Source: https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?mc=true&node=se50.13.660_160&rgn=div8
Timestamp: 2020-02-25 05:48:31
Document Index: 76509424

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 660', '§660', '§660', '§660', '§660', '§660', '§660', '§660', '§660', '§660', '§660', '§660', '§660', '§660', '§660', '§660', '§600', '§660', '§660', '§660', '§660', '§660', '§660', '§660', '§660', '§660', '§660', '§660', '§660', '§660', '§660', '§660', '§660', '§660', '§660', '§660', '§660', '§660', '§660']

Title 50 → Chapter VI → Part 660 → Subpart C → §660.60
§660.60 Specifications and management measures.
(a) General. NMFS will establish and adjust specifications and management measures biennially or annually and during the fishing year. Management of the Pacific Coast groundfish fishery will be conducted consistent with the standards and procedures in the PCGFMP and other applicable law. The PCGFMP is available from the Regional Administrator or the Council. Regulations under this subpart may be promulgated, removed, or revised during the fishing year. Any such action will be made according to the framework standards and procedures in the PCGFMP and other applicable law, and will be published in the Federal Register.
(b) Biennial actions. The Pacific Coast Groundfish fishery is managed on a biennial, calendar year basis. Harvest specifications and management measures will be announced biennially, with the harvest specifications for each species or species group set for two sequential calendar years. In general, management measures are designed to achieve, but not exceed, the specifications, particularly optimum yields (harvest guidelines and quotas), fishery harvest guidelines, commercial harvest guidelines and quotas, limited entry and open access allocations, or other approved fishery allocations, and to protect overfished and depleted stocks. Management measures will be designed to take into account the co-occurrence ratios of target species with overfished species, and will select measures that will minimize bycatch to the extent practicable.
(1) Commercial Limited Entry and Open Access Fisheries. (i) Trip landing and frequency limits, size limits, all gear. Trip landing and frequency limits have been designated as routine for the following species or species groups: Widow rockfish, canary rockfish, yellowtail rockfish, Pacific ocean perch, yelloweye rockfish, black rockfish, blue/deacon rockfish, splitnose rockfish, blackgill rockfish in the area south of 40°10′ N. lat., chilipepper, bocaccio, cowcod, Minor Nearshore Rockfish or shallow and deeper Minor Nearshore Rockfish, shelf or Minor Shelf Rockfish, and Minor Slope Rockfish; Dover sole, sablefish, shortspine thornyheads, and longspine thornyheads; petrale sole, rex sole, arrowtooth flounder, Pacific sanddabs, big skate, and the Other Flatfish complex, which is composed of those species plus any other flatfish species listed at §660.11; Pacific whiting; lingcod; Pacific cod; spiny dogfish; longnose skate; cabezon in Oregon and California and “Other Fish” as defined at §660.11. In addition to the species and species groups listed above, sub-limits or aggregate limits may be specified, specific to the Shorebased IFQ Program, for the following species: Big skate, California skate, California scorpionfish, leopard shark, soupfin shark, finescale codling, Pacific rattail (grenadier), ratfish, kelp greenling, shortbelly rockfish, and cabezon in Washington. Size limits have been designated as routine for sablefish and lingcod. Trip landing and frequency limits and size limits for species with those limits designated as routine may be imposed or adjusted on a biennial or more frequent basis for the purpose of keeping landings within the harvest levels announced by NMFS, and for the other purposes given in paragraphs (c)(1)(i)(A) and (B) of this section.
(iii) Type of limited entry trawl gear on board. Limits on the type of limited entry trawl gear on board a vessel may be imposed on a biennial or more frequent basis. Requirements and restrictions on limited entry trawl gear type are found at §660.130(b).
(iv) List of IFQ species documented on Observer Program reporting form. As specified at §660.140(h)(1)(i), to be exempt from observer coverage while docked in port depends on documentation of specified retained IFQ species on the Observer Program reporting form. The list of IFQ species documented on the Observer Program form may be modified on a biennial or more frequent basis under routine management measures §660.60(c)(1).
(v) Shorebased IFQ Program surplus carryover percentage. As specified at §660.140(e)(5)(i), a percentage of surplus QP or IBQ pounds in a vessel account may be carried over from one year to the next. The percentage of surplus QP or IBQ pounds, that may be carried over may be modified on a biennial or more frequent basis, and may not be higher than 10 percent.
