Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 29 / Thursday, February 12, 2015 / Proposed Rules 7817 

If approved by the Secretary, 

proposed Amendment 108 to the BSAI 

FMP, proposed Amendment 100 to the 

GOA FMP, and proposed Amendment 

46 to the Crab FMP would correct the 

omissions in each FMP by adding ‘‘or 

equal to’’ to the length limits. 

Specifically, these FMP amendments 

would add vessels 26 ft (7.9 m) LOA in 

the GOA and vessels 32 ft (9.8 m) LOA 

in the BSAI, including BSAI Crab, to the 

LLP exemption. Since the 

implementation of the LLP, fisheries in 

the BSAI and GOA have been conducted 

according to Federal regulations and not 

the FMP texts; therefore, there would be 

no impact to license holders and no 

change to fishing behavior or fisheries 

management in the U.S. Exclusive 

Economic Zone off Alaska if these 

amendments are approved. These 

amendments are necessary to make the 

three FMPs consistent with the original 

intent of the Council and Secretary, 

current operations in the fisheries, and 

Federal regulations. The inconsistencies 

among FMP text, regulatory text, and 

Council and Secretarial intent were not 

identified until August 2014. 

Public comments are being solicited 

on the proposed FMP amendments and 

must be received by the end of the 

comment period (see DATES) on 

Amendment 108 to the BSAI FMP, 

Amendment 100 to the GOA FMP, and 

Amendment 46 to the Crab FMP to be 

considered in the approval/disapproval 

decision on each amendment. All 

comments received by the end of the 

comment period will be considered in 

the approval/disapproval decision on 

the amendments. To be considered, 

comments must be received, not just 

postmarked or otherwise transmitted, by 

the end of the comment period. 

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

Dated: February 6, 2015. 

Samuel D. Rauch III, 

Deputy Assistant Administrator for 

Regulatory Programs, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2015–02890 Filed 2–11–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 680 

[Docket No. 130820737–5111–01] 

RIN 0648–BD61 

Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic 

Zone off Alaska; Bering Sea and 

Aleutian Islands Crab Rationalization 

Program; Amendment 45; Pacific Cod 

Sideboard Allocations in the Gulf of 

Alaska 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Proposed rule; request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: NMFS issues a proposed rule 

that would implement Amendment 45 

to the Fishery Management Plan for 

Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands King and 

Tanner Crabs (Crab FMP). If approved, 

Amendment 45 would establish, for a 

limited period of time, a process for 

NMFS 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 and/or Western GOA if all 

eligible participants in the hook-andline catcher/processor sector in a 

regulatory area sign and submit a 

request that NMFS remove the 

sideboard limit. Each eligible 

participant would be required to submit 

the request 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 

(Secretary). This action is necessary to 

provide participants in the Central and 

Western GOA hook-and-line catcher/

processor sectors with an opportunity to 

cooperatively coordinate harvests of 

Pacific cod through private arrangement 

to the participants’ mutual benefit, 

which would remove the need for 

sideboard limits in these regulatory 

areas. 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 

March 16, 2015. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by NOAA-NMFS-2013-0133, 

by any 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 

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 (SIR) 

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 

Gulf of Alaska (GOA FMP) Allocation of 

Pacific cod Among Sectors in the 

Western and Central GOA; and 

• The Alaska Groundfish Harvest 

Specifications Final Environmental 

Impact Statement (Harvest 

Specifications EIS). 

Written comments regarding the 

burden-hour estimates or other aspects 

of the collection-of-information 

requirements contained in this action 

may be submitted to NMFS at the above 

address and by email to OIRA_


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7818 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 29 / Thursday, February 12, 2015 / Proposed Rules 

Submission@omb.eop.gov or fax to 202– 

395–5806. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Seanbob Kelly, 907–586–7228. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: MFS 

proposes regulations to implement 

Amendment 45 to the Crab FMP. The 

king and Tanner crab fisheries in the 

exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the 

Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands are 

managed under the Crab FMP. While 

the groundfish fisheries in the EEZ of 

the Gulf of Alaska are managed 

primarily under the Fishery 

Management Plan for Groundfish of the 

Gulf of Alaska (GOA FMP), some 

aspects of groundfish fishing in the Gulf 

of Alaska are managed under the Crab 

FMP. The Council prepared each fishery 

management plan pursuant to the 

Magnuson-Stevens Act and other 

applicable laws. Regulations 

implementing the Crab FMP appear at 

50 CFR part 680. Regulations 

implementing the GOA FMP appear at 

50 CFR part 679. General regulations 

governing U.S. fisheries also appear at 

50 CFR part 600. 

This proposed action would establish, 

for a limited period of time, a regulatory 

process for NMFS to permanently 

remove Pacific cod catch limits, known 

as sideboard limits, that are applicable 

to some participants in the Central GOA 

Regulatory Area (Central GOA) and 

Western GOA Regulatory Area (Western 

GOA) hook-and-line catcher/processor 

sectors. This proposed rule would 

modify regulations at 50 CFR 680.22(e) 

that currently require NMFS to establish 

Pacific cod sideboard limits for hookand-line catcher/processors during the 

annual harvest specification process. 

Under this proposed rule, NMFS would 

not establish these sideboard limits for 

the Central or Western GOA if all 

participants eligible to use a hook-andline catcher/processor to fish for Pacific 

cod in the regulatory area sign and 

submit to NMFS a request that NMFS 

remove the sideboard limit for that 

regulatory area. Each eligible participant 

would be required to submit that 

request to NMFS within 1 year of the 

date of publication of a final rule 

implementing Amendment 45, if 

approved by the Secretary. Each eligible 

participant in the Central and/or 

Western GOA must sign an affidavit, 

included on a form, to request that 

NMFS no longer establish Pacific cod 

sideboard limits for the hook-and-line 

catcher/processor sector in the Central 

and/or Western GOA. If NMFS receives 

the required affidavits within the time 

provided, NMFS would announce the 

permanent removal of the Central and/ 

or Western GOA sideboard limits during 

the annual GOA groundfish 

specification process and would no 

longer establish Pacific cod sideboard 

limits for the hook-and-line catcher/

processor sector in the Central and/or 

Western GOA. If NMFS does not receive 

the required affidavits within the time 

provided, NMFS would continue to 

establish GOA Pacific cod sideboard 

limits for the hook-and-line catcher/

processor sectors through the annual 

GOA groundfish specification process. 

To understand the proposed action, 

the following sections of the preamble 

describe: (1) General management of 

Pacific cod in the Central and Western 

GOA; (2) GOA Pacific cod sideboard 

limits established under the Bering Sea 

and Aleutian Islands Management Area 

(BSAI) Crab Rationalization Program; (3) 

recent allocations of Pacific cod in the 

GOA; (4) the effect of Pacific cod 

sideboard limits on hook-and-line 

catcher/processors in the Central and 

Western GOA; and (5) the proposed 

action. 

General Management of Pacific Cod in 

the Central and Western GOA 

NMFS implements conservation and 

management measures, such as catch 

limits, to prevent overfishing while 

achieving the optimum yield in 

federally managed fisheries. Catch 

limits for GOA Pacific cod are 

established as part of the annual harvest 

specifications process for GOA 

groundfish. A detailed description of 

the annual harvest specification process 

is provided in the Harvest 

Specifications EIS (see ADDRESSES), the 

Harvest Specifications SIR (see 

ADDRESSES), and the final 2014 and 2015 

harvest specifications for groundfish of 

the GOA (79 FR 12890, March 6, 2014). 

Regulations at § 679.20(a) require that 

the North Pacific Fishery Management 

Council (Council) annually recommend, 

and NMFS specify, an amount of catch 

at which overfishing is occurring (i.e., 

overfishing level or OFL), an acceptable 

biological catch (ABC), and a total 

allowable catch (TAC) for each stock or 

stock complex (i.e., species or species 

group). NMFS defines the ABC as the 

level of a species or species group’s 

annual catch that accounts for the 

scientific uncertainty in the estimate of 

OFL and any other scientific 

uncertainty. The ABC is always set 

below the OFL. The TAC is defined as 

the annual catch target for a species or 

species group that is derived from the 

ABC after considering social and 

economic factors and management 

uncertainty. Separate TACs are 

calculated using the apportionment of 

TAC for specific regulatory areas to 

limit catch and ensure that fisheries can 

be effectively managed. Similarly, 

sideboard limits are calculated as a 

portion of the TACs for some groundfish 

species and established in the annual 

harvest specifications. Sideboard limits 

constrain harvests by specific vessels 

based on regulatory requirements 

established under various management 

programs. 

