[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 37 (Monday, February 25, 2013)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 12627-12632]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-04262]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 679
[Docket No. 110321210-3057-02]
RIN 0648-BA93
Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Bering Sea
and Aleutian Islands Management Area; Groundfish Retention Standard
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Final rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: NMFS publishes a regulatory amendment to modify the groundfish
retention standard (GRS) program in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands
Management Area (BSAI). This final rule removes certain regulatory
requirements that mandate minimum levels of groundfish retention by the
owners and operators of trawl catcher/processor (C/P) vessels not
listed in the American Fisheries Act (AFA), commonly referred to as
either non-AFA trawl C/Ps or Amendment 80 vessels, and Amendment 80
cooperatives participating in the BSAI groundfish fisheries. The GRS
program was implemented to increase the retention and utilization of
groundfish; however, NMFS has discovered that the regulatory
methodology used to calculate compliance with the GRS requires
individual Amendment 80 vessels and Amendment 80 cooperatives to retain
groundfish at rates well above the minimum retention rates recommended
by the Council or implemented by NMFS. As a result, the GRS imposes
significantly higher than predicted compliance costs on vessel owners
and operators due to the increased level of retention needed to meet
the minimum retention rates. Additionally, NMFS discovered that
enforcement of the GRS has proven far more complex, challenging, and
potentially costly than anticipated by NMFS. This action is necessary
to relieve Amendment 80 vessels and Amendment 80 cooperatives from
undue compliance costs stemming from the minimum retention rates while
continuing to promote the GRS program goals of increased groundfish
retention and utilization. This action maintains current monitoring
requirements for the Amendment 80 fleet and establishes a new
requirement for Amendment 80 cooperatives to annually report
[[Page 12628]]
groundfish retention performance as part of the report submitted to
NMFS. This action is intended to promote the goals and objectives of
the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the
fishery management plan, and other applicable law.
DATES: Effective March 27, 2013.
ADDRESSES: Electronic copies of the Environmental Assessment (EA),
Regulatory Impact Review (RIR), and Final Regulatory Flexibility
Analysis (FRFA) prepared for this action may be obtained from http://www.regulations.gov or from the Alaska Region Web site at http://alaskafisheries.noaa.gov.
Written comments regarding the burden-hour estimates or other
aspects of the collection of information requirements contained in this
final rule may be submitted by mail to NMFS, Alaska Region, P.O. Box
21668, Juneau, AK 99802-1668, Attn: Ellen Sebastian, Records Officer;
in person at NMFS, Alaska Region, 709 West 9th Street, Room 420A,
Juneau, AK; or by email to [email protected] or fax to (202)
395-7285.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Seanbob Kelly, 907-586-7228.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS manages the U.S. groundfish fisheries
of the BSAI in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) under the Fishery
Management Plan for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands
Management Area (FMP). The North Pacific Fishery Management Council
(Council) prepared the FMP pursuant to the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) and other
applicable laws. Regulations implementing the FMP appear at 50 CFR part
679. General regulations that pertain to U.S. fisheries appear at
subpart H of 50 CFR part 600.
This final rule implements a regulatory amendment to modify the GRS
program by removing certain retention requirements. Under this final
rule, Amendment 80 vessels and Amendment 80 cooperatives are relieved
from undue compliance costs stemming from the mandatory GRS rates;
however, NMFS is implementing new reporting requirements intended to
maintain the increased retention rates achieved by the fleet under the
GRS program. NMFS published a proposed rule for this regulatory
amendment in the Federal Register on October 15, 2012 (77 FR 62482).
The 30-day comment period on the proposed rule ended on November 14,
2012. NMFS received two comment letters during the comment period on
the proposed rule. These letters contained two unique comments. A
summary of these comments and NMFS' responses are provided in the
``Comments and Responses'' section of this preamble. There were no
changes to the regulatory text between the proposed rule and this final
rule.
