Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 202 / Thursday, October 20, 2005 / Rules and Regulations 61063 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 660 

[Docket No. 051014263-5263-01; I.D. 

093005A] 

RIN 0648 AU00 

Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; 

Fisheries off West Coast States and in 

the Western Pacific; Pacific Coast 

Groundfish Fishery; Specifications and 

Management Measures; Inseason 

Adjustments; Correction 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Final rule; correcting 

amendment. 

SUMMARY: This document contains 

corrections to the inseason adjustments 

that became effective on October 1, 

2005. The inseason adjustment 

contained an error in the limited entry 

trawl trip limit table, Table 3 (South), on 

page 58076. The trip limit for petrale 

sole on line 16 should have been closed 

only south of 38° N. lat., as stated in the 

preamble, rather than south of 40°10′ N. 

lat. as depicted in the table. These 

regulations implemented changes to the 

2005–2006 fishery specifications and 

management measures for groundfish 

taken in the U.S. exclusive economic 

zone off the coasts of Washington, 

Oregon, and California. 

DATES: Effective 0001 hours (local time) 

October 1, 2005. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Jamie Goen (Northwest Region, NMFS), 

phone: 206–526–4646; fax: 206–526–

6736 and; e-mail: jamie.goen@noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Electronic Access 

This correcting notification also is 

accessible via the Internet at the Office 

of the Federal Register’s website at 

http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/ 

index.html. Background information 

and documents are available at the 

NMFS Northwest Region website http:// 

www.nwr.noaa.govlsustfsh/gdfsh01.htm 

and at the Council’s website at http:// 

www.pcouncil.org. 

Background 

The regulations that are the subject of 

this correction are at 50 CFR 660, 

subpart G. These regulations affect 

persons operating in the limited entry 

trawl fishery for groundfish species off 

the U.S. West Coast. 

Need for Correction 

As published, the inseason 

adjustment contained an error which 

needs to be corrected. This action 

provides one correction to the inseason 

adjustment. The inseason adjustment 

published in the Federal Register on 

October 5, 2005 (70 FR 58066), 

contained an error in the limited entry 

trawl trip limit table, Table 3 (South), on 

page 58076. The trip limit for petrale 

sole on line 16 should have been closed 

only south of 38° N. lat., as stated in the 

preamble, rather than south of 40°10′ N. 

lat. as depicted in the table. 

As stated in the preamble to the 

inseason adjustment (70 FR 58066, 

October 5, 2005), the Pacific Fishery 

Management Council (Pacific Council) 

recommended at its September 18–23, 

2005, meeting in Portland, OR, that 

NMFS implement a seaward limited 

entry trawl Rockfish Conservation Area 

(RCA) boundary line approximating the 

250–fm (457-m) depth contour 

coastwide in order to nearly eliminate 

the catch of petrale sole. However, 

NMFS was not able to implement this 

line south of 38° N. lat. to the U.S./ 

Mexico border because there are no 

coordinates for this line in Federal 

regulations. In order to be used as 

boundary lines for inseason groundfish 

management, coordinates must be 

published in Federal regulations at 50 

CFR Part 660. Therefore, in order to 

implement the intent of the Pacific 

Council recommendation as much as 

possible, NMFS implemented a 

boundary line approximating the 200–

fm (366–m) depth contour and a 

prohibition on the retention of petrale 

sole in this area during October. 

Because there is catch of petrale 

between 200–fm (366–m) and 250–fm 

(457–m), including some targeting on 

petrale sole, moving the RCA boundary 

line from 150–fm (274–m) to 200–fm 

(366–m) for October through December 

would likely not keep total catch of 

petrale sole within its ABC/OY for the 

year. A reduction of the petrale sole trip 

limit during the middle of a cumulative 

trip limit period (in this case, September 

through October) would make 

enforcement of such limits difficult. 

Mid-cumulative trip limit reductions are 

difficult to enforce because some fishers 

may have already achieved the higher 

limits earlier in the period while others 

who have not achieved their limit 

previously are restricted to the lower 

limits. It is difficult to query a paperbased fish landing ticket system midcumulative limit period to see if a fisher 

is in violation. Thus, NMFS determined 

that a closure is the best method for 

achieving the goals of this action. 

Therefore, in addition to the line 

change, NMFS also implemented a 

prohibition on the retention of petrale 

sole between 38° N. lat. and the U.S./ 

Mexico border during the month of 

October in order to prevent targeting on 

petrale sole. During November and 

December, the Pacific Council 

recommendation of decreasing the trip 

limit for petrale sole to 2,000 lb (0.9 mt) 

per 2 months was determined to be 

sufficient to allow retention of 

incidentally caught petrale sole while 

not encouraging targeting. Therefore, 

while the analysis suggested a 

prohibition on the retention of petrale 

sole between 38° N. lat. and the U.S./ 

Mexico border during the month of 

October, the trip limit table, Table 3 

(South), mistakenly showed the 

prohibition on the retention of petrale 

sole between 40°10′ N. lat. and the U.S./ 

Mexico border during the month of 

October. This was an inadvertent 

mistake resulting from the design of the 

trip limit table (i.e., trip limits for a 

species in Table 3 (South) apply 

between 40°10′ N. lat. and the U.S./ 

Mexico border unless otherwise stated). 

The prohibition on retention of petrale 

sole should have been stated within that 

table as applying south of 38° N. lat. 

Without a correction to Federal 

regulations, this fishery would be closed 

between 38° N. lat. and 40°10′ N. lat., 

which is inconsistent with the intent of 

the Pacific Council and NMFS. Between 

38° N. lat. and 40°10′ N. lat., the limited 

entry trawl RCA, which extends from 

the shoreline to 250–fm (457–m), as 

well as the reduced petrale sole trip 

limits for November and December, are 

expected to sufficiently reduce the take 

of petrale sole to near zero through the 

end of the year. 

