This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains notices to the public of the proposed

issuance of rules and regulations. The

purpose of these notices is to give interested

persons an opportunity to participate in the

rule making prior to the adoption of the final

rules.

Proposed Rules Federal Register

9473 

Vol. 86, No. 29 

Tuesday, February 16, 2021 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 660 

[Docket No. 210205–0013] 

RIN 0648–BK25 

Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; 

Fisheries Off West Coast States; 

Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; 2021 

Harvest Specifications for Pacific 

Whiting, and 2021 Pacific Whiting 

Tribal Allocation 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Proposed rule; request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: NMFS issues the proposed 

rule for the 2021 Pacific whiting fishery 

under the authority of the Pacific Coast 

Groundfish Fishery Management Plan, 

the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act, the 

Pacific Whiting Act of 2006, and other 

applicable laws. This proposed rule 

would allocate 17.5 percent of the U.S. 

total allowable catch of Pacific whiting 

for 2021 to Pacific Coast Indian tribes 

that have a treaty right to harvest 

groundfish, and implement set-asides 

for Pacific whiting research and 

incidental mortality in other fisheries. 

The proposed measures are intended to 

help prevent overfishing, achieve 

optimum yield, and ensure that 

management measures are based on the 

best scientific information available. 

DATES: Comments on this proposed rule 

must be received no later than March 

18, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

on this document, identified by NOAA– 

NMFS–2021–0002 by any of the 

following methods: 

• Electronic Submission: Submit all 

electronic public comments via the 

Federal eRulemaking Portal. Go to 

www.regulations.gov/ 

#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2021- 

0002, click the ‘‘Comment Now!’’ icon, 

complete the required fields, and enter 

or attach your comments. 

• Mail: Barry Thom, c/o Stacey 

Miller, Sustainable Fisheries Division, 

West Coast Region, NMFS, 1201 NE 

Lloyd Blvd. Suite 1100, Portland, OR 

97232. 

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 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, etc.), 

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). 

Electronic Access 

This proposed rule is accessible via 

the internet at the Office of the Federal 

Register website at https://

www.federalregister.gov. Background 

information and documents are 

available at the NMFS website at 

https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov and at 

the Pacific Fishery Management 

Council’s website at http://

www.pcouncil.org/. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Stacey Miller, phone: 503–231–6290, 

and email: Stacey.Miller@noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

This rule proposes establishing the 

2021 set-asides for research and 

incidental mortality of Pacific whiting 

as recommended by the Pacific Fishery 

Management Council (Council) and the 

2021 tribal allocation for the Pacific 

whiting fishery. The allocations for 

Pacific whiting would be effective until 

December 31, 2021. 

The transboundary stock of Pacific 

whiting is managed through the 

Agreement Between the Government of 

the United States of America and the 

Government of Canada on Pacific Hake/ 

Whiting of 2003 (Agreement). The 

Agreement establishes bilateral bodies 

to implement the terms of the 

Agreement. The bilateral bodies 

include: The Joint Management 

Committee (JMC), which recommends 

the annual catch level for Pacific 

whiting; the Joint Technical Committee 

(JTC), which conducts the Pacific 

whiting stock assessment; the Scientific 

Review Group (SRG), which reviews the 

stock assessment; and the Advisory 

Panel (AP), which provides stakeholder 

input to the JMC. 

The Agreement establishes a default 

harvest policy of F–40 percent, which 

means a fishing mortality rate that 

would reduce the spawning biomass to 

40 percent of the estimated unfished 

level. The Agreement also allocates 

73.88 percent of the Pacific whiting total 

allowable catch (TAC) to the United 

States and 26.12 percent of the TAC to 

Canada. Based on recommendations 

from the Treaty’s JTC, SRG, and AP, the 

JMC determines the overall Pacific 

whiting TAC by March 25th of each 

year, which is subsequently approved 

by NMFS, under the delegation of 

authority from the Secretary of 

Commerce. 

