74058 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 240 / Monday, December 15, 2014 / Proposed Rules 

implement consistent, cross-cutting 

observer service provider approval and 

certification procedures and to enable 

the Councils to implement either a 

requirement for industry-funded 

observers or an observer set-aside 

program through a framework 

adjustment rather than an FMP 

amendment. 

We are soliciting public comments on 

the SBRM Omnibus Amendment and its 

incorporated documents through the 

end of the comment period stated in this 

notice of availability. A proposed rule 

that would implement the revised 

SBRM Omnibus Amendment will be 

published in the Federal Register for 

additional public comment, following 

NMFS’s evaluation of the proposed rule 

under the procedures of the MagnusonStevens Act. Public comments on the 

proposed rule must be received by the 

end of the comment period provided in 

this notice of availability of the SBRM 

Amendment to be considered in the 

approval/disapproval decision on the 

amendment. All comments received by 

February 13, 2015, whether specifically 

directed to the SBRM Amendment or 

the proposed rule will be considered in 

the approval/disapproval decision on 

the amendment. To be considered, 

comments must be received by close of 

business on the last day of the comment 

period. Comments received after that 

date will not be considered in the 

decision to approve or disapprove the 

revised SBRM Omnibus Amendment, 

including those postmarked or 

otherwise transmitted by the last day of 

the comment period. 

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

Dated: December 9, 2014. 

Emily H. Menashes, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2014–29216 Filed 12–12–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 680 

RIN 0648–BA61 

Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic 

Zone Off Alaska; Allocating Bering Sea 

and Aleutian Islands King and Tanner 

Crab Fishery Resources 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of availability of fishery 

management plan amendment; request 

for comments. 

SUMMARY: The North Pacific Fishery 

Management Council (Council) 

submitted Amendment 31 to the Fishery 

Management Plan for Bering Sea/

Aleutian Islands King and Tanner Crabs 

(FMP) to NMFS for review. If approved, 

Amendment 31 would amend the 

Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Crab 

Rationalization Program (CR Program) 

within the FMP to: Temporarily expand 

the eligibility requirements for 

individuals wishing to acquire C share 

Quota Share (QS) by transfer; establish 

minimum participation requirements for 

C share QS holders to be eligible to 

receive an annual allocation of 

Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ); 

establish minimum participation 

requirements for C share QS holders to 

be eligible to retain their C share QS and 

establish an administrative process for 

revocation of an individual’s C share 

QS, if he or she fails to satisfy the 

minimum participation requirements; 

establish a regulatory mechanism to 

ensure that three percent of the total 

allowable catch (TAC) for each CR 

Program crab fishery is allocated as IFQ 

to holders of C share QS; and remove 

the prohibition on leasing C share IFQ. 

Amendment 31 is necessary to ensure 

that individuals who hold C shares are 

active in the CR Program fisheries and 

to ensure that application deadlines 

provide adequate time to resolve 

disputes. This action is intended to 

promote the goals and objectives of the 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act, the 

FMP, and other applicable law. 

DATES: Comments on the amendment 

must be submitted on or before February 

13, 2015. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

on this document, identified by NOAA– 

NMFS–2010–0265, by any of the 

following methods: 

• Electronic Submission: Submit all 

electronic public comments via the 

Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to 

www.regulations.gov/

#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2010- 

0265, click the ‘‘Comment Now!’’ icon, 

complete the required fields, and enter 

or attach your comments. 

• Mail: Submit written comments to 

Glenn Merrill, Assistant Regional 

Administrator, Sustainable Fisheries 

Division, Alaska Region NMFS, Attn: 

Ellen Sebastian. Mail comments to P.O. 

Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802–1668. 

Instructions: Comments sent by any 

other method, to any other address or 

individual, or received after the end of 

the comment period, may not be 

considered by NMFS. All comments 

received are a part of the public record 

and will generally be posted for public 

viewing on www.regulations.gov 

without change. All personal identifying 

information (e.g., name, address, etc.), 

confidential business information, or 

otherwise sensitive information 

submitted voluntarily by the sender will 

be publicly accessible. NMFS will 

accept anonymous comments (enter 

‘‘N/A’’ in the required fields if you wish 

to remain anonymous). Attachments to 

electronic comments will be accepted in 

Microsoft Word, Excel, or Adobe PDF 

file formats only. 