For these reasons, NMFS is amending 

Federal regulations to correctly prohibit 

the retention of petrale sole between 38° 

N. lat. and the U.S./Mexico border 

during the month of October in the trip 

limit table, Table 3 (South). 

Classification 

The Assistant Administrator (AA) for 

Fisheries, NOAA, finds good cause to 

waive the requirement to provide prior 

notice and opportunity for public 

comment on this action pursuant to 5 

U.S.C. 553(b)(B), because providing 

prior notice and opportunity for 

comment would be contrary to the 

public interest. The correction is to 

indicate that participants in the limited 

entry trawl fishery are prohibited from 

retaining petrale sole between 38° N. lat. 

and the U.S./Mexico border during the 

month of October in the trip limit table, 

Table 3 (South). NMFS had mispublished this closure in its inseason 

61064 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 202 / Thursday, October 20, 2005 / Rules and Regulations 

adjustment for this action (70 FR 58066, 

October 5, 2005). Prior notice and 

opportunity for comment would 

contravene the intent of this action, 

which was to allow fishing for petrale 

sole between 40°10′ N. lat. and 38° N. 

lat. during October 2005. Providing 

prior notice and opportunity for 

comment would cost fishermen in lost 

fishing opportunity during October and 

to compound this loss by going through 

prior notice and opportunity for 

comment would in effect make the 

action meaningless. Therefore, it is 

contrary to the public interest to provide 

prior notice and an opportunity for 

public comment on this correction. 

For these reasons, the AA finds also 

finds good cause to waive the 30-day 

delay in effectiveness requirement 

under 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3). 

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 660 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, American Samoa, Fisheries, 

Fishing, Guam, Hawaiian Natives, 

Indians, Northern Mariana Islands, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements. 

Dated: October 17, 2005. 

James W. Balsiger, 

Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator for 

Regulatory Programs, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

■ Accordingly, 50 CFR part 660 is 

corrected by making the following 

correcting amendments: 

PART 660—FISHERIES OFF WEST 

COAST STATES AND IN THE 

WESTERN PACIFIC 

■ l. The authority citation for part 660 

continues to read as follows: 

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

■ 2. In part 660, subpart G, Table 3 

(South) is revised to read as follows: 

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Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 202 / Thursday, October 20, 2005 / Rules and Regulations 61065 


ER20OC05.009</GPH>
61066 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 202 / Thursday, October 20, 2005 / Rules and Regulations 

[FR Doc. 05–21088 Filed 10–18–05; 1:11 pm] 

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ER20OC05.010</GPH>
Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 202 / Thursday, October 20, 2005 / Rules and Regulations 61067 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 679 

[Docket No. 041126333–5040–02; I.D. 

101705A] 

Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic 

Zone Off Alaska; Pollock in Statistical 

Area 630 of the Gulf of Alaska 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; modification of 

a closure. 

SUMMARY: NMFS is opening directed 

fishing for pollock in Statistical Area 

630 of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) for 48 

hours. This action is necessary to fully 

use the 2005 total allowable catch (TAC) 

of pollock specified for Statistical Area 

630. 

DATES: Effective 1200 hrs, Alaska local 

time (A.l.t.), October 17, 2005, through 

1200 hrs, A.l.t., October 19, 2005. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Josh 

Keaton, 907–586–7228. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS 

manages the groundfish fishery in the 

GOA exclusive economic zone 

according to the Fishery Management 

Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of 

Alaska (FMP) prepared by the North 

Pacific Fishery Management Council 

under authority of the MagnusonStevens 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. 

NMFS closed the directed fishery for 

pollock in Statistical Area 630 of the 

GOA under § 679.20(d)(1)(iii) on 

October 8, 2005 (70 FR 59676, October 

13, 2005). 

NMFS has determined that 

approximately 1,700 mt of pollock 

remain in the directed fishing 

allowance. Therefore, in accordance 

with 679.25(a)(2)(i)(C) and (a)(2)(iii)(D), 

and to fully utilize the 2005 TAC of 

pollock in Statistical Area 630, NMFS is 

terminating the previous closure and is 

reopening directed fishing for pollock in 

Statistical Area 630 of the GOA. In 

accordance with § 679.20(d)(1)(iii), the 

Regional Administrator finds that the 

directed fishing allowance for pollock in 

Statistical Area 630 of the GOA will be 

reached after 48 hours. Consequently, 

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for 

pollock in Statistical Area 630 of the 

GOA effective 1200 hrs, A.l.t., October 

19, 2005. 

Classification 

This action responds to the best 

available information recently obtained 

from the fishery. The Assistant 

Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA 

(AA), finds good cause to waive the 

requirement to provide prior notice and 

opportunity for public comment 

pursuant to the authority set forth at 5 

U.S.C. 553(b)(B) as such requirement is 

impracticable and contrary to the public 

interest. This requirement is 

impracticable and contrary to the public 

interest as it would prevent NMFS from 

responding to the most recent fisheries 

data in a timely fashion and would 

delay the opening of pollock in 

Statistical Area 630 of the GOA. NMFS 

was unable to publish a notice 

providing time for public comment 

because the most recent, relevant data 

only became available as of October 13, 

2005. 

The AA also finds good cause to 

waive the 30-day delay in the effective 

date of this action under 5 U.S.C. 

553(d)(3). This finding is based upon 

the reasons provided above for waiver of 

prior notice and opportunity for public 

comment. 

This action is required by section 

679.20 and is exempt from review under 

Executive Order 12866. 

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

Dated: October 17, 2005. 

Alan D. Risenhoover, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 05–20994 Filed 10–17–05; 1:14 pm] 

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