(2) Recreational fisheries all gear types. Routine management measures for all groundfish species, separately or in any combination, include bag limits, size limits, time/area closures, boat limits, hook limits, and dressing requirements. All routine management measures on recreational fisheries are intended to keep landings within the harvest levels announced by NMFS, to rebuild and protect overfished or depleted species, and to maintain consistency with State regulations, and for the other purposes set forth in this section.
(i) Bag limits. To spread the available catch over a large number of anglers; to protect and rebuild overfished species; to avoid waste.
(ii) Size limits. To protect juvenile fish; to protect and rebuild overfished species; to enhance the quality of the recreational fishing experience.
(iii) Season duration restrictions. To spread the available catch over a large number of anglers; to protect and rebuild overfished species; to avoid waste; to enhance the quality of the recreational fishing experience.
(3) All fisheries, all gear types—(i) Depth-based management measures. Depth-based management measures, particularly closed areas known as Groundfish Conservation Areas, defined in §660.11, include RCAs, BRAs, and BACs, and may be implemented in any fishery sector that takes groundfish directly or incidentally. Depth-based management measures are set using specific boundary lines that approximate depth contours with latitude/longitude waypoints found at §§660.70 through 660.74. Depth-based management measures and closed areas may be used for the following conservation objectives: To protect and rebuild overfished stocks; to prevent the overfishing of any groundfish species by minimizing the direct or incidental catch of that species; or to minimize the incidental harvest of any protected or prohibited species taken in the groundfish fishery. Depth-based management measures and closed areas may be used for the following economic objectives: To extend the fishing season; for the commercial fisheries, to minimize disruption of traditional fishing and marketing patterns; for the recreational fisheries, to spread the available catch over a large number of anglers; to discourage target fishing while allowing small incidental catches to be landed; and to allow small fisheries to operate outside the normal season.
(A) Rockfish Conservation Areas. RCAs, as defined at sect;660.11, may be modified as routine action for vessels using trawl gear (off Washington), non-trawl gear (coastwide), or recreational gear (coastwide) consistent with the purposes described in this paragraph (c)(3)(i).
(C) Block Area Closures. BACs, as defined at sect;660.111, may be closed or reopened, off Oregon and California, for vessels using limited entry bottom trawl gear, consistent with the purposes described in this paragraph (c)(3)(i).
(ii) Non-tribal deductions from the ACL. Changes to the non-tribal amounts deducted from the TAC, ACLs, or ACT when specified, described at §660.55(b)(2) through (4) and specified in the footnotes to Tables 1a through 1c, and 2a through 2c, to subpart C, have been designated as routine to make fish that would otherwise go unharvested available to other fisheries during the fishing year. Adjustments may be made to provide additional harvest opportunities in groundfish fisheries when catch in scientific research activities, non-groundfish fisheries, and EFPs are lower than the amounts that were initially deducted off the TAC, ACL, or ACT when specified, during the biennial specifications or to allocate yield from the deduction to account for unforeseen catch events to groundfish fisheries. When recommending adjustments to the non-tribal deductions, the Council shall consider the allocation framework criteria outlined in the PCGFMP and the objectives to maintain or extend fishing and marketing opportunities taking into account the best available fishery information on sector needs.
(iii) Reapportion the unused portion of the tribal allocation of Pacific whiting to the MS sector, C/P sector, and Shorebased IFQ sector.
(iv) Close one or both of the whiting or non-whiting sectors of the groundfish fishery upon that sector having exceeded its annual Chinook salmon bycatch guideline and the reserve. The whiting sector includes the Pacific whiting IFQ fishery, MS, and C/P sectors. The non-whiting sector includes the midwater trawl, bottom trawl, and fixed gear fisheries under the Shorebased IFQ Program, limited entry fixed gear fisheries, open access fisheries, and recreational fisheries subject to this provision as set out in §660.360(d).
(v) Close the whiting or non-whiting sector of the groundfish fishery upon that sector having exceeded its annual Chinook salmon bycatch guideline if the other sector has already been closed after exceeding its Chinook salmon bycatch guideline and the reserve. The whiting sector includes the Pacific whiting IFQ fishery, MS, and C/P sectors. The non-whiting sector includes the midwater trawl, bottom trawl, and fixed gear fisheries under the Shorebased IFQ Program, limited entry fixed gear fisheries, open access fisheries, and recreational fisheries subject to this provision as set out in §660.360(d).
