Rule2021-11417
Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; Fisheries Off West Coast States; Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; 2021-2022 Biennial Specifications and Management Measures; Inseason Adjustments
Primary source
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Published
June 1, 2021
Effective
June 1, 2021
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
This final rule announces routine inseason adjustments to the harvest limits for incidental Pacific halibut retention in the sablefish primary fishery. The Pacific Fishery Management Council recommended, and NMFS is implementing, a decrease to the incidental Pacific halibut catch limit to ensure equitable harvest opportunities without exceeding the harvest limit.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 103 (Tuesday, June 1, 2021)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 103 (Tuesday, June 1, 2021)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 29210-29211]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-11417]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 660
[Docket No. 201204-0325]
RIN 0648-BK53
Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; Fisheries Off West Coast States;
Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery; 2021-2022 Biennial Specifications and
Management Measures; Inseason Adjustments
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Final rule; inseason adjustments to biennial groundfish
management measures.
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SUMMARY: This final rule announces routine inseason adjustments to the
harvest limits for incidental Pacific halibut retention in the
sablefish primary fishery. The Pacific Fishery Management Council
recommended, and NMFS is implementing, a decrease to the incidental
Pacific halibut catch limit to ensure equitable harvest opportunities
without exceeding the harvest limit.
DATES: This final rule is effective June 1, 2021.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Abbie Moyer, phone: 206-305-9601 or
email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#1e7f7c7c777b307371677b6c5e70717f7f30797168"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="3d5c5f5f545813505244584f7d53525c5c135a524b">[email protected]</span></a>.
Electronic Access
This rule is accessible via the internet at the Office of the
Federal Register website at <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov">https://www.federalregister.gov</a>. Background
information and documents are available at the Pacific Fishery
Management Council's website at <a href="http://www.pcouncil.org/">http://www.pcouncil.org/</a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (PCGFMP), and
its implementing regulations at 50 CFR part 660, subparts C through G,
regulate fishing for over 90 species of groundfish off the coasts of
Washington, Oregon, and California. The Pacific Fishery Management
Council (Council) develops groundfish harvest specifications and
management measures for two-year periods (i.e., a biennium). NMFS
published the final rule to implement harvest specifications and
management measures for the 2021-2022 biennium for most species managed
under the PCGFMP on December 11, 2020, (85 FR 79880). NMFS also
published a correction (85 FR 86853, December 31, 2020), and a
correcting amendment (86 FR 14379, March 16, 2021) to implement the
Council's recommendations for the 2021-2022 harvest specifications and
management measures.
In general, the management measures set at the start of the
biennial harvest specifications cycle help the various sectors of the
fishery attain, but not exceed, the catch limits for each stock. The
Council, in coordination with Pacific Coast Treaty Indian Tribes and
the states of Washington, Oregon, and California, recommends
adjustments to the management measures during the fishing year to
achieve this goal. At its March 2-5 and 8-11, 2021, meeting, the
Council recommended decreasing the amount of Pacific halibut that
vessels in the sablefish primary fishery north of Point Chehalis, WA,
may take incidentally to ensure that catch of Pacific halibut stays
within the allocated amount.
Pacific halibut is generally a prohibited species for vessels
fishing in Pacific coast groundfish fisheries, unless explicitly
allowed in groundfish regulations. The Council developed a Catch
Sharing Plan for the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC)
Regulatory Area 2A, as provided for in the Northern Pacific Halibut Act
of 1982 (16 U.S.C. 773-773k), to allocate the Area 2A annual total
allowable catch (TAC) for Pacific halibut among fisheries off
Washington, Oregon, and California.
Under the Catch Sharing Plan, the sablefish primary fishery north
of Point Chehalis, WA (46[deg]53.30' N lat.) is allocated a portion of
the Washington recreational allocation, which varies via a TAC-
dependent formula, as described in the Catch Sharing Plan.
