45968 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 153 / Thursday, August 7, 2008 / Notices 

hearing on this particular request would 

be appropriate. 

Comments may also be submitted by 

facsimile at (301)427–2521, provided 

the facsimile is confirmed by hard copy 

submitted by mail and postmarked no 

later than the closing date of the 

comment period. 

Comments may also be submitted by 

e-mail. The mailbox address for 

providing e-mail comments is 

NMFS.Pr1Comments@noaa.gov. Include 

in the subject line of the e-mail 

comment the following document 

identifier: File No. 13543. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Patrick Opay or Amy Hapeman, 

(301)713–2289. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

subject permit is requested under the 

authority of the Endangered Species Act 

of 1973, as amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 

1531 et seq.) and the regulations 

governing the taking, importing, and 

exporting of endangered and threatened 

species (50 CFR 222–226). 

The proposed research would further 

the understanding of the growth, 

distribution, and life history of sea 

turtles. The applicant requests a fiveyear permit to annually handle, 

measure, weigh, passive integrated 

transponder tag, flipper tag, and 

photograph up to 45 loggerhead, 6 

green, 15 Kemp’s ridley, 6 leatherback, 

and 2 hawksbill sea turtles. These 

animals would have already been 

captured by authorized coastal trawl 

surveys taking place in waters off of 

North Carolina to Florida. 

Dated: July 31, 2008. 

P. Michael Payne, 

Chief, Permits, Conservation and Education 

Division, Office of Protected Resources, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. E8–18105 Filed 8–6–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–Xl61 

Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic 

Zone Off Alaska; Bering Sea and 

Aleutian Islands Crab Rationalization 

Cost Recovery Program 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notification of fee percentage. 

SUMMARY: NMFS publishes a 

notification of a one and five onehundredths (1.05) percent fee for cost 

recovery under the Bering Sea and 

Aleutian Islands Crab Rationalization 

Program (Program). This action is 

intended to provide holders of crab 

allocations with the fee percentage for 

the 2008/2009 crab fishing year so they 

can calculate the required payment for 

cost recovery fees that must be 

submitted by July 31, 2009. 

DATES: The Crab Rationalization 

Program Registered Crab Receiver 

permit holder is responsible for 

submitting the fee liability payment to 

NMFS on or before July 31, 2009. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Gretchen Harrington or Glenn Merrill, 

907–586–7228. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

NMFS Alaska Region administers the 

Crab Rationalization Program in the 

North Pacific. Fishing under the 

Program began in August 15, 2005. 

Regulations implementing the Program 

are set forth at 50 CFR part 680. 

The Program is a limited access 

system authorized by section 313(j) of 

the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act 

(Magnuson-Stevens Act). The Program 

includes a cost recovery provision to 

collect fees to recover the actual costs 

directly related to the management and 

enforcement of the Program. NMFS 

developed the cost recovery provision to 

conform with statutory requirements 

and to partially compensate the agency 

for the unique added costs of 

management and enforcement of the 

Program. Section 313(j) of the 

Magnuson-Stevens Act provided 

supplementary authority to section 

304(d)(2)(A) and additional detail for 

cost recovery provisions specific to the 

Program. The cost recovery provision 

allows collection of 133 percent of the 

actual management, data collecting, and 

enforcement costs up to three percent of 

the ex-vessel value of crab harvested 

under the Program. Additionally, 

section 313(j) requires the harvesting 

and processing sectors to each pay half 

the cost recovery fees. Catcher/processor 

quota share holders are required to pay 

the full fee percentage. 

A crab allocation holder generally 

incurs a cost recovery fee liability for 

every pound of crab landed. The crab 

allocations include Individual Fishing 

Quota (IFQ), Crew IFQ, Individual 

Processing Quota, Community 

Development Quota, and the Adak 

community allocation. The Registered 

Crab Receiver (RCR) permit holder must 

collect the fee liability from the crab 

allocation holder who is landing crab. 

Additionally, the RCR permit holder 

must collect his or her own fee liability 

for all crab delivered to the RCR. The 

RCR permit holder is responsible for 

submitting this payment to NMFS on or 

before the due date of July 31, following 

the crab fishing year in which payment 

for the crab is made. 

The dollar amount of the fee due is 

determined by multiplying the fee 

percentage (not to exceed three percent) 

by the ex-vessel value of crab debited 

from the allocation. Specific details on 

the Program’s cost recovery provision 

may be found in the implementing 

regulations set forth at 50 CFR 680.44. 

Fee Percentage 

Each year, NMFS calculates and 

publishes in the Federal Register the fee 

percentage according to the factors and 

methodology described in Federal 

regulations at § 680.44(c)(2). The 

formula for determining the fee 

percentage is the ‘‘direct program costs’’

divided by ‘‘value of the fishery,’’ where 

‘‘direct program costs’’ are the direct 

program costs for the Crab 

Rationalization Program for the previous 

fiscal year, and ‘‘value of the fishery’’ is 

the ex-vessel value of the catch subject 

to the crab cost recovery fee liability for 

the current year. Using this fee 

percentage formula, the estimated 

percentage of costs to value for the 

2007/2008 crab fishing year was 1.05 

percent. Therefore, the fee percentage 

will be 1.05 percent for the 2008/2009 

crab fishing year. 

In all previous crab fishing years, the 

estimated percentage of costs to value 

have exceeded three percent. However, 

the Magnuson-Stevens Act, at section 

304(d)(2)(B), prohibits NMFS from 

collecting fees greater than three percent 

of the ex-vessel value of the crab 

harvests under the Program. The fee 

percentage for the 2008/2009 crab 

fishing year is less than three percent 

due to a variety of factors including the 

increasing value of the fishery due to 

increased total allowable catch limits for 

various crab species such as Bristol Bay 

red king crab (Paralithodes 

camtshaticus) and Bering Sea Snow 

crab (Chionoecetes opilio), increased 

exvessel price per pound of crab relative 

to previous years, and decreased 

management costs relative to previous 

years primarily due to decreased staff 

and contract costs. 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1862 et seq. 

Dated: August 1, 2008. 

Alan D. Risenhoover, 

Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. E8–18197 Filed 8–6–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 


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