[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 47 (Friday, March 10, 1995)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 13106-13107]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-5990]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Parts 672 and 675

[Docket No. 950301062-5062-01; I.D. 021695C]
RIN 0648-AH40


Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska; Groundfish Fishery of the 
Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Area; Revise Product Recovery Rate for 
Pollock

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

ACTION: Proposed rule; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NMFS proposes regulations to revise the standard product 
recovery rate for pollock, deep skin fillets, and product code 24. The 
proposed revision is necessary to respond to new information on the 
current recovery rate achieved by the groundfish processing industry 
for this product type. This action is intended to further the 
objectives of the fishery management plans (FMPs) for the groundfish 
fisheries off Alaska.

DATES: Comments must be received at the following address by April 10, 
1995.

ADDRESSES: Comments must be sent to Ronald J. Berg, Chief, Fisheries 
Management Division, Alaska Region, NMFS, P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 
99802, Attn: Lori Gravel. Individual copies of the environmental 
assessment/regulatory impact review prepared for rulemaking 
establishing standard product recovery rates may be obtained from the 
same address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ronald J. Berg, 907-586-7228.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The domestic groundfish fisheries in the 
exclusive economic zone of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) and the Bering Sea 
and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI) are managed by NMFS in 
accordance with the FMP for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska and the 
FMP for the Groundfish Fishery of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands. 
The FMPs were prepared by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council 
under the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act and are 
implemented by regulations that appear at 50 CFR parts 672, 675, and 
676. General regulations that also govern the groundfish fisheries 
appear at 50 CFR part 620.
    Regulations at Secs. 672.20(j) and 675.20(k) establish standard 
product types and standard product recovery rates (PRR). This rule 
proposes to revise the pollock deep skin fillet PRR from the current 
standard of 0.13 to 0.16. It is based on results of 49 recovery tests 
conducted by NMFS-certified observers during the 1994 fishing year.
    This test method calculated the ratio of the product weight of deep 
skin fillets to the round weight of a basket sample of pollock that had 
been weighed before processing. The tests used an aggregate of 315 
metric tons (mt) of pollock deep skin fillets produced from 1,936 mt of 
round-weight pollock, yielding an average recovery rate of 0.16, with a 
range of 0.09 to 0.22. On average, NMFS has determined that a recovery 
rate of 0.13 is inaccurate and that a recovery rate of 0.16 best 
represents that achieved by the industry. The proposed revision is 
within the scope of issues addressed in the final rulemaking for 
standard product recovery rates set forth at Secs. 672.20(j) and 
675.20(k) as published in the Federal Register (59 FR 50699, October 5, 
1994).
    NMFS uses standard PRRs for each groundfish product to calculate 
fee assessments for purposes of funding the North Pacific Fisheries 
Research Plan (Research Plan), which is a program designed to pay for 
certified observers who collect information used for fishery 
conservation and management purposes. NMFS uses the best available 
information for specifying standard PRRs to calculate round weight 
equivalents for purposes of determining exvessel values of retained 
groundfish to assess Research Plan fees.
    If the standard PRR of 0.13 were to remain unchanged, the impact on 
the Research Plan fee assessment program could have the following 
economic impacts. In 1994, 23,302 mt of pollock deep skin fillets were 
produced off Alaska. The round-weight equivalents of this amount are 
179,246 mt and 145,638 mt, using a PRR of 0.13 and 0.16, respectively, 
which is a difference of 33,608 mt. Under the Research Plan, processors 
must pay a fee in an amount not to exceed 2 percent of the exvessel 
value of the round-weight equivalents of retained fish, including 
pollock, as defined in the final rule implementing the Research Plan 
(59 FR 46126, [[Page 13107]] September 6, 1994). At $0.08 per lb, 
33,608 mt (74 million lbs) would have a calculated exvessel value of 
$5.9 million. Processors would be charged unnecessarily an additional 
fee assessment of $118,400 if the PRR were to remain at 0.13 compared 
to 0.16. Other uses by NMFS of standard PRRs are summarized in final 
rulemaking (59 FR 50699, October 5, 1994).
    Based on the above reasons, NMFS has preliminarily determined that 
a standard PRR of 0.16 best represents the average recovery rate 
currently achieved by vessels producing pollock deep skin fillets. NMFS 
proposes this standard PRR for public comment. Should a final rule be 
promulgated to implement this new standard PRR, Secs. 672.20(i)(3) and 
675.20(j)(3) also would be revised by changing the standard PRR for 
pollock deep skin fillets from 0.13 to 0.16 for purposes of calculating 
retainable amounts of pollock roe.

