Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 95 / Tuesday, May 16, 2000 / Rules and Regulations 31105

Dated: May 10, 2000.

Bruce C. Morehead,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 00–12297 Filed 5–15–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–F

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 679

[Docket No. 991221345–0108–02; I.D.

113099B]

RIN 0648–AL30

Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic

Zone Off Alaska; Prohibition of

Nonpelagic Trawl Gear in the Bering

Sea and Aleutian Islands Pollock

Fishery

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: NMFS issues regulations to

implement Amendment 57 to the

Fishery Management Plan for the

Groundfish Fishery of the Bering Sea

and Aleutian Islands Area (FMP). This

action consists of three regulatory

changes. First, it prohibits the use of

nonpelagic trawl gear in the directed

non-community development quota

(CDQ) pollock fisheries of the Bering

Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI).

Second, it makes the performance

standard for pelagic trawl gear

applicable at all times to vessels in the

directed non-CDQ pollock fishery in the

BSAI. Third, it reduces the crab and

Pacific halibut (halibut) bycatch limits

established for the BSAI groundfish

trawl fisheries. This action is necessary

to address bycatch reduction objectives

in the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery

Conservation and Management Act

(Magnuson-Stevens Act), and is

intended to further the goals and

objectives of the FMP.

DATES: Effective June 15, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the

Environmental Assessment/Regulatory

Impact Review (EA/RIR) and the Final

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (FRFA)

prepared for this action may be obtained

from the Alaska Region, NMFS, P.O.

Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802–1668,

Attn: Lori Gravel, or by calling the

Alaska Region, NMFS, at 907–586–7228.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Nina Mollett, (907) 586–7228.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS

manages the domestic groundfish

fisheries of the BSAI under the FMP.

The North Pacific Fishery Management

Council (Council) prepared the FMP,

and NMFS approved it, under the

Magnuson-Stevens Act. Regulations

governing the groundfish fisheries of the

BSAI appear at 50 CFR parts 600 and

679.

Background and Need for Action

The objective of Amendment 57 is to

reduce bycatch in the BSAI pollock

fishery. The amendment and its

implementing regulations are designed

to comply with the Magnuson-Stevens

Act, which emphasizes the importance

of reducing bycatch to maintain

sustainable fisheries. National standard

9 of the Magnuson-Stevens Act

mandates that conservation and

management measures minimize

bycatch, to the extent practicable, and

minimize mortality where bycatch

cannot be avoided.

NMFS published the proposed rule to

implement Amendment 57 in the

Federal Register on December 29, 1999

(64 FR 73003). The public comment

period ended on February 14, 2000.

NMFS approved Amendment 57 on

March 8, 2000.

The final action to implement the

amendment has three parts.

1. Prohibition on the Use of Nonpelagic

Trawl Gear in the BSAI Directed NonCDQ Pollock Fishery

This rule prohibits nonpelagic

trawling for non-CDQ pollock in the

BSAI. Since January 1999, the entire

BSAI pollock TAC, except for the CDQ

fishery, has been allocated to pelagic

trawl gear.

The prohibition is expected to reduce

bycatch on a permanent basis (for the

past 2 years the nonpelagic trawl ban

has been in effect through allocation of

zero TAC) while imposing a relatively

low cost on the fishery. Pollock is the

only fishery where both pelagic and

nonpelagic trawl gear are used. Pelagic

gear has a substantially lower bycatch

rate for halibut and crab. Most fishing

for pollock in the BSAI was conducted

with pelagic gear even before 1999.

2. Performance Standard

The existing performance standard for

pelagic trawl gear at § 679.7(a)(14)

prohibits a vessel engaged in directed

fishing for pollock, when directed

fishing for pollock with nonpelagic

trawl gear is closed, from having 20 or

more crabs of any species, with a

carapace width of more than 1.5 inches

(38 mm) at the widest dimension, on

board at any one time. Crabs were

chosen for the standard because they

inhabit the seabed and, if caught with

trawl gear, indicate that the trawl has

been in contact with the bottom. The

standard is revised to make it applicable

at all times to vessels engaged in a

directed fishery for non-CDQ pollock in

the BSAI because all vessels, except

those fishing for CDQ pollock, are

prohibited from using nonpelagic trawl

gear.

3. Prohibited Species Catch (PSC) Limits

The final rule reduces the bycatch

limit for halibut and crab caught using

trawl gear in the BSAI. The CDQ

program will continue to receive 7.5

percent of each PSC limit, in accordance

with § 679.21(e)(1), which contains the

existing limits for each PSC species in

the BSAI. The current halibut PSC

allowance is 3,775 metric tons (mt).

Crab bycatch limits vary according to

abundance and spawning biomass as

determined by annual surveys.

