Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Revisions to Pacific Cod Fishing in the Parallel Fishery in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area, 73513-73517 [2011-30727]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 229 (Tuesday, November 29, 2011)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 73513-73517]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-30727]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 679

[Docket No. 110207103-1113-01]
RIN 0648-AY65


Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Revisions to 
Pacific Cod Fishing in the Parallel Fishery in the Bering Sea and 
Aleutian Islands Management Area

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

ACTION: Final rule.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: NMFS issues regulations to limit access of Federally permitted 
pot and hook-and-line catcher/processors (C/Ps) to the Pacific cod 
fishery in Alaska State waters within 3 nautical miles of shore 
adjacent to the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI). 
The affected fishery is commonly known as the ``parallel'' fishery. The 
parallel fishery is managed by the State of Alaska concurrent with the 
Federal pot and hook-and-line fishery for Pacific cod in the BSAI. This 
rule limits access by Federally permitted vessels to the parallel 
fishery for Pacific cod in three ways. First, it requires an owner of a 
Federally permitted pot or hook-and-line C/P vessel used to catch 
Pacific cod in the State of Alaska parallel fishery to be issued the 
same endorsements on his or her Federal fisheries permit (FFP) or 
license limitation program (LLP) license as currently are required for 
catching Pacific cod in the Federal waters of the BSAI. Second, it 
provides that the owner of a pot or hook-and-line C/P vessel who 
surrenders an FFP will not be reissued a new FFP for that vessel within 
the 3-year term of the permit. Third, it requires an operator of any 
Federally permitted pot or hook-and-line C/P vessel used to catch 
Pacific cod in the parallel fishery to comply with the same seasonal 
closures of Pacific cod that apply in the Federal fishery. These three 
measures are necessary to limit some C/Ps from catching a greater 
amount of Pacific cod in the parallel fishery than has been allocated 
to their sector from the BSAI total allowable catch. Maintaining 
Pacific cod catch amounts within BSAI sector allocations also will 
reduce the potential for shortened Pacific cod seasons for C/Ps in the 
Federal fishery. These three measures will improve the effectiveness of 
NMFS' catch accounting and monitoring requirements on vessels 
participating in the parallel fishery. This action is intended to 
promote the goals and objectives of the Fishery Management Plan for 
Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area, the 
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, and other 
applicable laws.

DATES: Effective January 1, 2012.

ADDRESSES: Electronic copies of this rule, the Environmental Assessment 
(EA), Regulatory Impact Review (RIR), and Final Regulatory Flexibility 
Analysis (FRFA) may be obtained from the Alaska Region Web site at 
https://alaskafisheries.noaa.gov.
    Written comments regarding the burden-hour estimates or other 
aspects of the collection-of-information requirements contained in this 
final rule may be submitted by mail to NMFS, Alaska Region, P.O. Box 
21668, Juneau, AK 99802-1668, Attn: Ellen Sebastian, Records Officer; 
in person at NMFS, Alaska Region, 709 West 9th Street, Room 420A, 
Juneau, Alaska; and by email to OIRA_Submission@omb.eop.gov, or by fax 
to 202-395-7285.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeff Hartman, (907) 586-7442.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS manages the groundfish fisheries in the 
exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands 
management area (BSAI) under the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish 
of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area (FMP). The North 
Pacific Fishery Management Council prepared the FMP pursuant to the 
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-
Stevens Act), 16 U.S.C.

[[Page 73514]]

1801 et seq. Regulations implementing the FMP appear at 50 CFR part 
679. General regulations that pertain to U.S. fisheries appear at 
subpart H of 50 CFR part 600.