Classification

    The Assistant General Counsel of the Department of Commerce 
certified to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business 
Administration that this proposed rule, if adopted, would not have a 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.
    This proposed rule has been determined to be not significant for 
purposes of E.O. 12866.

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Parts 672 and 675

    Fisheries, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

    Dated: March 6, 1995.
Gary Matlock,
Program Management Officer, National Marine Fisheries Service.

    For the reasons set out in the preamble, 50 CFR parts 672 and 675 
are proposed to be amended as follows:

PART 672--GROUNDFISH FISHERY OF THE GULF OF ALASKA

    1. The authority citation for part 672 continues to read as 
follows:

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

    2. In Sec. 672.20, paragraph (i)(3) table, entry 24 is revised, and 
in Table 1 to Sec. 672.20 Product Codes 15 through 32 are amended by 
revising the entry for pollock to read as follows:


Sec. 672.20  General limitations.

* * * * *
    (i) * * *
    (3) * * *

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                Standard
                                                                product 
         Product code                Product description        recovery
                                                                  rate  
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                        
                  *        *        *        *        *                 
24............................  Deep skin fillets............       0.16
                                                                        
                  *        *        *        *        *                 
------------------------------------------------------------------------


   Table 1 to Sec. 672.20 (continued).--Target Species Categories, Product Codes and Descriptions, and Standard Product Recovery Rates for Groundfish   
                                              Species Referenced in 50 CFR 672.20(a)(1) and/or 675.20(a)(1)                                             
                                                                                                                                                        
                                                                                        Product Code                                                    
                                  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                          Species                                            Fillets:            Fillets:                                               
       FMP species          code   Pectoral                                    With    Fillets:    With     Fillets:  Fillets                           
                                    girdle    Heads  Cheeks   Chins   Belly  skin and   Skin on   ribs no  Skinless/    Deep    Surimi   Mince     Meal 
                                                                               ribs     no ribs    skin     boneless    skin                            
                                        15       16      17      18      19       20        21        22         23        24       30       31       32
                                                                                                                                                        
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                                                                        
                   *                  *                  *                  *                  *                  *                  *                  
Pollock.................      270  ........    0.15  ......  ......  ......     0.35      0.30      0.30       0.21      0.16  \1\0.16                  
                                                                                                                               \2\0.17     0.22     0.17
                                                                                                                                                        
                   *                  *                  *                  *                  *                  *                  *                  
\1\Standard pollock surimi rate during January through June.                                                                                            
\2\Standard pollock surimi rate during July through September.                                                                                          

* * * * *

PART 675--GROUNDFISH FISHERY OF THE BERING SEA AND ALEUTIAN ISLANDS 
AREA

    3. The authority citation for part 675 continues to read as 
follows:

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

    4. In Sec. 675.20, paragraph (j)(3), Table, entry 24 is revised to 
read as follows:


Sec. 675.20  General limitations.

    (j) * * *
    (3) * * *

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                Standard
                                                                product 
         Product code                Product description        recovery
                                                                  rate  
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                        
                          *    *    *    *    *                         
  24..........................  Deep skin fillets............       0.16
                                                                        
                          *    *    *    *    *                         
------------------------------------------------------------------------

* * * * *
[FR Doc. 95-5990 Filed 3-9-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-W