(vi) Implement BRAs, described at §660.131, when NMFS projects a sector-specific allocation will be reached before the sector's whiting allocation.
(2) Automatic actions are effective when actual notice is sent by NMFS identifying the effective time and date. Actual notice to fishers and processors will be by email, Internet www.westcoast.fisheries.noaa.gov/publications/fishery__management/groundfish/public__notices/recent__public__notices.html), phone, letter, or press release. Allocation reapportionments will be followed by publication in the Federal Register, in which public comment will be sought for a reasonable period of time thereafter.
(f) Exempted fishing permits (EFP). (1) The Regional Administrator may issue EFPs under regulations at §660.30, subpart C, for compensation with fish for collecting resource information. Such EFPs may include the collecting of scientific samples of groundfish species that would otherwise be prohibited for retention.
(2) The Regional Administrator may also issue EFPs under regulations at 50 CFR part §600.745 for limited testing, public display, data collection, exploratory, health and safety, environmental cleanup, and/or hazard removal purposes, the target or incidental harvest of species managed under an FMP or fishery regulations that would otherwise be prohibited.
(g) Applicability. Groundfish species harvested in the territorial sea (0-3 nm) will be counted toward the catch limitations in Tables 1a through 2d of this subpart, and those specified in subparts D through G, including Tables 1 (North) and 1 (South) of subpart D, Tables 2 (North) and 2 (South) of subpart E, Tables 3 (North) and 3 (South) of subpart F.
(h) Fishery restrictions—(1) Commercial trip limits and recreational bag and boat limits. Commercial trip limits and recreational bag and boat limits defined in Tables 1a through 2d of this subpart, and those specified in subparts D through G of this part, including Tables 1 (North) and 1 (South) of subpart D, Tables 2 (North) and 2 (South) of subpart E, Tables 3 (North) and 3 (South) of subpart F must not be exceeded.
(2) Landing. As stated at §660.11 (in the definition of “Land or landing”), once the offloading of any species begins, all fish aboard the vessel are counted as part of the landing and must be reported as such. All fish from a landing must be removed from the vessel before a new fishing trip begins, except for processing vessels fishing in the catcher/processor or mothership sectors of the Pacific whiting fishery. Transfer of fish at sea is prohibited under §660.12, unless a vessel is participating in the primary whiting fishery as part of the mothership or catcher/processor sectors, as described at §660.131(a). Catcher vessels in the mothership sector must transfer all catch from a haul to the same vessel registered to an MS permit prior to the gear being set for a subsequent haul. Catch may not be transferred to a tender vessel.
(3) Fishing ahead. Unless the fishery is closed, a vessel that has landed its cumulative or daily limit may continue to fish on the limit for the next legal period, so long as no fish (including, but not limited to, groundfish with no trip limits, shrimp, prawns, or other nongroundfish species or shellfish) are landed (offloaded) until the next legal period. Fishing ahead is not allowed during or before a closed period.
(4) Weights and percentages. All weights are round weights or round-weight equivalents unless otherwise specified. Percentages are based on round weights, and, unless otherwise specified, apply only to legal fish on board.
(5) Size limits, length measurement, and weight conversions. (i) Length measurement. Unless otherwise specified, size limits in the commercial and recreational groundfish fisheries apply to the “total length,” which is the longest measurement of the fish without mutilation of the fish or the use of force to extend the length of the fish. No fish with a size limit may be retained if it is in such condition that its length has been extended or cannot be determined by these methods. For conversions not listed here, contact the state where the fish will be landed. Washington state regulations require all fish with a size limit landed into Washington to be landed with the head on.
(B) “Headed” fish. For a fish with the head removed (“headed”), the length is measured from the origin of the first dorsal fin (where the front dorsal fin meets the dorsal surface of the body closest to the head) to the tip of the upper lobe of the tail; the dorsal fin and tail must be left intact.
