[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 54 (Thursday, March 20, 1997)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 13352-13353]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-7027]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
50 CFR Part 679

[Docket No. 961126334-7025-02; I.D. 031497D]


Fisheries of the Economic Exclusive Zone Off Alaska; Deep-Water 
Species Fishery by Vessels Using Trawl Gear in the Gulf of Alaska

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Closure.

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SUMMARY: NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for species that comprise 
the deep-water species fishery by vessels using trawl gear in the Gulf 
of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary because the first seasonal 
bycatch allowance of Pacific halibut apportioned to the deep-water 
species fishery in the GOA has been caught.

EFFECTIVE DATE: 1200 hrs, Alaska local time (A.l.t.), March 15, 1997, 
until 1200 hrs, A.l.t., April 1, 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas Pearson, 907-486-6919.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The groundfish fishery in the GOA exclusive 
economic zone is managed by NMFS according to the Fishery Management 
Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska (FMP) prepared by the North 
Pacific Fishery Management Council under authority of the Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and

[[Page 13353]]

Management Act. Fishing by U.S. vessels is governed by regulations 
implementing the FMP at subpart H of 50 CFR part 600 and 50 CFR part 
679.
    The prohibited species bycatch mortality allowance of Pacific 
halibut for the GOA trawl deep-water species fishery, which is defined 
at Sec. 679.21(d)(3)(iii)(B), was established by the Final 1997 Harvest 
Specifications of Groundfish for the GOA (62 FR 8179, February 24, 
1997) for the first season, the period January 20, 1997, through March 
31, 1997, as 100 mt.
    In accordance with Sec. 679.21(d)(7)(i), the Administrator, Alaska 
Region, NMFS (Regional Administrator), has determined that the first 
seasonal apportionment of the 1997 Pacific halibut bycatch mortality 
allowance specified for the trawl deep-water species fishery in the GOA 
has been caught. Consequently, the Regional Administrator is closing 
directed fishing for the deep-water species fishery by vessels using 
trawl gear in the GOA. The species and species groups that comprise the 
deep-water species fishery are: All rockfish of the genera Sebastes and 
Sebastolobus, Greenland turbot, Dover sole, rex sole, arrowtooth 
flounder, and sablefish.
    Maximum retainable bycatch amounts may be found in the regulations 
at Sec. 679.20(e) and (f).

Classification

    This action is required by 50 CFR 679.21 and is exempt from review 
under E.O. 12866.

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

    Dated: March 14, 1997.
Bruce Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 97-7027 Filed 3-17-97; 2:51 pm]
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