Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast Multispecies Fishery; Emergency Secretarial Action, 11060-11087 [06-1911]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 42 (Friday, March 3, 2006)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 11060-11087]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-1911]



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Part III





Department of Commerce





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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration



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50 CFR Part 648



Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast Multispecies 
Fishery; Emergency Secretarial Action; Proposed Rule

Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 42 / Friday, March 3, 2006 / Proposed 
Rules

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 060209031-6031-01; I.D. 020606C]
RIN 0648-AU09


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast 
Multispecies Fishery; Emergency Secretarial Action

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

ACTION: Proposed rule; emergency action; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: NMFS proposes a temporary emergency rule under the Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) 
to implement measures intended to immediately reduce the fishing 
mortality rate (F) on specific groundfish species to prevent 
overfishing and maintain the rebuilding program of the Northeast (NE) 
Multispecies Fishery Management Plan (FMP). This emergency action 
includes differential days-at-sea (DAS) counting, reduced trip limits 
for specific species, and recreational possession restrictions, among 
other provisions. In addition, this action would continue two programs 
that would otherwise expire by the end of the 2005 fishing year on 
April 30, 2006: The DAS Leasing Program and a modified Regular B DAS 
Program on Georges Bank (GB). Due to the impact of these proposed 
measures on the monkfish fishery, this temporary emergency action would 
also limit participation of monkfish Category C, D, or F permits in the 
proposed Regular B DAS Program and revise the method of calculating 
available monkfish-only DAS for Category C, D, F, G, or H monkfish 
vessels. This action is intended to prevent overfishing while 
maintaining specific programs designed to help mitigate the economic 
and social impacts of effort reductions under the FMP until more 
permanent management measures can be implemented through Framework 
Adjustment (FW) 42 to the FMP.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before March 6, 2006.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     E-mail: MultsEmergency@ NOAA.gov. Include in the subject 
line the following: ``Comments on the Proposed Rule for Groundfish 
Emergency Action.''
     Federal e-Rulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov.
     Mail: Paper, disk, or CD-ROM comments should be sent to 
Patricia A. Kurkul, Regional Administrator, National Marine Fisheries 
Service, One Blackburn Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930. Mark the outside of 
the envelope, ``Comments on the Proposed Rule for Groundfish Emergency 
Action.''
     Fax: (978) 281-9135.
    Copies of this rule, its Regulatory Impact Review (RIR), Initial 
Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (IRFA), and the Environmental 
Assessment (EA) are available from the Regional Administrator at the 
above address. The EA/RIR/IRFA is also accessible via the Internet at 
https://www.nero.nmfs.gov.
    Written comments regarding the burden-hour estimates or other 
aspects of the collection-of-information requirements contained in this 
rule should be submitted to the Regional Administrator at the address 
above and to David Rostker, Office of Management and Budget (OMB), by 
e-mail at David--Rotsker@omb.eop.gov, or fax to (202) 395-7285.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Douglas W. Christel, Fishery Policy 
Analyst, (978) 281-9141, fax (978) 281-9135.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) developed 
Amendment 13 in order to bring the FMP into conformance with all 
Magnuson-Stevens Act requirements, including ending overfishing and 
rebuilding all overfished groundfish stocks. Amendment 13 was partially 
approved by the Secretary of Commerce on March 18, 2004. A final rule 
implementing the approved measures in the amendment was published on 
April 27, 2004 (69 FR 22906) and became effective May 1, 2004.
    Amendment 13 established or clarified rebuilding programs for each 
stock managed under the FMP. Amendment 13 also established a biennial 
adjustment process to review the fishery and implement any changes 
necessary to ensure that the fishery continues to meet the rebuilding 
objectives, including meeting the F targets for each year of the 
rebuilding program. As part of the biennial adjustment process, the 
latest stock assessment, the Groundfish Assessment Review Meeting (GARM 
II), took place from August 15-19, 2005. This assessment provided 
updated information to evaluate the performance of the fishery in 
relation to the rebuilding program established by Amendment 13.
    The Council's Groundfish Plan Development Team (PDT) utilized the 
results of GARM II to calculate estimates of the 2005 calendar year F 
(F2005) for all groundfish stocks. These estimates indicate 
that F2005 for particular groundfish stocks, (i.e., GOM cod, 
Cape Cod (CC)/GOM yellowtail flounder, Southern New England (SNE)/Mid-
Atlantic (MA) yellowtail flounder, SNE/MA winter flounder, GB winter 
flounder, white hake, and GB yellowtail flounder) is, in some cases, 
substantially less than that observed for 2004, but still higher than 
the 2006 target F specified in the rebuilding program established under 
Amendment 13. The PDT concluded that, with the exception of GB 
yellowtail flounder, management measures should be developed to further 
reduce F on these species for fishing year 2006 in order to maintain 
progress toward the FMP rebuilding objectives, as illustrated in Table 
1:

          Table 1.--Mortality Reduction Necessary To Achieve Fishing Year 2006 Amendment 13 F Targets *
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                                                                                                     Mortality
                                                                     Estimated     Amendment 13      reduction
                        Stock                            F2004         F2005       fishing year      necessary
                                                                                   2006 target F     (percent)
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GOM Cod..............................................       0.58            0.37            0.23              32
CC/GOM Yellowtail Flounder...........................       0.75            0.48            0.26              46
SNE/MA Yellowtail Flounder...........................       0.99            0.58            0.26              55
SNE/MA Winter Flounder...............................       0.38            0.35            0.32               9
GB Winter Flounder...................................       1.86              NA         ** 1.0               46

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White Hake...........................................       1.18              NA            1.03              13
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* F on GB yellowtail flounder also needs to be reduced, but new management measures do not need to be developed.
  See additional explanation in the paragraph below.
** Amendment 13 did not establish a 2006 F target for GB winter flounder. Rather, Amendment 13 established the
  value of Fmsy as 0.32. However, because model estimates of relative F rate are more precise than estimates of
  actual F rates, GARM II presented the estimate of F rate for 2004 in relative terms. The threshold value for
  the relative F rate (F2004/Fmsy) for GB winter flounder is 1.0.
NA: An estimate of F2005 for the stocks of GB winter flounder and white hake could not be developed because the
  assessments are index based. The necessary F reductions are based upon F2004.

