Proposed Rule2025-10110
Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Amendment 125 to the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Fishery Management Plan; Pacific Cod Small Boat Access
Primary source
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Published
June 4, 2025
Issuing agencies
Commerce DepartmentNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Abstract
The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) submitted amendment 125 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area (BSAI FMP) to the Secretary of Commerce for review. If approved, amendment 125 would modify the BSAI Pacific cod jig sector to allow catch from catcher vessels (CV) using hook-and-line or pot gear that are less than or equal to 55 feet (ft) (16.8 meters (m)) length overall (LOA) harvesting Pacific cod in the BSAI during the jig gear A season to accrue to the jig sector allocation. Amendment 125 would promote the goals and objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), BSAI FMP, and other applicable laws.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 106 (Wednesday, June 4, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 106 (Wednesday, June 4, 2025)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 23664-23665]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-10110]
[[Page 23664]]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
50 CFR Part 679
RIN 0648-BM64
Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Amendment
125 to the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Fishery Management Plan;
Pacific Cod Small Boat Access
AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.
ACTION: Notification of availability; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council)
submitted amendment 125 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish
of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area (BSAI FMP) to
the Secretary of Commerce for review. If approved, amendment 125 would
modify the BSAI Pacific cod jig sector to allow catch from catcher
vessels (CV) using hook-and-line or pot gear that are less than or
equal to 55 feet (ft) (16.8 meters (m)) length overall (LOA) harvesting
Pacific cod in the BSAI during the jig gear A season to accrue to the
jig sector allocation. Amendment 125 would promote the goals and
objectives of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management
Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), BSAI FMP, and other applicable laws.
DATES: Comments must be received no later than August 4, 2025.
ADDRESSES: A plain language summary of this proposed action is
available at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov/docket/NOAA-NMFS-2025-0003">https://www.regulations.gov/docket/NOAA-NMFS-2025-0003</a>.
You may submit comments on this document, identified by NOAA-NMFS-2025-
0003, by any of the following methods:
<bullet> Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public
comments via the Federal eRulemaking Portal. Go to <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> and enter NOAA-NMFS-2025-0003 in the Search box.
Click the ``Comment'' icon, complete the required fields, and enter or
attach your comments.
<bullet> Mail: Submit written comments to Gretchen Harrington,
Assistant Regional Administrator, Sustainable Fisheries Division,
Alaska Region NMFS. 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
<a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a> 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 proposed amendment 125, the draft Regulatory
Impact Review for proposed amendment 125 to the Fishery Management Plan
for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area
(referred to as the Analysis), and the draft Categorical Exclusion
prepared for this action are available from <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a> or from
the NMFS Alaska Region website at <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/region/alaska">https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/region/alaska</a>.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lis Henderson, 907-586-7228,
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#d2bebba1fcbab7bcb6b7a0a1bdbc92bcbdb3b3fcb5bda4"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="9bf7f2e8b5f3fef5fffee9e8f4f5dbf5f4fafab5fcf4ed">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires that each
regional fishery management council submit any FMP amendment it
prepares to NMFS for review and approval, disapproval, or partial
approval by the Secretary of Commerce. The Magnuson-Stevens Act also
requires that NMFS, after a council's transmittal of an FMP amendment,
immediately publish a document in the Federal Register announcing that
the amendment is available for public review and comment. This document
announces that proposed amendment 125 to the BSAI FMP is available for
public review and comment.
NMFS manages the Pacific cod fisheries in the U.S. exclusive
economic zone of the BSAI under the BSAI FMP. The Council prepared, and
NMFS approved, the BSAI FMP under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens
Act, 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. Regulations implementing the BSAI FMP
appear at 50 CFR part 679. General regulations governing U.S. fisheries
also appear at 50 CFR part 600.
