[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 174 (Friday, September 6, 1996)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 47089-47090]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-22748]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 660
[Docket No. 951227306-5306-01; I.D. 082996C]
Fisheries Off West Coast States and in the Western Pacific;
Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; Trip Limit Reductions
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Fishing restrictions; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: NMFS announces further restrictions to the Pacific Coast
groundfish fisheries for widow rockfish and yellowtail rockfish. These
actions are authorized by regulations implementing the Pacific Coast
Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP), which governs the groundfish
fishery off Washington, Oregon, and California. These restrictions are
intended to keep landings as close as possible to the 1996 harvest
guidelines for these species.
DATES: Effective from 0001 hours (local time) September 1, 1996, until
the effective date of the 1997 annual specifications and management
measures for the Pacific Coast groundfish fishery, which will be
published in the Federal Register. Comments will be accepted through
September 23, 1996.
ADDRESSES: Submit comments to William Stelle, Jr., Director, Northwest
Region (Regional Director), National Marine Fisheries Service, 7600
Sand Point Way NE., BIN-C15700, Seattle, WA 98115-0070; or Hilda Diaz-
Soltero, Director, Southwest Region, National Marine Fisheries Service,
501 West Ocean Blvd., Suite 4200, Long Beach, CA 90802-4213.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William L. Robinson at 206-526-6140;
or Rodney McInnis at 310-980-4040.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The following changes to routine management
measures for widow and yellowtail rockfishes were recommended by the
Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council), in consultation with the
States of Washington, Oregon, and California, at its August 21-23,
1996, meeting in Portland, OR.
Widow rockfish. Widow rockfish currently are managed under a 2-
month cumulative trip limit of 70,000 lb (31,752 kg). The best
available information at the August 1996 Council meeting indicated that
3,426 mt of widow rockfish had been taken through July 31, 1996, and
that the 6,500-mt harvest guideline would be reached by mid-November
1996, if the rate of landings is not slowed. The Council recommended
that the 2-month cumulative trip limit for widow rockfish be reduced in
September-October 1996 from 70,000 lb (31,752 kg) to 50,000 lb (22,680
kg) coastwide to keep landings within the harvest guideline in 1996.
The Council also recommended reverting to 1-month cumulative trip
limits of 25,000 lb (11,340 kg) during November and December 1996 to
provide greater flexibility managing this species at the end of the
year. If landings are not sufficiently curtailed, trip limits may be
reduced further, or landings prohibited, in November and/or December
1996.
Yellowtail rockfish. Yellowtail rockfish is one component of the
Sebastes complex, and is managed with different harvest guidelines and
trip limits north and south of Cape Lookout, OR (45 deg.20'15'' N.
lat.). South of Cape Mendocino, CA (40 deg.30' N. lat.) there is no
specific harvest guideline or trip limit for yellowtail rockfish, other
than the overall limit for the Sebastes complex. The northern harvest
guideline for yellowtail rockfish (which includes the U.S. portion of
the Vancouver area plus the Columbia area north of Cape Lookout) is
3,590 mt, and the southern harvest guideline (for the Columbia area
south of Cape Lookout plus the Eureka area) is 2,580 mt.
The best available information at the August 1996 Council meeting
indicated that 2,139 mt of yellowtail rockfish had been taken north of
Cape Lookout through July 31, 1996, and that the 3,590-mt harvest
guideline for this area would be reached by late October or early
November if the rate of landings is not slowed. The Council recommended
an immediate reduction in the 2-month cumulative trip limit, from
32,000 lb (14,515 kg) to 20,000 lb (9,072 kg) for yellowtail rockfish
north of Cape Lookout in September-October 1996. In addition, as for
widow rockfish, the Council recommended reverting to 1-month cumulative
trip limits, that are half the 2-month cumulative trip limits, during
November and December 1996 to provide greater flexibility managing this
species at the end of the year. The 1-month cumulative trip limits also
apply to the Sebastes complex and canary rockfish, another major
component of the complex, north of Cape Mendocino, for consistency with
the limits for yellowtail rockfish. Consistency is necessary to
accommodate special provisions implemented by the States of Oregon and
Washington that enable fishers to operate on both sides of Cape Lookout
and keep the larger, southern limit for yellowtail rockfish and the
Sebastes complex. These provisions would be impossible to implement if
a 1-month limit applied north of the line and a 2-month limit applied
south. If landings are not sufficiently curtailed, trip limits may be
reduced further, or landings prohibited, in November and/or December
1996.
At its October 1996 meeting, the Council will review the progress
of these and other groundfish fisheries and may recommend changes to
the limits announced herein. Any changes approved by NMFS will be
announced in the Federal Register.
NMFS action. NMFS concurs with the Council's recommendations,
which are intended to keep landings of widow rockfish and yellowtail
rockfish within their 1996 harvest guidelines.
The 60-percent monthly limits in the limited entry fishery apply
only in conjunction with 2-month cumulative trip limits, and therefore
are not a part of the 1-month cumulative trip limits established for
November and December 1996.
The trip limit changes apply to both the limited entry and open
access fisheries, including exempt trawl gear used to harvest pink
shrimp and prawns. In addition, as stated in the annual management
measures at 61 FR 279 (January 4, 1996), ``A vessel operating in the
open access fishery must not exceed any trip limit, frequency limit,
and/or size limit for the open access fishery; or for the same gear
and/or subarea in the limited entry fishery; or, in any calendar month,
50
[[Page 47090]]
percent of any 2-month cumulative trip limit for the same gear and/or
subarea in the limited entry fishery, called the '50-percent monthly
limit.'''
