Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area and Gulf of Alaska License Limitation Program, 75659-75661 [E8-29497]
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Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 240 / Friday, December 12, 2008 / Proposed Rules
§ 218.1(c) will be renewed annually
upon:
(1) Notification to NMFS that the
activity described in the application
submitted under § 218.6 will be
undertaken and that there will not be a
substantial modification to the
described work, mitigation or
monitoring undertaken during the
upcoming 12 months;
(2) Timely receipt of the monitoring
reports required under § 218.5(b); and
(3) A determination by NMFS that the
mitigation, monitoring and reporting
measures required under § 218.4 and the
Letter of Authorization issued under
§ 216.106 of this chapter and § 218.7,
were undertaken and will be undertaken
during the upcoming annual period of
validity of a renewed Letter of
Authorization.
(b) If a request for a renewal of a
Letter of Authorization issued under
§ 216.106 of this chapter and § 218.8
indicates that a substantial modification
to the described work, mitigation or
monitoring undertaken during the
upcoming season will occur, NMFS will
provide the public a period of 30 days
for review and comment on the request.
Review and comment on renewals of
Letters of Authorization are restricted
to:
(1) New cited information and data
indicating that the determinations made
in this document are in need of
reconsideration, and
(2) Proposed changes to the mitigation
and monitoring requirements contained
in these regulations or in the current
Letter of Authorization.(c) A notice of
issuance or denial of a renewal of a
Letter of Authorization will be
published in the Federal Register.
rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with PROPOSALS
§ 218.9 Modifications to Letters of
Authorization.
(a) Except as provided in paragraph
(b) of this section, no substantive
modification (including withdrawal or
suspension) to the Letter of
Authorization by NMFS, issued
pursuant to § 216.106 of this chapter
and § 218.7 and subject to the
provisions of this subpart shall be made
until after notification and an
opportunity for public comment has
been provided. For purposes of this
paragraph, a renewal of a Letter of
Authorization under § 218.8, without
modification (except for the period of
validity), is not considered a substantive
modification.
(b) If the Assistant Administrator
determines that an emergency exists
that poses a significant risk to the wellbeing of the species or stocks of marine
mammals specified in § 218.2(c), a
Letter of Authorization issued pursuant
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to § 216.106 of this chapter and § 218.7
may be substantively modified without
prior notification and an opportunity for
public comment. Notification will be
published in the Federal Register
within 30 days subsequent to the action.
[FR Doc. E8–29498 Filed 12–11–08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–S
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
50 CFR Part 679
RIN 0648–AX14
Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic
Zone Off Alaska; Bering Sea and
Aleutian Islands Management Area and
Gulf of Alaska License Limitation
Program
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of availability of fishery
management plan amendment; request
for comments.
SUMMARY: Amendment 92 to the Fishery
Management Plans for Groundfish of the
Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands
Management Area and Amendment 82
to the Fishery Management Plan for
Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska (FMPs)
would remove trawl gear endorsements
on licenses issued under the license
limitation program in specific
management areas if those licenses have
not been used on vessels that meet
minimum recent landing requirements
using trawl gear. This action would
provide exemptions to this requirement
for licenses that are used in trawl
fisheries subject to quota–based
management. This action would issue
new area endorsements for trawl catcher
vessels in the Aleutian Islands if
minimum recent landing requirements
in the Aleutian Islands were met. This
action is intended to promote the goals
and objectives of the Magnuson–Stevens
Fishery Conservation and Management
Act, the FMP, and other applicable
laws.
DATES: Comments on the amendments
must be submitted on or before February
10, 2009.
ADDRESSES: Send comments to Sue
Salveson, Assistant Regional
Administrator, Sustainable Fisheries
Division, Alaska Region, NMFS, Attn:
Ellen Sebastian. You may submit
comments, identified by ‘‘RIN 0648–
AX14,’’ by any one of the following
methods:
PO 00000
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Sfmt 4702
75659
• Electronic Submissions: Submit all
electronic public comments via the
FederaleRulemaking Portal website at
https://www.regulations.gov.
• Mail: P. O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK
99802.
• Fax: (907) 586–7557.
