Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska; Amendment 95 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish, 53419-53421 [2013-21068]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 168 (Thursday, August 29, 2013)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 53419-53421]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-21068]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 679

RIN 0648-BC39


Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Groundfish 
of the Gulf of Alaska; Amendment 95 to the Fishery Management Plan for 
Groundfish

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

ACTION: Notification of availability of fishery management plan 
amendment; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the North Pacific Fishery Management 
Council has submitted Amendment 95 to the Fishery Management Plan for 
Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska (FMP) for review by the Secretary of 
Commerce. If approved, Amendment 95 would modify the FMP to: establish 
halibut prohibited species catch (PSC) limits for the Gulf of Alaska 
(GOA) in Federal regulation; reduce the GOA halibut PSC limits for 
trawl and hook-and-line gear; reduce trawl halibut PSC sideboard limits 
for American Fisheries Act, Amendment 80, and Central GOA Rockfish 
Program vessels; and provide two additional management measures 
associated with halibut PSC accounting for Amendment 80 vessels subject 
to halibut PSC sideboards and for halibut PSC made by trawl vessels 
from May 15 through June 30, which would maintain groundfish harvest 
while achieving the halibut PSC limit reductions intended by this 
action. This action is necessary to reduce halibut bycatch in the GOA, 
and 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 on Amendment 95 must be received on or before October 
28, 2013.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by FDMS Docket Number 
NOAA-NMFS-2012-0151, by any one of the following methods:
     Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic public 
comments via the Federal eRulemaking Portal. Go to www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2012-0151 click the ``Comment Now!'' icon, 
complete the required fields, and enter or attach your comments.
     Mail: Submit written comments to Glenn Merrill, Assistant 
Regional Administrator, Sustainable Fisheries Division, Alaska Region 
NMFS, Attn: Ellen Sebastian. Mail comments to P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, 
AK 99802-1668.
     Fax: Address written comments to Glenn Merrill, Assistant 
Regional Administrator, Sustainable Fisheries Division, Alaska Region 
NMFS, Attn: Ellen Sebastian. Fax comments to 907-586-7557.
    Instructions: Comments sent by any other method, to any other 
address or individual, or received after the end of the comment period, 
may not be considered by NMFS. All comments received are a part of the 
public record and will generally be posted for public viewing on https://www.regulations.gov without change. All personal identifying 
information (e.g., name, address), confidential business information, 
or otherwise sensitive information submitted voluntarily by the sender 
will be publicly accessible. 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, or Adobe PDF file formats only.
    Electronic copies of Amendment 95 to the FMP, the Regulatory Impact 
Review (RIR), the Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (IRFA), and 
the Environmental Assessment (EA), prepared for this action are 
available from https://www.regulations.gov or from the Alaska Region Web 
site at https://alaskafisheries.noaa.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rachel Baker or Obren Davis, 907-586-
7228.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation 
and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens 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

[[Page 53420]]

