[Federal Register: February 15, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 32)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 8822-8824]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr15fe08-13]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 679
[Docket No. 071029546-7546-02]
RIN 0648-AU85
Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Individual
Fishing Quota Program
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: NMFS issues a final rule to modify the Individual Fishing
Quota (IFQ) Program for the fixed-gear commercial Pacific halibut
fishery and sablefish fishery by revising regulations governing the use
of commercial halibut quota share (QS) and the processing of non-IFQ
species when processed halibut is onboard a vessel. This action amends
current regulations to allow persons holding category A halibut QS to
process IFQ regardless of whether a QS holder with unused category B,
C, or D halibut QS is onboard the vessel. This action also allows
catcher/processor vessels to process non-IFQ species regardless of
whether any processed IFQ species is onboard the vessel. This action is
necessary to improve the efficiency of fishermen fishing on catcher/
processor vessels. The action is intended to allow halibut QS holders
greater flexibility in using their QS, allow use of crew who hold
unused category B, C, or D halibut QS while onboard a category A
halibut QS vessel, and increase the product quality of non-IFQ species
harvested incidentally to IFQ halibut.
DATES: Effective March 17, 2008.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the Categorical Exclusion (CE) and the Regulatory
Impact Review/Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (RIR/FRFA) prepared
for this action are available by mail from 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 via the Internet at the NMFS Alaska Region website
at http://www.fakr.noaa.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Becky Carls, 907-586-7228 or
becky.carls@noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The International Pacific Halibut Commission
(IPHC) and NMFS manage fishing for Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus
stenolepis) through regulations established under the authority of the
Convention between the United States and Canada for the Preservation of
the Halibut Fishery of the Northern Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea
(Convention) and the Northern Pacific Halibut Act of 1982 (Halibut
Act). The IPHC promulgates regulations pursuant to the Convention. The
IPHC's regulations are subject to approval by the Secretary of State
with concurrence from the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary). After
approval by the Secretary of State and the Secretary, the IPHC
regulations are published in the Federal Register as annual management
measures pursuant to 50 CFR 300.62 (72 FR 11792; March 14, 2007).
The Halibut Act also authorizes the North Pacific Fishery
Management Council (Council) to develop and submit regulations to the
Secretary to allocate harvesting privileges among U.S. fishermen.
Regulations developed by the Council are implemented only with the
approval of the Secretary. Like the original Halibut and Sablefish IFQ
Program (IFQ Program) regulations and subsequent amendments to them,
this action was developed by the Council under authority of the Halibut
Act.
The Council, under the authority of the Halibut Act (with respect
to Pacific halibut) and the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and
Management Act (with respect to sablefish), adopted the IFQ Program in
1991. The IFQ Program established a limited access system for managing
the fixed gear Pacific halibut fishery in Convention waters in and off
Alaska and sablefish fisheries in waters of the Exclusive Economic
Zone, located between 3 and 200 miles off Alaska. The IFQ Program was
approved by NMFS in January 1993, and promulgated in Federal regulation
on November 9, 1993 (58 FR 59375). Fishing under the IFQ Program began
on March 15, 1995, ending the open access fishery which preceded its
implementation. Regulations implementing the IFQ Program are at 50 CFR
part 679. In addition, Federal regulations at 50 CFR part 300, subpart
E, also govern the halibut IFQ fishery.
Background and Need for Action
The background and need for this action were described in detail in
the preamble to the proposed rule published in the Federal Register on
November 14, 2007 (72 FR 64034). In summary, this final rule will
relieve some of the restrictions affecting holders of commercial
halibut QS.
Under the IFQ Program, QS represents a harvesting privilege for a
person. On an annual basis, QS holders are authorized to harvest a
specified poundage which is issued by NMFS as IFQ. Federal regulations
at 50 CFR 679.40(a)(5) divide QS into vessel categories (A, B, C, and D
for halibut) with unique restrictions designed to prevent excessive
consolidation and regulate total harvest. With few exceptions, halibut
QS or IFQ assigned to a vessel category may not be used to harvest IFQ
species on a vessel of a different category.