Background
The following discussion provides a brief review of the rationale
for this action and the regulatory changes to the management of
Amendment 80 vessels and Amendment 80 cooperatives in the BSAI that are
implemented with this final rule. A detailed review of the provisions
of this regulatory amendment is provided in the preamble to the
proposed rule (77 FR 62482, October 15, 2012). The proposed rule is
available from the NMFS Alaska Region web site (see ADDRESSES).
In June 2003, the Council adopted Amendment 79 to the FMP and the
GRS program. Amendment 79 revised section 2.2.1 of the FMP to include
the management objective of improving the retention of groundfish where
practicable, through establishment of minimum groundfish retention
standards. The GRS program required certain non-AFA trawl C/Ps to
annually retain a minimum percentage of groundfish catch. Table 1 shows
the minimum GRS percentages established for the GRS program. The
rationale for the GRS is described in the preamble to the final rule
implementing the GRS program published on April 6, 2006 (71 FR 17362).
The GRS program became effective in 2008.
Table 1--Annual Groundfish Retention Standard
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Annual GRS
GRS Schedule (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2008.................................................... 65
2009.................................................... 75
2010.................................................... 80
2011 and each year after................................ 85
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Amendment 80 to the FMP and its implementing regulations modified
the GRS program to encourage participants in the fishery to join an
Amendment 80 cooperative (72 FR 52668, September 14, 2007). Vessels
that are assigned Amendment 80 quota share (QS) and that are eligible
to fish in the Amendment 80 sector are commonly called Amendment 80
vessels. Under Amendment 80, all Amendment 80 vessels, regardless of
size, and Amendment 80 cooperatives were required to meet the GRS.
Eligible vessels participating in an Amendment 80 cooperative were
authorized to aggregate the total catch and total retained catch by all
vessels in the cooperative for purposes of calculating the
cooperative's compliance with the GRS. These changes created an
incentive for vessels with lower groundfish retention rates to join a
cooperative that included vessels with higher groundfish retention
rates, which would offset the lower retention rates of those vessels.
Concerns With the GRS Program
In June 2010, NMFS reported to the Council two key concerns with
the enforcement and prosecution of the GRS: (1) The regulatory method
used to calculate compliance with the GRS required the fleet to retain
groundfish at a higher rate than the rate initially considered by the
Council; and (2) the agency was encountering difficulties in
effectively enforcing and prosecuting the GRS for an individual vessel,
and these difficulties would be exacerbated in the prosecution of a
single cooperative comprised of several vessels, or multiple
cooperatives. NMFS explained that compliance with and enforcement of
the GRS had proven far more complex and challenging, as well as
potentially more costly, than anticipated at the time it approved the
GRS program. NMFS determined that the likelihood that additional
vessels may be unable to meet the GRS, as calculated by NMFS, in future
years would unnecessarily increase compliance and enforcement costs.
NMFS also noted that since the GRS program was implemented, the
retention rate of groundfish by the Amendment 80 fleet had increased
substantially and available information indicated that the Council's
objectives for groundfish retention had been met.
Representatives of the Amendment 80 sector also testified that
vessel operators that met the GRS in 2009 would face significant
additional challenges in meeting the increasing standard. Vessel
operators reiterated NMFS' concerns that it may not be possible for
vessels operating individually in the Amendment 80 limited access
fishery, or collectively in a cooperative, to achieve the highest GRS
required in regulation. Additional information on the concerns raised
by NMFS and Amendment 80 participants can be found in the proposed rule
for this action (77 FR 62482, October 15, 2012).
Emergency Action
After considering NMFS' report and public comment, the Council
recommended that NMFS take
[[Page 12629]]
emergency action to relieve vessel owners and operators from mandatory
compliance with the GRS. On December 15, 2010, NMFS published an
emergency rule that exempted Amendment 80 vessels and cooperatives from
GRS regulations during 2010 and 2011 (75 FR 78172). The preamble of the
emergency rule describes NMFS' and the Council's justification for
emergency action, and it is not repeated here. An extension of this
emergency action was published on June 2, 2011, and was effective until
December 17, 2011 (76 FR 31881).
