Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 240 / Wednesday, December 15, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 78169 

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS 

COMMISSION 

47 CFR Parts 0 and 97 

[WT Docket No. 09–209; FCC 10–189] 

Amateur Service Rules 

AGENCY: Federal Communications 

Commission. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: This document revises the 

Amateur Radio Service rules to amend 

and clarify the rules with respect to 

amateur service vanity call signs. The 

rules are necessary to amend the 

amateur service rules and to conform 

them to prior Commission decisions. 

The effect of this action is to enhance 

the usefulness of the amateur service 

rules by making them conform with 

other Commission rules, thereby 

eliminating licensee confusion when 

applying the rules to amateur service 

operations. 

DATES: Effective February 14, 2011. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

William T. Cross, Mobility Division, 

Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, 

at (202) 418–0680, or TTY (202) 418– 

7233. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a 

summary of the Commission’s Report 

and Order (R&O), adopted November 2, 

2010, and released November 8, 2010. 

The full text of this document is 

available for inspection and copying 

during normal business hours in the 

FCC Reference Center, 445 12th Street, 

SW., Washington, DC 20554. The 

complete text may be purchased from 

the Commission’s copy contractor, Best 

Copy and Printing, Inc., 445 12th Street, 

SW., Room CY–B402, Washington, DC 

20554. The full text may also be 

downloaded at: http://www.fcc.gov. 

Alternative formats are available to 

persons with disabilities by sending an 

e-mail to fcc504@fcc.gov or by calling 

the Consumer & Governmental Affairs 

Bureau at 202–418–0530 (voice), 202– 

418–0432 (tty). 

1. By this action, the Commission 

amends the vanity call sign system rules 

to clarify the date on which the call sign 

associated with a license that is 

canceled due to the licensee’s death 

becomes available for reassignment, and 

to clarify the exceptions to the general 

rule that a call sign is unavailable to the 

vanity call sign system for two years 

after the license terminates. 

2. Also, by this action, the 

Commission limits who can file 

applications on behalf of a club, how 

many vanity call signs a club can hold, 

and how many clubs can have the same 

license trustee. 

3. In addition, the Commission makes 

certain minor, non-substantive 

amendments to the amateur service 

rules to amend part 97 to remove 

obsolete references to Technician Plus 

Class operator licenses and to remove 

references to RACES station licenses. 

4. The Commission also revises 

§ 97.21 to reference § 1.949 of our rules, 

which requires that renewal 

applications be filed no sooner than 

ninety days prior to expiration of the 

license, and amends §§ 0.191 and 0.392 

to remove references to § 97.401(b), 

which the Commission removed in 

2006. 

5. The rules that the Commission 

adopted in this R&O apply to amateur 

radio clubs, some of which may be 

small entities. The Commission certifies 

that no regulatory flexibility analysis is 

necessary here because, even if a 

substantial number of small entities, 

namely, amateur radio clubs, were 

affected by the rules, there would not be 

a significant economic impact on those 

entities. The rules we are adopting do 

not impose economic requirements. 

Instead, they relate to the administration 

of the amateur radio service. Therefore, 

we certify that the rule changes adopted 

in this R&O will not have a significant 

economic impact on a substantial 

number of small entities. 

6. This R&O and the rule amendments 

are issued under the authority contained 

in 47 U.S.C. 154(i), 303(r), and 403. 

7. The Commission’s Consumer and 

Governmental Affairs Bureau, Reference 

Information Center, shall send a copy of 

this Report and Order, including the 

Initial and Final Regulatory Flexibility 

Certifications, to the Chief Counsel for 

Advocacy of the Small Business 

Administration. 

List of Subjects 

47 CFR Part 0 

Organization and functions 

(Government agencies) 

47 CFR Part 97 

Radio. 

Federal Communications Commission. 

Marlene H. Dortch, 

Secretary. 

Rule Changes 

■ For the reasons discussed in the 

preamble, the Federal Communications 

Commission amends 47 CFR parts 0 and 

97 as follows: 

PART 0—COMMISSION 

ORGANIZATION 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 0 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: Secs. 5, 48 Stat. 1068, as 

amended; 47 U.S.C. 155. 