Electronic copies of Amendment 31, 

the Regulatory Impact Review/Initial 

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (RIR/

IRFA) and the categorical exclusion 

prepared for this action—as well as the 

Environmental Impact Statement 

prepared for the CR Program—may be 

obtained from http://

www.regulations.gov or from the Alaska 

Region Web site at http://

alaskafisheries.noaa.gov. NMFS 

determined that this proposed action 

was categorically excluded from the 

need to prepare an environmental 

assessment under the National 

Environmental Policy Act. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Karen Palmigiano, 907–586–7228. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The king 

and Tanner crab fisheries in the 

exclusive economic zone of the Bering 

Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) are 

managed under the Fishery 

Management Plan for Bering Sea/

Aleutian Islands King and Tanner Crabs 

FMP (FMP). The FMP was prepared by 

the North Pacific Fishery Management 

Council (Council) under the MagnusonStevens Fishery Conservation and 

Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens 

Act) as amended by the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act of 2004 (Pub. L. 

108–199, section 801). Regulations 

implementing the FMP, including the 

CR Program, are primarily located at 50 

CFR part 680. 

Overview of CR Program and C Shares 

The CR Program is a limited access 

privilege program that allocates the 

harvest of certain crab fisheries 

managed under the FMP among 

harvesters, processors, and coastal 

communities. Under the CR Program, 

NMFS issued four types of quota share 

(QS) to persons based on their 

qualifying harvest histories in certain 

BSAI crab fisheries during a specific 

period of time defined under the CR 

Program. The four types of QS are 

catcher vessel owner (CVO), catcher 

processor owner (CPO), catcher vessel 


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crew (CVC), and catcher processor crew 

(CPC). CVC and CPC QS are also known 

as ‘‘crew shares’’ or ‘‘C shares.’’ At the 

beginning of the CR Program, NMFS 

issued 97 percent of the QS as owner 

QS, either CVO or CPO, and issued the 

remaining three percent as C shares, 

either CVC or CPC. 

NMFS issued C shares to individuals 

holding State of Alaska Commercial 

Fisheries Entry Commission (CFEC) 

Interim Use Permits, generally vessel 

captains, who met specific historic and 

recent participation requirements in CR 

Program fisheries. NMFS did not issue 

C shares to individuals who did not 

meet both the historic and recent 

participation criteria. After the initial 

issuance of C shares, individuals may 

only acquire C shares through transfer. 

Each year, a QS holder submits a 

timely and complete ‘‘Application for 

Annual Crab Individual Fishing Quota 

(IFQ) Permit’’ in order to receive an 

exclusive harvest privilege for a portion 

of the total allowable catch (TAC) for 

each CR Program fishery in which the 

person holds QS. This harvest privilege 

is conferred as IFQ, and provides the QS 

holder with an annual allocation of 

pounds of crab for harvest in a specific 

CR Program crab fishery during the year 

in which it was allocated. The size of 

each annual IFQ allocation is based on 

the amount of QS held by a person in 

relation to the total QS pool in a crab 

fishery. For example, an individual 

holding C share QS equaling one 

percent of the C share QS pool in a crab 

fishery would receive IFQ to harvest one 

percent of the annual TAC allocated to 

C share QS in that crab fishery. NMFS 

issues holders of CVO QS two types of 

IFQ: Class A IFQ, which must be 

delivered to a processor holding a 

matching amount of IPQ, and Class B 

IFQ, which may be delivered to any 

registered crab receiver. Current 

regulations do not require C share IFQ 

to be matched with IPQ, and C share 

IFQ may be delivered to any registered 

crab receiver, similar to Class B CVO 

IFQ (see § 680.40(2)(b)(iii)). 

When initially establishing C shares, 

the Council intended that individuals 

holding C shares be active in CR 

Program fisheries. To ensure active 

participation, the CR Program requires C 

shareholders to be onboard the vessel 

when their C share IFQ is harvested (the 

‘‘holder on-board’’ requirement) and 

prohibits C shareholders from leasing 

their C share IFQ except in the case of 

a hardship. However, the CR Program 

exempts a C shareholder from these two 

requirements if the C shareholder has 

joined a crab harvesting cooperative and 

the holder’s C share IFQ is converted to 

cooperative IFQ. The CR Program also 

includes participation criteria that must 

be satisfied for an individual to be 

eligible to receive C share QS by 

transfer. To receive C share QS by 

transfer, current regulations require an 

applicant to meet eligibility 

requirements at the time of transfer. To 

meet these eligibility requirements, an 

individual may submit an Application 

for BSAI Crab Eligibility to Receive 

QS/PQS by Transfer in advance of 

submitting a transfer application, or at 

the same time as submitting a transfer 

application. The regulations require that 

an individual must be a U.S. citizen 

with (1) at least 150 days of sea time as 

part of a harvesting crew in any U.S. 

