82336 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 225 / Friday, November 24, 2023 / Notices 

on the subsistence uses of the affected 

marine mammal species or stocks by 

Alaskan Natives. NMFS has defined 

‘‘unmitigable adverse impact’’ in 50 CFR 

216.103 as an impact resulting from the 

specified activity: (1) That is likely to 

reduce the availability of the species to 

a level insufficient for a harvest to meet 

subsistence needs by: (i) Causing the 

marine mammals to abandon or avoid 

hunting areas; (ii) Directly displacing 

subsistence users; or (iii) Placing 

physical barriers between the marine 

mammals and the subsistence hunters; 

and (2) That cannot be sufficiently 

mitigated by other measures to increase 

the availability of marine mammals to 

allow subsistence needs to be met. 

Subsistence activities in Unalaska 

have historically included the harvest of 

pinnipeds and sea otters. However, 

subsistence harvests of marine 

mammals declined between 1994 and 

2008 (the last year for which data are 

available) (ADF&G 2022). Additionally, 

a ban on firearm discharge within the 

city limits of the City of Unalaska means 

that current subsistence harvesting 

typically occurs from skiffs in areas 

outside of Dutch Harbor and Iliuliuk 

Bay, including Wide Bay, Kalekta Bay, 

Bishop Point, Wislow Island, and 

Beaver Inlet. The planned activity 

would not impact these areas. 

Any impacts to marine mammals from 

the planned activity are likely to be 

short-term and temporary, and limited 

to the area around the blasting site. 

While a limited number of individuals 

may experience PTS, there are no 

expected impacts to the availability of 

marine mammals for subsistence uses 

due to the blasting activity. 

Based on the description of the 

specified activity, and the mitigation 

and monitoring measures, NMFS has 

determined that there will not be an 

unmitigable adverse impact on 

subsistence uses from USACE’s 

construction activities. 

Endangered Species Act 

Section 7(a)(2) of the Endangered 

Species Act of 1973 (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 

1531 et seq.) requires that each Federal 

agency insure that any action it 

authorizes, funds, or carries out is not 

likely to jeopardize the continued 

existence of any endangered or 

threatened species or result in the 

destruction or adverse modification of 

designated critical habitat. To ensure 

ESA compliance for the issuance of 

IHAs, NMFS consults internally 

whenever we propose to authorize take 

for endangered or threatened species, in 

this case with NMFS Alaska Regional 

Office. 

There are two marine mammal 

species (western DPS Steller sea lion 

and humpback whale (Mexico and 

Western North Pacific DPSs)) with 

confirmed occurrence in the project area 

that are listed as endangered under the 

ESA. The NMFS Alaska Regional Office 

Protected Resources Division issued a 

Biological Opinion on November 16, 

2023 under section 7 of the ESA, on the 

issuance of an IHA to USACE under 

section 101(a)(5)(D) of the MMPA by the 

NMFS Permits and Conservation 

Division. The Biological Opinion 

concluded that the action is not likely 

to jeopardize the continued existence of 

Western DPS Steller sea lions or 

humpback whales from either the 

Mexico or Western North Pacific DPSs, 

and is not likely to destroy or adversely 

modify humpback whale critical habitat. 

National Environmental Policy Act 

To comply with the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969 

(NEPA; 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and 

NOAA Administrative Order (NAO) 

216–6A, NMFS must review our 

proposed action (i.e., the issuance of an 

IHA) with respect to potential impacts 

on the human environment. 

This action is consistent with 

categories of activities identified in 

Categorical Exclusion B4 (IHAs with no 

anticipated serious injury or mortality) 

of the Companion Manual for NOAA 

Administrative Order 216–6A, which do 

not individually or cumulatively have 

the potential for significant impacts on 

the quality of the human environment 

and for which we have not identified 

any extraordinary circumstances that 

would preclude this categorical 

exclusion. Accordingly, NMFS has 

determined that the issuance of the IHA 

qualifies to be categorically excluded 

from further NEPA review. 

Authorization 

As a result of these determinations, 

NMFS has issued an IHA to the USACE 

for conducting confined blasting in 

Iliuliuk Bay, Unalaska between January 

1, 2024 and December 31, 2024, 

incorporating the previously mentioned 

mitigation, monitoring, and reporting 

requirements. The IHA can be found at: 

https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/ 

incidental-take-authorization-us-armycorps-engineers-unalaska-dutch-harborchannel. 

Dated: November 20, 2023. 

Kimberly Damon-Randall, 

Director, Office of Protected Resources, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2023–25934 Filed 11–22–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XD512] 

Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic 

Zone Off Alaska; Bering Sea and 

Aleutian Islands Management Area; 

Cost Recovery Fee Notice for the 

Western Alaska Community 

Development Quota and Trawl Limited 

Access Privilege Programs 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of standard prices and 

fee percentage. 