The final rule will announce the total 

2021 U.S. TAC and establish the 2021 

tribal allocation and non-tribal fishery 

harvest guideline (HG), also called the 

non-tribal allocation. To determine the 

HG, the 2021 tribal allocation and setaside for research and incidental 

mortality are deducted from the total 

U.S. TAC. The HG is then allocated 

among the three non-tribal sectors of the 

Pacific whiting fishery: The catcher/ 

processor (C/P) Coop Program, the 

Mothership (MS) Coop Program and the 

Shorebased Individual Fishing Quota 

(IFQ) Program. The HG is not included 

in this proposed rule due to the timing 

of the SRG and JMC meetings when the 

2021 overall TAC will be determined by 

the JMC, and subsequently approved by 

the Secretary of Commerce, with the 

concurrence of the Department of State. 

Tribal Allocations 

The regulations at 50 CFR 660.50(d) 

identify the procedures for 

implementing the treaty rights that 

Pacific Coast treaty Indian tribes have to 

harvest groundfish in their usual and 

accustomed fishing areas in U.S. waters. 

Tribes with treaty fishing rights in the 

area covered by the Pacific Coast 

Groundfish FMP request allocations, 

set-asides, or regulations specific to the 

tribes during the Council’s biennial 

harvest specifications and management 


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9474 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 29 / Tuesday, February 16, 2021 / Proposed Rules 

measures process. The regulations state 

that the Secretary will develop tribal 

allocations and regulations in 

consultation with the affected tribe(s) 

and, insofar as possible, with tribal 

consensus. 

NMFS allocates a portion of the U.S. 

TAC of Pacific whiting to the tribal 

fishery, following the process 

established in 50 CFR 660.50(d). The 

tribal allocation is subtracted from the 

U.S. Pacific whiting TAC before 

allocation to the non-tribal sectors. 

Four Washington coastal treaty Indian 

tribes including the Makah Indian Tribe, 

Quileute Indian Tribe, Quinault Indian 

Nation, and the Hoh Indian Tribe 

(collectively, the ‘‘Treaty Tribes’’), can 

participate in the tribal Pacific whiting 

fishery. Tribal allocations of Pacific 

whiting have been based on discussions 

with the Treaty Tribes regarding their 

intent for those fishing years. The Hoh 

Tribe has not expressed an interest in 

participating in the Pacific whiting 

fishery to date. The Quileute Tribe and 

Quinault Indian Nation have expressed 

interest in beginning to participate in 

the Pacific whiting fishery at a future 

date. To date, only the Makah Tribe has 

prosecuted a tribal fishery for Pacific 

whiting, and has harvested Pacific 

whiting since 1996 using midwater 

trawl gear. 

Table 1 below provides a recent 

history of U.S. TACs and annual tribal 

allocation in metric tons (mt). 

TABLE 1—U.S. TOTAL ALLOWABLE

CATCH AND ANNUAL TRIBAL ALLOCATION IN METRIC TONS

[mt] 

Year U.S. TAC 1 Tribal allocation 

2010 ....... 193,935 mt ...... 49,939 mt. 

2011 ....... 290,903 mt ...... 66,908 mt. 

2012 ....... 186,037 mt ...... 48,556 mt. 

2013 ....... 269,745 mt ...... 63,205 mt. 

2014 ....... 316,206 mt ...... 55,336 mt. 

2015 ....... 325,072 mt ...... 56,888 mt. 

2016 ....... 367,553 mt ...... 64,322 mt. 

2017 ....... 441,433 mt ...... 77,251 mt. 

2018 ....... 441,433 mt ...... 77,251 mt. 

2019 ....... 441,433 mt ...... 77,251 mt. 

2020 ....... 424,810 mt ...... 74,342 mt. 

1Beginning in 2012, the United States started using the term Total Allowable Catch, or 

TAC, based on the Agreement between the 

Government of the United States of America 

and the Government of Canada on Pacific 

Hake/Whiting. Prior to 2012, the terms Optimal 

Yield (OY) and Annual Catch Limit (ACL) were 

used. 

