[Federal Register: April 7, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 67)]
[Notices]
[Page 18350-18352]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr07ap04-29]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[I.D. 012304B]
Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Groundfish
of the Gulf of Alaska; Exempted Fishing Permit
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Issuance of an Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP).
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SUMMARY: NMFS announces the issuance of EFP 04-01 to the Alaska
Fisheries Development Foundation (applicant). The EFP authorizes the
applicant to develop and test hook-and-line gear for rockfish harvest
in the Southeast Outside District (SEO) of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA)
that historically had been harvested with trawl gear. This EFP is
necessary to provide information not otherwise available through
research or commercial fishing operations. The intended effect of this
action is to promote the purposes and policies of the Magnuson-Stevens
Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act).
ADDRESSES: Copies of the EFP and the Environmental Assessment (EA)
prepared for the EFP are available from Lori J. Durall, Alaska Region,
NMFS, P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Melanie Brown, 907-586-7228 or
melanie.brown@noaa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish
of the Gulf of Alaska authorizes the issuance of EFPs to fish for
groundfish in a manner that would otherwise be prohibited under
existing regulations. The procedures for issuing EFPs are set out at 50
CFR 679.6.
On February 5, 2004, NMFS announced in the Federal Register the
receipt of an application for an EFP (69 FR 5509). The applicant
requested authorization to develop and test hook-and-line gear for
rockfish harvest in the SEO of the GOA. Pacific ocean perch, pelagic
shelf rockfish, and other slope rockfish historically have been
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harvested in this area by trawl gear. Trawling in the SEO has been
prohibited since March 23, 1998 (63 FR 8356, February 19, 1998). This
EFP will provide information not otherwise available through research
or commercial fishing operations because it is not economically
feasible for vessels to participate in an experiment of this extent and
rigor during the commercial fisheries. The goal of this project is to
improve the utilization of rockfish species in the SEO in ways that are
consistent with Magnuson-Stevens Act national standard 1, which directs
that conservation and management measures must achieve optimum yield
from each fishery, and national standard 5, which seeks to promote
efficiency in the utilization of fishery resources.
The Regional Administrator has approved the EFP application and has
issued EFP 04-01 to the applicant. Details of the project are in the
environmental assessment prepared for this action (see ADDRESSES). The
project has two phases: (1) development of two hook-and-line gear types
that can be effectively handled on typical Southeast Alaska fishing
vessels and that successfully target rockfish species, and (2)
comparative testing of the gear types developed in Phase I in terms of
catch of target rockfish species per unit of effort and incidental
catch of nontarget species. Because this project is in two phases, the
applicant is permitted to conduct Phase I activities only, with
permitting for Phase II contingent on the final report from Phase I and
the Alaska Fisheries Science Center's approval of the experimental
design for Phase II. The time period of the project is April 15, 2004,
through April 15, 2005, with the possibility to extend the permit up to
12 months in case unforseen events delay completion of the project.
The EFP is necessary to allow the applicant to develop and test
hook-and-line gear for rockfish in the SEO with certain exemptions from
fishery closures, prohibited species catch (PSC) limits, and fish
retention and discard requirements. The exemptions are necessary to
allow the permit holder to efficiently conduct the testing and to
reduce potential impacts on other hook-and-line fisheries. The EFP
provides exemptions from: (1) hook-and-line fishery closures under 50
CFR 679.7(a)(2) due to reasons other than overfishing concerns, (2)
individual fishing quota retention requirements under 50 CFR
679.7(f)(11), (3) PSC limits for halibut under the GOA annual harvest
specifications (69 FR 9261, February 27, 2004) and 50 CFR
679.21(d)(4)(iii)(C), and (4) maximum retainable amounts for rockfish
fisheries under 50 CFR 679.20(e). The total amount of groundfish
allowed to be harvested is 179 metric tons (mt), including a 10 mt
limit on sablefish. Because sufficient total allowable catch (TAC)
amounts are available in the SEO for the rockfish species likely to be
taken during the project, all groundfish, except sablefish, will be
deducted from the annual TAC amounts specified in the annual harvest
specifications (69 FR 9261, February 27, 2004). Hook-and-line sablefish
is fully allocated and managed under the individual fishing quota (IFQ)
program pursuant to 50 CFR 679.40, therefore, no sablefish may be
retained during the project nor counted against the annual sablefish
TAC. Halibut mortality is limited to 2 mt.