    No new management measures are necessary to reduce F on GB 
yellowtail flounder, since a hard TAC (i.e., fishing on the stock is 
prohibited when such a TAC is reached) is being proposed for this stock 
that will reduce F to the appropriate level. The Transboundary 
Management Guidance Committee (TMGC) concluded that the most 
appropriate combined U.S./Canada total allowable catch (TAC) for the 
2006 fishing year is 3,000 mt (2,070 mt U.S.; 930 mt Canada), which 
corresponds to an F of 0.25 (Fmsy). On September 15, 2005, 
the Council accepted the recommendations of the TMGC for the 2006 GB 
yellowtail flounder TAC. The proposed hard TAC of 2,070 mt represents a 
51-percent reduction from the 2005 TAC, and would constrain fishing 
effort to the appropriate level to achieve the required F reduction. 
The 2006 GB yellowtail flounder hard TAC is being proposed through a 
separate management action currently under development by NMFS.
    The rebuilding strategy implemented by Amendment 13 established two 
so-called default measures that would automatically reduce F on all 
groundfish species, particularly for American plaice and SNE/MA 
yellowtail flounder beginning in fishing year 2006. These default 
measures include a revision of the DAS allocation ratio of Category A:B 
DAS from 60:40 to 55:45, and differential DAS counting in the SNE/MA 
Regulated Mesh Area (RMA) at a rate of 1.5:1. Under the final rule 
implementing Amendment 13, these measures are scheduled to go into 
effect for the start of the 2006 fishing year on May 1, 2006, unless 
stocks meet or exceed specific criteria described at 50 CFR 
648.82(d)(4) and NMFS implements measures to supercede the default 
measures. In addition to these criteria, all groundfish stocks must 
meet the target F rates specified for 2006 for these default measures 
to be deferred.
    Data from GARM II indicate that none of these criteria have been 
met for SNE/MA yellowtail flounder and that American plaice is still 
overfished. Given this, as well as the fact that other groundfish 
stocks are not meeting the target F rates for 2006 (see Table 1), the 
Amendment 13 default measures will automatically go into place on May 
1, 2006, unless superseded by another action. Although these default 
measures would likely have positive impacts on all groundfish species 
(including a reduction in F), these measures are not likely to 
sufficiently reduce F for particular groundfish stocks to meet the 2006 
fishing year F targets established by Amendment 13. Therefore, to 
ensure that the rebuilding program established under Amendment 13 
remains on track to rebuild overfished groundfish stocks within the 
required time period, additional management measures are needed to 
reduce F on several groundfish stocks.
    Framework Adjustment (FW) 42 to the FMP is currently being 
developed by the Council and is intended to serve as the first biennial 
adjustment process adopted under Amendment 13. FW 42 proposes 
management measures designed to achieve the necessary mortality 
reductions for all groundfish stocks requiring F reductions for the 
2006 fishing year, as required by Sec.  648.90(a)(2). However, at its 
November 15-17, 2005, meeting, the Council announced that it was not 
able to complete FW 42 in time for NMFS to implement these measures by 
the beginning of the fishing year on May 1, 2006. Although at its 
January 31-February 2, 2006, meeting the Council voted to adopt a suit 
of management measures under FW 42, it would not be possible to 
implement these measures by May 1, 2006.
    Section 305(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act states that, if the 
Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) finds that an emergency or 
overfishing exists, or that interim measures are needed to reduce 
overfishing for any fishery, he may promulgate emergency measures to 
address overfishing and address other management concerns while the 
Council prepares proposed regulations to stop overfishing and rebuild 
fish stocks on a more permanent basis. Such measures do not, by 
themselves, have to stop overfishing, but may be used to contribute to 
efforts to stop overfishing until the Council, after considering public 
input, can complete an appropriate framework adjustment or amendment to 
the FMP.
    Emergency management actions authorized by section 305(c) of the 
Magnuson-Stevens Act may only be prepared under special circumstances. 
In accordance with NMFS policy guidelines for the use of emergency 
rules (62 FR 44421, August 21, 1997), emergency actions may be 
implemented to resolve ``unforeseen events or recently discovered 
circumstances'' that present ``serious conservation or management 
problems'' that ``can be addressed through emergency regulations for 
which the immediate benefits outweigh the value of advanced notice.'' 
These guidelines indicate that an emergency action might be justified 
based on one or more of the following reasons: Ecological (i.e., to 
prevent overfishing as defined in an FMP, or prevent other serious 
damage to the fishery resource or habitat), economic (i.e., to prevent 
significant direct economic loss or to preserve a significant economic 
opportunity that otherwise might be forgone), or social reasons (i.e., 
to prevent significant community impacts or conflict between user 
groups).
    Applying the above criteria, NMFS has determined that the recent 
and unforeseen announcement by the Council that the implementation of 
FW 42 will be delayed beyond May 1, 2006, and the need to reduce F on 
specific groundfish stocks by the start of the 2006 fishing year, 
constitutes an emergency, as unforeseen events could cause serious 
conservation and management problems unless addressed

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through immediate regulatory action. Although notice and comment 
rulemaking is being undertaken for this action, there is insufficient 
time to implement the proposed measures under the normal FMP amendment 
or framework process, leaving the sec. 305(c) emergency action process 
as the only means to implement such measures.
    This emergency action is justified for ecological, economic, and 
social reasons. Despite the restrictive management measures currently 
in place for all sectors of the fishery, F for several groundfish 
stocks remains above the Amendment 13 target F levels for 2006. As a 
result, it is necessary to reduce F by constraining fishing effort by 
all sectors and in all areas managed by the FMP as quickly as possible. 
Failure to reduce or prevent overfishing by May 1, 2006, while the 
Council completes FW 42 would likely allow continued overfishing of 
several groundfish stocks, resulting in slower rebuilding, which would 
require even more stringent future management measures, resulting in 
additional economic and social consequences. In addition, the 2003 year 
class of GOM and GB cod must be carefully managed, particularly for the 
months when fishing effort and catch is typically high (i.e., May 
through July). Therefore, in order to come into full compliance with 
the requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, as amended by the 
Sustainable Fisheries Act, this emergency action is necessary until a 
more comprehensive management action can be completed by the Council 
and implemented by NMFS (i.e., FW 42).
    Two programs approved in Amendment 13 and FW 40A were intended to 
help mitigate the economic and social impacts of the effort reductions 
of the FMP (the DAS Leasing Program and the Regular B DAS Pilot 
Program). The DAS Leasing Program, approved in Amendment 13, expires on 
April 30, 2006, while the Regular B DAS Pilot Program, approved in FW 
40A, expired on October 31, 2005. Continuation of these programs, in 
part or in whole, would help mitigate the potential economic and social 
impacts of Amendment 13 effort reductions as well as further effort 
reductions and other measures proposed in this action. Thus, this 
emergency action proposes maintaining the DAS Leasing Program, as well 
as a modified version of the Regular B DAS Program.
    Although the management measures proposed under this emergency 
action do not, by themselves, achieve the necessary Amendment 13 F 
reductions for all stocks (i.e., GB winter flounder, CC/GOM yellowtail 
flounder, and SNE/MA yellowtail flounder), it is anticipated that this 
action, in combination with measures proposed under FW 42, would 
achieve this objective, provided measures adopted under FW 42 are 
implemented as soon as possible. To ensure that the groundfish fishery 
meets the Amendment 13 rebuilding objectives, additional management 
measures through Secretarial action may be necessary during fishing 
year 2006.