• Hand delivery to the Federal
Building: 709 West 9th Street, Room
420A, Juneau, AK.
All comments received are a part of
the public record and will generally be
posted to https://www.regulations.gov
without change. All Personal Identifying
Information (e.g., name, address)
voluntarily submitted by the commenter
may be publicly accessible. Do not
submit Confidential Business
Information or otherwise sensitive or
protected information.
NMFS will accept anonymous
comments (enter ‘‘N/A’’ in the required
fields if you wish to remain
anonymous). Attachments to electronic
comments will be accepted in Microsoft
Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe
portable document file (pdf) formats
only.
Copies of Amendments 92 and 82, the
Regulatory Impact Review (RIR)/Initial
Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (IRFA),
and the Environmental Assessment (EA)
prepared for this action may be obtained
from the NMFS Alaska Region at the
address above or from the Alaska Region
website at https://www.fakr.noaa.gov/
sustainablefisheries.htm.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Glenn Merrill, 907–586–7228.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The
Magnuson–Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act
requires that each regional fishery
management council submit any fishery
management plan amendment it
prepares to NMFS for review and
approval, disapproval, or partial
approval by the Secretary of Commerce
(Secretary). The Magnuson–Stevens Act
also requires that NMFS, upon receiving
a fishery management plan amendment,
immediately publish a notice in the
Federal Register announcing that the
amendment is available for public
review and comment.
The license limitation program (LLP)
for groundfish fisheries was
recommended by the North Pacific
Fishery Management Council (Council)
in June 1995 as Amendments 39 and 41
to the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands
Management Area (BSAI) and the Gulf
of Alaska (GOA) FMPs, respectively.
NMFS published a final rule to
implement the LLP on October 1, 1998
(63 FR 52642), and the LLP was
implemented on January 1, 2000.
E:\FR\FM\12DEP1.SGM
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rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with PROPOSALS
75660
Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 240 / Friday, December 12, 2008 / Proposed Rules
The LLP for groundfish established
specific criteria that must be met to
allow a person to use a vessel to
continue to be eligible to fish in
federally managed groundfish fisheries.
Under the LLP, NMFS issued LLP
licenses. These LLP licenses were
issued to a vessel owner based on the
catch history of their vessels in Federal
groundfish fisheries during the mid
1990’s. LLP licenses: (1) endorse fishing
activities in specific regulatory areas in
the BSAI and GOA; (2) restrict the
length of the vessel on which the LLP
license may be used; (3) designate the
fishing gear that may be used on the
vessel, trawl or non–trawl gear
designations; (4) designate the type of
vessel operation permitted, LLP licenses
designate whether the vessel to which
the LLP is assigned may operate as a
catcher vessel or as a catcher/processor;
and (5) are issued so that the
endorsements for specific regulatory
areas, gear designations, or vessel
operational types are non–severable
from the LLP license, once issued, the
components of the LLP license cannot
be transferred independently. By
creating LLP licenses with these
characteristics, the Council and NMFS
limited the ability of a person to assign
an LLP license that was derived from
the historic fishing activity of a vessel
to be transferred and used on another
vessel in a manner that could expand
fishing capacity.
In 2000, NMFS issued over 300 LLP
licenses endorsed for trawl gear. A
vessel owner received an LLP license
endorsed for a specific regulatory area
in the BSAI, either the Bering Sea
subarea (BS) or Aleutian Islands subarea
(AI); or a specific regulatory area in the
GOA, Southeast Outside District (SEO),
Central Gulf of Alaska (CG), or Western
Gulf of Alaska (WG) if that vessel met
specific landing requirements in that
specific regulatory area. The minimum
landing requirements differed
depending on the regulatory area, size of
the vessel, and the operational type of
the vessel. Soon after LLP licenses were
issued it became apparent that a
substantial number of trawl–endorsed
LLP licenses were not being used.
Changes in the economic viability of
some fishing operations, changes in
fishery management regulations, and
consolidation of fishery operations are
likely factors affecting the number of
LLP licenses that were actively assigned
to vessels. LLP licenses that are valid
but have not been used recently on a
vessel are commonly known as latent
LLP licenses.
Beginning in early 2007, the Council
began reviewing the potential removal
of latent trawl–endorsed LLP licenses.
