[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 197 (Friday, October 10, 2014)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 61272-61274]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-24192]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 660
[Docket No. 140904753-4801-01]
RIN 0648-BE34
Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; Fisheries off West Coast States;
Regulatory Amendment to Pacific Coast Groundfish Fisheries Trawl
Rationalization Program for the Start of 2015
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Proposed rule; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: This proposed rule would revise regulations for the Pacific
Coast Groundfish fishery with a target implementation date of January
1, 2015. Final implementation of the 2015-2016 biennial harvest
specifications and management measures will likely be delayed beyond
January 1, 2015. NMFS has identified two issues that must be addressed
prior to January 1, 2015, to prevent interruption of ongoing fisheries
and to allow harvest of the total allowable groundfish catch. This
action would address those issues by revising groundfish regulations in
two ways. First, this action would replace language that was
inadvertently deleted after a series of temporary rulemakings. This
would reinstate a mechanism whereby NMFS can issue interim groundfish
allocations at the beginning of the year, allowing the Pacific coast
groundfish fishery to continue in years when annual groundfish harvest
specifications are expiring and new ones are not yet finalized, as is
likely for January 1, 2015. Second, this action would amend regulations
to extend NMFS' authority to issue the full shorebased trawl allocation
of groundfish to current quota share holders in the Shorebased
Individual Fishing Quota Program. Specifically, the rule would allow
NMFS to issue that portion of the allowable catch currently allocated
to an Adaptive Management Program (AMP), to quota share holders until
final criteria and a process for distribution of the AMP quota shares
is developed and implemented.
DATES: Submit comments on or before November 10, 2014.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by NOAA-NMFS-2014-0098,
by any of the following methods:
Electronic Submissions: Submit all electronic public
comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to
www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2014-0098, click the
``Comment Now!'' icon, complete the required fields, and enter or
attach your comments.
Mail: William W. Stelle, Jr., Regional Administrator, West
Coast Region, NMFS, 7600 Sand Point Way NE., Seattle, WA 98115-0070,
Attn: Miako Ushio.
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.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Miako Ushio, phone: 206-526-4644; or
email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Electronic Access
This rule is accessible via the Internet at the Office of the
Federal Register Web site at https://
[[Page 61273]]
www.federalregister.gov. Background information and documents are
available at the NMFS West Coast Region Web site at http://www.westcoast.fisheries.noaa.gov/fisheries/groundfish/index.html and at
the Council's Web site at http://www.pcouncil.org.
Background
The Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP) requires
the Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) to set harvest
specifications and management measures for groundfish at least
biennially. Council development of the 2015-2016 harvest specifications
and management measures began in summer 2013 and culminated with a June
2014 recommendation for harvest specifications and associated
management measures, with a target effective date of January 1, 2015.
The effective date of these regulations will likely be delayed beyond
January 1, 2015. In the event of a delay, NMFS has identified two
issues that must be addressed to prevent interruption of ongoing
fisheries and to allow harvest of the total allowable groundfish catch.
Those two issues are addressed through this Proposed Rule.
Issuance of Groundfish Quota
In January 2011, NMFS implemented the Trawl Rationalization Program
for the Pacific coast groundfish fishery's trawl fleet (75 FR 78344,
December 15, 2010). This program included a provision to use a
conservative estimate to issue Pacific whiting quota pounds (QP) at the
beginning of the year in years when harvest specifications of Pacific
whiting are not known by January 1. The remainder of the quota pounds
would be issued when the final harvest specifications are established.
A similar provision for non-whiting groundfish species was added a year
later (76 FR 74725, December 1, 2011).
In response to litigation, these provisions were amended via a
temporary rule (77 FR 45508, August 1, 2012, extended via 78 FR 3848
through July 22, 2013). With the expiration of this temporary rule in
2013, the language allowing NMFS to use a conservative estimate for
issuance of the non-whiting harvest QPs was inadvertently deleted. That
provision is proposed to be reinstated through this proposed rule.
Extension of AMP Quota Pass-Through
As part of the Trawl Rationalization Program, NMFS created an
Adaptive Management Program (AMP) (Sec. 660.140(d)(1)(ii)(A)) to
address multiple purposes: community stability, processor stability,
conservation, unintended/unforeseen consequences of the Trawl
Rationalization Program, or to facilitate new entrants. The program
reserved 10 percent of non-whiting quota share (QS) for these purposes.
However, because the method for distributing the resulting QP from AMP
QS has not yet been established, consistent with the program, NMFS has
been issuing the QP to current QS holders in proportion to their non-
whiting QS. For the first years of the program, this allocation policy
was seen as a means to ease the transition of the QS fisheries into the
Trawl Rationalization Program with the expectation that the trawl
program would be modified to address changes in the fishery. Both the
Council and NMFS have monitored this fishery, and have not identified
any concerns related to communities, processors, conservation, or other
matters that would need to be addressed now by the AMP quota.
The Pacific Fishery Management Council intends to conduct a formal
5-year review of the Trawl Rationalization program, as required under
Magnuson Steven Act 303A(c)(1)(G). The pass-through mechanism is
currently set to expire at the end of 2014, and this rule proposes, in
accordance with the Council's recommendations from its March, 2014
meeting, to extend the pro rata pass-through until the implementation
of appropriate regulations resulting from the 5-year review. NMFS is
proposing to extend the pro rata pass-through so that the fish
authorized for harvest through the biennial specifications process will
continue to be available to benefit the fishing industry, dependent
communities, and consumers. Without this rulemaking, 10 percent of the
non-whiting QS would not be issued. Based on 2013 non-whiting
groundfish revenues of $28.2 million, this would result in a loss of
approximately $2.8 million to the shorebased trawl fleet.