Specific to this proposed action, the 

Council recommends, and NMFS 

implements an OFL and ABC for Pacific 

cod in the GOA, and separate TACs for 

the Eastern, Central, and Western GOA 

Pacific cod fisheries. NMFS limits 

harvest by vessels participating in the 

Pacific cod fisheries to these TACs to 

provide for a conservatively managed 

sustainable yield throughout the GOA. 

Once the TACs have been established, 

NMFS apportions each TAC among 

various gear types (e.g., pot or trawl 

gear), operation types (e.g., catcher 

vessels and catcher/processors), and 

sectors (e.g., hook-and-line catcher/

processors) as required by regulation 

(see regulations at § 679.20(a)). Based on 

the regulatory area TACs for Eastern, 

Central, and Western GOA, as divided 

by the A season and B season, NMFS 

establishes sideboard limits for Pacific 

cod, as required by regulations (for 

example, see regulations at § 680.22(a) 

and (d)). The resulting sideboard limits, 

expressed in metric tons, are published 

in the annual GOA groundfish harvest 

specification notices (for the most recent 

example, see 79 FR 12890, March 6, 

2014). As described in more detail in 

the following sections of this preamble, 

NMFS manages vessels subject to 

Pacific cod sideboard limits to ensure 

that these limits are not exceeded. 

NMFS also manages Pacific cod 

fisheries through the License Limitation 

Program (LLP). A vessel is required to 

be named on an LLP license before it 

can be deployed to directed fish (i.e., 

specifically target) for groundfish in 

Federal fisheries in the GOA. The term 

‘‘directed fishing’’ is defined in 

regulation at § 679.2. NMFS has issued 

a specific number of LLP licenses, 

which establish an upper limit on the 

total number of potential participants in 

GOA groundfish fisheries. LLP licenses 

are assigned endorsements for specific 

areas (e.g., Central or Western GOA), 

specific gear (e.g., trawl or hook-andline gear), operation type (e.g., catcher 

vessel or catcher/processor), and in the 

case of vessels using hook-and-line or 

pot gear in the Central and Western 

GOA Pacific cod fisheries, a Pacific cod 

endorsement. LLP licenses must have 

the necessary endorsements for the 

fishing to be conducted. For example, in 

order for a vessel to be used to conduct 

directed fishing for Pacific cod in the 


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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 29 / Thursday, February 12, 2015 / Proposed Rules 7819 

Central GOA as a hook-and-line catcher/ 

processor, the vessel must be named on 

an LLP license that has hook-and-line, 

catcher/processor, and Pacific cod 

endorsements for the Central GOA. 

Additional detail on the LLP is available 

in the final rule implementing the LLP 

(63 FR 52642, October 1, 1998), and in 

the final rule implementing Amendment 

86 to the GOA FMP, which established 

Pacific cod endorsement requirements 

for hook-and-line and pot gear in the 

Central and Western GOA (March 22, 

2011, 76 FR 15826). 

GOA Pacific Cod Sideboard Limits 

Established Under the BSAI Crab 

Rationalization Program 

The BSAI Crab Rationalization 

Program (CR Program) was implemented 

in 2005 and established a catch share 

program that allocates BSAI crab 

resources among harvesters, processors, 

and coastal communities (70 FR 10174, 

March 2, 2005). As part of the CR 

Program, eligible vessel owners and 

vessel captains were allocated quota 

share (QS) in several valuable crab 

fisheries, including the Bering Sea snow 

crab (Chionoecetes opilio) fishery (see 

Table 1 to 50 CFR part 680 and 

§ 680.40(a) for a complete list of 

fisheries). The amount of crab QS 

assigned to each harvester is based on 

historic landings in these fisheries (see 

regulations at § 680.40(c)). The QS 

allocated to historic participants in the 

crab fisheries represents an exclusive 

harvest privilege, commonly known as a 

catch share. A catch share provides each 

qualified harvester with an annual 

allocation of a portion of the available 

TAC for each target species. 

As a catch share program, the CR 

Program benefits eligible harvesters by 

allowing them to tailor their fishing to 

their specific exclusive harvest 

allocation. This allows harvesters to 

avoid a ‘‘race for fish,’’ in which 

participants compete against each other 

to maximize their catch before the TAC 

is reached. The CR Program provides 

increased flexibility for crab fishermen 

to choose when and where to fish or 

whether to lease their crab QS and fish 

for species other than crab. The Council 

and NMFS recognized that the benefits 

of the CR Program could create 

incentives for recipients of snow crab 

QS to increase their level of 

participation in groundfish fisheries, 

especially Pacific cod fisheries in the 

Central and Western GOA. Vessel 

owners that received snow crab QS were 

active in Pacific cod fisheries, and to a 

lesser extent pollock and other 

groundfish fisheries, in the GOA. 

Therefore, vessel owners receiving snow 

crab QS could increase their fishing 

effort in GOA groundfish fisheries 

because the allocation of snow crab QS 

provides an exclusive harvest privilege 

to each eligible vessel owner that can be 

leased, thereby providing the 

opportunity for those vessel owners to 

forgo crab harvests in the BSAI to 

directed fish for Pacific cod and other 

groundfish in the GOA. 

Regulations implementing the CR 

Program established catch restrictions, 

known as CR Program GOA sideboards, 

to limit the potential adverse effects of 

the CR Program on GOA groundfish 

fisheries. These sideboards prevent CR 

Program participants from preempting 

fishermen in the GOA that did not 

receive benefits from the CR Program. 

The final rule implementing the CR 

Program (70 FR 10174, March 2, 2005) 

and Section 1.1.3 of the Analysis 

provide additional detail on the 

rationale for specific provisions of CR 

Program GOA sideboards. This 

preamble provides a summary of 

relevant provisions. 

CR Program GOA sideboards apply to 

the owners and operators of vessels that 

(1) are not authorized to conduct 

directed fishing for pollock under the 

American Fisheries Act (AFA) of 1998 

(Pub. L. 105–227, Title II of Division C); 

and (2) were used to fish for Bering Sea 

snow crab from 1996 through 2000. For 

this preamble, these vessels are termed 

‘‘non-AFA crab vessels.’’ CR Program 

GOA sideboards also apply to any vessel 

that fishes under the authority of an LLP 

license originally issued to a non-AFA 

crab vessel. For this preamble, these 

LLP licenses are termed ‘‘non-AFA crab 

LLP licenses.’’ 

When developing the CR Program 

GOA sideboards, the Council and NMFS 

recognized that individual non-AFA 

crab vessels and associated non-AFA 

crab LLP licenses had varying levels of 

historical participation in the GOA 

groundfish fisheries. Therefore, the 

Council and NMFS established two 

broad categories of CR Program GOA 

sideboards: (1) Sideboard limits for 

groundfish species other than Pacific 

cod that apply to all non-AFA crab 

vessels and non-AFA crab LLP licenses; 

and (2) sideboard provisions for Pacific 

cod that apply to all non-AFA crab 

vessels and non-AFA crab LLP licenses 

but that vary depending on the specific 

harvest patterns of the non-AFA crab 

vessel and its associated non-AFA crab 

LLP license. Because this proposed 

action would not modify GOA 

sideboard limits for groundfish species 

other than Pacific cod, only the GOA 

Pacific cod sideboard provisions are 

further described in this preamble. 

The CR Program establishes three 

separate GOA Pacific cod sideboard 

provisions based on historic fishing 

patterns for Bering Sea snow crab and 

GOA Pacific cod by non-AFA crab 

vessels from 1996 through 2000. Many 

vessels active in the Bering Sea snow 

crab fisheries during this time also used 

pot gear to fish for Pacific cod in the 

GOA because the gear is similar to the 

pot gear used for fishing crab, and the 

vessels were well-suited to fishing for 

Pacific cod. Specifically, some non-AFA 

crab vessels, and the non-AFA crab LLP 

licenses associated with those vessels, 

had relatively little participation in 

GOA Pacific cod fisheries and relatively 

high levels of participation in Bering 

Sea snow crab fisheries; some had 

relatively high levels of participation in 

GOA Pacific cod fisheries and relatively 

little participation in Bering Sea snow 

crab fisheries; and some had relatively 

moderate levels of participation in both 

GOA Pacific cod fisheries and Bering 

Sea snow crab fisheries. 