Proposed Management Measures

    All measures in effect prior to May 1, 2006, and not amended by 
this proposed emergency rule, would remain in effect after May 1, 2006. 
The current management measures include an Amendment 13 2006 fishing 
year default measure for the revision of the allocation ratio of 
Category A:B DAS from 60:40 to 55:45. This measure, therefore, is not 
discussed specifically in the description of the proposed measures that 
follows.
    The following measures are proposed to be implemented on May 1, 
2006, to reduce overfishing on particular groundfish stocks in need of 
F reductions.
1. Differential DAS Counting
    Under this proposed emergency action, all NE multispecies Category 
A DAS used by a vessel issued a limited access NE multispecies DAS 
permit, with the exception noted below, would be charged at a rate of 
1.4:1, regardless of area fished. Day gillnet vessels would be charged 
at a rate of 1.4:1 for the actual hours used for any trip of 0-3 hours 
in duration, and for any trip of greater than 11 hours. For Day gillnet 
trips between 3 and 11 hours duration, vessels would be charged a full 
15 hours. For example, a trawl vessel fishing in the GOM for 5 hours 
would be charged for 7 hours (5 hours x 1.4) of DAS use. A Day gillnet 
vessel fishing in the GOM for 5 hours would be charged for 15 hours of 
DAS use; a Day gillnet vessel fishing in the GOM for 12 hours would be 
charged for 16.8 hours of DAS use (12 hours x 1.4).
    A vessel issued a limited access monkfish Category C, D, F, G, or H 
permit fishing under a monkfish DAS would have its NE multispecies DAS 
charged at a rate of 1.4:1, but its monkfish DAS would continue to be 
charged at a rate of 1:1. Because differential DAS counting could 
result in a net allocation of NE multispecies Category A DAS that is 
less than the number of monkfish DAS allocated, some Category C, D, F, 
G, or H monkfish vessels would not have sufficient groundfish DAS to 
ensure that they could fish their full allocation of monkfish DAS. To 
accommodate this, a Category C, D, F, G, or H monkfish vessel could 
fish under a monkfish-only DAS when groundfish DAS are no longer 
available, provided the vessel fishes under the provisions of the 
monkfish Category A or B permit. Such vessels would be limited to 
monkfish-only DAS equal to their net monkfish DAS allocations 
(including carry-over DAS) minus their net NE multispecies Category A 
DAS allocation (including carry-over DAS), divided by 1.4. For example, 
if a Category C monkfish vessel allocated 40 monkfish DAS has a net NE 
multispecies DAS allocation of 20 DAS, the maximum number of monkfish-
only DAS that the vessel would be able to fish would be 25.7 DAS (40 
monkfish DAS--14.3 NE multispecies DAS (20 NE multispecies DAS divided 
by 1.4)).
    The proposed differential DAS counting under this emergency action 
would expand the Amendment 13 default measure (limited to the SNE/MA 
RMA only) throughout all RMAs managed by the FMP. In conjunction with 
the Amendment 13 fishing year 2006 default measure that changes the 
Category A:B DAS ratio from 60:40 to 55:45, differential DAS, as 
proposed in this action, would help achieve the necessary F reduction 
for GOM cod and white hake, as well as provide some measure of F 
reduction for the other stocks in need of further protection. Further, 
expanding differential DAS counting to include the GOM and GB RMAs 
would help prevent a redirection of effort into these areas, and would 
facilitate adaptation to measures being proposed by the Council for 
implementation in FW 42.
    The proposed measure would charge Category A DAS at a rate of 
1.4:1, but would not change the way Category B DAS are charged. 
Category A DAS represent relatively unregulated effort that could be 
directed anywhere within the NE Region. However, the use of Category B 
DAS in either approved SAPs or the Regular B DAS Program is highly 
regulated, with specific provisions (area restrictions, gear 
requirements, trip limits, etc.) to ensure that such effort does not 
jeopardize rebuilding programs for specific stocks. Fishing mortality 
attributed to Category B DAS is strictly controlled and limited by hard 
incidental catch TACs for stocks of concern that result in area/program 
closures, once reached. In addition, Category B (Regular) DAS used in 
the Regular B DAS Program proposed under this action would be charged 
at a higher rate (24 hours for any calendar day or

