Pacific Halibut Fisheries; Catch Sharing Plan, 17344-17352 [2015-07329]
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the FCC is notifying the public that it
received OMB approval on March 17,
2015, for the new information collection
requirements contained in the
Commission’s rules at 47 CFR
74.802(b)(2).
Under 5 CFR part 1320, an agency
may not conduct or sponsor a collection
of information unless it displays a
current, valid OMB Control Number.
No person shall be subject to any
penalty for failing to comply with a
collection of information subject to the
Paperwork Reduction Act that does not
display a current, valid OMB Control
Number. The OMB Control Number is
3060–1205.
The foregoing notice is required by
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995,
Public Law 104–13, October 1, 1995,
and 44 U.S.C. 3507.
The total annual reporting burdens
and costs for the respondents are as
follows:
OMB Control Number: 3060–1205.
OMB Approval Date: March 17, 2015.
OMB Expiration Date: March 31,
2018.
Title: Section 74.802, Low Power
Auxiliary Stations Co-channel
Coordination with TV Broadcast
Stations.
Form Number: Not Applicable.
Respondents: Business or other forprofit entities; not-for-profit institutions;
Federal government; and state, local or
tribal government.
Number of Respondents and
Responses: 400 respondents; 227
responses.
Estimated Time per Response: 1 hour.
Frequency of Response: On occasion
reporting requirement and third party
disclosure requirement.
Obligation to Respond: Required to
obtain or retain benefits. The statutory
authority for this collection is contained
in sections 47 U.S.C. 151, 154, 301, 303,
307, 308, 309, 310, 316, 319, 325(b),
332, 336(f), 338, 339, 340, 399b, 403,
534, 535, 1404, 1452, and 1454.
Total Annual Burden: 227 hours.
Total Annual Cost: $56,750.00.
Nature and Extent of Confidentiality:
In general there is no need for
confidentiality with this collection of
information.
Privacy Act Impact Assessment: There
are no impacts under the Privacy Act.
Needs and Uses: The Federal
Communications Commission
(Commission) received approval for a
new collection under OMB Control No.
3060–1205 from the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB). On
June 2, 2014, the Commission released
a Report and Order, FCC 14–50, GN
Docket No. 12–268, ‘‘Expanding the
Economic and Innovation Opportunities
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Additional requests for
information regarding this action may
be obtained by contacting the
Sustainable Fisheries Division, NMFS
West Coast Region, 7600 Sand Point
Way NE., Seattle, WA 98115. For
information regarding all halibut
fisheries and general regulations not
contained in this rule contact the
International Pacific Halibut
Commission, 2320 W. Commodore Way
Suite 300, Seattle, WA 98199–1287; or
this final rule also is accessible via the
Internet at the Federal eRulemaking
portal at https://www.regulations.gov
identified by NOAA–NMFS–2015–0159.
Electronic copies of the Final Regulatory
Flexibility Analysis (FRFA) prepared for
this action may be obtained by
contacting Sarah Williams, phone: 206–
526–4646, email: sarah.williams@
noaa.gov.
of Spectrum Through Incentive
Auctions.’’ This order adopted a
revision to a Commission rule, 47 CFR
74.802(b), to permit low power auxiliary
stations (LPAS), including wireless
microphones, to operate in the bands
allocated for TV broadcasting at revised
distances from a co-channel television’s
contour, and provided LPAS operators
to operate even closer to television
stations provided that any such
operations are coordinated with TV
broadcast stations that could be affected
by the LPAS operations. The
Commission sought Office of
Management and Budget (OMB)
approval for a new information
collection for the coordination process
adopted in the Commission’s Report
and Order, FCC 14–50, for such cochannel operations, in 47 CFR
74.802d(b)(2).
ADDRESSES:
Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene H. Dortch,
Secretary, Office of the Secretary, Office of
the Managing Director.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
[FR Doc. 2015–07391 Filed 3–31–15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
50 CFR Part 300
[Docket No. 141219999–5289–02]
RIN 0648–BE66
Pacific Halibut Fisheries; Catch
Sharing Plan
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Final rule.
AGENCY:
This final rule announces the
approval of the Area 2A (waters off the
U.S. West Coast) Catch Sharing Plan
(Plan), with modifications
recommended by the Pacific Fishery
Management Council (Council), and
issues implementing regulations for
2015. These actions are intended to
conserve Pacific halibut, provide angler
opportunity where available, and
minimize bycatch of overfished
groundfish species. The sport fishing
management measures in this rule are
an additional subsection of the
regulations for the International Pacific
Halibut Commission (IPHC) published
on March 17, 2015.
DATES: This rule is effective April 1,
2015. The 2015 management measures
are effective until superseded.
SUMMARY:
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Sarah Williams, 206–526–4646, email at
sarah.williams@noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Electronic Access
This rule is accessible via the Internet
at the Office of the Federal Register Web
site at https://www.access.gpo.gov/su_
docs/aces/aces140.html. Background
information and documents are
available at the NMFS West Coast
Region Web site at https://
www.westcoast.fisheries.noaa.gov/
fisheries/management/pacific_halibut_
management.html and at the Council’s
Web site at https://www.pcouncil.org.
Background
The IPHC has promulgated
regulations governing the Pacific halibut
fishery in 2015, pursuant to the
Convention between Canada and the
United States for the Preservation of the
Halibut Fishery of the North Pacific
Ocean and Bering Sea (Convention),
signed at Ottawa, Ontario, on March 2,
1953, as amended by a Protocol
Amending the Convention (signed at
Washington, DC, on March 29, 1979).
Pursuant to the Northern Pacific Halibut
Act of 1982 (Halibut Act) at 16 U.S.C.
773b, the Secretary of State accepted the
2015 IPHC regulations as provided by
the Northern Pacific Halibut Act of 1982
(Halibut Act) at 16 U.S.C. 773–773k.
NMFS published these regulations on
March 17, 2015 (80 FR 13771).
The Halibut Act provides that the
Regional Fishery Management Councils
may develop, and the Secretary may
implement, regulations governing
harvesting privileges among U.S.
fishermen in U.S. waters that are in
addition to, and not in conflict with,
approved IPHC regulations. To that end,
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the Council adopted a Catch Sharing
Plan (Plan) allocating halibut among
groups of fishermen in Area 2A, which
is off the coasts of Washington, Oregon,
and California. The Plan allocates the
Area 2A catch limit among treaty Indian
and non-Indian commercial and sport
harvesters. The treaty Indian group
includes tribal commercial, tribal
ceremonial, and subsistence fisheries.
Each year between 1988 and 1995, the
Council developed and NMFS
implemented a catch sharing plan in
accordance with the Halibut Act to
allocate the total allowable catch (TAC)
of Pacific halibut between treaty Indian
and non-Indian harvesters and among
non-Indian commercial and sport
fisheries in Area 2A. In 1995, NMFS
implemented the Pacific Councilrecommended long-term Plan (60 FR
14651, March 20, 1995). Every year
since then, minor revisions to the Plan
have been made to adjust for the
changing needs of the fisheries.
NMFS implements the allocation
scheme in the Plan through annual
regulations for Area 2A. The proposed
rule describing the changes the Council
recommended to the Plan and resulting
proposed Area 2A regulations for 2015
was published on February 3, 2015 (80
FR 5719). The proposed rule was
developed prior to the IPHC’s decision
on a TAC for Area 2A, therefore it did
not include final allocations for the
relevant areas and subareas. The IPHC
held its annual meeting January 26–30,
2015, and selected at TAC of 970,000
pounds for Area 2A. This final rule
accounts for that information.
For 2015, this final rule contains only
those regulations implementing the Plan
in Area 2A. NMFS published the
complete IPHC regulations, which apply
to commercial, treaty Indian, and
recreational fisheries, separately on
March 17, 2015 (80 FR 13771).
Therefore anyone wishing to fish for
halibut in Area 2A should read both this
final rule and the March 17, 2015 final
rule that implements the IPHC
regulations.
Changes to the Pacific Fishery
Management Council’s Area 2A Catch
Sharing Plan
This final rule announces the
approval of several Councilrecommended changes to the Pacific
Fishery Management Council’s Area 2A
Plan and implements the Plan through
annual management measures. For
2015, the Council recommended and
NMFS implements in this final rule,
several changes to the non-Indian
allocations in order to provide the
California recreational fishery with an
allocation that is closer to recent effort
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while not substantially reducing the
remaining non-Indian allocations. The
Council recommendation increases the
California sport fishery allocation from
1 to 4 percent of the non-tribal
allocation by reducing the Washington
and Oregon sport and the commercial
allocations each by 1 percent.
Additionally for 2015, the Council
recommended several minor changes to
the Plan that would: (1) Remove a
reference to the ‘‘fall salmon troll
fisheries’’ as a trigger for the rollover of
quota from the directed halibut fishery
to the incidental salmon troll fishery
because there is no defined ‘‘fall’’
salmon fishery; (2) make several
changes to the Columbia River subarea
including modifying the Oregon
contribution to a fixed percentage of the
Oregon sport allocation, setting the
nearshore fishery allocation to 500
pounds, removing the spring and
summer fisheries thus allowing the
quota to be used continuously, and
adding all flatfish species to the list of
incidentally caught fish allowed to be
landed with halibut; (3) make several
changes to the Oregon central coast
subarea including clarifying that the
allocation to the Columbia river subarea
comes from the total Oregon sport
allocation and not from this area’s
spring fishery, adding incidental flatfish
retention consistent with the change in
the Columbia River subarea, modifying
the spring all depth season allocation
from 61 to 63 percent, and removing the
provision that allocated a portion of the
spring fishery to the Southern Oregon
subarea; (4) modify the allocation to the
Southern Oregon subarea from 2 to 4
percent of the Oregon sport allocation
after the Columbia River allocation has
been subtracted; (5) make several
changes to the California subarea
including modifying the season
structure to a 7 days per week fishery
when open, with a season length that is
based on attainment of the quota instead
of a set season, allowing inseason action
through joint NMFS, IPHC, and CDFW
consultation; and (6) modify the name
of the NMFS Northwest Regional Office
to ‘‘NMFS West Coast Regional Office’’,
to reflect the recent merger of NMFS
offices.
Incidental Halibut Retention in the
Sablefish Primary Fishery North of Pt.
Chehalis, Washington and the Salmon
Troll Fishery Along the West Coast
This final rule also implements the
allocation for incidental halibut
retention in the sablefish primary
fishery north of Pt. Chehalis,
Washington. The Plan provides that
incidental halibut retention in the
sablefish primary fishery north of Pt.
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Chehalis, Washington, will be allowed
when the Area 2A TAC is greater than
900,000 lb (408.2 mt), provided that a
minimum of 10,000 lb (4.5 mt) is
available above the state of Washington
recreational allocation of 214,100 lb
(97.1 mt). In 2015, the TAC is set at
970,000 lb (439.99 mt); therefore, the
allocation for incidental halibut
retention in the sablefish fishery is
10,348 lb (4.69 mt). The Council
considered whether any changes to the
landing restrictions adopted for this
fishery in 2014 were necessary for 2015,
but because this allocation is similar to
recent allocations, the Council made no
changes. Therefore, the 2015 incidental
halibut landing restrictions are: 75
pounds dressed weight of halibut for
every 1,000 lbs dressed weight of
sablefish, except that 2 additional
halibut may be landed. These
restrictions can be found in the
groundfish regulations at 50 CFR
660.231(3)(iv).
The Plan allocates 15 percent of the
non-Indian commercial TAC to the
salmon troll fishery in Area 2A. For
2015, the allocation for the salmon troll
fishery in Area 2A is 29,035 lb (13.17
mt). The Council approved a range of
landing restrictions for public review at
its recent March meeting. The final
landing restrictions will be addressed at
its April 2015 meetings.
Comments and Responses
NMFS accepted comments on the
proposed rule for the Area 2A Plan and
annual management measures through
March 5, 2015. NMFS received 4 public
comment letters: one comment letter
each from the Washington Department
of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), Oregon
Department of Fish and Wildlife
(ODFW), and California Department of
Fish and Wildlife (CDFW)
recommending season dates for halibut
sport fisheries in each state, and one
comment from an individual.
Comment 1: The WDFW held a public
meeting following the IPHC’s final 2015
TAC decisions to review the results of
the 2013 Puget Sound halibut fishery, as
the 2014 catch data was not yet
finalized, and the preliminary 2014
estimates, and to develop season dates
for the 2015 sport halibut fishery. Based
on input from stakeholders, WDFW
recommended a 2015 season that is
similar to the 2014 season because the
allocation to this area is the same as in
2014. For the Puget Sound halibut sport
fishery, WDFW recommended the
following dates: the Eastern Region to be
open May 8, 9, 15, 16, 21, 22, 23, 24,
28, 29, and 30; and the Western Region
to be open May 15, 16, 21, 22, 23, 24,
29, and 30.
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Response: NMFS believes WDFW’s
recommended Puget Sound season dates
will help keep this area within its quota,
while providing for angler enjoyment
and participation. Therefore, NMFS
implements the dates for this subarea as
stated above, in this final rule.
Comment 2: The ODFW held a public
meeting and hosted an online survey
following the final TAC decision by the
IPHC. Based on public comments
received on Oregon halibut fisheries, the
ODFW recommended the following
days for the spring fishery in the Central
Coast subarea, within this subarea’s
parameters for a Thursday–Saturday
season and weeks of adverse tidal
conditions skipped: Regular open days
May 14–16, 28–30, June 11–13, and 25–
27. Back-up dates in case there is
sufficient remaining quota will be July
9–11 and 23–25. For the summer alldepth fishery in this subarea, ODFW
recommended following the Plan’s
parameters of opening the first Friday in
August, with open days to occur every
other Friday–Saturday, unless modified
in-season within the parameters of the
Plan. Therefore, pursuant to the Plan,
the ODFW recommended the 2015
summer all-depth fishery in Oregon’s
Central Coast Subarea to occur: August
7, 8, 21, 22, September 4, 5, 18, 19,
October 2, 3, 16, 17, 30, and 31.
