Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 3 / Friday, January 4, 2008 / Rules and Regulations 823 

Dated: December 31, 2007 

John Oliver, 

Deputy Assistant Administrator for 

Operations, National Marine Fisheries 

Service. 

[FR Doc. 07–6307 Filed 12–31–07; 2:01 pm] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 679 

[Docket No. 070213033–7033–01] 

RIN 0648–XE78 

Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic 

Zone Off Alaska; Inseason Adjustment 

to the 2008 Bering Sea Pollock Total 

Allowable Catch Amount 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Temporary rule; inseason 

adjustment; request for comments. 

SUMMARY: NMFS is adjusting the 2008 

total allowable catch amount (TAC) for 

the Bering Sea pollock fishery. This 

action is necessary because NMFS has 

determined this TAC is incorrectly 

specified. This action will ensure the 

Bering Sea pollock TAC does not exceed 

the appropriate amount based on the 

best available scientific information for 

pollock in the Bering Sea subarea. This 

action is consistent with the goals and 

objectives of the Fishery Management 

Plan for Groundfish of the Bering Sea 

and Aleutian Islands Management Area 

(FMP). 

DATES: Effective 1200 hrs, Alaska local 

time (A.l.t.), December 31, 2007, 

through 2400 hrs, A.l.t., December 31, 

2008, unless otherwise modified or 

superceded through publication of a 

notification in the Federal Register. 

Comments must be received at the 

following address no later than 4:30 

p.m., A.l.t., January 15, 2008. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by ‘‘RIN 0648–XE78,’’ by any 

one of the following methods: 

• Mail to: P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 

99802 

• Hand delivery to the Federal 

Building, 709 West 9th Street, Room 

420A, Juneau, Alaska 

• Electronic Submissions: Submit all 

electronic public comments via the 

Federal eRulemaking Portal http:// 

www.regulations.gov 

• FAX to 907–586–7557, Attn: Ellen 

Sebastian 

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: 

Jennifer Hogan, 907–586–7228. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS 

manages the groundfish fishery in the 

Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) 

according to the FMP prepared by the 

North Pacific Fishery Management 

Council (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 2008 pollock TAC in the Bering 

Sea subarea was set at 1,318,000 metric 

tons (mt) by the 2007 and 2008 harvest 

specification for groundfish in the BSAI 

(72 FR 9451, March 2, 2007). 

In December 2007, the Council 

recommended a 2008 pollock TAC of 

1,000,000 mt for the Bering Sea subarea. 

This amount is less than the 1,318,000 

mt established by the 2007 and 2008 

harvest specification for groundfish in 

the BSAI (72 FR 9451, March 2, 2007). 

The TAC recommended by the Council 

is based on the Stock Assessment and 

Fishery Evaluation report (SAFE), dated 

November 2007, which NMFS has 

determined is the best available 

scientific information for this fishery. 

Steller sea lions occur in the same 

location as the pollock fishery and are 

listed as endangered under the 

Endangered Species Act (ESA). Pollock 

is a principal prey species for Steller sea 

lions in the BSAI. The seasonal 

apportionment of pollock harvest is 

necessary to ensure the groundfish 

fisheries are not likely to cause jeopardy 

of extinction or adverse modification of 

critical habitat for Steller sea lions. The 

regulations at § 679.20(a)(5)(i)(A) 

specifies how the pollock TAC shall be 

apportioned. 

In accordance with 

§ 679.25(a)(2)(i)(B), the Administrator, 

Alaska Region, NMFS (Regional 

Administrator), has determined that, 

based on the November 2007 SAFE 

report for this fishery, the current Bering 

Sea pollock TAC is incorrectly 

specified. Consequently, the Regional 

Administrator is adjusting the 2008 

pollock TAC to 1,000,000 mt in the 

Bering Sea subarea. 

Pursuant to § 679.20(a)(5), Table 3 of 

the 2007 and 2008 final harvest 

specifications for groundfish in the 

BSAI (72 FR 9451, March 2, 2007) is 

revised for the 2008 pollock TACs 

consistent with this adjustment. 

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824 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 3 / Friday, January 4, 2008 / Rules and Regulations 

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Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 3 / Friday, January 4, 2008 / Rules and Regulations 825 

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 

allow for harvests that exceed the 

appropriate allocations for pollock 

based on the best scientific information 

available. NMFS was unable to publish 

a notice providing time for public 

comment because the most recent, 

relevant data only became available as 

of December 13, 2007, and additional 

time for prior public comment would 

result in conservation concerns for the 

ESA-listed Steller sea lions. 

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. 

Under § 679.25(c)(2), interested 

persons are invited to submit written 

comments on this action to the above 

address until January 15, 2008. 

This action is required by § 679.22 

and § 679.25 and is exempt from review 

under Executive Order 12866. 

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

Dated: December 31, 2007. 

William D. Chappell 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 07–6309 Filed 12–31–07; 2:23 pm] 

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