SUMMARY: NMFS publishes standard 

prices and fee percentages for cost 

recovery for the Amendment 80 

Program, the American Fisheries Act 

(AFA) Program, the Aleutian Islands 

Pollock (AIP) Program, and the Western 

Alaska Community Development Quota 

(CDQ) Program in the Bering Sea 

Aleutian Islands (BSAI) management 

area. The fee percentages for 2023 are 

1.37 percent for the Amendment 80 

Program, 0.26 percent for the AFA 

inshore cooperatives, 0 percent for the 

AIP program, and 1.07 percent for the 

CDQ Program. This notice is intended to 

provide the 2023 standard prices and 

fee percentages to calculate the required 

payment for cost recovery fees due by 

December 31, 2023. 

DATES: The standard prices and fee 

percentages are valid on November 24, 

2023. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Charmaine Weeks, Fee Coordinator, 

907–586–7231. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

Section 304(d) of the MagnusonStevens Fishery Conservation and 

Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens 

Act) authorizes and requires that NMFS 

collect cost recovery fees for limited 

access privilege programs and the CDQ 

Program. Cost recovery fees include 

NMFS’ actual costs directly related to its 

management, data collection, and 

enforcement of the programs. Section 

304(d) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act 

mandates that cost recovery fees not 

exceed 3 percent of the annual ex-vessel 

value of fish harvested under any 

program subject to a cost recovery fee 

and that the fee be collected either at the 

time of landing, filing of a landing 

report, or sale of such fish during a 

fishing season or in the last quarter of 


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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 225 / Friday, November 24, 2023 / Notices 82337 

the calendar year in which the fish is 

harvested. 

NMFS manages the Amendment 80 

Program, AFA Program, and AIP 

Program as limited access privilege 

programs. On January 5, 2016, NMFS 

published a final rule to implement cost 

recovery for these three limited access 

privilege programs and the CDQ 

program (81 FR 150). The designated 

representative (for the purposes of cost 

recovery) for each program is 

responsible for submitting the fee 

payment to NMFS on or before 

December 31 of the year in which the 

landings were made. The total dollar 

amount of the fee due is determined by 

multiplying the NMFS published fee 

percentage by the ex-vessel value of all 

landings under the program made 

during the fishing year. NMFS publishes 

this notice of the fee percentages for the 

Amendment 80, AFA, AIP, and CDQ 

programs in the Federal Register by 

December 1 each year. 

Standard Prices 

The fee liability is based on the exvessel value of fish harvested in each 

program. For purposes of calculating 

cost recovery fees, NMFS uses a 

standard ex-vessel price (standard price) 

for each species. A standard price is 

determined using information on 

landings purchased (volume) and exvessel value paid (value). For most 

groundfish species, NMFS annually 

summarizes volume and value 

information for landings of all fishery 

species subject to cost recovery to 

estimate a standard price for each 

species. The standard prices are 

described in U.S. dollars per pound for 

landings made during the year. The 

standard prices for all species in the 

Amendment 80, AFA, AIP, and CDQ 

programs are provided in Table 1. Each 

landing made under each program is 

multiplied by the appropriate standard 

price to arrive at an ex-vessel value for 

each landing. These values are summed 

together to arrive at the ex-vessel value 

of each program (fishery value). 

TABLE 1—STANDARD EX-VESSEL PRICES BY SPECIES FOR THE 2023 FISHING YEAR

Species Gear type Reporting period 

Standard 

ex-vessel 

price per 

pound 

($) 

Arrowtooth flounder ................................... All .............................................................. January to December ............................... 0.24 

Atka mackerel ........................................... All .............................................................. January to December ............................... 0.24 

Flathead sole ............................................ All .............................................................. January to December ............................... 0.18 

Greenland turbot ....................................... All .............................................................. January to December ............................... 0.62 

CDQ halibut .............................................. Fixed gear ................................................. January to December ............................... 5.25 

Pacific cod ................................................. Fixed gear ................................................. January to December ............................... 0.53 

Trawl gear ................................................. January to December ............................... 0.42 

Pacific ocean perch .................................. All .............................................................. January to December ............................... 0.18 

Pollock ....................................................... All .............................................................. January to December ............................... 0.20 

Rock sole .................................................. All .............................................................. January to March ...................................... 0.23 

All .............................................................. April to December ..................................... 0.19 

Sablefish ................................................... Fixed gear ................................................. January to December ............................... 1.38 

Trawl gear ................................................. January to December ............................... 0.56 

Yellowfin sole ............................................ All .............................................................. January to December ............................... 0.18 

Fee Percentage 

Annually, NMFS calculates the 

applicable fee percentage for each of the 

four programs according to the factors 

and methods described at 50 CFR 679 

under §§ 679.33(c)(2) for CDQ, 

679.66(c)(2) for AFA, 679.67(c)(2) for 

AIP, and 679.95(c)(2) for Amendment 

80. NMFS determines the fee percentage 

that applies to landings made during the 

year by dividing the total costs directly 

related to the management, data 

collection, and enforcement of each 

program (direct program costs) during 

the year by the fishery value. NMFS 

captures direct program costs through 

an established accounting system that 

allows staff to track labor, travel, 

contracts, rent, and procurement costs. 