The IFQ Program includes an economic protection measure prohibiting
the processing of non-IFQ species (e.g., Pacific cod) onboard a vessel
on which a person holds catcher vessel halibut IFQ. This prohibition
resulted in the unanticipated waste of species caught incidentally to
halibut, especially rockfish and Pacific cod. In addition, persons
fishing halibut IFQ derived from category A QS could not process any
species if a person onboard the vessel held unused halibut IFQ
[[Page 8823]]
derived from category B, C, or D QS. Also, operators of catcher/
processor vessels fishing for Pacific cod, for example, would have to
employ crew members who did not have unused catcher vessel IFQ (i.e.,
IFQ derived from category B, C, or D halibut QS) for halibut, or
catcher/processor operators would have to delay fishing for non-IFQ
species until all crew members onboard had fully used their catcher
vessel IFQ for halibut. Hence, the processing restriction limited the
crew that could be onboard catcher/processor vessels and the timing of
fishing by catcher/processor vessels.
This action is intended to increase the revenue generated from
harvested species by (1) allowing non-IFQ fish species to be processed
on a vessel otherwise authorized to process fish, rather than allowing
non-IFQ species to degrade into low value products or be wasted while
IFQ species are sought; and (2) allowing processed and unprocessed IFQ
species to be onboard the same vessel during the same fishing trip.
This action will allow the processing of non-IFQ and IFQ species on
a vessel that is otherwise authorized to process non-IFQ species when
any amount of halibut IFQ resulting from QS in categories B, C, or D
are held by persons onboard the vessel. This action will not allow the
processing of category B, C, or D halibut IFQ onboard a catcher/
processor vessel. Instead, this action will allow persons possessing
unused catcher vessel category B, C, or D halibut QS to be onboard a
catcher/processor vessel when that vessel is harvesting and processing
category A halibut or sablefish IFQ or is harvesting and processing
non-IFQ species. This action will relieve a restriction on catcher/
processor vessels which will increase their efficiency. The regulatory
change will remove regulatory text currently at Sec. 679.7(f)(13) and
(14) and Sec. 679.42(k). There is no new regulatory text.
Response to Comments
The proposed rule for this action was published in the Federal
Register on November 14, 2007 (72 FR 64034). One commenter submitted a
comment to NMFS in support of the rule.
Changes From the Proposed Rule
No changes are made in this final rule from the proposed rule.
Classification
The Administrator, Alaska Region, NMFS, determined that this
amendment is necessary for the conservation and management of the
halibut fishery and that it is consistent with the Halibut Act and
other applicable laws.
This final rule has been determined to be not significant for
purposes of Executive Order 12866. This final rule also complies with
the Secretary's authority under the Halibut Act to implement management
measures for the halibut fishery.
A final regulatory flexibility analysis (FRFA) was prepared. The
FRFA incorporates the initial regulatory flexibility analysis (IRFA), a
summary of the significant issues raised by the public comments in
response to the IRFA, NMFS's responses to those comments, and a summary
of the analyses completed to support the action. A copy of this
analysis is available from NMFS (see ADDRESSES). A description of this
action, why it is being considered, and the legal basis for this action
are presented above in the preamble to this rule. NMFS received one
public comment, and that was in support of the proposed rule. No
comments were received in response to the IRFA or on the economic
impacts of the rule and no changes were made in the proposed rule. A
summary of the FRFA follows.
