65 FR 178 pgs. 55223-55224 - Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone off Alaska;Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska; Exempted FishingPermit
Type: NOTICEVolume: 65Number: 178Pages: 55223 - 55224
Docket number: [I.D. 032800C]
FR document: [FR Doc. 00-23533 Filed 9-12-00; 8:45am]
Agency: Commerce Department
Sub Agency: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Official PDF Version: PDF Version
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[I.D. 032800C]
Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone off Alaska;Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska; Exempted FishingPermit
AGENCY:
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic andAtmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION:
Issuance of an exempted fishing permit.
SUMMARY:
NMFS announces the issuance of an exempted fishing permit(EFP) 00-01 to Groundfish Forum, Inc., and the At-sea ProcessorsAssociation (applicants). The EFP authorizes the applicants toconduct an experiment in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) and the BeringSea that will test the effectiveness of a halibut excluder devicefor Pacific cod trawls in reducing halibut bycatch rates withoutsignificantly lowering catch rates of cod. This EFP is necessaryto provide information not otherwise available through researchor commercial fishing operations. The intended effect of thisaction is to promote the purposes and policies of theMagnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.
ADDRESSES:
Copies of the EFP and the Environmental Assessment (EA)prepared for the EFP are available from Lori J. Gravel, AlaskaRegion, NMFS, P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Nina Mollett, 907-586-7462.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
The Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf ofAlaska and the Fishery Management Plan for the Groundfish Fisheryof the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Area authorize theissuance of EFPs to fish for groundfish in a manner that wouldotherwise be prohibited under existing regulations. Theprocedures for issuing EFPs are set out at 50 CFR 679.6.
On April 11, 2000, NMFS announced in the FederalRegister the receipt of an application for an EFP from theapplicants (65 FR 19363). The applicants requested authorizationto test the effectiveness of a halibut excluder device intendedto reduce halibut bycatch rates in the Pacific cod trawl fishery,without lowering the catch of Pacific cod. The purpose of thisresearch is to assist industry in developing gear modificationsthat will reduce the bycatch of halibut in the cod fisheries offAlaska. This EFP will provide information not otherwiseavailable through research or commercial fishing operationsbecause it is not economically feasible for vessels toparticipate in an experiment of this extent and rigor during thecommercial fisheries.
The Administrator, Alaska Region, NMFS (RegionalAdministrator), has approved the EFP application and has issuedEFP 00-01 to the applicants. The experiment will take place intwo parts. Part A will be conducted by a head-and-gutcatcher/processor vessel in the GOA in September 2000. Therationale for the timing is that few options exist for openaccess fishing in the fall, and participating vessels would havea low opportunity cost. Part B will be conducted by apollock/cod fillet catcher/processor vessel in the Bering Sea inMarch 2001, during or following the winter cod fishery.
Vessels wishing to participate in the experiment havesubmitted or will submit applications that include fishing plansdescribing the vessel's observer sampling facilities, thegeneral area to be fished, number of tows expected per day, theproposed coordination of observer sampling and deck crew dutiesduring the experiment, and the number of observers (from one tothree, subject to NMFS approval).
The vessel for Part A was chosen by a NMFS panel headed up bya NMFS gear expert working with the applicants on thisexperiment. The vessel for Part B will be a member of thepollock fishery cooperative associated with the At-sea ProcessorsAssociation (the Pollock Conservation Cooperative). Selection ofthe vessel will be made by the cooperative, subject to approvalby NMFS of the fishing plan and number of observers.
Each part of the experiment will consist of 30 tows. At arate of 4-5 tows per day, each of the two parts will take 7-10days to complete. Groundfish and prohibited species catchamounts authorized under the EFP will not be deducted from totalallowable catch or prohibited species catch allowances specifiedfor the 2000-2001 groundfish fisheries. This will not cause aconservation problem because estimated total removals under theEFP are within acceptable levels biologically and will not causethe fishery to exceed overfishing levels already considered inthe EA for the 2000 specifications.