Classification
Pursuant to section 304(b)(1)(A) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA),
the NMFS Assistant Administrator has preliminarily determined that this
proposed rule is consistent with the PCGFMP, other provisions of the
Magnuson-Stevens, Act, and other applicable law, subject to further
consideration after public comment.
A draft Environmental Assessment (EA) was prepared for the pass-
through of adaptive management quota pounds portion of this proposed
action, and can be found on the NOAA Fisheries Groundfish Trawl Catch
Share Web site at www.westcoast.fisheries.noaa.gov/fisheries/groundfish_catch_shares.
The Chief Counsel for Regulation of the Department of Commerce
certified to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business
Administration that this proposed rule, if adopted, would not have a
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.
This rule concerns the allocation of Quota shares via the AMP pass
through provisions. Quota share holders are comprised of fishermen,
processors, and non-profit organizations. As part of the 2014 QS
application renewal process, quota share holders were asked if they
considered themselves a ``small'' business based on a review of the
Small Business Association (SBA) affiliation size criteria, including
the $19.0 million size standard for finfish fishing. The size standard
for finfish fishing has recently changed. On June 12, 2014, the SBA
issued an interim final rule revising the small business size standards
for several industries effective July 14, 2014. 79 FR 33467 (June 12,
2014). The rule increased the size standard from $19.0 to $20.5 million
for finfish fishing, from $5 to $5.5 million for shellfish fishing, and
from $7.0 million to $7.5 million for other marine fishing, for-hire
businesses, and marinas. A small organization is any nonprofit
enterprise that is independently owned and operated and is not dominant
in its field. For those finfish companies that reported themselves as
``large'' under the $19.0 million standard, NMFS has reviewed available
data on ownership, affiliation, industry Web sites, and recent analysis
(NMFS-Alaska Region). NMFS did not find any information that would
change their status under the new finfish standard. Based on this
analysis, NMFS estimates that the 138 quota share accounts are held by
99 entities, of which 87 are small entities.
This rule would not result in any immediate impacts on revenues or
costs for the small entities because it maintains the current AMP pass-
through processes used in this fishery since 2011. This rule making
does not contain any new management measures that would have specific
economic impacts on the fishery. Therefore, this proposed rule, if
promulgated, would not have a significant economic impact on a
substantial number of small entities. As a result, an initial
regulatory flexibility analysis is not required and none has been
prepared. NMFS will conduct the appropriate analyses for any subsequent
rulemakings stemming from this proposed rule.
[[Page 61274]]
This proposed rule has been determined to be not significant for
purposes of Executive Order 12866.
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 660
Fisheries, Fishing, and Indian fisheries.
Dated: October 2, 2014.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
For the reasons set out in the preamble, NMFS proposes to amend 50
CFR part 660 as follows:
PART 660--FISHERIES OFF WEST COAST STATES
0
1. The authority citation for part 660 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. and 16 U.S.C. 773 et seq.
0
2. In Sec. 660.140, revise paragraphs (d)(1)(ii)(A) introductory text,
(d)(1)(ii)(A)(1) and (2), (d)(1)(ii)(B)(1) and (2), and paragraph
(l)(2) to read as follows:
Sec. 660.140 Shorebased IFQ Program.
* * * * *
(d) * * *
(1) * * *
(ii) * * *
(A) Non-whiting QP annual sub-allocations. NMFS will issue QP for
IFQ species other than Pacific whiting and Pacific halibut annually by
multiplying the QS permit owner's QS for each such IFQ species by that
year's shorebased trawl allocation for that IFQ species. Deposits to QS
accounts for IFQ species other than Pacific whiting and Pacific halibut
will be made on or about January 1 each year. Until the implementation
of any regulatory changes developed pursuant to the first program
review for the trawl rationalization program, the resulting AMP QP will
be issued to all QS permit owners in proportion to their non-whiting
QS.
(1) In years where the groundfish harvest specifications are known
by January 1, deposits to QS accounts for IFQ species will be made on
or about January 1.
(2) In years where the groundfish harvest specifications are not
known by January 1, NMFS will issue QP in two parts. On or about
January 1, NMFS will deposit QP based on the shorebased trawl
allocation multiplied by the lower end of the range of potential
harvest specifications for that year. After the final harvest
specifications are established later in the year, NMFS will deposit
additional QP to the QS account.
* * * * *
(B) * * *
(1) In years where the Pacific whiting harvest specification is
known by January 1, deposits to QS accounts for Pacific whiting will be
made on or about January 1.
(2) In years where the Pacific whiting harvest specification is not
known by January 1, NMFS will issue Pacific whiting QP in two parts. On
or about January 1, NMFS will deposit Pacific whiting QP based on the
shorebased trawl allocation multiplied by the lower end of the range of
potential harvest specifications for Pacific whiting for that year.
After the final Pacific whiting harvest specifications are established
later in the year, NMFS will deposit additional QP to QS accounts.
* * * * *
(l) * * *
(2) AMP QP pass through. The 10 percent of non-whiting QS will be
reserved for the AMP, but the resulting AMP QP will be issued to all QS
permit owners in proportion to their non-whiting QS until the
implementation of any regulatory changes developed pursuant to the
first program review for the trawl rationalization program.
[FR Doc. 2014-24192 Filed 10-9-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P