In 2009, NMFS, the states of 

Washington and Oregon, and the Treaty 

Tribes started a process to determine the 

long-term tribal allocation for Pacific 

whiting. However, these groups have 

not yet determined a long-term 

allocation. In order to ensure Treaty 

Tribes continue to receive allocations, 

this rule proposes the 2021 tribal 

allocation of Pacific whiting. This 

allocation is not intended to set 

precedent for future allocations. 

In exchanges between NMFS and the 

Treaty Tribes during November and 

December 2020, the Makah Tribe 

indicated their intent to participate in 

the tribal Pacific whiting fishery in 2021 

and requested 17.5 percent of the U.S. 

TAC. The Quinault Indian Nation, 

Quileute Indian Tribe and Hoh Indian 

Tribe informed NMFS in December 

2020 that they will not participate in the 

2021 fishery. NMFS will contact the 

Tribes during the proposed rule 

comment period to refine the 2021 

allocation before allocating the final 

U.S. TAC between the tribal and nontribal whiting fisheries. NMFS proposes 

a tribal allocation that accommodates 

the tribal request, specifically 17.5 

percent of the U.S. TAC. NMFS has 

determined that the current scientific 

information regarding the distribution 

and abundance of the coastal Pacific 

whiting stock indicates the 17.5 percent 

is within the range of the tribal treaty 

right to Pacific whiting. 

The JMC is anticipated to recommend 

the overall and corresponding U.S./ 

Canada TACs no later than March 25, 

2021. The U.S. TAC is 73.88 percent of 

the overall TAC. Until this TAC is set, 

NMFS cannot propose a specific amount 

for the tribal allocation. The Pacific 

whiting fishery begins on May 15, and 

we expect to publish the final rule to set 

Pacific whiting specifications for 2021 

by early May. Therefore, to allow for 

public input on the tribal allocation, 

NMFS is issuing this proposed rule 

without the final 2021 TAC. However, 

to provide a basis for public input, 

NMFS is describing a range of potential 

tribal allocations in this proposed rule 

by applying the proposed tribal 

allocation to a range of potential TACs 

derived from past harvest levels. 

In order to project a range of potential 

tribal allocations for 2021, we applied 

the proposed tribal allocation of 17.5 

percent to the range of U.S. TACs over 

the last 10 years, 2011 through 2020 

(plus or minus 25 percent to capture 

variability in stock abundance). The 

range of U.S. TACs in that time period 

was 186,037 mt (2012) to 441,433 mt 

(2017, 2018 and 2019). Applying the 25 

percent variability results in a range of 

potential TACs of 139,527 mt to 551,791 

mt for 2021. Using the proposed tribal 

allocation of 17.5 percent, the potential 

range of the tribal allocations for 2021 

would be between 24,417 mt; and 

96,563 mt. 

Non-Tribal Research and Bycatch SetAsides 

The U.S. non-tribal whiting fishery is 

managed under the Council’s Pacific 

Coast Groundfish FMP. Each year, the 

Council recommends the amount of 

Pacific whiting to accommodate 

incidental mortality of Pacific whiting 

in research activities and nongroundfish fisheries based on estimates 

of scientific research catch and 

estimated bycatch mortality in nongroundfish fisheries. At its November 

2020 meeting, the Council 

recommended an incidental mortality 

set-aside of 750 mt for 2021. This is a 

reduction of the amount set-aside for 

research and incidental mortality from 

1,500 mt in 2020. The 750 mt 

recommendation, however, reflects the 

recent 3 year average mortality that has 

declined from 942 mt in 2014–2016 to 

216 mt in 2017–2019. This rule 

proposes the Council’s 

recommendations. 

This proposed rule would be 

implemented under the statutory and 

regulatory authority of section 304(b) 

and 305(d) of the Magnuson-Stevens 

Act, and the Pacific Whiting Act of 

2006. With this proposed rule, NMFS, 

acting on behalf of the Secretary, would 

ensure that the FMP is implemented in 

a manner consistent with treaty rights of 

four Treaty Tribes to fish in their ‘‘usual 

and accustomed grounds and stations’’ 

in common with non-tribal citizens. 

