Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 226 / Monday, November 24, 1997 / Proposed Rules 62545

September meeting. This resulted in a

surf clam quota recommendation of

2.565 million bushels, as initially

recommended by the Council staff and

SAW 22. The ocean quahog quota

recommendation remained unchanged

at 4 million bushels. The rationale for

the reduction in this quota is

biologically based, and the

recommendation was not reconsidered

at the September Council meeting.

The proposed quotas for the 1998

Atlantic surf clam and ocean quahog

fisheries are as follows:

Proposed 1998 SURF CLAM/Ocean

QUAHOG Quotas

Fishery

1998 final

quotas

(bu)

1998 final

quotas

(hL)

Surf clam ............... 2,565,000 1,362,000

Ocean quahog ...... 4,000,000 2,122,000

Classification

This action is authorized by 50 CFR

part 648, complies with the National

Environmental Policy Act, and has been

determined to be not significant for

purposes of E.O. 12866.

The Council prepared an Initial

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (IRFA),

as part of the Regulatory Impact Review

(RIR), that describes the impact the

proposed specification, if adopted,

would have on small entities. The

proposed 1998 fishing quota for surf

clams of 2.565 million bushels is

unchanged from the 1996 and 1997

quotas. This quota is based on

management advice from the Stock

Assessment Review Committee for the

22nd Northeast Regional Stock

Assessment Workshop, which

recommended no change in the quotas

until a new stock assessment is

available with abundance estimates

based on fishery catch rate and research

survey data.

The proposed 1998 fishing quota for

ocean quahogs of 4.000 million bushels

is a 317,000 bushel reduction from the

1997 quota of 4.317 million bushels, a

decrease of 7.3 percent. This Council

quota recommendation reflects the

lowest quota specification possible

within the range of 4.000 and 6.000

million bushels specified in the fishery

management plan. The Council staff

recommendation for quahogs was to

maintain the 1997 quota of 4.317

million bushels. The Science and

Statistics and the Surf Clam and Ocean

Quahog Committees of the Council both

endorsed the staff recommendation.

However, the Council’s rationale for the

reduction of the ocean quahog quota is

biologically based and involves the

conservation of the resource and

preservation of the fishery.

All of the 56 vessels participating in

the surf clam and ocean quahog

fisheries in 1996 are small entities.

Twenty fished exclusively for surf

clams, 14 fished for surf clams and

ocean quahogs, and 22 fished

exclusively for ocean quahogs. The

proposed quota for the ocean quahog

fishery for 1998 is 7.3 percent less than

the quotas for both 1996 and 1997.

Because 22 of the 36 vessels

participating in the ocean quahog

fishery (61 percent) harvest ocean

quahog only, it is assumed that most or

all of those vessels will have a reduction

of 5 percent or more in ex-vessel

revenues in 1998 compared to 1996, the

most recent year for which data are

complete. Meanwhile, the analyses

indicate that no vessels will cease

operations and compliance costs will

not increase total costs of production of

more than 5 percent for 20 percent or

more of the affected small entities as a

result of the proposed specifications. A

copy of the RIR/IRFA is available from

the Council (see ADDRESSES).

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

Dated: November 18, 1997.

David L. Evans,

Deputy Assistant Administrator for Fisheries,

National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 97–30805 Filed 11–21–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 679

[Docket No. 971110265–7265–01; I.D.

101797A]

RIN: 0648-AJ98

Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic

Zone Off Alaska; Scallop Fishery Off

Alaska; Change in Season Dates

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Proposed rule; request for

comments.

SUMMARY: NMFS proposes to change the

dates of the scallop fishing season for

Registration Area D (Yakutat) and

Registration Area E (Prince William

Sound), and Registration Area H

exclusive of the Kamishak District. The

new fishing season would begin on July

1 and end on February 15 of the

following year. The intended effect of

this action is to consolidate the scallop

fishing seasons in Alaska in the summer

months to improve vessel safety and

product quality, and to maintain

consistency between Federal and State

of Alaska fishing season regulations.

This action is necessary to promote the

conservation and management

objectives of the Fishery Management

Plan for the Scallop Fishery off Alaska

(FMP).

DATES: Comments must be received by

December 9, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Comments on the proposed

rule must be sent to the Assistant

Regional Administrator for Sustainable

Fisheries, Alaska Region, NMFS, P.O.

Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802, Attn:

Lori J. Gravel. Copies of the

Environmental Assessment/ Regulatory

Impact Review (EA/RIR) prepared for

this action may be obtained from the

same address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kent

Lind, 907–586–7228.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Management Authority

The scallop fishery in the exclusive

economic zone (EEZ) off Alaska is

managed by NMFS under the FMP. The

FMP was prepared by the North Pacific

Fishery Management Council (Council)

under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery

Conservation and Management Act and

approved by NMFS on July 26, 1995.

Regulations implementing the FMP are

set out at 50 CFR part 679. General

regulations that also affect fishing in the

EEZ are set out at 50 CFR part 600.

Amendment 1 to the FMP established a

cooperative State-Federal management

regime under which each management

action by the State of Alaska (State) is

mirrored by a parallel Federal

management action. The purpose of this

cooperative management regime is to

give primary management responsibility

to the State while preventing

unregulated fishing in Federal waters.

In March 1997, the Alaska State Board

of Fisheries (Board) approved an

industry proposal to change the scallop

season dates in the Yakutat and Prince

William Sound Registration Areas.

