Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 179 / Thursday, September 16, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 56485 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 680 

[Docket No. 0910051335–0151–01] 

RIN 0648–AY28 

Groundfish Fisheries of the Exclusive 

Economic Zone Off Alaska; Bering 

Sea/Aleutian Islands Crab 

Rationalization Program; 

Recordkeeping and Reporting 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: NMFS issues regulations to 

remove the Crab Rationalization 

Program requirements for catcher/ 

processors to weigh all offloaded crab 

on a state-approved scale that produces 

a printed record and to submit a 

catcher/processor offload report. The 

purpose of this action is to reduce 

unnecessary paperwork burdens on the 

fishing industry. NMFS determined that 

these requirements are no longer 

necessary. This action promotes the 

goals and objectives of the MagnusonStevens Fishery Conservation and 

Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens 

Act) and other applicable laws. 

DATES: Effective September 16, 2010. 

ADDRESSES: Electronic copies of this 

rule, the Regulatory Impact Review 

(RIR), and the categorical exclusion 

memorandum may be obtained from the 

Alaska Region Web site at http:// 

alaskafisheries.noaa.gov. 

Written comments regarding the 

burden-hour estimates or other aspects 

of the collection-of-information 

requirements contained in this final rule 

may be submitted by mail to NMFS, 

Alaska Region, P. O. Box 21668, Juneau, 

AK 99802–1668, Attn: Ellen Sebastian, 

Records Officer; in person at NMFS, 

Alaska Region, 709 West 9th Street, 

Room 420A, Juneau, Alaska to NMFS, 

Alaska Region; and by e-mail to 

OIRA_Submission@omb.eop.gov, or fax 

to 202–395–7285. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Patsy A. Bearden, 907–586–7228. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS 

manages the U.S. crab fisheries under 

the Fishery Management Plan for Bering 

Sea/Aleutian Islands King and Tanner 

Crabs (FMP). The FMP was prepared by 

the North Pacific Fishery Management 

Council under the Magnuson-Stevens 

Act. Regulations implementing the FMP 

appear at 50 CFR parts 679 and 680. 

General regulations that pertain to U.S. 

fisheries appear at subpart H of 50 CFR 

part 600. 

Background 

The Crab Rationalization (CR) 

Program is a limited-access system that 

allocates crab managed under the FMP 

among harvesters, processors, and 

coastal communities. Prior to 

publication of this final rule, NMFS 

required that all crab harvested and 

processed by catcher/processors as 

individual fishing quota (IFQ) be 

weighed at sea prior to processing and 

that crab weights be reported to NMFS 

on an IFQ crab landings report (see 

§ 679.5(e)(8)). The weights reported on 

the IFQ crab landings report were used 

to debit crab IFQ from a quota holder’s 

account. In addition, catcher/processors 

were required prior to publication of 

this final rule to weigh the crab again 

when it is offloaded from the vessel and 

report this weight to NMFS on a 

catcher/processor offload report (see 

§ 680.5(e)). 

The original purpose of the offload 

report was to provide information so 

that NMFS could audit the IFQ crab 

landing reports. Completing this report 

required a crab catcher/processor to 

offload all processed crab product 

shoreside at a designated port and 

weigh that product on a scale approved 

by the state in which the crab is 

removed from the vessel. CR catcher/ 

processors were required to complete 

the offload report when crab were 

offloaded from the vessel and to attach 

a scale printout showing gross product 

offload weight. The weight reported on 

the offload report included not only the 

weight of crab but also the weight of 

packaging, pallets, and glaze. While 

NMFS could make deductions for these 

items, the deductions created variance 

in the total weight of crab landed 

shoreside. For this reason, NMFS found 

it difficult to use the weights from the 

offload report to audit the weight 

obtained from the at-sea hopper scales 

as originally intended. 

Advancements in at-sea reporting of 

crab catch (eLandings) and the 

improved reliability of the at-sea 

motion-compensated hopper scales have 

changed the need for CR catcher/ 

processors to report offloads. Catcher/ 

processors use eLandings to report total 

harvest of crab to NMFS weekly while 

at sea, which provides NMFS with upto-date accounting of total crab 

harvested. Motion-compensated hopper 

scales provide reliable, independent 

estimates of the total catch by quota 

sector for all crab harvested. 

Removal of the regulatory 

requirements for CR catcher/processors 

to weigh offloaded crab product and 

submit offload reports does not 

diminish NMFS’ ability to verify 

reported CR crab catch weight. NMFS 

still requires that all crab be weighed at 

sea and scale weights of crab be 

submitted to NMFS on eLandings 

weekly reports. Alaska Department of 

Fish and Game observers are onboard 

crab vessels and have the opportunity to 

observe hopper scale activities for 

consistency with the regulatory 

requirement that vessels weigh all 

landed IFQ crab. NOAA Fisheries Office 

for Law Enforcement (OLE) uses 

eLandings weekly reports, the printouts 

from the hopper scales showing the total 

weight of crab harvested, and additional 

auditing methods to verify CR quota 

accounting instead of using the catcher/ 

processor offload reports. Further, even 

without the requirement to weigh and 

report the gross weight of offloaded 

product, the OLE will still have the 

authority and ability to conduct a full 

audit of offload weights to verify 

reported crab catch weight. 