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Jkt 217001
This review was initiated primarily at
the request of active trawl fishery
participants who were concerned that
latent trawl–endorsed LLP licenses
could become active in the future and
adversely affect their fishing operations.
During the process of this review, the
Council also received input from the
public requesting modification to the
LLP to meet unique conditions in the AI
area that limit the ability of catcher
vessels and specific AI area
communities to harvest and process
federally managed groundfish. In April
2008, after more than a year of review,
development of an analysis, and
extensive public comment, the Council
recommended modifications to the LLP
to revise eligibility criteria for trawl
endorsements on LLP licenses.
Amendments 92 and 82 would
implement two different actions.
First, Amendments 92 and 82 would
remove latent trawl endorsements on
LLP licenses. A trawl endorsement in a
specific regulatory area would be
removed from an LLP license if that LLP
license has not been assigned to a vessel
that has made a minimum of two
landings using trawl gear in a specific
regulatory area from 2000 through 2006.
Two exemptions to the landing
requirements would apply. One would
allow a person to maintain their trawl
endorsement in the CG and the WG
even if that person did not meet the
landing requirement in one of the
regulatory areas, provided that LLP
license had been used on a vessel that
made at least 20 landings using trawl
gear in one regulatory area in either the
CG or WG from 2005 through 2007. The
Council determined that an exemption
to the landing requirement is warranted
for these two areas in the GOA in order
to qualify license holders that have
established records of recent
participation in GOA trawl fisheries.
This provision would only apply to LLP
licenses that are designated for catcher
vessels. The second exemption would
allow retention of a trawl endorsement
in a specific regulatory area if that
regulatory area endorsement is required
to continue participation in one of three
Limited Access Privilege Programs
(LAPPs) currently in place: the
American Fisheries Act (AFA); the
Amendment 80 Program; and the CG
Rockfish Program. Under this
exemption, NMFS would not remove
trawl endorsements with a BS or AI
endorsement if that LLP license is
assigned for use in the AFA or
Amendment 80 LAPP, and NMFS
would not remove trawl endorsements
in with a CG endorsement if that LLP
license is assigned for use in the CG
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Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
Rockfish Program LAPP. The Council
determined that exemptions for LAPPs
are appropriate because the participants
in these three LAPPs have already met
participation requirements for these
specific management areas to participate
in these programs.
Second, Amendments 92 and 82
would issue new trawl AI LLP
endorsements for catcher vessel
operations for use in the AI. Under this
proposed action, NMFS would issue AI
trawl endorsements to (1) non–AFA
catcher vessels less than 60 feet length
overall (LOA) if those vessels have made
at least 500 metric tons (mt) of landings
of Pacific cod in State of Alaska waters
adjacent to the AI during the Federal
Pacific cod season during 2000 through
2006; or (2) non–AFA catcher vessels
greater than 60 feet LOA if those vessels
have made at least one landing in State
of Alaska waters during the Federal
groundfish season in the AI and have
made at least 1,000 mt of landings in the
BSAI Pacific cod fishery during 2000
through 2006. The Council determined
that these provisions would provide
additional harvest opportunities to
owners of non–AFA trawl catcher
vessels that have been used in State of
Alaska waters in the Aleutian Islands in
recent years, but who do not hold an
LLP license with an AI area
endorsement These endorsements are
also likely to facilitate shore–based
processing operations in the Aleutian
Islands, primarily in the community of
Adak, Alaska by providing greater
harvesting opportunities to the catcher
vessel fleet currently delivering to Adak.
In addition, the Council recommended
that the new AI area endorsements that
would be issued based on the landings
of vessels less than 60 feet LOA should
be severable and transferable from the
overall license. No other area
endorsement in the existing LLP is
allowed to be transferred separately
from the LLP license to which it is
attached. The proposed action would
create a new type of independently
transferrable area endorsement.
However, the Council clarified that
these AI area endorsements must be
reassigned, or reattached, to an LLP
license in order to be used. The Council
recommended a transferrable AI area
endorsement for vessels less than 60 feet
LOA to ensure that these endorsements
would be used on vessels in the
Aleutian Islands.
