Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 21 / Monday, February 2, 2015 / Proposed Rules 5499 

Sebastian. Mail comments to P.O. Box 

21668, Juneau, AK 99802–1668. 

Instructions: Comments sent by any 

other method, to any other address or 

individual, or received after the end of 

the comment period, may not be 

considered by NMFS. All comments 

received are a part of the public record 

and will generally be posted for public 

viewing on http://www.regulations.gov 

without change. All personal identifying 

information (e.g., name, address, etc.), 

confidential business information, or 

otherwise sensitive information 

submitted voluntarily by the sender will 

be publicly accessible. 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, or Adobe PDF 

file formats only. 

Electronic copies of the proposed 

rule, list of references and supporting 

documents, and the draft economic 

report (i.e., Regulatory Impact Review 

(RIR)/4(b)(2) Preparatory Assessment/

Initial Regulatory Flexibility Act (IRFA) 

report) prepared for this action are 

available from http://

www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=

NOAA-NMFS-2013-0114 or from the 

NMFS Alaska Region Web site at http:// 

alaskafisheries.noaa.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Tamara Olson, NMFS Alaska Region, 

(907) 271–2373; Jon Kurland, NMFS 

Alaska Region, (907) 586–7638; or Marta 

Nammack, NMFS Office of Protected 

Resources, (301) 427–8469. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

On December 9, 2014, we published 

a proposed rule to designate critical 

habitat for the threatened Arctic ringed 

seal under the ESA, and opened a 

public comment period on the proposed 

rule through March 9, 2015 (79 FR 

73010). Subsequently, on January 13, 

2015, we announced the specific dates 

and locations for four public hearings 

on the proposed rule in Alaska, one 

each in Nome, Anchorage, Kotzebue, 

and Barrow (80 FR 1618). At that time, 

we also announced our intention to 

hold a fifth public hearing in Bethel, 

AK. In this document we announce the 

specific date and location for the public 

hearing in Bethel. In addition, to 

provide the public with additional time 

to submit comments, we also announce 

in this document an extension of the 

comment period (see DATES). 

Public Hearings 

During the public hearings, a brief 

opening presentation on the proposed 

rule will be provided before accepting 

public testimony. Written comments 

may be submitted at the hearings or via 

the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal (see 

ADDRESSES) until the scheduled close of 

the comment period (see DATES). In the 

event that attendance at the public 

hearings is large, the time allotted for 

oral statements may be limited. Oral and 

written statements receive equal 

consideration. There are no limits on 

the length of written comments 

submitted to us. 

Special Accommodations 

These hearings are physically 

accessible to people with disabilities. 

Requests for sign language 

interpretation or other accommodations 

should be directed to Tamara Olson (see 

ADDRESSES) as soon as possible, but no 

later than 7 business days prior to the 

hearing date. 

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

Dated: January 26, 2015. 

Donna S. Wieting, 

Director, Office of Protected Resources, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2015–01970 Filed 1–30–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 680 

RIN 0648–BD61 

Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic 

Zone Off Alaska; Bering Sea and 

Aleutian Islands Crab Rationalization 

Program 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of availability of fishery 

management plan amendment; request 

for comments. 

SUMMARY: The North Pacific Fishery 

Management Council (Council) 

submitted Amendment 45 to the Fishery 

Management Plan for Bering Sea/ 

Aleutian Islands King and Tanner Crabs 

(Crab FMP) to NMFS for review. If 

approved, Amendment 45 would 

establish, for a limited period of time, a 

process to permanently remove Pacific 

cod catch limits, known as sideboard 

limits, which are applicable to certain 

hook-and-line catcher/processors in the 

Central and Western Gulf of Alaska 

(GOA) Regulatory Areas. This action 

would authorize NMFS to remove these 

Pacific cod sideboard limits in the 

Central or Western GOA if all eligible 

participants in the hook-and-line 

catcher/processor sector in a regulatory 

area sign and submit to NMFS an 

affidavit requesting that NMFS remove 

the sideboard limit. Eligible participants 

would be required to submit an affidavit 

to NMFS within 1 year of the date of 

publication of a final rule implementing 

Amendment 45, if it is approved by the 

Secretary of Commerce. Amendment 45 

is necessary to provide participants in 

the Central and Western GOA hook-andline catcher/processor sectors with an 

opportunity to cooperatively coordinate 

harvests of GOA Pacific cod through 

private arrangement to the participants’ 

mutual benefit, which would remove 

the need for current regulations that 

impose sideboard harvest restrictions on 

some participants in the sectors. This 

action is intended to promote the goals 

and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens 

Fishery Conservation and Management 

Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), the Crab 

FMP, and other applicable laws. 