This final rule reduces the halibut

PSC limit by 100 mt to 3,675 mt. The

rule reduces the PSC allowance for red

king crabs by 3,000 animals, for

Chionoecetes (C.) bairdi crabs by 50,000

animals, and for C. opilio crabs by

150,000 animals. The rule reduces the

C. bairdi crabs allowance by 20,000 in

Zone 1 and by 30,000 in Zone 2,

reflecting the larger fishery there.

The Council recommended these

reduced PSC limits after considering

data on bycatch rates from vessels using

pelagic gear while the performance

standard was in effect. Two other

options were considered: Option 1

would have reduced only the halibut

bycatch limit, and Option 2 would have

reduced bycatch by lesser amounts for

halibut and the three PSC crab species.

The Council chose Option 3 because it

more realistically conforms to the

amount of bycatch likely to be avoided

as a result of the prohibition on

nonpelagic trawl gear. The analysis of

all options and alternatives is contained

in the EA/RIR, the Initial Regulatory

Flexibility Analysis, and the FRFA that

were prepared for this action.

Pollock CDQ Fisheries

Under this final rule, vessels fishing

for CDQ pollock are not subject to the

prohibition on the use of nonpelagic

trawl gear. The structure of the CDQ

program provides a strong incentive to

the CDQ groups and their harvesting

partners to use fishing gear and fishing

techniques that minimize the bycatch of

non-target groundfish and prohibited

species. Under this final rule, the CDQ

program will receive a reduced

allocation of PSC, because it will

continue to receive a 7.5 percent

31106 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 95 / Tuesday, May 16, 2000 / Rules and Regulations

allocation of what will be a reduced

overall PSC allowance. Therefore,

although the prohibition the use of on

nonpelagic trawl gear will not apply to

the CDQ fisheries, the collateral

reduction in PSC allowance will

increase the effect of the existing

incentive for CDQ groups to minimize

the bycatch of PSQ species.

Fishing Trip Definition

This final rule also changes the

‘‘fishing trip’’ definition contained in

§ 679.2. Under the new definition, when

a vessel begins fishing with a new gear

type, it must start recordkeeping for a

new fishing trip. This change enables,

for example, a vessel legitimately

fishing with bottom trawl gear for

yellowfin sole, and under a maximum

retainable bycatch restriction for pollock

(see § 679.20(e)), to keep clear records if

it switches to directed fishing for

pollock using pelagic gear.

Changes From Proposed to Final Rule

One technical change was made from

the proposed rule to this final rule. This

change clarifies that the performance

standard applies at all times to non-CDQ

trawl vessels in the directed fishery for

pollock in the BSAI, but that the

performance standard has not changed

for vessels fishing in the GOA

(§ 679.7((a)(14)).

Response to Comments

NMFS received one letter during the

public comment period, from the Alaska

Marine Conservation Council. The letter

supported the amendment and

rulemaking in general but expressed

disappointment that the Council and

NMFS did not set a separate halibut

bycatch allowance for the directed

pollock fishery in the BSAI that, when

reached, would require closure of the

directed fishery for pollock. The EA/

RIR/IRFA for Amendment 57

considered a regulatory amendment that

would have split out pollock from the

pollock/Atka mackerel/other species

category and accounted for PSC bycatch

separately. The RIR/IRFA analysis

indicated potential problems with this

regulatory amendment. According to the

analysis, the directed pollock fishery

generates about $382 for the fishery per

pound of halibut caught, as opposed to

less than $50 per pound for other

groundfish fisheries examined. If the

pollock fishery were to meet its PSC

limit in the BSAI, resulting in a closure

of the fishery, major costs could be

incurred, the magnitude of which would

depend in part on the amount of

remaining pollock TAC. In view of these

potentially high costs, compared to the

benefits of holding the pollock fishery

more strictly accountable for its bycatch,

managers might tend to apportion more

halibut PSC to the pollock category than

warranted by historical catch records. In

that case, the halibut PSC limit for other

groundfish fisheries would be

correspondingly lower, and amount to a

cost to those fisheries that would not

occur if the fishery were not split.

Finally, the bycatch of halibut and crab

in the pollock fishery is very low; only

about 3 percent of trawl halibut bycatch

mortality and less than 0.4 percent of

crab taken in the trawl fisheries. NMFS

believes it would be more appropriate to

work with the Council to develop

measures that would result in

meaningful reductions of overall

bycatch in the fisheries that are

responsible for taking greater

proportions of bycatch.

In light of the high costs associated

with a separate halibut bycatch

allowance, and the relatively small

gains in bycatch reduction that would

result, NMFS believes that the proposed

action is fully consistent with national

standard 9’s mandate to minimize

bycatch ‘‘to the extent practicable.’’

Classification

This action has been determined to be

not significant for purposes of E.O.

12866. This rule imposes no new

reporting, recordkeeping, or compliance

requirements.