For 2023, the direct program costs for 

each program were tracked from 

October 1, 2022 to September 30, 2023 

(the end of the fiscal year). The 2023 fee 

percentages for the Amendment 80 and 

CDQ Programs are more than the fee 

percentages calculated for them in 2022. 

The 2023 fee percentage for the AFA 

Program is less than the fee percentage 

calculated for it in 2022. The 2023 

percentage for the AIP Program is zero 

because there was no AIP fishery in 

2023, thus no associated harvest. 

NMFS will provide an annual report 

that summarizes direct program costs 

for each of the programs in early 2024. 

NMFS calculates the values for each 

fishery as described earlier under the 

Standard Prices section of this notice. 

Amendment 80 Program Standard 

Prices and Fee Percentage 

The Amendment 80 Program allocates 

total allowable catches (TACs) of 

groundfish species, other than Bering 

Sea pollock, to identified trawl catcher/ 

processors fishing in the BSAI. The 

Amendment 80 Program allocates a 

portion of the BSAI TACs of six species: 

Atka mackerel, Pacific cod, flathead 

sole, rock sole, yellowfin sole, and 

Aleutian Islands Pacific ocean perch. In 

recent years, participants in the 

Amendment 80 sector have established 

a cooperative to harvest these 

allocations. Each Amendment 80 

cooperative is responsible for payment 

of the cost recovery fee for fish landed 

under the Amendment 80 Program. Cost 

recovery requirements for the 

Amendment 80 Program are at § 679.95. 

For Amendment 80 species other than 

rock sole, NMFS annually summarizes 

volume and value information for 

landings of all fishery species subject to 

cost recovery in order to estimate a 

standard price for each fishery species. 

Regulations specify that for rock sole, 

NMFS shall calculate a separate 

standard price for two periods, January 

1 through March 31 and April 1 through 

October 31, which has historically 

accounted for a substantial difference in 

estimated rock sole prices during the 

first quarter of the year relative to the 

remainder of the year. The volume and 

value information are obtained from the 

First Wholesale Volume and Value 

Report submitted by catcher/processors 

that harvested Amendment 80 or CDQ 

species, and the Pacific Cod Ex-Vessel 

Volume and Value Report submitted by 

shoreside processors and motherships 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1
82338 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 225 / Friday, November 24, 2023 / Notices 

that processed landings of BSAI or CDQ 

Pacific cod. 

Using the fee percentage formula 

described generally above, the estimated 

percentage of direct program costs to 

fishery value for the 2023 calendar year 

is 1.37 percent for the Amendment 80 

Program. For 2023, NMFS applied the 

fee percentage to each Amendment 80 

species landing that was debited from 

an Amendment 80 cooperative quota 

allocation between January 1 and 

December 31 to calculate the 

Amendment 80 fee liability for each 

Amendment 80 cooperative. The 2023 

fee payments must be submitted to 

NMFS on or before December 31, 2023. 

Payment must be made in accordance 

with the payment methods set forth in 

§ 679.95(a)(3)(iv). 

AFA Standard Price and Fee 

Percentages 

The AFA Program allocates the Bering 

Sea directed pollock fishery TAC to 

three sectors: catcher/processor, 

mothership, and inshore. Each sector 

has established cooperatives to harvest 

the sector’s exclusive allocation. In 

2023, each cooperative for the inshore 

sector is responsible for paying the fee 

for Bering Sea pollock landed under the 

AFA Program. Cost recovery 

requirements for the AFA sectors are 

found at § 679.66. 

NMFS calculates the standard price 

for pollock using the most recent annual 

value information reported to the Alaska 

Department of Fish and Game for the 

Commercial Operator’s Annual Report 

and compiled in the Alaska Commercial 

Fisheries Entry Commission Gross 

Earnings data. Due to the time required 

to compile the data, there is a 1-year 

delay between the gross earnings data 

year and the fishing year to which it is 

applied. For example, NMFS used 2022 

gross earnings data to calculate the 

standard price for 2023 pollock 

landings. 