commercial fishery; and (2) 

participation in one of the CR Program 

fisheries in the 365 days prior to the 

date the transfer application is 

submitted to NMFS. If NMFS 

determines that an individual is eligible 

to receive C share QS by transfer, that 

individual would be required to submit 

proof of participation in one of the CR 

Program fisheries in the 365 days prior 

to the date of their application to 

transfer QS if more than 365 days has 

elapsed between NMFS’ determination 

of eligibility and the submission of the 

transfer application. (See regulations at 

§ 680.41(c)(2)(C).) 

Annually, C share IFQ is assigned 

based on the individual’s underlying 

QS. In a CR Program fishery, the annual 

allocation of IFQ assigned to any person 

(p) is based on the TAC for that crab QS 

fishery (f) less the allocation to the 

Western Alaska Community 

Development Quota (CDQ) Program and 

the Western Aleutian Islands golden 

king crab fishery. As expressed in 

regulations at § 680.40(h), the annual 

IFQ allocation calculation is as follows: 

• IFQ TACf = TACf ¥ (Western Alaska 

CDQ Program + Western Aleutian 

Islands golden king crab fishery) 

• IFQpf = IFQ TACf * (QSpf/QSf) 

Based on these calculations, a person 

holding one percent of the QS in a CR 

Program fishery (QSpf) would receive 

IFQ to harvest one percent of the annual 

TAC in that CR Program fishery. 

Need for Action 

At its June 2007 meeting, the Council 

received public testimony and 

recommendations from its Advisory 

Panel advocating for modifications to 

the participation requirements for 

acquisition and use of C shares. 

Participants in the CR Program fisheries 

raised the following issues: 

• At least 750 former crew, who did 

not receive an initial allocation of C 

shares but who were active in CR 

Program fisheries in the five years 

preceding implementation of the CR 

Program, are no longer active in CR 

Program fisheries due to the significant 

reduction in the number of vessels 

participating in CR Program fisheries 

subsequent to implementation of the CR 

Program. 

• The current eligibility requirement 

for recent participation in one of the CR 

program crab fisheries prevents 

acquisition of C shares by individuals 

formerly active in CR program fisheries 

but no longer participating in CR 

Program fisheries due to the significant 

fleet contraction and resulting loss of 

crew positions on crab boats. 

• Estimates of available information 

indicate that approximately 40% (97 

individuals) of the individuals who 

received an initial allocation of C share 

QS (239 individuals) have remained 

active in the CR program fisheries, 

while approximately 60% (142 

individuals) have not remained active in 

CR program fisheries. 

• The regulations intended to keep C 

share QS holders active in the fisheries 

are not working due to the exemptions 

from these active participation 

requirements for C shareholders who 

join a crab harvesting cooperative. 

Given this information, the Council 

determined that the current eligibility 

requirements for the acquisition of C 

shares have the effect of preventing 

some displaced, long-time captains and 

crew from acquiring C shares and that 

temporary modifications are necessary 

to increase the pool of individuals 

eligible to acquire C shares by transfer. 

The Council also determined that 

revisions to the current active 

participation requirements are necessary 

to establish reasonable participation 

requirements for C shareholders and to 

ensure that all C shareholders remain 

active in the fisheries. At its April 2008 

meeting, the Council took final action 

which forms the basis for Amendment 

31 to the FMP. 

The Proposed Actions 

Amendment 31 would make several 

changes to FMP provisions governing 

the acquisition, use, and retention of 

quota share established for captain and 

crew, known as crew quota share or C 

shares, under the CR Program. 

Specifically, Amendment 31 would: (1) 

Temporarily expand the eligibility 

requirements for individuals wishing to 

acquire C share QS by transfer; (2) 

establish minimum participation 

requirements for C share QS holders to 

be eligible to receive an annual 

allocation of IFQ; (3) establish minimum 

participation requirements for C share 

QS holders to be eligible to retain their 

C share QS and establish an 


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74060 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 240 / Monday, December 15, 2014 / Proposed Rules 

administrative process for revocation of 

an individual’s C share QS if he or she 

fails to satisfy the minimum 

participation requirements; (4) establish 

a regulatory mechanism to ensure that 3 

percent of the TAC for each CR Program 

crab fishery is allocated as IFQ to 

holders of C share QS; and (5) remove 

the prohibition on leasing C share IFQ. 