Background
The BSAI FMP and implementing regulations require that, after
consultation with the Council, NMFS specify an overfishing limit (OFL),
an acceptable biological catch (ABC), and a total allowable catch (TAC)
amount for each target species or species group of groundfish,
including Pacific cod, on an annual basis. An OFL is the catch level
above which overfishing would occur for a species or species group. An
ABC is the level of a species or species group annual catch that
accounts for the scientific uncertainty in the estimate of OFL and any
other scientific uncertainty. The TAC is the annual catch target for a
species or species group, derived from the ABC by considering social
and economic factors and management uncertainty. Under the BSAI FMP, an
ABC is set below its respective OFL. Under the BSAI FMP, the TAC must
be set lower than or equal to the ABC.
Pacific cod is assessed as two distinct stocks with a separate OFL,
ABC, and TAC for each stock: the eastern Bering Sea (BS) stock and
Aleutian Islands (AI) stock. To allocate Pacific cod TACs, NMFS first
allocates 10.7 percent of the BS TAC and the AI TAC to the Community
Development Quota (CDQ) Program (Sec. 679.20(a)(7)(i)(A)). After CDQ
allocations have been deducted from the respective BS and AI Pacific
cod TACs, the remaining BS and AI Pacific cod TACs are combined for
calculating BSAI Pacific cod sector allocations for nine distinct non-
CDQ sectors (Sec. 679.20(a)(7)(ii)(A)). In addition, during a fishing
year, NMFS may reallocate unharvested Pacific cod among sectors,
consistent with the reallocation hierarchy set forth in regulations
(Sec. 679.20(a)(7)(iii)).
The BSAI Pacific cod jig sector allocation has not historically
been fully utilized, particularly in the A and C seasons. On average,
from 2008 through 2021, 95 percent of the BSAI Pacific cod jig sector's
initial allocation has been reallocated to the less than 60 ft (18.3 m)
LOA hook-and-line or pot CV sector.
In October 2022, the Council recommended amendment 125 to the BSAI
FMP. Amendment 125 would revise Section 4.1.2.2 of the BSAI FMP to
modify the BSAI Pacific cod jig sector to allow catch from CVs less
than or equal to 55 ft (16.8 m) LOA that use hook-and-line or pot gear
to accrue to the jig sector during the jig-gear A season (January 1
through April 30). This would allow smaller CVs (less than or equal to
55 ft (16.8 m) LOA) using hook-and-line or pot gear to harvest the
Pacific cod jig allocation at the start of the year. The Council
considered the increasing competition in the less than 60 ft (18.3 m)
LOA hook-and-line or pot CV sector. Based on this and a review of the
scientific information and consideration of the National Standard
guidelines, the Council recommended amendment 125 to increase stability
and additional opportunities for smaller fishery participants and
potential new
[[Page 23665]]
entrants with smaller CVs without negatively impacting vessels using
jig gear. This is because the jig gear sector does not fully use its A-
season allocation and has had very low overall participation in recent
years. NMFS reviewed the scientific information and National Standards
and has preliminarily determined that it supported the Council's basis
for the recommendation (see Section 4.3 of the Analysis), subject to
further consideration after public comment. This action would not
change the allocation, percentages, or affect any other sector
allocation established under amendment 85 (72 FR 50788, September 4,
2007).
NMFS is soliciting public comments on the proposed amendment 125
through the end of the comment period (see DATES). NMFS intends to
publish in the Federal Register and seek public comment on a proposed
rule that would implement amendment 125, following NMFS's evaluation of
the proposed rule under the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
Respondents do not need to submit the same comments on amendment
125 and the proposed rule. All relevant written comments received by
the end of the applicable comment period, whether specifically directed
to the BSAI FMP amendment or the proposed rule will be considered by
NMFS in the approval/disapproval decision for amendment 125 and
addressed in the response to comments in the final decision. Comments
received after the end of the applicable comment period will not be
considered in the approval/disapproval decision on amendment 125. To be
considered, comments must be received, not just postmarked or otherwise
transmitted, by the last day of the comment period (see DATES).
Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.
Dated: May 29, 2025.
Kelly Denit,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries
Service.
[FR Doc. 2025-10110 Filed 6-3-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-P
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