To recognize these three different 

participation patterns, the CR Program 

established three types of GOA Pacific 

cod sideboard provisions for non-AFA 

crab vessels and non-AFA crab LLP 

licenses. These three CR Program GOA 

Pacific cod sideboard provisions are: (1) 

A prohibition on directed fishing for 

GOA Pacific cod for those non-AFA crab 

vessels and LLP licenses that had 

relatively little participation in GOA 

Pacific cod fisheries and relatively high 

levels of participation in Bering Sea 

snow crab fisheries; (2) a GOA Pacific 

cod sideboard limit for those non-AFA 

crab vessels and LLP licenses that had 

relatively moderate levels of 

participation in both GOA Pacific cod 

fisheries and Bering Sea snow crab 

fisheries; and (3) an exemption from the 

CR Program GOA Pacific cod sideboard 

limits for those non-AFA crab vessels 

and LLP licenses that had relatively 

high levels of participation in GOA 

Pacific cod fisheries and relatively little 

participation in Bering Sea snow crab 

fisheries. Because this proposed action 

would not modify the prohibition on 

directed fishing for GOA Pacific cod or 

the exemption from CR Program GOA 

Pacific cod sideboard limits, only the 

sideboard provision described under (2) 

above that imposes GOA Pacific cod 

sideboard limits is further described in 

this preamble. 

Those non-AFA crab vessels and nonAFA crab LLP licenses that are not 

prohibited from directed fishing for 

GOA Pacific cod or exempt from GOA 

Pacific cod sideboard limits are subject 

to specific annual limits on the 

maximum amount of Pacific cod that 

can be caught. These annual limits are 

known as CR Program GOA Pacific cod 

sideboard limits. These CR Program 


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7820 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 29 / Thursday, February 12, 2015 / Proposed Rules 

GOA Pacific cod sideboard limits are 

calculated based on the proportion of 

the GOA Pacific cod TACs in the 

Eastern, Central, and Western GOA 

harvested from 1996 through 2000 by 

non-AFA crab vessels subject to CR 

Program GOA Pacific cod sideboard 

limits (see regulations at § 680.22(a)(1)). 

The CR Program created separate 

Pacific cod sideboard limits for the 

Eastern, Central, and Western GOA. CR 

Program GOA sideboard limits are 

established through the annual harvest 

specifications. Because the final annual 

harvest specifications for 2005 were 

effective before the final rule for the CR 

Program was effective, the CR Program 

GOA Pacific cod sideboard limits were 

first implemented in 2006 in the final 

2006 and 2007 harvest specifications for 

groundfish of the GOA (71 FR 10870, 

March 3, 2006). 

During a fishing year, NMFS manages 

CR Program GOA Pacific cod sideboard 

limits by tracking all catch of vessels 

subject to a sideboard limit to make sure 

the sideboard limits are not exceeded. 

NMFS opens directed fishing for GOA 

Pacific cod in a specific regulatory area 

by vessels subject to the CR Program 

GOA Pacific cod sideboard limit when 

it determines that all Pacific cod catch 

by those vessels, in directed fisheries 

and as incidental catch, would not 

exceed the sideboard limit in that area 

(see regulations at § 680.22(e)). NMFS 

prohibits directed fishing for GOA 

Pacific cod in a specific regulatory area 

by vessels subject to the CR Program 

GOA Pacific cod sideboard limit when 

it determines that the CR Program GOA 

Pacific cod sideboard limit is reached or 

the remainder of the sideboard limit is 

needed to account for incidental catch 

of Pacific cod by those vessels in other 

fisheries. NMFS will prohibit directed 

fishing for GOA Pacific cod in a specific 

regulatory area by vessels subject to the 

CR Program GOA Pacific cod sideboard 

limit through the annual harvest 

specifications if NMFS determines at 

the start of the fishing year that the CR 

Program GOA Pacific cod sideboard 

limit is insufficient to support a directed 

fishery by those vessels (see regulations 

at § 680.22(e)(2) and (3)). 

Some of the vessels and LLP licenses 

active in the hook-and-line catcher/

processor sector are subject to CR 

Program GOA Pacific cod sideboard 

limits. In general, the hook-and-line 

catcher/processor sector operates 

primarily in the BSAI, and to a lesser 

extent in the Central and Western GOA. 

The hook-and-line catcher/processor 

sector primarily targets Pacific cod. 

Recent estimates indicate that nearly 90 

percent of the revenue from the hookand-line catcher/processor sector is 

generated from directed fishing for 

Pacific cod (Section 1.6.2 of the 

Analysis provides additional detail on 

catch and revenue by the hook-and-line 

catcher/processor sector). 

According to Section 1.6 of the 

Analysis, the hook-and-line catcher/

processor sector operating in the EEZ off 

Alaska currently consists of 36 vessels. 

NMFS has determined that eight of 

these 36 vessels are subject to the CR 

Program GOA Pacific cod sideboard 

limits. The Federal Fisheries Permit 

(FFP) issued by NMFS to each of these 

eight vessels includes a designation 

indicating that the vessel is subject to 

the CR Program GOA Pacific cod 

sideboard limits. Of the LLP licenses 

that authorize a vessel to participate in 

the Central and/or Western GOA Pacific 

cod hook-and-line catcher/processor 

sector, NMFS has determined that five 

LLP licenses are subject to the CR 

Program GOA Pacific cod sideboard 

limits. These five LLP licenses include 

a designation indicating that the license 

is subject to the CR Program GOA 

Pacific cod sideboard limits (see Section 

1.6 of the Analysis for more detail). 

NMFS has determined that the 

number of vessels subject to CR Program 

GOA Pacific cod sideboard limits and 

that have been used as hook-and-line 

catcher/processors in the GOA (eight 

vessels) is slightly more than the 

number of vessels identified in the 

analysis available to the Council at the 

time the Council recommended this 

proposed action (six vessels). NMFS has 

identified the following list of eight 

vessels that have operated as hook-andline catcher/processors in the GOA and 

that are subject to CR Program GOA 

Pacific cod sideboard limits: Aleutian 

Lady; Baranof; Beauty Bay; Bering 

Prowler; Blue Attu; Courageous; 

Siberian Sea; and US Liberator. NMFS 

has revised the Analysis to provide a 

full description of the vessels subject to 

the CR Program GOA Pacific cod 

sideboard limits and updated the 

assessment of the impacts of this 

proposed action. Section 1.6 of the 

Analysis provides additional detail. 

The following sections of the 

preamble describe the allocation of 

Pacific cod in the GOA and the effects 

of this allocation on the management of 

CR Program GOA Pacific cod sideboard 

limits in the Central and Western GOA. 

Allocations of Pacific Cod in the GOA 

For the last 20 years, Pacific cod in 

the GOA has been managed under two 

management regimes—inshore/offshore 

management from the early 1990s 

through 2011 and sector management 

under Amendment 83 to the GOA FMP 

(Amendment 83) from 2012 until the 

present. Prior to 2012, Pacific cod in the 

GOA was apportioned on the basis of 

processor component (i.e., an inshore 

and an offshore component) and season, 

commonly known as inshore/offshore 

management. Under inshore/offshore 

management, 90 percent of the Eastern, 

Central, and Western GOA Pacific cod 

TACs were allocated to vessels catching 

Pacific cod for processing by the inshore 

component, and 10 percent to vessels 

catching Pacific cod for processing by 

the offshore component. In 2007, the 

Council recognized that, under inshore/ 

offshore management, competition 

among participants in the Central and 

Western GOA Pacific cod fisheries had 

intensified beginning around 2005 

relative to prior years. Because the 

Central and Western GOA Pacific cod 

TACs were divided by inshore and 

offshore processing components and not 

among gear or operation types, a race for 

fish existed among vessels in the 

inshore and the offshore components. 

All vessels using various types of gear 

(i.e., hook-and-line, jig, pot, and trawl) 

competed against each other for the 

harvest of the GOA Pacific cod TACs. 

