Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 106 /Wednesday, June 3, 1998 /Rules and Regulations 30147

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 660

[Docket No. 971229312–7312–01; I.D.

052898A]

Fisheries Off West Coast States and in

the Western Pacific; Pacific Coast

Groundfish Fishery; Whiting Closure

for the Mothership Sector

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Fishing restrictions; request for

comments.

SUMMARY: NMFS announces the end of

the 1998 mothership fishery for whiting

at 9 p.m. local time (l.t.) May 31, 1998,

because the allocation for the

mothership sector will be reached by

that time. This action is intended to

keep the harvest of whiting at levels

announced by NMFS on January 6,

1998.

DATES: Effective from 9 p.m. l.t. May 31,

1998, until the start of the 1999 primary

season for the mothership sector, unless

modified, superseded or rescinded,

which will be published in the Federal

Register. Comments will be accepted

through June 18, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Submit comment to William

Stelle, Jr., Administrator, Northwest

Region (Regional Administrator), NMFS,

7600 Sand Point Way NE., Seattle, WA

98115–0070; or William Hogarth,

Regional Administrator, Southwest

Region, NMFS, 501 West Ocean Blvd.,

Suite 4200, Long Beach, CA 90802–

4213.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Katherine King at 206–526–6145.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This

action is authorized by regulations

implementing the Pacific Coast

Groundfish Fishery Management Plan

(FMP), which governs the groundfish

fishery off Washington, Oregon, and

California. On January 6, 1998 (63 FR

419), regulations were published

announcing the annual management

measures for Pacific Coast whiting. The

regulations at 50 CFR 660.323(a)(4) (62

FR 27519, May 20, 1997) established

separate allocations for the catcher/

processor, mothership, and shore-based

sectors of the whiting fishery. Each

allocation is a harvest guideline, which,

when reached, results in the end of the

primary season for that sector. The

catcher/processor sector is composed of

catcher/processors, which are vessels

that harvest and process whiting. The

mothership sector is composed of

motherships and catcher vessels that

harvest whiting for delivery to

motherships. Motherships are vessels

that process, but do not harvest,

whiting. The shoreside sector is

composed of vessels that harvest

whiting for delivery to shore-based

processors. The allocations, which are

based on the 1998 commercial harvest

guideline for whiting of 207,000 metric

tons (mt), are: 70,400 mt (34 percent) for

the catcher/processor sector; 49,700 mt

(24 percent) for the mothership sector;

and 86,900 mt (42 percent) for the

shoreside sector.

The best available information on

May 28, 1998, indicates that 33,841 mt

of whiting had been taken by the

mothership sector through May 26,

1998, and that the 49,700–mt

mothership allocation would be reached

by 9 p.m. l.t. May 31, 1998.

Accordingly, the primary season for the

mothership sector ends at 9 p.m. l.t.

May 31, 1998, at which time further atsea processing and receipt of whiting by

a mothership, or taking and retaining,

possessing or landing of whiting by a

catcher boat in the mothership sector,

are prohibited. The regulations at 50

CFR 600.323(a)(3)(i) describe the

primary season for vessels delivering to

motherships as the period(s) when atsea processing is allowed and the

fishery is open for the mothership

sector.

Attainment of the catcher/processor

and shore-based sector allocations is not

announced at this time.

NMFS Action

For the reasons stated above, and in

accordance with the regulations at 50

CFR 660.323(a)(4)(iii)(B), NMFS herein

announces:

Effective 9 p.m. l.t. May 31, 1998–(1)

Further receiving or at-sea processing of

whiting by a mothership is prohibited.

No additional unprocessed whiting may

be brought on board after at-sea

processing is prohibited, but a

mothership may continue to process

whiting that was on board before at-sea

processing was prohibited; and (2)

whiting may not be taken and retained,

possessed, or landed by a catcher vessel

participating in the mothership sector.

Classification

This action is authorized by the

regulations implementing the FMP. The

determination to take this action is

based on the most recent data available.

The aggregate data upon which the

determination is based are available for

public inspection a the Office of the

Regional Administrator (see ADDRESSES)

during business hours. This action is

taken under the authority of 50 CFR

660.323(a)(4)(iii)(B) and is exempt from

review under E.O. 12866.

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

Dated: May 29, 1998.

George H. Darcy,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 98–14741 Filed 5–29–98; 4:43 pm]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–F

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 660

[Docket No. 980521135–8135–01; I.D.

051198B]

RIN 0648–AK85

Fisheries Off West Coast States and in

the Western Pacific; Western Pacific

Crustacean Fisheries; 1998 Harvest

Guideline

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Harvest guideline for

crustaceans for 1998.

SUMMARY: NMFS announces a 1998

harvest guideline of 286,000 lobsters

(spiny and slipper lobsters combined)

for the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands

(NWHI) crustacean fishery, which opens

on July 1, 1998. The harvest guideline

applies to the entire NWHI; however,

due to the potential for overexploitation

of lobster populations at certain NWHI

banks/areas, the Western Pacific Fishery

Management Council (Council) is

considering allocating the harvest

guideline among specific areas or banks

to ensure the long-term health of the

lobster populations and stability of the

fishery. The intent of this action is to

prevent overfishing and achieve the

objectives of the Fishery Management

Plan for the Crustacean Fisheries of the

Western Pacific Region (FMP).

DATES: Effective July 1, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Copies of background

material pertaining to this action may be

obtained from Alvin Katekaru, Pacific

Islands Area Office, Southwest Region,

NMFS, 2570 Dole Street, Honolulu, HI

96822 or Kitty Simonds, Executive

Director, Western Pacific Fishery

Management Council, 1164 Bishop St.,

Suite 1400, Honolulu, HI 96813.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Alvin Katekaru at (808) 973–2985 or

Kitty Simonds at (808) 522–8220.