Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 157 / Monday, August 15, 2011 / Proposed Rules 50449 

commercial, recreational, scientific, or 

educational purposes; (3) disease or 

predation; (4) inadequacy of existing 

regulatory mechanisms; or (5) other 

natural or man-made factors affecting 

the species’ continued existence. The 

biologists also evaluated new 

information on hatchery programs to 

inform an updated assessment of which 

hatchery programs should be included 

as part of the listed species. They 

applied our Policy Addressing the Role 

of Artificially Propagated Pacific 

Salmon and Steelhead in Listing 

Determinations under the ESA (70 FR 

37204) to complete this evaluation. The 

5-year review reports, the science team 

report, and additional information are 

available on our Web site: http://nwr.

noaa.gov. 

Findings 

After considering the best available 

information, we conclude that all 11 

Pacific salmon species and 6 steelhead 

species in Oregon, Washington, and 

Idaho shall remain listed as currently 

classified. 

We also conclude that, based on the 

best information available, no 

adjustments to species boundaries are 

necessary. We did conclude that the 

species membership of several hatchery 

programs will need to be revised, and 

we also identified several errors in our 

current species descriptions in the list 

of threatened and endangered species 

found at 50 CFR 17.11, 223.102, and 

224.102. We will adjust the hatchery 

memberships and correct any listing 

inaccuracies through a subsequent 

rulemaking. 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq. 

Dated: August 8, 2011. 

Therese Conant, 

Deputy Chief, Endangered Species Division, 

Office of Protected Resources, National 

Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2011–20453 Filed 8–12–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 660 

RIN 0648–BB13 

Fisheries off West Coast States; 

Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery 

Management Plan; Trawl 

Rationalization Program; Program 

Improvement and Enhancement; 

Amendment 21–1 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Availability of an amendment to 

a fishery management plan; request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the 

Pacific Fishery Management Council 

(Council) has submitted Amendment 

21–1 to the Pacific Coast Groundfish 

Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for 

review by the Secretary of Commerce 

(Secretary). Amendment 21–1 would 

further revise the FMP to support the 

trawl rationalization program, a catch 

share program, implemented in January 

2011 through Amendments 20 and 21. 

Amendment 21–1 would modify the 

FMP to clarify that Amendment 21 

supersedes the limited entry/open 

access allocations for groundfish species 

allocated through Amendment 21. 

Amendment 21–1 would also revise the 

formula in the FMP to allocate Pacific 

halibut bycatch to the limited entry 

trawl fishery. 

DATES: Comments on Amendment 21–1 

must be received no later than 5 p.m., 

local time on October 14, 2011. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by RIN 0648–BB13 by any 

one of the following methods: 

Electronic Submissions: Submit all 

electronic public comments via the 

Federal eRulemaking Portal http:// 

www.regulations.gov. 

Fax: 206–526–6736, Attn: Jamie Goen. 

Mail: Barry Thom, Acting 

Administrator, Northwest Region, 

NMFS, 7600 Sand Point Way NE., 

Seattle, WA 98115–0070, Attn: Jamie 

Goen. 

Instructions: All comments received 

are a part of the public record and will 

generally be posted to http:// 

www.regulations.gov without change. 

All Personal Identifying Information (for 

example, name, address, etc.) 

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). Attachments to electronic 

comments will be accepted in Microsoft 

Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe 

PDF file formats only. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Jamie Goen, phone: 206–526–4656, fax: 

206–526–6736, and e-mail 

jamie.goen@noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Electronic Access 

Background information and 

documents are available at the Pacific 

Fishery Management Council’s Web site 

at http://www.pcouncil.org/. 

The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act 

(Magnuson-Stevens Act) requires that 

each regional fishery management 

council submit any FMP or plan 

amendment it prepares to NMFS for 

review and approval, disapproval, or 

partial approval. The Magnuson-Stevens 

Act also requires that NMFS, upon 

receiving an FMP or amendment, 

immediately publish a notice that the 

FMP or amendment is available for 

public review and comment. NMFS will 

consider public comments received 

during the comment period described 

above in determining whether to 

approve Amendment 21–1 to the FMP. 

Amendment 21–1 would further 

revise the FMP to support the trawl 

rationalization program, a catch share 

program, implemented in January 2011 

through Amendments 20 and 21. 

Amendment 21–1 would modify the 

FMP to: (1) Clarify that Amendment 21 

supersedes the limited entry/open 

access allocations for groundfish species 

allocated through Amendment 21; and 

(2) revise the formula in the FMP to 

calculate the Pacific halibut bycatch 

mortality limit for the limited entry 

trawl fishery. 