Rationale for This Final Rule
This final rule is intended to provide a long-term solution to the
problems identified by NMFS and the Council with the GRS program. NMFS
and the Council determined that this action is necessary because the
circumstances that justified the GRS have changed. NMFS and the Council
determined that the regulatory constraints imposed by the GRS no longer
achieve the goals that led to their establishment. This action is
intended to mitigate higher than expected compliance costs of the GRS
borne by the Amendment 80 sector. Furthermore, NMFS and the Council
have determined that this action is needed to mitigate management and
enforcement costs that were not foreseen when the regulation was
promulgated. NMFS and the Council have determined that the additional
and potentially significant compliance costs associated with the GRS
are not warranted because the improvements in retention rates by
Amendment 80 vessels through 2010 have met the Council's objectives of
improved retention and utilization, and reduced bycatch.
Summary of the Regulations Implemented by This Final Rule
There were no changes between the proposed and final regulations in
this final rule. This action establishes the following changes at 50
CFR part 679:
Removes the definition of ``Groundfish Retention Standard
(GRS)'' from Sec. 679.2;
Adds requirements for cooperative reporting and third
party audits to Sec. 679.5(s)(6)(iii)(D) and (E);
Removes the prohibitions specific to the GRS at Sec.
679.7(m);
Removes the requirement that Amendment 80 cooperatives
meet a minimum GRS at Sec. 679.7(o)(4)(iv);
Revises improved retention and improved utilization
regulations at Sec. 679.27(b)(4);
Removes regulations implementing the GRS at Sec.
679.27(j); and
Revises regulations at Sec. 679.93(c)(1).
The final rule removes regulations implementing the GRS at
Sec. Sec. 679.7 and 679.27. To meet Council intent for this action,
NMFS revises regulatory text at Sec. 679.27(b)(4) to remove references
to the GRS program and removes Sec. 679.27(j), which contained the
bulk of the GRS program's regulations. This final rule does not change
the use caps, sideboard limits, permitting, monitoring, or catch
accounting requirements established for the Amendment 80 sector. This
final rule retains regulations at Sec. 679.27(b)(4) that require
Amendment 80 vessels to meet a 15 percent utilization standard for all
retained groundfish species listed in Table 2a to part 679 that are
used in the calculation for percent of retained groundfish.
Current regulations at Sec. 679.5(s)(6) require each Amendment 80
cooperative receiving allocations of Amendment 80 species to annually
submit a report to NMFS detailing the use of the cooperative's quota.
This final rule adds a requirement at Sec. 679.5(s)(6) for an
Amendment 80 cooperative to calculate and report its annual aggregate
groundfish retention rate using the methodology initially established
in regulation at Sec. 679.27(j)(3). This additional reporting
requirement is intended to provide NMFS with information as to whether
the groundfish retention rates achieved under the GRS are being
maintained by the Amendment 80 fleet.
The catch and production data needed to calculate annual groundfish
retention are generally available to both NMFS and the Amendment 80
entity responsible for meeting current observer and production
reporting requirements established for the Amendment 80 fleet. The
authorized representative of an Amendment 80 cooperative could request
that NMFS verify these data (see ADDRESSES). These data could then be
used by an Amendment 80 cooperative to calculate its annual groundfish
retention rate. In addition, this final rule requires each Amendment 80
cooperative to have a third party audit the cooperative's groundfish
retention calculations and include these findings as part of the annual
Amendment 80 cooperative report. Each third party audit will require
the Amendment 80 cooperative to retain a third party to complete an
audit of the cooperative's groundfish retention calculations. The third
party audit will also require the cooperative to coordinate with NMFS
and the appropriate Amendment 80 entities for a release of confidential
observer and production data to the third party auditor.