This action will directly regulate approximately 3,233 persons
holding category B, C, or D halibut QS, 33 catcher/processor vessels,
and 1,312 vessels that hold catcher vessel endorsements for vessels
less than 60 ft (18.6 m) length overall on their license limitation
program permits. NMFS does not possess sufficient ownership and
affiliation information to determine the precise number of quota share
holders considered small entities in the IFQ Program or the number of
small entities that will be adversely impacted by this action. NMFS
assumes that all directly regulated entities have gross revenues less
than $4 million, and that they are thus small entities for the purposes
of the Regulatory Flexibility Act. In 2004, 1,335 unique IFQ vessels
made IFQ landings.
Compared with status quo, this action may increase the revenue
generated from non-IFQ species harvested by increasing the quality of
offloaded product. This action will allow QS holders already authorized
to process fish at-sea to optimize the revenue generated from harvested
non-IFQ groundfish. Processing capacity is not expected to increase
because the number of vessels currently authorized to process
groundfish catch onboard while harvesting IFQ derived from category A
quota share will not change. This action also may increase benefits to
persons holding QS because it allows IFQ to be processed regardless of
whether another quota share holder is onboard, including crew holding
catcher vessel category B, C, or D QS who are working onboard vessels
with category A QS.
The purpose of this action is to relieve a restriction on small
entities. NMFS is not aware of any additional alternatives to those
considered that would accomplish the objectives of this action, the
Halibut Act, and other applicable statutes and that would minimize the
economic impact of the action on small entities. The Council received
two proposals on this issue, incorporated them into what became this
final action, and evaluated them jointly after a preliminary review
found that they were functionally the same. This action will completely
repeal the subject requirements. Repeal will remove a restriction from
directly regulated entities and potentially lead to increased profits.
Other alternatives might have been designed to limit the ability of
this action to accomplish the objectives, by limiting the scope of the
repeal to particular species or halibut QS classes, or by providing for
a delayed effective date. However, these alternatives would not have
been significantly different from this action. They would not have
involved substantively different approaches to addressing the problem
that had been identified. Moreover, because this action relaxes a
restriction on directly regulated small entities, these alternatives
would have reduced the potential benefits of this action for these
small entities or the classes of entities that might benefit from them.
According to NOAA Administrative Order (NAO) 216-6, including the
criteria used to determine significance, this rule will not have a
significant effect, individually or cumulatively, on the human
environment beyond those effects identified in the previous National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analysis. An environmental impact
statement (EIS; dated December 1992) was prepared for the final rule
implementing the original halibut and sablefish IFQ and Community
Development Quota Programs (58 FR 59375; November 9, 1993). The scope
of the EIS includes the potential environmental impacts of this
proposed rule because the EIS analyzed the original IFQ Program, which
included analyses of biological and socioeconomic impacts on the
environment, affected fishermen, and affected communities. Based on the
nature of the proposed rule and the previous environmental analysis,
this proposed rule is categorically excluded from the requirement to
prepare either
[[Page 8824]]
an EIS or an environmental assessment, in accordance with Section 5.05b
of NAO 216-6. Copies of the EIS for the original halibut and sablefish
IFQ and Community Development Quota Programs and the categorical
exclusion for this action are available from NMFS (see ADDRESSES).
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 preamble to this final rule serves as the small entity
compliance guide. This action does not require any additional
compliance from small entities that is not described in the preamble.
Copies of this final rule are available from NMFS (see ADDRESSES) and
at the following website: http://www.fakr.noaa.gov.
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 679
Alaska, Fisheries, Recordkeeping and reporting requirements.
Dated: February 11, 2008.
Samuel D. Rauch III,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
0
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 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. 679.7 [Amended]
0
2. In Sec. 679.7, paragraph (f)(13) is removed and reserved, paragraph
(f)(15) is removed, and paragraphs (f)(16) and (f)(17) are redesignated
as paragraphs (f)(15) and (f)(16), respectively.
Sec. 679.42 [Amended]
0
3. In Sec. 679.42, paragraph (k) is removed and paragraph (l) is
redesignated as paragraph (k).
[FR Doc. E8-2932 Filed 2-14-08; 8:45 am]
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