56664 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 192 / Thursday, October 4, 2007 / Rules and Regulations 

Protective Order that has been entered by the 

Commission in this proceeding, and that I 

agree to be bound by its terms pertaining to 

the treatment of Confidential Information 

submitted by parties to this proceeding. I 

understand that the Confidential Information 

shall not be disclosed to anyone except in 

accordance with the terms of the Protective 

Order and shall be used only for purposes of 

the proceedings in this matter. I acknowledge 

that a violation of the Protective Order is a 

violation of an order of the Federal 

Communications Commission. I acknowledge 

that this Protective Order is also a binding 

agreement with the Submitting Party. I am 

not in a position to use the Confidential 

Information for competitive commercial or 

business purposes, including competitive 

decision-making, and my activities, 

association or relationship with the 

Reviewing Parties, Authorized 

Representatives, or other persons does not 

involve rendering advice or participating in 

any or all of the Reviewing Parties,’

Associated Representatives’ or other persons’

business decisions that are or will be made 

in light of similar or corresponding 

information about a competitor. 

(signed) lllllllllllllllll

(printed name) lllllllllllll

(representing) llllllllllllll

(title) llllllllllllllllll

(employer) lllllllllllllll

(address) llllllllllllllll

(phone) lllllllllllllllll

(date) llllllllllllllllll

[FR Doc. 07–4935 Filed 10–3–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 660 

[Docket No. 060824226–6322–02] 

RIN 0648–AW07 

Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; 

Fisheries Off West Coast States; 

Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; 

Biennial Specifications and 

Management Measures; Inseason 

Adjustments 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Final rule; inseason adjustments 

to groundfish management measures; 

request for comments. 

SUMMARY: This final rule announces 

inseason changes to management 

measures in the commercial and 

recreational Pacific Coast groundfish 

fisheries and the reopening of the 2007 

Pacific whiting primary season. These 

actions, which are authorized by the 

Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery 

Management Plan (FMP), are intended 

to allow fisheries to access more 

abundant groundfish stocks while 

protecting overfished and depleted 

stocks. 

DATES: Effective 0001 hours (local time) 

October 1, 2007. Comments on this final 

rule must be received no later than 5 

p.m., local time on November 5, 2007. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by RIN 0648–AW07 by any 

one of the following methods: 

• Electronic Submissions: Submit all 

electronic public comments via the 

Federal eRulemaking Portal http:// 

www.regulations.gov. 

• Fax: 206–526–6736, Attn: Gretchen 

Arentzen 

• Mail: D. Robert Lohn, 

Administrator, Northwest Region, 

NMFS, 7600 Sand Point Way NE, 

Seattle, WA 98115–0070, Attn: Gretchen 

Arentzen. 

Instructions: All comments received 

are a part of the public record and will 

generally be posted to http:// 

www.regulations.gov without change. 

All Personal Identifying Information (for 

example, name, address, etc.) 

voluntarily submitted by the commenter 

may be publicly accessible. Do not 

submit Confidential Business 

Information or otherwise sensitive or 

protected information. 

NMFS will accept anonymous 

comments. Attachments to electronic 

comments will be accepted in Microsoft 

Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe 

PDF file formats only. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Gretchen Arentzen (Northwest Region, 

NMFS), phone: 206–526–6147, fax: 206–

526–6736 and e-mail 

gretchen.arentzen@noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Electronic Access 

This final rule 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 Pacific Fishery 

Management Council′s (Council′s) 

website at http://www.pcouncil.org/. 

Background 

The Pacific Coast Groundfish FMP 

and its implementing regulations at title 

50 in the Code of Federal Regulations 

(CFR), part 660, subpart G, regulate 

fishing for over 90 species of groundfish 

off the coasts of Washington, Oregon, 

and California. Groundfish 

specifications and management 

measures are developed by the Pacific 

Fishery Management Council (Council), 

and are implemented by NMFS. A 

proposed rule to implement the 2007–

2008 specifications and management 

measures for the Pacific Coast 

groundfish fishery and Amendment 16–

4 of the FMP was published on 

September 29, 2006 (71 FR 57764). The 

final rule to implement the 2007–2008 

specifications and management 

measures for the Pacific Coast 

Groundfish Fishery was published on 

December 29, 2006 (71 FR 78638). These 

specifications and management 

measures were codified in the CFR (50 

CFR part 660, subpart G). The final rule 

was subsequently amended on: March 

20, 2007 (71 FR 13043); April 18, 2007 

(72 FR 19390); July 5, 2007 (72 FR 

36617); August 3, 2007 (72 FR 43193); 

and September 18, 2007 (72 FR 53165). 

Changes to current groundfish 

management measures implemented by 

this action were recommended by the 

Council, in consultation with Pacific 

Coast Treaty Indian Tribes and the 

States of Washington, Oregon, and 

California, at its September 10–14, 2007, 

meeting in Portland, Oregon. At that 

meeting, the Pacific Council 

recommended adjusting current 

groundfish management measures to 

respond to updated fishery information 

and other inseason management needs. 

