Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Allocating Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands Fishery Resources; Notice of Limited Access Privilege Program Public Workshop, 31548 [E7-10923]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 109 (Thursday, June 7, 2007)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 31548]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-10923]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 679

[I.D. 041307D]


Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Allocating 
Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands Fishery Resources; Notice of Limited Access 
Privilege Program Public Workshop

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

ACTION: Notification of an additional public workshop.

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SUMMARY: NMFS will present an additional public workshop in June 2007 
on the proposed program to implement the Amendment 80 Program (Program) 
for potentially eligible participants and other interested parties. The 
Program would implement a limited access privilege program (LAPP) for 
specific groundfish fisheries in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands 
management area (BSAI). At the workshop, NMFS will provide an overview 
of the proposed Program, discuss the key proposed Program elements, and 
answer questions. NMFS is conducting this public workshop to provide 
assistance to fishery participants in understanding and reviewing this 
proposed Program.

DATES: The workshop will be held on Monday, June 18, 2007, from 1 p.m. 
to 4 p.m. Pacific standard time.

ADDRESSES: The workshop will be held at the Nordby Conference Center, 
Fishermen's Terminal, 3919 18th Ave. W. Seattle, WA 98119.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Glenn Merrill, 907-586-7228 or 
glenn.merrill@noaa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS has published a proposed rule that 
would implement a LAPP for Amendment 80 to the Fishery Management Plan 
for BSAI Groundfish (FMP) (72 FR 30052, May 30, 2007). Among other 
things, Amendment 80 would allocate specific BSAI groundfish resources 
among a defined group of harvesters under a LAPP; limit the bycatch of 
halibut and crab resources; assign Amendment 80 quota share (QS) that 
could be used to yield an exclusive harvest privilege on an annual 
basis; allow Amendment 80 QS holders to form a cooperative with other 
Amendment 80 QS holders on an annual basis to receive an exclusive 
harvest privilege; implement use caps to limit the amount of Amendment 
80 QS a person could hold; limit the total amount of catch in other 
groundfish fisheries that could be taken by participants in the 
Program; ensure minimum retention of groundfish while fishing in the 
BSAI; and establish necessary monitoring and enforcement standards. 
Amendment 80 was approved by the North Pacific Fishery Management 
Council on June 9, 2006.
    In addition to other laws, the Program is specifically designed to 
meet the requirements of:
     Section 219 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2005 
(Public Law 108-447; December 8, 2004), which defined the Amendment 80 
sector and implemented a capacity reduction program for several 
catcher/processor sectors;
     Section 416 of the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation 
Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-241; July 11, 2006), which amended 
provisions of the Community Development Quota (CDQ) Program in the 
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act; and
     The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management 
Reauthorization Act (Public Law 109-479, January 12, 2007), which 
modified provisions related to the CDQ Program and instituted other 
measures applicable to LAPPs.
    NMFS is conducting this public workshop to provide assistance to 
fishery participants in understanding and reviewing the proposed 
requirements. A similar workshop was held May 23, 2007 (72 FR 27798, 
May 17, 2007). At the workshop, NMFS will provide an overview of the 
proposed Program, and discuss the key Program elements, including: 
quota share application; cooperative and limited access participation 
provisions; cooperative quota transfer provisions; measures to 
establish sideboard limits to protect non-LAPP fishery participants, 
the appeals process; catch accounting; monitoring and enforcement; and 
electronic reporting. Additionally, NMFS will answer questions from 
workshop participants. For further information on the Program, please 
visit the NMFS Alaska Region website at https://www.fakr.noaa.gov.

Special Accommodations

    This workshop is physically accessible to people with disabilities. 
Requests for special accommodations should be directed to Glenn Merrill 
(see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT) by June 11, 2007.

    Dated: May 31, 2007.
James P. Burgess
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E7-10923 Filed 6-6-07; 8:45 am]
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