[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 119 (Wednesday, June 20, 2018)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 28604-28606]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-13249]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 679
[Docket No. 170630613-8489-01]
RIN 0648-BH02
Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Yellowfin
Sole Management in the Groundfish Fisheries of the Bering Sea and
Aleutian Islands; Correction
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Proposed rule; request for comments; correction.
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SUMMARY: NMFS is correcting a proposed rule that published on June 6,
2018, that would limit access to the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands
(BSAI) Trawl Limited Access Sector (TLAS) yellowfin sole directed
fishery by vessels that deliver their catch of yellowfin sole to
motherships for processing. Two paragraphs in the preamble and two
tables in the proposed regulatory text contained errors.
DATES: Comments on the proposed rule must be submitted on or before
July 6, 2018.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on this document, identified by FDMS
Docket Number NOAA-NMFS-2017-0083, by any of the following methods:
Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public
comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to
www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2017-0083, click the
``Comment Now!'' icon,
[[Page 28605]]
complete the required fields, and enter or attach your comments.
Mail: Submit written comments to Glenn Merrill, Assistant
Regional Administrator, Sustainable Fisheries Division, Alaska Region
NMFS, Attn: Ellen Sebastian. Mail comments to P.O. Box 21668, Juneau,
AK 99802-1668.
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), 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).
Electronic copies of Amendment 116 and the draft Environmental
Assessment/Regulatory Impact Review prepared for this action
(collectively the ``Analysis'') may be obtained from
www.regulations.gov. Electronic copies of Amendments 80 and 39 to the
BSAI FMP, and the Environmental Assessments/Regulatory Impact Reviews
prepared for those actions also may be obtained from
www.regulations.gov.
Written comments regarding the burden-hour estimates or other
aspects of the collection-of-information requirements contained in this
rule may be submitted by mail to NMFS at the above address; and by
email to [email protected] or by fax to (202) 395-5806.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bridget Mansfield, 907-586-7228.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NMFS published a proposed rule to implement
Amendment 116 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the
Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area (BSAI FMP) on June 6,
2018 (83 FR 26237). If approved, Amendment 116 would limit access to
the BSAI TLAS yellowfin sole directed fishery by vessels that deliver
their catch of yellowfin sole to motherships for processing. This
proposed rule would (1) establish eligibility criteria based on
historical participation in the BSAI TLAS yellowfin sole directed
fishery, (2) issue an endorsement to those groundfish License
Limitation Program (LLP) licenses that meet the eligibility criteria,
and (3) authorize delivery of BSAI TLAS yellowfin sole to motherships
by only those vessels designated on a groundfish LLP license that is
endorsed for the BSAI TLAS yellowfin sole directed fishery. The public
comment period for the proposed rule ends on July 6, 2018.
Need for Correction
Proposed Table 52 in the proposed rule incorrectly identifies the
groundfish LLP licenses that would be eligible to be credited with
qualifying landings and receive an endorsement that allows catcher
vessels to deliver BSAI TLAS yellowfin sole to a mothership. Proposed
Table 53 incorrectly identifies the groundfish LLP licenses that would
be eligible for, but would not be credited with, qualifying landings
and thus would not receive a BSAI TLAS yellowfin sole catcher vessel
directed fishery endorsement to deliver to a mothership until
notification from the vessel owner is received by NMFS. Two paragraphs
in the preamble to the proposed rule that describe these eligible
groundfish LLP licenses incorrectly identified the number of groundfish
LLP licenses that would be eligible to be credited with qualifying
landings and receive a BSAI TLAS yellowfin sole catcher vessel directed
fishery endorsement. These corrections are necessary because the
proposed rule, if approved as published, would result in a total of
seven groundfish LLP licenses that would receive a BSAI TLAS yellowfin
sole directed fishery endorsement. However, NMFS has determined that a
total of eight groundfish LLP licenses would receive a BSAI TLAS
yellowfin sole directed fishery endorsement.
Based on the information provided in the analysis and the official
record, NMFS has determined that 10 groundfish LLP licenses would be
eligible to be credited with qualifying landing(s) and receive a BSAI
TLAS yellowfin sole directed fishery endorsement. Six of these
groundfish LLP licenses, rather than two as published in the proposed
rule on June 6, 2018, would be immediately eligible to be credited with
a qualifying landing and receive the endorsement (groundfish LLP
licenses 3741, 3944, 2913, 1667, 3714, and 1820). Therefore, under this
proposed rule, those six groundfish LLP licenses would be credited with
a qualifying landing and receive a BSAI TLAS directed fishery
endorsement. The remaining four eligible groundfish LLP licenses
(groundfish LLP licenses 3838, 2702, 3902, and 3826), rather than eight
as published in the proposed rule on June 6, 2018, were each one of two
groundfish LLP licenses designated on a vessel that made qualifying
landings during the qualifying period; therefore, those four groundfish
LLP licenses would be eligible to be credited with a qualifying landing
and receive an endorsement. For any of those four groundfish LLP
licenses to be credited with a qualifying landing and receive an
endorsement, the vessel owner would be required to select one
groundfish LLP license that NMFS is to credit with all qualifying
landings made by that vessel. Up to two of those four groundfish LLP
licenses could be credited with a qualifying landing and receive an
endorsement from NMFS. Therefore, NMFS anticipates that a total of
eight groundfish LLP licenses could receive a BSAI TLAS yellowfin sole
directed fishery endorsement under the proposed rule, resulting in up
to eight vessels that could participate in the BSAI TLAS yellowfin sole
directed fishery and deliver their catch to a mothership.