Amendment 21 to the FMP 

established allocations to the limited 

entry trawl fishery participants. As part 

of Amendment 21, allocations were 

established between the trawl and nontrawl sectors for certain groundfish 

species in preparation for the trawl 

rationalization program (called 

Amendment 21 species). In a letter to 

the Council dated August 9, 2010, 

NMFS disapproved part of Amendment 

21 because the FMP language available 

to the public and to the Council during 

its decision making did not clearly state 

that Amendment 21 allocations 

supersede the previous limited entry/ 

open access allocations for Amendment 


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50450 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 157 / Monday, August 15, 2011 / Proposed Rules 

21 species. In other words, the partial 

disapproval of Amendment 21 was 

because of a concern over the public 

record and procedural issues regarding 

the record. This issue has since been 

addressed through the Council process 

by providing FMP and regulatory 

language at the Council’s March, April, 

and June 2011 meetings. 

Amendment 21–1 would modify the 

FMP to explicitly state that, for 

Amendment 21 species, allocations 

decided under Amendment 21 

supersede allocations previously 

decided between limited entry and open 

access fisheries. Limited entry and open 

access allocations were initially decided 

under Amendment 6 to the FMP, which 

established the limited entry fishery. 

Amendment 21–1 would also revise 

the formula in the FMP to calculate the 

amount of Pacific halibut bycatch 

available to the limited entry trawl 

fishery. The allocation of Pacific halibut 

to the trawl fishery was initially 

implemented through Amendment 21 to 

the FMP. Halibut allocations under 

Amendment 21 set a total catch limit of 

Pacific halibut in the limited entry trawl 

fishery for the trawl rationalization 

program in order to reduce trawl 

bycatch of halibut in future fisheries to 

provide more yield to directed Area 2A 

(Washington, Oregon, and California) 

halibut fisheries (i.e., primary use of 

halibut is to provide fish for the directed 

tribal, commercial, and recreational 

fisheries). However, as the start date of 

the trawl rationalization program, 

January 2011, was getting closer, the 

Council and industry were concerned 

that the allocation established in 

Amendment 21 was too restrictive. In 

response, NMFS implemented interim 

measures for the 2011 groundfish 

fishery which interpreted the halibut 

allocation to be legal halibut of 130,000 

lb net weight. This was in comparison 

to Amendment 21 language which 

stated legal and sub-legal halibut set at 

15% of the International Pacific Halibut 

Commission’s (IPHC’s) constant 

exploitation yield (CEY) for legal sized 

halibut (over 32 inches in length), not to 

exceed 130,000 lbs annually for the first 

four years and not to exceed 100,000 lbs 

annually beginning in the fifth year. 

This resulted in a two part calculation 

of the limit by converting from net 

weight to round weight and by 

converting legal sized halibut to legal 

and sublegal sized halibut. This 

calculation reflects the difference 

between the total constant exploitation 

yield (TCEY) established by the IPHC 

(net weight of legal fish) and NMFS 

management of groundfish and halibut 

(round weight of legal and sublegal 

fish). 

Because the interim measures are 

temporary and will expire at the end of 

2011, the Council has recommended a 

long term solution by making further 

revisions to Amendment 21 for the 

calculation of halibut bycatch mortality 

available to the trawl fishery. For 2012 

and beyond, the Council recommended 

amending the FMP through Amendment 

21–1 to: (1) Specify that the total net 

weight of legal sized halibut would then 

be expanded, converting to total round 

weight of legal and sublegal sized 

halibut, and (2) by making the 

percentage cap based on the best 

estimate of TCEY from the IPHC (i.e., 

preliminary IPHC estimate from their 

interim meeting of TCEY). 

A proposed rule to implement the 

provisions of Amendment 21–1 has 

been submitted by the Council for 

Secretarial review and approval. NMFS 

expects to publish and request public 

review and comment on the proposed 

regulations to implement Amendment 

21–1 in the near future. Public 

comments on the proposed rule must be 

received by the end of the comment 

period on the amendment to be 

considered in the approval/disapproval 

decision on the amendment. The 

decision on the amendment must occur 

within 30 days of the end of the 

comment period on the notice of 

availability for the amendment. All 

comments received by the end of the 

comment period for the amendment, 

whether specifically directed to the 

amendment or the proposed rule, will 

be considered in the approval/ 

disapproval decision. 

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

Dated: August 10, 2011. 

Emily H. Menashes, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2011–20678 Filed 8–12–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 


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