§ 0.191 [Amended] 

■ 2. Remove and reserve paragraph (o) 

of § 0.191. 

§ 0.392 [Amended] 

■ 3. Remove and reserve paragraph (g) 

of § 0.392. 

PART 97—AMATEUR RADIO SERVICE 

■ 4. The authority citation for part 97 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 48 Stat. 1066, 1082, as 

amended; 47 U.S.C. 154, 303. Interpret or 

apply 48 Stat. 1064–1068, 1081–1105, as 

amended; 47 U.S.C. 151–155, 301–609, 

unless otherwise noted. 

■ 5. Section 97.3 is amended by 

redesignating paragraphs (a)(27) through 

(a)(49) as paragraphs (a)(28) through 

(a)(50), and adding a new paragraph 

(a)(27) to read as follows: 

§ 97.3 Definitions. 

* * * * * 

(a) * * * 

(27) In-law. A parent, stepparent, 

sibling, or step-sibling of a licensee’s 

spouse; the spouse of a licensee’s 

sibling, step-sibling, child, or stepchild; 

or the spouse of a licensee’s spouse’s 

sibling or step-sibling. 

* * * * * 

■ 6. Section 97.5 is amended by 

removing paragraph (b)(4) and revising 

paragraph (b)(2) to read as follows: 

§ 97.5 Station license required. 

* * * * * 

(b) * * * 

(2) A club station license grant. A club 

station license grant may be held only 

by the person who is the license trustee 

designated by an officer of the club. The 

trustee must be a person who holds an 

operator/primary station license grant. 

The club must be composed of at least 

four persons and must have a name, a 

document of organization, management, 

and a primary purpose devoted to 

amateur service activities consistent 

with this part. 

* * * * * 

■ 7. Section 97.9 is revised to read as 

follows: 

§ 97.9 Operator license grant. 

(a) The classes of amateur operator 

license grants are: Novice, Technician, 

General, Advanced, and Amateur Extra. 


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78170 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 240 / Wednesday, December 15, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 

The person named in the operator 

license grant is authorized to be the 

control operator of an amateur station 

with the privileges authorized to the 

operator class specified on the license 

grant. 

(b) The person named in an operator 

license grant of Novice, Technician, 

General or Advanced Class, who has 

properly submitted to the administering 

VEs a FCC Form 605 document 

requesting examination for an operator 

license grant of a higher class, and who 

holds a CSCE indicating that the person 

has completed the necessary 

examinations within the previous 365 

days, is authorized to exercise the rights 

and privileges of the higher operator 

class until final disposition of the 

application or until 365 days following 

the passing of the examination, 

whichever comes first. 

■ 8. Section 97.17 is amended by 

revising paragraphs (a) and (d) to read 

as follows: 

§ 97.17 Application for new license grant. 

(a) Any qualified person is eligible to 

apply for a new operator/primary 

station, club station or military 

recreation station license grant. No new 

license grant will be issued for a Novice 

or Advanced Class operator/primary 

station. 

* * * * * 

(d) One unique call sign will be 

shown on the license grant of each new 

primary, club and military recreation 

station. The call sign will be selected by 

the sequential call sign system. Effective 

February 14, 2011, no club station 

license grants will be issued to a 

licensee who is shown as the license 

trustee on an existing club station 

license grant. 

■ 9. Section 97.19 is amended by 

revising paragraphs (a), (c)(2), and (c)(3) 

to read as follows: 

§ 97.19 Application for a vanity call sign. 

(a) The person named in an operator/ 

primary station license grant or in a club 

station license grant is eligible to make 

application for modification of the 

license grant, or the renewal thereof, to 

show a call sign selected by the vanity 

call sign system. Effective February 14, 

2011, the person named in a club station 

license grant that shows on the license 

a call sign that was selected by a trustee 

is not eligible for an additional vanity 

call sign. (The person named in a club 

station license grant that shows on the 

license a call sign that was selected by 

a trustee is eligible for a vanity call sign 

for his or her operator/primary station 

license grant on the same basis as any 

other person who holds an operator/ 

primary station license grant.) Military 

recreation stations are not eligible for a 

vanity call sign. 