Public comments are being solicited
on proposed Amendments 92 and 82
through the end of the comment period
(see DATES). NMFS intends to publish a
proposed rule in the Federal Register
for public comment that would
implement Amendments 92 and 82,
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Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 240 / Friday, December 12, 2008 / Proposed Rules
following NMFS( evaluation under the
Magnuson–Stevens Act procedures.
Public comments on the proposed rule
must be received by the close of the
comment period on Amendments 92
and 82 to be considered in the approval/
disapproval decision on Amendments
92 and 82. All comments received by
the end of the comment period on
Amendments 92/82, whether
specifically directed to the FMP
amendments or the proposed rule, will
be considered in the approval/
disapproval decision on Amendments
92 and 82. Comments received after the
end of the public comment period for
Amendments 92 and 82, even if
received within the comment period for
the proposed rule, will not be
considered in the approval/disapproval
decision on the amendment. To be
considered, comments must be
received(not just postmarked or
otherwise transmitted(by the close of
business on the last day of the comment
period.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: December 8, 2008.
Emily H. Menashes,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable
Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E8–29497 Filed 12–11–08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–S
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
50 CFR Part 680
[Docket No. 080630808–8814–01]
RIN 0648–AW97
Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic
Zone Off Alaska; Bering Sea and
Aleutian Islands Crab Rationalization
Program
rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with PROPOSALS
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Proposed rule; request for
comments.
SUMMARY: NMFS proposes regulations
implementing Amendment 28 to the
Fishery Management Plan for Bering
Sea/Aleutian Islands King and Tanner
Crabs (FMP). This proposed regulation
would amend the Bering Sea/Aleutian
Islands Crab Rationalization Program to
allow post–delivery transfers of all types
of individual fishing quota and
individual processing quota to cover
overages. This action is necessary to
improve flexibility of the fleet, reduce
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16:22 Dec 11, 2008
Jkt 217001
the number of violations for overages,
reduce enforcement costs, and allow
more complete harvest of allocations.
This action is intended to promote the
goals and objectives of the Magnuson–
Stevens Fishery Conservation and
Management Act, the FMP, and other
applicable law.
DATES: Comments must be received no
later than January 26, 2009.
ADDRESSES: Send comments to Sue
Salveson, Assistant Regional
Administrator, Sustainable Fisheries
Division, Alaska Region, NMFS, Attn:
Ellen Sebastian. You may submit
comments, identified by ‘‘RIN 0648–
AW97,’’ by any one of the following
methods:
• Electronic Submissions: Submit all
electronic public comments via the
Federal eRulemaking Portal website at
https://www.regulations.gov.
• Mail: P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK
99802.
• Fax: 907–586–7557.
• Hand delivery to the Federal
Building: 709 West 9th Street, Room
420A, Juneau, AK.
All comments received are a part of
the public record and will generally be
posted to https://www.regulations.gov
without change. All personal identifying
information (e.g., name, address)
voluntarily submitted by the commenter
may be publicly accessible. Do not
submit confidential business
information or otherwise sensitive or
protected information.
NMFS will accept anonymous
comments (enter N/A in the required
fields, if you wish to remain
anonymous). Attachments to electronic
comments will be accepted in Microsoft
Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe
portable document file (pdf) formats
only.
This proposed action was
categorically excluded from the need to
prepare an environmental assessment or
environmental impact statement under
the National Environmental Policy Act.
Copies of Amendment 28, the
categorical exclusion memorandum, and
the Regulatory Impact Review/Initial
Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (RIR/
IRFA) prepared for this action, as well
as the Environmental Impact Statement
(EIS) prepared for the Crab
Rationalization Program may be
obtained from the NMFS Alaska Region
at the address above or from the Alaska
Region website at https://
alaskafisheries.noaa.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Glenn Merrill, 907–586–7228, or Julie
Scheurer, 907–586–7356.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The king
and Tanner crab fisheries in the
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Fmt 4702
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75661
exclusive economic zone of the Bering
Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) are
managed under the Fishery
Management Plan for Bering Sea/
Aleutian Islands King and Tanner Crabs
(FMP). The FMP was prepared by the
North Pacific Fishery Management
Council (Council) under the Magnuson–
Stevens Fishery Conservation and
Management Act (Magnuson–Stevens
Act). Amendments 18 and 19 to the
FMP implemented the BSAI Crab
Rationalization Program (CR Program).