The Pacific Council recommended: (1) 

increasing the 2–month cumulative 

limit in the limited entry fixed gear 

fishery for shortspine thornyheads south 

of 34°27′ N. lat.; (2) prohibiting 

retention of cabezon by recreational 

ocean boat anglers in Federal waters off 

Oregon; (3) closing the Federal 

recreational fishing season for rockfish, 

cabezon, greenlings, and lingcod from 

42° N. lat. to 37°11′ N. lat.; (4) adjust the 

shoreward boundary of the limited entry 

non-whiting trawl RCA to a line 

approximating the 75–fm (137–m) depth 

contour North of Cape Alava (48°10′ N. 

lat.) and between Humbug Mountain 

(43°20.83′ N. lat.) and Cape Arago 

(42°40.50′ N. lat.); (5) increasing 

coastwide sablefish limits for large and 

small footrope trawl gear; (6) increasing 

longspine thornyhead limits south of 

40°10′ N. lat. for large and small 

footrope trawl gear; (7) increasing 

shortspine thornyhead limits coastwide 

for large and small footrope trawl gear; 

(8) increasing coastwide Dover sole 

limits for large and small footrope trawl 

gear; (9) increasing coastwide other 

flatfish limits for large and small 

footrope trawl gear; (10) increasing 

petrale sole limits north of 40°10′ N. lat. 

for large and small footrope trawl gear; 

(11) increasing slope rockfish limits for 

limited entry trawl gear south of 38° N. 

lat.; (12) increasing the 2007 non-tribal 

whiting widow rockfish bycatch limit 


pwalker on PROD1PC71 with RULES
Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 192 / Thursday, October 4, 2007 / Rules and Regulations 56665 

from 220 mt to 275 mt, and (13) reopening the 2007 non-tribal whiting 

primary season for the catcherprocessor, mothership, and shore-based 

sectors. 

NMFS has considered these 

recommendations, and is implementing 

them as described below. Pacific Coast 

groundfish landings will be monitored 

throughout the remainder of the year, 

and further adjustments to trip limits or 

management measures may be made as 

necessary to allow achievement of, or to 

avoid exceeding, optimum yields (OYs). 

Limited Entry Fixed Gear Trip Limits 

South of 40°10′ N. Lat. 

As of May 31, 2007, the total 

shortspine thornyhead landings south of 

34°27′ N. lat. were estimated to be 60.6 

mt out of a 421–mt OY. In June 2007, 

the Council recommended a short term 

increase in shortspine thornyhead 

cumulative limits south of 34°27′ N. lat.. 

The Council considered that increases 

in effort in this area could result in 

higher incidental catches of sablefish 

and other species; however, estimates at 

that time showed that sablefish catches 

in this area were lower than they had 

been predicted to be at the beginning of 

the year. To balance the potential 

impacts on sablefish from a possible 

effort shift and the larger amount of 

shortspine thornyheads available for 

harvest, the shortspine thornyhead 

cumulative limits south of 34°27′ N. lat. 

were increased during Period 4 (JulyAugust), and reverted back to the lower 

limits for Periods 5 and 6 (SeptemberOctober and November-December, 

respectively). 

At its September meeting, the Council 

considered further adjustments to 

shortspine thornyhead cumulative 

limits based on more recently available 

fishery data. Period 4 increases in the 

shortspine thornyhead cumulative limit 

did not result in a large effort shift, and 

only slightly increased the catch rate in 

this area. As of September 15, 2007, the 

total shortspine thornyhead landings 

south of 34°27′ N. lat. were estimated to 

be 87 mt out of a 421–mt OY. The 

Council considered continuing the 

Period 4 increases to the shortspine 

thornyhead cumulative limit south of 

34°27′ N. lat. through the end of the 

year. Estimates show that sablefish 

catches in this area are lower than they 

had been predicted to be at the 

beginning of the year, and that 

maintaining the higher shortspine 

thornyhead cumulative limit would not 

exceed the 2007 sablefish 211–mt OY in 

this area. Shortspine thornyheads are a 

slope rockfish species and the 

overfished species south of 36° N. lat. 

are shelf species, so no increased 

impacts on overfished species are 

expected to occur as a result of 

increasing shortspine thornyhead trip 

limits. 

Therefore, the Council recommended, 

and NMFS is implementing the 

following changes for the limited entry 

fixed gear fishery: (1) South of 34°27′ N. 

lat., increase the shortspine thornyhead 

limits from 2,000 lb (907 kg) per 2 

months to 3,000 lb (1,361 kg) per 2 

months, beginning October 1. 

Recreational Fishery Management 

Measures 

Oregon Recreational Fishery 

In the Oregon recreational groundfish 

fishery, the Oregon Department of Fish 

and Wildlife (ODFW) manages cabezon, 

which is harvested primarily in state 

waters, under a state harvest limit. 

Oregon recreational catch estimates 

through July and projections from 

historical temporal catch patterns 

indicate that the Oregon state harvest 

limit for cabezon of 15.8 mt has been 

reached. State harvest limits apply to 

landings by recreational ocean boats and 

do not include shore catch and discards. 

State harvest limits are subset of Federal 

limits; the 2007 cabezon OY is 69 mt. 

Effective August 11, 2007, Oregon 

prohibited cabezon retention in the 

recreational ocean and estuary boat 

fisheries. Shore fisheries, including 

shore-based diving, angling and spear 

fishing, were not affected by this 

closure. A similar closure was 

implemented by ODFW for cabezon in 

2006, on September 22, 2006. Landings 

data updated later in the year confirmed 

that the management measure was 

appropriate; cabezon landings were 14.9 

mt, or 94 percent of the 2006 state 

harvest limit. 