Response: NMFS believes ODFW’s
recommended Central Coast season
dates will help keep this area within its
quota, while providing for angler
enjoyment and participation. Therefore,
NMFS implements the dates in this final
rule.
Comment 3: The CDFW held a public
meeting to solicit comments on the
sport fishing seasons. Based on public
comments and projected attainment of
subarea allocation, the CDFW
recommended the following open days
May 1–14, June 1–15, July 1–15, August
1–15, and September 1–October 31.
Response: NMFS agrees with CDFW’s
recommended season dates. These dates
will help keep this area within its quota,
while providing for angler enjoyment
and participation. Therefore, NMFS
implements the dates in this final rule.
Comment 5: NMFS received one
comment from a member of the public
that appears to oppose the proposed
rule, but does not identify any specific
reasons for that opposition.
Response: NMFS believes the revised
Plan and proposed annual regulations
will result in effective management of
fisheries in Area 2A, keeping catch in
the Area within the TAC while allowing
for meaningful commercial and
recreational fisheries, and full
opportunity for the treaty tribes with
rights to fish for halibut to exercise
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those rights. Therefore, NMFS has
approved this action.
Changes From the Proposed Rule
On February 3, 2015, NMFS
published a proposed rule to modify the
Plan and recreational management
measures for Area 2A (80 FR 5719).
Because the proposed rule was finalized
before the IPHC determined the TAC for
Area 2A, the final subarea allocations
based on the TAC and Plan are included
for the first time in the final rule. The
allocations in this rule are consistent
with the final Area 2A TAC of 970,000
lbs and the 2015 Plan as recommended
by the Council. Also, season dates as
recommended by the states following
determination of the TAC are included
in the final rule. There are no other
substantive changes from the proposed
rule.
Annual Halibut Management Measures
The sport fishing regulations for Area
2A, included in section 26 below, are
consistent with the measures adopted
by the IPHC and approved by the
Secretary of State, but were developed
by the Pacific Fishery Management
Council and promulgated by the United
States under the Halibut Act. Section 26
refers to a section that is in addition to
and corresponds to the numbering in
the IPHC regulations published on
March 17, 2015 (80 FR 13771).
26. Sport Fishing for Halibut—Area 2A
(1) The total allowable catch of
halibut shall be limited to:
(a) 214,110 pounds (97.1 metric tons)
net weight in waters off Washington;
(b) 187,259 pounds (84.9 metric tons)
net weight in waters off Oregon; and
(c) 25,220 pounds (11.4 metric tons)
net weight in waters off California.
(2) The Commission shall determine
and announce closing dates to the
public for any area in which the catch
limits promulgated by NMFS are
estimated to have been taken.
(3) When the Commission has
determined that a subquota under
paragraph (8) of this section is estimated
to have been taken, and has announced
a date on which the season will close,
no person shall sport fish for halibut in
that area after that date for the rest of the
year, unless a reopening of that area for
sport halibut fishing is scheduled in
accordance with the Catch Sharing Plan
for Area 2A, or announced by the
Commission.
(4) In California, Oregon, or
Washington, no person shall fillet,
mutilate, or otherwise disfigure a
halibut in any manner that prevents the
determination of minimum size or the
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number of fish caught, possessed, or
landed.
(5) The possession limit on a vessel
for halibut in the waters off the coast of
Washington is the same as the daily bag
limit. The possession limit on land in
Washington for halibut caught in U.S.
waters off the coast of Washington is
two halibut.
(6) The possession limit on a vessel
for halibut caught in the waters off the
coast of Oregon is the same as the daily
bag limit. The possession limit for
halibut on land in Oregon is three daily
bag limits.
(7) The possession limit on a vessel
for halibut caught in the waters off the
coast of California is one halibut. The
possession limit for halibut on land in
California is one halibut.
(8) The sport fishing subareas,
subquotas, fishing dates, and daily bag
limits are as follows, except as modified
under the in-season actions in 50 CFR
300.63(c). All sport fishing in Area 2A
is managed on a ‘‘port of landing’’ basis,
whereby any halibut landed into a port
counts toward the quota for the area in
which that port is located, and the
regulations governing the area of
landing apply, regardless of the specific
area of catch.
(a) The area in Puget Sound and the
U.S. waters in the Strait of Juan de Fuca,
east of a line extending from 48°17.30′
N. lat., 124°23.70′ W. long. north to
48°24.10′ N. lat., 124°23.70′ W. long., is
not managed in-season relative to its
quota. This area is managed by setting
a season that is projected to result in a
catch of 57,393 lbs (26 mt).
(i) The fishing season in eastern Puget
Sound (east of 123°49.50′ W. long., Low
Point) is May 8, 9, 15, 16, 21, 22, 23, 24,
28, 29, and 30. The fishing season in
western Puget Sound (west of
123°49.50′ W. long., Low Point) is open
May 15, 16, 21, 22, 23, 24, 29, and 30.
(ii) The daily bag limit is one halibut
of any size per day per person.
(b) The quota for landings into ports
in the area off the north Washington
coast, west of the line described in
paragraph (2)(a) of section 26 and north
of the Queets River (47°31.70′ N. lat.)
(North Coast subarea), is 108,030 lbs (49
mt).
(i) The fishing seasons are:
(A) Commencing on May 14 and
continuing 2 days a week (Thursday and
Saturday) until 108,030 lbs (49 mt) are
estimated to have been taken and the
season is closed by the Commission, or
until May 23.
(B) If sufficient quota remains the
fishery will reopen on June 4 and/or
June 6, continuing 2 days per week
(Thursday and Saturday) until there is
not sufficient quota for another full day
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of fishing and the area is closed by the
Commission. After May 23, any fishery
opening will be announced on the
NMFS hotline at 800–662–9825. No
halibut fishing will be allowed after
May 23 unless the date is announced on
the NMFS hotline.
(ii) The daily bag limit is one halibut
of any size per day per person.
(iii) Recreational fishing for
groundfish and halibut is prohibited
within the North Coast Recreational
Yelloweye Rockfish Conservation Area
(YRCA). It is unlawful for recreational
fishing vessels to take and retain,
possess, or land halibut taken with
recreational gear within the North Coast
Recreational YRCA. A vessel fishing in
the North Coast Recreational YRCA may
not be in possession of any halibut.
Recreational vessels may transit through
the North Coast Recreational YRCA with
or without halibut on board. The North
Coast Recreational YRCA is a C-shaped
area off the northern Washington coast
intended to protect yelloweye rockfish.
The North Coast Recreational YRCA is
defined in groundfish regulations at
§ 660.70(a).
(c) The quota for landings into ports
in the area between the Queets River,
WA (47°31.70′ N. lat.), and Leadbetter
Point, WA (46°38.17′ N. lat.) (South
Coast subarea), is 42,739 lbs (19.4 mt).
(i) This subarea is divided between
the all-waters fishery (the Washington
South coast primary fishery), and the
incidental nearshore fishery in the area
from 47°31.70′ N. lat. south to 46°58.00′
N. lat. and east of a boundary line
approximating the 30 fm depth contour.
This area is defined by straight lines
connecting all of the following points in
the order stated as described by the
following coordinates (the Washington
South coast, northern nearshore area):
(1) 47°31.70′ N. lat, 124°37.03′ W.
long;
(2) 47°25.67′ N. lat, 124°34.79′ W.
long;
(3) 47°12.82′ N. lat, 124°29.12′ W.
long;
(4) 46°58.00´ N. lat, 124°24.24′ W.
long.
The south coast subarea quota will be
allocated as follows: 40,739 lbs (18.5 mt)
for the primary fishery and 2,000 lbs
(0.9 mt) for the nearshore fishery. The
primary fishery commences on May 3,
and continues 2 days a week (Sunday
and Tuesday) until May 19. If the
primary quota is projected to be
obtained sooner than expected, the
management closure may occur earlier.
Beginning on May 31 the primary
fishery will be open at most 2 days per
week (Sunday and/or Tuesday) until the
quota for the south coast subarea
primary fishery is taken and the season
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is closed by the Commission, or until
September 30, whichever is earlier. The
fishing season in the nearshore area
commences on May 3, and continues 7
days per week. Subsequent to closure of
the primary fishery, the nearshore
fishery is open 7 days per week, until
is 42,739 lbs (19.4 mt) is projected to be
taken by the two fisheries combined and
the fishery is closed by the Commission
or September 30, whichever is earlier. If
the fishery is closed prior to September
30, and there is insufficient quota
remaining to reopen the northern
nearshore area for another fishing day,
then any remaining quota may be
transferred in-season to another
Washington coastal subarea by NMFS
via an update to the recreational halibut
hotline.
(ii) The daily bag limit is one halibut
of any size per day per person.
(iii) Seaward of the boundary line
approximating the 30-fm depth contour
and during days open to the primary
fishery, lingcod may be taken, retained
and possessed when allowed by
groundfish regulations at 50 CFR
660.360, subpart G.
(iv) Recreational fishing for
groundfish and halibut is prohibited
within the South Coast Recreational
YRCA and Westport Offshore YRCA. It
is unlawful for recreational fishing
vessels to take and retain, possess, or
land halibut taken with recreational gear
within the South Coast Recreational
YRCA and Westport Offshore YRCA. A
vessel fishing in the South Coast
Recreational YRCA and/or Westport
Offshore YRCA may not be in
possession of any halibut. Recreational
vessels may transit through the South
Coast Recreational YRCA and Westport
Offshore YRCA with or without halibut
on board. The South Coast Recreational
YRCA and Westport Offshore YRCA are
areas off the southern Washington coast
established to protect yelloweye
rockfish. The South Coast Recreational
YRCA is defined at 50 CFR 660.70(d).
The Westport Offshore YRCA is defined
at 50 CFR 660.70(e).
(d) The quota for landings into ports
in the area between Leadbetter Point,
WA (46°38.17′ N. lat.), and Cape Falcon,
OR (45°46.00′ N. lat.) (Columbia River
subarea), is 10,254 lbs (4.65 mt).
(i) This subarea is divided into an alldepth fishery and a nearshore fishery.
The nearshore fishery is allocated 500
pounds of the subarea allocation. The
nearshore fishery extends from
Leadbetter Point (46°38.17′ N. lat.,
124°15.88′ W. long.) to the Columbia
River (46°16.00′ N. lat., 124°15.88′ W.
long.) by connecting the following
coordinates in Washington 46°38.17′ N.
lat., 124°15.88′ W. long. 46°16.00′ N.
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lat., 124°15.88′ W. long and connecting
to the boundary line approximating the
40 fm (73 m) depth contour in Oregon.
The nearshore fishery opens May 4, and
continues 3 days per week (Monday–
Wednesday) until the nearshore
allocation is taken, or September 30,
whichever is earlier. The all depth
fishing season commences on May 1,
and continues 4 days a week
(Thursday–Sunday) until 9,754 lbs (4.4
mt) are estimated to have been taken
and the season is closed by the
Commission, or September 30,
whichever is earlier. Subsequent to this
closure, if there is insufficient quota
remaining in the Columbia River
subarea for another fishing day, then
any remaining quota may be transferred
inseason to another Washington and/or
Oregon subarea by NMFS via an update
to the recreational halibut hotline. Any
remaining quota would be transferred to
each state in proportion to its
contribution.
(ii) The daily bag limit is one halibut
of any size per day per person.
(iii) Pacific Coast groundfish may not
be taken and retained, possessed or
landed when halibut are on board the
vessel, except sablefish, Pacific cod, and
flatfish species when allowed by Pacific
Coast groundfish regulations, during
days open to the all depth fishery only.
(iv) Taking, retaining, possessing, or
landing halibut on groundfish trips is
only allowed in the nearshore area on
days not open to all-depth Pacific
halibut fisheries.
(e) The quota for landings into ports
in the area off Oregon between Cape
Falcon (45°46.00′ N. lat.) and Humbug
Mountain (42°40.50′ N. lat.) (Oregon
Central Coast subarea), is 175,633 lbs
(79.6 mt).
(i) The fishing seasons are:
(A) The first season (the ‘‘inside 40fm’’ fishery) commences July 1, and
continues 7 days a week, in the area
shoreward of a boundary line
approximating the 40-fm (73-m) depth
contour, or until the sub-quota for the
central Oregon ‘‘inside 40-fm’’ fishery of
21,076 lbs (9.56 mt), or any in-season
revised subquota, is estimated to have
been taken and the season is closed by
the Commission, whichever is earlier.
The boundary line approximating the
40-fm (73-m) depth contour between
45°46.00′ N. lat. and 42°40.50′ N. lat. is
defined at § 660.71(k).
(B) The second season (spring season),
which is for the ‘‘all-depth’’ fishery, is
open May 14–16, 28–30, June 11–13,
and 25–27. Back-up dates will be July
9–11 and 23–25. The projected catch for
this season is 110,649 lbs (50.2 mt). If
sufficient unharvested quota remains for
additional fishing days, the season will
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re-open. If NMFS decides inseason to
allow fishing on any of these re-opening
dates, notice of the re-opening will be
announced on the NMFS hotline (206)
526–6667 or (800) 662–9825. No halibut
fishing will be allowed on the reopening dates unless the date is
announced on the NMFS hotline.