Background

    Federal groundfish fisheries in the EEZ from 3 to 200 nm off the 
coast of Alaska may be opened by NMFS to directed fishing for Pacific 
cod and other groundfish species. The Commissioner of the Alaska 
Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) may open groundfish fisheries in 
State of Alaska waters through emergency orders that parallel the 
openings and management measures in the Federal groundfish fishery.
    To participate in Federal fisheries, NMFS requires various permits 
that authorize or limit access to the Federal groundfish fisheries, 
such as a Federal fisheries permit (FFP) and a license limitation 
program (LLP) license. Operators of vessels designated on an FFP are 
required to comply with many Federal catch monitoring regulations, 
including observer and recordkeeping and reporting requirements while 
participating in Federal and parallel fisheries. Operators of vessels 
designated on an FFP and endorsed with the appropriate species 
designation on the FFP are required to comply with NMFS Vessel 
Monitoring Systems (VMS) reporting requirements if they participate in 
the directed Atka mackerel, Pacific cod, or pollock fisheries in 
Federal or parallel waters. However, a vessel used to fish exclusively 
in the State parallel water fisheries is not required to be designated 
on an FFP and the operator does not need to comply with NMFS observer, 
VMS, or recordkeeping and reporting requirements. In addition, to 
participate in a non-trawl directed fishery for Pacific cod as a 
catcher/processor (C/P) in the Bering Sea (BS) or Aleutian Islands 
(AI), a vessel also must be designated on an LLP license with an 
endorsement for Pacific cod in the BS or AI for a C/P using pot or 
hook-and-line gear. These endorsements on an LLP license are not 
severable from the license. An LLP license with its associated 
endorsements may be assigned to a different vessel only once per year.
    Some vessel operators fishing for Pacific cod have surrendered or 
amended endorsements on their FFPs before fishing in the Pacific cod 
parallel fishery. As a result, they are not subject to NMFS observer, 
VMS, and recordkeeping and reporting requirements. This compromises the 
ability of NMFS to collect from the parallel waters Pacific cod fishery 
data that is necessary for management, compliance monitoring and 
research of groundfish fisheries and the conservation of marine 
resources.
    Several Federally permitted operators of pot and hook-and-line C/Ps 
have been participating in the BSAI parallel Pacific cod fishery 
without being issued the FFP and LLP license endorsements on those 
permits and licenses that are necessary to participate in the Federal 
Pacific cod fishery. These vessel operators recently entered the 
parallel fishery without demonstrating a long-term economic dependence 
on the Pacific cod fishery. The additional catch of Pacific cod 
resulting from this activity was circumventing the intended 
effectiveness of three FMP amendments that were implemented to control 
access and curtail the excessive competition and fishing effort that 
had developed in the Pacific cod fishery throughout much of the 
previous two decades. These three FMP amendments are the BSAI FMP 
Amendment 67 Pacific cod LLP endorsement (67 FR 18129, April 15, 2002), 
the BSAI FMP Amendment 85 Pacific cod sector allocations (72 FR 50788, 
September 4, 2007), and the BSAI hook-and-line C/P sector Pacific cod 
capacity reduction program (71 FR 57696, September 29, 2006). Catch of 
Pacific cod taken by the C/Ps that do not have the necessary FFP and 
LLP license endorsements is deducted by NMFS from the Federal TAC 
(Sec.  679.20(a)(7)) and then is not available to other participants in 
the Federal fisheries Pacific cod sector.

Actions Implemented by Rule

    In consideration of the effects of the practices described in the 
Background section on the allocation of Pacific cod and data quality, 
NMFS implements the following three revisions to participation of pot 
or hook-and-line C/Ps in the Pacific cod parallel fishery. These three 
revisions amend regulations for pot and hook-and-line C/Ps by extending 
FFP and LLP endorsement requirements that apply in Federal fisheries to 
the Pacific cod parallel fishery, placing restrictions on the 
provisions reissuing or amending an FFP, and requiring operators of 
these pot and hook-and-line C/Ps participating in the State parallel 
fishery to comply with seasonal closures of Pacific cod in the BSAI.