This final rule does not require the owners of vessels
participating in the Amendment 80 limited access fishery to report
annual groundfish retention to NMFS. Instead, NMFS determined that it
will prepare information on groundfish retention performance for
Amendment 80 vessels participating in the Amendment 80 limited access
fishery. NMFS currently produces these data as part of its inseason
management report to the Council and will continue to report these
retention rates to the Council during the October Council meeting.
This final rule also revises regulations at Sec. 679.93(c)(1) to
continue to require that the Amendment 80 sector weigh all catch, and
to prohibit the pre-sorting of catch prior to weighing.
Comments and Responses
NMFS received two comment letters during the public comment period
for the proposed rule to implement this regulatory amendment. One
comment letter was received from a representative of the affected
fishing industry and contained two unique comments; the other comment
letter was received from a member of the public and did not contain any
comments relevant to the proposed rule. A summary of the comments and
NMFS' responses follow.
Comment 1: The commenter expressed general support for the proposed
regulatory amendment.
Response: NMFS acknowledges this comment.
Comment 2: The proposed rule would require an Amendment 80
cooperative to report its groundfish retention rate in its annual
cooperative report and would continue the requirement that Amendment 80
cooperative reports be submitted to NMFS. The information contained in
the cooperative reports is confidential under NOAA Administrative Order
(NAO) 216-100, 50 CRF 600.405, and section 402(b)(1) of the Magnuson-
Stevens Act. Although NMFS states in the preamble of the proposed rule
on page 62487 that it would provide Amendment 80 cooperative reports to
the Council, NMFS is prevented from providing the cooperative reports
to the Council given the confidential nature of information contained
in the reports.
Response: In the preamble statement highlighted by the commenter,
NMFS incorrectly stated that it would provide the annual cooperative
report to the Council for purposes of this rule. Instead, NMFS
anticipates providing to the Council and the public information on
groundfish retention rates. NMFS will do so, consistent with section
402(b) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act and
[[Page 12630]]
applicable agency regulations and policies regarding any confidential
information.
Classification
The Administrator, Alaska Region, NMFS, determined that this final
rule is necessary for the conservation and management of the groundfish
fisheries off Alaska and that it is consistent with the Magnuson-
Stevens Act and other applicable laws.
Small Entity Compliance Guide
Section 212 of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness
Act of 1996 states that, for each rule or group of related rules for
which an agency is required to prepare a FRFA, the agency shall publish
one or more guides to assist small entities in complying with the rule,
and shall designate such publications as ``small entity compliance
guides.'' The agency shall explain the actions a small entity is
required to take to comply with a rule or group of rules. The preambles
to the proposed rule and this final rule serve as the small entity
compliance guide. This action does not require any additional
compliance from small entities that is not described in the preambles.
Copies of the proposed rule are available from NMFS at the following
Web site: http://alaskafisheries.noaa.gov.
Executive Order 12866
This rule has been determined to be not significant for purposes of
Executive Order 12866.
Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
This FRFA incorporates the Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
(IRFA), a summary of the significant issues raised by the public
comments, NMFS' responses to those comments, and a summary of the
analyses completed to support the action. NMFS published the proposed
rule on October 15, 2012 (77 FR 62482), with comments invited through
November 14, 2012. An IRFA was prepared and summarized in the
``Classification'' section of the preamble to the proposed rule. NMFS
received no comments to the IRFA. The description of this action, its
purpose, and its legal basis are described in the preamble to the
proposed rule and are not repeated here. The FRFA describes the impacts
on small entities, which are defined in the IRFA for this action and
not repeated here. Analytical requirements for the FRFA are described
in the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), sections 604(a)(1) through
(5), and summarized below.