(C) If sufficient unharvested quota
remains, the third season (summer
season), which is for the ‘‘all-depth’’
fishery, will be open August 7, 8, 21, 22,
September 4, 5, 18, 19, October 2, 3, 16,
17, 30, 31, or until the combined spring
season and summer season quotas in the
area between Cape Falcon and Humbug
Mountain, OR, are estimated to have
been taken and the area is closed by the
Commission, or October 31, whichever
is earlier. NMFS will announce on the
NMFS hotline in July whether the
fishery will re-open for the summer
season in August. No halibut fishing
will be allowed in the summer season
fishery unless the dates are announced
on the NMFS hotline. Additional fishing
days may be opened if sufficient quota
remains after the last day of the first
scheduled open period on August 7. If,
after this date, an amount greater than
or equal to 60,000 lb (27.2 mt) remains
in the combined all-depth and inside
40-fm (73-m) quota, the fishery may reopen every Friday and Saturday,
beginning (insert date of first back up
dates) and ending October 31. If after
September 7, an amount greater than or
equal to 30,000 lb (13.6 mt) remains in
the combined all-depth and inside 40fm (73-m) quota, and the fishery is not
already open every Friday and Saturday,
the fishery may re-open every Friday
and Saturday, beginning September 10
and 11, and ending October 31. After
September 7, the bag limit may be
increased to two fish of any size per
person, per day. NMFS will announce
on the NMFS hotline whether the
summer all-depth fishery will be open
on such additional fishing days, what
days the fishery will be open and what
the bag limit is.
(ii) The daily bag limit is one halibut
of any size per day per person, unless
otherwise specified. NMFS will
announce on the NMFS hotline any bag
limit changes.
(iii) During days open to all-depth
halibut fishing, no Pacific Coast
groundfish may be taken and retained,
possessed or landed, when halibut are
on board the vessel, except sablefish,
Pacific cod, and flatfish species, when
allowed by Pacific Coast groundfish
regulations.
(iv) When the all-depth halibut
fishery is closed and halibut fishing is
permitted only shoreward of a boundary
line approximating the 40-fm (73-m)
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depth contour, halibut possession and
retention by vessels operating seaward
of a boundary line approximating the
40-fm (73-m) depth contour is
prohibited.
(v) Recreational fishing for groundfish
and halibut is prohibited within the
Stonewall Bank YRCA. It is unlawful for
recreational fishing vessels to take and
retain, possess, or land halibut taken
with recreational gear within the
Stonewall Bank YRCA. A vessel fishing
in the Stonewall Bank YRCA may not
possess any halibut. Recreational
vessels may transit through the
Stonewall Bank YRCA with or without
halibut on board. The Stonewall Bank
YRCA is an area off central Oregon, near
Stonewall Bank, intended to protect
yelloweye rockfish. The Stonewall Bank
YRCA is defined at § 660.70(f).
(f) The quota for landings into ports
in the area south of Humbug Mountain,
OR (42°40.50′ N. lat.) to the Oregon/
California Border (42°00.00′ N.
lat.)(Southern Oregon subarea) is 7,318
lbs (3.3 mt).
(i) The fishing season commences on
May 1, and continues 7 days per week
until the subquota is taken, or October
31, whichever is earlier.
(ii) The daily bag limit is one halibut
per person with no size limit.
(g) The quota for landings into ports
south of the Oregon/California Border
(42°00.00′ N. lat.) and along the
California coast is 25,220 lb (11.4 mt).
(i) The fishing season will be open
May 1–15, June 1–15, July 1–15, August
1–15, and September 1–October 31, or
until the subarea quota is estimated to
have been taken and the season is
closed by the Commission, or October
31, whichever is earlier. NMFS will
announce any closure by the
Commission on the NMFS hotline (206)
526–6667 or (800) 662–9825.
(ii) The daily bag limit is one halibut
of any size per day per person.
Classification
Section 5 of the Northern Pacific
Halibut Act of 1982 (Halibut Act, 16
U.S.C. 773c) allows the Regional
Council having authority for a particular
geographical area to develop regulations
governing the allocation and catch of
halibut in U.S. Convention waters as
long as those regulations do not conflict
with IPHC regulations. This action is
consistent with the Pacific Council’s
authority to allocate halibut catches
among fishery participants in the waters
in and off the U.S. West Coast.
This action has been determined to be
not significant for purposes of Executive
Order 12866.
NMFS prepared an Initial Regulatory
Flexibility Analysis (IRFA) in
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association with the proposed rule for
the 2014 Area 2A Catch Sharing Plan.
The final regulatory flexibility analysis
(FRFA) incorporates the IRFA, a
summary of the significant issues raised
by the public comments in response to
the IRFA, if any, and NMFS’ responses
to those comments, and a summary of
the analyses completed to support the
action. NMFS received no comments on
the IRFA. A copy of the FRFA is
available from the NMFS West Coast
Region (see ADDRESSES) and a summary
of the FRFA follows.
This rule implements changes to the
Halibut Catch Sharing Plan (CSP) that
addresses the commercial and
recreational fisheries within Area 2A
(waters off the U.S. West Coast). The
International Pacific Halibut
Commission (IPHC) sets the overall
Total Allowable Catch (TAC) and the
CSP governs the allocation of that TAC
between tribal and non-tribal fisheries,
and among non-tribal fisheries. The
Council, with input from industry, the
states, and the tribes, may recommend
changes to the CSP. (Note that the IPHC
also sets the commercial fishery opening
date(s), duration, and vessel trip limits
to ensure that the quota for the nontribal fisheries is not exceeded.) For
non-tribal fisheries, the CSP governs
allocations of the TAC between various
components of the commercial fisheries
and recreational fisheries, and these
allocations may vary depending on the
level of the TAC. Seasons, gear
restrictions, and other management
measures implemented through
domestic regulations are then used to
meet the allocations and priorities of the
CSP. There were no significant issues
raised by the public comments in
response to IRFA.
These regulations directly affect finfish harvesting and charterboat
businesses. The Small Business
Administration (SBA) has established
size criteria for all major industry
sectors in the US, including fish
harvesting and fish processing
businesses. A business involved in fish
harvesting is a small business if it is
independently owned and operated and
not dominant in its field of operation
(including its affiliates) and if it has
combined annual receipts, not in excess
of $20.5 million for all its affiliated
operations worldwide (See 79 FR 33647,
effective July 14, 2014). For marinas and
charter/party boats, a small business is
now defined as one with annual
receipts, not in excess of $7.5 million.
A seafood processor is a small business
if it is independently owned and
operated, not dominant in its field of
operation, and employs 500 or fewer
persons on a full time, part time,
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temporary, or other basis, at all its
affiliated operations worldwide. A
wholesale business servicing the fishing
industry is a small business if it
employs 100 or fewer persons on a full
time, part time, temporary, or other
basis, at all its affiliated operations
worldwide. A small organization is any
nonprofit enterprise that is
independently owned and operated and
is not dominant in its field. Small
governmental jurisdictions such as
governments of cities, counties, towns,
townships, villages, school districts, or
special districts are considered small
jurisdictions if their populations are less
than 50,000.
To determine the number of small
entities potentially affected by this rule,
NMFS reviewed the number of IPHC
issued licenses and other information.
In 2014, 591 vessels were issued IPHC
licenses to retain halibut. IPHC issued
licenses for: The directed commercial
fishery and the incidental fishery in the
sablefish primary fishery in Area 2A
(166 licenses in 2014); incidental
halibut caught in the salmon troll
fishery (425 licenses in 2014); and the
charterboat fleet (127 licenses in 2013,
the most recent year available). No
vessel may participate in more than one
of these three fisheries per year. These
license estimates overstate the number
of vessels that participate in the fishery.
IPHC estimates that 60 vessels
participated in the directed commercial
fishery, 100 vessels in the incidental
commercial (salmon) fishery, and 13
vessels in the incidental commercial
(sablefish) fishery. Recent information
on charterboat activity is not available,
but prior analysis indicated that 60
percent of the IPHC charterboat license
holders may be affected by these
regulations. There are no projected
reporting or record keeping
requirements with this rule. There are
no large entities involved in the halibut
fisheries; therefore, none of these
changes will have a disproportionate
negative effect on small entities versus
large entities.
The major effect of halibut
management on small entities is from
the internationally set TAC decisions
made by the IPHC. Based on the
recommendations of the states, the
Council recommended and NMFS is
implementing in this final rule minor
changes to the Plan to provide increased
recreational and commercial
opportunities under the allocations that
result from the TAC.
The IPHC increased the Area 2A TAC
by 1% from 960,000 lbs (2014) to
970,000 lbs (2015). Within this 1%
increase, different subgroups are being
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affected differently because of the CSP
allocation formula.
Changes to the Plan
The 2A Halibut Catch Sharing Plan, as
outlined above, allocates the TAC at
various levels. The commercial fishery
is further divided into a directed
commercial fishery that is allocated 85
percent of the commercial allocation of
the Pacific halibut TAC, and incidental
catch in the salmon troll fishery that is
allocated 15 percent of the commercial
allocation. The directed commercial
fishery in Area 2A is confined to
southern Washington (south of
46°53.30′ N. lat.), Oregon, and
California. North of 46°53.30′ N. lat. (Pt.
Chehalis), the Plan allows for incidental
halibut retention in the sablefish
primary fishery when the overall Area
2A TAC is above 900,000 lb (408.2 mt).
The Plan also divides the sport fisheries
into seven geographic subareas, each
with separate allocations, seasons, and
bag limits. The non-tribal allocation is
divided into four shares. At the first
level, there are specific percentage
allocations for tribal and non-tribal
fisheries. The non-tribal portion is then
allocated to commercial components
and to recreational components. The
commercial component is then
apportioned into directed, incidental
troll, and incidental sablefish fisheries.
The recreational portions for Oregon
and Washington are furthered
apportioned into area subquotas and
these subquotas are further split into
seasonal or depth fisheries (nearshore vs
all depths). There may be gear
restrictions and other management
measures established as necessary to
minimize the potential for the
allocations to be exceeded.
At the September meeting, the
Council adopted a range of Plan
alternatives for public review. For 2015,
the Council adopted two types of Plan
changes that are discussed separately
below. The first were the routine
recreational fishery adjustments
proposed by the states each year to
accommodate the needs of their
fisheries. The second were allocation
changes to both the non-treaty
commercial and recreational fisheries in
order to increase the California
allocation. The Council made final Plan
change recommendations from this
range at its November meeting.
For the non-allocation Plan changes
the Council considered changes to the
Columbia River, Oregon Central Coast,
Southern Oregon, and California
subareas. For the Columbia River
subarea the Council considered: (1)
Status quo seasonal management in a
spring and summer fishery and one
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alternative which removes the seasonal
split in the Columbia River subarea to
allow for a single continuous season; (2)
status quo allocation contributions from
Washington and Oregon in equal
amounts and one alternative that
modifies the Oregon contribution to the
Columbia River subarea to 2.3 percent of
the Oregon sport allocation; and (3)
status quo nearshore fishery allocation
of 1,500 pounds and one alternative that
modifies the Columbia River nearshore
area allocation to 500 pounds. The
Council recommended and this final
rule implements each of the alternatives
for the Columbia River subarea because
the status quo alternatives do not match
the needs of the fishery. The status quo
season structure with an early and late
season was rejected because this
structure would unnecessarily strand
quota later in the year when effort
decreases substantially. The status quo
Oregon contribution was rejected
because it does not match recent effort
in this subarea in Oregon. The status
quo nearshore allocation was rejected
because the allocation did not match the
effort in the nearshore area, leaving a
large portion of the allocation
unavailable for harvest in other areas.
For the Oregon Central Coast subarea,
the Council considered three all-depth
season structures and modifications to
the allocation from the Oregon Central
Coast spring fishery to the Southern
Oregon subarea. For the season
structure, the Council considered three
alternatives: Status quo, which would
separate spring and summer seasons;
Alternative 1a, which would combine
the spring and summer season and open
the fishery on May 1; and Alternative
1b, which is the same as 1a, except
begin on the first weekend in May that
avoid negative tides. For the allocation
change the Council considered: Status
quo, which allocates a portion of the
spring fishery to the Southern Oregon
subarea, and one alternative, which
allocates a portion of the overall Oregon
Central Coast subarea allocation to the
Southern Oregon subarea. The Council
recommended and this final rule
implements the status quo alternative
for the season structure and the one
alternative for the allocation to the
Southern Oregon subarea. The season
structure alternatives were rejected
because they did not match the needs of
this fishery. The allocation in this area
is generally caught very quickly,
therefore keeping separate seasons
allows for two distinct seasons. The
status quo alternative allocation to the
Southern Oregon subarea was rejected
because it does not allow the Southern
Oregon subarea an individual
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allocation, which means any overages in
this area could affect other subareas.
For the Southern Oregon subarea, the
Council considered three alternative
season dates: Status quo, opening May
1, seven days per week; Alternative 1,
open June 1, seven days per week; and
Alternative 2, open July 1 seven days
per week. The Council recommended
and this final rule implements the status
quo alternative because the other
alternatives do not match the recent
effort in this area and does not match
the input the ODFW received at their
public meetings.
In the Columbia River and Central
Oregon Coast subareas, the Council
considered three alternatives to
incidental groundfish retention
allowances: status quo, only Pacific cod
and sablefish are allowed; Alternative 1,
revise the bottomfish restrictions such
that all groundfish except rockfish and
lingcod would be allowed when halibut
are onboard; and Alternative 2, revise
the bottomfish restrictions such that
other flatfish, in addition to Pacific cod
and sablefish, would be allowed when
halibut are onboard. The Council
recommended and this final rule
implements Alternative 2 because it
allows incidentally caught flatfish
species to be landed with halibut
without increasing the catch of
overfished species. Status quo was
rejected because it would not allow
incidentally caught flatfish species to be
landed. Alternative 1 was rejected
because it would likely increase the take
of overfished groundfish species to
levels that would restrict other fisheries
due to the small allocations of
overfished species.