Therefore, in order to conform 

recreational management measures for 

Federal waters (3 200 nm) to 

management measures for Oregon state 

waters (0 3 nm), the Pacific Council 

recommended and NMFS is 

implementing a prohibition on the 

retention of cabezon by ocean boat 

anglers off Oregon in Federal 

recreational regulations beginning 

October 1. 

California Recreational Fishery 

In the California recreational 

groundfish fishery, the California 

Department of Fish and Game (CDFG) 

manages yelloweye, canary, and minor 

nearshore rockfish under state harvest 

limits. California recreational catch 

estimates through July and projections 

based on recent catch patterns indicate 

that the California state harvest limit for 

yelloweye, canary, and minor nearshore 

rockfish, which are 2.1 mt, 9 mt, and 

426 mt, respectively, are projected to be 

exceeded. California projected that 

without taking inseason action, the total 

2007 mortality from the California 

recreational fishery would be: 8.4 mt 

yelloweye rockfish; 12.3 mt canary 

rockfish; and 564 mt minor nearshore 

rockfish. Updates were made to catch 

and effort estimation methodologies to 

incorporate the most recent catch and 

effort data, which indicates higher than 

previously expected catches have 

occurred in the 2007 recreational fishery 

off California. Original projections for 

California coastwide catches of 

yelloweye rockfish in May and June 

were too low, and higher than expected 

catches of yelloweye rockfish also 

occurred in July north of 37°11′ N. lat. 

(Pigeon Point, CA) to the CaliforniaOregon border at 42 N. lat.. Both of 

these factors have contributed to 

increased catch projections for the 2007 

season, and without inseason action the 

California recreational catch of 

yelloweye rockfish, in combination with 

all other coastwide recreational and 

commercial fishery impacts, would 

exceed the 2007 yelloweye rockfish OY. 

State harvest limits apply to landings by 

recreational ocean boats and do not 

include shore catch and discards. To 

reduce recreational fishery impacts on 

yelloweye and canary rockfish, 

California will close the recreational 

boat-based fisheries north of 37°11′ N. 

lat. for all Federal groundfish species 

subject to bag limits in that area, 

effective October 1, 2007. Projections 

indicate that closure of the California 

recreational fishery north of 37°11′ N. 

lat. will reduce the impacts on 

yelloweye rockfish and canary rockfish, 

and keep the mortality of yelloweye 

rockfish within the 2007 OY. California 

projected that taking inseason action to 

close recreational fishing from 42° N. 

lat. to 37°11′ N. lat. would reduce the 

total mortality from the California 

recreational fishery to: 7.2 mt yelloweye 

rockfish; 10.1 mt canary rockfish; and 

523 mt minor nearshore rockfish. Shore 

fisheries, including shore-based diving, 

angling and spear fishing, were not 

affected by this closure, nor were 

fisheries not subject to bag limits. 

Therefore, in order to conform 

recreational management measures for 

Federal waters (3 200 nm) to 

management measures for California 

state waters (0 3 nm), the Pacific 

Council recommended and NMFS is 

implementing a closure of the Federal 

recreational fishing season for rockfish, 

cabezon, greenlings, and lingcod from 

42° N. lat. to 37°11′ N. lat. beginning 

October 1. 


pwalker on PROD1PC71 with RULES
56666 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 192 / Thursday, October 4, 2007 / Rules and Regulations 

Limited Entry Trawl Fishery 

Management Measures 

Catch of canary rockfish by research 

vessels is lower than projected for 2007. 

Earlier in the year, an advisory body to 

the Pacific Council, the Groundfish 

Management Team (GMT), had 

projected 7.7 mt of canary rockfish 

would be taken as 2007 research catch 

in their bycatch scorecard. The bycatch 

scorecard is a tool used by the GMT to 

track estimated and projected total 

mortality of overfished species for the 

year. The 7.7 mt of canary rockfish 

projected earlier this year to be taken in 

2007 scientific research consisted of 7.3 

mt from the NMFS trawl survey and 0.4 

mt from other research. The projected 

catch of 7.3 mt for the NMFS trawl 

survey is equivalent to the total 2006 

catch of canary rockfish in this survey; 

however, in 2001–2005 no more than 

2.3 mt of canary rockfish was taken per 

year in this survey. Based on 

preliminary information received from 

the NMFS trawl survey research vessels 

on September 10, 2007, the total 2007 

research catch for the trawl survey is 

predicted to be 3.3 mt; therefore, the 

GMT reduced the total projected 2007 

research catch value in the bycatch 

scorecard from 7.7 mt to 3.7 mt of 

canary rockfish (3.3 mt from the NMFS 

triennial trawl survey and 0.4 mt from 

other research). At the time of the 

update, the NMFS trawl survey was 

complete in almost all of the areas 

where high catch of canary rockfish 

occurred in 2006, and no high canary 

rockfish catches have occurred thus far. 