Regulations implementing Amendments
18 and 19 were published on March 2,
2005 (70 FR 10174), and are located at
50 CFR part 680.
Background
Under the CR Program, NMFS issued
quota share (QS) to persons based on
their qualifying harvest histories in the
BSAI crab fisheries during a specific
time period. Each year, the QS issued to
a person yields an amount of individual
fishing quota (IFQ), which is a permit
that provides an exclusive harvesting
privilege for a specific amount of raw
crab pounds, in a specific crab fishery,
in a given season. The size of each
annual IFQ allocation is based on the
amount of QS held by a person in
relation to the total QS pool in a crab
fishery. For example, a person holding
QS equaling 1 percent of the QS pool in
a crab fishery would receive IFQ to
harvest one percent of the annual total
allowable catch (TAC) in that crab
fishery. Catcher processor license
holders were allocated catcher processor
vessel owner (CPO) QS for their history
as catcher processors; and catcher vessel
license holders were issued catcher
vessel owner (CVO) QS based on their
catcher vessel history.
Under the CR Program, 97 percent of
the initial allocation of QS was issued
to vessel owners as CPO or CVO QS.
The remaining 3 percent was issued to
vessel captains and crew as ‘‘C shares’’
based on their harvest histories as crew
members onboard crab fishing vessels.
Of the CVO IFQ, 90 percent is issued as
‘‘A shares,’’ or ‘‘Class A IFQ,’’ which, in
most fisheries, are subject to regional
landing requirements and must be
delivered to a processor holding unused
individual processor quota (IPQ). This
regional landing requirement is
commonly referred to as
‘‘regionalization.’’ The remaining 10
percent of the annual vessel owner IFQ
is issued as ‘‘B shares,’’ or ‘‘Class B
IFQ,’’ which may be delivered to any
processor and are not subject to
regionalization. C shares also are not
subject to regionalization.
Processor quota shares (PQS) are long
term shares issued to processors. These
E:\FR\FM\12DEP1.SGM
12DEP1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 240 (Friday, December 12, 2008)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 75659-75661]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-29497]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 679
RIN 0648-AX14
Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Bering Sea
and Aleutian Islands Management Area and Gulf of Alaska License
Limitation Program
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of availability of fishery management plan amendment;
request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: Amendment 92 to the Fishery Management Plans for Groundfish of
the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands Management Area and Amendment 82 to the
Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska (FMPs)
would remove trawl gear endorsements on licenses issued under the
license limitation program in specific management areas if those
licenses have not been used on vessels that meet minimum recent landing
requirements using trawl gear. This action would provide exemptions to
this requirement for licenses that are used in trawl fisheries subject
to quota-based management. This action would issue new area
endorsements for trawl catcher vessels in the Aleutian Islands if
minimum recent landing requirements in the Aleutian Islands were met.
This action is intended to promote the goals and objectives of the
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the FMP, and
other applicable laws.
DATES: Comments on the amendments must be submitted on or before
February 10, 2009.
ADDRESSES: Send comments to Sue Salveson, Assistant Regional
Administrator, Sustainable Fisheries Division, Alaska Region, NMFS,
Attn: Ellen Sebastian. You may submit comments, identified by ``RIN
0648-AX14,'' by any one of the following methods:
Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic public
comments via the FederaleRulemaking Portal website at https://
www.regulations.gov.
Mail: P. O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802.
Fax: (907) 586-7557.
Hand delivery to the Federal Building: 709 West 9\th\
Street, Room 420A, Juneau, AK.
All comments received are a part of the public record and will
generally be posted to https://www.regulations.gov without change. All
Personal Identifying Information (e.g., name, address) voluntarily
submitted by the commenter may be publicly accessible. Do not submit
Confidential Business Information or otherwise sensitive or protected
information.
NMFS will accept anonymous comments (enter ``N/A'' in the required
fields if you wish to remain anonymous). Attachments to electronic
comments will be accepted in Microsoft Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or
Adobe portable document file (pdf) formats only.