Previously, the scallop fishery in those

areas opened on January 10 and closed

on June 30 of each year. The Board’s

action changes State regulations by

specifying a season opening of July 1

and a closure of February 15 of the

following year. The Board

recommended that a parallel season

change be made in Federal regulations

to prevent conflicting regulations at the

State and Federal levels. The following

two reasons were cited in the Board’s
62546 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 226 / Monday, November 24, 1997 / Proposed Rules

decision to move the scallop season

dates for these areas.

Changing circumstances in the

scallop fishery. The historic reason for

a January opening in the Yakutat and

Prince William Sound Registration

Areas no longer exists under the current

management regime. Prior to 1993, the

Alaska Department of Fish and Game

(ADF&G) did not establish Guideline

Harvest Levels (GHLs) for each

registration area. Instead, winter and

summer openings were used in different

areas to spread effort and to mirror the

historic pattern of scallop fishing

throughout the State. However, under

Amendment 1 to the FMP, approved

July 10, 1996, ADF&G and NMFS now

establish GHLs or total allowable catch

(TAC) amounts for each scallop

registration area. As a consequence, the

January openings for Yakutat and Prince

William Sound are no longer necessary

to distribute effort between registration

areas because the separate TACs

established for each registration area

accomplish the same objective.

Safety issues. At its March 1997

meeting, the Board received extensive

testimony from scallop fishermen who

reported that January is an unsafe time

to fish for scallops in the smaller vessels

that compose most of the fleet. Fishing

conditions are much safer in July than

in January when severe winter storms

are common in the Gulf of Alaska.

Historically, the summer fishery in the

western registration areas would extend

into the fall and winter months. Vessel

operators would typically begin scallop

fishing in the Bering Sea and Alaskan

Peninsula during July and move to the

more sheltered waters of Yakutat and

Prince William Sound in the winter.

However, in recent years, TAC limits

and/or crab bycatch limits are reached

relatively quickly in the western

registration areas. No reason exists to

delay the Yakutat and Prince William

Sound scallop fisheries until January

when the worst winter weather occurs.

Federal response to Board action. The

Board has already amended State

regulations to establish a scallop fishing

season of July 1 through February 15 for

the areas in question. Therefore, the goal

under Amendment 1 to the FMP to

maintain consistency between State and

Federal scallop regulations requires

NMFS to implement a parallel change in

Federal regulations. This revision to

Federal regulations is necessary to

prevent conflicting fishing seasons at

the State and Federal level and the

resulting disruption to industry. If no

action is taken, cooperative StateFederal management of the fishery

would be impossible. State waters in

Prince William Sound and Yakutat

would open on July 1 while Federal

waters would open on January 10.

Furthermore, ADF&G and NMFS would

be forced to split the TACs between

State and Federal waters and manage

separately each portion of the TAC.

Classification

This proposed rule has been

determined to be not significant for the

purposes of E.O. 12866.

The Assistant General Counsel for

Legislation and Regulation of the

Department of Commerce certified to

the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the

Small Business Administration that this

proposed rule, if adopted, will not have

a significant economic impact on a

substantial number of small entities as

follows:

In the past two years, eight of the

eleven scallop vessels active in Alaska

have participated in the scallop fishery

in Yakutat or Prince William Sound.

This is a ‘‘substantial number’’ of small

entities, as NMFS has interpreted this

term to mean 20 percent of the total

universe of small entities affected by the

regulation. However the proposed

action would not impose any

compliance costs on small entities.

Furthermore, the likely effects of the

proposed action are positive and

include: Safer fishing conditions for

vessels and crews, and a consolidated

fishing season that will reduce the

overhead costs that are associated with

conducting scallop fishing during two

separate times of the year. Therefore,

this action would not have a

‘‘significant impact,’’ as NMFS has

interpreted that term to mean a

reduction in annual gross revenues by

more than 5 percent, an increase in total

costs of production by more than 5

percent, or compliance costs for small

entities that are at least 10 percent

higher than compliance costs as a

percent of sales for large entities.

This regulatory change was requested

by industry to consolidate the scallop

fishing seasons off Alaska and to

improve safety in the fishery. While

industry indicates that this regulatory

change will improve safety, it will not

have a significant economic impact on

a substantial number of small entities

because the scallop harvest quotas and

other management measures for the

fishery will remain unchanged. As a

result, a regulatory flexibility analysis

was not prepared. Copies of the EA/RIR

are available from NMFS (see

ADDRESSES).

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 679

Alaska, Fisheries, Reporting and

recordkeeping requirements.

Dated: November 18, 1997.

David L. Evans,

Acting Assistant Administrator for Fisheries,

National Marine Fisheries Service.

For the reasons set out in the

preamble, 50 CFR part 679 is proposed

to be amended as follows:

PART 679—FISHERIES OF THE

EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE OFF

ALASKA

1. The authority citation for part 679

continues to read as follows:

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

seq., and 3631 et seq.

2. Section 679.64 is revised to read as

follows:

§ 679.64 Seasons.

(a) Fishing for scallops in the Federal

waters off Alaska is authorized from

0001 hours, A.l.t., July 1, through 1200

hours, A.l.t., February 15 of the

following year, subject to the other

provisions of this part, except as

provided in paragraphs (b) and (c) of

this section.

(b) Fishing for scallops in the Federal

waters of the Kamishak District of

Scallop Registration Area H is

authorized from 1200 hours, A.l.t.,

August 15 through 1200 hours, A.l.t.,

October 31, subject to the other

provisions of this part.

(c) Fishing for scallops in the Federal

waters of Registration Area A is

authorized from 1200 hours A.l.t.,

January 10 through 1200 hours, A.l.t.,

June 30, subject to the other provisions

of this part.

[FR Doc. 97–30803 Filed 11–21–97; 8:45 am]

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