* * * * * 

(c) * * * 

(2) A call sign shown on a 

surrendered or canceled license grant 

(except for a license grant that is 

canceled pursuant to § 97.31) is not 

available to the vanity call sign system 

for 2 years following the date such 

action is taken. (The availability of a call 

sign shown on a license canceled 

pursuant to § 97.31 is governed by 

paragraph (c)(3) of this section.) 

(i) This 2-year period does not apply 

to any license grant pursuant to 

paragraph (c)(3)(i), (ii), or (iii) of this 

section that is surrendered, canceled, 

revoked, voided, or set aside because 

the grantee acknowledged or the 

Commission determined that the grantee 

was not eligible for the exception. In 

such a case, the call sign is not available 

to the vanity call sign system for 30 days 

following the date such action is taken, 

or for the period for which the call sign 

would not have been available to the 

vanity call sign system pursuant to 

paragraphs (c)(2) or (3) of this section 

but for the intervening grant to the 

ineligible applicant, whichever is later. 

(ii) An applicant to whose operator/ 

primary station license grant, or club 

station license grant for which the 

applicant is the trustee, the call sign was 

previously assigned is exempt from the 

2-year period set forth in paragraph 

(c)(2) of this section. 

(3) A call sign shown on a license 

canceled pursuant to § 97.31 of this part 

is not available to the vanity call sign 

system for 2 years following the 

person’s death, or for 2 years following 

the expiration of the license grant, 

whichever is sooner. If, however, a 

license is canceled more than 2 years 

after the licensee’s death (or within 30 

days before the second anniversary of 

the licensee’s death), the call sign is not 

available to the vanity call sign system 

for 30 days following the date such 

action is taken. The following 

applicants are exempt from this 2-year 

period: 

(i) An applicant to whose operator/ 

primary station license grant, or club 

station license grant for which the 

applicant is the trustee, the call sign was 

previously assigned; or 

(ii) An applicant who is the spouse, 

child, grandchild, stepchild, parent, 

grandparent, stepparent, brother, sister, 

stepbrother, stepsister, aunt, uncle, 

niece, nephew, or in-law of the person 

now deceased or of any other deceased 

former holder of the call sign, provided 

that the vanity call sign requested by the 

applicant is from the group of call signs 

corresponding to the same or lower 

class of operator license held by the 

applicant as designated in the 

sequential call sign system; or 

(iii) An applicant who is a club 

station license trustee acting with a 

written statement of consent signed by 

either the licensee ante mortem but who 

is now deceased, or by at least one 

relative as listed in paragraph (c)(3)(ii) 

of this section, of the person now 

deceased or of any other deceased 

former holder of the call sign, provided 

that the deceased former holder was a 

member of the club during his or her 

life. 

* * * * * 

■ 10. Section 97.21 is amended by 

revising paragraphs (a)(1), (a)(3) 

introductory text, (a)(3)(iii), and (c) to 

read as follows: 

§ 97.21 Application for a modified or 

renewed license grant. 

(a) * * * 

(1) Must apply to the FCC for a 

modification of the license grant as 

necessary to show the correct mailing 

address, licensee name, club name, 

license trustee name, or license 

custodian name in accordance with 

§ 1.913 of this chapter. For a club or 

military recreation station license grant, 

the application must be presented in 

document form to a Club Station Call 

Sign Administrator who must submit 

the information thereon to the FCC in an 

electronic batch file. The Club Station 

Call Sign Administrator must retain the 

collected information for at least 15 

months and make it available to the FCC 

upon request. A Club Station Call Sign 

Administrator shall not file with the 

Commission any application to modify 

a club station license grant that was 

submitted by a person other than the 

trustee as shown on the license grant, 

except an application to change the club 

station license trustee. An application to 

modify a club station license grant to 

change the license trustee name must be 

submitted to a Club Station Call Sign 

Administrator and must be signed by an 

officer of the club. 

* * * * * 

(3) May apply to the FCC for renewal 

of the license grant for another term in 

accordance with §§ 1.913 and 1.949 of 

this chapter. Application for renewal of 

a Technician Plus Class operator/ 

primary station license will be 

processed as an application for renewal 

of a Technician Class operator/primary 

station license. 