Under the fee percentage formula 

described above, the estimated 

percentage of direct program costs to 

fishery value for the 2023 calendar year 

is 0.26 percent for the AFA inshore 

sector. To calculate the 2023 fee 

liabilities, NMFS applied the respective 

fee percentages to the landings of Bering 

Sea pollock debited from each 

cooperative’s fishery allocation that 

occurred between January 1 and 

December 31. The 2023 fee payments 

must be submitted to NMFS on or before 

December 31, 2023. Payment must be 

made in accordance with the payment 

methods set forth in § 679.66(a)(4)(iv). 

AIP Program Standard Price and Fee 

Percentage 

The AIP Program allocates the 

Aleutian Islands directed pollock 

fishery TAC to the Aleut Corporation, 

consistent with the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act of 2004 (Pub. L. 

108–109) and implementing regulations. 

Annually, prior to the start of the 

pollock season, the Aleut Corporation 

provides NMFS with the identity of its 

designated representative for harvesting 

the Aleutian Islands directed pollock 

fishery TAC. The same individual is 

responsible for the submission of all 

cost recovery fees for pollock landed 

under the AIP Program. Cost recovery 

requirements for the AIP Program are at 

§ 679.67. 

NMFS calculates the standard price 

for pollock using the most recent annual 

value information reported to the Alaska 

Department of Fish and Game for the 

Commercial Operator’s Annual Report 

and compiled in the Alaska Commercial 

Fisheries Entry Commission Gross 

Earnings data for Aleutian Islands 

pollock. As explained above, due to the 

time required to compile the data, there 

is a 1-year delay between the gross 

earnings data year and the fishing year 

to which it is applied. 

For the 2023 fishing year, the Aleut 

Corporation did not select any 

participants to harvest or process the 

Aleutian Islands directed pollock 

fishery TAC, and most of that TAC was 

reallocated to the Bering Sea directed 

pollock fishery TAC. Since there was no 

fishery for the AIP Program in 2023, the 

fee percentage is zero. 

CDQ Standard Price and Fee Percentage 

The CDQ Program was implemented 

in 1992 to provide access to BSAI 

fishery resources to villages located in 

Western Alaska. Section 305(i) of the 

Magnuson-Stevens Act identifies 65 

villages eligible to participate in the 

CDQ Program and the six CDQ groups 

to represent these villages. CDQ groups 

receive exclusive harvesting privileges 

of the TACs for a broad range of crab 

species, groundfish species, and halibut. 

NMFS implemented a CDQ cost 

recovery program for the BSAI crab 

fisheries in 2005 (70 FR 10174, March 

2, 2005) and published the cost recovery 

fee percentage for the 2022/2023 crab 

fishing year on August 3, 2023 (88 FR 

51301). This notice provides the cost 

recovery fee percentage for the CDQ 

Program with respect to groundfish and 

halibut. Each CDQ group is subject to 

cost recovery fee requirements and the 

designated representative of each CDQ 

group is responsible for submitting 

payment for their CDQ group. Cost 

recovery requirements for the CDQ 

Program are at § 679.33. 

For most CDQ groundfish species, 

NMFS annually summarizes volume 

and value information for landings of all 

fishery species subject to cost recovery 

in order to estimate a standard price for 

each fishery species. The volume and 

value information are obtained from the 

First Wholesale Volume and Value 

Report and the Pacific Cod Ex-Vessel 

Volume and Value Report. For CDQ 

halibut and fixed-gear sablefish, NMFS 

calculates the standard prices using 

information from the Individual Fishing 

Quota (IFQ) Ex-Vessel Volume and 

Value Report, which collects 

information on both IFQ and CDQ 

volume and value. 

Using the fee percentage formula 

described above, the estimated 

percentage of direct program costs to 

fishery value for the 2023 calendar year 

is 1.07 percent for the CDQ Program. For 

2023, NMFS applied the calculated CDQ 

fee percentage to all CDQ groundfish 

and halibut landings made between 

January 1 and December 31 to calculate 

the CDQ fee liability for each CDQ 

group. The 2023 fee payments must be 

submitted to NMFS on or before 

December 31, 2023. Payment must be 

made in accordance with the payment 

methods set forth in § 679.33(a)(3)(iv). 

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

Dated: November 20, 2023. 

Kelly Denit, 

Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2023–25957 Filed 11–22–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XD553] 

Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management 

Council (MAFMC); Public Meeting 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; public meeting. 

SUMMARY: The Mid-Atlantic and New 

England Fishery Management Councils 

(Councils) will hold a public meeting of 

their joint Northeast Trawl Advisory 

Panel (NTAP). 

DATES: The meeting will be held on 

Thursday, December 14, 2023, from 12 

p.m. to 2 p.m. EDT. For agenda details, 

see SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. 

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held 

via webinar. Connection information 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1