Endorsements for the State Parallel Fishery

    The first of the three revisions broadens the applicability of 
endorsements on FFPs and LLP licenses in the parallel fishery. The 
endorsements apply to vessels designated on an FFP that fish for 
Pacific cod in the parallel fishery, use pot or hook-and-line gear in 
the parallel fishery, and catch and process Pacific cod in the parallel 
fishery. This rule amends Sec.  679.7(c)(3) to prohibit a person from 
using pot or hook-and-line gear on a vessel designated on an FFP to 
catch and process Pacific cod in the parallel fishery in the BSAI 
unless:
    1. The FFP has a C/P vessel operation endorsement; a pot or hook-
and-line gear endorsement; and a BSAI area endorsement; and
    2. The LLP license has a C/P vessel operation endorsement; a non-
trawl gear endorsement; an Aleutian Islands area endorsement or a 
Bering Sea area endorsement; and a BSAI C/P Pacific cod hook-and-line 
or BSAI C/P Pacific cod pot endorsement.
    This rule clarifies that under the authority of the Magnuson-
Stevens Act, the endorsements listed in 1 and 2 as well as any 
conditions of these FFP and LLP endorsements apply to owners of 
Federally permitted pot or hook-and-line C/P vessels fishing for 
Pacific cod in the parallel fishery.

Reissuing and Amending an FFP

    The second revision adds a new paragraph (B) to Sec.  
679.4(b)(4)(ii) to provide that, once surrendered, NMFS will not 
reissue an FFP to the owner of a vessel with a C/P vessel operation, 
pot or hook-and-line gear type, and BSAI area endorsement during the 
remainder of the 3-year term of the original FFP. This revision should 
deter an owner of a C/P using pot or hook-and-line gear in the BSAI 
from periodically surrendering his or her FFP primarily to avoid NMFS 
observer, VMS, and recordkeeping and reporting requirements.
    This action also adds new paragraph (B) to Sec.  679.4(b)(4)(iii) 
to prohibit the owner of a vessel named on an FFP with endorsements for 
C/P vessel operation category, pot or hook-and-line gear, and BSAI area 
groundfish from amending the FFP by removing the C/P operation, pot or 
hook-and-line gear, or BSAI area endorsements.
    This rule further amends Sec.  679.4(b)(4)(iii) to refer to the 
``owner'' of a vessel who applied for and held an FFP rather than to 
the ``owner or operator.'' The term operator is removed because FFPs 
may only be issued to vessel owners.

Seasonal Closures

    The third revision applies Pacific cod seasonal closure 
requirements to Federally permitted pot and hook-and-line C/Ps in both 
Federal and parallel Pacific cod fisheries. The closure

[[Page 73515]]

requirements are implemented by adding paragraph (4) to Sec.  679.7(c) 
to prohibit operators of vessels in the pot or hook-and-line C/P sector 
that are named on an FFP from fishing for Pacific cod in the parallel 
fishery once the directed fishery for Pacific cod for their sector is 
closed in Federal waters. Owners of Federally permitted pot or hook-
and-line C/Ps who intend to catch and process Pacific cod in the 
parallel fishery receive notice from NMFS in the instructions for the 
FFP and in this rule that any Pacific cod caught by that vessel in the 
parallel fishery will be deducted from the Federal TAC. This rule is 
intended to improve enforceability of regulations at Sec.  679.7(c)(3) 
and (c)(4) by clarifying that the owner of a Federally permitted pot or 
hook-and-line C/P will be in violation of these regulation prohibiting 
catching and processing Pacific cod in the parallel fishery during a 
seasonal closure or without the required FFP and LLP license 
endorsements.

What the Amendments Accomplish

    This action requires owners of pot and hook-and-line C/Ps to be 
issued specific permits and endorsements to fish for Pacific cod in the 
State parallel fishery. This action effectively requires an owner of a 
pot or hook-and-line C/P who is issued an FFP to choose to fish for 
Pacific cod predominantly in the Federal fishery, or surrender the FFP 
and fish in State waters for the remainder of the 3-year term of the 
FFP. Owners of pot or hook-and-line C/Ps eligible to participate in the 
Federal fisheries are unlikely to surrender their FFP and give up the 
opportunity to continue to fish Pacific cod in the Federal fishery 
unless they are close to the end of the 3-year term of the FFP. Relying 
exclusively on Pacific cod catch in the parallel and other State 
fisheries for up to 3 years could represent a significant loss in 
revenue for many C/Ps because most Pacific cod are located in and 
caught in the Federal waters of the BSAI. Although this action does not 
prohibit the owner of a C/P without an FFP or LLP license from 
participating in the parallel fishery, it is intended to discourage the 
current practice of surrendering an FFP or removing an endorsement from 
an FFP before participating in the parallel fishery to avoid NMFS 
observer, VMS, and recordkeeping and reporting requirements.