Copies of Amendments 92 and 82, the Regulatory Impact Review (RIR)/
Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (IRFA), and the Environmental
Assessment (EA) prepared for this action may be obtained from the NMFS
Alaska Region at the address above or from the Alaska Region website at
https://www.fakr.noaa.gov/sustainablefisheries.htm.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Glenn Merrill, 907-586-7228.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation
and Management Act requires that each regional fishery management
council submit any fishery management plan amendment it prepares to
NMFS for review and approval, disapproval, or partial approval by the
Secretary of Commerce (Secretary). The Magnuson-Stevens Act also
requires that NMFS, upon receiving a fishery management plan amendment,
immediately publish a notice in the Federal Register announcing that
the amendment is available for public review and comment.
The license limitation program (LLP) for groundfish fisheries was
recommended by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council)
in June 1995 as Amendments 39 and 41 to the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands
Management Area (BSAI) and the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) FMPs, respectively.
NMFS published a final rule to implement the LLP on October 1, 1998 (63
FR 52642), and the LLP was implemented on January 1, 2000.
[[Page 75660]]
The LLP for groundfish established specific criteria that must be
met to allow a person to use a vessel to continue to be eligible to
fish in federally managed groundfish fisheries. Under the LLP, NMFS
issued LLP licenses. These LLP licenses were issued to a vessel owner
based on the catch history of their vessels in Federal groundfish
fisheries during the mid 1990's. LLP licenses: (1) endorse fishing
activities in specific regulatory areas in the BSAI and GOA; (2)
restrict the length of the vessel on which the LLP license may be used;
(3) designate the fishing gear that may be used on the vessel, trawl or
non-trawl gear designations; (4) designate the type of vessel operation
permitted, LLP licenses designate whether the vessel to which the LLP
is assigned may operate as a catcher vessel or as a catcher/processor;
and (5) are issued so that the endorsements for specific regulatory
areas, gear designations, or vessel operational types are non-severable
from the LLP license, once issued, the components of the LLP license
cannot be transferred independently. By creating LLP licenses with
these characteristics, the Council and NMFS limited the ability of a
person to assign an LLP license that was derived from the historic
fishing activity of a vessel to be transferred and used on another
vessel in a manner that could expand fishing capacity.
In 2000, NMFS issued over 300 LLP licenses endorsed for trawl gear.
A vessel owner received an LLP license endorsed for a specific
regulatory area in the BSAI, either the Bering Sea subarea (BS) or
Aleutian Islands subarea (AI); or a specific regulatory area in the
GOA, Southeast Outside District (SEO), Central Gulf of Alaska (CG), or
Western Gulf of Alaska (WG) if that vessel met specific landing
requirements in that specific regulatory area. The minimum landing
requirements differed depending on the regulatory area, size of the
vessel, and the operational type of the vessel. Soon after LLP licenses
were issued it became apparent that a substantial number of trawl-
endorsed LLP licenses were not being used. Changes in the economic
viability of some fishing operations, changes in fishery management
regulations, and consolidation of fishery operations are likely factors
affecting the number of LLP licenses that were actively assigned to
vessels. LLP licenses that are valid but have not been used recently on
a vessel are commonly known as latent LLP licenses.
Beginning in early 2007, the Council began reviewing the potential
removal of latent trawl-endorsed LLP licenses. This review was
initiated primarily at the request of active trawl fishery participants
who were concerned that latent trawl-endorsed LLP licenses could become
active in the future and adversely affect their fishing operations.
During the process of this review, the Council also received input from
the public requesting modification to the LLP to meet unique conditions
in the AI area that limit the ability of catcher vessels and specific
AI area communities to harvest and process federally managed
groundfish. In April 2008, after more than a year of review,
development of an analysis, and extensive public comment, the Council
recommended modifications to the LLP to revise eligibility criteria for
trawl endorsements on LLP licenses. Amendments 92 and 82 would
implement two different actions.