United States v. Washington, 384 F. 

Supp. 313 (W.D. 1974). 

Classification 

Pursuant to section 304(b)(1)(A) and 

305(d) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the 

NMFS Assistant Administrator has 

determined that this proposed rule is 

consistent with the Pacific Coast 

Groundfish FMP, other provisions of the 

Magnuson-Stevens Act, and other 

applicable law, subject to further 

consideration after public comment. In 

making its final determination, NMFS 

will take into account the complete 

record, including the data, views, and 

comments received during the comment 

period. 

Pursuant to Executive Order 13175, 

this proposed rule was developed after 

meaningful consultation and 

collaboration with tribal officials from 

the area covered by the Pacific Coast 

Groundfish FMP. Under the MagnusonStevens Act at 16 U.S.C. 1852(b)(5), one 

of the voting members of the Pacific 

Council must be a representative of an 

Indian tribe with federally recognized 

fishing rights from the area of the 

Council’s jurisdiction. In addition, 

regulations implementing the Pacific 


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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 29 / Tuesday, February 16, 2021 / Proposed Rules 9475 

Coast Groundfish FMP establish a 

procedure by which the tribes with 

treaty fishing rights in the area covered 

by the Pacific Coast Groundfish FMP 

request new allocations or regulations 

specific to the tribes, in writing, before 

the first of the two meetings at which 

the Council considers groundfish 

management measures. The regulations 

at 50 CFR 660.324(d) further state, ‘‘the 

Secretary will develop tribal allocations 

and regulations under this paragraph in 

consultation with the affected tribe(s) 

and, insofar as possible, with tribal 

consensus.’’ The tribal management 

measures in this proposed rule have 

been developed following these 

procedures. 

The Office of Management and Budget 

has determined that this proposed rule 

is not significant for purposes of 

Executive Order 12866. 

An Initial Regulatory Flexibility 

Analyses (IRFA) were prepared for this 

action, as required by section 603 of the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA). The 

IRFA describes the economic impact 

this proposed rule, if adopted, would 

have on small entities. A description of 

the action, why it is being considered, 

and the legal basis for this action is 

contained in the SUMMARY section and at 

the beginning of the SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION section of the preamble. A 

summary of the IRFA follow. Copies of 

the IRFAs are available from NMFS (See 

ADDRESSES). 

Under the RFA, the term ‘‘small 

entities’’ includes small businesses, 

small organizations, and small 

governmental jurisdictions. The Small 

Business Administration has established 

size criteria for entities involved in the 

fishing industry that qualify as small 

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 $11 million for all its affiliated 

operations worldwide (see 80 FR 81194, 

December 29, 2015). 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. For 

marinas and charter/party boats, a small 

business now defined as one with 

annual receipts, not in excess of $7.5 

million. 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. Effective February 26, 

2016, a seafood processor is a small 

business if it is independently owned 

and operated, not dominant in its field 

of operation, and employs 750 or fewer 

persons on a full time, part time, 

temporary, or other basis, at all its 

affiliated operations worldwide (See 

NAICS 311710 at 81 FR 4469; January 

26, 2016). For purposes of rulemaking, 

NMFS is also applying the seafood 

processor standard to catcher processors 

because whiting C/Ps earn the majority 

of the revenue from processed seafood 

product. 

Description and Estimate of the Number 

of Small Entities to Which the Rule 

Applies, and Estimate of Economic 

Impacts by Entity Size and Industry 

This proposed rule would affect how 

Pacific whiting is allocated to the 

following sectors/programs: Tribal, 

Shorebased IFQ Program Trawl Fishery, 

MS Coop Program Whiting At-sea Trawl 

Fishery, and C/P Coop Program Whiting 

At-sea Trawl Fishery. The amount of 

Pacific whiting allocated to these sectors 

is based on the U.S. TAC. 