For the California subarea, the
Council considered three alternatives:
Status quo, fixed season open May 1–
July 31 and September 1–October 31, no
inseason adjustment; Alternative 1, one
month season between May 1 and
October 31, to be determined preseason,
with inseason adjustment as needed;
Alternative 2, 15 consecutive day season
between May 1 and October 31, to be
determined preseason, with inseason
adjustment as needed. The Council
recommended and this final rule
implements a modified Alternative
which allows for a seven day a week
fishery, that will be determined
preseason through joint consultation
between NMFS and CDFW, and allows
for inseason adjustment as necessary.
The other three alternatives were
rejected because they either did not
allow for inseason adjustment or
predetermined the season dates which
would unnecessarily restrict the season.
No alternatives were considered for
the NMFS recommended change to the
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Regional Office name because it is
administrative in nature and simply
updates the name of the region from
‘‘Northwest’’ to ‘‘West Coast.’’
The changes to the Columbia River
subarea allocations and incidentally
landed species allowances are expected
to increase recreational opportunities by
shifting underutilized fishery allocation
from the late to the early part of the
season when effort is higher and by
turning previously discarded incidental
flatfish catch into landed catch. Changes
to the Oregon Central Coast subarea
allocation and incidentally landed
species are expected to prolong seasons
and increase the total number of fishing
days and are expected to increase
recreational opportunities by turning
previously discarded incidental catch
into landed catch. None of these
changes are controversial and none are
expected to result in substantial
environmental or economic impacts.
These actions are intended to enhance
the conservation of Pacific halibut, to
provide angler opportunity where
available, and to protect overfished
groundfish species from incidental
catch in the halibut fisheries. Because
the goal of the action is to maximize
angler participation and thus to
maximize the economic benefits of the
fishery, NMFS did not analyze
alternatives to the above changes to the
Plan other than the proposed changes
and the status quo for purposes of the
FRFA. Status quo would be the 2014
Plan applied to the 2015 TAC. Effects of
the status quo and the final changes are
similar because the changes to the Plan
for 2015 are not substantially different
from the 2014 Plan. The changes to the
Plan are not expected to have a
significant economic impact.
Changes to Allocations
In response to the growing California
sport fishery, for 2014, a specific
recreational subquota was created—1%
of the non-tribal quota or 6,240 lbs. In
prior years, the California fishery was a
portion of the Southern Oregon/
Northern California subquota.
Preliminary catch data for 2015 show
that the California fishery has taken
31,226 lbs, five times the California
subquota. Because the 2014 subquota
was insuffiencent to meet the growth in
the California fishery, the Council
reviewed six alternatives that allocate
halibut to the various sectors differently
between the sectors depending on the
size of the TAC. Status Quo: The nontreaty allocation is apportioned
according to the 2014 CSP: Washington
sport (36.60%), Oregon sport (30.70%),
California sport (1.00%), and
commercial (31.70%). Alternative 1:
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Maintain allocations as described in the
CSP (Status Quo), except increase the
California sport allocation by two
percent, for a total California sport
allocation of three percent, by reducing
the non-treaty commercial fishery share.
Alternative 2, Option A: Same
allocations as described in Alternative 1
when the 2A TAC is one million pounds
or less. When the 2A TAC is above one
million pounds, the California sport
allocation would increase by an
additional one percent, for a total
California sport allocation of four
percent, by reducing the non-treaty
commercial fishery share. Alternative 2,
Option B: Same allocations as described
in Alternative 1 when the 2A TAC is
one million pounds or less. When the
2A TAC is greater than one million
pounds, the first one million pounds of
the 2A TAC shall be distributed
according to the Alternative 1
allocations. For the portion of the 2A
TAC that exceeds one million pounds,
the California sport allocation would
increase to 30–50 percent of the nontreaty share, and allocation percentages
for the non-treaty commercial and
recreational (Washington and Oregon)
would be reduced to remain
proportional to the status quo non-treaty
shares. Alternative 3: Increase the
California sport allocation by two
percent, for a total California sport
allocation of three percent, when the 2A
TAC is less than one million pounds by
reducing the three major non-treaty
group allocations (i.e., Washington
sport, Oregon sport, and commercial).
When the 2A TAC is greater than one
million pounds, the first one million
pounds of the 2A TAC shall be
distributed according to the Alternative
3 allocations. For the portion of the 2A
TAC that exceeds one million pounds,
the California sport allocation would
increase to four percent of the nontreaty share by reducing the three major
non-treaty group allocations. Alternative
4: Increase the California sport share by
three percent, for a total allocation of
four percent, when the 2A TAC is less
than one million pounds by reducing
the three major non-treaty group
allocations. When the 2A TAC is greater
than one million pounds, the first one
million pounds of the 2A TAC shall be
distributed according to the Alternative
4 allocations. For the portion of the 2A
TAC that exceeds one million pounds,
the California sport allocation would
increase to five percent of the non-treaty
share by reducing the three major nontreaty group allocations. Alternative 5:
Increase the California sport share by
four percent, for a total allocation of five
percent, when the 2A TAC is less than
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one million pounds by reducing the
three major non-treaty group
allocations. When the 2A TAC is greater
than one million pounds, the first one
million pounds of the 2A TAC shall be
distributed according to the Alternative
5 allocations. For the portion of the 2A
TAC that exceeds one million pounds,
the California sport allocation would
increase to six percent of the non-treaty
share by reducing the three major nontreaty group allocations. In addition to
modifying the commercial and
recreational fisheries allocations,
suboptions within the allocation
alternatives were evaluated for when the
TAC is expected to be greater than one
million pounds to cap the California
allocation. These caps were designed to
cap the California allocation to a level
that the fishery could reasonably be
expected to harvest in order to not
strand pounds, therefore, making them
unavailable to other fisheries. However,
a one million pound TAC is a level the
fishery has not experienced in recent
years nor is it anticipated for the near
term future.
For 2015, the Council has
recommended and this final rule
implements Alternative 4 (the preferred
alternative). For 2015, the Council
recommended to increase the California
recreational fishery allocation to 4% of
the non-tribal allocation by reducing the
Washington and Oregon sport and
commercial allocations each by 1
percent. This modification is intended
to provide an allocation to California
that better matches recent effort. The
CDFW has also committed to increased
inseason monitoring in collaboration
with NMFS. Pacific halibut sport
fisheries in California have exceeded the
allocation in recent years and therefore
the goal of increased inseason
monitoring and action, as necessary, is
to keep the subarea within its allocation.
Further, instead of a fixed season,
CDFW will recommend to NMFS,
similar to subareas in Washington and
Oregon, a season length based on
expected catch to attain the subarea
quota. The status quo allocation was
rejected because if maintained, the
California fishery is likely to continue to
exceed its quota and suffer an early
shutdown. Under the status quo
alternative, the overall halibut TAC will
run the risk of being exceeded, and
therefore it was not selected.
Alternatives 1, 2, and 3 provide
increases to the recreational fishery
based on decreasing the commercial
quota by 2 percent. Alternative 5
increases the California subquota by 4
percent by reducing the Oregon and
Washington subquota and the non-tribal
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commercial quota. While this favors the
California fishery, it is at the expense of
too large of a reduction in the other
fisheries, and therefore it was not
selected.
Under Alternative 4, the preferred
alternative, the increase of 3% to the
California subquota comes from
reducing the WA sport quota by 1%, the
Oregon sport quota by 1%, and the nontribal commercial quota by 1%. The
overall effect is a shift of 1% reduction
of the non-tribal commercial directed
quota to the total sport quota allocation.
From an economic perspective, it is
unclear whether this shift is negative or
positive given available analyses.
However the overall economic effects of
this shift is small as the potential loss
of about $300,000 in ex-vessel revenues
must be weighed by the gain of
increased charterboat recreational
activities.
Pursuant to Executive Order 13175,
the Secretary recognizes the sovereign
status and co-manager role of Indian
tribes over shared Federal and tribal
fishery resources. Section 302(b)(5) of
the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act
establishes a seat on the Council for a
representative of an Indian tribe with
federally recognized fishing rights from
California, Oregon, Washington, or
Idaho. The U.S. Government formally
recognizes that 13 Washington tribes
have treaty rights to fish for Pacific
halibut. The Plan allocates 35 percent of
the Area 2A TAC to U.S. treaty Indian
tribes in the State of Washington. Each
of the treaty tribes has the discretion to
administer their fisheries and to
establish their own policies to achieve
program objectives. Accordingly, tribal
allocations and regulations, including
the changes to the Plan, have been
developed in with the affected tribe(s)
and, insofar as possible, with tribal
consensus.
In 2014, an Environmental
Assessment (EA) was prepared
analyzing the continuing
implementation of the Catch Sharing
Plan for 2014–2016. The Plan changes
for 2015 are not expected to have any
effects on the environment beyond those
discussed in the EA and in the finding
of no significant impact (FONSI).
NMFS conducted a formal section 7
consultation under the Endangered
Species Act for the Area 2A Catch
Sharing Plan for 2014–2016 addressing
the effects of implementing the Plan on
ESA-listed yelloweye rockfish, canary
rockfish, and bocaccio in Puget Sound,
the Southern Distinct Population
Segment (DPS) of green sturgeon,
salmon, marine mammals, and sea
turtles. In the biological opinion the
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Fmt 4700
Sfmt 4700
17351
Regional Administrator determined that
the implementation of the Catch Sharing
Plan for 2014–2016 is not likely to
jeopardize the continued existence of
Puget Sound yelloweye rockfish, Puget
Sound canary rockfish, Puget Sound
bocaccio, Puget Sound Chinook, Lower
Columbia River Chinook, and green
sturgeon. It is not expected to result in
the destruction or adverse modification
of critical habitat for green sturgeon or
result in the destruction or adverse
modification of proposed critical habitat
for Puget Sound yelloweye rockfish,
canary rockfish, bocaccio. In addition,
the opinion concluded that the
implementation of the Plan is not likely
to adversely affect marine mammals, the
remaining listed salmon species and sea
turtles, and is not likely to adversely
affect critical habitat for Southern
resident killer whales, stellar sea lions,
leatherback sea turtles, any listed
salmonids, and humpback whales.
Further, the Regional Administrator
determined that implementation of the
Catch Sharing Plan will have no effect
on southern eulachon, this
determination was made in a letter
dated March 12, 2014. The 2015 Plan
and regulations do not change the
conclusions from the biological opinion.
NMFS has initiated consultation with
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on
the effects of the halibut fishery on
seabirds, bull trout, and sea otters. This
consultation is not completed at this
time. NMFS has prepared a 7(a)(2)/7(d)
determination memo under the ESA
concluding that any effects of the 2015
fishery on listed seabirds are expected
to be quite low, and are not likely to
jeopardize the continued existence of
any listed species. Further, in no way
will the 2015 fishery make an
irreversible or irretrievable commitment
of resources by the agency.
NMFS finds good cause to waive the
30-day delay in effectiveness and make
this rule effective upon publication in
the Federal Register, pursuant to 5
U.S.C. 553(d)(3), so that this final rule
may become effective on April 1, 2015,
when incidental halibut retention in the
sablefish primary fishery begins. While
the 2015 TAC is higher than the 2014
TAC, due to the changes made to the
Plan, the allocations for the salmon troll
and sablefish primary fisheries are
actually lower in 2015 than they were
in 2014. Therefore, allowing the 2014
measures to remain in place could result
in significant management changes later
in the year to prevent exceeding the
lower 2015 subarea allocations. Finally,
this final rule approves the Council’s
2015 Plan that responds to the needs of
the fisheries in each state and approves
the portions of the Plan allocating
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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 62 / Wednesday, April 1, 2015 / Rules and Regulations
incidentally caught halibut in the
salmon troll and sablefish primary
fisheries, which start April 1. Therefore,
allowing the 2014 subarea allocations
and Plan to remain in place would not
respond to the needs of the fishery and
would be in conflict with the Council’s
final recommendation for 2015. For all
of these reasons, a delay in effectiveness
could ultimately cause economic harm
to the fishing industry and associated
fishing communities by reducing fishing
opportunity later in the year to keep
catch in the subareas within the lower
2015 allocations or result in harvest
levels inconsistent with the best
available scientific information. As a
result of the potential harm to fishing
communities that could be caused by
delaying the effectiveness of this final
rule, NMFS finds good cause to waive
the 30-day delay in effectiveness and
make this rule effective upon
publication in the Federal Register.
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 300
Administrative practice and
procedure, Antarctica, Canada, Exports,
Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Imports,
Indians, Labeling, Marine resources,
Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Russian Federation,
Transportation, Treaties, Wildlife.
Dated: March 26, 2015.
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 300 is amended
as follows:
consultation with the Chairman of the
Pacific Fishery Management Council,
the Commission Executive Director, and
the Fisheries Director(s) of the affected
state(s), or their designees, is authorized
to modify regulations during the season
after making the following
determinations:
*
*
*
*
*
(3) * * *
(ii) Actual notice of inseason
management actions will be provided by
a telephone hotline administered by the
West Coast Region, NMFS, at 206–526–
6667 or 800–662–9825 (May through
October) and by U.S. Coast Guard
broadcasts. These broadcasts are
announced on Channel 16 VHF–FM and
2182 kHz at frequent intervals. The
announcements designate the channel
or frequency over which the notice to
mariners will be immediately broadcast.
Since provisions of these regulations
may be altered by inseason actions,
sport fishers should monitor either the
telephone hotline or U.S. Coast Guard
broadcasts for current information for
the area in which they are fishing.
*
*
*
*
*
(5) Availability of data. The Regional
Administrator will compile, in aggregate
form, all data and other information
relevant to the action being taken and
will make them available for public
review during normal office hours at the
West Coast Regional Office, NMFS,
Sustainable Fisheries Division, 7600
Sand Point Way NE., Seattle,
Washington.