Fishing contrary to notification of inseason actions, closures, or
adjustments under 50 CFR 679.20, 679.21, and 679.25 is prohibited by 50
CFR 679.7(a)(2). The applicant is exempt from this prohibition to allow
the project to proceed without interruption. The PSC limit for halibut
may be reached during the project time period, requiring the closure of
the hook-and-line fisheries in accordance with 50 CFR 679.25. Because
the amounts of halibut bycatch in the hook-and-line Pacific cod fishery
has caused the closure of all hook-and-line fisheries (except demersal
shelf rockfish) GOA-wide in the spring of 1999, 2000, and 2001, and in
the fall of 2003, the closure of the hook-and-line fisheries in the GOA
is likely. The halibut mortality during the project will not be counted
against the PSC limit so that other hook-and-line fisheries will not be
impacted by the project.
The EFP allows the retention and sale of all groundfish species
(except sablefish) taken while fishing under the EFP to offset some of
the costs of the project. The applicant is exempt from the maximum
retainable amounts specified in Table 10 of 50 CFR part 679 for
rockfish fisheries. Because demersal shelf rockfish (DSR) are managed
by the State of Alaska, which has special provisions for the retention
and sale of DSR, the EFP will not relieve the applicant from compliance
with the State's DSR regulations at 5 AAC 28.171. These regulations
require full retention of DSR but limit the numbers of DSR that may be
sold for revenue to the harvester.
Because the applicant is required to discard all halibut and
sablefish, the permit exempts the applicant from the retention
requirement of 50 CFR 679.7(f)( 11). Under this regulation, all halibut
and sablefish are required to be retained if a person on the vessel has
IFQ available for halibut or sablefish for that class of vessel.
Recruiting qualified individuals for the project would be difficult if
the IFQ retention requirement was applied because the project does not
provide an efficient use of IFQ. Because qualified participants are
likely to be IFQ holders who would not want to use their IFQ during the
project, the applicant is exempted from the retention requirements. All
halibut and sablefish caught will be returned to the sea with minimal
injury.
The applicant expects to harvest the following amounts of
groundfish species during the project: 50 mt each of Pacific ocean
perch, other slope rockfish, and pelagic shelf rockfish; 15 mt of
rougheye/shortraker rockfish; 2 mt each of thornyhead rockfish and DSR;
10 mt of sablefish and 2 mt of halibut mortality. These levels of
harvest and manner of harvest are determined to not have a significant
impact on the human environment, as described in the EA (see
ADDRESSES).
All fishing under the EFP will stop if the groundfish or halibut
mortality limits in the EFP are reached. The Regional Administrator may
modify the EFP to allow continuation of the project after consideration
of factors including: (1) the present amount of harvest of groundfish
species by the groundfish fisheries compared to the annual TACs, (2)
the progress of the project to date, and (3) the potential impacts of
any modification of the EFP. A draft report will be available to the
public 60 days after the completion of Phase I. A final report of the
results of the experiment will be made available to the public
approximately six months after the end of Phase II.
Failure to comply with the terms and conditions of the EFP and all
applicable provisions of 50 CFR parts 600 and 679, the Magnuson-Stevens
Act, or any regulations promulgated thereunder, or any other applicable
laws, may be grounds for revocation, suspension, or modification of
this permit as well as civil or criminal sanctions imposed under those
laws.
Classification
NMFS prepared an EA for this EFP. The Alaska Regional Administrator
for NMFS concluded that no significant impact on the human environment
will occur as a result of fishing under this EFP. A copy of the EA is
available from NMFS (see ADDRESSES).
The Regional Administrator determined that fishing activities
conducted pursuant to this EFP will not affect endangered and
threatened species listed or critical habitat designated under the
Endangered Species Act. Because fishing activities
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under this EFP will have no effects on essential fish habitat, a
consultation is not required under the essential fish habitat
provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
This notice is exempt from review under E.O. 12866 and the
Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA). The analytical requirements of the
RFA are inapplicable because prior notice and opportunity for public
comment are not required for this notice.
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: April 2, 2004.
Bruce C. Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 04-7903 Filed 4-6-04; 8:45 am]
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