The updated value NMFS researchers 

provided to the GMT included expected 

catches for the remainder of the 2007 

survey. The reduction in the expected 

amount of canary rockfish caught by 

research vessels, and the decrease in the 

expected amount of canary rockfish 

caught in California recreational 

fisheries due to recreational closures in 

the North and North Central regions, is 

projected to result in a lower total 

estimated canary rockfish mortality of 

40.4 mt out of a 44–mt OY. 

Non-whiting Limited Entry Trawl 

Fishery 

The Council received a request to 

consider adjusting the shoreward 

boundary of the limited entry nonwhiting trawl rockfish conservation area 

(RCA) to open the areas shoreward of a 

line approximating the 75–fm (137–m) 

depth contour North of Cape Alava 

(48°10′ N. lat.) and between Humbug 

Mountain (43°20.83′ N. lat.) and Cape 

Arago (42°40.50′ N. lat.). These 

shoreward areas were closed on April 

18, 2007 (72 FR 19390) by moving the 

shoreward boundary of the RCA from a 

line approximating the 75–fm (137–m) 

depth contour to the shore to keep 

canary rockfish within the 2007 canary 

rockfish OY. With the lower than 

expected catch of canary rockfish by 

research vessels and lowered impacts on 

canary rockfish due to closure of the 

California recreational fishery from 42° 

N. lat. to 37°11′ N. lat., the Council 

considered the impacts of adjusting the 

shoreward RCA boundary and providing 

fishing opportunity in areas that had 

been closed earlier in the year to protect 

canary rockfish. Based on the most 

recently available data from the trawl 

fishery, reopening these areas would 

take an additional 1.7 mt of canary 

rockfish but would not be expected to 

increase impacts to any other overfished 

species. 

The Council also considered 

adjustments to trip limits in the limited 

entry non-whiting trawl fishery. At the 

September meeting, the GMT reviewed 

the best available data on estimates of 

landed catch and total mortality for the 

limited entry trawl fishery. These data, 

which which estimated catch through 

the end of July, were compared to catch 

and mortality estimates modeled for the 

trawl fishery and were used to update 

catch predictions through the end of the 

year. Based on the Pacific Fishery 

Information Network′s (PacFIN′s) Quota 

Species Monitoring(QSM) data, 

groundfish landed catch and total 

mortality data were lower than expected 

for all target species taken with large 

and small footrope trawl gear in the 

non-whiting trawl fishery. These species 

include: sablefish; longspine and 

shortspine thornyheads; Dover sole; 

other flatfish; petrale sole; and slope 

rockfish species. The Council 

considered increases to trip limits for 

these species and the potential impacts 

on overall catch levels and overfished 

species. 

The most recently updated catch 

projections for 2007 indicate that the 

following percentages of groundfish 

species or species groups are expected 

to be taken through the end of the year: 

81 percent (2,138 mt out of 2,651 mt) of 

the trawl allocation of sablefish north of 

36°; 37 percent (827 mt out of 2,220 mt) 

of the longspine thornyhead OY north of 

34°27′ N. lat.; 52 percent (853 mt out of 

1,634 mt) of the coastwide shortspine 

thornyhead OY; 58 percent (9,595 mt 

out of 16,500 mt) of the coastwide Dover 

sole OY; 62 percent (3,599 mt out of 

5,800 mt) of the coastwide arrowtooth 

flounder OY; 94 percent (2,356 mt out 

of 2,499 mt) of the coastwide petrale 

sole OY; 31 percent (1,510 mt out of 

4,884 mt) of the coastwide other flatfish 

OY, and; 16 percent (286 mt out of 1,786 

mt) of the minor slope rockfish OY 

south of 38 N. lat.. These projections are 

below the anticipated catch projections 

through the end of 2007, and continuing 

the trawl fishery under these limits is 

projected to prevent the fishery from 

attaining the OYs for these species. 

Increases to cumulative limits are 

expected to increase overall catch 

levels, but those increases are predicted 

to be within the 2007 OYs for these 

species. Increased catch levels for these 

species will increase the canary rockfish 

catch in the limited entry non-whiting 

trawl fishery by 0.3 mt, but are not 

expected to result in greater than 

projected impacts on other overfished 

species. Yelloweye rockfish, impacts to 

which are of concern in hook-and-line 

fisheries like the California recreational 

fishery, are rarely taken in trawl 

fisheries. 

Therefore, the Council recommended 

and NMFS is implementing the 

following changes for the limited entry 

trawl fishery through the end of the 

year, beginning October 1 unless 

otherwise specified: (1) Adjust the 

shoreward boundary of the limited entry 

non-whiting trawl RCA to a line 

approximating the 75–fm (137–m) depth 

contour North of Cape Alava (48°10′ N. 