First, Amendments 92 and 82 would remove latent trawl endorsements
on LLP licenses. A trawl endorsement in a specific regulatory area
would be removed from an LLP license if that LLP license has not been
assigned to a vessel that has made a minimum of two landings using
trawl gear in a specific regulatory area from 2000 through 2006. Two
exemptions to the landing requirements would apply. One would allow a
person to maintain their trawl endorsement in the CG and the WG even if
that person did not meet the landing requirement in one of the
regulatory areas, provided that LLP license had been used on a vessel
that made at least 20 landings using trawl gear in one regulatory area
in either the CG or WG from 2005 through 2007. The Council determined
that an exemption to the landing requirement is warranted for these two
areas in the GOA in order to qualify license holders that have
established records of recent participation in GOA trawl fisheries.
This provision would only apply to LLP licenses that are designated for
catcher vessels. The second exemption would allow retention of a trawl
endorsement in a specific regulatory area if that regulatory area
endorsement is required to continue participation in one of three
Limited Access Privilege Programs (LAPPs) currently in place: the
American Fisheries Act (AFA); the Amendment 80 Program; and the CG
Rockfish Program. Under this exemption, NMFS would not remove trawl
endorsements with a BS or AI endorsement if that LLP license is
assigned for use in the AFA or Amendment 80 LAPP, and NMFS would not
remove trawl endorsements in with a CG endorsement if that LLP license
is assigned for use in the CG Rockfish Program LAPP. The Council
determined that exemptions for LAPPs are appropriate because the
participants in these three LAPPs have already met participation
requirements for these specific management areas to participate in
these programs.
Second, Amendments 92 and 82 would issue new trawl AI LLP
endorsements for catcher vessel operations for use in the AI. Under
this proposed action, NMFS would issue AI trawl endorsements to (1)
non-AFA catcher vessels less than 60 feet length overall (LOA) if those
vessels have made at least 500 metric tons (mt) of landings of Pacific
cod in State of Alaska waters adjacent to the AI during the Federal
Pacific cod season during 2000 through 2006; or (2) non-AFA catcher
vessels greater than 60 feet LOA if those vessels have made at least
one landing in State of Alaska waters during the Federal groundfish
season in the AI and have made at least 1,000 mt of landings in the
BSAI Pacific cod fishery during 2000 through 2006. The Council
determined that these provisions would provide additional harvest
opportunities to owners of non-AFA trawl catcher vessels that have been
used in State of Alaska waters in the Aleutian Islands in recent years,
but who do not hold an LLP license with an AI area endorsement These
endorsements are also likely to facilitate shore-based processing
operations in the Aleutian Islands, primarily in the community of Adak,
Alaska by providing greater harvesting opportunities to the catcher
vessel fleet currently delivering to Adak. In addition, the Council
recommended that the new AI area endorsements that would be issued
based on the landings of vessels less than 60 feet LOA should be
severable and transferable from the overall license. No other area
endorsement in the existing LLP is allowed to be transferred separately
from the LLP license to which it is attached. The proposed action would
create a new type of independently transferrable area endorsement.
However, the Council clarified that these AI area endorsements must be
reassigned, or reattached, to an LLP license in order to be used. The
Council recommended a transferrable AI area endorsement for vessels
less than 60 feet LOA to ensure that these endorsements would be used
on vessels in the Aleutian Islands.
Public comments are being solicited on proposed Amendments 92 and
82 through the end of the comment period (see DATES). NMFS intends to
publish a proposed rule in the Federal Register for public comment that
would implement Amendments 92 and 82,
[[Page 75661]]
following NMFS( evaluation under the Magnuson-Stevens Act procedures.
Public comments on the proposed rule must be received by the close of
the comment period on Amendments 92 and 82 to be considered in the
approval/disapproval decision on Amendments 92 and 82. All comments
received by the end of the comment period on Amendments 92/82, whether
specifically directed to the FMP amendments or the proposed rule, will
be considered in the approval/disapproval decision on Amendments 92 and
82. Comments received after the end of the public comment period for
Amendments 92 and 82, even if received within the comment period for
the proposed rule, will not be considered in the approval/disapproval
decision on the amendment. To be considered, comments must be
received(not just postmarked or otherwise transmitted(by the close of
business on the last day of the comment period.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: December 8, 2008.
Emily H. Menashes,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. E8-29497 Filed 12-11-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S