The FRFA must contain:
1. A succinct statement of the need for, and objectives of, the
rule;
2. A summary of the significant issues raised by the public
comments in response to the initial regulatory flexibility analysis, a
summary of the assessment of the agency of such issues, and a statement
of any changes made in the proposed rule as a result of such comments;
3. A description and an estimate of the number of small entities to
which the rule will apply, or an explanation of why no such estimate is
available;
4. A description of the projected reporting, recordkeeping, and
other compliance requirements of the rule, including an estimate of the
classes of small entities which will be subject to the requirement and
the type of professional skills necessary for preparation of the report
or record; and
5. A description of the steps the agency has taken to minimize the
significant economic impact on small entities consistent with the
stated objectives of applicable statutes, including a statement of the
factual, policy, and legal reasons for selecting the alternative
adopted in the final rule and why each one of the other significant
alternatives to the rule considered by the agency which affect the
impact on small entities was rejected.
The ``universe'' of entities to be considered in a FRFA generally
includes only those small entities that can reasonably be expected to
be directly regulated by the final rule. If the effects of the rule
fall primarily on a distinct segment of the industry, or portion
thereof (e.g., user group, gear type, geographic area), that segment
would be considered the universe for purposes of this analysis. In
preparing a FRFA, an agency may provide either a quantifiable or
numerical description of the effects of a rule (and alternatives to the
rule), or more general descriptive statements, if quantification is not
practicable or reliable.
Summary of Significant Issues Raised During Public Comment
No comments were received that raised significant issues in
response to the IRFA specifically; therefore, no changes were made to
the rule as a result of comments on the IRFA.
Number and Description of Small Entities Regulated by the Final Rule
The entities directly regulated by this action are those C/Ps that
are members of the Amendment 80 sector that target flatfish, Atka
mackerel, Pacific cod, and Pacific ocean perch in the EEZ of the BSAI.
The Small Business Administration has established size criteria for all
major industry sectors in the United States, including fish harvesting
and fish processing businesses. Effective January 5, 2006, a business
involved in fish harvesting is a small business if it is independently
owned and operated, not dominant in its field of operation (including
its affiliates), and if it has combined annual gross receipts not in
excess of $4.0 million for all its affiliated operations worldwide. A
seafood processor is a small business if it is independently owned and
operated, not dominant in its field of operation, and employs 500 or
fewer persons on a full-time, part-time, temporary, or other basis, at
all its affiliated operations worldwide. A business involved in both
the harvesting and processing of seafood products is a small business
if it meets the $4.0 million criterion for fish harvesting operations.
NMFS estimated the number of small versus large entities by
matching the gross earnings from all fisheries of record for 2009 with
the vessels, the known ownership of those vessels, and the known
affiliations of those vessels in the BSAI or Gulf of Alaska groundfish
fisheries for that year. NMFS has specific information on the ownership
of vessels and the affiliations that exist based on data provided by
the Amendment 80 sector, as well as a review of ownership data
independently available to NMFS from Federal fishing permit and license
limitation program license applications. The vessels with a common
ownership linkage in 2010, and therefore affiliation, are reported in
Table 2 in Section 2.2.5 of the analysis for this action (see
ADDRESSES). In addition, those vessels that are assigned to an
Amendment 80 cooperative and receive an exclusive harvest privilege are
categorized as large entities for the purpose of the RFA, under the
principles of affiliation, due to their participation in a harvesting
cooperative.
NMFS knows that as many as 28 Amendment 80 vessels could be active
in the Amendment 80 fishery. Those persons who apply for and receive
Amendment 80 quota share (QS) are eligible to fish in the Amendment 80
sector, and those QS holders will be directly regulated by the final
rule. Vessels that are assigned Amendment 80 QS and that are eligible
to fish in the Amendment 80 sector are commonly known as Amendment 80
vessels. Currently, there are 27 Amendment 80 vessels that will be
directly regulated based on this action. One vessel owner, who could be
eligible for the Amendment 80 program and could
[[Page 12631]]
apply for Amendment 80 QS, has not applied to NFMS to participate in
this sector. Therefore, this vessel will not be directly regulated by
the final rule unless and until the owner is approved to participate in
the Amendment 80 sector and is assigned Amendment 80 QS. Based on the
known affiliations and ownership of the Amendment 80 vessels, all but
one of the Amendment 80 vessel owners are categorized as large entities
for the purpose of the RFA. Thus, this analysis estimates that only one
small entity will be directly regulated by the final rule. This one
small entity could be linked by company affiliation to a large entity,
which then could qualify the entity as large entity. Complete
information, however, is not available to determine any such linkages.