lat.) and between Humbug Mountain 

(43°20.83′ N. lat.) and Cape Arago 

(42°40.50′ N. lat.); (2) increase 

coastwide sablefish limits for large and 

small footrope trawl gear to 22,000 lb 

(9,979 kg) per 2 months; (3) increase 

longspine thornyhead limits south of 

40°10′ N. lat. for large and small 

footrope trawl gear from 22,000 lb 

(9,979 kg) per 2 months to 25,000 lb 

(11,340 kg) per 2 months; (4) increase 

shortspine thornyhead limits north of 

40°10′ N. lat. for large and small 

footrope trawl gear from 10,000 lb 

(4,536 kg) per 2 months to 12,000 lb 

(5,443 kg) per 2 months; (5) increase 

shortspine thornyhead limits south of 

40°10′ N. lat. for large and small 

footrope trawl gear from 7,500 lb (3,402 

kg) per 2 months to 13,000 lb (5,896 kg) 

per 2 months; (6) increase Dover sole 

limits for large and small footrope trawl 

gear from 60,000 lb (27,216 kg) north of 

40°10′ N. lat. and 80,000 lb (36,287 kg) 

south of 40°10′ N. lat. to 95,000 lb 

(43,091 kg) per 2 months coastwide; (7) 

increase coastwide other flatfish limits 

for large and small footrope trawl gear 

from 110,000 lb (49,895 kg) to 150,000 

lb (68,039 kg) per 2 months; (8) increase 

petrale sole limits north of 40°10′ N. lat. 

for large and small footrope trawl gear 

from 30,000 lb (13,608 kg) per 2 months 

to 40,000 lb (18,143 kg) per 2 months 

beginning in Period 6, and; (9) increase 

slope rockfish limits for limited entry 


pwalker on PROD1PC71 with RULES
Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 192 / Thursday, October 4, 2007 / Rules and Regulations 56667 

trawl gear south of 38° N. lat. from 

40,000 lb (18,143 kg) per 2 months to 

55,000 lb (36,287 kg) per 2 months. 

Limited Entry Trawl Whiting Fishery 

The 2007 Pacific whiting (whiting) 

primary season closed for the catcherprocessor, mothership and shore-based 

sectors on July 26, 2007 (72 FR 46176) 

when estimates indicated that the 

bycatch limit for widow rockfish had 

been reached. The limited availability of 

overfished species that can be taken as 

incidental catch in the whiting fisheries, 

particularly canary, darkblotched and 

widow rockfish, led to NMFS 

implementing bycatch limits for those 

species. With bycatch limits, the 

industry has the opportunity to harvest 

a larger whiting OY, providing the 

incidental catch of overfished species 

does not exceed the adopted bycatch 

limits. If a bycatch limit is reached, all 

non-tribal sectors of the whiting fishery 

are closed for the remainder of the year. 

For 2007, the following bycatch limits 

were specified for the non-tribal whiting 

sectors: 4.7 mt for canary rockfish, 25 mt 

for darkblotched rockfish and 220 mt for 

widow rockfish. 

The best available information on July 

25, 2007, indicated that 220.7 mt of 

widow rockfish had been taken in the 

non-tribal whiting fisheries in 2007. 

Accordingly, the primary seasons for the 

catcher-processor sector, mothership 

sector and the shore-based sectors were 

closed at 1800 l.t. July 26, 2007. Data 

corrections were made and some 

additional data were incorporated into 

the catch estimates after the closure, and 

estimates from September 10, 2007 

indicate the non-tribal fishery took: 

158,036 mt of the 208,091 mt of whiting 

available to the non-tribal fishery, 241.6 

mt of widow rockfish, 4 mt of canary 

rockfish, and 12.8 mt of darkblotched 

rockfish. 

At its September meeting, the Council 

considered reopening the non-tribal 

whiting fishery based on availability of 

bycatch species and fishing impacts on 

protected species through the end of 

2007. The Council also considered an 

inseason adjustment of the widow 

rockfish bycatch limit for the whiting 

fishery in order to allow the fishery to 

reopen. Updated fishery information 

indicates that the entire coastwide 

groundfish fishery, including the 241.6 

mt of widow rockfish taken in the nontribal whiting fishery, is projected to 

take 301.9 mt of widow rockfish through 

the end of the year. This leaves 66.1 mt 

of the 368–mt OY available to provide 

additional groundfish fishing 

opportunity in 2007. The Council 

considered an increase in the widow 

rockfish bycatch limit for the non-tribal 

whiting fishery to 275 mt, resulting in 

32.7 mt of widow rockfish projected to 

remain unharvested through 2007. 

Widow rockfish is primarily taken as 

bycatch in the whiting fisheries. 

The whiting fishery exceeded their 

initial 2007 bycatch limit for widow 

rockfish of 220 mt by 21.6 mt. This is 

likely due to several factors, including: 

fishing effort increased during the 

period when fishery participants knew 

that the fishery was nearing the widow 

rockfish bycatch limit; some final 

landings data were delayed, which 

caused a delay in the total catch 

estimates that should have closed the 

fishery earlier; and, the bycatch limit for 

widow rockfish was set too low to 

accommodate the 2007 whiting OY 

because the bycatch rate of widow 

rockfish in 2007 was higher than 

projected at the beginning of the year, 

likely due to the widow rockfish stock 

rebuilding while the whiting stock is in 

a period of decline. Therefore, at its 

September meeting, the Council 

purposefully recommended setting the 

widow rockfish bycatch limit well 

under the amount of widow rockfish 

estimated to be available through the 

end of 2007. In order to ensure more 

timely data reporting from the shorebased sector when the fishery reopened, 

the Council also recommended delaying 

reopening of the whiting fishery until 

after the new catch accounting 

requirements went into effect for 

whiting processors on October 5, 2007 

(72 FR 50906). This new regulation 

requires first receivers of whiting 

deliveries of 4,000 lb (XXX kg) or more 

to submit catch reports to the Pacific 

States Marine Fish Commission within 

24 hours of landing. Prior to this 

rulemaking, NMFS had no regulations 

in place to delineate a time frame in 

which reports should be received by 

fishery managers. 