DATES: Submit comments on or before 

April 3, 2015. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by NOAA–NMFS–2013–0133, 

by any one of the following methods. 

• Electronic Submission: Submit all 

electronic public comments via the 

Federal eRulemaking Portal. Go to 

www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=

NOAA-NMFS-2013-0133, click the 

‘‘Comment Now!’’ icon, complete the 

required fields, and enter or attach your 

comments. 

• Mail: Submit written comments to 

Glenn Merrill, Assistant Regional 

Administrator, Sustainable Fisheries 

Division, Alaska Region NMFS, Attn: 

Ellen Sebastian. Mail comments to P.O. 

Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802–1668. 

Instructions: Comments sent by any 

other method, to any other address or 

individual, or received after the end of 

the comment period, may not be 

considered by NMFS. All comments 

received are a part of the public record 

and will generally be posted for public 

viewing on www.regulations.gov 

without change. All personal identifying 

information (e.g., name, address), 

confidential business information, or 

otherwise sensitive information 

submitted voluntarily by the sender will 

be publicly accessible. 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, or Adobe PDF 

file formats only. 

Electronic copies of the following 

documents may be obtained from 

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5500 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 21 / Monday, February 2, 2015 / Proposed Rules 

http://www.regulations.gov or from the 

NMFS Alaska Region Web site at http:// 

alaskafisheries.noaa.gov: 

• The Regulatory Impact Review/ 

Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

(RIR/IRFA), and the Categorical 

Exclusion prepared for this action 

(collectively referred to as the 

‘‘Analysis’’); 

• The Harvest Specifications 

Supplemental Information Report 

prepared for the final 2014 and 2015 

harvest specifications; 

• The Final Environmental 

Assessment/Final RIR/Initial IRFA for 

Amendment 83 to the Fishery 

Management Plan for Groundfish of the 

GOA (GOA FMP) Allocation of Pacific 

Cod Among Sectors in the Western and 

Central GOA; and 

• The Alaska Groundfish Harvest 

Specifications Final Environmental 

Impact Statement. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Seanbob Kelly, 907–586–7228. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Magnuson-Stevens Act requires that 

each regional fishery management 

council submit any fishery management 

plan amendment it prepares to NMFS 

for review and approval, disapproval, or 

partial approval by the Secretary of 

Commerce (Secretary). The MagnusonStevens Act also requires that NMFS, 

upon receiving a fishery management 

plan amendment, immediately publish a 

notice in the Federal Register 

announcing that the amendment is 

available for public review and 

comment. This notice announces that 

proposed Amendment 45 to the Crab 

FMP is available for public review and 

comment. 

The king and Tanner crab fisheries in 

the exclusive economic zone of the 

Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands are 

managed under the Crab FMP. The 

Council prepared the Crab FMP under 

the Magnuson-Stevens Act. Regulations 

implementing the Crab FMP are located 

at 50 CFR part 680. 

The Crab Rationalization (CR) 

Program, implemented in 2005, is a 

catch share program that allocates 

Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) 

crab resources through issuance of quota 

share among harvesters, processors, and 

coastal communities. As part of the CR 

Program, eligible vessel owners were 

allocated quota share in several valuable 

crab fisheries. The CR Program provides 

increased flexibility for crab fishermen 

to choose when and where to fish, or 

whether to lease their crab quota share 

and fish for species other than crab. The 

Council and NMFS recognized that the 

benefits of the CR Program could create 

incentives for participants to increase 

their level of participation in groundfish 

fisheries, especially Pacific cod fisheries 

in the Central and Western GOA. 

Participants in the Bering Sea C. opilio 

(snow) crab fisheries have historically 

participated in GOA Pacific cod 

fisheries. Therefore, the CR Program 

established GOA Pacific cod sideboard 

limits to prevent increased fishing effort 

in the GOA Pacific cod fisheries by 

those receiving Bering Sea snow crab 

quota share, and to mitigate the 

potentially adverse impacts of increased 

fishing effort on participants in the GOA 

Pacific cod fisheries who did not benefit 

from the CR Program. 

CR Program GOA Pacific cod 

sideboard limits constrain the harvest of 

GOA Pacific cod by vessels and holders 

of license limitation program (LLP) 

licenses that were used to harvest 

specific amounts of Pacific cod in the 

GOA and snow crab in the Bering Sea 

and Aleutian Islands Management Area. 