Recordkeeping and Reporting
This action is projected to have a de minimis impact on the
recordkeeping and reporting requirements of small entities
participating in the BSAI groundfish fisheries. Some recordkeeping and
reporting may be required of individual firms. Those firms that already
record and report catch data will likely not be significantly impacted
by this final action. It is not possible to determine which firms will
be most impacted by the requirements, since the information each firm
collects is based on what it needs to operate its business and the
current reporting requirements. The regulations implemented by this
final rule are not expected to impact the recordkeeping and reporting
requirements for any other entities in the fishery.
Under this action, NMFS will not require the individual owners and
operators of Amendment 80 vessels participating in the limited access
fishery to annually report groundfish retention performance. Instead,
NMFS will prepare retention estimates for each vessel in the limited
access fishery and present these data to the Council annually as part
of the inseason management report.
Description of Significant Alternatives to the Final Rule
The suite of potential actions included two alternatives. A
detailed description of these alternatives is provided in Section 2 of
the analysis for this action (see ADDRESSES). Alternative 1 is the ``no
action'' alternative. Alternative 1 does not address the unintended and
unforeseen burden of the GRS on directly regulated small entities and
is not consistent with the purpose and need of this action.
The Council's preferred alternative, Alternative 2, has been
selected as the action alternative. It removes the GRS from the GRS
program for the Amendment 80 sector. Removal of the GRS will result in
significant operational benefits and cost savings to all directly
regulated entities. An Amendment 80 cooperative will monitor the
cooperative's aggregate groundfish retention rate and will report its
annual groundfish retention performance to NMFS, avoiding mandatory
compliance standards and their associated costs.
The Council also considered an alternative to revise the GRS to
require groundfish retention at rates similar to the estimates
presented in the analysis prepared for the GRS program. The Council
determined that, while revising the GRS could reduce economic hardship
imposed on the Amendment 80 sector by more closely correlating
groundfish retention rates with historical retention rates, it would
not address the monitoring, enforcement, and prosecution issues that
arise from the requirements for annual determination of vessel
compliance with the GRS program. Because this alternative would not
resolve the problems for the program, the Council decided not to
forward this alternative in the analysis for the proposed action.
Based upon the best available scientific data and information, and
consideration of the objectives of this action, there are no
alternatives to the proposed action that have the potential to
accomplish the stated objectives of the MSA and any other applicable
statutes and that have the potential to minimize any significant
adverse economic impact of the proposed rule on directly regulated
small entities. The preferred alternative provides greater economic
benefits for participants than Alternative 1 by allowing participants
to maintain or improve the retention rates achieved under the GRS
without the compliance costs associated with meeting a retention
standard greater than that intended by the Council or NMFS. The lack of
any quantitative data makes it impossible to rigorously assess the
relative differences in expected economic impacts among the
alternatives. The Council chose to recommend, and this final rule
implements, the preferred alternative because it best meets the goals
of this action and minimizes the potential negative impacts to directly
regulated small entities by relieving regulatory requirements that no
longer meet the intent of the GRS program.
Collection-of-Information Requirements
This rule contains a collection-of-information requirement subject
to the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) that has been approved by OMB
under control number 0648-0565. Public reporting burden for the
Amendment 80 cooperative report is estimated to average 26.5 hours per
response, which includes a new requirement for an additional third-
party audit, estimated to average 1.5 hours per response. These
estimated reporting burdens include the time for reviewing
instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and
maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the
collection of information.