* * * * * 

(iii) For a club station or military 

recreation station license grant showing 


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Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 240 / Wednesday, December 15, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 78171 

a call sign obtained through the 

sequential call sign system, and for a 

club station license grant showing a call 

sign obtained through the vanity call 

sign system but whose grantee does not 

want to have the vanity call sign 

reassigned to the station, the application 

must be presented in document form to 

a Club Station Call Sign Administrator 

who must submit the information 

thereon to the FCC in an electronic 

batch file. The replacement call sign 

will be selected by the sequential call 

sign system. The Club Station Call Sign 

Administrator must retain the collected 

information for at least 15 months and 

make it available to the FCC upon 

request. 

* * * * * 

(c) Except as provided in paragraph 

(a)(4) of this section, a call sign obtained 

under the sequential or vanity call sign 

system will be reassigned to the station 

upon renewal or modification of a 

station license. 

■ 11. Add § 97.31 to subpart A to read 

as follows: 

§ 97.31 Cancellation on account of the 

licensee’s death. 

(a) A person may request cancellation 

of an operator/primary station license 

grant on account of the licensee’s death 

by submitting a signed request that 

includes a death certificate, obituary, or 

Social Security Death Index data that 

shows the person named in the 

operator/primary station license grant 

has died. Such a request may be 

submitted as a pleading associated with 

the deceased licensee’s license. See 

§ 1.45 of this chapter. In addition, the 

Commission may cancel an operator/ 

primary station license grant if it 

becomes aware of the grantee’s death 

through other means. No action will be 

taken during the last thirty days of the 

post-expiration grace period (see 

§ 97.21(b)) on a request to cancel a 

license due to the licensee’s death. 

(b) A license that is canceled due to 

the licensee’s death is canceled as of the 

date of the licensee’s death. 

■ 12. Section 97.119 is amended by 

revising paragraphs (f)(2) and (f)(3) to 

read as follows: 

§ 97.119 Station identification. 

* * * * * 

(f) * * * 

(2) For a control operator who has 

requested a license modification from 

Novice or Technician to General Class: 

AG; 

(3) For a control operator who has 

requested a license modification from 

Novice, Technician, General, or 

Advanced Class to Amateur Extra Class: 

AE. 

* * * * * 

■ 13. Section 97.201 is amended by 

revising paragraph (a) to read as follows: 

§ 97.201 Auxiliary station. 

(a) Any amateur station licensed to a 

holder of a Technician, General, 

Advanced or Amateur Extra Class 

operator license may be an auxiliary 

station. A holder of a Technician, 

General, Advanced or Amateur Extra 

Class operator license may be the 

control operator of an auxiliary station, 

subject to the privileges of the class of 

operator license held. 

* * * * * 

■ 14. Section 97.203 is amended by 

revising paragraph (a) to read as follows: 

§ 97.203 Beacon station. 

(a) Any amateur station licensed to a 

holder of a Technician, General, 

Advanced or Amateur Extra Class 

operator license may be a beacon. A 

holder of a Technician, General, 

Advanced or Amateur Extra Class 

operator license may be the control 

operator of a beacon, subject to the 

privileges of the class of operator license 

held. 

* * * * * 

■ 15. Section 97.301 is amended by 

revising paragraphs (a) introductory text 

and (e) introductory text to read as 

follows: 

§ 97.301 Authorized frequency bands. 

* * * * * 

(a) For a station having a control 

operator who has been granted a 

Technician, General, Advanced, or 

Amateur Extra Class operator license or 

who holds a CEPT radio-amateur license 

or IARP of any class: 

* * * * * 

(e) For a station having a control 

operator who has been granted an 

operator license of Novice Class or 

Technician Class: 

* * * * * 

■ 16. Section 97.313 is amended by 

revising paragraph (c)(2) to read as 

follows: 

§ 97.313 Transmitter power standards. 

* * * * * 

(c) * * * 

(2) On the 3.525–3.60 MHz, 7.025– 

7.125 MHz, 21.025–21.20 MHz, and 

28.0–28.5 MHz segment when the 

control operator is a Novice Class 

operator or a Technician Class operator; 

or 

* * * * * 

■ 17. Section 97.407 is revised to read 

as follows: 

§ 97.407 Radio amateur civil emergency 

service. 