*
*
*
*
*
[FR Doc. 2015–07329 Filed 3–31–15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
PART 300—INTERNATIONAL
FISHERIES REGULATIONS
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Subpart E—Pacific Halibut Fisheries
1. The authority citation for part 300,
subpart E continues to read as follows:
■
50 CFR Part 660
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 773–773k.
RIN 0648–XD339
2. In § 300.63, revise paragraphs (a),
(c)(1) introductory text, (c)(3)(ii), and
(c)(5), to read as follows:
*
*
*
*
*
■
rmajette on DSK2TPTVN1PROD with RULES
§ 300.63 Catch sharing plan and domestic
management measures in area 2A.
(a) A catch sharing plan (CSP) may be
developed by the Pacific Fishery
Management Council and approved by
NMFS for portions of the fishery. Any
approved CSP may be obtained from the
Administrator, West Coast Region,
NMFS.
*
*
*
*
*
(c) * * *
(1) The Regional Administrator,
NMFS West Coast Region, after
VerDate Sep<11>2014
15:06 Mar 31, 2015
Jkt 235001
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
Fisheries Off West Coast States;
Coastal Pelagic Species Fisheries;
Amendment 14 to the Coastal Pelagic
Species Fishery Management Plan
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of agency decision.
AGENCY:
NMFS announces the
approval of Amendment 14 to the
Coastal Pelagic Species (CPS) Fishery
Management Plan (FMP). The purpose
of Amendment 14 is to specify an
estimate of maximum sustainable yield
SUMMARY:
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Fmt 4700
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(MSY) for the northern subpopulation of
northern anchovy in the CPS FMP. This
action promotes the goals and objectives
of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act, the
FMP, and other applicable laws.
DATES: The amendment was approved
on March 23, 2015.
ADDRESSES: Electronic copies of the CPS
FMP as amended through Amendment
14 are available from the Pacific Fishery
Management Council (Council) Web site
at: https://www.pcouncil.org/coastalpelagic-species/fishery-managementplan-and-amendments/. Requests for
the list of references used in this
document should be addressed to:
NMFS, West Coast Region, Sustainable
Fisheries Division, 501 West Ocean
Blvd., Suite 4200, Long Beach, CA
90802. c/o Joshua Lindsay
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Joshua B. Lindsay, Sustainable Fisheries
Division, NMFS, at 562–980–4034 or
Kerry Griffin, Pacific Fishery
Management Council, at 503–820–2280.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The CPS
fishery in the U.S. exclusive economic
zone (EEZ) off the West Coast is
managed under the CPS FMP, which
was developed by the Council pursuant
to the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act
(Magnuson-Stevens Act), 16 U.S.C. 1801
et seq. Species managed under the CPS
FMP include Pacific sardine, Pacific
mackerel, jack mackerel, northern
anchovy, market squid and krill. The
CPS FMP was approved by the Secretary
of Commerce and was implemented by
regulations at 50 CFR part 660, subpart
I.
The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires
that each regional fishery management
council submit proposed amendments
to a fishery management plan to NMFS
for review and approval, disapproval, or
partial approval by the Secretary of
Commerce (Secretary). The MagnusonStevens Act also requires that, upon
receiving a fishery management plan
amendment, NMFS immediately
publish in the Federal Register a notice
that the amendment is available for
public review and comment. NMFS
determined that Amendment 14 to the
FMP is consistent with the MagnusonStevens Act and other applicable laws,
and the Secretary approved Amendment
14 on March 23, 2015. The December
24, 2014, Notice of Availability contains
additional information on this action.
No changes to Federal regulations are
necessary to implement Amendment 14.
Amendment 14 will change the CPS
FMP so that it now includes a
specification of an estimate MSY for the
northern subpopulation of northern
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 62 (Wednesday, April 1, 2015)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 17344-17352]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-07329]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 300
[Docket No. 141219999-5289-02]
RIN 0648-BE66
Pacific Halibut Fisheries; Catch Sharing Plan
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Final rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: This final rule announces the approval of the Area 2A (waters
off the U.S. West Coast) Catch Sharing Plan (Plan), with modifications
recommended by the Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council), and
issues implementing regulations for 2015. These actions are intended to
conserve Pacific halibut, provide angler opportunity where available,
and minimize bycatch of overfished groundfish species. The sport
fishing management measures in this rule are an additional subsection
of the regulations for the International Pacific Halibut Commission
(IPHC) published on March 17, 2015.
DATES: This rule is effective April 1, 2015. The 2015 management
measures are effective until superseded.
ADDRESSES: Additional requests for information regarding this action
may be obtained by contacting the Sustainable Fisheries Division, NMFS
West Coast Region, 7600 Sand Point Way NE., Seattle, WA 98115. For
information regarding all halibut fisheries and general regulations not
contained in this rule contact the International Pacific Halibut
Commission, 2320 W. Commodore Way Suite 300, Seattle, WA 98199-1287; or
this final rule also is accessible via the Internet at the Federal
eRulemaking portal at https://www.regulations.gov identified by NOAA-
NMFS-2015-0159. Electronic copies of the Final Regulatory Flexibility
Analysis (FRFA) prepared for this action may be obtained by contacting
Sarah Williams, phone: 206-526-4646, email: sarah.williams@noaa.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sarah Williams, 206-526-4646, email at
sarah.williams@noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Electronic Access
This rule is accessible via the Internet at the Office of the
Federal Register Web site at https://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/aces140.html. Background information and documents are available at the
NMFS West Coast Region Web site at https://www.westcoast.fisheries.noaa.gov/fisheries/management/pacific_halibut_management.html and at the Council's Web site at https://www.pcouncil.org.
Background
The IPHC has promulgated regulations governing the Pacific halibut
fishery in 2015, pursuant to the Convention between Canada and the
United States for the Preservation of the Halibut Fishery of the North
Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea (Convention), signed at Ottawa, Ontario,
on March 2, 1953, as amended by a Protocol Amending the Convention
(signed at Washington, DC, on March 29, 1979). Pursuant to the Northern
Pacific Halibut Act of 1982 (Halibut Act) at 16 U.S.C. 773b, the
Secretary of State accepted the 2015 IPHC regulations as provided by
the Northern Pacific Halibut Act of 1982 (Halibut Act) at 16 U.S.C.
773-773k. NMFS published these regulations on March 17, 2015 (80 FR
13771).
The Halibut Act provides that the Regional Fishery Management
Councils may develop, and the Secretary may implement, regulations
governing harvesting privileges among U.S. fishermen in U.S. waters
that are in addition to, and not in conflict with, approved IPHC
regulations. To that end,
[[Page 17345]]
the Council adopted a Catch Sharing Plan (Plan) allocating halibut
among groups of fishermen in Area 2A, which is off the coasts of
Washington, Oregon, and California. The Plan allocates the Area 2A
catch limit among treaty Indian and non-Indian commercial and sport
harvesters. The treaty Indian group includes tribal commercial, tribal
ceremonial, and subsistence fisheries. Each year between 1988 and 1995,
the Council developed and NMFS implemented a catch sharing plan in
accordance with the Halibut Act to allocate the total allowable catch
(TAC) of Pacific halibut between treaty Indian and non-Indian
harvesters and among non-Indian commercial and sport fisheries in Area
2A. In 1995, NMFS implemented the Pacific Council-recommended long-term
Plan (60 FR 14651, March 20, 1995). Every year since then, minor
revisions to the Plan have been made to adjust for the changing needs
of the fisheries.
NMFS implements the allocation scheme in the Plan through annual
regulations for Area 2A. The proposed rule describing the changes the
Council recommended to the Plan and resulting proposed Area 2A
regulations for 2015 was published on February 3, 2015 (80 FR 5719).
The proposed rule was developed prior to the IPHC's decision on a TAC
for Area 2A, therefore it did not include final allocations for the
relevant areas and subareas. The IPHC held its annual meeting January
26-30, 2015, and selected at TAC of 970,000 pounds for Area 2A. This
final rule accounts for that information.
For 2015, this final rule contains only those regulations
implementing the Plan in Area 2A. NMFS published the complete IPHC
regulations, which apply to commercial, treaty Indian, and recreational
fisheries, separately on March 17, 2015 (80 FR 13771). Therefore anyone
wishing to fish for halibut in Area 2A should read both this final rule
and the March 17, 2015 final rule that implements the IPHC regulations.
Changes to the Pacific Fishery Management Council's Area 2A Catch
Sharing Plan
This final rule announces the approval of several Council-
recommended changes to the Pacific Fishery Management Council's Area 2A
Plan and implements the Plan through annual management measures. For
2015, the Council recommended and NMFS implements in this final rule,
several changes to the non-Indian allocations in order to provide the
California recreational fishery with an allocation that is closer to
recent effort while not substantially reducing the remaining non-Indian
allocations. The Council recommendation increases the California sport
fishery allocation from 1 to 4 percent of the non-tribal allocation by
reducing the Washington and Oregon sport and the commercial allocations
each by 1 percent.
Additionally for 2015, the Council recommended several minor
changes to the Plan that would: (1) Remove a reference to the ``fall
salmon troll fisheries'' as a trigger for the rollover of quota from
the directed halibut fishery to the incidental salmon troll fishery
because there is no defined ``fall'' salmon fishery; (2) make several
changes to the Columbia River subarea including modifying the Oregon
contribution to a fixed percentage of the Oregon sport allocation,
setting the nearshore fishery allocation to 500 pounds, removing the
spring and summer fisheries thus allowing the quota to be used
continuously, and adding all flatfish species to the list of
incidentally caught fish allowed to be landed with halibut; (3) make
several changes to the Oregon central coast subarea including
clarifying that the allocation to the Columbia river subarea comes from
the total Oregon sport allocation and not from this area's spring
fishery, adding incidental flatfish retention consistent with the
change in the Columbia River subarea, modifying the spring all depth
season allocation from 61 to 63 percent, and removing the provision
that allocated a portion of the spring fishery to the Southern Oregon
subarea; (4) modify the allocation to the Southern Oregon subarea from
2 to 4 percent of the Oregon sport allocation after the Columbia River
allocation has been subtracted; (5) make several changes to the
California subarea including modifying the season structure to a 7 days
per week fishery when open, with a season length that is based on
attainment of the quota instead of a set season, allowing inseason
action through joint NMFS, IPHC, and CDFW consultation; and (6) modify
the name of the NMFS Northwest Regional Office to ``NMFS West Coast
Regional Office'', to reflect the recent merger of NMFS offices.
Incidental Halibut Retention in the Sablefish Primary Fishery North of
Pt. Chehalis, Washington and the Salmon Troll Fishery Along the West
Coast
This final rule also implements the allocation for incidental
halibut retention in the sablefish primary fishery north of Pt.
Chehalis, Washington. The Plan provides that incidental halibut
retention in the sablefish primary fishery north of Pt. Chehalis,
Washington, will be allowed when the Area 2A TAC is greater than
900,000 lb (408.2 mt), provided that a minimum of 10,000 lb (4.5 mt) is
available above the state of Washington recreational allocation of
214,100 lb (97.1 mt). In 2015, the TAC is set at 970,000 lb (439.99
mt); therefore, the allocation for incidental halibut retention in the
sablefish fishery is 10,348 lb (4.69 mt). The Council considered
whether any changes to the landing restrictions adopted for this
fishery in 2014 were necessary for 2015, but because this allocation is
similar to recent allocations, the Council made no changes. Therefore,
the 2015 incidental halibut landing restrictions are: 75 pounds dressed
weight of halibut for every 1,000 lbs dressed weight of sablefish,
except that 2 additional halibut may be landed. These restrictions can
be found in the groundfish regulations at 50 CFR 660.231(3)(iv).
The Plan allocates 15 percent of the non-Indian commercial TAC to
the salmon troll fishery in Area 2A. For 2015, the allocation for the
salmon troll fishery in Area 2A is 29,035 lb (13.17 mt). The Council
approved a range of landing restrictions for public review at its
recent March meeting. The final landing restrictions will be addressed
at its April 2015 meetings.
Comments and Responses
NMFS accepted comments on the proposed rule for the Area 2A Plan
and annual management measures through March 5, 2015. NMFS received 4
public comment letters: one comment letter each from the Washington
Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), Oregon Department of Fish and
Wildlife (ODFW), and California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW)
recommending season dates for halibut sport fisheries in each state,
and one comment from an individual.
Comment 1: The WDFW held a public meeting following the IPHC's
final 2015 TAC decisions to review the results of the 2013 Puget Sound
halibut fishery, as the 2014 catch data was not yet finalized, and the
preliminary 2014 estimates, and to develop season dates for the 2015
sport halibut fishery. Based on input from stakeholders, WDFW
recommended a 2015 season that is similar to the 2014 season because
the allocation to this area is the same as in 2014. For the Puget Sound
halibut sport fishery, WDFW recommended the following dates: the
Eastern Region to be open May 8, 9, 15, 16, 21, 22, 23, 24, 28, 29, and
30; and the Western Region to be open May 15, 16, 21, 22, 23, 24, 29,
and 30.
[[Page 17346]]
Response: NMFS believes WDFW's recommended Puget Sound season dates
will help keep this area within its quota, while providing for angler
enjoyment and participation. Therefore, NMFS implements the dates for
this subarea as stated above, in this final rule.
