Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone off Alaska; Petition for Emergency Action To Close the Red King Crab Savings Area and Subarea to All Fishing Gear With Bottom Contact, 65183-65184 [2022-23549]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 208 (Friday, October 28, 2022)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 65183-65184]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-23549]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Parts 679 and 680

[RTID 0648-XC495]


Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone off Alaska; Petition for 
Emergency Action To Close the Red King Crab Savings Area and Subarea to 
All Fishing Gear With Bottom Contact

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

ACTION: Announcement of receipt of petition for rulemaking; request for 
comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces the receipt of a petition for emergency 
rulemaking under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act (MSA) from the Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers (ABSC). This 
petition requests NMFS take action to close the Red King Crab Savings 
Area (RKCSA) and Red King Crab Savings Subarea (RKCSS) to all fishing 
gear to protect Bristol Bay red king crab (BBRKC) and their habitat at 
a time of historically low crab abundance for a period of 6 months from 
January 1, 2023 to June 30, 2023.

DATES: Submit comments on or before December 5, 2022.

ADDRESSES: You may send comments, identified by Docket ID NOAA-NMFS-
2022-0111 by any of the following methods:
     Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public 
comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to https://www.regulations.gov and enter NOAA-NMFS-2022-0111 in the Search box. 
Click on the ``Comment'' icon, complete the required fields, and enter 
or attach your comments.
     Mail: Submit written comments to Assistant Regional 
Administrator, Sustainable Fisheries Division, Alaska Region NMFS. Mail 
comments to P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802-1668.
    Instructions: Comments sent by any other method, to any other 
address or individual, or received after the end of the comment period, 
may not be considered by NMFS. All comments received are a part of the 
public record and will generally be posted for public viewing on 
www.regulations.gov without change. All personal identifying 
information (e.g., name, address), confidential business information, 
or otherwise sensitive information submitted voluntarily by the sender 
will be publicly accessible. NMFS will accept anonymous comments (enter 
``N/A'' in the required fields if you wish to remain anonymous).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kelly Cates, 907-586-7228.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    This petition requests that NMFS take emergency action to close the 
RKCSA and RKCSS to all fishing gear with bottom contact (i.e., bottom 
trawl, pelagic trawl, pot gear and longline gear). Section 305(c)(1) of 
the MSA states: ``If the Secretary finds that an emergency exists or 
that interim measures are needed to reduce overfishing for any fishery, 
he may promulgate emergency regulations or interim measures necessary 
to address the emergency or overfishing, without regard to whether a 
fishery management plan exists for such fishery.'' NMFS's Policy 
Guidelines for the Use of Emergency Rules require that an emergency 
must exist and that NMFS have an administrative record justifying 
emergency regulatory action and demonstrating compliance with the MSA 
and the National Standards (see NMFS Procedure 01-101-07; 62 FR 44421, 
August 21, 1997). Emergency rulemaking is intended for circumstances 
that are ``extremely urgent,'' where ``substantial harm to or 
disruption of the . . . fishery . . . would be caused in the time it 
would take to follow standard rulemaking procedures (62 FR 44421, 
August 21, 1997).''
    Under NMFS's Policy Guidelines for the Use of Emergency Rules, the 
phrase ``an emergency exists involving any fishery'' is defined as a 
situation that meets the following three criteria:
    1. Results from recent, unforeseen events or recently discovered 
circumstances;
    2. Presents serious conservation or management problems in the 
fishery; and
    3. Can be addressed through emergency regulations for which the 
immediate benefits outweigh the value of advance notice, public 
comment, and deliberative consideration of the impacts on participants 
to the same extent as would be expected under the normal rulemaking 
process.
    The RKCSA and RKCSS are areas of the Bering Sea that have been 
identified by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) 
and NMFS as important for BBRKC conservation and subject to multiple 
management actions over time to reduce non-directed fishery impacts to 
the BBRKC stock. The petitioner's requested action would affect 
fisheries in the exclusive economic zone off Alaska managed under the 
fishery management plan (FMP) for the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands 
Management Area (BSAI) King and Tanner Crab Fisheries (Crab FMP) and 
the FMP for Groundfish of the BSAI. The Council prepared these FMPs 
under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et 
seq.). Regulations implementing the FMPs appear at 50 CFR parts 679 and 
680.
    The Crab FMP was approved by the Secretary of Commerce on June 2, 
1989. The Crab FMP establishes a State/Federal cooperative management 
regime that delegates crab management to the State of Alaska with 
Federal oversight. State regulations are subject to the provisions of 
the Crab FMP, including its goals and objectives, the MSA, and other 
applicable Federal laws.
    The abundance estimate calculated for mature female BBRKC using the 
eastern Bering Sea bottom trawl survey (Trawl Survey) data in 2021 and 
2022 were the lowest two abundances on record since 1995. Using the 
data from the Trawl Survey, the State provided an abundance estimation 
that was below the State of Alaska regulatory harvest strategy 
threshold of 8.4 million mature female crab to open a directed fishery 
in 2021 and in 2022. As a result, the directed fishery was closed for 
the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 seasons. While BBRKC are closed to directed 
fishing, the stock is not currently overfished or subject to 
overfishing.

Information in the Petition

    NMFS received the petition on September 29, 2022. The ABSC requests 
that the Secretary undertake emergency rulemaking to close the RKCSA 
and RKCSS to all fishing gears with bottom contact from January 1, 2023 
to June 30, 2023 in order to protect BBRKC and their habitat at a time 
of historically low crab abundance. According to the petition filed by 
the ABSC, the reasons such action is needed through emergency 
rulemaking are:
    1. The RKCSA is already closed year-round to bottom trawl gear to 
protect BBRKC and crab habitat from fishing impacts. In addition, in 
years when the directed fishery is closed, the RKCSS, the additional 
area to the south of the

[[Page 65184]]

RKCSA, is also closed year-round to bottom trawl to protect crab and 
crab habitat.
    2. BBRKC molting and mating occurs from January through June/July, 
and during this period their shells are soft, providing less protection 
from interaction with fishing gear and being handled. Therefore, 
impacts to the stock may be more intensive during this time period.
    3. Closing these areas to all fishing gears known to contact the 
bottom (which would effectively add pelagic trawl, pot gear, and 
longline gear to the existing closure to bottom trawl gear) would 
provide additional protections for BBRKC and reduce impacts on their 
habitat from fishing during a critical period of the crab life cycle. 
This would help the stock rebuild to produce optimum yield over the 
long-term.
    NMFS solicits comments on whether the request for rulemaking meets 
the requirements of section 305(c)(1) of the MSA and the likely 
benefits and impacts of NMFS taking the requested action. Comments 
received will be considered by NMFS in determining whether to proceed 
with the development of the emergency action suggested by ABSC. The 
Council will also consider the petition at its December Council Meeting 
and accept public comments at that time. NMFS will consider all 
comments submitted in response to this announcement and at the December 
Council Meeting. If NMFS approves the petition and undertakes an 
emergency rulemaking, the Assistant Administrator Fisheries, NOAA, will 
publish a notice of the agency's decision or action in the Federal 
Register.

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

    Dated: October 25, 2022.
Samuel D. Rauch, III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-23549 Filed 10-27-22; 8:45 am]
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