NMFS has prepared an FRFA that

describes the economic impact this rule

is expected to have on small entities. A

copy of this analysis is available from

NMFS (see ADDRESSES).

Analysis of catch data from 1997 to

2000 indicates that no vessels will be

adversely affected by the Council’s

preferred alternative with respect to

buying and using new gear because all

vessels currently eligible to fish for

pollock in the BSAI under the American

Fisheries Act (AFA) fish with pelagic

gear. In 1996, five small catcher vessels

used bottom trawl gear only. This

number dropped to two vessels in 1997.

In 1999 and 2000, no vessels deployed

bottom gear in the BSAI pollock fishery

because bottom trawling for pollock was

closed those years through the annual

specifications process. This action only

has the effect of making permanent a

prohibition on the use of bottom trawl

gear in the pollock fishery that has

already been in place since January

1999.

Of the approximately 120 catcher

vessels that are eligible to fish for

pollock in the BSAI under the AFA,

approximately 60 are small entities, and

these vessels have fished for pollock

exclusively with pelagic trawl gear for

the past 2 years. None of the 21 catcher/

processors eligible to fish for pollock

under the AFA are small entities under

the Regulatory Flexibility Act. The crab

performance standard may pose some

unquantifiable inconvenience to vessel

operators fishing with pelagic gear, as it

is intended to discourage them from

trawling on the bottom. To the extent

that they have chosen to fish on the

bottom in the past, economic theory

suggests that they were probably gaining

some economic advantage the past 2

years.

The reductions in overall PSC limits

for halibut, red king crab, Tanner crab,

and snow crab are not expected to cause

significant impacts to small entities, as

the reductions are based on the

expected improvement in bycatch rates

and are not expected to constrain

fishing activity. The actual

improvement in bycatch from using the

cleaner pelagic gear occurred in 1999

when the Council began eliminating

bottom trawling for pollock on an

annual basis. Many factors operate to

influence bycatch in the fisheries, but to

the extent that bycatch was reduced in

the pollock fishery through the use of

cleaner gear, the other trawl fisheries

(e.g., rock sole, yellowfin sole, Pacific

cod) may have received an unintended

increase since 1999. This action

constrains the other trawl fisheries by

removing their unintended increase

estimated as: halibut–100 mt; red king

crabs–3,000 animals; C. bairdi crabs50,000 animals; and C. opilio crabs–

160,000 animals. The reductions in PSC

limits turn the PSC savings in the

pollock fishery into a conservation

savings as intended rather than just a

reallocation between target fisheries.

The pollock fishermen will be no worse

off than they were before the process of

prohibiting nonpelagic trawls in the

pollock fishery began.

Under this final rule, CDQ vessels are

not subject to the prohibition on the use

of nonpelagic trawl gear because they

have a built-in incentive to minimize

bycatch. Once a group has reached its

allocation of any PSC species, all of its

member vessels must stop fishing and

forego any remaining CDQ allocations of

groundfish species for the season.

The CDQ groups will not be affected

very much by this exemption, as they

primarily use pelagic gear to fish for

pollock. In 1998, for example, only 2

percent of the approximately 85,000 mt

of pollock harvested under the CDQ

program was harvested using bottom

trawl gear. Furthermore, the catcher

vessels that have harvested pollock CDQ

thus far are larger catcher vessels,

owned by the shoreside processors,

which are CDQ partners and; therefore,

are not small entities under the RFA.

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 95 / Tuesday, May 16, 2000 / Rules and Regulations 31107

Under this final rule, CDQ groups will

continue to receive 7.5 percent of all

PSC limits, which, since the overall

limits will be reduced, will result in

reduced Prohibited Species Quota (PSQ)

allocations to CDQ groups. These

reductions constitute an added

incentive to improve techniques for

minimizing bycatch. The reductions are

small in proportion to the total PSQ

allocations, but it is possible that they

could result in some loss of CDQ

groundfish. This could happen if a

group reached one of its PSQ allocations

before it otherwise would have, and was

required to stop fishing for CDQ

groundfish species.

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 679

Alaska, Fisheries, Recordkeeping and

reporting requirements.

Dated: May 10, 2000.

Penelope D. Dalton,

Assistant Administrator for Fisheries,

National Marine Fisheries Service.

For the reasons discussed in the

preamble, 50 CFR part 679 is amended

to read as follows:

PART 679—FISHERIES OF THE

EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE OFF

ALASKA

1. The authority citation for 50 CFR

part 679 continues to read as follows:

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 773 et seq., 1801 et

seq., and 3631 et seq.

2. In § 679.2, the definition of ‘‘fishing

trip’’, paragraph (1) is amended by

redesignating paragraph (1)(iv) as

paragraph (1)(v), adding a new

paragraph (1)(iv), and removing the final

word, ‘‘or,’’ from paragraph (1)(iii), to

read as follows:

§ 679.2 Definitions.