Comment 2: The ODFW held a public meeting and hosted an online
survey following the final TAC decision by the IPHC. Based on public
comments received on Oregon halibut fisheries, the ODFW recommended the
following days for the spring fishery in the Central Coast subarea,
within this subarea's parameters for a Thursday-Saturday season and
weeks of adverse tidal conditions skipped: Regular open days May 14-16,
28-30, June 11-13, and 25-27. Back-up dates in case there is sufficient
remaining quota will be July 9-11 and 23-25. For the summer all-depth
fishery in this subarea, ODFW recommended following the Plan's
parameters of opening the first Friday in August, with open days to
occur every other Friday-Saturday, unless modified in-season within the
parameters of the Plan. Therefore, pursuant to the Plan, the ODFW
recommended the 2015 summer all-depth fishery in Oregon's Central Coast
Subarea to occur: August 7, 8, 21, 22, September 4, 5, 18, 19, October
2, 3, 16, 17, 30, and 31.
Response: NMFS believes ODFW's recommended Central Coast season
dates will help keep this area within its quota, while providing for
angler enjoyment and participation. Therefore, NMFS implements the
dates in this final rule.
Comment 3: The CDFW held a public meeting to solicit comments on
the sport fishing seasons. Based on public comments and projected
attainment of subarea allocation, the CDFW recommended the following
open days May 1-14, June 1-15, July 1-15, August 1-15, and September 1-
October 31.
Response: NMFS agrees with CDFW's recommended season dates. These
dates will help keep this area within its quota, while providing for
angler enjoyment and participation. Therefore, NMFS implements the
dates in this final rule.
Comment 5: NMFS received one comment from a member of the public
that appears to oppose the proposed rule, but does not identify any
specific reasons for that opposition.
Response: NMFS believes the revised Plan and proposed annual
regulations will result in effective management of fisheries in Area
2A, keeping catch in the Area within the TAC while allowing for
meaningful commercial and recreational fisheries, and full opportunity
for the treaty tribes with rights to fish for halibut to exercise those
rights. Therefore, NMFS has approved this action.
Changes From the Proposed Rule
On February 3, 2015, NMFS published a proposed rule to modify the
Plan and recreational management measures for Area 2A (80 FR 5719).
Because the proposed rule was finalized before the IPHC determined the
TAC for Area 2A, the final subarea allocations based on the TAC and
Plan are included for the first time in the final rule. The allocations
in this rule are consistent with the final Area 2A TAC of 970,000 lbs
and the 2015 Plan as recommended by the Council. Also, season dates as
recommended by the states following determination of the TAC are
included in the final rule. There are no other substantive changes from
the proposed rule.
Annual Halibut Management Measures
The sport fishing regulations for Area 2A, included in section 26
below, are consistent with the measures adopted by the IPHC and
approved by the Secretary of State, but were developed by the Pacific
Fishery Management Council and promulgated by the United States under
the Halibut Act. Section 26 refers to a section that is in addition to
and corresponds to the numbering in the IPHC regulations published on
March 17, 2015 (80 FR 13771).
26. Sport Fishing for Halibut--Area 2A
(1) The total allowable catch of halibut shall be limited to:
(a) 214,110 pounds (97.1 metric tons) net weight in waters off
Washington;
(b) 187,259 pounds (84.9 metric tons) net weight in waters off
Oregon; and
(c) 25,220 pounds (11.4 metric tons) net weight in waters off
California.
(2) The Commission shall determine and announce closing dates to
the public for any area in which the catch limits promulgated by NMFS
are estimated to have been taken.
(3) When the Commission has determined that a subquota under
paragraph (8) of this section is estimated to have been taken, and has
announced a date on which the season will close, no person shall sport
fish for halibut in that area after that date for the rest of the year,
unless a reopening of that area for sport halibut fishing is scheduled
in accordance with the Catch Sharing Plan for Area 2A, or announced by
the Commission.
(4) In California, Oregon, or Washington, no person shall fillet,
mutilate, or otherwise disfigure a halibut in any manner that prevents
the determination of minimum size or the number of fish caught,
possessed, or landed.
(5) The possession limit on a vessel for halibut in the waters off
the coast of Washington is the same as the daily bag limit. The
possession limit on land in Washington for halibut caught in U.S.
waters off the coast of Washington is two halibut.
(6) The possession limit on a vessel for halibut caught in the
waters off the coast of Oregon is the same as the daily bag limit. The
possession limit for halibut on land in Oregon is three daily bag
limits.
(7) The possession limit on a vessel for halibut caught in the
waters off the coast of California is one halibut. The possession limit
for halibut on land in California is one halibut.
(8) The sport fishing subareas, subquotas, fishing dates, and daily
bag limits are as follows, except as modified under the in-season
actions in 50 CFR 300.63(c). All sport fishing in Area 2A is managed on
a ``port of landing'' basis, whereby any halibut landed into a port
counts toward the quota for the area in which that port is located, and
the regulations governing the area of landing apply, regardless of the
specific area of catch.
(a) The area in Puget Sound and the U.S. waters in the Strait of
Juan de Fuca, east of a line extending from 48[deg]17.30' N. lat.,
124[deg]23.70' W. long. north to 48[deg]24.10' N. lat., 124[deg]23.70'
W. long., is not managed in-season relative to its quota. This area is
managed by setting a season that is projected to result in a catch of
57,393 lbs (26 mt).
(i) The fishing season in eastern Puget Sound (east of
123[deg]49.50' W. long., Low Point) is May 8, 9, 15, 16, 21, 22, 23,
24, 28, 29, and 30. The fishing season in western Puget Sound (west of
123[deg]49.50' W. long., Low Point) is open May 15, 16, 21, 22, 23, 24,
29, and 30.
(ii) The daily bag limit is one halibut of any size per day per
person.
(b) The quota for landings into ports in the area off the north
Washington coast, west of the line described in paragraph (2)(a) of
section 26 and north of the Queets River (47[deg]31.70' N. lat.) (North
Coast subarea), is 108,030 lbs (49 mt).
(i) The fishing seasons are:
(A) Commencing on May 14 and continuing 2 days a week (Thursday and
Saturday) until 108,030 lbs (49 mt) are estimated to have been taken
and the season is closed by the Commission, or until May 23.
(B) If sufficient quota remains the fishery will reopen on June 4
and/or June 6, continuing 2 days per week (Thursday and Saturday) until
there is not sufficient quota for another full day
[[Page 17347]]
of fishing and the area is closed by the Commission. After May 23, any
fishery opening will be announced on the NMFS hotline at 800-662-9825.
No halibut fishing will be allowed after May 23 unless the date is
announced on the NMFS hotline.
(ii) The daily bag limit is one halibut of any size per day per
person.
(iii) Recreational fishing for groundfish and halibut is prohibited
within the North Coast Recreational Yelloweye Rockfish Conservation
Area (YRCA). It is unlawful for recreational fishing vessels to take
and retain, possess, or land halibut taken with recreational gear
within the North Coast Recreational YRCA. A vessel fishing in the North
Coast Recreational YRCA may not be in possession of any halibut.
Recreational vessels may transit through the North Coast Recreational
YRCA with or without halibut on board. The North Coast Recreational
YRCA is a C-shaped area off the northern Washington coast intended to
protect yelloweye rockfish. The North Coast Recreational YRCA is
defined in groundfish regulations at Sec. 660.70(a).
(c) The quota for landings into ports in the area between the
Queets River, WA (47[deg]31.70' N. lat.), and Leadbetter Point, WA
(46[deg]38.17' N. lat.) (South Coast subarea), is 42,739 lbs (19.4 mt).
(i) This subarea is divided between the all-waters fishery (the
Washington South coast primary fishery), and the incidental nearshore
fishery in the area from 47[deg]31.70' N. lat. south to 46[deg]58.00'
N. lat. and east of a boundary line approximating the 30 fm depth
contour. This area is defined by straight lines connecting all of the
following points in the order stated as described by the following
coordinates (the Washington South coast, northern nearshore area):
(1) 47[deg]31.70' N. lat, 124[deg]37.03' W. long;
(2) 47[deg]25.67' N. lat, 124[deg]34.79' W. long;
(3) 47[deg]12.82' N. lat, 124[deg]29.12' W. long;
(4) 46[deg]58.00[acute] N. lat, 124[deg]24.24' W. long.
The south coast subarea quota will be allocated as follows: 40,739
lbs (18.5 mt) for the primary fishery and 2,000 lbs (0.9 mt) for the
nearshore fishery. The primary fishery commences on May 3, and
continues 2 days a week (Sunday and Tuesday) until May 19. If the
primary quota is projected to be obtained sooner than expected, the
management closure may occur earlier. Beginning on May 31 the primary
fishery will be open at most 2 days per week (Sunday and/or Tuesday)
until the quota for the south coast subarea primary fishery is taken
and the season is closed by the Commission, or until September 30,
whichever is earlier. The fishing season in the nearshore area
commences on May 3, and continues 7 days per week. Subsequent to
closure of the primary fishery, the nearshore fishery is open 7 days
per week, until is 42,739 lbs (19.4 mt) is projected to be taken by the
two fisheries combined and the fishery is closed by the Commission or
September 30, whichever is earlier. If the fishery is closed prior to
September 30, and there is insufficient quota remaining to reopen the
northern nearshore area for another fishing day, then any remaining
quota may be transferred in-season to another Washington coastal
subarea by NMFS via an update to the recreational halibut hotline.
(ii) The daily bag limit is one halibut of any size per day per
person.
(iii) Seaward of the boundary line approximating the 30-fm depth
contour and during days open to the primary fishery, lingcod may be
taken, retained and possessed when allowed by groundfish regulations at
50 CFR 660.360, subpart G.
(iv) Recreational fishing for groundfish and halibut is prohibited
within the South Coast Recreational YRCA and Westport Offshore YRCA. It
is unlawful for recreational fishing vessels to take and retain,
possess, or land halibut taken with recreational gear within the South
Coast Recreational YRCA and Westport Offshore YRCA. A vessel fishing in
the South Coast Recreational YRCA and/or Westport Offshore YRCA may not
be in possession of any halibut. Recreational vessels may transit
through the South Coast Recreational YRCA and Westport Offshore YRCA
with or without halibut on board. The South Coast Recreational YRCA and
Westport Offshore YRCA are areas off the southern Washington coast
established to protect yelloweye rockfish. The South Coast Recreational
YRCA is defined at 50 CFR 660.70(d). The Westport Offshore YRCA is
defined at 50 CFR 660.70(e).
(d) The quota for landings into ports in the area between
Leadbetter Point, WA (46[deg]38.17' N. lat.), and Cape Falcon, OR
(45[deg]46.00' N. lat.) (Columbia River subarea), is 10,254 lbs (4.65
mt).
(i) This subarea is divided into an all-depth fishery and a
nearshore fishery. The nearshore fishery is allocated 500 pounds of the
subarea allocation. The nearshore fishery extends from Leadbetter Point
(46[deg]38.17' N. lat., 124[deg]15.88' W. long.) to the Columbia River
(46[deg]16.00' N. lat., 124[deg]15.88' W. long.) by connecting the
following coordinates in Washington 46[deg]38.17' N. lat.,
124[deg]15.88' W. long. 46[deg]16.00' N. lat., 124[deg]15.88' W. long
and connecting to the boundary line approximating the 40 fm (73 m)
depth contour in Oregon. The nearshore fishery opens May 4, and
continues 3 days per week (Monday-Wednesday) until the nearshore
allocation is taken, or September 30, whichever is earlier. The all
depth fishing season commences on May 1, and continues 4 days a week
(Thursday-Sunday) until 9,754 lbs (4.4 mt) are estimated to have been
taken and the season is closed by the Commission, or September 30,
whichever is earlier. Subsequent to this closure, if there is
insufficient quota remaining in the Columbia River subarea for another
fishing day, then any remaining quota may be transferred inseason to
another Washington and/or Oregon subarea by NMFS via an update to the
recreational halibut hotline. Any remaining quota would be transferred
to each state in proportion to its contribution.
(ii) The daily bag limit is one halibut of any size per day per
person.
(iii) Pacific Coast groundfish may not be taken and retained,
possessed or landed when halibut are on board the vessel, except
sablefish, Pacific cod, and flatfish species when allowed by Pacific
Coast groundfish regulations, during days open to the all depth fishery
only.
(iv) Taking, retaining, possessing, or landing halibut on
groundfish trips is only allowed in the nearshore area on days not open
to all-depth Pacific halibut fisheries.
(e) The quota for landings into ports in the area off Oregon
between Cape Falcon (45[deg]46.00' N. lat.) and Humbug Mountain
(42[deg]40.50' N. lat.) (Oregon Central Coast subarea), is 175,633 lbs
(79.6 mt).
(i) The fishing seasons are:
(A) The first season (the ``inside 40-fm'' fishery) commences July
1, and continues 7 days a week, in the area shoreward of a boundary
line approximating the 40-fm (73-m) depth contour, or until the sub-
quota for the central Oregon ``inside 40-fm'' fishery of 21,076 lbs
(9.56 mt), or any in-season revised subquota, is estimated to have been
taken and the season is closed by the Commission, whichever is earlier.
The boundary line approximating the 40-fm (73-m) depth contour between
45[deg]46.00' N. lat. and 42[deg]40.50' N. lat. is defined at Sec.
660.71(k).
(B) The second season (spring season), which is for the ``all-
depth'' fishery, is open May 14-16, 28-30, June 11-13, and 25-27. Back-
up dates will be July 9-11 and 23-25. The projected catch for this
season is 110,649 lbs (50.2 mt). If sufficient unharvested quota
remains for additional fishing days, the season will
[[Page 17348]]
re-open. If NMFS decides inseason to allow fishing on any of these re-
opening dates, notice of the re-opening will be announced on the NMFS
hotline (206) 526-6667 or (800) 662-9825. No halibut fishing will be
allowed on the re-opening dates unless the date is announced on the
NMFS hotline.