The EFP authorizes taking up to 396 metric tons (mt) ofgroundfish in the GOA and 594 mt of groundfish in the Bering Sea,principally cod. Vessels selected for participation will retainall cod and pollock and may retain other groundfish species inaccordance with the maximum retainable incidental catch amountsat 50 CFR 679.20(e) and (f), using only cod as the basisspecies.
The authorized halibut bycatch for this experiment is 47 mt inthe GOA and 12 mt in the Bering Sea. Based on the assumed 2000halibut mortality rates for the GOA cod fishery (63 percent) andthe Bering Sea cod fishery (66 percent)(65 FR 8298, February 18,2000; and 65 FR 8282, February 18, 2000, respectively), theseamounts are equivalent to 30 mt of halibut mortality in the GOAand 8 mt of halibut mortality in the Bering Sea. Halibut catchwill be measured through a census conducted while deck sortinghalibut under the direction of NMFS-certified observers. Theapplicants expect that this process will enable halibut mortalityfrom the experiment to be lower than the estimated rates for thePacific cod trawl fisheries.
Bering Sea crab bycatch will not exceed 2,500 C.bairdi crab, 600 C.opilio crab or 75 red kingcrab. In the GOA, the bycatch of C. bairdi will belimited to 200 crab. Trace amounts of red king crab bycatch mayoccur in the GOA. Although such small amounts of crab do notwarrant a specified bycatch allowance, the EFP could be amendedto establish one if bycatch is higher than anticipated.
The researchers will use a recapture bag, as opposed to doingblocks of similar tows to measure the effects of using anexcluder device. The latter method was used by Groundfish Forum,Inc., in a similar experiment conducted in 1998 to develop ahalibut excluder device for the deepwater flatfish fisheries.The recapture bag is considered a more powerful design thanpaired tows for assessing the efficacy of an excluder, butincreases the amount of labor and dedicated staff needed tocollect the required data from each tow and to get halibutoverboard with minimal mortality.
The prototype device was developed during a research tripconducted in July 2000 by a NMFS gear specialist. Theresearchers' goal is to develop a device with the followingcharacteristics:
1. It will release a large percentage of the halibut thatcome into the trawl;
2. It will avoid significant reductions in target catch;
3. It will function with limited failures or breakages;
4. It will be resistant to clogging and debris jams;
5. It will be durable and easily stored on deck;
6. It will be constructed from affordable materials that arereadily available.
The Regional Administrator may terminate the experiment ifprohibited species bycatch exceeds the high-end projections ofthe permit applicants. The experiment may not be conducted inSteller sea lion critical habitat (as defined at 50 CFR 226.202)in the Bering Sea and in the GOA west of 144° W. long.
Failure of the permittees to comply with the terms andconditions of the EFP and all applicable provisions of 50 CFRparts 600 and 679, the Magnuson-Stevens Act, or any regulationspromulgated thereunder, or any other applicable laws, may begrounds for revocation, suspension or modification of this permitas well as civil or criminal sanctions imposed under thoselaws.
Classification
NMFS prepared an EA for this EFP. The Assistant Administratorfor Fisheries, NOAA, concluded that no significant impact on thehuman environment will occur as a result of fishing under thisEFP. A copy of the EA is available from NMFS (see ADDRESSES ). The Regional Administrator determinedthat fishing activities conducted pursuant to this EFP will notaffect endangered and threatened species or critical habitatunder the Endangered Species Act, and that a consultation is notrequired under the essential fish habitat provisions of theMagnuson-Stevens Act.
This notice is exempt from review under Executive Order 12866.It also is exempt under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA)because prior notice and opportunity for public comment are notrequired. Therefore, the analytical requirements of the RFA areinapplicable.
Authority:
16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: September 8, 2000.
Bruce C. Morehead,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, NationalMarine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 00-23533 Filed 9-12-00; 8:45am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-S