The sablefish primary fishery season is open from April 1 to
October 31, though the fishery may close for individual participants
prior to October 31 once they reach the cumulative limit associated
with their tier assignment(s). Regulations at Sec. 660.231(b)(3)(iv)
allow vessels fishing in the sablefish primary fishery with a permit
from the IPHC to retain Pacific halibut up to a set landing limit,
which may be reviewed and modified throughout the sablefish primary
fishery season to allow for attainment, but not exceedance of the
Pacific halibut allocation. The objectives for the annual landing
restrictions are to allow incidental Pacific halibut catch to attain
the Pacific halibut allocation at about the same time the sablefish
primary season ends (October 31), and to ensure an equitable sharing of
the Pacific halibut landings among the fishers.
On March 9, 2021, NMFS implemented a 2021 Area 2A TAC of 1,510,000
pound (lb) (684.9 metric tons (mt)) (86 FR 13475). As specified by the
Catch Sharing Plan, since the 2021 Area 2A catch limit is greater than
1.5 million pounds (680.4 mt), the incidental halibut limit for the
sablefish primary fishery's allocation is 70,000 lb (31.8 mt) (86 FR
13475, March 9, 2021), the same limit as was in place in 2020. In 2020,
due to the COVID-19 pandemic affecting vessel participation, harvest
during the regular sablefish primary fishery season was lower than
predicted. As a result, at the September 2020 Council meeting, the
Council recommended, and NMFS implemented, an emergency rule to extend
the sablefish primary season, normally scheduled to end on October 31,
until December 31, 2020 (85 FR 68001, October 27, 2020). Also, as part
of that emergency rule, the incidental Pacific halibut retention
allowance continued until the close of the Pacific halibut season on
November 15, 2020. The 2020 season concluded with 90.5 percent of the
70,000 lb (31.8 mt) allowance for Pacific halibut landed. The effects
of the COVID-19 pandemic on sablefish primary fishery harvest are
expected to be lessened in 2021, compared to 2020. If fishing patterns
return to more typical seasonal efforts in 2021, the incidental Pacific
halibut retention limit in place in 2020 may be too high, and harvest
of Pacific halibut may accrue too quickly to allow retention throughout
the entire sablefish primary season, which is expected to run through
October 31, 2021. Therefore, at the March 2021 virtual meeting, the
Council recommended a precautionary reduction in Pacific halibut
retention allowance early in the 2021 sablefish primary fishery season
to discourage targeted fishing while allowing small incidental catches
through the end of the season on October 31.
The Council recommended, and NMFS is revising the incidental
Pacific halibut retention regulations at
[[Page 29211]]
Sec. 660.231(b)(3)(iv) to decrease the incidental Pacific halibut
catch limit to enable some efficiency without exceeding the harvest
limit. The limit will be reduced from 250 lb (113 kg) dressed weight of
halibut for every 1,000 lb (454 kg) dressed weight of sablefish landed,
and up to two halibut in excess of the ratio, to 225 lb (102 kg)
dressed weight of halibut for every 1,000 lb (454 kg) dressed weight of
sablefish landed, and up to two halibut in excess of the ratio. This
decrease is expected to allow opportunity for total catch of Pacific
halibut to approach, but not exceed, the 2021 allocation for the
sablefish primary fishery north of Point Chehalis, WA (70,000 lb or
31.8 mt).
Classification
This final rule makes routine inseason adjustments to groundfish
fishery management measures, based on the best scientific information
available, consistent with the PCGFMP and its implementing regulations.
This action is taken under the authority of 50 CFR 660.60(c) and is
exempt from review under Executive Order 12866.
The aggregate data upon which these actions are based are available
for public inspection by contacting Abbie Moyer in NMFS' West Coast
Region (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, above), or view at the
NMFS West Coast Groundfish website: <a href="http://www.westcoast.fisheries.noaa.gov/fisheries/groundfish/index.html">http://www.westcoast.fisheries.noaa.gov/fisheries/groundfish/index.html</a>.