(C) If sufficient unharvested quota remains, the third season
(summer season), which is for the ``all-depth'' fishery, will be open
August 7, 8, 21, 22, September 4, 5, 18, 19, October 2, 3, 16, 17, 30,
31, or until the combined spring season and summer season quotas in the
area between Cape Falcon and Humbug Mountain, OR, are estimated to have
been taken and the area is closed by the Commission, or October 31,
whichever is earlier. NMFS will announce on the NMFS hotline in July
whether the fishery will re-open for the summer season in August. No
halibut fishing will be allowed in the summer season fishery unless the
dates are announced on the NMFS hotline. Additional fishing days may be
opened if sufficient quota remains after the last day of the first
scheduled open period on August 7. If, after this date, an amount
greater than or equal to 60,000 lb (27.2 mt) remains in the combined
all-depth and inside 40-fm (73-m) quota, the fishery may re-open every
Friday and Saturday, beginning (insert date of first back up dates) and
ending October 31. If after September 7, an amount greater than or
equal to 30,000 lb (13.6 mt) remains in the combined all-depth and
inside 40-fm (73-m) quota, and the fishery is not already open every
Friday and Saturday, the fishery may re-open every Friday and Saturday,
beginning September 10 and 11, and ending October 31. After September
7, the bag limit may be increased to two fish of any size per person,
per day. NMFS will announce on the NMFS hotline whether the summer all-
depth fishery will be open on such additional fishing days, what days
the fishery will be open and what the bag limit is.
(ii) The daily bag limit is one halibut of any size per day per
person, unless otherwise specified. NMFS will announce on the NMFS
hotline any bag limit changes.
(iii) During days open to all-depth halibut fishing, no Pacific
Coast groundfish may be taken and retained, possessed or landed, when
halibut are on board the vessel, except sablefish, Pacific cod, and
flatfish species, when allowed by Pacific Coast groundfish regulations.
(iv) When the all-depth halibut fishery is closed and halibut
fishing is permitted only shoreward of a boundary line approximating
the 40-fm (73-m) depth contour, halibut possession and retention by
vessels operating seaward of a boundary line approximating the 40-fm
(73-m) depth contour is prohibited.
(v) Recreational fishing for groundfish and halibut is prohibited
within the Stonewall Bank YRCA. It is unlawful for recreational fishing
vessels to take and retain, possess, or land halibut taken with
recreational gear within the Stonewall Bank YRCA. A vessel fishing in
the Stonewall Bank YRCA may not possess any halibut. Recreational
vessels may transit through the Stonewall Bank YRCA with or without
halibut on board. The Stonewall Bank YRCA is an area off central
Oregon, near Stonewall Bank, intended to protect yelloweye rockfish.
The Stonewall Bank YRCA is defined at Sec. 660.70(f).
(f) The quota for landings into ports in the area south of Humbug
Mountain, OR (42[deg]40.50' N. lat.) to the Oregon/California Border
(42[deg]00.00' N. lat.)(Southern Oregon subarea) is 7,318 lbs (3.3 mt).
(i) The fishing season commences on May 1, and continues 7 days per
week until the subquota is taken, or October 31, whichever is earlier.
(ii) The daily bag limit is one halibut per person with no size
limit.
(g) The quota for landings into ports south of the Oregon/
California Border (42[deg]00.00' N. lat.) and along the California
coast is 25,220 lb (11.4 mt).
(i) The fishing season will be open May 1-15, June 1-15, July 1-15,
August 1-15, and September 1-October 31, or until the subarea quota is
estimated to have been taken and the season is closed by the
Commission, or October 31, whichever is earlier. NMFS will announce any
closure by the Commission on the NMFS hotline (206) 526-6667 or (800)
662-9825.
(ii) The daily bag limit is one halibut of any size per day per
person.
Classification
Section 5 of the Northern Pacific Halibut Act of 1982 (Halibut Act,
16 U.S.C. 773c) allows the Regional Council having authority for a
particular geographical area to develop regulations governing the
allocation and catch of halibut in U.S. Convention waters as long as
those regulations do not conflict with IPHC regulations. This action is
consistent with the Pacific Council's authority to allocate halibut
catches among fishery participants in the waters in and off the U.S.
West Coast.
This action has been determined to be not significant for purposes
of Executive Order 12866.
NMFS prepared an Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (IRFA) in
association with the proposed rule for the 2014 Area 2A Catch Sharing
Plan. The final regulatory flexibility analysis (FRFA) incorporates the
IRFA, a summary of the significant issues raised by the public comments
in response to the IRFA, if any, and NMFS' responses to those comments,
and a summary of the analyses completed to support the action. NMFS
received no comments on the IRFA. A copy of the FRFA is available from
the NMFS West Coast Region (see ADDRESSES) and a summary of the FRFA
follows.
This rule implements changes to the Halibut Catch Sharing Plan
(CSP) that addresses the commercial and recreational fisheries within
Area 2A (waters off the U.S. West Coast). The International Pacific
Halibut Commission (IPHC) sets the overall Total Allowable Catch (TAC)
and the CSP governs the allocation of that TAC between tribal and non-
tribal fisheries, and among non-tribal fisheries. The Council, with
input from industry, the states, and the tribes, may recommend changes
to the CSP. (Note that the IPHC also sets the commercial fishery
opening date(s), duration, and vessel trip limits to ensure that the
quota for the non-tribal fisheries is not exceeded.) For non-tribal
fisheries, the CSP governs allocations of the TAC between various
components of the commercial fisheries and recreational fisheries, and
these allocations may vary depending on the level of the TAC. Seasons,
gear restrictions, and other management measures implemented through
domestic regulations are then used to meet the allocations and
priorities of the CSP. There were no significant issues raised by the
public comments in response to IRFA.
These regulations directly affect fin-fish harvesting and
charterboat businesses. The Small Business Administration (SBA) has
established size criteria for all major industry sectors in the US,
including fish harvesting and fish processing businesses. A business
involved in fish harvesting is a small business if it is independently
owned and operated and not dominant in its field of operation
(including its affiliates) and if it has combined annual receipts, not
in excess of $20.5 million for all its affiliated operations worldwide
(See 79 FR 33647, effective July 14, 2014). For marinas and charter/
party boats, a small business is now defined as one with annual
receipts, not in excess of $7.5 million. A seafood processor is a small
business if it is independently owned and operated, not dominant in its
field of operation, and employs 500 or fewer persons on a full time,
part time,
[[Page 17349]]
temporary, or other basis, at all its affiliated operations worldwide.
A wholesale business servicing the fishing industry is a small business
if it employs 100 or fewer persons on a full time, part time,
temporary, or other basis, at all its affiliated operations worldwide.
A small organization is any nonprofit enterprise that is independently
owned and operated and is not dominant in its field. Small governmental
jurisdictions such as governments of cities, counties, towns,
townships, villages, school districts, or special districts are
considered small jurisdictions if their populations are less than
50,000.
To determine the number of small entities potentially affected by
this rule, NMFS reviewed the number of IPHC issued licenses and other
information. In 2014, 591 vessels were issued IPHC licenses to retain
halibut. IPHC issued licenses for: The directed commercial fishery and
the incidental fishery in the sablefish primary fishery in Area 2A (166
licenses in 2014); incidental halibut caught in the salmon troll
fishery (425 licenses in 2014); and the charterboat fleet (127 licenses
in 2013, the most recent year available). No vessel may participate in
more than one of these three fisheries per year. These license
estimates overstate the number of vessels that participate in the
fishery. IPHC estimates that 60 vessels participated in the directed
commercial fishery, 100 vessels in the incidental commercial (salmon)
fishery, and 13 vessels in the incidental commercial (sablefish)
fishery. Recent information on charterboat activity is not available,
but prior analysis indicated that 60 percent of the IPHC charterboat
license holders may be affected by these regulations. There are no
projected reporting or record keeping requirements with this rule.
There are no large entities involved in the halibut fisheries;
therefore, none of these changes will have a disproportionate negative
effect on small entities versus large entities.
The major effect of halibut management on small entities is from
the internationally set TAC decisions made by the IPHC. Based on the
recommendations of the states, the Council recommended and NMFS is
implementing in this final rule minor changes to the Plan to provide
increased recreational and commercial opportunities under the
allocations that result from the TAC.
The IPHC increased the Area 2A TAC by 1% from 960,000 lbs (2014) to
970,000 lbs (2015). Within this 1% increase, different subgroups are
being affected differently because of the CSP allocation formula.
Changes to the Plan
The 2A Halibut Catch Sharing Plan, as outlined above, allocates the
TAC at various levels. The commercial fishery is further divided into a
directed commercial fishery that is allocated 85 percent of the
commercial allocation of the Pacific halibut TAC, and incidental catch
in the salmon troll fishery that is allocated 15 percent of the
commercial allocation. The directed commercial fishery in Area 2A is
confined to southern Washington (south of 46[deg]53.30' N. lat.),
Oregon, and California. North of 46[deg]53.30' N. lat. (Pt. Chehalis),
the Plan allows for incidental halibut retention in the sablefish
primary fishery when the overall Area 2A TAC is above 900,000 lb (408.2
mt). The Plan also divides the sport fisheries into seven geographic
subareas, each with separate allocations, seasons, and bag limits. The
non-tribal allocation is divided into four shares. At the first level,
there are specific percentage allocations for tribal and non-tribal
fisheries. The non-tribal portion is then allocated to commercial
components and to recreational components. The commercial component is
then apportioned into directed, incidental troll, and incidental
sablefish fisheries. The recreational portions for Oregon and
Washington are furthered apportioned into area subquotas and these
subquotas are further split into seasonal or depth fisheries (nearshore
vs all depths). There may be gear restrictions and other management
measures established as necessary to minimize the potential for the
allocations to be exceeded.
At the September meeting, the Council adopted a range of Plan
alternatives for public review. For 2015, the Council adopted two types
of Plan changes that are discussed separately below. The first were the
routine recreational fishery adjustments proposed by the states each
year to accommodate the needs of their fisheries. The second were
allocation changes to both the non-treaty commercial and recreational
fisheries in order to increase the California allocation. The Council
made final Plan change recommendations from this range at its November
meeting.
For the non-allocation Plan changes the Council considered changes
to the Columbia River, Oregon Central Coast, Southern Oregon, and
California subareas. For the Columbia River subarea the Council
considered: (1) Status quo seasonal management in a spring and summer
fishery and one alternative which removes the seasonal split in the
Columbia River subarea to allow for a single continuous season; (2)
status quo allocation contributions from Washington and Oregon in equal
amounts and one alternative that modifies the Oregon contribution to
the Columbia River subarea to 2.3 percent of the Oregon sport
allocation; and (3) status quo nearshore fishery allocation of 1,500
pounds and one alternative that modifies the Columbia River nearshore
area allocation to 500 pounds. The Council recommended and this final
rule implements each of the alternatives for the Columbia River subarea
because the status quo alternatives do not match the needs of the
fishery. The status quo season structure with an early and late season
was rejected because this structure would unnecessarily strand quota
later in the year when effort decreases substantially. The status quo
Oregon contribution was rejected because it does not match recent
effort in this subarea in Oregon. The status quo nearshore allocation
was rejected because the allocation did not match the effort in the
nearshore area, leaving a large portion of the allocation unavailable
for harvest in other areas.
For the Oregon Central Coast subarea, the Council considered three
all-depth season structures and modifications to the allocation from
the Oregon Central Coast spring fishery to the Southern Oregon subarea.
For the season structure, the Council considered three alternatives:
Status quo, which would separate spring and summer seasons; Alternative
1a, which would combine the spring and summer season and open the
fishery on May 1; and Alternative 1b, which is the same as 1a, except
begin on the first weekend in May that avoid negative tides. For the
allocation change the Council considered: Status quo, which allocates a
portion of the spring fishery to the Southern Oregon subarea, and one
alternative, which allocates a portion of the overall Oregon Central
Coast subarea allocation to the Southern Oregon subarea. The Council
recommended and this final rule implements the status quo alternative
for the season structure and the one alternative for the allocation to
the Southern Oregon subarea. The season structure alternatives were
rejected because they did not match the needs of this fishery. The
allocation in this area is generally caught very quickly, therefore
keeping separate seasons allows for two distinct seasons. The status
quo alternative allocation to the Southern Oregon subarea was rejected
because it does not allow the Southern Oregon subarea an individual
[[Page 17350]]
allocation, which means any overages in this area could affect other
subareas.
For the Southern Oregon subarea, the Council considered three
alternative season dates: Status quo, opening May 1, seven days per
week; Alternative 1, open June 1, seven days per week; and Alternative
2, open July 1 seven days per week. The Council recommended and this
final rule implements the status quo alternative because the other
alternatives do not match the recent effort in this area and does not
match the input the ODFW received at their public meetings.
In the Columbia River and Central Oregon Coast subareas, the
Council considered three alternatives to incidental groundfish
retention allowances: status quo, only Pacific cod and sablefish are
allowed; Alternative 1, revise the bottomfish restrictions such that
all groundfish except rockfish and lingcod would be allowed when
halibut are onboard; and Alternative 2, revise the bottomfish
restrictions such that other flatfish, in addition to Pacific cod and
sablefish, would be allowed when halibut are onboard. The Council
recommended and this final rule implements Alternative 2 because it
allows incidentally caught flatfish species to be landed with halibut
without increasing the catch of overfished species. Status quo was
rejected because it would not allow incidentally caught flatfish
species to be landed. Alternative 1 was rejected because it would
likely increase the take of overfished groundfish species to levels
that would restrict other fisheries due to the small allocations of
overfished species.