At its September meeting, the Council 

also addressed concerns with 

availability of canary rockfish if the 

whiting fishery were to reopen under 

the higher widow rockfish bycatch 

limit. The whiting fishery had closed 

with 0.7 mt available in the canary 

rockfish bycatch limit, and an increase 

in this bycatch limit was not considered 

by the Council due to limited 

availability of canary rockfish from 

other fisheries. If the whiting fishery 

were reopened under the same 

management measures that were in 

place earlier in the year, approximately 

1.7 mt of canary rockfish would be 

estimated to be taken if the entire 

remaining 2007 whiting OY were 

caught, exceeding the canary rockfish 

bycatch limit of 4.7 mt by 1 mt. The 

Council discussed reopening the 

whiting fishery seaward of a line 

approximating the 150–fm (274–m) 

depth contour to reduce the impacts on 

canary rockfish, which are strongly 

associated with shelf habitat in depths 

shoreward of 150 fm (274 m), and to 

keep the total catch of canary rockfish 

within the bycatch limit of 4.7 mt. 

Estimates show that if the entire 

remaining whiting OY were prosecuted 

seaward of 150 fm (274 m), the canary 

rockfish catch would be 4.7 mt, 

equivalent to the 2007 bycatch limit. 

Shifting all of the non-tribal whiting 

fishery effort seaward of a line 

approximating the 150–fm (274–m) 

depth contour is expected to increase 

impacts on darkblotched rockfish; 

however, the whiting fishery has only 

taken 12.8 mt of the 25–mt darblotched 

rockfish bycatch limit, or 51 percent, 

while they have taken 76 percent of the 

2007 non-tribal whiting allocation. If all 

of the fisheries that are anticipated to 

take darkblotched rockfish reach their 

projected take for 2007, including the 

25–mt bycatch limit for darkblotched 

rockfish in the non-tribal whiting 

fishery, there would be 37.7 mt of 

darkblotched rockfish projected to 

remain unharvested through 2007. 

A depth-based closure is not a routine 

management measure for the whiting 

fishery; therefore, a closure shoreward 

of the line approximating the 150–fm 

(274–m) depth contour cannot be 

implemented via inseason action. The 

shore-based sector operates in the nontribal whiting primary season under an 

exempted fishing permit (EFP). A 

second 2007 EFP will be issued to each 

participant in the shore-based fishery 

qualified to fish in the reopening of the 

fishery. The new EFP must be signed 

and returned to NMFS NWR prior to 

participation in the fishery, and will 

require that the vessel fish seaward of a 

line approximating the 150–fm (274–m) 

depth contour. Although a depth-based 

closure cannot be imposed on the 

mothership or catcher-processor sector 

via timely regulation or EFP, these 

sectors have agreed to fish seaward of a 

line approximating the 150–fm (274–m) 

depth contour. On several past 

occasions, these fleets have successfully 

taken similar voluntary action to 

constrain their bycatch of overfished 

groundfish species or salmon. 

The Council considered possible 

dates that could be set for reopening the 

non-tribal whiting fishery. The Council 

agreed that reopening the fishery as 

quickly as possible would be beneficial 

for several reasons, particularly: 

aggregations of whiting will begin to 

disperse later in the year, potentially 

causing increased bycatch rates for nonwhiting species, and; increasing the 


pwalker on PROD1PC71 with RULES
56668 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 192 / Thursday, October 4, 2007 / Rules and Regulations 

danger of operating in less favorable late 

autumn weather. Based on their 

discussion of the October 5, 2007 

implementation of the first receiver 

reporting rule, described above, the 

Council recommended reopening the 

fishery as close as possible to October 5, 

2007. Subsequent Council discussions 

also highlighted the benefits to the datareporting structure for this fishery of 

reopening on a Sunday or a Monday to 

shorten the lag time between when the 

fishery reopens and when managers 

have access to fishery data. 

Based on Council recommendations 

and discussions, NMFS is 

implementing: (1) an increase in the 

2007 non-tribal whiting widow rockfish 

bycatch limit from 220 mt to 275 mt; (2) 

re-opening the 2007 non-tribal whiting 

primary season for the catcherprocessor, mothership, and shore-based 

sectors at 0800 l.t. on Sunday, October 

7, 2007 and restricting of the shorebased sector to fishing seaward of a line 

approximating the 150–fm (274–m) 

depth contour through the EFP. 

Classification 

These actions are taken under the 

authority of 50 CFR 660.370(c) and are 

exempt from review under Executive 

Order 12866. 

These actions are authorized by the 

Pacific Coast groundfish FMP and its 

implementing regulations, and are based 

on the most recent data available. The 

aggregate data, upon which these 

actions are based, are available for 

public inspection at the Office of the 

Administrator, Northwest Region, 

NMFS, (see ADDRESSES) during business 

hours. 