Temporary Modifications to Eligibility 

Criteria for Acquisition of C Share QS by 

Transfer 

Under the status quo, to receive C 

share QS by transfer a person must be 

an individual with at least 150 days of 

sea time in a harvest capacity in a U.S. 

commercial fishery and have been 

active as a crewmember in one of the CR 

Program fisheries in the last 365 days. 

Under this standard, captains and crew 

displaced by fleet contraction that have 

not found a position in one of the CR 

Program fisheries would not be 

permitted to acquire C share QS until 

they participated in a landing. Based on 

the fleet contraction that occurred at the 

inception of the CR Program, it is likely 

that as many as two-thirds of the 

persons that would have met this 

standard prior to the implementation of 

the CR program would not currently 

meet this standard. 

Amendment 31 would modify the 

recent participation requirements, for a 

limited time, to include additional 

eligibility requirements that would be 

less restrictive than the current 

requirements. Specifically, in addition 

to the existing eligibility criteria, 

Amendment 31 would permit the 

transfer of C share QS to an individual 

who is a U.S. citizen with at least 150 

days of sea time as part of a harvesting 

crew in any U.S. commercial fishery 

and who either (1) received an initial 

allocation of CVC or CPC QS, or (2) 

participated in at least one delivery of 

crab from a fishery in the CR program 

in three of the five crab fishing years 

prior to the start of the CR Program, 

starting with the 2000/2001 crab fishing 

year through the 2004/2005 crab fishing 

year. 

Under Amendment 31, both initial 

recipients of C share QS, as well as 

individuals who participated in CR crab 

fisheries for three of the five years prior 

to the start of the CR program, would be 

eligible to acquire C share QS by 

transfer. The intended effect of the 

proposed change is to temporarily 

expand the pool of individuals eligible 

to acquire C share QS by transfer to 

include individuals who were active in 

the crab fishery immediately prior to 

implementation of the program, but who 

do not meet the current recent 

participation requirement for activity in 

the 365 days preceding the transfer. 

Amendment 31 would not remove the 

current eligibility criteria. Therefore, an 

individual would be eligible to acquire 

C share QS under the existing eligibility 

criteria, as well as the eligibility criteria 

that would be added to the FMP by 

Amendment 31. The eligibility criteria 

added by Amendment 31 would exist 

only for a period of four years from the 

effective date of the final rule to 

implement Amendment 31, if 

Amendment 31 is approved. After this 

transitional period, the eligibility 

criteria added by Amendment 31 would 

no longer be valid, and the current 

eligibility criteria would apply to all 

individuals looking to acquire C share 

QS by transfer. The proposed changes to 

the eligibility criteria provide 

individuals formerly active in CR 

program fisheries, but who may not 

have been able to continue active 

participation in the CR crab fisheries, 

with an opportunity to acquire C share 

QS during the period of time under 

Amendment 31 in which current C 

share QS holders would be transitioning 

into compliance with the active 

participation requirements for C 

shareholders that also would be 

imposed by Amendment 31. 

The benefit to those receiving 

eligibility for acquiring C share QS 

during the transitional period and the 

effects on the market for C share QS 

could be influenced by several factors. 

If C share QS holders are required to be 

active in the crab fisheries to receive 

IFQ or if C share QS holders are 

required to divest after a period of 

inactivity, which would be required 

under Amendment 31 as explained in 

the following sections, the transitional 

eligibility period could have minimal 

effects on individuals receiving the 

eligibility. An individual who becomes 

eligible to purchase C share QS during 

the proposed transitional eligibility 

period would be expected to satisfy 

participation requirements for C share 

QS holders and much less likely to 

purchase C share QS if the individual 

would not be eligible to receive IFQ or 

would be required to divest his or her 

C share QS holdings after a period of 

inactivity. 

Expanded eligibility for C share QS 

during the transitional period may also 

have an adverse effect on individuals 

currently active as captains and crew in 

the CR Program fisheries. Competition 

for C share QS may increase with 

increased demand and, with limited 

space for crew and captains, individuals 

may find more competition for jobs. 

However, individuals who do not 

currently have a position on a boat may 

be less interested in obtaining C share 

QS, and if there are more individuals 

interested and able to purchase C share 

QS, this may provide an opportunity for 

those individuals no longer wanting to 

remain active in the fishery to sell their 

shares for a competitive price. 

Active Participation Requirements for C 

Share IFQ and QS 

The FMP currently requires 

individuals who hold C share IFQ to be 

onboard the vessel harvesting those IFQ. 

