[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 229 (Monday, November 30, 2015)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 74744-74745]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-30302]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 679
[Docket No. 151029999-5999-01]
RIN 0648-BF50
Control Date for Trawl Groundfish Fisheries in the Aleutian
Islands
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 document announces a control date of December 31, 2015,
that may be used as a reference date for a future management action to
limit future access to the offshore sector of the trawl groundfish
fisheries in the Aleutian Islands. This date corresponds to the end of
the 2015 fishing season in these fisheries. In October 2015, the
Council announced its intent to evaluate participation and effort in
the offshore sector of the trawl groundfish fisheries in the Aleutian
Islands fisheries in response to a public request to consider further
limits on access to the fisheries. This document is intended to promote
awareness of possible rulemaking and provide notice to the public that
any participation in the offshore sector of the trawl groundfish
fisheries in the Aleutian Islands after the control date may not ensure
continued access to those fisheries under a future management action.
This document is also intended to discourage speculative entry into the
fisheries while the Council considers whether and how access to the
fisheries may be further limited under a future management action.
DATES: December 31, 2015, shall be known as the control date for the
offshore sector of the trawl groundfish fisheries in the Aleutian
Islands and may be used as a reference date for participation in a
future management action that is consistent with the Council's
objectives and applicable Federal laws.
ADDRESSES: Please consult the Council's Web site at http://www.npfmc.org/ for information on public participation in the Council's
decision-making process.
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 Bering Sea and Aleutian
Islands (BSAI) under the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the
Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area (FMP). The Council
prepared, and NMFS approved, the FMP under the authority of the
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-
Stevens Act), 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 vessels that participate in Federal groundfish
fisheries with trawl gear in the Aleutian Islands subarea (AI). The AI
is defined at Sec. 679.2 and shown in Figure 1 to 50 CFR part 679.
Vessels that participate in the AI trawl groundfish fisheries harvest
Pacific cod, Atka mackerel, and Pacific Ocean perch.
Vessels that participate in the offshore sector of the AI trawl
groundfish fisheries include catcher vessels, catcher/processors, and
motherships. Catcher vessels participate in the offshore sector by
delivering groundfish to catcher/processors or motherships for
processing. Catcher/processors participate in the offshore sector by
catching and processing groundfish or by receiving and processing
deliveries of groundfish from catcher vessels. Motherships participate
in the offshore sector by receiving and processing deliveries of
groundfish from catcher vessels. This advance notice of proposed
rulemaking would not apply to owners and operators of trawl catcher
vessels that participate in the inshore sector of the BSAI trawl
groundfish fisheries (i.e., vessels that deliver groundfish to
shoreside processors rather than to catcher/processors or motherships).
The Council and NMFS annually establish biological thresholds and
annual total allowable catch limits for
[[Page 74745]]
groundfish species to sustainably manage the groundfish fisheries in
the AI. To achieve these objectives, NMFS requires vessel operators
participating in AI groundfish fisheries to comply with various
regulatory restrictions, such as fishery closures, to maintain catch
within specified total allowable catch limits.
The Council and NMFS have long sought to control fishing effort 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 BSAI and the Gulf of Alaska. 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).
In October 2015, the Council received public testimony from
participants in the offshore sector of the AI trawl groundfish
fisheries. These participants indicated that new vessels have entered
the fisheries in recent years. The testimony indicated that this new
entry may negatively impact the ability of historical participants to
maintain groundfish harvests in the AI. After considering this public
testimony, the Council stated its intent to evaluate methods for
further limiting access to the offshore sector of the AI trawl
groundfish fisheries in a future management action. To dampen the
effect of speculative entry into the offshore sector of the AI trawl
groundfish fisheries in anticipation of potential future action to
limit access to the fisheries, the Council announced a control date of
December 31, 2015. The control date may be used as a reference date for
a future management action to further limit access to the offshore
sector of the AI trawl groundfish fisheries. The Council clarified that
the control date would not obligate the Council to use this control
date in any future management action. Further, the control date would
not obligate the Council to take any action or prevent the Council from
selecting another control date. Accordingly, this document is intended
to promote awareness that the Council may develop a future management
action to achieve its objectives for the offshore sector of the AI
trawl groundfish fisheries; to provide notice to the public that any
current or future access to the offshore sector of the AI trawl
groundfish fisheries may be affected or restricted; and to discourage
speculative participation and behavior in the fisheries while the
Council considers whether to initiate a management action to further
limit access to the fisheries. 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 consideration
of a management action to further limit access to the offshore sector
of the AI trawl groundfish fisheries. Please consult the Council's Web
site at http://www.npfmc.org/ 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 expectations.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: November 24, 2015.
Eileen Sobeck,
Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2015-30302 Filed 11-27-15; 8:45 am]
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