In response to this race for fish, the 

Council recommended, and NMFS 

approved, Amendment 83 in 2011 (76 

FR 74670, December 1, 2011). 

Regulations implementing Amendment 

83 became effective on January 1, 2012. 

Amendment 83 removed inshore/

offshore management for Pacific cod in 

the Central and Western GOA and 

allocated Central and Western GOA 

Pacific cod TACs among a number of 

sectors composed of combinations of 

various gear types, operation types, and 

vessel size classes. The final rule 

implementing Amendment 83 defines 

these Pacific cod sectors (76 FR 74670, 

December 1, 2011). Sector allocations 

limit the amount of Central and Western 

GOA Pacific cod that each sector is 

authorized to catch. Amendment 83 was 

intended to reduce competition and 

support stability in the Pacific cod 

fishery. Amendment 83 did not change 

Pacific cod management in the Eastern 

GOA because the same level of 

competition, or race for fish, did not 

exist in the Eastern GOA compared to 

the Central and Western GOA. 

Therefore, Pacific cod in the Eastern 

GOA is still subject to inshore/offshore 

management. 

Under the regulations implementing 

Amendment 83, allocations from the 

Central and Western GOA Pacific cod 

TACs are made first to the jig sector, and 

then to all other sectors. The allocations 

made to the various sectors, other than 

jig gear, were based on harvest during a 

range of years that reflected historic and 

recent patterns of harvest by each sector 


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(see the final rule implementing 

Amendment 83 for additional detail (76 

FR 74670, December 1, 2011)). Specific 

to this proposed action, regulations 

implementing Amendment 83 

established sector allocations for hookand-line catcher/processors in the 

Central GOA and the Western GOA. The 

hook-and-line catcher/processor sector 

receives 5.10 percent of the Central 

GOA Pacific cod TAC after allocation to 

jig gear, and 19.80 percent of the 

Western GOA Pacific cod TAC after 

allocation to jig gear (see 

§ 679.20(a)(12)(i)(A) and (B)). 

The allocations of Central and 

Western GOA Pacific cod to the hookand-line catcher/processor sector can be 

harvested only by vessels that are 

named on an LLP license with Central 

and/or Western GOA, Pacific cod, hookand-line, and catcher/processor 

endorsements (76 FR 74670, December 

1, 2011). A total of 23 LLP licenses are 

endorsed for the Pacific cod hook-andline catcher/processor sector in the 

Central GOA, and 18 LLP licenses are 

endorsed for the Pacific cod hook-andline catcher/processor sector in the 

Western GOA (See Section 1.5 of the 

Analysis). Some of these LLP licenses 

are endorsed for both the Central and 

Western GOA; therefore, a total of 30 

LLP licenses are endorsed for the Pacific 

cod hook-and-line catcher/processor 

sector in the Central or Western GOA. 

Twenty-seven of these 30 LLP licenses 

are also endorsed for the Bering Sea or 

Aleutian Islands Pacific cod hook-andline catcher/processor sector. The three 

remaining LLP licenses are not endorsed 

for the BSAI Pacific cod hook-and-line 

catcher/processor sector, and fish 

exclusively in the GOA (see Section 

1.5.4 of the Analysis for additional 

detail). 

The Effect of Pacific Cod Sideboard 

Limits on Hook-and-Line Catcher/

Processors in the Central and Western 

GOA 

The CR Program GOA Pacific cod 

sideboard limits affected the eight 

vessels and the five LLP licenses subject 

to the sideboard limits differently 

starting in 2012 under Amendment 83 

than under inshore/offshore 

management when the CR Program was 

first implemented in 2006 through 2011. 

When the CR Program GOA Pacific cod 

sideboard limits were implemented in 

2006, CR Program Pacific cod GOA 

sideboard limits were divided between 

the inshore and offshore components in 

order to be consistent with inshore/

offshore management measures in effect 

for Pacific cod at that time. From 2006 

through 2011, the CR Program GOA 

Pacific cod sideboard limits were 

calculated by adding up the amount of 

harvest of all vessels subject to 

sideboards in the inshore or offshore 

components and dividing that by the 

catches of all vessels in either the 

inshore or offshore component to yield 

a sideboard ratio for the inshore and 

offshore components. The sideboard 

ratio was annually multiplied by the 

inshore or offshore TAC for the 

applicable area (e.g., Central or Western 

GOA) to yield a sideboard limit for that 

year. Finally, the sideboard limit was 

divided into the seasonal 

apportionments established for the 

Central and Western GOA and 

published in the Federal Register as 

part of the harvest specifications. For 

example, the Central GOA inshore 

component sideboard ratio for the 

Pacific cod A season (January 1 to June 

10) was 0.0383, or 3.08%of the A season 

TAC, and the Western GOA inshore 

component sideboard ratio for the A 

season was 0.0902, or 9.02% of the A 

season TAC. Additional detail on this 

allocation process is provided in Table 

16 of the final 2006 and 2007 harvest 

specifications for groundfish of the GOA 

(71 FR 10870, March 3, 2006) and in 

Section 1.5.3 of the Analysis. 

Because the CR Program GOA Pacific 

cod sideboard limits were allocated 

among the inshore and offshore 

components, and not allocated among 

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

gear, pot gear), the owners and operators 

of the eight sideboarded hook-and-line 

catcher/processors and the hook-andline catcher/processors assigned to the 

five sideboarded LLP licenses competed 

with the other sideboarded participants 

in the inshore or offshore component, 

including vessels using other gear types 

(e.g., pot gear). This created a ‘‘race for 

sideboards’’ as the various vessels 

subject to CR Program GOA Pacific cod 

sideboard limits in the inshore and 

offshore components competed amongst 

each other. The hook-and-line catcher/ 

processor sector was able to effectively 

harvest a large portion of the Pacific cod 

sideboard limits in the Central and 

Western GOA under these management 

conditions, as noted in Section 1.6.2 of 

the Analysis. 

As illustrated in Table 1, the hookand-line catcher/processor participants 

subject to CR Program GOA Pacific cod 

sideboard limits catch more Pacific cod 

in the BSAI than in the GOA; however, 

these participants increased 

participation in the GOA Pacific cod 

fishery from 2001 through 2004 and had 

relatively higher Pacific cod catch rates 

following the implementation of the CR 

Program GOA Pacific cod sideboard 

limits from 2006 through 2011 as 

compared to catch rates during the 

historic period used to calculate the 

sideboards (1996–2000). Since the 

implementation of operation and gearspecific CR Program GOA Pacific cod 

sideboard limits under Amendment 83 

in 2012, hook-and-line catcher/

processors subject to these sideboards 

have not harvested GOA Pacific cod. 

TABLE 1—AVERAGE CATCH IN THE GOA AND BSAI BY HOOK-AND-LINE CATCHER/PROCESSORS THAT ARE CURRENTLY

SUBJECT TO THE CR PROGRAM GOA PACIFIC COD SIDEBOARDS RELATIVE TO THE AVERAGE PACIFIC COD TAC 

AMOUNTS FOR ALL SECTORS IN THE BSAI AND GOA: 1996 THROUGH 2000, CATCH DURING THE PERIOD USED TO

CALCULATE CR PROGRAM SIDEBOARDS; 2001–2004, CATCH PRIOR TO IMPLEMENTATION OF CR PROGRAM; 2005– 

2011, CATCH FOLLOWING IMPLEMENTATION OF CR PROGRAM; AND 2012–2013, CATCH FOLLOWING IMPLEMENTATION OF GEAR AND OPERATION TYPE SPECIFIC CR PROGRAM GOA PACIFIC COD SIDEBOARDS UNDER AMENDMENT

83 

Time period 

BSAI GOA Percent of 

GOA catch 

relative to 

total BSAI 

and GOA 

Pacific cod 

catch 

TAC 

(mt) 

Catch 

(mt) 

Percent of 

TAC 

TAC 

(mt) 

Catch 

(mt) 

Percent of 

TAC 

1996–2000 ............................................... 224,000 7,988 4 65,345 266 <1 3 

2001–2004 ............................................... 202,750 15,480 8 46,228 792 2 5 


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TABLE 1—AVERAGE CATCH IN THE GOA AND BSAI BY HOOK-AND-LINE CATCHER/PROCESSORS THAT ARE CURRENTLY