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part of a calendar day fished) than Category A DAS, further limiting 
the impact of these DAS. As a result, there is little need to change 
the manner in which Category B DAS are charged, as F from these DAS is 
already highly restricted.
    The application of differential DAS counting to Day gillnet trips 
proposed by this action was developed to ensure that the application of 
this measure would be consistent with the current system of counting 
DAS between Day gillnet vessels and vessels using other gear types.
2. GOM Cod Trip Limit
    For vessels operating under a NE multispecies DAS, the possession 
limit of GOM cod would be reduced from 800 lb (363 kg) per DAS, up to 
4,000 lb (1,814 kg) trip; to 600 lb (272 kg) per DAS, up to 4,000 lb 
(1,814 kg) per trip. For vessels operating under the limited access NE 
multispecies Handgear A permit regulations, the GOM cod possession 
limit would be reduced from 300 lb (136 kg) per trip to 250 lb (113 kg) 
per trip. The GOM cod trip limit for vessels operating under the open 
access Handgear B provisions would be maintained at 75 lb (34 kg) per 
trip.
    The 600-lb (272-kg) per DAS trip limit for GOM cod strikes a 
balance between minimizing incentives to target this species and 
concerns over excessive discards. Preliminary analysis of recent trips 
indicates that a such a trip limit would result in decreased F at only 
a slightly higher discard rate. Further, a majority of trips within the 
GOM caught less than 600 lb (272 kg) of GOM cod per DAS.
    The current regulations state that the GOM cod trip limit for 
vessels issued a limited access NE multispecies Handgear A or an open 
access NE multispecies Handgear B permit will be adjusted 
proportionally to the GOM cod trip limit for NE multispecies vessels 
fishing under a DAS. The regulations at Sec.  648.82(b)(6) (suspended, 
with revised text at Sec.  648.82(u)(6) under this proposed action) 
state that the adjusted GOM cod trip limit for Handgear A vessels would 
be rounded up to the nearest 50 lb (22.7 kg), while the regulations at 
Sec.  648.88(a)(1) state that the adjusted GOM cod trip limit for 
Handgear B vessels would be rounded up to the nearest 25 lb (11.3 kg). 
Since this action proposes a 25-percent reduction in the GOM cod trip 
limit, a similar reduction, using the adjustment criteria specified in 
the regulations, results in the proposed trip limits for handgear 
vessels.
3. GB Yellowtail Flounder Trip Limit
    Under this action, the GB yellowtail flounder trip limit would be 
reduced from an initial unlimited amount to 10,000 lb (4,536 kg) per 
trip. Based on the likelihood that the GB yellowtail flounder TACs will 
continue to remain relatively small over the next several years, there 
is an elevated risk that the small GB yellowtail flounder TAC for the 
U.S./Canada Management Area will be harvested before the end of the 
fishing year for the immediate future. This measure attempts to prolong 
the availability of the small 2006 GB yellowtail flounder TAC during 
the 2006 fishing year, minimizing the possibility that the TAC would be 
caught prior to the end of the 2006 fishing year, thereby increasing 
the chance of achieving optimum yield from the TACs of GB cod and GB 
haddock specified for the Eastern U.S./Canada Area.
4. CC/GOM and SNE/MA Yellowtail Flounder Trip Limit
    The proposed emergency action would reduce the CC/GOM and SNE/MA 
yellowtail flounder trip limits as follows: 500 lb (227 kg) per DAS, up 
to 2,000 lb (907 kg) per trip during July, August, September, December, 
January, February, March, and April; 250 lb (113 kg) per trip during 
May, June, October, and November.
    The current trip limits for these two yellowtail flounder stocks 
are inconsistent with one another with respect to the time periods 
during which the 250-lb (113-kg) trip limit is in effect (currently 
April, May, Oct., Nov. for CC/GOM yellowtail flounder; and March, 
April, May, June for SNE/MA yellowtail flounder). The current trip 
limits for the other portion of the year is 750 lb (340 kg) per DAS, up 
to 3,000 lb (1,361 kg) per trip. The proposed reduction to 500 lb (227 
kg) per DAS, up to 2,000 lb (907 kg) per trip for the duration of the 
emergency action would further reduce fishing mortality on these stocks 
and attempt to minimize regulatory discards, while simplifying industry 
understanding and enforcement of this trip limit.
5. Modified Regular B DAS Program
    The Regular B DAS Pilot Program was originally implemented by FW 
40A (69 FR 67780; November 19, 2004), and was intended to provide 
opportunities to use Regular B DAS outside of a SAP (and outside of 
closed areas) to target stocks that can withstand additional fishing 
effort. This program is regulated by a series of measures, including 
DAS limits, low trip limits, and incidental catch TACs for stocks of 
concern (i.e., groundfish stocks that cannot withstand additional 
fishing effort). Because of uncertainties in the operation of this 
program, it was implemented only for 1 year, and expired on October 31, 
2005. This proposed emergency rule would ``reinstate'' a Regular B DAS 
Program with measures similar to those originally implemented by FW 
40A, but would modify specific measures to achieve the objectives of 
this emergency action, as specified below. Due to the limited duration 
of this proposed Secretarial action, this program would no longer be 
called a ``pilot'' program.
    The Regular B DAS Pilot Program originally implemented by FW 40A 
allowed vessels issued a limited access monkfish Category C, or D 
permit to use a NE multispecies Regular B DAS to fulfill the 
requirements of the monkfish FMP, which requires such vessels to use a 
NE Multispecies DAS every time a monkfish DAS is used. Recent 
information indicates that Category C and D monkfish vessels were able 
to successfully target monkfish under the Regular B DAS Pilot Program 
during fishing years 2004 and 2005, and will likely increase this 
effort, as additional restrictions on groundfish are implemented under 
FW 42. A recent assessment of the monkfish resource in 2005, based upon 
the results of Stock Assessment Workshop 40 and an evaluation of the 
past three years of fall trawl surveys, indicates that the pace of 
monkfish rebuilding has slowed. Therefore, to reduce mortality on 
monkfish resulting from the use of Regular B DAS, this emergency action 
would restrict Category C, D, or F monkfish vessels (i.e., those 
monkfish vessels permitted to fish in the U.S./Canada Management Area) 
to the monkfish incidental catch limits when fishing under the Regular 
B DAS Program proposed by this action. Further, Category C, D, or F 
monkfish vessels may not use a NE multispecies Regular B DAS and a 
monkfish DAS under the Regular B DAS Program on the same trip. These 
vessels would still be able to participate in this program, but they 
would be required to fish under a NE multispecies DAS only and would be 
subject to the incidental catch limits for monkfish.
    The proposed action would allow eligible vessels to fish under the 
Regular B DAS Program to target healthy groundfish stocks (primarily GB 
haddock, pollock, and redfish) within the U.S./Canada Management Area 
only. Vessels that have declared a Regular B DAS Program trip would not 
be allowed to fish on that trip in an approved SAP. In order to limit 
the potential biological

[[Page 11064]]