NMFS finds good cause to waive prior public notice and comment on
the revisions to groundfish management measures under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)
because notice and comment would be impracticable and contrary to the
public interest. The adjustments to management measures in this
document affect commercial fisheries off the coast of Washington. No
aspect of this action is controversial, and changes of this nature were
anticipated in the final rule for the 2021-2022 harvest specifications
and management measures, which was published on December 11, 2020 (85
FR 79880). Accordingly, for the reasons stated below, NMFS finds good
cause to waive prior notice and comment.
At its March 2021 meeting, the Council recommended the decrease to
the incidental Pacific halibut retention limit for vessels fishing in
the sablefish primary fishery north of Point Chehalis. The sablefish
primary fishery opened on April 1. The Council recommends this
precautionary reduction be implemented as soon as possible, early in
the season, in an effort to prolong the amount of time Pacific halibut
may be retained in the sablefish primary fishery north of Point
Chehalis.
Additionally, if the new limit is not implemented until closer to
the end of the season, after a full rulemaking, the sablefish primary
fishery north of Point Chehalis would be more likely to reach or exceed
its 2021 allocation of Pacific halibut before the end of the sablefish
primary fishery season. Therefore, providing a comment period for this
action could limit the equitable benefits to the fishery, and the
vessels that participate in the fishery, as they rely on the Pacific
halibut retention allowance throughout the entire season and could
result in a greater risk of exceeding the Pacific halibut harvest
allocation.
Because prior notice and an opportunity for public comment are not
required to be provided for this rule by 5 U.S.C. 553, or any other
law, the analytical requirements of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5
U.S.C. 601 et seq., are not applicable. Accordingly, no Regulatory
Flexibility Analysis is required for this rule and none has been
prepared.
For the same reasons stated above, NMFS has determined good cause
exists to waive the 30-day delay in effectiveness pursuant to 5 U.S.C.
553(d) so that this final rule may become effective upon publication in
the Federal Register. The adjustments to management measures in this
document affect commercial fisheries by decreasing the incidental
halibut retention limit in the sablefish primary fishery north of Point
Chehalis, WA. This adjustment was requested by the Council's advisory
bodies, as well as members of industry during the Council's March 2021,
meeting, and recommended unanimously by the Council. No aspect of this
action is controversial, and changes of this nature were anticipated in
the biennial harvest specifications and management measures established
through a notice and comment rulemaking for 2021-2022 (85 FR 79880,
December 11, 2020).
List of Subjects in 50 CFR Part 660
Fisheries, Fishing, and Indian Fisheries.
Dated: May 25, 2021.
Jennifer M. Wallace,
Acting Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine
Fisheries Service.
For the reasons set out in the preamble, 50 CFR part 660 is amended
as follows:
PART 660--FISHERIES OFF WEST COAST STATES
0
1. The authority citation for part 660 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq., 16 U.S.C. 773 et seq., and
16 U.S.C. 7001 et seq.
0
2. In Sec. 660.231, revise paragraph (b)(3)(iv) to read as follows:
Sec. 660.231 Limited entry fixed gear sablefish primary fishery.
* * * * *
(b) * * *
(3) * * *
(iv) Incidental Pacific halibut retention north of Pt. Chehalis, WA
(46[deg]53.30' N lat.). From April 1 through October 31, vessels
authorized to participate in the sablefish primary fishery, licensed by
the International Pacific Halibut Commission for commercial fishing in
Area 2A (waters off Washington, Oregon, California), and fishing with
longline gear north of Pt. Chehalis, WA (46[deg]53.30' N lat.) may
possess and land up to 225 lbs (102 kg) dressed weight of Pacific
halibut for every 1,000 lbs (454 kg) dressed weight of sablefish
landed, and up to two additional Pacific halibut in excess of the 225-
lbs-per-1,000-pound limit per landing. ``Dressed'' Pacific halibut in
this area means halibut landed eviscerated with their heads on. Pacific
halibut taken and retained in the sablefish primary fishery north of
Pt. Chehalis may only be landed north of Pt. Chehalis and may not be
possessed or landed south of Pt. Chehalis.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2021-11417 Filed 5-28-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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