We expect one tribal entity to fish for 

Pacific whiting in 2021. Tribes are not 

considered small entities for the 

purposes of RFA. Impacts to tribes are 

nevertheless considered in this analysis. 

As of January 2021, the Shorebased IFQ 

Program is composed of 166 Quota 

Share permits/accounts (134 of which 

were allocated whiting quota pounds), 

and 35 first receivers, one of which is 

designated as whiting-only receivers 

and 11 that may receive both whiting 

and non-whiting. These regulations also 

directly affect participants in the MS 

Co-op Program, a general term to 

describe the limited access program that 

applies to eligible harvesters and 

processors in the MS sector of the 

Pacific whiting at-sea trawl fishery. This 

program consists of six MS processor 

permits, and a catcher vessel fleet 

currently composed of a single co-op, 

with 34 Mothership/Catcher Vessel 

(MS/CV) endorsed permits (with three 

permits each having two catch history 

assignments). These regulations also 

directly affect the C/P Co-op Program, 

composed of 10 C/P endorsed permits 

owned by three companies that have 

formed a single co-op. These co-ops are 

considered large entities from several 

perspectives; they have participants that 

are large entities, and have in total more 

than 750 employees worldwide 

including affiliates. Although there are 

three non-tribal sectors, many 

companies participate in two sectors 

and some participate in all three sectors. 

As part of the permit application 

processes for the non-tribal fisheries, 

based on a review of the Small Business 

Administration size criteria, permit 

applicants are asked if they considered 

themselves a ‘‘small’’ business, and they 

are asked to provide detailed ownership 

information. Data on employment 

worldwide, including affiliates, are not 

available for these companies, which 

generally operate in Alaska as well as 

the West Coast and may have operations 

in other countries as well. NMFS has 

limited entry permit holders self-report 

size status. For 2021, all 10 CP permits 

reported they are not small businesses, 

as did 8 mothership catcher vessels. 

There is substantial, but not complete 

overlap between permit ownership and 

vessel ownership so there may be a 

small number of additional small entity 

vessel owners who will be impacted by 

this rule. After accounting for cross 

participation, multiple Quota Share 

account holders, and affiliation through 

ownership, NMFS estimates that there 

are 103 non-tribal entities directly 

affected by these proposed regulations, 

89 of which are considered ‘‘small’’ 

businesses. 

This rule will allocate Pacific whiting 

between tribal and non-tribal harvesters 

(a mixture of small and large 

businesses). Tribal fisheries consist of a 

mixture of fishing activities that are 

similar to the activities that non-tribal 

fisheries undertake. Tribal harvests may 

be delivered to both shoreside plants 

and motherships for processing. These 

processing facilities also process fish 

harvested by non-tribal fisheries. The 

effect of the tribal allocation on nontribal fisheries will depend on the level 

of tribal harvests relative to their 

allocation and the reapportionment 

process. If the tribes do not harvest their 

entire allocation, there are opportunities 

during the year to reapportion 

unharvested tribal amounts to the nontribal fleets. For example, in 2020 NMFS 

reapportioned 40,000 mt of the original 

74,342 mt tribal allocation. This 

reapportionment was based on 

conversations with the tribes and the 

best information available at the time, 

which indicated that this amount would 

not limit tribal harvest opportunities for 

the remainder of the year. The 

reapportioning process allows 

unharvested tribal allocations of Pacific 

whiting to be fished by the non-tribal 

fleets, benefitting both large and small 

entities. The revised Pacific whiting 

allocations for 2020 following the 


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9476 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 29 / Tuesday, February 16, 2021 / Proposed Rules 

reapportionment were: Tribal 34,342 mt, 

C/P Co-op 132,249 mt; MS Co-op 93,352 

mt; and Shorebased IFQ Program 

163,367 mt. 