impacts of the program, only 500 Regular B DAS may be used during the 
first quarter of the calendar year (May through July), while 1,000 
Regular B DAS may be used in subsequent quarters (August through 
October, November through January, and February through April). These 
DAS would not be allocated to individual vessels, but would be used by 
vessels on a first-come, first-served basis. Regular B DAS would accrue 
at the rate of 1 DAS for each calendar day, or part of a calendar day, 
fished. For example, a vessel that left on a trip 1 hour before 
midnight on one day, and fished until 1 hour after midnight on the next 
calendar day, would be charged 48 hours of B Regular DAS.
    Vessels participating in this program would be required to be 
equipped with an approved Vessel Monitoring System (VMS). The vessel 
owner or operator would be required to notify the NMFS Observer Program 
at least 72 hours in advance of a trip in order to facilitate observer 
coverage. This notice would require reporting of the following 
information: Vessel name, contact name for coordination of observer 
deployment, telephone number of contact, date, time, and port of 
departure. Prior to departing on the trip, the vessel owner or operator 
would be required to notify NMFS via VMS that the vessel intends to 
participate in the Regular B DAS Program. Vessels fishing in the 
Regular B DAS Program would be required to report their catches of 
groundfish stocks of concern daily through VMS, including the amount of 
fish kept and discarded, by statistical area fished. Vessels fishing 
for species managed by other fishery management plans, and not landing 
groundfish would not be subject to this reporting requirement.
    Vessels fishing in this program would be prohibited from discarding 
legal-sized regulated groundfish, and would be limited to landing 100 
lb (45.4 kg) of each groundfish species of concern per DAS, unless 
further restricted (see below). Further, vessels would be required to 
use a haddock separator trawl when participating in this program. 
Possession of flounders (all species, combined); monkfish (whole 
weight), unless otherwise specified below; and skates would be limited 
to 500 lb (227 kg) each, and possession of lobsters would be prohibited 
to ensure the proper utilization of the haddock separator trawl; a 
properly configured haddock separator trawl should not catch large 
quantities of these species. To further reduce the targeting of 
monkfish under this program, Category C, D, and F monkfish vessels 
participating in this program would be restricted by the monkfish 
incidental catch limits. In the Northern Fishery Management Area, the 
limit is 400 lb (181 kg) tail weight per DAS, or 50 percent of the 
total weight of fish on board, whichever is less. In the Southern 
Fishery Management Area, the incidental catch limit is 50 lb (23 kg) 
tail weight per DAS. Discarding of legal-sized monkfish would be 
prohibited when fishing under this program. If a vessel harvests and 
brings on board legal-sized groundfish species of concern or monkfish 
in excess of these landing limits, the vessel operator would be 
required to retain the excess catch, and immediately notify NMFS via 
VMS in order to change its DAS category from a Regular B DAS to a 
Category A DAS (``DAS flip''). If a vessel flips from a Regular B DAS 
to a Category A DAS, it would be charged Category A DAS at a rate of 
1.4:1, and would be subject to the possession and landing restrictions 
that apply to the fishery as a whole (i.e., not the Regular B DAS 
Program limits).
    In order to ensure that a vessel would always have the ability to 
flip to a Category A DAS while fishing under a Regular B DAS (should it 
catch a groundfish species of concern in an amount that exceeded the 
trip limit), the number of Regular B DAS that would be allowed to be 
used on a trip would be limited to the number of Category A DAS that 
the vessel has at the start of the trip divided by 1.4. For example, if 
a vessel plans a trip under the Regular B DAS Program and has 5 
Category A DAS available, the maximum number of Regular B DAS that the 
vessel could fish on that trip under the Regular B DAS Program would be 
5 divided by 1.4, or 3.6 days. Therefore if the vessel were fishing 
under a Regular B DAS for 3.6 days, but was required to flip, the 
balance of Category A DAS would be sufficient to account for the amount 
of time fished (3.6 days fished times 1.4 DAS = 5 Category A DAS). 
However, to ensure that there is an adequate amount of Category A DAS 
available should the vessel be required to ``flip'' its DAS, it is 
advisable that a vessel owner, when planning a Regular B DAS Program 
trip, fish a lower number of Regular B DAS than the required maximum 
number. In the above example, if the vessel had a Category A DAS 
balance of 5, and fished 3.6 days of Regular B DAS prior to flipping, 
the amount of Category A DAS necessary to account for the time already 
fished would be available, but no additional Category DAS would be 
available for use between the time of flipping and the end of the trip. 
The proposed requirement would allow a vessel owner the potential to 
maximize the use of Regular B DAS.
    NMFS would administer the quarterly Regular B DAS maximum by 
monitoring the number of Regular B DAS accrued on trips that end under 
a Regular B DAS. Declaration of the trip through VMS would not serve to 
reserve a vessel's right to fish under a Regular B DAS. Once the 
maximum number of Regular B DAS were used in a quarter, the Regular B 
DAS Program would end for that quarter.
    In order to limit the potential impact on F that the use of 
Category B DAS (Regular or Reserve) may have on groundfish stocks of 
concern, a quarterly incidental catch TAC would be set for groundfish 
stocks of concern for each program allowing the use of Category B DAS 
(Regular or Reserve). This action would add GB winter flounder and GB 
yellowtail flounder to the list of groundfish stocks of concern, based 
on the results of the GARM II, and allocate a portion of the incidental 
TAC to the Regular B DAS Program. The Regular B DAS Program quarterly 
incidental catch TACs would be divided to correspond to the allocation 
of Regular B DAS among quarters, such that the 1st quarter (May-July) 
would receive 13 percent of the incidental TACs, and the remaining 
quarters (August-October, November-January, and February-April) would 
each receive 29 percent of the incidental TACs.
    If the incidental TAC for any one of these species were caught 
during a quarter (landings plus discards), use of Regular B DAS in the 
Regular B DAS Program in the U.S./Canada Management Area would be 
prohibited for the remainder of that quarter. Vessels would be able to 
once again use Regular B DAS under this program at the beginning of the 
subsequent quarter.
    The Administrator, Northeast Region, NMFS (Regional Administrator) 
would have the authority to prohibit the use of Regular B DAS for the 
duration of a quarter or fishing year, if it is projected that 
continuation of the Regular B DAS Program would undermine the 
achievement of the objectives of the FMP or the Regular B DAS Program, 
or if the level of observer coverage were insufficient to make such a 
projection.
    The provisions included in this measure are necessary to prevent 
additional fishing effort under the Regular B DAS Program from 
increasing F for stocks that are in need of the greatest F reductions 
for the 2006 fishing year (i.e., GOM cod, CC/GOM yellowtail flounder, 
and SNE/MA yellowtail flounder). Restricting this program to the U.S./
Canada

[[Page 11065]]

Management Area facilitates the monitoring and enforcement of 
provisions of the Regular B DAS Program, as proposed incidental catch 
TACs for stocks of concern in the GOM and SNE/MA RMAs may be too small 
to be monitored effectively. Further, the current regulations of the 
U.S./Canada Management Area provide sufficient authority to the 
Regional Administrator to monitor and control fishing activity under 
this program to ensure that incidental catch TACs are not exceeded 
during the 2006 fishing year. Moreover, restricting this program to the 
U.S./Canada Management Area would not affect the majority of vessels 
participating in this program, as previous fishing practices indicate 
that very few trips under this program were taken in the GOM or SNE/MA 
RMA. As a result, this measure provides some assurance that additional 
F under this program would be controlled and would not be redirected 
into the GOM or SNE/MA RMAs, but it would also provide economic and 
social benefits without altering vessel behavior to any great degree.
6. Redefinition of Incidental Catch TACs and Allocation to Special 
Programs
    Incidental catch TACs were first adopted in FW 40A in order to 
limit the catch of stocks of concern while vessels were using Category 
B DAS. As a result of groundfish assessments completed under GARM II, 
FW 42 would modify the number of incidental catch TACs, as well as the 
size and allocation of such incidental catch TACs. FW 42 proposes two 
new stocks of concern (GB yellowtail flounder and GB winter flounder 
are either overfished and/or overfishing is occurring) and the creation 
of incidental catch TACs for these two stocks in order to limit the 
impact of the use of Category B DAS on such stocks. Secondly, FW 42 
proposes modification of the size of the incidental catch TACs with 
respect to the target TACs from which they are calculated (see Table 
2).
    Because FW 42 has been delayed, the definition of the two new 
stocks of concern, the creation of two new incidental catch TACs, and 
the reallocation of incidental catch TACs among special programs are 
proposed in this action (Table 3). If the incidental TACs were not 
defined under this emergency, the use of Regular B DAS during the time 
this action is in place would undermine the achievement of the goals of 
the FMP (see discussion of Regular B Program in Section 4 of this 
preamble). If a change in the allocation of catch TACs among special 
programs were not proposed by this action, the special programs would 
be inconsistent with the intent of the Council. The programs that would 
be impacted by these proposed TACs are the Regular B DAS Pilot Program 
and potentially, the Eastern U.S./Canada Haddock SAP Program, if FW 42 
implementation is delayed beyond August 1, 2006. Although this action 
would not impact many stocks of concern, in order to simplify the 
process of TAC specification for the 2006 fishing year, as well as 
reduce confusion in the industry, this action defines the incidental 
catch TACs for all stocks of concern, and allocates TAC among programs 
consistent with FW 42 proposals. Note that this action does not specify 
values for TACs for the 2006 fishing year. A separate action is being 
developed by NMFS that will specify all TACs for the FMP for the 2006 
fishing year (Incidental Catch TACs, Target TACs, and U.S./Canada 
Management Area TACs for GB).