(a) No station may transmit in RACES 

unless it is an FCC-licensed primary, 

club, or military recreation station and 

it is certified by a civil defense 

organization as registered with that 

organization. No person may be the 

control operator of an amateur station 

transmitting in RACES unless that 

person holds a FCC-issued amateur 

operator license and is certified by a 

civil defense organization as enrolled in 

that organization. 

(b) The frequency bands and segments 

and emissions authorized to the control 

operator are available to stations 

transmitting communications in RACES 

on a shared basis with the amateur 

service. In the event of an emergency 

which necessitates invoking the 

President’s War Emergency Powers 

under the provisions of section 706 of 

the Communications Act of 1934, as 

amended, 47 U.S.C. 606, amateur 

stations participating in RACES may 

only transmit on the frequency segments 

authorized pursuant to part 214 of this 

chapter. 

(c) An amateur station registered with 

a civil defense organization may only 

communicate with the following 

stations upon authorization of the 

responsible civil defense official for the 

organization with which the amateur 

station is registered: 

(1) An amateur station registered with 

the same or another civil defense 

organization; and 

(2) A station in a service regulated by 

the FCC whenever such communication 

is authorized by the FCC. 

(d) All communications transmitted 

in RACES must be specifically 

authorized by the civil defense 

organization for the area served. Only 

civil defense communications of the 

following types may be transmitted: 

(1) Messages concerning impending or 

actual conditions jeopardizing the 

public safety, or affecting the national 

defense or security during periods of 

local, regional, or national civil 

emergencies; 

(2) Messages directly concerning the 

immediate safety of life of individuals, 

the immediate protection of property, 

maintenance of law and order, 

alleviation of human suffering and need, 

and the combating of armed attack or 

sabotage; 

(3) Messages directly concerning the 

accumulation and dissemination of 

public information or instructions to the 

civilian population essential to the 

activities of the civil defense 

organization or other authorized 

governmental or relief agencies; and 


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78172 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 240 / Wednesday, December 15, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 

(4) Communications for RACES 

training drills and tests necessary to 

ensure the establishment and 

maintenance of orderly and efficient 

operation of the RACES as ordered by 

the responsible civil defense 

organization served. Such drills and 

tests may not exceed a total time of 1 

hour per week. With the approval of the 

chief officer for emergency planning in 

the applicable State, Commonwealth, 

District or territory, however, such tests 

and drills may be conducted for a 

period not to exceed 72 hours no more 

than twice in any calendar year. 

[FR Doc. 2010–31349 Filed 12–14–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 679 

[Docket No. 101203602–0602–1] 

RIN 0648–BA29 

Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic 

Zone Off Alaska; Groundfish Retention 

Standard; Emergency Rule 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Emergency rule; request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: NMFS is exempting, through 

this emergency rule, trawl catcher/ 

processor vessels (C/Ps) that are not 

specified in regulation as American 

Fisheries Act (AFA) vessels, referred to 

throughout this rule as non-AFA trawl 

C/Ps, and Amendment 80 cooperatives 

from the groundfish retention standard 

(GRS) in the Bering Sea and Aleutian 

Islands management area. The GRS was 

implemented to increase the retention 

and utilization of groundfish caught by 

the non-AFA trawl C/Ps and to respond 

to bycatch reduction goals described in 

National Standard 9. NMFS recently 

discovered that the regulatory 

methodology used to calculate 

compliance with and to enforce the GRS 

percentages established for 2010 and 

2011 effectively require the sector to 

meet GRS well above that considered by 

the North Pacific Fishery Management 

Council or that implemented by NMFS. 

As a result, the retention requirements 

are expected to impose significantly 

higher costs due to the increased level 

of retention and to generate an 

unanticipated level of noncompliance in 

the Amendment 80 fleet. Further, 

monitoring and enforcement of the GRS 

has proven far more complex, 

challenging, and potentially costly than 

anticipated by NMFS. This emergency 

rule is necessary to exempt non-AFA 

trawl C/Ps and Amendment 80 

cooperatives from the regulatory 

provisions of the GRS program before 

the end of the 2010 fishing season and 

prior to the start of the 2011 fishing 

season. This action is intended to 

promote the goals and objectives of the 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act, the 

Fishery Management Plan for 

Groundfish of the Bering Sea and 

Aleutian Islands Management Area, and 

other applicable law. 