Originally, the CR Program GOA Pacific 

cod sideboard limits in the Central and 

Western GOA were calculated using the 

Pacific cod total allowable catch (TAC) 

for the Central and Western GOA. With 

the implementation of Amendment 83 

to the Fishery Management Plan for Gulf 

of Alaska Groundfish in 2012, the CR 

Program GOA Pacific cod sideboard 

limits in the Central and Western GOA 

are calculated using the apportionment 

of Pacific cod TAC established for 

specific gear types (e.g., hook-and-line 

gear, pot gear) and by operation type 

(i.e., catcher/processor vessels, catcher 

vessels). CR Program GOA Pacific cod 

sideboard limits in the Central and 

Western GOA for vessels using hookand-line gear and operating as catcher/ 

processors (the hook-and-line catcher/ 

processor sector) are now much smaller 

than they were prior to Amendment 83. 

As a result, NMFS prohibits target 

fishing, commonly known as directed 

fishing, for Pacific cod in the Central 

and Western GOA by participants in the 

hook-and-line catcher/processor sector 

who are subject to CR Program GOA 

Pacific cod sideboard limits so that 

these small sideboard limits are not 

exceeded. 

This proposed action would establish, 

for a limited period of time, a regulatory 

process for the removal of the Central 

and/or the Western CR Program GOA 

Pacific cod sideboard limits for the 

hook-and-line catcher/processor sectors. 

As proposed, Amendment 45 would 

allow NMFS to permanently remove a 

CR Program GOA Pacific cod sideboard 

limit if NMFS receives an affidavit 

signed by all persons holding LLP 

licenses with endorsements that permit 

directed fishing for Pacific cod as a 

hook-and-line catcher/processor in the 

Central or Western GOA (i.e., all eligible 

participants) and stating that all eligible 

participants in that regulatory area 

recommend removal of the CR Program 

GOA Pacific cod sideboard limit. This 

proposed action is necessary to provide 

participants with an opportunity to 

cooperatively agree to coordinate Pacific 

cod harvests in a manner that is 

mutually beneficial to all eligible 

participants in the Central and Western 

GOA hook-and-line catcher/processor 

sectors, thus eliminating the need for 

the sideboard limits imposed through 

regulation. 

If NMFS receives an affidavit from all 

eligible participants in the Central GOA, 

then NMFS would remove the CR 

Program GOA Pacific cod sideboard 

limit for the hook-and-line catcher/ 

processor sector in the Central GOA. If 

NMFS receives an affidavit from all 

eligible participants in the Western 

GOA, then NMFS would remove the CR 

Program GOA Pacific cod sideboard 

limit for the hook-and-line catcher/ 

processor sector in the Western GOA. 

This proposed action would require 

that eligible participants in each 

regulatory area submit a completed 

affidavit no later than 1 year (365 days) 

following publication in the Federal 

Register of the final rule implementing 

Amendment 45, if approved by the 

Secretary. The Council recommended a 

1-year deadline to provide sufficient 

time to encourage negotiations among 

eligible participants, while not unduly 

prolonging the management uncertainty 

for those participants currently subject 

to the CR Program GOA Pacific cod 

sideboard limits and prohibited from 

targeting Pacific cod in the Central or 

Western GOA. 

If all of the eligible participants are 

unable or unwilling to agree to the 

sideboard removal, NMFS would not 

remove the CR Program GOA Pacific 

cod sideboard limits and certain hookand-line catcher/processors would 

continue to be subject to CR Program 

GOA Pacific cod sideboard limits. The 

Council determined that maintaining 

the CR Program GOA Pacific cod 

sideboard limits for vessels and any 

associated LLP licenses is consistent 

with the CR Program because the 

sideboard limits continue to provide 

protections originally intended under 

the CR Program if agreement cannot be 

reached among all participants. 

Removing sideboard limits without 

coordination and agreement among all 

eligible participants would increase the 

likelihood of increased fishing effort (a 

‘‘race for fish’’) among fishery 

participants and ultimately would not 

provide long-term management stability. 

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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 21 / Monday, February 2, 2015 / Proposed Rules 5501 

This result would be inconsistent with 

the purpose and need for this action. 

Public comments are solicited on 

proposed Amendment 45 to the Crab 

FMP through the end of the comment 

period (see DATES). NMFS intends to 

publish in the Federal Register and seek 

public comment on a proposed rule that 

would implement Amendment 45, 

following NMFS’ evaluation of the 

proposed rule under the MagnusonStevens Act. Public comments on the 

proposed rule must be received by the 

end of the comment period on 

Amendment 45 to be considered in the 

approval/disapproval decision on 

Amendment 45. All comments received 

by the end of the comment period on 

Amendment 45, whether specifically 

directed to the amendment or the 

proposed rule will be considered in the 

amendment approval/disapproval 

decision. Comments received after that 

date will not be considered in the 

approval/disapproval decision on the 

amendment. To be considered, 

comments must be received, not just 

postmarked or otherwise transmitted, by 

the last day of the comment period. 

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

Dated: January 27, 2015. 

Emily H. Menashes, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2015–01842 Filed 1–30–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

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