SUBJECT TO THE CR PROGRAM GOA PACIFIC COD SIDEBOARDS RELATIVE TO THE AVERAGE PACIFIC COD TAC 

AMOUNTS FOR ALL SECTORS IN THE BSAI AND GOA: 1996 THROUGH 2000, CATCH DURING THE PERIOD USED TO

CALCULATE CR PROGRAM SIDEBOARDS; 2001–2004, CATCH PRIOR TO IMPLEMENTATION OF CR PROGRAM; 2005– 

2011, CATCH FOLLOWING IMPLEMENTATION OF CR PROGRAM; AND 2012–2013, CATCH FOLLOWING IMPLEMENTATION OF GEAR AND OPERATION TYPE SPECIFIC CR PROGRAM GOA PACIFIC COD SIDEBOARDS UNDER AMENDMENT

83—Continued 

Time period 

BSAI GOA Percent of 

GOA catch 

relative to 

total BSAI 

and GOA 

Pacific cod 

catch 

TAC 

(mt) 

Catch 

(mt) 

Percent of 

TAC 

TAC 

(mt) 

Catch 

(mt) 

Percent of 

TAC 

2005–2011 ............................................... 187,816 22,046 12 53,474 634 1 3 

2012–2013 ............................................... 260,500 31,819 12 63,150 0 0 0 

During the development and 

implementation of Amendment 83, the 

Council and NMFS made reasoned and 

consistent decisions to maintain the 

years of catch history of GOA Pacific 

cod originally used to calculate the CR 

Program GOA Pacific cod sideboard 

limits (i.e., 1996 through 2000). In 

addition, the Council and NMFS clearly 

chose to base the CR Program GOA 

Pacific cod sideboard limits on harvests 

by specific sectors (e.g., hook-and-line 

catcher/processors, pot catcher/

processors). The preamble to the final 

rule for Amendment 83 (76 FR 74670, 

December 1, 2011) and Section 1.5.4 of 

the Analysis provide additional detail. 

The net effect of these decisions is that 

CR Program GOA Pacific cod sideboard 

limits for the hook-and-line catcher/

processor sector are based on the 

harvest of Pacific cod by non-AFA crab 

vessels and vessels using non-AFA crab 

LLP licenses that operated as hook-andline catcher/processors during 1996 

through 2000. 

Overall, there was very limited 

harvest of Pacific cod by non-AFA crab 

vessels and vessels using non-AFA crab 

LLP licenses operating as hook-and-line 

catcher/processors in the Central and 

Western GOA from 1996 through 2000. 

Therefore, the sideboard limits 

established under Amendment 83 for 

GOA Pacific cod for vessels in the hookand-line catcher/processor sector in the 

Central and Western GOA are a very 

small portion of the TACs. For example, 

the Central GOA hook-and-line catcher/ 

processor sideboard ratio for the Pacific 

cod A season (January 1 to June 10) is 

0.0012 or 0.12% of the A season TAC, 

and the Western GOA hook-and-line 

catcher/processor sideboard ratio for the 

Pacific cod A season is 0.0018 or 0.18% 

of the A season TAC. Additional detail 

is provided in the final 2014 and 2015 

harvest specifications for groundfish of 

the GOA (79 FR 12890, March 6, 2014), 

and in Section 1.5.4 of the Analysis. 

Since the implementation of 

Amendment 83, NMFS has prohibited 

directed fishing by participants subject 

to CR Program GOA Pacific cod 

sideboard limits in the hook-and-line 

catcher/processor sector in the Central 

and Western GOA. NMFS has made this 

determination each year based on the 

small amount of the sideboard limits, 

the need to account for incidental catch 

of Pacific cod by sideboarded hook-andline catcher/processors in other 

groundfish fisheries in the Central and 

Western GOA, and the potential catch 

rates of Pacific cod by sideboarded 

hook-and-line catcher/processors 

relative to the sideboard limits. 

Additional information is provided in 

the final 2014 and 2015 harvest 

specifications for groundfish of the GOA 

(79 FR 12890, March 6, 2014) and in 

Section 1.5.4 of the Analysis. 

In October 2011, the Council received 

public comment requesting that the 

Council and NMFS reconsider the 

method for applying the CR Program 

GOA Pacific cod sideboard limits as 

proposed under Amendment 83. This 

comment was received prior to the 

publication of the final rule 

implementing Amendment 83 on 

December 1, 2011 (76 FR 74670). 

Representatives of hook-and-line 

catcher/processor sector participants, 

who would be subject to CR Program 

GOA Pacific cod sideboard limits under 

Amendment 83, asserted that 

application of the proposed sideboard 

limits would eliminate the ability to 

directed fish in the Central and Western 

GOA Pacific cod fisheries. At its 

October 2011 meeting, the Council 

noted that the proposed sideboard ratios 

were included in the analysis for 

Amendment 83 and were considered by 

the Council at final action. As part of 

Amendment 83, the Council 

considered—and rejected—alternative 

methods for managing CR Program GOA 

Pacific cod sideboard limits (see Section 

2.2.4 of the analysis prepared for 

Amendment 83). At the time the 

Council took action to recommend 

Amendment 83, the Council recognized 

that the CR Program GOA Pacific cod 

sideboard ratios resulting from the 

revised calculation method were not 

likely to provide enough TAC to support 

directed sideboard fisheries for all 

catcher/processor gear types, let alone 

for specific catcher/processor sectors 

such as the hook-and-line catcher/

processor sector. 

After considering public comment 

during the October 2011 meeting, the 

Council did not recommend rescinding 

or revising the method for calculating 

CR Program GOA Pacific cod sideboard 

limits, as proposed under Amendment 

83. Therefore, NMFS implemented 

regulations under Amendment 83 that 

establish separate sideboard limits by 

sector, including sideboard limits 

specific to the hook-and-line catcher/

processor sector in the Central and 

Western GOA (76 FR 74670, December 

1, 2011). However, in October 2011, the 

Council did initiate an analysis to 

examine alternative methods for 

managing CR Program GOA Pacific cod 

sideboard limits that apply to the hookand-line catcher/processor sector. 

During the development of this action, 

the Council considered the merits of 

removing the GOA Pacific cod hookand-line C/P sideboard limits for the 

sideboarded vessels and LLP licenses. 

Under this approach, the eight vessels 

and five LLP licenses would continue to 

have CR Program sideboard 

designations affixed to them, but the 

sideboard designation would have no 

effect in fisheries, such as Central and 

Western GOA Pacific cod, for which no 

sideboard limit is established. After 

reviewing a discussion paper at its June 


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2012 meeting, the Council developed a 

problem statement and alternatives, and 

tasked staff to prepare an initial analysis 

of a proposed action to remove the 

Pacific cod sideboard limits in the 

Central and Western GOA. In February 

2013, the Council reviewed an initial 

review analysis and added the option of 

removing the sideboard limits only if all 

eligible participants in the Central and 

Western GOA Pacific cod hook-and-line 

catcher/processor sectors submit an 

affidavit asking NMFS to remove the 

sideboard limits. Following a review of 

the analysis and considering public 

comment, the Council recommended 

Amendment 45 to the Crab FMP in June 

2013. This action is intended to balance 

the Council’s competing objectives: (1) 

To relieve the CR Program GOA Pacific 

cod sideboard limits for some vessels 

and LLP licenses that benefitted from 

allocations under the CR program, and 

(2) to protect the GOA-only participants 

from adverse impacts that may result 

from removal of those sideboard limits. 

Proposed Action 

This action is necessary to provide 

participants in the Central and Western 

GOA hook-and-line catcher/processor 

sectors with an opportunity to 

cooperatively coordinate harvests of 

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. The Council 

determined and NMFS agrees that 

making the removal of the sideboard 

limits contingent on the equitable 

cooperation of all participants in the 

GOA Pacific cod hook-and-line catcher/ 

processor sectors would ensure the 

management stability that is necessary 

for removal of the sideboard limits. This 

action would establish the regulatory 

conditions that must be met prior to the 

removal of CR Program GOA Pacific cod 

sideboard limits for the hook-and-line 

catcher/processor sectors in the Central 

and/or Western GOA. NMFS would 

remove the sideboard limits if each 

person holding an LLP license or LLP 

licenses with endorsements that 

authorize directed fishing for Pacific 

cod as a hook-and-line catcher/

processor in the Central or Western 

GOA (i.e., eligible participants) provide 

NMFS with a signed form requesting 

that NMFS remove the Pacific cod 

sideboard limit for that regulatory area. 

Under this proposed rule, all of the 

eligible participants in the Central or 

Western GOA would be required to 

submit to NMFS a completed Request to 

Extinguish Pacific Cod Sideboard Limit 

in the Central or Western GOA. The 

Council and NMFS determined that LLP 

license holders best represent the 

eligible participants in the Central and 

Western GOA hook-and-line catcher/

processor sectors. As noted earlier in 

this preamble, an LLP license is 

required to deploy a vessel to conduct 

directed fishing for Pacific cod in the 

Central and Western GOA Pacific as a 

hook-and-line catcher/processor. 

Therefore, the holders of LLP licenses 

endorsed for Pacific cod, hook-and-line 

gear, and catcher/processor in the 

Central and/or Western GOA represent 

the complete range of all eligible 

participants. The Council and NMFS 

determined that the owners of vessels 

currently used in the Central and 

Western GOA hook-and-line catcher/

processor sector are not the best 

representation of eligible participants. 

Vessels that are currently used as hookand-line catcher/processors in the 

Central and Western GOA can become 

active in other fisheries, removed from 

the fishery, or replaced by other vessels. 

While vessels are needed to participate 

in the fishery, vessel ownership is not 

the defining eligibility criterion because 

a vessel may lack the LLP endorsements 

that authorize a vessel to participate in 

a fishery. Thus, the holders of LLP 

licenses with the necessary 

endorsements, rather than vessels 

owners, represent the universe of 

eligible fishery participants in the 

Central and Western GOA hook-and-line 

catcher/processor sectors. 

The proposed rule would add Table 

10 to Part 680. Proposed Table 10 to Part 

680 would identify the 23 LLP licenses 

with endorsements that authorize a 

vessel to catch and process Pacific cod 

at-sea using hook-and-line gear in the 

Central GOA, and the 18 LLP licenses 

with endorsements that authorize a 

vessel to catch and process Pacific cod 

at-sea using hook-and-line gear in the 

Western GOA. The holders of the LLP 

licenses listed in proposed Table 10 to 

Part 680 would comprise the universe of 

participants eligible to request removal 

of a GOA Pacific cod sideboard limit. 

Each holder of an LLP license with 

Central GOA endorsements listed in 

proposed Table 10 to Part 680 would 

need to complete and submit to NMFS 

the form requesting removal of the CR 

Program GOA Pacific cod sideboard 

limit in the Central GOA. Similarly, 

each holder of an LLP license with 

Western GOA endorsements listed in 

proposed Table 10 to Part 680 would 

need to complete and submit to NMFS 

the form requesting removal of the CR 

Program GOA sideboard limit in the 

Western GOA. 

The proposed rule would modify 

Federal regulations at § 680.22(e)(1) to 

establish a regulatory process for the 

removal of the CR Program GOA Pacific 

cod sideboard limits. Under the 

proposed rule, NMFS would 

permanently remove a CR Program GOA 

Pacific cod sideboard limit if NMFS 

receives the required form from each 

eligible participant in the Central GOA 

(see proposed regulations at 

§ 680.22(e)(1)(ii)(A)) and Western GOA 

(see proposed regulations at 

§ 680.22(e)(1)(ii)(B)). Although this 

proposed action is intended to provide 

an opportunity for coordination and 

cooperation among all eligible 

participants in both the Central and 

Western GOA, the Council and NMFS 

recognized that eligible participants 

may reach agreement to remove the CR 

Program GOA Pacific cod sideboard 

limit in one regulatory area, but not in 

the other regulatory area. By allowing 

the eligible participants to submit 

requests for each regulatory area 

separately, a CR Program GOA Pacific 

cod sideboard limit could be removed 

for one regulatory area without 

requiring all eligible participants in both 

areas to agree. 

Proposed regulations at 

§ 680.22(e)(1)(ii) would require that 

holders of the LLP licenses listed in 

Table 10 to Part 680 submit a completed 

form applicable to the Central or 

Western GOA no later than 1 year (365 

days) after the date of publication in the 

Federal Register of the final rule 

implementing Amendment 45, if 

approved by the Secretary. The Council 

determined and NMFS agrees that a 1- 

year deadline would encourage 

negotiations and provide adequate 

opportunity for eligible participants in a 

regulatory area to reach agreement to 

submit the required form, but would not 

prolong management uncertainty about 

the potential applicability of the CR 

Program GOA Pacific cod sideboard 

limits. If the required forms are not 

received by NMFS by the date or the 

methods specified under proposed 

regulations at § 680.22(e)(1)(ii), the CR 

Program GOA Pacific cod sideboard 

limits would not be removed and the 

opportunity to remove them would 

expire. 

The proposed regulations at 

§ 680.22(e)(1)(ii) clarify that NMFS 

would not establish CR Program GOA 

Pacific cod sideboard limits for the 

hook-and-line catcher/processor sector 

in a regulatory area through the annual 

harvest specification process if NMFS 

receives completed request forms from 

all eligible participants in a regulatory 

area by the deadline. As noted earlier in 

this preamble, CR Program GOA Pacific 

cod sideboard limits are currently 

implemented through the annual 


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harvest specification process; therefore, 

it follows that any modification to the 

sideboard limits must align with the 

annual harvest specifications cycle. 

Sideboard limits could not be removed 

immediately upon receipt by NMFS of 

the required forms. If NMFS would 

receive the required forms after the 

annual harvest specification cycle is 

completed, NMFS would remove a CR 

Program GOA Pacific cod sideboard 

limit for the hook-and-line catcher/

processor sector during the next annual 

harvest specification cycle for GOA 

groundfish. 

The proposed rule does not require 

eligible participants to enter into a 

private contractual agreement to 

coordinate fishing practices within that 

regulatory area prior to submitting to 

NMFS the required forms requesting 

removal of a CR Program GOA Pacific 

cod sideboard limit. However, the 

Council and NMFS anticipate that all 

eligible participants in the Central or 

Western GOA would reach a binding 

agreement to coordinate fishing 

practices within that regulatory area 

prior to submitting to NMFS the 

required forms requesting removal of a 

CR Program GOA Pacific cod sideboard 

limit. Voluntary agreements, or fishing 

cooperatives, have consistently proven 

to be effective at coordinating fishing 

practices and resolving conflicts among 

fishery participants in numerous 

fisheries throughout the BSAI and GOA 

(see Section 1.6.1 of the Analysis for 

additional detail). Any voluntary 

contractual agreements that may be 

reached by eligible participants are not 

required to be reviewed by or submitted 

to NMFS under the proposed rule. 

NMFS notes that it is highly unlikely 

that eligible participants who did not 

benefit from the CR Program would 

agree to request removal of a CR 

Program GOA Pacific cod sideboard 

limit unless they have established 

private agreements with all eligible 

participants that are beneficial to them. 

If the holder of the LLP licenses listed 

in proposed Table 10 to Part 680 are 

unable, or unwilling, to agree to request 

that NMFS remove a CR Program GOA 

Pacific cod sideboard limit in a 

regulatory area within the proposed 

timeline, the sideboard limit for that 

regulatory area would continue to 

apply. Maintaining the CR Program 

GOA Pacific cod sideboard limits—if 

unanimous agreement for their removal 

is not reached by the eligible 

participants—is consistent with the 

objectives of sideboard management as 

established by the CR Program and the 

sideboard limit calculation method 

established under regulations 

implementing Amendment 83. 

Removing sideboard limits without 

unanimous agreement of all of the 

eligible participants could indicate that 

eligible participants have not agreed to 

coordinate harvests. This could increase 

the likelihood of a race for fish and 

could allow those who received QS 

under the CR Program to expand their 

efforts in the GOA Pacific cod fisheries. 

Such a result would not be consistent 

with the goals of the CR Program or the 

Council’s objectives for this action. 

The Council considered and rejected 

an option that would have suspended, 

rather than permanently removed, the 

CR Program GOA Pacific cod sideboard 

limits. The Council concluded that if 

eligible participants had to renegotiate 

and resubmit request forms each year, 

management and operational 

uncertainty among eligible participants 

would substantially increase, and could 

result in increased administrative 

burden and costs when compared to the 

permanent removal of the CR Program 

GOA Pacific cod sideboard limits as 

proposed by this action. Section 2.2 of 

the Analysis provides additional 

description about the potential costs 

and uncertainty resulting from this 

rejected approach. 

This proposed action would not 

modify the CR Program GOA Pacific cod 

sideboard limits for hook-and-line 

catcher/processors in the Eastern GOA. 

As explained earlier, this action would 

not remove the sideboard designations 

on the FFPs for the eight sideboarded 

vessels or the five sideboarded LLP 

licenses, and these vessels and LLP 

licenses will still be subject to a CR 

Program Pacific cod sideboard limit if 

they are used in the Eastern GOA. As 

also noted earlier in this preamble, 

Amendment 83 did not modify CR 

Program GOA Pacific cod sideboard 

limits in the Eastern GOA. The Eastern 

GOA is still subject to inshore/offshore 

management. As a result, the CR 

Program GOA Pacific cod sideboard 

limits in the Eastern GOA were not 

recalculated for gear and operation type. 

Additionally, NMFS notes that this 

proposed action would not increase the 

likelihood that an OFL, ABC, TAC, or 

sector catch limit would be exceeded. 

As proposed, Pacific cod TACs and 

sector allocations would continue to be 

established through the annual GOA 

harvest specifications process and 

managed by NMFS as described earlier 

in this preamble. 

Classification 

Pursuant to sections 304(b)(1)(A) and 

305(d) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the 

NMFS Assistant Administrator has 

determined that this proposed rule is 

consistent with the Crab FMP, GOA 

FMP, other provisions of the MagnusonStevens Act, and other applicable law, 

subject to further consideration after 

public comment. 

This proposed rule has been 

determined to be not significant for the 

purposes of Executive Order 12866. 

Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

An initial regulatory flexibility 

analysis (IRFA) was prepared, as 

required by section 603 of the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act. The IRFA 

describes the economic impact this 

proposed rule, if adopted, would have 

on small entities. A description of the 

proposed action, why it is being 

considered, and the legal basis for this 

proposed action are contained at the 

beginning of this section in the 

preamble and in the SUMMARY section of 

the preamble and are not repeated here. 

While this IRFA concludes that no small 

entities will be directly regulated by this 

action, this is a result of the IRFA 

analysis, and NMFS has thus chosen not 

to certify that the proposed rule is not 

expected to have a significant economic 

impact on a substantial number of 

directly regulated small entities. A 

summary of the IRFA follows. A copy of 

the IRFA is available from NMFS (see 

ADDRESSES). 

Number and Description of Small 

Entities Regulated by the Proposed 

Action 

This proposed action would directly 

regulate eight entities. These eight 

entities include the owners of the eight 

vessels, and the holders of the five LLP 

licenses currently subject to CR Program 

GOA Pacific cod sideboard limits in the 

Central and Western GOA hook-and-line 

catcher/processor sectors. The owners of 

the eight vessels and holders of the five 

LLP licenses directly regulated by this 

proposed action are affiliated through 

their membership in the Freezer 

Longline Conservation Cooperative 

(FLCC). The FLCC represents LLP 

holders and the owners and operators of 

vessels that participate in the Pacific 

cod hook-and-line catcher/processor 

sector in the Federal waters of the BSAI. 

The FLCC is comprised of businesses 

that are engaged in the harvesting and 

processing of finfish. The annual 

revenue of members of the FLCC has 

exceeded $130 million per year since its 

formation, and $172 million in 2012, the 

most recent year of available revenue 

data (see Table 1–14 in Section 1.6 of 

the Analysis for additional detail). 

Members of the FLCC are not 

considered small entities because the 

annual revenue of the cooperative 

exceeds the size standards for small 

entities. The Small Business 


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Administration (SBA) has established 

size standards for all major industry 

sectors in the United States, including 

commercial finfish harvesters (NAICS 

code 114111), commercial shellfish 

harvesters (NAICS code 114112), other 

commercial marine harvesters (NAICS 

code 114119), for-hire businesses 

(NAICS code 487210), marinas (NAICS 

code 713930), seafood dealers/

wholesalers (NAICS code 424460), and 

seafood processors (NAICS code 

311710). A business primarily involved 

in finfish harvesting is classified as a 

small business if it is independently 

owned and operated, is not dominant in 

its field of operation (including its 

affiliates), and has combined annual 

gross receipts not in excess of $20.5 

million, for all its affiliated operations 

worldwide. For commercial shellfish 

harvesters, the same qualifiers apply, 

except the combined annual gross 

receipts threshold is $5.5 million. For 

other commercial marine harvesters, forhire fishing businesses, and marinas, the 

same qualifiers apply, except the 

combined annual gross receipts 

threshold is $7.5 million. 

A business primarily involved in 

seafood processing is classified as a 

small business if it is independently 

owned and operated, is not dominant in 

its field of operation (including its 

affiliates), and has combined annual 

employment, counting all individuals 

employed on a full-time, part-time, or 

other basis, not in excess of 500 

employees for all its affiliated 

operations worldwide. For seafood 

dealers/wholesalers, the same qualifiers 

apply, except the employment threshold 

is 100 employees. 

In determining a number of 

employees, SBA counts all individuals 

employed on a full-time, part-time, or 

other basis. This includes employees 

obtained from a temporary employee 

agency, professional employee 

organization or leasing concern. SBA 

will consider the totality of the 

circumstances, including criteria used 

by the IRS for Federal income tax 

purposes, in determining whether 

individuals are employees of a concern. 

Volunteers (i.e., individuals who receive 

no compensation, including no in-kind 

compensation, for work performed) are 

not considered employees. Where the 

size standard is number of employees, 

the method for determining a concern’s 

size includes the following principles: 

(1) The average number of employees of 

the concern is used (including the 

employees of its domestic and foreign 

affiliates) based upon numbers of 

employees for each of the pay periods 

for the preceding completed 12 calendar 

months; and (2) part-time and 

temporary employees are counted the 

same as full-time employees. 

Three entities hold LLP licenses and 

own vessels that operate only in the 

GOA as hook-and-line catcher/

processors. These three entities are not 

directly regulated by the CR Program 

GOA Pacific cod sideboard limits, and 

are not members of the FLCC. One 

entity owns a vessel named on an LLP 

license with Central GOA Pacific cod 

hook-and-line catcher/processor 

endorsements; the other two entities 

each own a vessel named on LLP 

licenses with Western GOA Pacific cod 

hook-and-line catcher/processor 

endorsements. These three entities are 

not directly regulated by this action 

because this action would not impose 

regulations on these vessels or the 

associated LLP licenses, or relieve them 

from regulation. These three entities 

may voluntarily choose to submit a 

request for removal of the sideboard 

limits under this action, but are not 

required to do so. 

Duplicate, Overlapping, or Conflicting 

Federal Rules 

No duplication, overlap, or conflict 

between this proposed action and 

existing Federal rules has been 

identified. 

Description of Significant Alternatives 

that Minimize Adverse Impacts on 

Small Entities 

The Council considered two 

alternatives for this action. Alternative 1 

is the status quo, which does not meet 

the objectives of the action. Alternative 

2 would remove the CR Program GOA 

Pacific cod sideboard limits in either the 

Central GOA, Western GOA, or both 

regulatory areas. As part of Alternative 

2, the Council and NMFS also 

considered an option and a suboption 

for removing the CR Program GOA 

Pacific cod sideboard limits. The option 

(i.e., proposed action) would remove CR 

Program GOA Pacific cod sideboard 

limits for the hook-and-line catcher/

processor sector permanently if certain 

conditions are met by a specified date. 

The sub-option would suspend the CR 

Program GOA Pacific cod sideboard 

limits for the hook-and-line catcher/

processor sector on an annual basis if 

certain conditions are met annually. 

The option would require all hookand-line catcher/processor LLP license 

holders that are authorized to target 

Pacific cod in the Central or Western 

GOA (i.e., eligible participants) to 

submit a form to NMFS requesting the 

permanent removal of the GOA Pacific 

cod sideboard limit in that regulatory 

area on a one-time basis. The option 

would also require the request to be 

submitted within one year of the date of 

publication in the Federal Register of 

the final rule implementing Amendment 

45, if approved by the Secretary. 

The sub-option would require all 

eligible participants to annually submit 

a form to NMFS requesting removal of 

the GOA Pacific cod sideboard limit in 

that regulatory area for the upcoming 

fishing year. Under the sub-option, if 

the annual form is not received by 

NFMS, the sideboard limits would not 

be removed for the following fishing 

year (i.e., January 1 through December 

31). 

This proposed action would 

implement Alternative 2 with the option 

to permanently remove the CR Program 

GOA sideboard limits if all eligible 

participants in a regulatory area submit 

to NMFS a form requesting removal and 

provide that form to NMFS within the 

required timeline. The Council rejected 

the sub-option because the annual 

suspension of sideboards could create 

uncertainty for participants, result in 

additional administrative burden and 

costs, and potentially create 

management instability. 

Although this proposed action does 

not directly regulate small entities, the 

preferred alternative is the only 

alternative in the suite of options and 

alternatives considered that reduces the 

burden on directly regulated entities 

and best meets the purpose and need for 

this proposed action. 

Recordkeeping and Reporting 

Requirements 

The reporting, recordkeeping, and 

other compliance requirements would 

be increased slightly under the 

proposed action if eligible participants 

in the Central or Western GOA agree to 

submit an affidavit to NMFS requesting 

removal of the CR Program GOA 

sideboard limits. 

Collection-of-Information Requirements 

This proposed rule contains a 

collection-of-information requirement 

subject to review and approval by the 

Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction 

Act (PRA). This requirement has been 

submitted to OMB for approval under 

OMB Control No. 0648–0334. Public 

reporting burden for the Request to 

Extinguish Pacific Cod Sideboard Limits 

for Hook-and-Line Catcher/Processors in 

the Western or Central GOA is estimated 

to average 30 minutes per individual 

response, including the time for 

reviewing instructions, searching 

existing data sources, gathering and 

maintaining the data needed, and 

completing and reviewing the collection 

of information. 


Rmajette on DSK2VPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
7826 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 29 / Thursday, February 12, 2015 / Proposed Rules 

Public comment is sought regarding: 

Whether this proposed collection of 

information is necessary for the proper 

performance of the functions of the 

agency, including whether the 

information shall have practical utility; 

the accuracy of the burden estimate; 

ways to enhance the quality, utility, and 

clarity of the information to be 

collected; and ways to minimize the 

burden of the collection of information, 

including through the use of automated 

collection techniques or other forms of 

information technology. Send comments 

on these or any other aspects of the 

collection of information to NMFS (see 

ADDRESSES) and by email to OIRA_

Submission@omb.eop.gov or fax to 202– 

395–5806. 

Notwithstanding any other provision 

of the law, no person is required to 

respond to, nor shall any person be 

subject to penalty for failure to comply 

with, a collection of information subject 

to the requirements of the PRA, unless 

that collection of information displays a 

currently valid OMB control number. 

All currently approved NOAA 

collections of information may be 

viewed at: http://www.cio.noaa.gov/

services_programs/prasubs.html. 

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 680 

Alaska, Fisheries, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements. 

Dated: February 6, 2015. 

Samuel D. Rauch III, 

Deputy Assistant Administrator for 

Regulatory Programs, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

For the reasons set out in the 

preamble, 50 CFR part 680 is proposed 

to be amended as follows: 

PART 680—SHELLFISH FISHERIES OF 

THE EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE 

OFF ALASKA 

■ 1. The authority citation for 50 CFR 

part 680 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1862; Public Law 

109–241; Public Law 109–479. 

■ 2. In § 680.22, revise paragraph (e) 

heading and introductory text, and 

paragraph (e)(1) to read as follows: 

§ 680.22 Sideboard protections for GOA 

groundfish fisheries. 

* * * * * 

(e) Conversion of sideboard ratios into 

annual sideboard harvest limits. NMFS 

will convert sideboard ratios into 

annual sideboard harvest limits 

according to the following procedures. 

(1) Annual sideboard harvest limits. 

(i) Except as provided in paragraph 

(e)(1)(ii) of this section, annual 

sideboard harvest limits for each 

groundfish species, except fixed-gear 

sablefish, will be established by 

multiplying the sideboard ratios 

calculated under paragraph (d) of this 

section by the proposed and final TACs 

in each area for which a TAC is 

specified. If a TAC is further 

apportioned by season, the sideboard 

harvest limit also will be apportioned by 

season in the same ratio as the overall 

TAC. The resulting harvest limits 

expressed in metric tons will be 

published in the annual GOA 

groundfish harvest specification notices. 

(ii) NMFS will not establish an annual 

sideboard harvest limit for Pacific cod 

for vessels that catch and process Pacific 

cod using hook-and-line gear in the 

Central GOA Regulatory Area if all 

eligible participants request that the 

sideboard harvest limit be removed in 

accordance with the requirements of 

paragraph (e)(1)(ii)(A) of this section. 

NMFS will not establish an annual 

sideboard harvest limit for Pacific cod 

for vessels that catch and process Pacific 

cod using hook-and-line gear in the 

Western GOA Regulatory Area if all 

eligible participants request that the 

sideboard harvest limit be removed in 

accordance with the requirements of 

paragraph (e)(1)(ii)(B) of this section. 

NMFS will publish notification of the 

removal of the sideboard harvest limit 

for Pacific cod for vessels that catch and 

process Pacific cod using hook-and-line 

gear in the Central GOA Regulatory Area 

or the Western GOA Regulatory Area 

through the annual GOA groundfish 

harvest specifications (see 

§ 679.20(c)(1)(iii) and (c)(3)(ii)). 

(A) Central GOA. For the Central GOA 

Regulatory Area (Statistical Areas 620 

and 630; see Figure 3 to 50 CFR part 

679), the holders of all LLP licenses 

listed in Column A of Table 10 to this 

part must submit to NMFS a completed 

Request to Extinguish Pacific Cod 

Sideboard Limits for Hook-and-Line 

Catcher/Processors in the Western or 

Central GOA, and the request must be 

received by NMFS on or before [INSERT 

DATE 365 DAYS AFTER THE DATE OF 

PUBLICATION OF THE FINAL RULE IN 

THE Federal Register]. 

(B) Western GOA. For the Western 

GOA Regulatory Area (Statistical Area 

610; see Figure 3 to 50 CFR part 679), 

the holders of all LLP licenses listed in 

Column B of Table 10 to this part must 

submit to NMFS a completed Request to 

Extinguish Pacific Cod Sideboard Limits 

for Hook-and-Line Catcher/Processors in 

the Western or Central GOA, and the 

request must be received by NMFS on 

or before [INSERT DATE 365 DAYS 

AFTER THE DATE OF PUBLICATION 

OF THE FINAL RULE IN THE Federal 

Register]. 

* * * * * 

■ 3. Add Table 10 to part 680 to read as 

follows: 

TABLE 10 TO PART 680—LICENSE LIMITATION PROGRAM LICENSE NUMBERS THAT AUTHORIZE THE OWNERS AND OPERATORS OF CATCHER/

PROCESSORS TO DIRECTED FISH

FOR PACIFIC COD WITH HOOK-ANDLINE GEAR IN THE CENTRAL GULF

OF ALASKA REGULATORY AREA

(COLUMN A) AND IN THE WESTERN

GULF OF ALASKA REGULATORY

AREA (COLUMN B) 

Column A: Column B: 

LLG1125 ................... LLG1400. 

LLG1128 ................... LLG1401. 

LLG1400 ................... LLG1576. 

LLG1576 ................... LLG1578. 

LLG1713 ................... LLG1785. 

LLG1785 ................... LLG1916. 

LLG1916 ................... LLG1917. 

LLG1917 ................... LLG2026. 

LLG1989 ................... LLG2081. 

LLG2081 ................... LLG2112. 

LLG2112 ................... LLG2892. 

LLG2238 ................... LLG2935. 

LLG2705 ................... LLG3090. 

LLG2783 ................... LLG3602. 

LLG2892 ................... LLG3617. 

LLG2958 ................... LLG3676. 

LLG3609 ................... LLG4004. 

LLG3616 ................... LLG4823. 

LLG3617.

LLG3676.

LLG3681.

LLG3973.

LLG4823.

[FR Doc. 2015–02911 Filed 2–11–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 


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