Conservation and Management

    This action supports the conservation and management of Federal 
fisheries as provided by Amendments 67 and 85 to the BSAI FMP. 
Amendment 67 created exclusive pot C/P and hook-and-line C/P sectors in 
order to participate in the BSAI Pacific cod fishery through an LLP. 
The creation of sectors effectively removed some vessels that did not 
historically participate in these Pacific cod fisheries, and reduced 
competition that contributed to the race for fish. Some of the C/Ps 
that did not qualify for the necessary LLP endorsement in Amendment 67 
continue to fish for Pacific cod in the parallel fishery off 
allocations for the C/P pot and hook-and-line sectors created by 
Amendment 85. This action applies the same LLP endorsements that are 
required for Federally permitted pot or hook-and-line C/Ps to 
participate in the BSAI Pacific cod fishery to the parallel Pacific cod 
fishery, limiting the ability of C/Ps without an LLP or the appropriate 
LLP endorsements to fish off the Pacific cod sector allocations in the 
parallel fishery. Thus, this action contributes to conservation and 
management objectives by preventing C/Ps without an LLP or the 
appropriate endorsements to continue to participate in the parallel 
fishery, reducing the pool of vessels competing for limited allocations 
to the C/P pot and hook-and-line sectors, and limiting the race for 
fish in the BSAI.
    An interim final rule for Steller sea lion protection measures (75 
FR 77535, December 13, 2010, corrected 75 FR 81921, December 29, 2010) 
established closures in critical habitat waters 0 nm to 3 nm around 
certain rookeries and haulouts in the Aleutian Islands subarea. In the 
November 2010 Biological opinion that served as the basis for the 
Steller sea lion interim final rule, NMFS analyzed the application of 
closures for parallel and Federal Pacific cod fisheries. In that 
analysis, the parallel fishery was expected to be managed with the same 
closures as specific for the Federal Pacific cod fisheries as shown in 
Table 12 to 50 CFR part 679. Although the interim final rule closed 
State waters occurring inside Steller sea lion critical habitat, on 
January 11, 2011, the State issued an emergency order that allowed for 
Pacific cod harvest by hook-and-line vessels 58 ft length overall (LOA) 
or less, and by pot vessels 60 feet LOA or less, in critical habitat 
located in State waters between 175 degrees W. longitude and 178 
degrees W. longitude. These areas are closed to Federally permitted 
vessels. NMFS has initiated an Endangered Species Act Section 7 
consultation on the State's emergency order. Although this action does 
not prohibit the owner of a C/P without an FFP or LLP license from 
participating in the parallel fishery, this rule is intended to 
discourage a pot or hook-and-line C/P from surrendering its FFP and 
fishing in the parallel fishery in those areas closed in Table 12 to 50 
CFR part 679 but open under State parallel management. This action will 
facilitate implementation of the closure areas for the protection of 
Steller sea lion critical habitat, as provided in the interim final 
rule and required by the biological opinion.

Comments and Responses

    Detailed information on the management background and need for the 
action is in the preamble to the proposed rule (76 FR 13331, March 11, 
2011). The regulatory amendments in this rule are unchanged from the 
proposed rule. Comments on the proposed rule were invited through April 
11, 2011. NMFS received two submissions containing one unique public 
comment on the proposed rule. The comment is summarized and responded 
to below.
    Comment: The commenters express support for the action because it 
may address loopholes that promoted an increase in fishing effort for 
Pacific cod, a prey species for endangered populations of Steller sea 
lions. Further, the commenters assert that the rule improves monitoring 
of Pacific cod fisheries.
    Response: NMFS concurs.