However, if a C share QS holder joins 

a cooperative, the IFQ from that C share 

QS are allocated to the cooperative, and 

the C shareholder is exempt from the 

holder onboard requirement with 

respect to those IFQ shares, as well as 

the current prohibition on leasing C 

share IFQ. The disparate treatment of 

individual holders of C share QS who 

are members of a cooperative versus 

holders of C share QS who are not 

members of a cooperative has had 

several effects, which were not the 

intention of the Council when creating 

the CR Program and C shares. First, the 

exemptions from the holder onboard 

requirement and the prohibition on 

leasing C share IFQ for holders of C 

shares who are members of a 

cooperative increase the incentive for a 

C shareholder to join a cooperative and 

essentially nullify the requirement for 

the holders of C shares to be onboard a 

vessel to harvest their IFQ. Since almost 

all holders of C share QS annually elect 

to join a cooperative, they do not have 

to be onboard the vessel while their C 

share IFQ are harvested and they are not 

prohibited from leasing their shares 

within the cooperative under the 

current requirements. While the Council 

intended to encourage the formation of 

cooperatives and the participation of C 

shareholders as members in 

cooperatives, the Council expected that 

C shareholders would remain active 

participants in the CR program fisheries 

regardless of whether they were 

members of a cooperative. Additionally, 

as active C shareholders retire from 

captain and crew positions, it can be 

expected that many may elect to 

continue to remain members of 

cooperatives and retain their C share 

holdings, effectively reducing the 

number of C shareholders who are 

actively participating in the fisheries. 

Lastly, the market for C shares could be 

less fluid under the current active 

participation requirements because 

individuals who retire or exit the 

fisheries are still able to retain their C 

shares and benefit from them through 

cooperative membership. If only active 

captains and crew are permitted to hold 

and receive benefits from C shares, it is 

likely that the market for these shares 


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will be more active and fluid, since 

individuals who retire or exit the 

fisheries would need to transfer their C 

shares. 

Amendment 31 would require 

individuals holding C share QS to 

satisfy certain minimum fishery 

participation requirements in order to 

(1) receive annual allocations of C share 

IFQ and (2) maintain their eligibility to 

hold C share QS. In order to be eligible 

to receive an allocation of C share IFQ 

for the 2018/2019 crab fishing year and 

annually thereafter, Amendment 31 

would require a C shareholder to 

demonstrate that he or she had either (1) 

participated as crew in at least one 

delivery of crab in one of the CR 

Program fisheries in the three crab 

fishing years preceding the year for 

which the individual is applying for C 

share IFQ or, (2) if the individual C 

share QS holder received an initial 

allocation of C share QS, participated as 

crew in at least 30 days of fishing in 

State of Alaska or Federal Alaska 

commercial fisheries in the three crab 

fishing years preceding the year for 

which the individual is applying for C 

share IFQ. If Amendment 31 is 

approved, the first crab fishing year in 

which the participation requirements 

for issuance of C share IFQ could be met 

would be the 2015/2016 crab fishing 

year. Holders of C shares would be able 

to provide proof of participation by 

including an ADF&G fish ticket with 

their name and/or an affidavit from the 

vessel owner with their application for 

IFQ. Similarly, in order for an 

individual to be eligible to retain C 

share QS, Amendment 31 would require 

a C share QS holder to demonstrate that 

he or she had either (1) participated in 

at least one delivery of crab in one of the 

CR Program fisheries during a rolling 

period of four crab fishing years that 

would start with the 2015/2016 crab 

fishing year, or (2) if the individual C 

share QS holder received an initial 

allocation of C share QS, participated in 

at least 30 days of fishing in State of 

Alaska or Federal Alaska commercial 

fisheries during a rolling period of four 

crab fishing years that would start with 

the 2015/2016 crab fishing year. A C 

shareholder who satisfies the 

participation requirement to receive an 

annual allocation of IFQ would also 

satisfy the participation requirement to 

retain their C share QS. 

Amendment 31 would authorize 

NMFS to revoke C share QS held by 

individuals who are unable to provide 

proof of participation as described in 

the preceding paragraph for four 

successive crab fishing years. Under 

Amendment 31, NMFS would initiate C 

share QS revocation proceedings after 4 

successive years of inactivity by a C 

share QS holder. Because the first year 

for satisfying the C share QS 

participation criteria is the 2015/2016 

crab fishing, NMFS would not initiate a 

revocation proceeding until July 1, 

2019, the start of the fifth crab fishing 

year following implementation of 

Amendment 31 if approved. The 

proposed rule to implement 

Amendment 31 describes the proposed 

administrative process that would be 

established for revocation of C share QS. 