(C) Filets. A filet is the flesh from one side of a fish extending from the head to the tail, which has been removed from the body (head, tail, and backbone) in a single continuous piece. Filet lengths may be subject to size limits for some groundfish taken in the recreational fishery off California (see subpart G of this part). A filet is measured along the length of the longest part of the filet in a relaxed position; stretching or otherwise manipulating the filet to increase its length is not permitted.
(ii) Weight conversions and size limits. To determine the round weight, multiply the processed weight times the conversion factor. Federal commercial groundfish regulations do not supersede more restrictive state commercial groundfish regulations, including landings requirements regarding groundfish species or the condition in which they may be landed.
(A) Limited entry fixed gear or open access fisheries. The weight limit conversion factor established by the state where the fish is or will be landed will be used to convert the processed weight to round weight for purposes of applying the trip limit or other allocation. Weight conversions provided herein are those conversions currently in use by the States of Washington, Oregon, and California and may be subject to change by those states. Fishery participants should contact fishery enforcement officials in the state where the fish will be landed to determine that state's official conversion factor.
(1) Sablefish. The following conversion applies to both the limited entry fixed gear and open access fisheries when trip limits are in effect for those fisheries. For headed and gutted (eviscerated) sablefish the weight conversion factor is 1.6 (multiply the headed and gutted weight by 1.6 to determine the round weight).
(2) Lingcod. The following conversions apply in both limited entry fixed gear and open access fisheries.
(i) North of 42° N. lat., for lingcod with the head removed, the minimum size limit is 18 inches (46 cm), which corresponds to 22 inches (56 cm) total length for whole fish.
(ii) South of 42° N. lat., for lingcod with the head removed, the minimum size limit is 19.5 inches (49.5 cm), which corresponds to 24 inches (61 cm) total length for whole fish.
(iii) The weight conversion factor for headed and gutted lingcod is 1.5. The conversion factor for lingcod that has only been gutted with the head on is 1.1.
(B) Shorebased IFQ Program. For vessels landing sorted catch, the weight conversions for purposes of applying QP and size limits are provided in paragraphs (h)(5)(ii)(B)(2)(i) through (iii) of this section.
(1) Sablefish. The weight conversion factor for headed and gutted (eviscerated) sablefish is 1.6.
(i) The minimum size limit for lingcod North of 42° N. lat. is 22 inches (56 cm) total length for whole fish, which corresponds to 18 inches (46 cm) with the head removed.
(ii) The minimum size limit for lingcod South of 42° N. lat. is 24 inches (61 cm) total length for whole fish, which corresponds to 19.5 inches (49.5 cm) with the head removed.
(iii) The weight conversion factor for headed and gutted (eviscerated) lingcod is 1.5; for lingcod that has only been gutted with the head on, the weight conversion factor is 1.1.
(3) Pacific whiting. For headed and gutted Pacific whiting (head removed just in front of the collar bone and viscera removed,) the weight conversion factor is 1.56; and for headed and gutted Pacific whiting with the tail removed the weight conversion factor is 2.0.
(4) Rockfish (including thornyheads), except POP. For headed and gutted (eviscerated), the weight conversion factor is 1.75; for headed and gutted, western cut (head removed just in front of the collar bone and viscera removed,) the weight conversion factor is 1.66; for headed and gutted, eastern cut (head removed just behind the collar bone and viscera removed,) the weight conversion factor is 2.0.
(5) Pacific ocean perch (POP). For headed and gutted (eviscerated), the weight conversion factor is 1.6.
(6) Pacific cod. For headed and gutted (eviscerated), the weight conversion factor is 1.58.
(7) Dover sole, English sole, and “other flatfish”. For headed and gutted (eviscerated), the weight conversion factor is 1.53.
(8) Petrale sole. For headed and gutted (eviscerated), the weight conversion factor is 1.51.
(9) Arrowtooth flounder. For headed and gutted (eviscerated), the weight conversion factor is 1.35.
(10) Starry flounder. For headed and gutted (eviscerated), the weight conversion factor is 1.49.
(6) Sorting. Trawl fishery sorting requirements are specified at §660.130(d), subpart D. Limited entry fixed gear fishery sorting requirements are specified at §660.230(c), subpart E, and Open access fishery sorting requirements are specified at §660.330(c), subpart F.