Send comments regarding this burden estimate, or any other aspect
of this data collection, including suggestions for reducing the burden,
to NMFS (see ADDRESSEES) and by email to [email protected],
or fax to (202) 395-7285.
Notwithstanding any other provision of the law, no person is
required to respond to, nor shall any person be subject to a penalty
for failure to comply with, a collection of information subject to the
requirements of the PRA, unless that collection of information displays
a currently valid OMB control number.
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 679
Alaska, Fisheries, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
Dated: February 20, 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.
For the reasons set out in the preamble, 50 CFR part 679 is amended
as follows:
PART 679-- FISHERIES OF THE EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE OFF ALASKA
0
1. The authority citation for 50 CFR part 679 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 773 et seq.; 1801 et seq.; 3631 et seq.;
Pub. L. 108-447
Sec. 679.2 [Amended]
0
2. In Sec. 679.2, remove the definition of ``Groundfish Retention
Standard (GRS).''
0
3. In Sec. 679.5, add paragraph (s)(6)(iii)(D) and paragraph
(s)(6)(iii)(E) to read as follows:
Sec. 679.5 Recordkeeping and reporting (R&R).
* * * * *
[[Page 12632]]
(s) * * *
(6) * * *
(iii) * * *
(D) For each Amendment 80 cooperative, the percent of groundfish
retained by that Amendment 80 cooperative of the aggregate groundfish
retained by all Amendment 80 vessels assigned to that Amendment 80
cooperative using the following equations:
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TR25FE13.001
Substituting the value for GFroundweight into the following
equation:
GFR% = (GFroundweight /TotalGF)* 100
Where:
GFroundweight is the total annual round weight equivalent of all
retained product weights retained by all Amendment 80 vessels
assigned to that Amendment 80 cooperative for each IR/IU groundfish
species.
PWspeciesn is the total annual product weight for each groundfish
species listed in Table 2a to this part by product type as reported
in the vessel's production report for all Amendment 80 vessels
assigned to that Amendment 80 cooperative required at Sec.
679.5(e).
PRRspeciesn is the standard product recovery rate for each
groundfish species and product combination listed in Table 3 to this
part.
GFR% is the groundfish retention percentage for an Amendment 80
cooperative calculated as GFroundweight divided by the total weight
of groundfish catch.
TotalGF is the total groundfish round catch weight for all Amendment
80 vessels assigned to that Amendment 80 cooperative as measured by
the flow scale measurement, less any non-groundfish, PSC species or
groundfish species on prohibited species status under Sec. 679.20.
(E) For each Amendment 80 cooperative, a third party must audit the
Amendment 80 cooperative's annual groundfish retention calculations and
the Amendment 80 cooperative must include the finding of the third
party audit in its Amendment 80 annual cooperative report.
* * * * *
Sec. 679.7 [Amended]
0
4. In Sec. 679.7, remove and reserve paragraphs (m) and (o)(4)(iv).
0
5. In Sec. 679.27,
0
a. Remove and reserve paragraph (j); and
0
b. Revise paragraph (b)(4) to read as follows:
Sec. 679.27 Improved Retention/Improved Utilization Program.
* * * * *
(b) * * *
(4) For catcher/processors not listed in Sec. 679.4(l)(2)(i) using
trawl gear in the BSAI, all species listed in Table 2a to this part,
except for groundfish in prohibited species status.
* * * * *
0
6. In Sec. 679.93, revise paragraph (c)(1) to read as follows:
Sec. 679.93 Amendment 80 Program recordkeeping, permits, monitoring,
and catch accounting.
* * * * *
(c) * * *
(1) Catch weighing. All catch are weighed on a NMFS-approved scale
in compliance with the scale requirements at Sec. 679.28(b). Each haul
must be weighed separately, all catch must be made available for
sampling by a NMFS-certified observer, and no sorting of catch may take
place prior to weighing.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2013-04262 Filed 2-22-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P