Changes From the Proposed Rule

    NMFS makes two changes in the final rule to correct the following 
references to be consistent with existing regulations. To correct the 
references, one change is made to Sec.  679.7(c)(4)(i) to reflect the 
correct regulatory reference Sec.  679.20(a)(7)(ii)(A)(4) through Sec.  
679.20(a)(7)(ii)(A)(6), and one change is made in Sec.  679.7(c)(4)(ii) 
to reflect the correct regulatory reference Sec.  
679.20(a)(7)(ii)(A)(6) through Sec.  679.20(a)(7)(ii)(A)(4). These 
corrections relate the appropriate gear type for pot or hook-and-line 
gear with the correct citation. These corrections have no other effect 
than to make the references consistent with current regulation at Sec.  
679.20.

Classification

    The Administrator, Alaska Region, NMFS, determined that this final 
rule is necessary for the conservation and management of the groundfish 
fisheries off Alaska and that it is consistent with the Magnuson-
Stevens Act and other applicable law.
    The preamble to the proposed rule and this final rule serve as the 
small entity compliance guide required by Section 212 of the Small 
Business

[[Page 73516]]

Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996. This action does not 
require any additional compliance from small entities that is not 
described in the preamble. Copies of this final rule are available from 
NMFS at the following Web site: https://alaskafisheries.noaa.gov.

Executive Order 12866

    This rule has been determined to be not significant for purposes of 
Executive Order 12866.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    A final regulatory flexibility analysis (FRFA) was prepared, as 
required by section 604(a) of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA). The 
FRFA incorporates the initial regulatory flexibility analysis (IRFA) 
and provides a summary of the analyses completed to support the action. 
A copy of this analysis is available from NMFS (see ADDRESSES).
    The FRFA for this final action explains the need for this rule, and 
its objectives. The FRFA notes that one public comment on the IRFA was 
submitted; describes and estimates the number of small entities to 
which the rule will apply; describes projected reporting, 
recordkeeping, and other compliance requirements of the rule; and 
describes the steps the agency has taken to minimize the significant 
economic impact on small entities, including a statement of the 
factual, policy, and legal reasons for selecting the alternative 
adopted in the final rule and why each one of the other significant 
alternatives to the rule considered by the agency that affect the 
impact on small entities was rejected.

Need for and Objectives of the Rule

    This action is necessary because several owners of pot and hook-
and-line C/Ps who have been issued an FFP and have been participating 
in the BSAI parallel Pacific cod fishery without being issued the FFP 
and LLP license endorsements on those permits and licenses that are 
necessary to participate in the Federal Pacific cod fishery. The 
additional catch of Pacific cod resulting from fishing without FFP and 
LLP license endorsements was circumventing the intended effectiveness 
of three FMP amendments that were implemented to control access and 
curtail the excessive competition and fishing effort that had developed 
in the Pacific cod fishery throughout much of the previous two decades. 
Other vessel owners in the BSAI parallel Pacific cod fishery have 
surrendered or amended endorsements on their FFPs before fishing in the 
Pacific cod parallel fishery to avoid NMFS observer, VMS, or 
recordkeeping and reporting requirements. The objectives for this 
action are to deter owners of pot and hook-and-line C/Ps from fishing 
for Pacific cod in the parallel fishery without the necessary FFP and 
LLP license endorsements, and to reduce the opportunities for C/P 
vessel owners to avoid NMFS observer, VMS, or recordkeeping and 
reporting requirements.

Public Comments

    A proposed rule was published on March 11, 2011 (76 FR 13331) that 
included a summary of the IRFA that was prepared for the proposed rule. 
The public comment period ended on April 11, 2011. No comments specific 
to the IRFA were received. The one comment received specific to the 
action was in favor of the action and was summarized earlier in the 
preamble under Comments and Responses.

Number and Description of Small Entities Directly Regulated by the Rule

    The directly regulated entities for this final action are the 
members of the commercial fishing industry that own groundfish pot or 
hook-and-line C/Ps that operate in the BSAI and State parallel waters. 
Under a conservative application of the Small Business Administration 
criterion and the best available data, there are four small entities 
out of a total of 44 vessels in 2008 that will be directly regulated by 
the final action. To provide these estimates, earnings from all Alaskan 
fisheries for 2008 were matched with the vessels that participated in 
the BSAI pot or hook-and-line fishery for that year.

