[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 55 (Thursday, March 21, 2013)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 17340-17341]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-06542]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 679
[Docket No. 130215145-3145-01]
RIN 0648-BD01
Control Date for Qualifying Landings History in the Western Gulf
of Alaska Trawl Groundfish Fisheries
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR); control date.
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SUMMARY: At the request of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council
(Council), this notice announces a control date of March 1, 2013, that
may be used as a reference for future management actions applicable to,
but not limited to, qualifying landings and permit history for an
allocation-based management or catch share program in the Western Gulf
of Alaska (GOA) trawl groundfish fisheries. This notice is intended to
discourage speculative entry into the fisheries while the Council
considers whether and how allocations of fishing privileges should be
developed under a future management program. The Council selected the
control date based on previous fishing activity in the Western GOA
groundfish fisheries, in which the majority of the fishery has
concluded by March 1 each year. This notice is publishing close to the
control date of March 1, 2013, and so will not either prompt
speculation in advance of its publication, or disadvantage any fishers
regarding their fishing activity after the control date, but before
publication. This notice is also intended to promote awareness of
possible rulemaking and provide notice to the public that any
accumulation of landings history in the Western GOA trawl groundfish
fisheries occurring after the control date may not be credited for
purposes of making any allocation under a future management program.
DATES: March 1, 2013, shall be known as the control date for the
Western GOA trawl groundfish fisheries and may be used as a reference
for allocations in a future management program that is consistent with
the Council's objectives and applicable Federal laws.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rachel Baker: 907-586-7228 or
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS manages the groundfish fisheries in the
U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the GOA under the Fishery
Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska (FMP). The Council
prepared, and NMFS approved, the FMP under the authority of the
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA), 16
U.S.C. 1801 et seq. Regulations governing U.S. fisheries and
implementing the FMP appear at 50 CFR parts 600 and 679.
This advance notice of proposed rulemaking would apply to owners
and operators of catcher vessels and catcher/processors participating
in Federal fisheries prosecuted with trawl gear in the Western
Reporting Area of the GOA. The Western Reporting Area, defined at Sec.
679.2 and shown in Figure 3 to 50 CFR part 679, includes the Western
Regulatory Area (Statistical Area 610).
The Council and NMFS annually establish biological thresholds and
annual total allowable catch limits for groundfish species to
sustainably manage the groundfish fisheries in the GOA. To achieve
these objectives, NMFS requires vessel operators participating in GOA
groundfish fisheries to comply with various restrictions, such as
fishery closures, to maintain catch within specified total allowable
catch limits. The GOA groundfish fishery restrictions also include
prohibited species catch (PSC) limits for species that are generally
required to be discarded when harvested. When harvest of a PSC species
reaches the specified PSC limit for that fishery, NMFS closes directed
fishing for the target groundfish species, even if the total allowable
catch limit for that species has not been harvested.
The Council and NMFS have long sought to control the amount of
fishing in the North Pacific Ocean to ensure that fisheries are
conservatively managed and do not exceed established biological
thresholds. One of the measures used by the Council and NMFS is the
license limitation program (LLP), which limits access to the
groundfish, crab, and scallop fisheries in the Bering Sea and Aleutian
Islands and the GOA. The LLP is intended to limit entry into federally
managed fisheries. For groundfish, the LLP requires that persons hold
and assign a license to each vessel that is used to fish in federally
managed fisheries, with some limited exemptions. The preamble to the
final rule implementing the groundfish LLP provides a more detailed
explanation of the rationale for specific provisions in the LLP
(October 1, 1998; 63 FR 52642).
Over the past few years, the Council has recommended amendments to
the FMP to reduce the use of PSC in the GOA fisheries. Under Amendment
93 to the FMP, the Council recommended, and NMFS approved, Chinook PSC
limits in the GOA pollock (Theragra chalcogramma) trawl fisheries (77
FR 42629, July 20, 2012). In June 2012, the Council recommended an FMP
amendment to reduce Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis) PSC
limits for the trawl and longline fisheries in the Central GOA and
Western GOA. This series of actions reflects the Council's commitment
to reduce PSC in the GOA fisheries. Participants in these fisheries
have raised concerns that the current limited access management system
creates a substantial disincentive for participants to take actions to
reduce PSC usage, particularly if those actions could reduce target
catch rates. Additionally, any participants who choose not to take
actions to reduce PSC usage stand to gain additional target catch by
continuing to harvest groundfish at a higher catch rate, at the expense
of any vessels engaged in PSC avoidance. In February 2013, the Council
unanimously adopted a purpose and need statement, and goals and
objectives, to support the development of a management system that
would remove this disincentive to reduce PSC usage in Western GOA trawl
groundfish fisheries.
The Council intends to develop a management program that would
replace the current limited access
[[Page 17341]]
management program with allocations of allowable harvest (catch shares)
to individuals, cooperatives, or other entities. The goal of the
program is to improve stock conservation by creating vessel-level and/
or cooperative-level incentives to control and reduce PSC, and to
create accountability measures for participants when utilizing target,
secondary, and PSC species. The Council also intends for the program to
improve operational efficiencies, reduce incentives to fish during
unsafe conditions, and support the continued participation of coastal
communities that are dependent on the fisheries. The Council intends to
develop an analysis of alternatives for a catch share management
program that meets its goals and objectives. In developing the
alternatives for analysis, the Council will consider how other fishery
management programs have considered and applied MSA catch share
provisions to meet similar goals and objectives.
The Council announced a control date of March 1, 2013, to reduce
the incentive for, and dampen the effect of, speculative entry into the
Western GOA trawl groundfish fisheries in anticipation of the future
management program. The Council intended to establish a control date as
soon as possible after its February 2013 decision to initiate
development of a new management program for the Western GOA groundfish
trawl fisheries. The Council selected the control date because it
anticipated that the majority of the 2013 Western GOA trawl groundfish
fishery would be concluded by March 1, 2013. The Council stated that it
may not credit any catch history in those fisheries after the control
date for purposes of making allocations under a future management
program. The control date may be used as a reference for future
management measures in determining how to credit landings and permit
history acquired before or after this date for purposes of establishing
an allocation-based management program. The establishment of a control
date, however, does not obligate the Council to use this control date
or take any action or prevent the Council from selecting another
control date or imposing limits on permits acquired prior to the
control date. Accordingly, this notification is intended to promote
awareness that the Council may develop a catch share management program
to achieve its objectives for the Western GOA trawl fisheries; to
provide notice to the public that any current or future accumulation of
fishing privilege interests in the Western GOA trawl fisheries may be
affected, restricted, or even nullified; and to discourage speculative
participation and behavior in the fisheries while the Council considers
whether and how fishing privileges should be assigned or allocated in
the future. Any measures the Council considers may require changes to
the FMP. Such measures may be adopted in a future amendment to the FMP,
which would include opportunity for further public participation and
comment.
NMFS encourages public participation in the Council's development
of the Western GOA trawl groundfish fisheries catch share management
program. Please consult the Council's Web site at http://www.alaskafisheries.noaa.gov/npfmc/ for information on public
participation in the Council's decision-making process.
This notification and control date do not impose any legal
obligations, requirements, or expectation.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: March 18, 2013.
Alan D. Risenhoover,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, performing the functions and
duties of the Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs,
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2013-06542 Filed 3-20-13; 8:45 am]
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