              Table 2.--Definition of Incidental Catch TACs
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              Percentage
                           Stock                               of total
------------------------------------------------------------------------
GB cod.....................................................            2
GOM cod....................................................            1
GB yellowtail flounder.....................................            2
CC/GOM yellowtail flounder.................................            1
SNE/MA yellowtail flounder.................................            1
American plaice............................................            5
Witch flounder.............................................            5
SNE/MA winter flounder.....................................            1
GB winter flounder.........................................            2
White hake.................................................            2
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    These incidental catch TACs would be distributed to the various 
programs that utilize Category B DAS and catch these stocks of concern. 
The incidental catch TACs are proposed to be distributed among the 
Category B DAS programs as indicated in Table 3:

                   Table 3.--Distribution of Incidental Catch TACs for Category B DAS Programs
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                   Closed area I
                                                                   Regular B DAS     hook gear     Eastern U.S./
                        Stocks of concern                             program       haddock SAP   Canada haddock
                                                                     (percent)       (percent)    SAP  (percent)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GB cod..........................................................              50              16              34
GB yellowtail flounder..........................................              50              NA              50
GB winter flounder..............................................              50              NA              50
Witch flounder..................................................             100              NA              NA
American plaice.................................................             100              NA              NA
White hake......................................................             100              NA              NA
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

7. DAS Leasing Program
    The DAS Leasing Program was originally implemented by Amendment 13 
to help mitigate the economic and social impacts of effort reductions 
in the fishery. The DAS Leasing Program was implemented for a duration 
of 2 years, and will expire on April 30, 2006. This action proposes to 
continue the DAS Leasing Program, as originally implemented by 
Amendment 13. The following briefly summarizes the provisions that form 
the basis of the DAS Leasing Program. These provisions would be 
continued unchanged, as implemented by Amendment 13:
    All vessels issued a valid limited access groundfish DAS permit 
would be eligible to lease groundfish Category A DAS to or from another 
such vessel. DAS associated with a certification of permit history 
could not be leased. Vessels issued a Small Vessel or Handgear A 
permit, i.e., vessels that do not require the use of groundfish DAS, 
would not be allowed to lease DAS, and vessels participating in an 
approved sector under the proposed Sector Allocation Program would not 
be allowed to lease DAS to non-sector vessels during the fishing year 
in which the vessel is participating in the sector. An eligible vessel 
wanting to lease groundfish DAS would be required to submit a complete 
application to the Regional Administrator at least 45 days prior to the 
time that the vessel intends to fish the leased DAS. Upon approval of 
the application by NMFS, the lessor and lessee would be sent written 
confirmation of the approved

[[Page 11066]]

application. Leased DAS would be effective only during the fishing year 
for which they were leased. A vessel could lease to as many qualified 
vessels as desired, provided all DAS leasing requests are consistent 
with the restrictions and conditions of the DAS Leasing Program. No 
subleasing of groundfish DAS would be allowed (i.e., any leased DAS 
could not be leased a second time) and vessels would not be allowed to 
lease carry-over DAS. Only Category A DAS could be leased.
    The maximum number of DAS that could be leased by a lessee is the 
lessee's vessel's DAS allocation for the 2001 fishing year (excluding 
any carryover DAS). The lessee would be able to utilize that number of 
DAS as Category A DAS, in addition to the Category A DAS balance the 
vessel had prior to acquiring the leased DAS. For example, if a vessel 
owner wants to lease additional DAS for a limited access multispecies, 
and that vessel had 88 DAS allocated to it in fishing year 2001, the 
maximum DAS it could lease would be 88. All leased DAS must be used in 
accordance with the DAS accounting regulations (i.e., differential DAS 
counting) proposed by this action. A lessor (vessel leasing DAS to 
another vessel) may not lease DAS to any vessel with a main engine 
horsepower rating that is 20 percent more than that of the lessor 
vessel, and may not lease DAS to any vessel that is 10 percent more 
than that of the lessor vessel's length overall. The vessel 
specifications used for the DAS Leasing Program are based on the permit 
baseline as of January 29, 2004, the publication date of the Amendment 
13 proposed rule (69 FR 4362).
    Because DAS use and landing history may be used to determine 
fishing rights in a future management action, the DAS Leasing Program 
includes a presumption for how such history would be accounted. For 
ease of administration, history of leased DAS use would be presumed to 
remain with the lessor vessel, and landings resulting from the use of 
the leased DAS would be presumed to be attributed to the lessee vessel 
(vessel receiving leased DAS). However, the history of used leased DAS 
would be presumed to remain with the lessor only if the lessee actually 
fished the leased DAS in accordance with the DAS notification program. 
For the purposes of DAS-use history, leased DAS would be considered to 
be the first DAS to be used, followed by the allocated DAS. Attributing 
landings history to the lessor would be inconsistent with the current 
vessel reporting system used for all other fisheries in the Northeast 
Region, and would be extremely difficult and costly for NMFS to 
implement. In the case of multiple lessors, the leased DAS actually 
used would be attributed to the lessors based on the order in which 
such leases were approved by NMFS.
    Limited access NE multispecies vessels that are also issued a 
limited access monkfish Category C, D, F, G, or H permit would be 
required to fish their available monkfish DAS in conjunction with their 
groundfish DAS, including leased DAS. If a monkfish Category C, D, F, 
G, or H vessel leases groundfish Category A DAS to another vessel, the 
lessor vessel would be required to forfeit a monkfish DAS for each 
groundfish A DAS that the vessel leases, equal in number to the 
difference between the number of remaining groundfish A DAS and the 
number of unused monkfish DAS at the time of the lease. For example, if 
a lessor vessel that had 40 unused monkfish DAS and 47 allocated 
groundfish A DAS leased 10 of its groundfish A DAS, the lessor would 
forfeit the use of 3 of its monkfish DAS (40 monkfish DAS - 37 
groundfish A DAS = 3 DAS) because it would have 3 fewer groundfish A 
DAS than monkfish DAS after the lease. The Monkfish FMP specifies that 
monkfish Category C, D, F, G, or H vessels must fish a groundfish A DAS 
concurrently with a monkfish DAS. Not deducting monkfish DAS in a 
situation where groundfish A DAS are leased (transferred) would allow 
monkfish and groundfish A DAS to be fished independently.
    Continuing the DAS Leasing Program in this emergency action would 
help mitigate the economic and social impacts resulting from the 
current FMP regulations that strictly limit fishing effort. The 
provisions detailed above for the DAS Leasing Program are proposed for 
implementation under this emergency action and are identical to those 
proposed for continuation under FW 42 in order to maintain consistency 
of the measures in this action with those adopted by the Council for 
implementation by FW 42 and to simplify the administration of this 
program.
8. Eastern U.S./Canada Haddock SAP
    This proposed emergency action would delay the opening of the 
Eastern U.S./Canada Haddock SAP from May 1 to August 1. This measure 
would also allocate a portion of the GB yellowtail flounder and GB 
winter flounder incidental catch TAC to the Eastern U.S./Canada Haddock 
SAP (see Table 3). As explained above, the value of these new 
incidental catch TACs are being specified through a concurrent agency 
action for implementation by May 1, 2006. An incidental catch TAC for 
GB cod for this SAP was previously allocated under FW 40A (November 19, 
2004; 69 FR 67780). Once any of these incidental catch TACs are caught, 
the use of Category B (Regular or Reserve) DAS in this SAP would be 
prohibited. Finally, possession of flounders (all species, combined), 
monkfish (whole weight), and skates would be limited to 500 lb (227 kg) 
each, and possession of lobsters would be prohibited to ensure the 
proper utilization of the haddock separator trawl; a properly 
configured haddock separator trawl should not catch large quantities of 
these species.
    This proposed measure would delay the opening of the SAP so that 
lower cod catch rates would allow more of the haddock TAC to be 
harvested while reducing the catch (and bycatch) of GB cod. This 
measure is based, in part, on recommendations of the Groundfish 
Advisory Panel and the Groundfish Committee. The Advisors suggested 
delaying the start date of this SAP to August 1, due to concerns over 
lower price for haddock, poor condition of the fish due to recent 
spawning, and to provide further protection for GB cod and GB 
yellowtail flounder by eliminating bycatch of these species under this 
SAP from May through July. The incidental catch TACs for GB yellowtail 
flounder and GB winter flounder would prevent this SAP from threatening 
mortality objectives for these stocks.
9. Eastern U.S./Canada Area Flexibility
    This emergency action proposes to allow a vessel that begins a 
fishing trip in the Eastern U.S./Canada Area to choose to fish in other 
areas on the same trip. If a vessel chooses to fish outside of the 
Eastern U.S./Canada Area after fishing inside that area, the operator 
must notify NMFS via VMS prior to leaving the dock or prior to leaving 
the Eastern U.S./Canada Area on its return to port and must comply with 
the most restrictive possession limits for the areas fished. A vessel 
electing to fish inside and outside of the Eastern U.S./Canada Area 
would be charged Category A DAS for the entire trip and the vessel 
would not receive any steaming time credit. In addition, all cod and 
haddock caught on the entire trip would be applied against the Eastern 
U.S./Canada Area TACs for these species, all yellowtail flounder would 
be applied to the overall U.S./Canada Management Area TAC for this 
species. The vessel must comply with reporting requirements for the 
Eastern U.S./Canada Area for the entire trip. A vessel is prohibited 
from fishing outside of the Eastern U.S./Canada Area on the same trip 
if it has already exceeded the restrictive possession limits for a