Description of Significant Alternatives and a Description of Steps 
Taken to Minimize the Significant Economic Impacts on Small Entities

    To minimize impacts on small entities, this action will not apply 
to pot or hook-and-line C/Ps of less than 32 ft length overall (LOA), 
or to pot or hook-and-line catcher vessels. The catcher vessels 
participating in these fisheries are generally operating in parallel 
and other fisheries only, and are not required by NMFS to be designated 
on an LLP license or FFP to participate in these groundfish fisheries.
    In addition to the action alternative, NMFS evaluated an 
alternative to prohibit any owner of a vessel with a C/P endorsement on 
its FFP from amending the C/P endorsement, and only allow surrender or 
reactivation of the FFP at the end of the FFP permit cycle. That 
alterative was rejected because it applied to jig and trawl C/Ps, and 
was beyond the scope of the problem statement and analysis. NMFS also 
evaluated the ``no action'' alternative, but it was rejected because it 
does not address the problem statement.
    The majority of the directly regulated entities under this action 
are not considered small entities, as defined under the RFA. Within the 
universe of small entities that are the subject of this FRFA, impacts 
may accrue differently (i.e., some small entities could be negatively 
affected and others positively affected). Thus, this final action 
represents tradeoffs in terms of impacts on small entities. However, 
this action provides options for the smallest of the small entities 
under this amendment by excluding catcher vessels from the regulatory 
changes. The restrictions on participation in the BSAI Pacific cod 
parallel fishery only apply to pot and hook-and-line C/Ps; therefore 
only these C/Ps are considered here.
    Overall, it is unlikely that the combination of these restrictions 
will preclude vessel owners with a high degree of economic dependence 
upon the pot or hook-and-line groundfish fisheries from participating 
in the Pacific cod parallel fishery. Most of the vessel owners who are 
highly dependent on these fisheries were issued an LLP license with pot 
or hook-and-line Pacific cod endorsements, in 2003, under Amendment 67, 
by demonstrating recent catch history in the BSAI Pacific cod fishery. 
Most of the vessel owners who have not been issued an LLP license with 
a Pacific cod endorsement and who have fished in the parallel fishery 
are recent entrants to the fishery and have not demonstrated long-term 
economic dependence on the fishery. These vessel owners will continue 
to have access to the state Pacific cod fishery after implementation of 
the final action. None of the entities that have historically engaged 
in the practices described in the preamble to this rule, and that 
circumvented the intent of sector allocations in the Pacific cod 
fishery, are small entities.
    Based upon the best available scientific data, and consideration of 
the objectives of this action, NMFS determined that there are no 
alternatives to this action that have the potential to accomplish the 
stated objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Act and any other applicable 
statutes and that have the potential to minimize any significant 
adverse economic impact of the rule on small entities. The analysis did 
not identify any Federal rules that will duplicate, overlap, or 
conflict with the action. This rule requires revisions to

[[Page 73517]]

some existing recordkeeping and reporting requirements but imposes no 
new requirements on the affected vessel owners or operators.

Collection-of-Information Requirements.

    This rule contains collection-of information requirements subject 
to the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) that have been approved by the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB), under OMB Control No. 0648-0206. 
Public reporting burden for an Application for a Federal Fisheries 
Permit is estimated to average 21 minutes per response. This rule also 
includes a collection-of-information that has been approved by OMB 
under OMB Control No. 0334. Total public reporting burden for the 
License Limitation Program is estimated at 268 hours.
    These estimates of public reporting burden include the time for 
reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and 
maintaining the data needed as well as completing and reviewing the 
collection-of-information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate 
or any other aspect of this data collection, including suggestions for 
reducing the burden, to NMFS (see Public ADDRESSES); email to OIRA_Submission@omb.eop.gov, or fax to (202) 395-7285. Notwithstanding any 
other provision of law, no person is required to respond to, and no 
person shall be subject to penalty for failure to comply with a 
collection of information subject to the requirements of the PRA, 
unless that collection of information displays a currently valid OMB 
control number.

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 679

    Alaska, Fisheries, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

    Dated: November 22, 2011.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.