DATES: Effective December 15, 2010 

through June 13, 2011. Comments must 

be received by January 14, 2011. 

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Sue 

Salveson, Assistant Regional 

Administrator, Sustainable Fisheries 

Division, Alaska Region, NMFS, Attn: 

Ellen Sebastian. You may submit 

comments, identified by RIN 0648– 

BA29, by any one of the following 

methods: 

• Electronic Submissions: Submit all 

electronic public comments via the 

Federal eRulemaking Portal at http:// 

www.regulations.gov. 

• Fax: (907) 586–7557, Attn: Ellen 

Sebastian. 

• Mail: P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 

99802. 

• Hand delivery to the Federal 

Building: 709 West 9th Street, Room 

420A, Juneau, AK. 

All comments received are a part of 

the public record and will be posted to 

http://www.regulations.gov, generally 

without change. No comments will be 

posted for public viewing until after the 

comment period has closed. All 

Personal Identifying Information (for 

example, name, address) voluntarily 

submitted by the commenter may be 

publicly accessible. Do not submit 

Confidential Business Information or 

otherwise sensitive or protected 

information. 

NMFS will accept anonymous 

comments (enter N/A in the required 

fields, if you wish to remain 

anonymous). You may submit 

attachments to electronic comments in 

Microsoft Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or 

Adobe PDF file formats only. 

Electronic copies of the Regulatory 

Impact Review (RIR), and the 

Categorical Exclusion prepared for this 

action may be obtained from http:// 

www.regulations.gov or from the Alaska 

Region Web site at http:// 

alaskafisheries.noaa.gov. The 

Environmental Assessment, RIR, and 

Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis for 

Amendment 79 to the Fishery 

Management Plan for Groundfish of the 

Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands 

Management Area (FMP) and the 

Environmental Assessment, RIR, and 

Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis for 

Amendment 80 to the FMP are available 

from the NMFS Alaska Region Web site 

at http://alaskafisheries.noaa.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Seanbob Kelly, 907–586–7228. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS 

manages the U.S. groundfish fisheries of 

the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands 

management area (BSAI) in the 

Exclusive Economic Zone under the 

Fishery Management Plan for 

Groundfish of the Bering Sea and 

Aleutian Islands Management Area 

(FMP). The North Pacific Fishery 

Management Council (Council) 

prepared the FMP pursuant to the 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act 

(Magnuson-Stevens Act). Regulations 

implementing the FMP appear at 50 

CFR part 679. General regulations that 

pertain to U.S. fisheries appear at 

subpart H of 50 CFR part 600. 

Groundfish Retention Standard 

The Groundfish Retention Standard 

(GRS) originally was adopted by the 

Council as Amendment 79 to the FMP 

in June 2003. The GRS was intended to 

increase retention of groundfish by nonAmerican Fisheries Act (AFA) trawl 

catcher processors (C/Ps) that were 

equal to or greater than 125 ft (38.1 m) 

length overall (LOA). In adopting that 

action, the Council focused on non-AFA 

trawl C/Ps because, as a group, they had 

the lowest retained catch rates of any C/ 

P sector operating in the BSAI 

groundfish fishery. The Council’s stated 

policy objective for developing the GRS 

was based on the Council’s commitment 

to ‘‘reducing bycatch, minimizing waste, 

and improving utilization of fish 

resources to the extent practicable 

* * * [and acknowledged] the fact that 

any solution to the problem of reducing 

discards must take into account the 

ability of NOAA Fisheries to monitor 

discards and adequately enforce any 

regulations that are promulgated.’’ 

The final rule implementing the GRS 

was effective January 20, 2008 (71 FR 

17362, April 6, 2006), and required nonAFA trawl C/Ps 125 ft (38.1 m) LOA or 

greater to retain and utilize an increased 

percentage of groundfish caught during 

fishing operations; these percentages are 

referred to as groundfish retention 

standards. Non-AFA trawl C/Ps less 

than 125 ft (38.1 m) LOA initially were 

excluded from the GRS because GRS 


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