The Council’s rationale for 

recommending revocation of C share QS 

from holders who are inactive in the CR 

Program fisheries for an extended 

period is that those C shareholders 

effectively withhold these shares from 

other active captains and crew who 

might wish to develop or expand their 

C share holdings. The Council 

recognized that without revocation, the 

incentive for inactive C shareholders to 

divest their QS could be rather minor, 

particularly for individuals who 

received their C share QS in the initial 

allocation. For many of these 

individuals, their relatively small 

annual IFQ allocations may not catch 

their attention, and the value of the 

underlying QS may be overlooked, as 

has happened with inactive individuals 

in the Halibut and Sablefish IFQ 

program. Without the threat of 

revocation, it is possible that a portion 

of the C share QS pool would remain 

stagnant for extended periods of time, 

which could reduce the size of and 

activity in the C share QS market. 

Amendment 31 would not exempt C 

shareholders who join a cooperative 

from the proposed participation 

requirements to receive C share IFQ or 

to retain C share QS. Under Amendment 

31, all C shareholders, regardless of 

whether they have joined a cooperative, 

would be required to meet the proposed 

participation requirements for receiving 

C share IFQ and retaining C share QS. 

Amendment 31 also would remove 

the prohibition on leasing C share IFQ, 

which has been in effect since July 1, 

2008. The Council determined that the 

prohibition on leasing C share IFQ as a 

measure to ensure active participation 

would no longer be necessary because 

under Amendment 31, C shareholders 

would be required to satisfy specific 

participation requirements and these 

participation requirements would apply 

to all C shareholders even when they are 

members of a cooperative. 

Maintenance of C Share IFQ Allocation 

at Three Percent of the Annual TAC 

Under the CR Program, the Council 

initially allocated 97 percent of the QS 

pool to vessel owners as catcher vessel 

owner (CVO) and catcher processor 

owner (CPO) QS and the remaining 

three percent as C share QS. Because the 

amount of IFQ issued annually is a 

function of the number of QS units and 

the annual TAC amount for a given 

fishery, the annual IFQ allocation 

should generally reflect the same 97 

percent allocation to vessel owners and 

three percent to vessel crew. For 

example, if Person Z owns two percent 

of the 97 percent of vessel owner QS 

and the TAC is 3,000,000 lbs, then 

Person Z would receive IFQ for 58,200 

lbs, because 97 percent of 3,000,000 lbs 

is 2,910,000 lbs and two percent of that 

is 58,200 lbs. This allocation method 

maintains the intended QS and IFQ 

percentages originally implemented by 

the Council. However, the revocation of 

C share QS proposed by the Council 

under Amendment 31 could affect the 

97 percent/3 percent split, reducing the 

amount of C share QS to less than 3 

percent of the QS pool and 

consequently the amount of IFQ 

allocated to C shareholders. 

The Council determined that it 

wanted to ensure that 3 percent of the 

annual TAC for each crab fishery 

continues to be allocated to C share QS 

holders. In order to address this, 

Amendment 31 would specifically 

require that 3 percent of the annual TAC 

for each crab fishery included in the 

rationalization program be allocated as 

IFQ to holders of C share QS. This 

provision would be implemented 

through a regulation change which is 

addressed in the proposed rule for 

Amendment 31. This new provision 

would maintain the C share IFQ 

allocation at its intended proportion of 

the IFQ pool (3 percent). 


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74062 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 240 / Monday, December 15, 2014 / Proposed Rules 

NMFS is soliciting public comments 

on proposed Amendment 31 through 

the end of the comment period (see 

DATES). Public comments on the 

proposed FMP amendment must be 

received by the close of the comment 

period on Amendment 31 to be 

considered in the approval/disapproval 

decision on Amendment 31. All 

comments received by the end of the 

comment period, whether specifically 

directed to the FMP amendment or the 

proposed rule, will be considered in the 

approval/disapproval decision on 

Amendment 31. Comments received 

after the end of the public comment 

period for Amendment 31, even if 

received within the comment period for 

the proposed rule, will not be 

considered in the approval/disapproval 

decision on the FMP amendment. To be 

considered, comments must be received, 

not just postmarked or otherwise 

transmitted, by the close of business on 

the last day of the comment period. 

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

Dated: December 9, 2014. 

Emily H. Menashes, 

Acting Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2014–29217 Filed 12–12–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS