Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 15 / Monday, January 24, 2022 / Notices 3509 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XB727] 

Fisheries of the South Atlantic; South 

Atlantic Fishery Management Council; 

Public Meetings 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of a public meeting. 

SUMMARY: The South Atlantic Fishery 

Management Council (Council) will 

convene a meeting of the Law 

Enforcement Advisory Panel (AP). 

DATES: The Law Enforcement AP 

meeting will be held February 10, 2022, 

from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. 

ADDRESSES: 

Meeting address: The meeting will be 

held at the Town and Country Inn, 2008 

Savannah Hwy., Charleston, SC. The 

meeting is open to members of the 

public and will be broadcast via 

webinar as it occurs. Information, 

including a link to webinar registration, 

public comment form, and meeting 

materials will be posted on the 

Council’s website at: https://safmc.net/ 

safmc-meetings/current-advisory-panelmeetings/ as it becomes available. 

Council address: South Atlantic 

Fishery Management Council, 4055 

Faber Place Drive, Suite 201, N 

Charleston, SC 29405. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kim 

Iverson, Public Information Officer, 

SAFMC; phone: (843) 571–4366 or toll 

free: (866) SAFMC–10; fax: (843) 769– 

4520; email: kim.iverson@safmc.net. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Law 

Enforcement AP will discuss and 

provide recommendations on fishery 

management plan amendments under 

development by the Council and receive 

updates pertaining to law enforcement 

of fishery resources in the region. 

Special Accommodations 

The meeting is physically accessible 

to people with disabilities. Requests for 

auxiliary aids should be directed to the 

Council office (see ADDRESSES) 5 days 

prior to the meeting. 

Note: The times and sequence specified in 

this agenda are subject to change. 

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

Dated: January 18, 2022. 

Tracey L. Thompson, 

Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2022–01193 Filed 1–21–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XB644] 

Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic 

Zone Off Alaska; Groundfish of the 

Gulf of Alaska; Central Gulf of Alaska 

Rockfish Program 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notification of standard prices 

and fee percentage. 

SUMMARY: NMFS publishes the standard 

ex-vessel prices and fee percentage for 

cost recovery under the Central Gulf of 

Alaska (GOA) Rockfish Program 

(Rockfish Program). This action is 

intended to provide participants in a 

rockfish cooperative with the standard 

prices and fee percentage for the 2021 

fishing year, which was authorized from 

April 1 through November 15. The fee 

percentage is 2.77 percent. The fee 

payments are due from each rockfish 

cooperative on or before February 15, 

2022. 

DATES: Valid on: January 24, 2022. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Charmaine Weeks, 907–586–7105. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The rockfish fisheries are conducted 

in Federal waters near Kodiak, Alaska 

by trawl and longline vessels. 

Regulations implementing the Rockfish 

Program are set forth at 50 CFR part 679. 

Exclusive harvesting privileges are 

allocated as quota share under the 

Rockfish Program for rockfish primary 

and secondary species. Each year, 

NMFS issues rockfish primary and 

secondary species cooperative quota 

(CQ) to rockfish quota shareholders to 

authorize harvest of these species. The 

rockfish primary species are northern 

rockfish, Pacific ocean perch, and dusky 

rockfish. The rockfish secondary species 

include Pacific cod, rougheye rockfish, 

shortraker rockfish, sablefish, and 

thornyhead rockfish. Rockfish 

cooperatives began fishing under the 

Rockfish Program in 2012. 

The Rockfish Program is a limited 

access privilege program established 

under the provisions of section 303A of 

the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act 

(Magnuson-Stevens Act). Sections 303A 

and 304(d) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act 

require NMFS to collect fees to recover 

the actual costs directly related to the 

management, data collection and 

analysis, and enforcement of any 

limited access privilege program. 

Therefore, NMFS is required to collect 

fees for the Rockfish Program under 

sections 303A and 304(d)(2) of the 

Magnuson-Stevens Act. Section 

304(d)(2) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act 

also limits the cost recovery fee so that 

it may not exceed 3 percent of the exvessel value of the fish harvested under 

the Rockfish Program. 

Standard Prices 

NMFS calculates cost recovery fees 

based on standard ex-vessel value 

prices, rather than actual price data 

provided by each rockfish CQ holder. 

Use of standard ex-vessel prices is 

allowed under sections 303A and 

304(d)(2) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. 

NMFS generates a standard ex-vessel 

price for each rockfish primary and 

secondary species on a monthly basis to 

determine the average price paid per 

pound for all shoreside processors 

receiving rockfish primary and 

secondary species CQ. An emergency 

rule authorized the fishing season start 

on April 1, 2021 instead of May 1, 2021 

(86 FR 14851, March 19, 2021). Rockfish 

processors that receive and purchase 

landings of rockfish CQ groundfish must 

submit, on an annual basis, a volume 

and value report for the period May 1 

to November 15 (50 CFR 

679.5(r)(10)(ii)). To calculate fees for 

landings occurring in the month of 

April, NMFS applied the annual average 

standard price. 

Regulations at 50 CFR 679.85(b)(2) 

require the Regional Administrator to 

publish rockfish standard ex-vessel 

values during the first quarter of each 

calendar year. The standard prices are 

described in U.S. dollars per pound for 

rockfish primary and secondary species 

CQ landings made during the previous 

year. 

Fee Percentage 

NMFS assesses a fee on the standard 

ex-vessel value of rockfish primary 

species and rockfish secondary species 

CQ harvested by rockfish cooperatives 

in the Central GOA and waters adjacent 

to the Central GOA when rockfish 

primary species caught by a cooperative 

are deducted from the Federal total 

allowable catch. The rockfish entry level 

longline fishery and trawl vessels that 

opt out of joining a cooperative are not 

subject to cost recovery fees because 

those participants do not receive 

rockfish CQ. Specific details on the 

Rockfish Program’s cost recovery 

provision may be found in the 

implementing regulations set forth at 50 

CFR 679.85. 


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