For the following reasons, NMFS 

finds good cause to waive prior public 

notice and comment on the revisions to 

the 2007 groundfish management 

measures under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3)(B) 

because notice and comment would be 

impracticable and contrary to the public 

interest. Also for the same reasons, 

NMFS finds good cause to waive part of 

the 30–day delay in effectiveness 

pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(1) and 5 

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

The data upon which these 

recommendations were based was 

provided to the Council and the Council 

made its recommendations at its 

September 10–14, 2007, meeting in 

Portland, OR. There was not sufficient 

time after that meeting to draft this 

notice and undergo proposed and final 

rulemaking before these actions need to 

be in effect. For the actions to be 

implemented in this notice, affording 

the time necessary for prior notice and 

opportunity for public comment would 

be impractical and contrary to the 

public interest because it would prevent 

the Agency from managing fisheries 

using the best available science to 

approach without exceeding the OYs for 

Federally managed species. The 

adjustments to management measures in 

this document affect commercial and 

recreational groundfish fisheries off 

Washington, Oregon, and California. 

Changes to the limited entry trawl 

RCA must be implemented as quickly as 

possible to allow fishing opportunities 

that had been restricted earlier in the 

year. Changes to the trawl RCA made in 

April 2007, restricted fishing effort in 

areas of high canary rockfish bycatch 

rates. Catch of canary rockfish by 

research vessels was much lower than 

predicted over the summer months, and 

there is canary rockfish available for 

harvest in groundfish fisheries that take 

canary rockfish incidentally. It would be 

contrary to the public interest to wait to 

implement this RCA revision until after 

public notice and comment, because 

making this regulatory change as soon 

as possible relieves a regulatory 

restriction for fisheries that are 

important to coastal communities. 

Changes to the cumulative limits in 

the non-whiting commercial fisheries 

must be implemented in a timely 

manner to relieve a restriction by 

allowing fishermen increased 

opportunities to harvest available 

healthy stocks. Changes to cumulative 

limits for the following stocks must be 

implemented in a timely manner as 

close as possible to October 1, 2007: (1) 

sablefish, longspine thornyhead, 

shortspine thornyhead, Dover sole, 

other flatfish, and slope rockfish in the 

limited entry trawl fishery; and (2) 

shortspine thornyheads in the limited 

entry fixed gear fishery. In the limited 

entry trawl fishery, changes to the 

petrale sole cumulative limits must be 

implemented in a timely manner by 

November 1, 2007. These changes allow 

fishermen an opportunity to harvest 

higher trip limits for stocks with catch 

tracking behind their projected 2007 

catch levels. All of these cumulative 

limit changes are within projected 

mortality for overfished species. All of 

these actions provide increased trip 

limits; therefore, it would be contrary to 

the public interest to fail to relieve the 

current restrictions in a timely manner. 

Changes to the non-tribal whiting 

widow rockfish bycatch limit must be 

implemented and the non-tribal fishery 

must be reopened on or as soon as 

possible after October 7, 2007, to relieve 

a restriction by allowing fishermen 

increased opportunities to harvest 

available healthy stocks. It would be 

contrary to the public interest to wait to 

implement these changes until after 

public notice and comment, because 

making this regulatory change by 

October 7 relieves a regulatory 

restriction for fisheries that are 

important to coastal communities. 

Currently, 24 percent, or 50,055 mt 

(110,352,385 lb) of the non-tribal 

whiting allocation remains unharvested. 

The current price of Pacific whiting 

dockside is $0.08 per pound, resulting 

in approximately $8,828,191 of whiting 

available for harvest. The whiting 

fishery contributes a large amount of 

revenue to the coastal communities of 

Washington and Oregon, and leaving 

this portion of the whiting OY 

unharvested sacrifices millions of 

dollars and hundreds of jobs for 

fishermen and coastal communities. 

Projected effects of reopening the nontribal whiting fishery and increasing the 

non-tribal whiting widow rockfish 

bycatch limit are within projected 

mortality for overfished species and 

other groundfish species. Failing to 

increase the non-tribal whiting widow 

rockfish bycatch limit and reopen the 

non-tribal fishery in a timely manner 

would result in unnecessary restriction 

of fisheries that are important to coastal 

communities and is therefore contrary 

to the public interest. 

Changes to the Oregon recreational 

fishery must be implemented as quickly 

as possible in order to conform to 

existing Oregon state regulations and to 

keep recreational harvest within Oregon 

state harvest limits. Changes to the 

California recreational fishery must be 

implemented as quickly as possible in 

order to conform to upcoming California 

State regulations and to reduce the risk 

of further exceeding the harvest 

guideline and the risk of exceeding OYs. 

Without action, California’s state 

harvest limits for canary, yelloweye and 

minor shelf rockfish were projected to 

be exceeded based on updated 

information as of September 10, 2007. 

CDFG will close recreational fisheries 

for all groundfish species subject to bag 

limits between 42° N. lat. and 37°11′ N. 

lat. beginning October 1, 2007. Even 

with this closure, projected impacts to 

canary, yelloweye, and minor nearshore 

rockfish could still exceed the harvest 

guidelines, and failing to take 

conforming action would risk additional 

recreational catches of canary, 

yelloweye, and minor nearshore 

rockfish in Federal waters, which could 

further exceed the harvest guideline and 

risk exceeding the OYs for these species. 