For the California subarea, the Council considered three
alternatives: Status quo, fixed season open May 1-July 31 and September
1-October 31, no inseason adjustment; Alternative 1, one month season
between May 1 and October 31, to be determined preseason, with inseason
adjustment as needed; Alternative 2, 15 consecutive day season between
May 1 and October 31, to be determined preseason, with inseason
adjustment as needed. The Council recommended and this final rule
implements a modified Alternative which allows for a seven day a week
fishery, that will be determined preseason through joint consultation
between NMFS and CDFW, and allows for inseason adjustment as necessary.
The other three alternatives were rejected because they either did not
allow for inseason adjustment or predetermined the season dates which
would unnecessarily restrict the season.
No alternatives were considered for the NMFS recommended change to
the Regional Office name because it is administrative in nature and
simply updates the name of the region from ``Northwest'' to ``West
Coast.''
The changes to the Columbia River subarea allocations and
incidentally landed species allowances are expected to increase
recreational opportunities by shifting underutilized fishery allocation
from the late to the early part of the season when effort is higher and
by turning previously discarded incidental flatfish catch into landed
catch. Changes to the Oregon Central Coast subarea allocation and
incidentally landed species are expected to prolong seasons and
increase the total number of fishing days and are expected to increase
recreational opportunities by turning previously discarded incidental
catch into landed catch. None of these changes are controversial and
none are expected to result in substantial environmental or economic
impacts. These actions are intended to enhance the conservation of
Pacific halibut, to provide angler opportunity where available, and to
protect overfished groundfish species from incidental catch in the
halibut fisheries. Because the goal of the action is to maximize angler
participation and thus to maximize the economic benefits of the
fishery, NMFS did not analyze alternatives to the above changes to the
Plan other than the proposed changes and the status quo for purposes of
the FRFA. Status quo would be the 2014 Plan applied to the 2015 TAC.
Effects of the status quo and the final changes are similar because the
changes to the Plan for 2015 are not substantially different from the
2014 Plan. The changes to the Plan are not expected to have a
significant economic impact.
Changes to Allocations
In response to the growing California sport fishery, for 2014, a
specific recreational subquota was created--1% of the non-tribal quota
or 6,240 lbs. In prior years, the California fishery was a portion of
the Southern Oregon/Northern California subquota. Preliminary catch
data for 2015 show that the California fishery has taken 31,226 lbs,
five times the California subquota. Because the 2014 subquota was
insuffiencent to meet the growth in the California fishery, the Council
reviewed six alternatives that allocate halibut to the various sectors
differently between the sectors depending on the size of the TAC.
Status Quo: The non-treaty allocation is apportioned according to the
2014 CSP: Washington sport (36.60%), Oregon sport (30.70%), California
sport (1.00%), and commercial (31.70%). Alternative 1: Maintain
allocations as described in the CSP (Status Quo), except increase the
California sport allocation by two percent, for a total California
sport allocation of three percent, by reducing the non-treaty
commercial fishery share. Alternative 2, Option A: Same allocations as
described in Alternative 1 when the 2A TAC is one million pounds or
less. When the 2A TAC is above one million pounds, the California sport
allocation would increase by an additional one percent, for a total
California sport allocation of four percent, by reducing the non-treaty
commercial fishery share. Alternative 2, Option B: Same allocations as
described in Alternative 1 when the 2A TAC is one million pounds or
less. When the 2A TAC is greater than one million pounds, the first one
million pounds of the 2A TAC shall be distributed according to the
Alternative 1 allocations. For the portion of the 2A TAC that exceeds
one million pounds, the California sport allocation would increase to
30-50 percent of the non-treaty share, and allocation percentages for
the non-treaty commercial and recreational (Washington and Oregon)
would be reduced to remain proportional to the status quo non-treaty
shares. Alternative 3: Increase the California sport allocation by two
percent, for a total California sport allocation of three percent, when
the 2A TAC is less than one million pounds by reducing the three major
non-treaty group allocations (i.e., Washington sport, Oregon sport, and
commercial). When the 2A TAC is greater than one million pounds, the
first one million pounds of the 2A TAC shall be distributed according
to the Alternative 3 allocations. For the portion of the 2A TAC that
exceeds one million pounds, the California sport allocation would
increase to four percent of the non-treaty share by reducing the three
major non-treaty group allocations. Alternative 4: Increase the
California sport share by three percent, for a total allocation of four
percent, when the 2A TAC is less than one million pounds by reducing
the three major non-treaty group allocations. When the 2A TAC is
greater than one million pounds, the first one million pounds of the 2A
TAC shall be distributed according to the Alternative 4 allocations.
For the portion of the 2A TAC that exceeds one million pounds, the
California sport allocation would increase to five percent of the non-
treaty share by reducing the three major non-treaty group allocations.
Alternative 5: Increase the California sport share by four percent, for
a total allocation of five percent, when the 2A TAC is less than
[[Page 17351]]
one million pounds by reducing the three major non-treaty group
allocations. When the 2A TAC is greater than one million pounds, the
first one million pounds of the 2A TAC shall be distributed according
to the Alternative 5 allocations. For the portion of the 2A TAC that
exceeds one million pounds, the California sport allocation would
increase to six percent of the non-treaty share by reducing the three
major non- treaty group allocations. In addition to modifying the
commercial and recreational fisheries allocations, suboptions within
the allocation alternatives were evaluated for when the TAC is expected
to be greater than one million pounds to cap the California allocation.
These caps were designed to cap the California allocation to a level
that the fishery could reasonably be expected to harvest in order to
not strand pounds, therefore, making them unavailable to other
fisheries. However, a one million pound TAC is a level the fishery has
not experienced in recent years nor is it anticipated for the near term
future.
For 2015, the Council has recommended and this final rule
implements Alternative 4 (the preferred alternative). For 2015, the
Council recommended to increase the California recreational fishery
allocation to 4% of the non-tribal allocation by reducing the
Washington and Oregon sport and commercial allocations each by 1
percent. This modification is intended to provide an allocation to
California that better matches recent effort. The CDFW has also
committed to increased inseason monitoring in collaboration with NMFS.
Pacific halibut sport fisheries in California have exceeded the
allocation in recent years and therefore the goal of increased inseason
monitoring and action, as necessary, is to keep the subarea within its
allocation. Further, instead of a fixed season, CDFW will recommend to
NMFS, similar to subareas in Washington and Oregon, a season length
based on expected catch to attain the subarea quota. The status quo
allocation was rejected because if maintained, the California fishery
is likely to continue to exceed its quota and suffer an early shutdown.
Under the status quo alternative, the overall halibut TAC will run the
risk of being exceeded, and therefore it was not selected. Alternatives
1, 2, and 3 provide increases to the recreational fishery based on
decreasing the commercial quota by 2 percent. Alternative 5 increases
the California subquota by 4 percent by reducing the Oregon and
Washington subquota and the non-tribal commercial quota. While this
favors the California fishery, it is at the expense of too large of a
reduction in the other fisheries, and therefore it was not selected.
Under Alternative 4, the preferred alternative, the increase of 3%
to the California subquota comes from reducing the WA sport quota by
1%, the Oregon sport quota by 1%, and the non-tribal commercial quota
by 1%. The overall effect is a shift of 1% reduction of the non-tribal
commercial directed quota to the total sport quota allocation. From an
economic perspective, it is unclear whether this shift is negative or
positive given available analyses. However the overall economic effects
of this shift is small as the potential loss of about $300,000 in ex-
vessel revenues must be weighed by the gain of increased charterboat
recreational activities.
Pursuant to Executive Order 13175, the Secretary recognizes the
sovereign status and co-manager role of Indian tribes over shared
Federal and tribal fishery resources. Section 302(b)(5) of the
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act establishes a
seat on the Council for a representative of an Indian tribe with
federally recognized fishing rights from California, Oregon,
Washington, or Idaho. The U.S. Government formally recognizes that 13
Washington tribes have treaty rights to fish for Pacific halibut. The
Plan allocates 35 percent of the Area 2A TAC to U.S. treaty Indian
tribes in the State of Washington. Each of the treaty tribes has the
discretion to administer their fisheries and to establish their own
policies to achieve program objectives. Accordingly, tribal allocations
and regulations, including the changes to the Plan, have been developed
in with the affected tribe(s) and, insofar as possible, with tribal
consensus.
In 2014, an Environmental Assessment (EA) was prepared analyzing
the continuing implementation of the Catch Sharing Plan for 2014-2016.
The Plan changes for 2015 are not expected to have any effects on the
environment beyond those discussed in the EA and in the finding of no
significant impact (FONSI).
NMFS conducted a formal section 7 consultation under the Endangered
Species Act for the Area 2A Catch Sharing Plan for 2014-2016 addressing
the effects of implementing the Plan on ESA-listed yelloweye rockfish,
canary rockfish, and bocaccio in Puget Sound, the Southern Distinct
Population Segment (DPS) of green sturgeon, salmon, marine mammals, and
sea turtles. In the biological opinion the Regional Administrator
determined that the implementation of the Catch Sharing Plan for 2014-
2016 is not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of Puget Sound
yelloweye rockfish, Puget Sound canary rockfish, Puget Sound bocaccio,
Puget Sound Chinook, Lower Columbia River Chinook, and green sturgeon.
It is not expected to result in the destruction or adverse modification
of critical habitat for green sturgeon or result in the destruction or
adverse modification of proposed critical habitat for Puget Sound
yelloweye rockfish, canary rockfish, bocaccio. In addition, the opinion
concluded that the implementation of the Plan is not likely to
adversely affect marine mammals, the remaining listed salmon species
and sea turtles, and is not likely to adversely affect critical habitat
for Southern resident killer whales, stellar sea lions, leatherback sea
turtles, any listed salmonids, and humpback whales. Further, the
Regional Administrator determined that implementation of the Catch
Sharing Plan will have no effect on southern eulachon, this
determination was made in a letter dated March 12, 2014. The 2015 Plan
and regulations do not change the conclusions from the biological
opinion.
NMFS has initiated consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service on the effects of the halibut fishery on seabirds, bull trout,
and sea otters. This consultation is not completed at this time. NMFS
has prepared a 7(a)(2)/7(d) determination memo under the ESA concluding
that any effects of the 2015 fishery on listed seabirds are expected to
be quite low, and are not likely to jeopardize the continued existence
of any listed species. Further, in no way will the 2015 fishery make an
irreversible or irretrievable commitment of resources by the agency.
NMFS finds good cause to waive the 30-day delay in effectiveness
and make this rule effective upon publication in the Federal Register,
pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3), so that this final rule may become
effective on April 1, 2015, when incidental halibut retention in the
sablefish primary fishery begins. While the 2015 TAC is higher than the
2014 TAC, due to the changes made to the Plan, the allocations for the
salmon troll and sablefish primary fisheries are actually lower in 2015
than they were in 2014. Therefore, allowing the 2014 measures to remain
in place could result in significant management changes later in the
year to prevent exceeding the lower 2015 subarea allocations. Finally,
this final rule approves the Council's 2015 Plan that responds to the
needs of the fisheries in each state and approves the portions of the
Plan allocating
[[Page 17352]]
incidentally caught halibut in the salmon troll and sablefish primary
fisheries, which start April 1. Therefore, allowing the 2014 subarea
allocations and Plan to remain in place would not respond to the needs
of the fishery and would be in conflict with the Council's final
recommendation for 2015. For all of these reasons, a delay in
effectiveness could ultimately cause economic harm to the fishing
industry and associated fishing communities by reducing fishing
opportunity later in the year to keep catch in the subareas within the
lower 2015 allocations or result in harvest levels inconsistent with
the best available scientific information. As a result of the potential
harm to fishing communities that could be caused by delaying the
effectiveness of this final rule, NMFS finds good cause to waive the
30-day delay in effectiveness and make this rule effective upon
publication in the Federal Register.
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 300
Administrative practice and procedure, Antarctica, Canada, Exports,
Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Imports, Indians, Labeling, Marine resources,
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Russian Federation,
Transportation, Treaties, Wildlife.
Dated: March 26, 2015.
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 300 is amended
as follows:
PART 300--INTERNATIONAL FISHERIES REGULATIONS
Subpart E--Pacific Halibut Fisheries
0
1. The authority citation for part 300, subpart E continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 773-773k.
0
2. In Sec. 300.63, revise paragraphs (a), (c)(1) introductory text,
(c)(3)(ii), and (c)(5), to read as follows:
* * * * *
Sec. 300.63 Catch sharing plan and domestic management measures in
area 2A.
(a) A catch sharing plan (CSP) may be developed by the Pacific
Fishery Management Council and approved by NMFS for portions of the
fishery. Any approved CSP may be obtained from the Administrator, West
Coast Region, NMFS.
* * * * *
(c) * * *
(1) The Regional Administrator, NMFS West Coast Region, after
consultation with the Chairman of the Pacific Fishery Management
Council, the Commission Executive Director, and the Fisheries
Director(s) of the affected state(s), or their designees, is authorized
to modify regulations during the season after making the following
determinations:
* * * * *
(3) * * *
(ii) Actual notice of inseason management actions will be provided
by a telephone hotline administered by the West Coast Region, NMFS, at
206-526-6667 or 800-662-9825 (May through October) and by U.S. Coast
Guard broadcasts. These broadcasts are announced on Channel 16 VHF-FM
and 2182 kHz at frequent intervals. The announcements designate the
channel or frequency over which the notice to mariners will be
immediately broadcast. Since provisions of these regulations may be
altered by inseason actions, sport fishers should monitor either the
telephone hotline or U.S. Coast Guard broadcasts for current
information for the area in which they are fishing.
* * * * *
(5) Availability of data. The Regional Administrator will compile,
in aggregate form, all data and other information relevant to the
action being taken and will make them available for public review
during normal office hours at the West Coast Regional Office, NMFS,
Sustainable Fisheries Division, 7600 Sand Point Way NE., Seattle,
Washington.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2015-07329 Filed 3-31-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