[[Page 11067]]

particular species outside of the Eastern U.S./Canada Area. For 
example, if a vessel fishing in the Eastern U.S./Canada Area in June 
has already caught 500 lb (226.8 kg) of GB yellowtail flounder, the 
vessel operator would be prohibited from fishing in the GOM RMA or SNE/
MA RMA on the same trip because the vessel has already exceeded the 
June SNE/MA and GOM yellowtail flounder possession limit of 250 lb per 
trip (113.4 kg per trip) proposed by this action. However, the vessel 
could continue to fish within the Western U.S./Canada Area for the 
remainder of the trip.
    This measure addresses a potential safety concern which could arise 
out of the Amendment 13 restriction that vessels fishing in the Eastern 
U.S./Canada Area cannot fish in any other area. If worsening weather is 
forecast, a vessel captain fishing in the Eastern U.S./Canada Area 
currently has only two choices: End the trip early, or continue to fish 
in the Eastern U.S./Canada Area. The vessel operator cannot ``hedge his 
bets'' by choosing to fish closer to shore after leaving the Eastern 
U.S./Canada Area. The risk is that fishermen will keep fishing in the 
area until it is too late to evade a rapidly advancing storm. This 
measure would provide fishermen another option, which would reduce the 
chances of an economic loss for the trip, and therefore, reduce the 
economic incentive for a vessel operator to fish under unsafe weather 
conditions. In order to prevent misreporting of cod and haddock caught 
in the Eastern U.S./Canada Area, all cod, haddock, and yellowtail 
flounder caught on the trip would be applied to the species TACs for 
that area. This is a conservative approach that will help ensure the 
U.S./Canada Area TACs are not exceeded. Prohibiting a vessel from 
fishing outside of the Eastern U.S./Canada Area on the same trip if it 
has exceeded a possession limit for a specific stock is necessary to 
properly enforce the possession limit provisions of the FMP. These 
proposed measures are consistent with the measures adopted by the 
Council for implementation in FW 42.
10. Recreational Restrictions
    Under this proposed action, private recreational vessels and 
vessels fishing under the charter/party regulations of the FMP would be 
prohibited from possessing or retaining any cod from the GOM RMA from 
November 1-March 31. Also, the minimum size of cod for private 
recreational vessels and charter/party vessels fishing in the GOM would 
be increased from 22 inches (56 cm) to 24 inches (61 cm) for the 
duration of this emergency action. Private recreational and charter/
party vessels would be allowed to transit the GOM RMA with cod caught 
from outside this area, provided all bait and hooks are removed from 
fishing rods and all cod are stored in coolers or ice chests.
    These measures are intended to achieve a proportional share of the 
necessary F reductions for GOM cod from the recreational sector. These 
measures are designed to achieve the same reduction in F for GOM cod as 
that achieved by measures intended to reduce F for this species in the 
commercial fishery, as described above. The gear and cod stowage 
requirements are necessary to properly enforce these measures. These 
measures are consistent with the measures adopted by the Council for 
implementation in FW 42.