The annual management measures published at 61 FR 279, January 4,
1996, as amended, are modified as follows:
1. Paragraphs IV.B.(1) and (2) of the annual management measures
for widow rockfish are revised to read as follows:
B.(1) Limited entry fishery.
(a) September-October 1996. The cumulative trip limit for widow
rockfish is 50,000 lb (22,680 kg) per vessel for the 2-month period.
The 60-percent monthly limit is 30,000 lb (13,608 kg).
(b) November-December 1996. The cumulative trip limit for widow
rockfish is 25,000 lb (11,340 kg) per vessel per 1-month period.
(2) Open access fishery. Within the limits at paragraph IV.I. for
the open access fishery, the cumulative monthly trip limit for widow
rockfish during September-December 1996 is 25,000 lb (11,340 kg) per
vessel per 1-month period.
2. Paragraphs IV.C.(2)(a)(i) and (ii) of the annual management
measures for yellowtail rockfish and the Sebastes complex are revised
to read as follows:
C.(2)(a) Cumulative trip limits.
(i) North of Cape Lookout.
(A) September-October 1996. The cumulative trip limit for the
Sebastes complex taken and retained north of Cape Lookout is 70,000 lb
(31,752 kg) per vessel for the 2-month period. Within this cumulative
trip limit for the Sebastes complex, no more than 20,000 lb (9,072 kg)
may be yellowtail rockfish taken and retained north of Cape Lookout,
and no more than 18,000 lb (8,165 kg) may be canary rockfish.
(B) November-December 1996. The cumulative trip limit for the
Sebastes complex taken and retained north of Cape Lookout is 35,000 lb
(15,876 kg) per vessel per 1-month period. Within this cumulative trip
limit for the Sebastes complex, no more than 10,000 lb (4,536 kg) may
be yellowtail rockfish taken and retained north of Cape Lookout, and no
more than 9,000 lb (4,082 kg) may be canary rockfish.
(ii) Cape Lookout to Cape Mendocino.
(A) September-October 1996. The cumulative trip limit for the
Sebastes complex taken and retained between Cape Lookout and Cape
Mendocino remains at 100,000 lb (45,359 kg) per vessel for the 2-month
period. Within this cumulative trip limit for the Sebastes complex, no
more than 70,000 lb (31,752 kg) may be yellowtail rockfish taken and
retained between Cape Lookout and Cape Mendocino, and no more than
18,000 lb (8,165 kg) may be canary rockfish.
(B) November-December 1996. The cumulative trip limit for the
Sebastes complex taken and retained between Cape Lookout and Cape
Mendocino is 50,000 lb (22,680 kg) per vessel per 1-month period.
Within this cumulative trip limit for the Sebastes complex, no more
than 35,000 lb (15,876 kg) may be yellowtail rockfish taken and
retained between Cape Lookout and Cape Mendocino, and no more than
9,000 lb (4,082 kg) may be canary rockfish.
3. Paragraph IV.C.(2)(a)(iv) of the annual management measures for
yellowtail rockfish and the Sebastes complex is revised to read as
follows:
(iv) The 60-percent monthly limits for September-October 1996 are:
For the Sebastes complex, 42,000 lb (19,051 kg) north of Cape Lookout,
60,000 lb (27,216 kg) between Cape Lookout and Cape Mendocino, and
120,000 lb (54,431 kg) south of Cape Mendocino; for yellowtail
rockfish, 12,000 lb (5,443 kg) north of Cape Lookout, and 42,000 lb
(19,051 kg) between Cape Lookout and Cape Mendocino; for bocaccio,
36,000 lb (16,329 kg) south of Cape Mendocino; and, for canary
rockfish, 10,800 lb (4,899 kg) coastwide.
4. Paragraph IV.C.(3)(b) of the annual management measures for
yellowtail rockfish and the Sebastes complex is revised to read as
follows:
C.(3)(b) Open access fishery. If smaller than the limits at
paragraph IV.I. of the annual management measures, the following
cumulative monthly trip limits apply (within the limits at paragraph
IV.I.) during September-December 1996: For the Sebastes complex, 35,000
lb (15,876 kg) north of Cape Lookout, 50,000 lb (22,680 kg) between
Cape Lookout and Cape Mendocino, and 100,000 lb (45,359 kg) south of
Cape Mendocino; for yellowtail rockfish, 10,000 lb (4,536 kg) north of
Cape Lookout, and 35,000 lb (15,876 kg) between Cape Lookout and Cape
Mendocino; for bocaccio, 30,000 lb (13,608 kg) south of Cape Mendocino;
and, for canary rockfish, 9,000 lb (4,082 kg) coastwide.
Classification
These actions are authorized by the regulations implementing the
FMP. The determination to take these actions is based on the most
recent data available. The aggregate data upon which the determinations
are based are available for public inspection at the office of the
Director, Northwest Region, NMFS (see ADDRESSES) during business hours.
Because of the need for immediate action to slow the rate of harvest of
widow and yellowtail rockfishes, and because the public had an
opportunity to comment on the action at the August 1996 Council
meeting, NMFS has determined that good cause exists for this document
to be published without affording a prior opportunity for public
comment or a 30-day delayed effectiveness period. These actions are
taken under the authority of 50 CFR 660.323(b)(1)(i), and are exempt
from review under E.O. 12866.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: August 30, 1996.
Donald J. Leedy
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 96-22748 Filed 8-30-96; 5:03 pm]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F