from the Council [See ADDRESSES].
This emergency rule is exempt from the procedures of the Regulatory
Flexibility Act because the rule is issued without opportunity for
prior notice and opportunity for public comment.
The proposed and final rules to implement the 2005-2006 groundfish
harvest specifications and management measures were developed after
meaningful consultation and collaboration with tribal officials from
the area covered by the Pacific Coast Groundfish FMP. Under the
Magnuson-Stevens Act at 16 U.S.C. 1852(b)(5), one of the voting members
of the Pacific Council must be a representative of an Indian tribe with
federally recognized fishing rights from the area of the Council's
jurisdiction. The tribal representative on the Council made a motion to
adopt the 2005-2006 tribal management measures, which was passed by the
Council. This emergency rule is intended in part to constrain the
incidental catch of overfished species in the directed open access
fishery, so that excessive catch in that fishery does not negatively
affect tribal and other fisheries for groundfish. NMFS consulted with
the representatives from the groundfish treaty tribes on this emergency
rule before publishing it in the Federal Register.
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 660
Administrative practice and procedure, American Samoa, Fisheries,
Fishing, Guam, Hawaiian Natives, Indians, Northern Mariana Islands,
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
Dated: May 2, 2005.
Rebecca Lent,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
0
For the reasons set out in the preamble, 50 CFR part 660 is amended as
follows:
PART 660--FISHERIES OFF WEST COAST STATES AND IN THE WESTERN
PACIFIC
0
l. The authority citation for part 660 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
0
2. In Sec. 660.370, paragraphs (c)(1)(ii) and (d) are suspended and
paragraphs (c)(1)(iii) and (i) are added to read as follows:
Sec. 660.370 Specifications and management measures.
* * * * *
(c) * * *
(1) * * *
(iii) Differential trip landing limits and frequency limits based
on gear type, closed seasons. Trip landing and frequency limits that
differ by gear type and closed seasons may be imposed or adjusted on a
biennial or more frequent basis for the purpose of rebuilding and
protecting overfished or depleted stocks. To achieve the rebuilding of
an overfished or depleted stock, the Pacific whiting primary seasons
described at Sec. 660.373(b), may be closed for any or all of the
fishery sectors identified at Sec. 660.373 (a) before the sector
allocation is reached if any of the bycatch limits identified at Sec.
660.373(b)(4) are reached. To achieve the rebuilding of an overfished
or depleted stock, groundfish trip limits in the open access fishery
[[Page 23808]]
may be reduced to an incidental level if any of the bycatch limits
identified at Sec. 660.383(f) are reached.
* * * * *
(i) Automatic actions. Automatic management actions may be
initiated by the NMFS Regional Administrator without prior public
notice, opportunity to comment, or a Council meeting. These actions are
nondiscretionary, and the impacts must have been taken into account
prior to the action. Unless otherwise stated, a single notice will be
published in the Federal Register making the action effective if good
cause exists under the APA to waive notice and comment. Automatic
actions are used in the Pacific whiting fishery to close the fishery or
reinstate trip limits when a whiting harvest guideline, commercial
harvest guideline, or a sector's allocation is reached, or is projected
to be reached; or to reapportion unused allocation to other sectors of
the fishery. An automatic action may also be used in the open access
fishery to reduce groundfish trip limits to an incidental level when
overfished species bycatch limits at Sec. 660.383(f) are reached.
0
3. In Sec. 660.383, paragraph (f) is added to read as follows:
Sec. 660.383 Open access fishery management measures.
* * * * *
(f) 2005 bycatch limits in the directed open access fishery.
Bycatch limits for the directed open access fishery may be used
inseason to reduce overall groundfish trip limits to incidental levels
to achieve the rebuilding of an overfished or depleted stock, under
routine management measure authority at Sec. 660.370(c)(1)(ii). These
limits are routine management measures under Sec. 660.370(c) and, as
such, may be adjusted inseason or may have new species added to the
list of those with bycatch limits. For 2005, the directed open access
fishery bycatch limits are 1.0 mt of canary rockfish and 0.6 mt of
yelloweye rockfish. Under automatic action authority at Sec.
660.370(d), if either of these limits is reached, groundfish trip
limits will be reduced to an incidental level. Under this authority,
reducing groundfish trip limits to an incidental level means that any
vessel operating off the West Coast that is not registered for use with
a limited entry permit will be constrained to a trip limit for all
groundfish, excluding Pacific whiting of no more than 200 lb (90.7 kg)
per month.
[FR Doc. 05-9001 Filed 5-2-05; 2:58 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S