announcing that the amendment is available for public review and 
comment. This document announces that proposed Amendment 95 to the FMP 
is available for public review and comment.
    The groundfish fisheries in the exclusive economic zone of Alaska 
are managed under the GOA FMP and the Fishery Management Plan for 
Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area. 
These fishery management plans were prepared by the North Pacific 
Fishery Management Council (Council) under the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
    Proposed Amendment 95 would improve management of halibut bycatch, 
commonly known as halibut PSC, in the GOA. Amendment 95 would (1) 
Establish halibut PSC limits for the GOA in Federal regulation; (2) 
reduce the GOA halibut PSC limits for trawl and hook-and-line gear; (3) 
proportionately reduce trawl halibut PSC sideboard limits for American 
Fisheries Act (AFA), Amendment 80, and Central GOA Rockfish Program 
vessels; and (4) modify management measures for halibut PSC sideboard 
limits for Amendment 80 vessels and for halibut PSC used by trawl 
vessels from May 15 through June 30. This proposed action is necessary 
to reduce halibut PSC limits in the GOA groundfish fisheries and to 
ensure long-term conservation and abundance of halibut for all users.
    Recent declines in halibut exploitable biomass, particularly in the 
GOA, have exacerbated concerns about the amount of halibut PSC taken by 
the groundfish fisheries because of the potential effect it has on 
directed commercial, charter, unguided, and subsistence halibut 
fisheries. Amendment 95 recognizes that the dynamics of the directed 
and non-directed halibut fisheries have changed significantly since 
halibut PSC limits were first established. The halibut PSC limit for 
the GOA trawl has been maintained at, or very near, 2,000 mt since 
1989. The 300 mt halibut PSC limit for the non-trawl fisheries has 
remained unchanged since 1995.
    Since the existing GOA halibut PSC limits were established, there 
have been changes in groundfish and halibut management programs and 
fishing patterns, environmental conditions, fishing technology, and 
knowledge of halibut and groundfish stocks. The total biomass and 
abundance of halibut has varied, and in recent years the stock is 
experiencing an ongoing decline in size for all ages in all areas. This 
proposed action is meant to reduce halibut PSC limits to the extent 
practicable, while at the same time allowing for optimum yield in the 
GOA groundfish fishery.
    Amendment 95 would provide for the establishment of GOA halibut PSC 
limits in Federal regulation. These limits would be reduced from the 
current halibut PSC levels for trawl and hook-and-line gear as follows:
     7 percent reduction for hook-and-line catcher/processors;
     15 percent reduction phased-in over 3 years for hook-and-
line catcher vessels (7 percent the first year, an additional 5 percent 
the second year, and the final 3 percent the third year);
     1 metric ton reduction for the hook-and-line demersal 
shelf rockfish southeast outside district; and
     15 percent reduction phased-in over 3 years for trawl (7 
percent the first year, an additional 5 percent the second year, and 
the final 3 percent the third year).
    Seasonal and gear apportionments of halibut PSC limits would 
continue to be set through the annual GOA groundfish harvest 
specifications process. Section 679.21(d)(5) authorizes NMFS to 
seasonally apportion the halibut PSC limits after consultation with the 
Council. The GOA FMP and regulations require that the Council and NMFS 
consider the following information in seasonally apportioning halibut 
PSC limits: (1) Seasonal distribution of halibut, (2) seasonal 
distribution of target groundfish species relative to halibut 
distribution, (3) expected halibut bycatch needs on a seasonal basis 
relative to changes in halibut biomass and expected catch of target 
groundfish species, (4) expected bycatch rates on a seasonal basis, (5) 
expected changes in directed groundfish fishing seasons, (6) expected 
actual start of fishing effort, and (7) economic effects of 
establishing seasonal halibut allocations on segments of the target 
groundfish industry.
    Amendment 95 would provide the trawl and hook-and-line catcher 
vessel groundfish fleets additional time to individually and 
collectively adapt to the reduced halibut PSC limits of this proposed 
action by phasing-in the halibut PSC limits for the trawl and hook-and-
line catcher vessel gears with the largest reductions.
    Amendment 95 would also maintain the process used to establish 
annual halibut PSC limits that are applicable to three trawl catch 
share programs. A variety of halibut PSC use limits, commonly known as 
sideboard limits, have been implemented to limit the amount of halibut 
PSC available to specific participants in GOA groundfish fisheries. 
Sideboard limits serve as fishery-specific limits that require 
participants subject to the sideboard limit to stop fishing for 
specific groundfish once that sideboard limit is reached. Sideboard 
limits were adopted as part of the AFA, Amendment 80, and Central GOA 
Rockfish catch share programs to prevent program participants from 
using the flexibility provided by catch share allocations to increase 
their harvests in fisheries not subject to exclusive allocations. 
Additional detail on the rationale and calculation for specific 
sideboard limits in these catch share programs is available in the 
final rules implementing these catch share programs and is not repeated 
here (for the AFA see 67 FR 79692, December 30, 2002; for the Amendment 
80 Program see 72 FR 52668, September 14, 2007; and for the Central GOA 
Rockfish Program, see 76 FR 81248, December 27, 2011). This action 
proposes to reduce the annual trawl PSC limit, which would result in a 
proportional decrease the halibut PSC sideboard limit apportioned to 
each of the above three programs.
    Finally, Amendment 95 would implement two management measures to 
current halibut PSC management to mitigate the effects of the proposed 
halibut PSC reductions. These options would (1) allow the Amendment 80 
sector to roll-over unused halibut PSC limits from one season to the 
subsequent season, and (2) combine management of available trawl 
halibut PSC limits in the second season deep-water and shallow-water 
fisheries to be made available for use in either of these fisheries 
from May 15 through June 30.
    Proposed Amendment 95 also replaces all occurrences of the word 
``bycatch'' in the GOA FMP with ``PSC'' where bycatch actually refers 
to halibut PSC. This recommended change would clarify the type of 
bycatch that is referred to in the GOA FMP.
    The EA/RIR/IRFA prepared for this action describes the cost and 
benefits of the halibut PSC reductions, which would be published in 
Federal regulation as a result of proposed Amendment 95 (see ADDRESSES 
for availability). Groundfish harvesters may or may not be constrained 
by this proposed action, depending on the amount of halibut PSC limit 
that remains available throughout the year. A reduction in harvest by 
those directly regulated entities constrained by this action would 
impact revenue generated from the GOA groundfish fisheries.
    Public comments are being solicited on proposed Amendment 95 to the 
GOA FMP through the end of the comment period (see DATES). NMFS intends 
to publish this action in the Federal Register and seek public comment 
on a

[[Page 53421]]

proposed rule that would implement Amendment 95, following NMFS' 
evaluation of the proposed rule under the Magnuson-Stevens Act. Public 
comments on the proposed rule must be received by the end of the 
comment period for Amendment 95 to be considered in the approval/
disapproval decision on Amendment 95. All comments received by the end 
of the comment period on Amendment 95, whether specifically directed to 
the GOA FMP amendment or the proposed rule will be considered in the 
FMP approval/disapproval decision. Comments received after that date 
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. 773 et seq., 1801 et seq., 3631 et seq.; 
and Pub. L. 108-447.

    Dated: August 23, 2013.
 Kelly Denit,
Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National 
Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2013-21068 Filed 8-28-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P