Delaying these changes would keep 

management measures in place that are 

not based on the best available data, 

which could risk fisheries exceeding 

their OY, or deny fishermen access to 

available harvest. Such delay would 


pwalker on PROD1PC71 with RULES
Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 192 / Thursday, October 4, 2007 / Rules and Regulations 56669 

impair achievement of one of the Pacific 

Coast Groundfish FMP objectives of 

providing for year-round harvest 

opportunities or extending fishing 

opportunities as long as practicable 

during the fishing year. 

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 660 

Fisheries, and Fishing. 

Dated: September 28, 2007. 

Emily H. Menashes, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

■ For the reasons set out in the 

preamble, 50 CFR part 660 is amended 

as follows: 

PART 660—FISHERIES OFF WEST 

COAST STATES 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 660 

continues to read as follows: 

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

■ 2. In § 660.373 paragraph (b)(4) is 

revised to read as follows: 

§ 660.373 Pacific whiting (whiting) fishery 

management. 

* * * * * 

(b) * * * 

(4) Bycatch limits in the whiting 

fishery. The bycatch limits for the 

whiting fishery may be used inseason to 

close a sector or sectors of the whiting 

fishery to achieve the rebuilding of an 

overfished or depleted stock, under 

routine management measure authority 

at § 660.370(c)(1)(ii). These limits are 

routine management measures under 

§ 660.370(c) and, as such, may be 

adjusted inseason or may have new 

species added to the list of those with 

bycatch limits. The whiting fishery 

bycatch limits for the sectors identified 

in § 660.323(a) are: 4.7 mt of canary 

rockfish; 275 mt of widow rockfish; and 

25 mt of darkblotched rockfish. 

* * * * * 

■ 3. In § 660.384 a new sentence is 

added to paragraph (c)(2)(iii), and 

paragraphs (c)(3)(ii)(A)(1) and (2), and 

(c)(3)(iii)(A)(1) and (2) are revised to 

read as follows: 

§ 660.384 Recreational fishery 

management measures. 

* * * * * 

(c) * * * 

(2) * * * 

(iii) * * * From October 1 through 

December 31, 2007, taking and retaining 

cabezon is prohibited in all areas by 

boat anglers. 

(3) California. * * * 

(ii) * * * 

(A) * * * 

(1) North of 40°10′ N. lat. (North 

Region), recreational fishing for the RCG 

Complex is open from May 1, 2007 

through September 30, 2007 (i.e., it′s 

closed from January 1 through April 30 

and from October 1 through December 

31, 2007). Recreational fishing for the 

RCG Complex is open from May 1, 2008 

through December 31, 2008. 

(2) Between 40°10′ N. lat. and 37°11′ 

N. lat. (North Central Region), 

recreational fishing for the RCG 

Complex is open from June 1, 2007 

through September 30, 2007 (i.e., it′s 

closed from January 1 through May 31 

and from October 1 through December 

31, 2007). Recreational fishing for the 

RCG Complex is open from June 1, 2008 

through November 30, 2008 (i.e., it′s 

closed from January 1 through May 31 

and from December 1–31, 2008). 

* * * * * 

(iii) * * * 

(A) * * * 

(1) North of 40°10′ N. lat. (North 

Region), recreational fishing for lingcod 

is open from May 1 through September 

30, 2007 (i.e., it′s closed from January 1 

through April 30 and from October 1 

through December 31, 2007). 

Recreational fishing for lingcod is open 

from May 1, 2008 through November 30, 

2008 (i.e., it′s closed from January 1 

through April 30 and from December 1 

31, 2008). 

(2) Between 40°10′ N. lat. and 37°11′ 

N. lat. (North Central Region), 

recreational fishing for lingcod is open 

from June 1, 2007 through September 

30, 2007 (i.e., it′s closed from January 1 

through May 31 and from October 1 

through December 31, 2007). 

Recreational fishing for lingcod is open 

from June 1, 2008 through November 30, 

2008 (i.e., it′s closed from January 1 

through May 31 and from December 1 

31, 2008). 

* * * * * 

■ 4. Tables 3 (North), 3 (South), and 4 

(South) to part 660 subpart G are revised 

to read as follows. 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 


pwalker on PROD1PC71 with RULES
56670 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 192 / Thursday, October 4, 2007 / Rules and Regulations 


pwalker on PROD1PC71 with RULESER04OC07.001</GPH>
Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 192 / Thursday, October 4, 2007 / Rules and Regulations 56671 


pwalker on PROD1PC71 with RULESER04OC07.002</GPH>
56672 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 192 / Thursday, October 4, 2007 / Rules and Regulations 


pwalker on PROD1PC71 with RULESER04OC07.003</GPH>
Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 192 / Thursday, October 4, 2007 / Rules and Regulations 56673 


pwalker on PROD1PC71 with RULESER04OC07.004</GPH>
56674 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 192 / Thursday, October 4, 2007 / Rules and Regulations 


pwalker on PROD1PC71 with RULESER04OC07.005</GPH>
Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 192 / Thursday, October 4, 2007 / Rules and Regulations 56675 


pwalker on PROD1PC71 with RULESER04OC07.006</GPH>
56676 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 192 / Thursday, October 4, 2007 / Rules and Regulations 

[FR Doc. 07–4917 Filed 10–1–07; 2:16 pm] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–C 


pwalker on PROD1PC71 with RULESER04OC07.007</GPH>