The prices for Pacific whiting are 

largely determined by the world market 

because most of the Pacific whiting 

harvested in the U.S. is exported. The 

U.S. Pacific whiting TAC is highly 

variable, as have subsequent harvests 

and ex-vessel revenues. For the years 

2016 to 2020, the total Pacific whiting 

fishery (tribal and non-tribal) averaged 

harvests of approximately 303,782 mt 

annually. The 2020 U.S. non-tribal 

fishery had a Pacific whiting catch of 

approximately 287,400 mt, and the 

tribal fishery landed less than 200 mt. 

Impacts to tribal catcher vessels who 

elect to participate in the tribal fishery 

are measured with an estimate of exvessel revenue. In lieu of more complete 

information on tribal deliveries, total exvessel revenue is estimated with the 

2020 average shoreside ex-vessel price 

of Pacific whiting, which was $154 per 

mt. At that price, the proposed 2020 

tribal allocation (potentially 24,417 

mt—96,563 mt) would have an ex-vessel 

value between $3.8 million and $14.9 

million. 

A Description of Any Significant 

Alternatives to the Proposed Rule That 

Accomplish the Stated Objectives of 

Applicable Statutes and That Minimize 

Any Significant Economic Impact of the 

Proposed Rule on Small Entities 

NMFS considered two alternatives for 

the Pacific whiting action: The ‘‘No 

Action’’ and the ‘‘Proposed Action.’’ 

NMFS did not consider a broader range 

of alternatives to the proposed 

allocation. The tribal allocation is based 

primarily on the requests of the tribes. 

These requests reflect the level of 

participation in the fishery that will 

allow them to exercise their treaty right 

to fish for Pacific whiting. Under the 

Proposed Action alternative, NMFS 

proposes to set the tribal allocation 

percentage at 17.5 percent, as requested 

by the Tribes. This would yield a tribal 

allocation of between 24,417 mt and 

96,563 mt for 2021. Consideration of a 

percentage lower than the tribal request 

of 17.5 percent is not appropriate in this 

instance. As a matter of policy, NMFS 

has historically supported the harvest 

levels requested by the Tribes. Based on 

the information available to NMFS, the 

tribal request is within their tribal treaty 

rights. A higher percentage would 

arguably also be within the scope of the 

treaty right. However, a higher 

percentage would unnecessarily limit 

the non-tribal fishery. 

Under the no action alternative, 

NMFS would not make an allocation to 

the tribal sector. This alternative was 

considered, but the regulatory 

framework provides for a tribal 

allocation on an annual basis only. 

Therefore, the no action alternative 

would result in no allocation of Pacific 

whiting to the tribal sector in 2021, 

which would be inconsistent with 

NMFS’ responsibility to manage the 

fishery consistent with the Tribes’ treaty 

rights. Given that there is a tribal 

request for allocation in 2021, this 

alternative received no further 

consideration. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act Determination 

of No Significant Impact 

NMFS determined this proposed rule 

would not adversely affect small 

entities. The reapportioning process 

allows unharvested tribal allocations of 

Pacific whiting, fished by small entities, 

to be fished by the non-tribal fleets, 

benefitting both large and small entities. 

NMFS has prepared an IRFA and is 

requesting comments on this 

conclusion. See ADDRESSES. 

This proposed rule contains no 

information collection requirements 

under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 

1995. 

No Federal rules have been identified 

that duplicate, overlap, or conflict with 

this action. 

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 660 

Fisheries, Fishing, Indian Fisheries. 

Dated: February 8, 2021. 

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 660 is proposed 

to be amended as follows: 

PART 660—FISHERIES OFF WEST 

COAST STATES 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 660 

continues to read as follows: 

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

U.S.C. 773 et seq., and 16 U.S.C. 7001 et seq. 

■ 2. In § 660.50, revise paragraph (f)(4) 

to read as follows: 

§ 660.50 Pacific Coast treaty Indian 

fisheries. 

* * * * * 

(f) * * * 

(4) Pacific whiting. The tribal 

allocation for 2021 will be 17.5 percent 

of the U.S. TAC. 

* * * * * 

[FR Doc. 2021–02814 Filed 2–12–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 


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