* * * * *

Fishing trip means:

(1) * * *

(iv) The vessel begins fishing with

different type of authorized fishing gear;

or

* * * * *

3. In § 679.7, paragraph (a)(14) is

revised to read as follows:

§ 679.7 Prohibitions.

* * * * *

(a) * * *

(14) Trawl gear performance

standard—(i) BSAI. Use a vessel to

participate in a non-CDQ directed

fishery for pollock using trawl gear and

have on board the vessel, at any

particular time, 20 or more crabs of any

species that have a carapace width of

more than 1.5 inches (38 mm) at the

widest dimension.

(ii) GOA. Use a vessel to participate in

a directed fishery for pollock using

trawl gear when directed fishing for

pollock with nonpelagic trawl gear is

closed and have on board the vessel, at

any particular time, 20 or more crabs of

any species that have a carapace width

of more than 1.5 inches (38 mm) at the

widest dimension.

* * * * *

4. In § 679.20, paragraph (a)(5)(i)(B) is

removed and paragraph (a)(5)(i)(C) is

redesignated as paragraph (a)(5)(i)(B).

5. In § 679.21, paragraphs (e)(1)(ii)(A)

through (C), (e)(1)(iii)(A) through (B),

(e)(1)(iv)(A) through (C), and (e)(1)(v)

are revised to read as follows:

§ 679.21 Prohibited species bycatch

management.

* * * * *

(e) * * *

(1) * * *

(ii) * * *

(A) When the number of mature

female red king crabs is at or below the

threshold of 8.4 million mature crabs or

the effective spawning biomass is less

than or equal to 14.5 million lb (6,577

mt), the Zone 1 PSC limit will be 32,000

red king crabs.

(B) When the number of mature

female red king crabs is above the

threshold of 8.4 million mature crabs

and the effective spawning biomass is

greater than 14.5 million lb but less than

55 million lb (24,948 mt), the Zone 1

PSC limit will be 97,000 red king crabs.

(C) When the number of mature

female red king crabs is above the

threshold of 8.4 million mature crabs

and the effective spawning biomass is

equal to or greater than 55 million lb,

the Zone 1 PSC limit will be 197,000 red

king crabs.

(iii) * * *

(A) Zone 1. When the total abundance

of C. bairdi crabs is:

(1) 150 million animals or less, the

PSC limit will be 0.5 percent of the total

abundance, minus 20,000 animals.

(2) Over 150 million to 270 million

animals, the PSC limit will be 730,000

animals.

(3) Over 270 million to 400 million

animals, the PSC limit will be 830,000

animals.

(4) Over 400 million animals, the PSC

limit will be 980,000 animals.

(B) Zone 2. When the total abundance

of C. bairdi crabs is:

(1) 175 million animals or less, the

PSC limit will be 1.2 percent of the total

abundance, minus 30,000 animals.

(2) Over 175 million to 290 million

animals, the PSC limit will be 2,070,000

animals.

(3) Over 290 million to 400 million

animals, the PSC limit will be 2,520,000

animals.

(4) Over 400 million animals, the PSC

limit will be 2,970,000 animals.

(iv) * * *

(A) PSC Limit. The PSC limit will be

0.1133 percent of the total abundance,

minus 150,000 C. opilio crabs, unless;

(B) Minimum PSC Limit. If 0.1133

percent multiplied by the total

abundance is less than 4.5 million, then

the minimum PSC limit will be 4.350

million animals; or

(C) Maximum PSC Limit. If 0.1133

percent multiplied by the total

abundance is greater than 13 million,

then the maximum PSC limit will be

12.850 million animals.

(v) Halibut. The PSC limit of halibut

caught while conducting any trawl

fishery for groundfish in the BSAI

during any fishing year is an amount of

halibut equivalent to 3,675 mt of halibut

mortality.

* * * * *

6. In § 679.24, paragraph (b)(4) is

added to read as follows:

§ 679.24 Gear limitations.

* * * * *

(b) * * *

(4) BSAI pollock nonpelagic trawl

prohibition. No person may use

nonpelagic trawl gear to engage in

directed fishing for non-CDQ pollock in

the BSAI.

* * * * *

[FR Doc. 00–12291 Filed 5–15–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–F

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 679

[Docket No. 990720198–9307–02; I.D.

070799B]

RIN 0648–AM36

Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic

Zone Off Alaska; Maximum Retainable

Bycatch Percentages, Gulf of Alaska;

Correction

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Final rule; correction.

SUMMARY: This document contains a

correction to the final rule for maximum

retainable bycatch (MRB) percentages

for the Gulf of Alaska (GOA), which was

published in the Federal Register on

December 6, 1999.

DATES: Effective January 5, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Patsy A. Bearden, 907–586–7008.