Specifically, this rule removes the 

requirement at § 680.5(e) for the owner 

or operator of a catcher/processor to 

complete and submit to NMFS a 

catcher/processor offload report with its 

attached scale printout showing gross 

product offload weight. It also removes 

§ 680.5(a)(2)(i)(H) because it only serves 

as a cross-reference to § 680.5(e), which 

is removed. This rule also removes the 

requirement at § 680.23(b)(4) for 

catcher/processors to weigh all 

offloaded CR Program crab on a stateapproved scale. 

NMFS published the proposed rule 

for this action in the Federal Register on 

August 10, 2010 (75 FR 48298), with a 

public comment period that closed 

August 25, 2010. One comment was 

received from a private citizen during 

this comment period and is summarized 

and responded to below. 

Response to Comments 

Comment 1: The commenter supports 

the removal of the regulatory 

requirement for catcher/processors to 

weigh all offloaded CR Program crab on 

a state-approved scale, saying the 

requirement is redundant and 

unnecessary. 

Response: NMFS agrees. 

Classification 

The Administrator, Alaska Region, 

NMFS, has determined that this rule is 

necessary for the conservation and 

management of the Bering Sea and 

Aleutian Islands crab fisheries and that 


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56486 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 179 / Thursday, September 16, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 

it is consistent with the MagnusonStevens Act and other applicable laws. 

This final rule removes weighing and 

reporting requirements that NMFS has 

determined are no longer necessary for 

management and monitoring of the crab 

fisheries. These requirements constitute 

a restriction on CR catcher/processors 

because operators of these vessels 

currently may not legally land 

processed crab without complying with 

these requirements. After NMFS 

removes these requirements, fewer 

restrictions will apply to landings of 

processed crab by CR catcher/ 

processors. Specifically, operators of CR 

catcher/processors that do not weigh the 

offloaded product on approved scales 

and submit the offload report to NMFS 

will be able to legally land processed 

crab. The elimination of these weighing 

and reporting requirements reduces the 

costs associated with legally landing 

processed crab by relieving a restriction 

on crab landings by catcher/processor 

vessels. Therefore, this final rule is not 

subject to the 30-day delayed 

effectiveness provision of the 

Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. 

553(d)(1). 

This final rule has been determined to 

be not significant for purposes of 

Executive Order 12866. 

The Chief Council for Regulation of 

the Department of Commerce certified 

to the Chief Council for Advocacy of the 

Small Business Administration during 

the proposed rule stage that this action 

would not have a significant economic 

impact on a substantial number of small 

entities. The factual basis for the 

certification was published in the 

proposed rule and is not repeated here. 

No comments were received regarding 

this certification, and no changes have 

been made to the proposed rule. As a 

result, a regulatory flexibility analysis 

was not required and none was 

prepared. 

This action will not increase 

recordkeeping and reporting costs. 

Collection-of-Information Requirements 

This rule contains collection-ofinformation requirements subject to the 

Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) and 

which have been approved by the Office 

for Management and Budget (OMB) 

under OMB Control No. 0648–0570. 

Public reporting burden per response 

is estimated to average 20 minutes for a 

catcher/processor crab offload report. 

This rule removes this offload report 

and the associated reporting burden 

without imposing any new, additional 

reporting burden.. 

These estimates of public reporting 

burden include the time for reviewing 

instructions, searching existing data 

sources, gathering and maintaining the 

data needed, and completing and 

reviewing the collection-of-information. 

Send comments regarding this burden 

estimate or any other aspect of this data 

collection, including suggestions for 

reducing the burden, to NMFS (see 

ADDRESSES); e-mail to 

OIRA_Submission@omb.eop.gov or fax 

to 202–395–7285. 

Notwithstanding any other provision 

of the law, no person is required to 

respond to, and no person shall be 

subject to penalty for failure to comply 

with, a collection of information subject 

to the requirements of the PRA, unless 

that collection of information displays a 

currently valid OMB control number. 

List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 680 

Alaska, Fisheries, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements. 

Dated: September 13, 2010. 

Eric C. Schwaab, 

Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

■ For the reasons set out in the 

preamble, 50 CFR part 680 is amended 

as follows: 

PART 680—SHELLFISH FISHERIES OF 

THE EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE 

OFF ALASKA 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 680 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1862; Pub. L. 109– 

241; Pub. L. 109–479. 

§ 680.5 [Amended] 

■ 2. In § 680.5, remove and reserve 

paragraph (a)(2)(i)(H) and paragraph (e). 

■ 3. In § 680.23, revise paragraph (b)(4) 

to read as follows: 

§ 680.23 Equipment and operational 

requirements. 

* * * * * 

(b) * * * 

(4) Offload all CR crab product 

processed onboard at a shoreside 

location in the United States accessible 

by road or regularly scheduled air 

service; and 

* * * * * 

§ 680.23 [Amended] 

■ 4. At each of the locations shown in 

the ‘‘Location’’ column, remove the 

phrase indicated in the ‘‘Remove’’ 

column and replace it with the phrase 

indicated in the ‘‘Add’’ column for the 

number of times indicated in the 

‘‘Frequency’’ column. 

Location Remove Add Frequency 

§ 680.23(f)(3)(i) ........................ delivery or offload are .............................................................. delivery are ............................. 1 

§ 680.23(f)(3)(ii) ....................... CR crab or an offload of CR crab product must ..................... CR crab must .......................... 1 

[FR Doc. 2010–23165 Filed 9–13–10; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 


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