Correction
In the proposed rule, published on June 6, 2018 (83 FR 26237), the
following corrections are made:
1. On page 26245, beginning in column 2, the last paragraph is
corrected to read as follows:
Based on the information provided in the Analysis and the official
record, NMFS has determined that ten groundfish LLP licenses would be
eligible to be credited with qualifying landing(s) and receive a BSAI
TLAS yellowfin sole directed fishery endorsement. Six of these were the
sole groundfish LLP license designated on a vessel in a given year
during the qualifying period, for those vessels that made a qualifying
landing. Therefore, under this proposed rule, those six groundfish LLP
licenses would be credited with a qualifying landing and receive a BSAI
TLAS directed fishery endorsement. The remaining four eligible
groundfish LLP licenses were each one of two groundfish LLP licenses
designated on a vessel that made qualifying landings during the
qualifying period; therefore, those four groundfish LLP licenses would
be eligible to be credited with a qualifying landing and receive an
endorsement. For any of those four groundfish LLP licenses to be
credited with a qualifying landing and receive an endorsement, the
vessel owner would be required to select one groundfish LLP license
that NMFS is to credit with all qualifying landings made by that
vessel. Up to two of those four groundfish LLP licenses could be
credited with a qualifying landing and receive an endorsement from
NMFS. Therefore, NMFS anticipates that a total of eight groundfish LLP
licenses could receive a
[[Page 28606]]
BSAI TLAS yellowfin sole directed fishery endorsement under the
proposed rule, resulting in up to eight vessels that could participate
in the BSAI TLAS yellowfin sole directed fishery and deliver their
catch to a mothership.
2. On page 26246, beginning in column 2, the last paragraph is
corrected to read as follows:
Based on the official record, NMFS has identified ten groundfish
LLP licenses that would be eligible to be credited with qualifying
landings. Six of these eligible groundfish LLP licenses were the sole
groundfish LLP license on which a given vessel was designated at the
time the vessel made qualifying landings of BSAI TLAS yellowfin sole.
Therefore, NMFS would credit these six groundfish LLP licenses with the
qualifying landings under this proposed rule. NMFS proposes to list
these six groundfish LLP licenses in Table 52 to part 679. The
remaining four eligible groundfish LLP licenses were not the sole
groundfish LLP license on which a given vessel was designated at the
time the vessel made at least one trip target in the BSAI TLAS fishery
during the qualifying period. Because this proposed rule would require
in such cases that the vessel owner specify one groundfish LLP license
to receive credit with the qualified landing(s) made by that vessel,
NMFS would not be able to credit these groundfish LLP licenses until
NMFS receives notification from the vessel owner which groundfish LLP
license should be credited with the qualifying landing(s). NMFS
proposes to list in Table 53 to part 679 the four groundfish LLP
licenses that would be eligible for, but would not be credited with,
qualifying landings until notification from the vessel owner is
received by NMFS. The proposed notification process is described in the
following section.
3. On page 26251, column 2, is corrected to correctly identify the
groundfish LLP licenses that are eligible to be assigned an endorsement
for the BSAI Trawl Limited Access Sector yellowfin sole fishery.
Table 52 is corrected and reprinted in its entirety to read as
follows:
Table 52 to Part 679--Groundfish LLP Licenses Eligible for a BSAI Trawl
Limited Access Sector Yellowfin Sole Directed Fishery Endorsement
[X indicates that Column A applies]
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Column A Column B
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The Holder of Groundfish License No...... Is eligible Under 50 CFR
679.4(k)(14)(ii) to be
assigned an Endorsement for
the BSAI Trawl Limited Access
Sector Yellowfin Sole Fishery
LLG 3944................................. X
LLG 2913................................. X
LLG 1667................................. X
LLG 3714................................. X
LLG 1820................................. X
LLG 3741................................. X
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4. On page 26251, column 3, is corrected to correctly identify the
groundfish LLP licenses that require qualified landings assignment to
be eligible for a BSAI Trawl Limited Access Sector yellowfin sole
directed fishery endorsement.
Table 53 is corrected and reprinted in its entirety to read as
follows:
Table 53 to Part 679--Groundfish LLP Licenses that Require Qualified
Landings Assignment To Be Eligible for a BSAT Trawl Limited Access
Sector Yellowfin Sole Directed Fishery Endorsement
[X indicates that Column A applies]
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Column A Column B
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A single vessel was designated on the The owner of the vessel
following pairs of groundfish LLP designated on the pair of LLP
licenses during the qualifying period licenses in Column A must
identified in 50 CFR notify NMFS which LLP license
679.4(k)(14)(ii)(A)(1).................. from each pair in Column A is
to be credited with
qualifying landing(s) under
50 CFR 679.4(k)(14)(vi)(2).
LLG 3838 and LLG 2702.................... X
LLG 3902 and LLG 3826.................... X
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Authority: 16 U.S.C. 773 et seq.; 1801 et seq.; 3631 et seq.;
Pub. L. 108-447; Pub. L. 111-281.
Dated: June 15, 2018.
Samuel D. Rauch, III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 2018-13249 Filed 6-19-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P