(i) Fishing in management areas with different trip limits. Trip limits for a species or a species group may differ in different management areas along the coast. The following crossover provisions apply to vessels fishing in different geographical areas that have different cumulative or “per trip” trip limits for the same species or species group, with the following exceptions. Such crossover provisions do not apply to: IFQ species (defined at §660.140(c), subpart D) for vessels that are declared into the Shorebased IFQ Program (see §660.13(d)(4)(iv)(A), for valid Shorebased IFQ Program declarations); species that are subject only to daily trip limits; or to trip limits for black rockfish off Washington, as described at §§660.230(e) and 660.330(e).
(A) Fishing in limited entry and open access fisheries with different trip limits. Open access trip limits apply to any fishing conducted with open access gear, even if the vessel has a valid limited entry permit with an endorsement for another type of gear. Except such provisions do not apply to IFQ species (defined at §660.140(c), subpart D) for vessels that are declared into the Shorebased IFQ Program (see §660.13(d)(4)(iv)(A) for valid Shorebased IFQ Program declarations). A vessel that fishes in both the open access and limited entry fisheries is not entitled to two separate trip limits for the same species. If a vessel has a limited entry permit registered to it at any time during the trip limit period and uses open access gear, but the open access limit is smaller than the limited entry limit, the open access limit may not be exceeded and counts toward the limited entry limit. If a vessel has a limited entry permit registered to it at any time during the trip limit period and uses open access gear, but the open access limit is larger than the limited entry limit, the smaller limited entry limit applies, even if taken entirely with open access gear.
(B) Limited entry permit restrictions for vessels fishing in the open access fishery—(1) Vessel registered to a limited entry trawl permit. To fish with open access gear, defined at §660.11, a vessel registered to a limited entry trawl permit must make the appropriate fishery declaration, as specified at §660.13(d)(4)(iv)(A). In addition, a vessel registered to a limited entry trawl permit must remove the permit from their vessel, as specified at §660.25(b)(4)(vi), unless the vessel will be fishing in the open access fishery under one of the following declarations specified at §660.13(d):
(2) Vessel registered to a limited entry fixed gear permit(s). To fish with open access gear, defined at §660.11, subpart C, a vessel registered to a limit entry fixed gear permit must make the appropriate open access declaration, as specified at §660.13(d)(4)(iv)(A). Vessels registered to a sablefish-endorsed permit(s) fishing in the sablefish primary season (described at §660.231, subpart E) may only fish with the gear(s) endorsed on their sablefish-endorsed permit(s) against those limits.
(3) Vessel jointly registered to more than one limited entry permit. Vessels jointly registered (under the provisions at §660.25(b)(4)(iv)(B)) may fish with open access gear (defined at §660.11) if they meet the requirements of both paragraphs (h)(7)(ii)(B)(1) and (2) of this section.
(B) Fishing in the Shorebased IFQ Program and the limited entry fixed gear sablefish primary fishery with different trip limits. If a vessel is jointly registered and one or more of the limited entry permits is sablefish endorsed, any sablefish landings made by a vessel declared into the limited entry fixed gear fishery after the start of the sablefish primary fishery count towards the tier limit(s), per regulations at §660.232(a)(2), subpart E. Any sablefish landings made by a vessel declared into the Shorebased IFQ Program must be covered by quota pounds, per regulations at §660.112(b), subpart D, and will not count towards the tier limit(s).
[75 FR 60897, Oct. 1, 2010, as amended at 75 FR 78382, Dec. 15, 2010; 75 FR 82301, Dec. 30, 2010; 76 FR 27530, May 11, 2011; 76 FR 53835, Aug. 30, 2011; 76 FR 74738, Dec. 1, 2011; 77 FR 28507, May 15, 2012; 78 FR 588, Jan. 3, 2013; 80 FR 12572, Mar. 10, 2015; 80 FR 22285, Apr. 21, 2015; 80 FR 77271, Dec. 14, 2015; 81 FR 84429, Nov. 23, 2016; 82 FR 9639, Feb. 7, 2017; 82 FR 48658, Oct. 19, 2017; 83 FR 760, Jan. 8, 2018; 83 FR 62276, Dec. 3, 2018; 83 FR 63991, Dec. 12, 2018; 84 FR 63973, Nov. 19, 2019; 84 FR 68806, Dec. 17, 2019]