[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 11 (Wednesday, January 17, 2001)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 3976-3977]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-1380]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 679

[I.D. 010301D]
RIN 0648-AL95


Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Amendments 
to Alaska Groundfish and Crab Fishery Management Plans to Revise the 
License Limitation Program

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of availability of amendments to fishery management 
plans; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) has 
submitted Amendment 60 to the Fishery Management Plan for the 
Groundfish Fishery of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Area, 
Amendment 58 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf 
of Alaska and Amendment 10 to the Fishery Management Plan for the 
Commercial King and Tanner Crab Fisheries in the Bering Sea and the 
Aleutian Islands (FMPs). These plan amendments are necessary to 
implement changes to the License Limitation Program (LLP) as 
recommended by the Council and are intended to further the objectives 
of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 
(Magnuson-Stevens Act) and the FMPs.

DATES: Comments on Amendments 60, 58, and 10 must be submitted by March 
19, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Comments on the proposed plan amendments should be submitted 
to Sue Salveson, Assistant Regional Administrator for Sustainable 
Fisheries, Alaska Region, NMFS, P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, Alaska, 99802, 
Attn: Lori Gravel, or delivered to the Federal Building, 709 West 9th 
Street, Juneau, AK. Comments may also be sent by facsimile (fax) to 
907-586-7465. Comments will not be accepted if submitted via e-mail or 
Internet. Copies of Amendments 60, 58, and 10 and the Environmental 
Assessment/Regulatory Impact Review/Initial Regulatory Flexibility 
Analysis prepared for the proposed plan amendments are available from 
the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, 605 West 4th Ave., Suite 
306, Anchorage, AK 99501-2252; telephone 907-271-2809.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jim Hale, 907-586-7228.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires that each Regional Fishery 
Management Council submit any fishery management plan or plan amendment 
it prepares to NMFS for review and approval, disapproval, or partial 
approval. The Magnuson-Stevens Act also requires that NMFS, after 
receiving a fishery management plan or plan amendment, immediately 
publish a notice in the Federal Register that the fishery management 
plan or plan amendment is available for public review and comment. This 
action constitutes such notice for Amendments 60, 58, and 10 to the 
FMPs. NMFS will consider public comments received during the comment 
period in determining whether to approve these proposed plan 
amendments. To be considered, a comment must be received by the close 
of business on the last day of the comment period.
    In June 1995, the Council recommended that NMFS implement the LLP 
to address concerns of excess capital in the groundfish and crab 
fisheries off Alaska. The LLP is the second stage of a multi-staged 
process to reduce capacity in the affected fisheries. The LLP will 
replace the Vessel Moratorium Program (VMP), a program implemented by 
NMFS on January 1, 1996, to impose a temporary moratorium on the entry 
of new capacity in the groundfish and crab fisheries off Alaska and to 
define the class of entities that would be eligible for licenses under 
the LLP. The VMP expired on December 31, 1999 (64 FR 3651). The final 
rule implementing the LLP specifies that fishing will begin under the 
LLP on January 1, 2000 (63 FR 52642, October 1, 1998).
    If approved, Amendments 60, 58, and 10 would make several changes 
to the final rule implementing the LLP. First, the Council recommended 
that recent participation criteria be added to the eligibility 
requirements for a crab species license. Originally, a person applying 
for a crab species license had to demonstrate that documented harvests 
were made from a qualifying vessel during two periods, the general 
qualification period (GQP) and the endorsement qualification period 
(EQP). If approved, Amendment 10 would add a third period, the recent 
participation period (RPP), in which a person would have to demonstrate 
that documented harvests of crab were made from a qualifying vessel. 
The RPP was added to the eligibility requirements for a crab species 
license because of the Council's concern that a crab species license 
could be issued to a person whose eligibility was based on 
participation that has been inactive since 1995. These ``latent 
licenses'' could be transferred to persons who would become active in 
the fishery. Such transfers would be contrary to the purpose of the LLP 
because it would create the potential to increase fishing effort above 
the current levels in the crab fisheries. Except under specific 
exemptions provided in the FMP amendments, the RPP would require that a 
person demonstrate that at least one documented harvest of any crab 
species was made during the period beginning January 1, 1996, through 
February 7, 1998.
    The Council's second recommendation is to require that the vessel 
designated on the LLP license be transferred with the LLP license, if 
that LLP license was issued based on documented harvests made from a 
vessel without a Federal Fisheries Permit. A Federal Fisheries Permit 
is required for any vessel that participates in a Federal groundfish 
fishery off Alaska. If a vessel did not participate in Federal 
groundfish fisheries off Alaska, its qualifying documented harvests 
must have occurred in waters of the State of

