Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 76 / Wednesday, April 19, 2000 / Rules and Regulations 20919

Sustainable Fisheries, NMFS, 1315 EastWest Highway, Silver Spring, MD

20910.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jill

Stevenson, NMFS, (301) 713–2347, or

Buck Sutter (727) 570–5447.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The final

regulations to implement the HMS FMP,

and Amendment 1 to the Atlantic

Billfish Fishery Management Plan (64

FR 29090, May 28, 1999) included a

provision requiring an owner or

operator of a commercial vessel

permitted to fish for Atlantic HMS

under § 635.4 and that fishes with a

pelagic longline to install a NMFSapproved VMS unit on board the vessel

and operate the VMS unit whenever the

vessel leaves port with pelagic longline

gear on board. The VMS requirement of

the final rule (§ 635.69) was to be

effective September 1, 1999.

On August 9, 1999, NMFS delayed the

effective date of this final rule until

January 1, 2000 (64 FR 43101). On

October 14, 1999, NMFS again delayed

the effective date of this final rule until

June 1, 2000 (64 FR 55633). NMFS

further delays the effective date of

implementation of the VMS regulations

until September 1, 2000.

Dated: April 10, 2000.

George H. Darcy,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 00–9699 Filed 4–18–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–F

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

50 CFR Part 679

[Docket No. 000211039–0039–01; I.D.

041200A]

Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic

Zone Off Alaska, Pacific Cod in the

Gulf of Alaska

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce.

ACTION: Apportionment of reserve.

SUMMARY: NMFS is apportioning the

initial reserve of Pacific cod in the Gulf

of Alaska (GOA). This action is

necessary to allow incidental catch of

Pacific cod to be retained in other

directed fisheries and to account for

previous harvest of the total allowable

catch (TAC) in the GOA.

This action is necessary to meet the

objectives in the Magnuson-Stevens

Fishery Conservation and Management

Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), and is

intended to further the goals and

objectives of the Fishery Management

Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of

Alaska (FMP).

DATES: Effective 1200 hrs, Alaska local

time (A.l.t.), April 19, 2000, until 2400

hrs, A.l.t., December 31, 2000.

Comments must be received by May 4,

2000.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be sent to

Sue Salveson, Assistant Administrator

for Fisheries, Sustainable Fisheries

Division, Alaska Region, NMFS, 709

West 9th Street, Room 453, Juneau, AK

99801 or P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK

99802–1668, Attn: Lori Gravel. Hand

delivery or courier delivery of

comments may be sent to the Federal

Building, 709 West 9th St., Room 453,

Juneau, AK 99801. Comments will not

be accepted if submitted via e-mail or

Internet.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Thomas Pearson, (907)481–1780, fax

(907)481–1781, or

tom.pearson@noaa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

NMFS manages the groundfish fishery

in the GOA exclusive economic zone

according to the FMP prepared by the

North Pacific Fishery Management

Council under authority of the

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery

Conservation and Management Act.

Regulations governing fishing by U.S.

vessels in accordance with the FMP

appear at subpart H of 50 CFR part 600

and 50 CFR part 679.

The initial TAC of Pacific cod in the

Western, Central, and Eastern

Regulatory Areas of the GOA was

established by the Final 2000 Harvest

Specifications for Groundfish of the

GOA (65 FR 8298, February 18, 2000) as

16,500 metric tons (mt), 27,264 mt, and

3,208 mt, respectively. Directed fishing

for Pacific cod for processing by the

offshore component in the Western

Regulatory Area of the GOA was closed

on February 7, 2000, and by the inshore

component in the Western and Central

Regulatory Areas of the GOA on March

4, 2000, under § 679.20(d)(1)(iii), in

order to prevent exceeding the

allocation for processing by the offshore

and inshore components in these areas

(65 FR 6561, February 10, 2000, and 65

FR 12137 and 12138, March 8, 2000).

The reserves of Pacific cod in the

GOA were created by the Final 2000

Harvest Specifications for Groundfish of

the GOA (65 FR 8298, February 18,

2000) as a management buffer to prevent

exceeding the TACs and to provide

greater assurance that Pacific cod could

be retained as bycatch throughout the

fishing year.

The Administrator, Alaska Region,

NMFS, (Regional Administrator), has

determined that the initial TAC for

Pacific cod in the GOA needs to be

supplemented from the Pacific cod

reserve for the GOA in order to allow

incidental catch of Pacific cod to be

retained in other fisheries and to

account for prior harvest. Therefore, in

accordance with § 679.20(b)(3)(i)(A),

NMFS is apportioning 11,743 mt of

Pacific cod from the reserve to the TAC

in the GOA: 4,125 mt in the Western,

6,816 mt in the Central, and 802 mt in

the Eastern Regulatory Areas.

Pursuant to § 679.20(a)(6)(iii), the

apportionment of the Pacific cod reserve

in the GOA is allocated to vessels

catching Pacific cod for processing by

the inshore and offshore components as

90 percent and 10 percent of the TAC

respectively. This action increases the

total allocation of the 2000 Pacific cod

TACs for vessels catching Pacific cod for

processing by the inshore component to

18,563 mt, 30,672 mt, and 3,609 mt in

the Western, Central, and Eastern

Regulatory Areas respectively, and for

the offshore component to 2,062 mt,

3,408 mt and 401 mt in the Western,

Central, and Eastern Regulatory Areas

respectively. In accordance with

§ 679.20(b)(3)(iii)(A), NMFS finds that

there is good cause for not providing the

public with a prior opportunity to

comment. As of March 25, 2000, NMFS

estimates the initial TACs of 14,850 mt

and 24,538 mt allocated to the inshore

component in the Western and the

Central Regulatory Areas of the GOA

have been reached and that the initial

TAC of 1,650 mt allocated to the

offshore component in the Western

Regulatory Area of the GOA has been

reached. This action is necessary to

allow retention of amounts of Pacific

cod that are caught incidentally while

conducting directed fishing for other

species in these areas.

Maximum retainable bycatch amounts

may be found in the regulations at

§ 679.20(e) and (f).

Classification

This action responds to the initial

TAC limitations for Pacific cod

established in the Final 2000 Harvest

Specifications for Groundfish in the

GOA. This action will allow incidental

catch of Pacific cod to be retained in

other directed fisheries. The alternative

is to prohibit retention of Pacific cod

which is contrary to the FMP goals of

providing the opportunity to more fully

utilizing the available TACs and

reducing discards. A delay in the

effective date is impracticable and

20920 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 76 / Wednesday, April 19, 2000 / Rules and Regulations

contrary to the public interest as it

relieves a potential restriction. NMFS

finds for good cause that the

implementation of this action should

not be delayed for 30 days. Accordingly,

under 5 U.S.C 553(d), a delay in the

effective date is hereby waived.

This action is required by 50 CFR

679.20 and is exempt from review under

E.O. 12866.

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

Dated: April 13, 2000.

Bruce C. Morehead,

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service.

[FR Doc. 00–9844 Filed 4–18–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–22–F