Classification

    Because this action is a proposed rule, at this time, NMFS has not 
made a final determination that the emergency measures that this 
proposed rule would implement are consistent with the national 
standards of the Magnuson-Stevens Act and other applicable laws. NMFS, 
in making the final determination, will take into account the data, 
views, and comments received during the comment period.
    This proposed rule has been determined to be significant for the 
purposes of Executive Order (E.O.) 12866.
    This proposed rule does not contain policies with Federalism or 
``takings'' implications as those terms are defined in E.O. 13132 and 
E.O. 12630, respectively.
    NMFS prepared an IRFA as required by section 603 of the Regulatory 
Flexibility Act (RFA). The IRFA describes the economic impact this 
proposed rule, if adopted, would have on small entities. A description 
of the action, why it is being considered, and the legal basis for this 
action are contained in the preamble to this proposed rule and in the 
Executive Summary and Sections 3.0 and 4.0 of the EA prepared for this 
action.
    As described above, the proposed action would implement measures to 
immediately reduce fishing mortality on particular groundfish stocks 
for the start of the 2006 fishing year on May 1, 2006. This action is 
necessary to maintain efforts to continue the rebuilding programs 
established under Amendment 13. The DAS Leasing Program and a modified 
Regular B DAS Program would be continued in this action to help offset 
some of the economic and social impacts of continued effort reductions 
in the groundfish fishery and to provide some means of regulating 
effort shifts caused by differential DAS counting proposed by this 
action.
    Because this action largely builds on and amends Amendment 13 and 
subsequent framework actions, measures for which numerous alternatives 
were considered, NMFS only fully considered two alternatives for 
analysis: The proposed emergency action and the No Action alternative. 
Two other alternatives (area closures and a hard TAC alternative) were 
considered, but were rejected because they did not meet the objectives 
of this action. The area closure alternative included closing portions 
of the GOM RMA and was rejected because these alternatives could have 
forced fishing effort to move into other RMAs, would have prohibited a 
majority of the fishing industry from operating in the GOM and could 
have caused unnecessary impacts on healthy groundfish stocks. The hard 
TAC alternative included hard TACs for species requiring F reductions 
for 2006, but were rejected because current data collection mechanisms 
do not allow for the complete, real-time catch monitoring that would be 
necessary for a hard-TAC alternative and that such an alternative would 
be inconsistent with measures adopted in FW 42. Analysis of this 
proposed emergency action examined the impacts on the fishing industry 
that would result from the continuation of the current management 
measures (i.e., the set of measures currently in place for the NE 
multispecies fishery through the October 14, 2005, implementation of 
measures contained in FW 41 (70 FR 54302; September 14, 2005)), along 
with the measures proposed by this emergency action and described in 
the SUMMARY. The No Action alternative is defined as the current 
management measures, including the two default measures implemented by 
Amendment 13 (a change in the ratio of Category A to Category B DAS 
from 60:40 to 55:45, and differential DAS counting at a rate of 1.5:1 
in the SNE/MA RMA). The No Action alternative would retain the current 
trip limits for GOM cod and CC/GOM, GB, and SNE/MA yellowtail flounder. 
In addition, under the No Action alternative, the DAS Leasing Program 
and the Regular B DAS Pilot Program would expire prior to May 1, 2006, 
and the Eastern U.S./Canada Haddock SAP would expire on November 18, 
2006.

[[Page 11068]]

Description of and Estimate of the Number of Small Entities to Which 
the Proposed Rule Would Apply

    Any vessel that possesses a NE multispecies permit would be 
required to comply with the proposed regulatory action. However, for 
the purposes of determination of impact, only vessels that actually 
participated in an activity during fishing year 2004 that would be 
affected by the proposed action were considered for analysis. During 
fishing year 2004, 1,002 permit holders had an allocation of Category A 
DAS. Limited access permit holders may participate in both commercial 
and party/charter activity without having a party/charter permit. In 
fishing year 2004, 705 entities participated in the commercial 
groundfish fishery and 6 participated in the party/charter fishery for 
GOM cod. Four of these entities participated in both commercial and 
party/charter activities, leaving a total of 707 unique vessels with an 
allocation of Category A DAS that may be affected by the proposed 
action. Based on fishing year 2004 data, the proposed action would have 
a potential impact on a total of 3,216 limited or open access 
groundfish permit holders, of which less than one-third (976) actually 
participated in either a commercial or party/charter activity that 
would be affected by the proposed action. Of these, 858 commercial 
fishing vessels would be affected by this proposed action, including 
132 limited access monkfish Category C or D vessels that fished in the 
Regular B DAS Pilot Program during fishing year 2004-2005.
    The SBA size standard for small commercial fishing entities is $4 
million in gross sales, and the size standard for small party/charter 
operators is $6.5 million. Available data for fishing year 2004 gross 
sales show that the maximum gross for any single commercial fishing 
vessel was $1.8 million, and the maximum gross sales for any affected 
party/charter vessel was $1.0 million. While an entity may own multiple 
vessels, available data make it difficult to determine which vessels 
may be controlled by a single entity. For this reason, each vessel is 
treated as a single entity for purposes of size determination and 
impact assessment. This means that all commercial and party/charter 
fishing entities would fall under the SBA size standard for small 
entities and, therefore, there is no differential impact between large 
and small entities.

Economic Impacts of the Proposed Action

    The proposed action would continue the Amendment 13 default measure 
that would reduce the number of available Category A DAS. In addition, 
the proposed action would implement differential DAS counting for all 
Category A DAS used in all RMAs at a rate of 1.4:1, reduce trip limits 
for several species, continue the DAS Leasing Program and a modified 
Regular B DAS Program restricted to the U.S./Canada Management Area, 
delay the start date of the Eastern U.S./Canada Area Haddock SAP, allow 
vessels to fish inside and outside of the Eastern U.S./Canada Area on 
the same trip, and impose recreational fishing measures designed to 
reduce fishing mortality on GOM cod. The economic impacts of the 
proposed differential DAS counting and trip limits were able to be 
assessed using the Closed Area Model (CAM). Separate analyses were 
conducted for the impacts of the continuation of the DAS Leasing 
Program and a modified Regular B DAS Program, the delayed start date 
for the Eastern U.S./Canada Haddock SAP, and the recreational measures.
    The results of the CAM indicate that the proposed action would have 
the greatest impact on vessels from Maine, New Hampshire, and 
Massachusetts. The proposed action would have a disproportionate impact 
on groundfish vessels in excess of 70 ft (21.3 m) length overall and 
would affect trawl vessels more than gillnet or hook gear vessels. 
Vessels with the highest yearly gross sales (i.e., more than $320,000) 
would be more affected than vessels with lower yearly gross sales. Of 
the 858 participating commercial fishing vessels, more than 80 percent 
may be expected to incur at least some reduction in net return in 
fishing year 2006 compared to fishing year 2004-05 levels. One-half of 
all participating vessels would be expected to have net returns reduced 
by at least 12 percent from their 2004 net returns, and 25 percent 
(215) of all participating vessels may incur losses in net returns that 
exceed 22 percent. Overall, the proposed action is expected to result 
in a 28-percent reduction in fishing revenue, for an aggregate impact 
of $30.5 million in gross sales. This loss represents less than 4 
percent of total region-wide fishing revenues from all species. Total 
groundfish revenue is expected to be reduced by 32 percent, resulting 
in an estimate of $53 million in the landed value of groundfish for 
fishing year 2006.
    Because the proposed action would affect vessels that may 
participate in the Eastern U.S./Canada Haddock SAP and/or the Regular B 
DAS Program, and participation in these programs is voluntary, it is 
difficult to estimate the impact on any given small entity 
participating in these programs. During fishing year 2004, catch rates 
of cod in the Eastern U.S./Canada Area Haddock SAP during Ma