    For the reasons set out in the preamble, 50 CFR part 679 is amended 
as follows:

PART 679--FISHERIES OF THE EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE OFF ALASKA

0
1. The authority citation for part 679 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 773 et seq.; 1801 et seq.; 3631 et seq.; 
Pub. L. 108-447.


0
2. In Sec.  679.4, paragraphs (b)(4)(ii) and (iii) are revised to read 
as follows:


Sec.  679.4  Permits.

* * * * *
    (b) * * *
    (4) * * *
    (ii) Surrendered permit--(A) An FFP permit may be voluntarily 
surrendered in accordance with paragraph (a)(9) of this section. Except 
as provided under paragraph (b)(4)(ii)(B) of this section, if 
surrendered, an FFP may be reissued to the permit holder of record in 
the same fishing year in which it was surrendered. Contact NMFS/RAM by 
telephone, at (907) 586-7202 or toll-free at (800) 304-4846.
    (B) NMFS will not reissue an FFP to the owner of a vessel named on 
an FFP that has been issued with endorsements for catcher/processor 
vessel operation type, pot or hook-and-line gear type, and the BSAI 
area, until after the expiration date of the surrendered FFP.
    (iii) Amended permit--(A) An owner who applied for and received an 
FFP must notify NMFS of any change in the permit information by 
submitting an FFP application found at the NMFS Web site at https://alaskafisheries.noaa.gov. The owner must submit the application as 
instructed on the application form. Except as provided under paragraph 
(b)(4)(iii)(B) of this section, upon receipt and approval of a permit 
amendment, the Program Administrator, RAM, will issue an amended FFP.
    (B) NMFS will not approve an application to amend an FFP to remove 
a catcher/processor vessel operation endorsement, pot gear type 
endorsement, hook-and-line gear type endorsement or BSAI area 
endorsement from an FFP that has been issued with endorsements for 
catcher/processor vessel operation type, pot or hook-and-line gear 
type, and the BSAI area.
* * * * *

0
3. In Sec.  679.7, paragraphs (c)(3) and (c)(4) are added to read as 
follows:


Sec.  679.7  Prohibitions.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *
    (3) Parallel fisheries. Use a vessel named or required to be named 
on an FFP to catch and process Pacific cod from waters adjacent to the 
BSAI when Pacific cod caught by that vessel is deducted from the 
Federal TAC specified under Sec.  679.20(a)(7)(ii)(A)(4) of this part 
for hook-and-line gear or (a)(7)(ii)(A)(6) of this part for pot gear 
unless that vessel is designated on both:
    (i) An LLP license issued under Sec.  679.4(k) of this part with 
the following endorsements:
    (A) A catcher/processor endorsement;
    (B) A BSAI catcher/processor Pacific cod hook-and-line, or a BSAI 
catcher/processor Pacific cod pot endorsement;
    (C) An Aleutian Islands area endorsement or Bering Sea area 
endorsement; and
    (D) A non-trawl endorsement; and
    (ii) An FFP issued under Sec.  679.4(b) of this part with the 
following endorsements:
    (A) A catcher/processor endorsement;
    (B) A BSAI endorsement; and
    (C) A pot or hook-and-line gear type endorsement.
    (4) Parallel fishery closures--(i) Use a vessel named or required 
to be named on an FFP to catch and process Pacific cod with pot gear 
from waters adjacent to the BSAI when Pacific cod caught by that vessel 
is deducted from the Federal TAC specified under Sec.  
679.20(a)(7)(ii)(A)(6) of this part for pot gear if the BSAI is open to 
directed fishing for Pacific cod but is not open to directed fishing 
for Pacific cod by a catcher/processor using pot gear.
    (ii) Use a vessel named or required to be named on an FFP, to catch 
and process Pacific cod with hook-and-line gear from waters adjacent to 
the BSAI when Pacific cod caught by that vessel is deducted from the 
Federal TAC specified under Sec.  679.20(a)(7)(ii)(A)(4) of this part 
for hook-and-line gear, if the BSAI is open to directed fishing for 
Pacific cod but is not open to directed fishing for Pacific cod by a 
catcher/processor using hook-and-line gear.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2011-30727 Filed 11-28-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P