[[Page 3977]]

Alaska or other waters shoreward of the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) 
off Alaska. Groundfish fisheries in state waters or other waters 
shoreward of the EEZ off Alaska will not be managed under the LLP. The 
Council reasoned that if a person is licensed to participate in a 
Federally managed fishery on the basis of participation in a State-
managed fishery, certain restrictions should be placed on that license. 
Therefore, NMFS would restrict the transfer of a license issued to a 
vessel without a Federal Fishery Permit unless the licensed vessel is 
transferred with the license. The Council did not consider it a 
hardship to the license recipient to directly link the transfer of a 
license to the vessel, whether the recipient decides to keep or to 
transfer the license and vessel.
    Third, the Council recommended that a gear designation be added to 
a groundfish license. The gear designation is intended to prevent 
movement between the trawl sector and the non-trawl sector. A license 
would be issued with a ``trawl,'' ``non-trawl,'' or ``trawl/non-trawl'' 
gear designation based on gear participation before June 17, 1995, with 
two exceptions. Under the first exception, a person could exercise a 
one-time option to switch gear designations if that person used a new 
gear between June 18, 1995, and February 7, 1998. For example, a person 
used only trawl gear before June 17, 1995. However, in 1997, that 
person used pot gear to catch Pacific cod. The use of a new gear in 
1997 would allow the person to exercise a one-time option to change the 
gear designation from trawl gear to non-trawl gear. A person could not 
qualify for a trawl/non-trawl gear designation by use of this 
exception. Under the second exception, a person could request a gear 
designation change based on a significant financial investment. To 
qualify under the second exception, a person would have to (1) 
demonstrate that a significant financial investment was made in 
converting a vessel or purchasing fishing gear on or before February 7, 
1998, and (2) demonstrate that a documented harvest was made from the 
qualifying vessel with the new gear type on or before December 31, 
1998. A significant financial investment is defined as at least 
$100,000 toward vessel conversion or gear to change from a non-trawl to 
a trawl gear designation, or having acquired groundline, hooks or pots, 
and hauling equipment to change from a trawl to a non-trawl gear 
designation.
    Fourth, the Council recommended that a community development quota 
(CDQ) vessel exemption, which originally had no ending date for 
eligibility, be limited to a specific time period (November 18, 1992, 
through October 9, 1998). The exemption was intended to facilitate the 
ability of CDQ organizations to enter and conduct groundfish fisheries 
through the purchase of new vessels that may not meet eligibility 
criteria. Concerns over excess capacity in the groundfish fisheries, 
and acknowledgment that CDQ organizations are integrating into the 
existing fishing industry at a reasonable pace, prompted the Council's 
recommendation. Further support for limiting this exemption came from 
public testimony that CDQ organizations did not use this exemption 
under the VMP.
    Fifth, the Council recommended that limited processing ability, 
defined as 1 metric ton of round fish per day, be granted to a person 
deploying a vessel that is less that 60 ft (18.3 m) length overall, 
based on a groundfish license with a catcher vessel designation. This 
limited processing exemption is intended to assist small catcher 
vessels in exploiting niche markets not otherwise available.
    Sixth, although not formally part of Amendments 60/58/10, the 
Council recommended that the name of the vessel to be deployed by the 
LLP license holder must be designated on the license. The Council 
recommended this change to address concerns about the movement of 
license holders among vessels contributing to excess capacity in the 
fisheries. The ability to move among vessels would have contributed to 
excess capacity by allowing a license holder to deploy a second vessel 
to fish while the first vessel was in port, or by allowing a license 
holder to alternate between vessels in different fisheries in different 
geographical locations. In both cases, a license holder could engage in 
uninterrupted fishing because breaks for unloading, vessel repairs, or 
running time could be eliminated through the use of another vessel. The 
Council recommended that NMFS make this change as a regulatory 
amendment.
    Public comments will be accepted on these proposed amendments 
through the end of the comment period specified in this notification. A 
proposed rule that would implement the amendments may be published in 
the Federal Register for public comment following NMFS's evaluation 
under the Magnuson-Stevens Act procedures. All comments received by the 
end of the comment period specified in this notice, whether 
specifically directed to the amendments or to the proposed rule, will 
be considered in the decision to approve, disapprove, or partially 
approve these amendments.

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

    Dated: January 11, 2001.
Bruce C. Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 01-1380 Filed 1-16-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE: 3510-22-S